Posts filed under 'Books'
How do you say goodbye to an old friend? Someone who was there for you through thick and thin, sickness and health, good and bad? The one who helped you through the long week of you grandfather’s funeral, the flu, writer’s block, the Great Blackout of 2003, boredom, and surgery?
You remember when you first met. He made you laugh. He enthralled you. He made your heart race. You couldn’t get enough of him. But now, something is missing.
Like page 163.
That’s right, my friend is a book.
It’s been my favorite book for about 6 years or so. I read it at least twice a year; last year more. But there is only so much a paperback can take. The spine is cracked, the binding’s shot, and the pages are falling out.
But I can’t bring myself to get rid of it. It’s always been there for me, so how can I just abandon it? How can I (gasp) throw it away?
Throwing it out is the reasonable option; I would relegate it to the Island of Misfit Books if I donated it to the Salvation Army or the local library—who wants a book with missing pages? But I can’t just leave it to a life of slow decomposition among used coffee grounds, brown banana peels, and dirty diapers.
I finally broke down and bought a new copy. The same exact book, the same friend, only without the dog ears and faded cover. So why do I feel disloyal? It’s almost like an illicit love affair and I am cheating on my beloved with someone younger.
I once read – and correct me if I am wrong because I am sure I am – that Jewish people consider books friends and treat them accordingly with a proper burial when they reach “the end.” This is a lovely sentiment, but not one that would be looked upon kindly by my condo association, let alone the people living below me. So that, too, is out as an option.
So what am I left with?
Free to good home: Friendly, loving book. Likes sitting on lap, snuggling in bed, laughter, and pina coladas, but please don’t let it get caught in the rain. Needs TLC.
February 25th, 2008
lou, good thoughts to you and DH. ((HUGS)) anything we can do, we’ll be there.
***
i have certain expectations when i go in to see a movie, or read a book, or hang with a friend, or go to class. these expectations may be good or bad, but they’re mine, and they’re from past experience/trailers/things i’ve heard. sometimes things fall far below my expectations (i have a list of movies/books, somewhere), and some so far exceed them i think something that was probably only “good” was amazing, and most times i met my expectations.
right now there’s a huge debate going on among the romance reader community, and it centers on Ward’s new book, Lover Unbound. (no spoilers for LU, i promise). people are having very mixed reactions to the book, and while most center on the end, there’s enough other stuff thrown in that makes you think. and the way people are reacting- i’ve seen people in the romance community go at it before. but i’m still surprised by how many conversations start off reasonable, listing things the person liked/disliked, and quickly move into a destructive fight between the rabid fan base who don’t believe anyone can hate her stuff (or utter a mean word) and people who think the book was a cheap-cop out with a host of other problems, normally ending with “you suck” and “no, you suck”. (i may be paraphrasing- it may be more “no, YOU suck, #%#^$%^%$, and your mom sucks too”). now, i see things all over the internet with conversations ending this way, from anime talks to the best water heater to choose (”you like X Brand? moron, someone should do the public a service and cut off your internet…and your mom sucks too”).
and though i’m oversimplifying things, it comes to expectations. from Ward, i expect a) Brothers and their relationships with other Brothers; b) a certain way of talking (”true”, “feel that?”, “(rapper and song title) pounded out of the speaker”, etc); c) a romance between a Brother and someone else; d) secondary stories; e) an extra “h” in words; and so on and so on. but basically, i expect a good book with a surprise twist ending. and the thing is, her books kept getting better. i mean, i liked the first two, and then Z’s book blew me out of the water. (Z…*sigh* have i mentioned how much i love Z?). for Butch’s, i really didn’t have very high expectations; i wasn’t that big on Butch, or Marissa, and while i liked V i was still on a reader high from Z. so that book was more about loving Ward’s writing style and calming my jones till the next book. and LR, while still not as good as Z’s, so totally passed my expectations that i still think of it as better than i probably would have if i read it the first time expecting magic again. and that’s the thing. how do you keep surpassing reader’s expectations? because from what i’ve been reading, for a lot of these posters, Ward fell way below, and readers are PISSED.
i truly believe no author can do it right 100% of the time, just like no actor is good in everything, and no friend stays the same, and no class will keep me entertained the whole two hours, no matter how much i like the teacher or subject. no one can do something a 100%- there will always be that one off day, or book, or movie, or whatever. but every time i go in, i expect it to be good, and for authors, maybe even a little better than the last time, or at least at the same level.
so i’m turning it over to you all, now. what have expectations done for you? and would you- with what seems like a lot of ex-Ward fans- drop someone just because your expectations weren’t meant? would you completely give them up if they missed the mark that one time?
it’s coming down to- do you believe in second chances?
