The Perfect Read

Today I had one of those perfect reading days. I read almost an entire book- about 350 pages of the 400 in the novel- in one sitting. It was glorious.

Here are the factors required for a perfect reading day:

1. An unspecified chunk of time. You can't have any serious obligations to rush off to in the near future. It's best if you don't have to take care of others, or take care of yourself, at all. If it's morning, showering is optional. An understanding family is crucial. (Don't put off feeding the cats, as I did this morning. They will remind you, loudly and relentlessly.)

2. A to-do list that you can blow off. There should be something that gives you pause when you embark on this reading journey. Without a list of things to blow off, the whole exercise will feel much less indulgent. It has to be chores about which you can say, "I'll do that later," knowing you might not get to them today. If you don't, so what? There's always tomorrow.

3. The right book. It would not even occur to you to attempt a perfect reading day if not for the right book. It helps if you've already put your reading toes into this book and wiggled them around, so to speak, so you know if it's a good one. It needs to be sufficiently engaging for a long period of time. Fiction is usually your best bet, though memoir can work as well (as it did for me with Dick Van Dyke's memoir). Though engaging, it can't be anything too heavy or emotionally draining. You have to know that everything will probably work out for the best at the end of the book. Today's book was The Island by Elin Hilderbrand. (I highly recommend most of her books. They are great for people who want to escape to the beach more often than their lives allow.)

4. An exit strategy. When you finish the book, it will be like waking up from a vivid dream into a harsh reality. You will look at the clock and realize the full extent of the hours you "wasted" (though reading should never, ever be considered a waste of time). It's best to have some sort of activity in mind to close out your reading time and restart your normal life. Lying down right where you are and taking a nap is a great plan. So is eating a snack, or searching out the family members you've neglected in your absence.

Other helpful (but not necessary) factors include: 
- A quiet house
- Something sweet to munch on, and/or a cup of tea
- A phone to ignore
- Rain or snow outside, which increases the feeling of smugness
- Some problems or minor annoyances in your life that you'd like to block out for a few hours

I get a few of these every year, and when the factors align in my favor, I take full advantage. I love my perfect reading days (or just mornings, or late nights). I'm cherishing this one, in particular, because I'm fully aware that factors 1 and 2 will become much more difficult once Baby Sowul is born, and that I'll have fewer opportunities to find factor 3. But I know these days will come again. In my life, there will always be time for books.

Update on JK Rowling Book

Extra, extra! Read all about it! J.K. Rowling's new book will be released on September 27, 2012, according to this Huffington Post article. The title of the book is also revealed:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jk-rowling-new-book-release-date

The Casual Vacancy. Sounds like a mystery to me. I'm very, very curious to see how this book will turn out. It looks to be nothing like the Harry Potter series. It's not a fantasy, not set in a child's world. In fact, it seems as grown-up as it gets. A parish council? A small town at war with itself? Clearly, this is set in the world of petty adults. I'm grateful that Rowling has gone in such a wildly different direction. It will be much easier for her readers to be shocked that this writer also penned the Harry Potter series, rather than be disappointed that this writer also penned The Casual Vacancy.


As I predicted in my post Can Rowling Recapture the Magic? Rowling released this information on her newly launched website today. I have to admit, I miss the old website. This one is informative, but it lacks the cluttered-desk graphics of the Harry Potter-centered site. I respect her desire to go in a different direction, but wish she could have kept a link to her old site.

http://www.jkrowling.com/

I would be anticipating this book more if it were a Harry Potter book, but I'll still look forward to this new offering from Rowling, whose talents I respect beyond measure. Only problem is, by the time the book comes out, I'll probably need a babysitter just to sit down and read it. Mom? Anyone?

The Rise of YA Fiction

The other day, while reading the NY Times online, I stumbled across this brief, interesting article by Patricia McCormick, a young adult fiction author:

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/

The article begins:


If "Harry Potter" made it safe for grown-ups to read kids’ books, "The Hunger Games" has made it cool.


Why are so many adults reading young adult books? No need to page Dr. Freud. This isn’t about the guilty pleasures of communing with one’s inner child. It doesn’t signify a huge baby boomer regression. It isn’t even about nostalgia.

The author goes on to theorize that the rising popularity of young adult fiction among adults is due to the creativity of YA authors. Writers for children and teens are more willing to take risks, mainly because it's so hard to capture and maintain a teenager's interest, especially with all the technological distractions of the age. So a story about twelve teenagers fighting to the death in a simulated environment that's also out to kill them, or a story about vampires and werewolves falling in love- those are risks that will pay off (to the tune of millions for Suzanne Collins and Stephanie Meyer). And somewhere along the way, these creative plots captured the imagination of adult readers as well.


