The New Year Resolutions, fitness-wise, are teetering on the edge of partial failure, especially the healthy eating, so I'm kicking my butt into gear again on September 12. Labor Day weekend was a food fiasco. I need a week to recover before I go cold turkey (is it still 'cold turkey' if you don't eat meat? Hmm...).
The writing resolution took a break in August as I sought the feedback of my fantastic writer-friends (love you Linda, Laura, Lynne, Nebraska! You're all the very, very best!). While I kept myself away from my MS, I caught up on a few books on my Kindle.
1. The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by William Goldman.
The title's a bit of a mouthful, huh? Goldman writes the book not as an author, but a screenwriter abridging Morgenstern's tale. I'm pretty sure Morgenstern doesn't exist, but even after googling him, there's a smidgeon of doubt left. :) It makes for a, well, classic tale of true love and high adventure! Buttercup is rather dumb, Westley is as wonderful as Carey Elwes portrayed, and Inigo Montoya...perfection. He and Fezzik make the book. Very, very similar to the movie, but seriously, everyone needs to read this. You'll laugh out loud over and over.
2. Original Sin by Lisa Desrochers
The second part of a trilogy should add characters and plotlines and conflicts and leave the reader hanging. Well, Original Sin does just that. Though I enjoyed Personal Demons more, there were parts of this book that gripped me, especially once Gabe comes back and is...tempted. For those who haven't read Personal Demons, Luc (Lucifer) and Gabe (Gabriel) came to Frannie's school to tag her soul for Hell and Heaven, respectively. A love triangle ensues. Good, good stuff, but I won't give anything away. Now, I was totally Team Luc in Personal Demons. Gabe was a bit flat for me. Conflicted, sure, but nothing like in Original Sin. He gets a lot more interesting, and I'll put money down that the story gets better in the third installment. It'll be a long wait for this Cheetah!
3. When One Night Isn't Enough by Wendy S. Marcus
The cover pulled me in, though the story wasn't exactly what I expected. Emotionally damaged Ali hooks up with emotionally damaged co-worker Jared, but he's leaving for another job. Why didn't they use protection?! A quick read with very human characters and a bit of hot sex, this isn't for the faint of heart. Fantastic marketing, though. The cover gave me the impression that it would be a tale of fun seduction, but turned out to be an angsty, mid-twenties romance between two people who don't have a clue what they really want. Not bad at all. :)
Sad with a hint of bittersweet. The book follows Mia after a car accident kills her family. She's a kind of ghost watching her body as she tries to decide if she should stay or go. I laughed. I cried. It's a really lovely book with a cliffhanger ending. I read it in hopes of finding a comparable title to my MS. While I think it would do the job, my main character makes her choice early in the book and must deal with the consequences. Looks like I'll be reading the sequel in September. :)
Plans for September:
Well, Forman's Where She Went may come later in the month, but for now, Koreen Clemens, who is fabulous, recommended Evermore by Alyson Noel. Also, Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin sounds like a comparable title (thanks, Golden Eagle, who is also fabulous!). Plus, I'm returning to my own MS to polish, tighten, etc., to get it ready for BackSpace in November.
What are your September goals? Books? Writing? Movies? Food? Autumn? Anything?!
No movie review this week due to the holiday, but I'll make up for it next Monday. Promise!
-Marie
4 comments:
You are such a good blogger! Puts me to shame! Great post! Love to you too! I haven't read, 'if i stay', but I wanted to for a story I was working on that had quite a bit of musical content. Wasn't she a cellist in this story?
I'll pick it up and give it a read soon.
But did you check wikipedia? I bet they have the skinny on The Princess Bride.
I see you didn't Kindle -my- book! I'm hurt! >pout!<
I've read numbers 1, 3, and 4 (loved them all!!). :)
I read Princess Bride quite a while ago and enjoyed it, although I might find it funnier now that I'm older.
As for what I'm reading, I'm actually finally tackling Les Miserable. Between each "book" in the volume I'm reading one of the Millennium series by Stieg Larsson.
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