October 6th, 2007
Terry Pratchett took one look at me and decided he needed a drink right away.
I’m assuming that this was a mere coincidence and that the phrase “send the ice water NOW” wasn’t code for “I need tequila immediately or I’m never going to get through this.”
On the other hand, I do tend to have that effect on men, so it could have been me. (Well, maybe her too.)
Confession time: I did not spend the whole evening in the company of Mr. Pratchett, neither were we alone very long. There were a couple hundred people packed into the book signing area at Powell’s that night. Mostly harmless. The woman next to me regaled me with talk of her very strange cat, who apparently has to spend most of his time on anti-depressants. (Yeah, I know, like you want to hear about that. Stop dithering, Mary.)
Pratchett came to Beaverton to promote his latest Discworld book, Making Money, but he also talked a lot about his latest children’s book, Wintersmith. In his opinion, this was the best book he’s ever written. (And considering he’s written over 50 books, that’s saying something.) He said he chose the heroine’s name Tiffany, because it was the “most non-magical name” he could think of. He said it sounded like a woman who was a pole dancer. Then he turned to a little girl in the first row and gravely said, “when you get home, be sure to ask your mummy what a pole dancer is.”
He seemed a lot more tired than from when I’d seen him last (it’s been a few years). He spoke about the death of his father, his mother’s illness, his own angioplasty, and how he’d kept writing throughout. It was as if a part of him were detached from all the things that were going wrong in his life, a part of him that stood back and wrote about what was happening.
From the part of the talk that he called “Questions and Lies,” here are some of the things that I remember:
- He said he read mostly non-fiction. To him, reading fiction was like a car maker looking at a car; you keep thinking about it in terms of how it was assembled. The fiction he read was George McDonald Fraser, Donald Westlake, Carl Hiassen. The non-fiction he was currently reading was A history of pigment, which sounds like the dullest book in the world, but has some fascinating (he said it) information about how we perceive color.
- He has no plans to write a final Discworld book; the stories have developed to the point where it would not be possible to wrap everything up in one book.
- A tall red-headed man in the audience asked if Carrot would ever claim the kingship of Ankh-Morpork. Pratchett said he thought not, but if Carrot did, there would instantly be a civil war, with Vimes on the opposing side.
- He writes by listening to two characters talk; he writes down what they say. Most of these conversations doesn’t necessarily appear in the book, but it tells him about the story.
- Someone asked if he would ever work with Neil Gaiman again on a book. Pratchett thought it would be good and bad to try another collaboration. It would be faster, certainly. In the old days, when they wrote Good Omens, they tried “modem-to-modem” communication, but it was slow and frustrating. In the end, they just ended up trading floppy disks back and forth. On the other hand, both he and Gaiman were a lot more time-crunched these days. “In the old days, he wasn’t ‘Neil Gaiman’ and I was barely ‘Terry Pratchett.’ Now, I’d have to clear six months from my schedule.” My own impression was that he had books he wanted to write, and collaboration wasn’t really high on the list of things he wanted right now.
Powell’s was so packed that they ran out of books (and they’d brought out quite a lot initially). I managed to get one of the last seats, because I was half an hour early, but people were thronged all around the seating area. I think Pratchett was, understandably, a bit intimidated by the thought of signing that many books. He told me to tell OH not to feel too bad about missing him in Kepler’s; apparently they’d run out of books even earlier than Powell’s.
Yes, I did get my picture taken with him, but the guy taking the picture had a lot of trouble with my camera. He kept telling me my batteries were dead, so by the time he actually managed to snap a photo, I had my eyes closed and Pratchett was inscribing a note in the book. Besides, we ain’t all photogenic like Jen-T. So you’ll have to use your imagination. Somehow, I don’t think this will be a problem. 
September 29th, 2007
I’ll get into the whack attack in Dayton in a moment, but I wanted to take a moment to let you know that the annual Banned Books Week is coming up soon, September 29 to be exact. Follow the link to the 100 most frequently challenged books of the previous decade and then go out and unleash the rebel inside you. You don’t even have to wait until then. http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm. Go on, what’s a little anarchy among friends?