I agree with this theory, but I also think it's a bit unfair. Mainstream adult fiction writers can also, and have also, been endlessly creative. What about Tatiana de Rosnay, author of Sarah's Key, who intercut a WWII story about a girl forced to leave her brother locked in a cupboard to escape the Nazis with a present-day story about a woman desperate to find roots for her family? What about Chris Bohjalian's novel Trans-Sister Radio, in which a woman falls in love with a man, who feels he should have been born a woman, undergoes a sex-change operation, and winds up with her lover's ex-husband? What about Meg Cabot, who writes many of her adult novels in the same format as her YA novels- via journal entries, emails and texts? And does anyone think that Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings trilogy for children?

I like a creative, risk-taking story as much as anyone, and it doesn't much matter to me what section of the library I find it in. But I do think the rise of YA fiction raises an interesting point to adult fiction authors, because when those young adults start shopping in our section, what are they going to be looking for? Will the more subtle literary novel be pushed aside for the more wild romps of futuristic adventure and beautiful-people sex? Or does the audience mature with its reading material? What we should be marketing toward? And should a writer even consider that when she puts her pen to the page?

I've Got Your Number

Vacation week merits a light, fun book to read. I couldn't have picked a better one than this:

I've always loved Sophie Kinsella's books. I think she's one of the best women's fiction writers out there. Her heroines are strong, ethical women who are also witty, quirky and more intelligent than they give themselves credit for. Becky Bloomwood of the Shopaholic books is the perfect example. Though she never is able to get in sync with the financial world of Luke, her paramour, her curiosity and understanding of human nature helps her solve crises for him and his company. Meanwhile, her shopping addiction and light-handed credit card spending gets her into huge messes, but she's always able to get out of them with some soul searching and a bit of ingenuity. And all along she treats the reader to funny observations and crazy justifications that somehow lead to her finding the answers.

Poppy Wyatt, the heroine of I've Got Your Number, is just as endearing as Becky Bloomwood. The book starts days before her wedding with her panicking over losing the emerald engagement ring that has been in her fiancé Magnus's family for generations. While frantically searching an empty hotel ballroom, still addled from a champagne lunch, her phone is also stolen from her. Now she has no engagement ring and no phone number to leave with the hotel to contact her if they find it. Miracle of miracles, while pacing the lobby, she finds a phone in a trash bin. She picks it up and starts using it, texting her friends the new number and giving it out to all the hotel personnel. Moments later, however, the phone rings and she is introduced to Sam Roxton, who claims to be the boss of the owner of the phone, his personal assistant. Poppy, desperate to keep the phone that's now a lifeline to her lost ring, does him a favor and then persuades him to let her hold onto the phone until her ring is found. She agrees to act in his personal assistant's place in the meantime, forwarding him all the emails and texts that belong to him and his company. As they continue to share an in-box, Poppy becomes deeply involved both in Sam's life and in his company's most recent scandal. Meanwhile, her ring is found, but she discovers a shocking secret about her fiancé that leaves her doubting her own future.

Besides her wonderful characters, the thing I like best about Kinsella's books is how she's able to keep tension strong from beginning to end. Like a good mystery writer, she lays her clues and surprises out, chapter by chapter, keeping the reader intrigued and, incidentally, unable to put her book down. I finished this one in just a few days, the last half in one fell swoop, because I just couldn't wait to find out what happened to Poppy, Magnus and Sam. I know all of you will enjoy this book as well. Yes, it's women's fiction, yes, it's fun and light, but it's also great writing!

Rescue: A Puzzle

I love Anita Shreve. She writes the way I want to write: with simple language but poignant description, themes of family and relationships, and a tug-at-your-heartstrings quality. This most recent of her books had all of these things, and yet I found something lacking.

The story follows Peter Webster, known only as Webster, from his days as a young paramedic to his life twenty years later. Fresh off his training, one dark night, Webster rescues a young woman from a car wreck. The woman has been drinking, and is unconscious. Something about her intrigues Webster, so he visits her in the hospital when she wakes, and after she's released, tracks her to her temporary home. Sheila had been driving from Boston to New York to escape an abusive cop boyfriend, stopping at bars along the way, and wrecked her car in the small town of Rescue in rural Vermont. Sheila is not like anyone Webster has ever met. She is tough, sassy, dangerous. In a short space of time, he falls for her completely. The two are just beginning their love affair when they discover Sheila is pregnant. They get married, move into a cheap apartment, and a few months later, their daughter Rowan is born. All is well for awhile. Sheila loves her daughter, loves Webster, and seems happy. But after awhile, she starts drinking again. Webster finds bottles hidden all over the apartment. He forces her to go to AA, but it doesn't take. One night, Webster gets a rescue call for what turns out to be Sheila smashing her car again, drunk driving with Rowan in the backseat. Fortunately, neither mother nor daughter is fatally wounded, but it's the last straw for Webster, and he forces Sheila to leave town before she is arrested. He takes charge of his daughter's upbringing alone, never expecting or hoping to see his wife again. 