So, Dayton …
Dee and DDD were schedule to pick me up at 7 a.m., but they ran into traffic so it was more like 8:30 when they got here. We got on the road after a quick stop at Panera (no, sadley Jenny wasn’t there, we looked). Dayton is a pretty straight shot west from where I live, just a quick cut through WV, PA and then WV before we hit Ohio. It was pretty uneventful except for the pit stops at the Cracker Barrel restaurants. One was for food, but Dee was collecting flamingo shirts and most stores were sold out. We did finally hit one in Zanesville that had a bunch and she pretty much cleaned them out. And if you don’t know why she wanted flamingo shirts, you are clearly new to our blog.
We hit the Dayton ‘burbs around 4:30 I think. I went to check in and was asked by the desk clerk if we were there to join the rest of the party. “Yes,” I replied, “we are.” She had been given instructions to pass along to us as to where to find the rest of our party. As it turned out, their room was just around the corner from ours so we discretely and ever so politely pounded like heck on their door before taking off at a dead run to our room. Well Dee and I did. We left poor DDD standing there when the door opened. She’s a good kid and took it all in stride. Dee and I wandered back and into the room to be grabbed and hugged and introduced to everyone we hadn’t met before. It was all a blur of arms and squeals. After warm greetings we went back to the room to deposit all our stuff and grab what we would need for the evening. Dee said something to me about OH being there and I confess I was a bit confused by new faces and asked which one. She said “the blonde.” So we get back to the other room and I’m looking around and the only blondes I see are Wapak (I remembered her because she had the photo of MAX! and JenB. That left me pretty confused. Turns out that OH is NOT a blonde and I have no idea who Dee was referring to.
We got our acts together and made it over to the Cheesecake Factory. Jenny and Bob had indicated that they wouldn’t be eating before the signing but some of us were pretty hungry so we were ordering food and beverages. I got the tiramisu cheesecake which is really to die for so you should get it the next time you’re at their restaraunt. We talked and laughed and caught up on everyone’s adventures on the way into Dayton all the while look in the direction of the door for J&B to show up. We really hoped they could make but knew that they had a schedule and it might not work out. Then we saw them both walk in and a few of us waved. They started over and around the corner of the partiition and then stopped gaped. There we were, 15 of us stretched out on either side of a long row of tables and Jenny says “Is this all you could get?” Clearly inspite of the long week her snark was still in fine form. I think GP already gave you the run down on that so I’ll move on to the bookstore.
The Books & Co. in Beavercreek, OH is a very cool two level store. It’s really gorgeous with a wide sweeping stair case up to the 2nd level which is bordered by wrought iron railing. I regret we didn’t get there early enough to browse more thoroughly because the store really deserved it. Instead we headed directly to the second story where the signing was to be held. We spotted the rows of chairs lined up right away and they were already filling in. In fact there was some doubt as to whether they had enough chairs available. But before tackling that problem we got distracted by the display of AGNES AND THE HITMAN. Here we are, doing what CherryBombs do best.
As you can see, we were all stocking up. That’s WapakGram facing you and I think Me (not I, but her) facing away. They had some copies of LOST GIRLS out, but not nearly enough and we let them know it. Some kind bookseller went to get more while another one took one look at the loads we were carrying and got us some baskets. What can I say; in spite of Wapak’s warning they clearly were not expecting us. 
In this next photo, from the left, DDD, Scope and Mandy. Look at that grin. She might be only recently down from the attic, but she’s definitely a CherryBomb.
As it turned out we did have to corral some more chairs. Everyone was supposed to be in front of Bob and Jenny but, rebels that we are, we arrayed ourselves off to one side. It made us easier for him and her to ignore us as a group. Okay left to right, I think that’s Bryan hiding behind the book, followed by RSS, Mandy and Christa. Christa is a friend of Lori’s. She was a good sport about our wackiness and we’re hoping she’ll stop by the B&G and say hello. 
Peeking out from behind RSS is OH and on her right is GP. And that person waving to you on the right is Dee wearing one of the flamingo shirts.
Standing left is CMS and on the right is Me. I mean her. 
And sitting in front is JenB.