Years later, Webster still lives with his daughter in Rescue in his parents' old house, watching her navigate the end of her senior year of high school. Rowan has always been a great kid- a strong student with good friends, a talented softball player, a loving relationship with her father, and until they passed away, her grandparents. But recently Rowan has become troubled, fatalistic. She begins drinking at parties, taking huge risks, letting her grades drop to the point of losing her acceptance to college. Webster doesn't know what to do. He wasn't able to keep Sheila from drinking all those years ago, and he's desperate not to let Rowan go the same way. He reaches out to the only person he thinks might be able to help: Sheila herself.

Obviously, it's an interesting story, and it's handled with the typical Shreve sensibility about relationships and ability to show complex emotion with a sensitive touch. The characters are well-formed and evoke both compassion and exasperation in the reader. The descriptions are pitch-perfect: enough to picture the scene clearly, but not so much as to leave nothing to the imagination. In short, it's an excellently-wrtiten novel, and yet something bothered me about it. I'm still not sure what that is. It bothers me that it bothers me, if you know what I mean. After thinking about a book for a few days, I can usually come up with a definite opinion and back it up with examples. That's why I have this blog in the first place, to share those insights. But this book has left me feeling dissatisfied without apparent reason. I'll keep thinking about it and if I figure out the source of my discomfort, I'll let you know. 

If anyone else read or will read this book, please comment below and let me know what you thought. Maybe I just need a good discussion to help me see what's going on with this one. Or maybe it's time to start a book club!

Catching Mistakes

I'm pretty sure it's the "English teacher's daughter" in me, but I love catching errors in books. Not grammatical errors, but plot errors- little things like a mistaken order of events, recounted; the wrong character labeled with the wrong action or characteristic; or the re-description of a room with something in the wrong place. It's a rare occurrence, something I usually don't catch until a second read-through, or a later novel in a series (like the Bride Quartet Series I recently blogged about). But when I do catch them, I feel a little spike of pleasure. I think about how many read-throughs the author, his/her editor, and other publishing house workers went through without catching the mistake. I know from experience how hard it is to edit one's own work, and how often I miss things in final read-throughs. But that's why I have other people read my work. I hope that if I ever publish anything, I'll have a team of people who will watch my back to make sure that no little smart-ass reader like me can catch mistakes.


Short post tonight, because I'm on vacation this week. Lots of books to read, so stay tuned for more posts later in the week!

The Cure for Brain Rot

My brain is rotting.

Though I have been doing better since I got my energy back, I've still needed considerably more resting time lately, and that has led to considerably more TV viewing time. I have been reading- about a book a week- but given the amount of time on my hands, that's no large accomplishment. I've spent most of my rest time with my good friend Netflix and his generous supply of TV series. And this has led to the inevitable slow brain rot, and forces the question that I've been wrestling with for the past year or so: is technology, specifically the ability to stream media from phones, tablets and computers, making me dumber?

I acquired an iPhone last winter, and an iPad this Christmas. Both have increased my productivity and become much more necessary to my daily routines than my previous phones or other technology. But I have also become increasingly spoiled by continual access to media. One of my favorite features of the iPhone is its speaker, allowing me to broadcast music without headphones. It's great for iTunes and internet radio, but I've recently started listening to audiobooks and podcasts this way, and that has become far more addicting than my favorite Pandora station. I used to spend my morning routine in relative silence, which helped me gather my thoughts for the day and created a sense of peace. Now that I'm addicted, I have an audiobook playing even while I'm in the shower. I often try to force myself to turn it off, or put on some classical music instead, but the pull of the voice coming from my speaker is too strong. This addiction may not be making me stupider- in fact, the podcasts are educational, and of course the audiobook is good literature- but it is intruding on my personal brain-processing time. 

The next step was discovering the Netflix app. We already had the live streaming subscription for our Xbox, and used it occasionally at home, but being able to take Netflix with me wherever I go, even if it is 3G-dependent, knocked down some huge walls for me. For one, I stopped reading at work. Now on the days that I take solo lunch breaks- a practice I enjoy, after being surrounded by kids all day- I watch Netflix while I eat. I used to keep a copy of The Fountainhead in my desk drawer for quick lunchtime reading. I haven't touched that book in over a year. I also use Netflix at home on a regular basis, especially since getting my iPad, which has a temptingly large screen. There is no doubt that my television consumption has increased greatly, especially during the "slow" seasons for network television. In fact, I'm not even aware of what's on our DVR right now, but I can tell you most of the television series that are available in Netflix. I set up my iPad in the kitchen and watch it while washing the dishes, eating snacks, and making lunches for the next day. I bring it with me to bed and watch it during my usual reading time. No wonder the pile of books on my bedside table has gotten larger lately. This addiction definitely IS making me stupider. I am spending less time on reading and thinking in general. With all of this media streaming, I'm keeping myself from thinking my own thoughts and doing more meaningful activities. 

I am not happy with this turn of events, and I want to make some changes. I probably won't be able to convince my husband to cancel our Netflix subscription, and after all, it can be useful. (I've noticed a lot of children's television shows on there too, for our future offspring.) But I need to guard against further brain lethargy. I've resolved that after I'm finished with my current Netflix series addiction (I have three episodes left) I will restrict myself to watching it only while on the elliptical, or if I have planned television time to spend. Otherwise, I'm getting back to the books. I just ordered a bunch on my Kindle (a piece of technology that is NOT rotting my brain) and checked a few out from the library. I may even set a book goal for the spring. I've also resolved to use my iPhone for more music, less audiobook/podcast, at least in the mornings.

The pull of technology is strong, but the risk of giving into it completely is a big one. Do we want to lose our brains to mindless television, and prevent ourselves from thinking our own thoughts 24/7? I know I don't, but I can't deny it's a big temptation. 

How do you handle the technology overload?

The Hunger Games

Since this weekend has been all about the hype surrounding The Hunger Games premiere, I thought I'd re-post my original assessment of the series, posted back in September. I still stand by my opinion that while the first two books were works of creative genius, Suzanne Collins seriously phoned it in on the third. It was almost like Mockingjay was written by a completely different person, one without any experience in character or plot development.

Nevertheless, I do applaud Ms. Colins for her success on The Hunger Games and the movie adaptation that has, apparently, done better on its first weekend at the box office than any of the Twilight movies. (Source: Yahoo! movies: Yahoo! Movies Hunger Games) I'm looking forward to seeing it myself. This may actually be a go-to-the-theater movie, a rare occurrence for me.


Here is my original post, from back in September (you can also find it at Words From the Sowul: A Book That Let Me Down, Part 2):

My second disappointing book experience this summer was...

Okay, it wasn't actually The Hunger Games, book 1. It wasn't even Catching Fire, book 2. It was really...

Let me start from the beginning. I had heard a bit of buzz about this series, and found that they were on sale as a three-book bundle in the Kindle store. So I went ahead and made my purchase. I have to say, I really loved The Hunger Games. In fact, it's a good thing that the Kindle allows me to read one-handed, because I pretty much walked around holding it in front of my face for two days. For those of you who haven't read the series, it's based on a futuristic world called Panem, where twelve districts (formerly thirteen) serve a corrupt and gluttonous Capitol. Each year, for the enjoyment of the Capitol, the districts are required to send one girl and one boy, chosen by lottery (in a scene very similar to Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery") to the Hunger Games. They are released into an arena where they have only two objectives: to survive the environment, and to be the last one alive.

The main character, Katniss, is exactly the kind of main character a science fiction series needs: unique yet relatable, strong on her own yet emotionally connected to others. The world of pain and emotional torture Suzanne Collins devises is incredibly imaginative and yet easy to envision. I spent most of the book honestly wondering if Katniss was going to survive the arena, even though I knew there were two more books to come.

I was slightly less in love with Catching Fire, book 2, but I did spend the following two days in the same nose-to-Kindle position.

Where Suzanne Collins lost and disappointed me was in Mockingjay, the final book of the series. For those of you who are interested in reading the series (and I do still recommend this, because of the first two) I won't give out any spoilers. But I will say that Katniss became a completely different character to me: whiny, weak and frustrating. All of her former strength seems to disappear in the face of very similar adversities. Collins seems to be showing us through Katniss's actions and choices that the girl is now insane, but she doesn't think like an insane person. Moreover, the plot is not nearly as clearly laid out as in the first two books. The story jumps around a lot, and Katniss, who is the point-of-view character, misses some crucial action, namely a certain rescue scene that is a major plot point. There are some scenes that just need to be described, not glossed over.

As always, if you disagree, feel free to comment. If you haven't read them, I still think the first two are well worth the read, and the third as well, if only because a series should be finished. Even if "Return of the Jedi" was terrible, people would still watch it to see what happened to Han and Luke and Leia. (Of course, it is not terrible. It is, in fact, the best of the three. All Hail George Lucas.)