And then there were these other two people whose names escape me at the moment but who spent the next hour trying to ignore us “touble makers” as Jenny put it. .thumbnail.JPG)
Of course we wore the title proudly. But we actually we’re pretty well behaved and even encouraged others to go ahead of us when it came time for the signing. Never let it be said that Crusie/Mayer fans are rude. Boisterous, yes; but not rude.
Following the signing we hung around for a few minutes and got a group pic taken with Bob and Jenny. GP already showed you that. I have to say that the Bob and Jenny show was very much a class act and although I know they had to be tired they were really great sports. As were were getting ready to leave, some of the Books & Co. folks came out with even more books for them to stock sign. Living the dream they might be, but they definitely have earned the life. After this, and excursions by some of us back to the Cheesecake Factory, we headed back to the hotel. Many things ensued. I’ll leave that for the next poster.
September 3rd, 2007
Okay, I think we need to get a little more organized about this. We’ll keep this on-topic so that we don’t distract from Wapak’s post.
- Are you planning to go to the J&B signing in Dayton on 8/30?
-
Do you need a room or roommate?
- If you are not going, do you want one of us to get a copy of AATHM signed for you?
What I’m thinking is that someone can be in charge of figuring out where we stay and pairing off those who want to save $$ by sharing a room. Also someone can keep track of who wants books and then we can split it up amongst those of us in Dayton.
Also, for those of you not aware, I think the bookstore is actually in the Dayton ‘burbs. Someplace called Beavercreek off of Indian Ripple.
And if anyone has suggestions, please speak up.
July 27th, 2007
We’ve talked a lot about books lately. Well no surprise with this bunch as its a subject near and dear to all our hearts. And over in the Workshop they are currently discussing character development and the importance thereof in writing a story. And Jenny and Bob have both talked a lot about characters lately on their respective blogs as well. It got me to thinking about books I love and why. And yes folks, Bob and Jenny are right (big surprise) … its all about the characters. This is a lot of why I love to reread, in fact. Because I get to revisit those characters and for me its like spending time with old friends.
When you read like I do (and maybe like you do as well) you get sucked into that story (if its good) and you are going through everything right along with the character. When I read Linda Howard’s SON OF MORNING I am right there with Grace St. John, on the run from the bad guys who killed my husband and brother. By the time Grace finally gets to rest, I’m exhausted! When Em in Jenny’s TELL ME LIES says “my daddy’s dead” I mourn too. When I read Stephen King’s CELL and I get to the end where Clay is handing the phone to his son, my heart is in my mouth. Time and again I’m pulled into the feelings right along with the characters. *sigh* Now that’s good writing.
Which is why I really hate it when I read a book that is well written with a great plot – in fact, a damn good book – but I have to slog my way through because I just don’t like the character. Its not so much that the character is badly drawn because that’s not always the case; I just get tired of spending so much time with them. A lot of authors seem to invest their characters with a lot of angst. Admittedly the angst is sometimes valid: the character is the victim of rape, or has lost a child or faced some other tragedy. Well geez of course they aren’t going to feel snarky. But you know its just not what I’m looking for in a book. I don’t want realism, I want to be entertained. This is strictly a personal preference, not a judgment call. When I read I want to laugh, I want a vicarious adventure, a puzzle, a wild romance … yeah, that would be vicarious too.
So I’ll stick with books where good triumphs over evil, where the characters find HEA, where little old ladies solve mysteries that baffle Scotland Yard, big-haired Joisey girls become bounty hunters, film directors fall in love with green berets, a planet floats through space on the backs of 4 elephants, a tough ass-kicking NYC cop of the future can end up with a gorgeous Irish gazillionaire, ordinary women can kick some serious bad guy butt, and a conman is taken in by a family of art forgers. That world is so much more fun than this one.
March 10th, 2007
The first book I remember that made an impression on me was Caddie Woodlawn. Amazon says it’s still available! Author: Carol Ryrie Brink wrote it in 1935; a Newbery winner. The story takes place in the mid 1800’s, Caddie and her brothers have red hair. There are Indians. She’s not girly girly, and she doesn’t allow those around her to treat her as second class. Caddie gets to the other side of the river by walking through it, putting her clothes on top of her head. Her father repairs clocks and teaches her how.
I was probably 8 or 10. Oh, how I wanted red hair. The Indians were ok. Going across the river was wonderful, but repairing clocks. Oh, my! She didn’t settle for being “just” a girl. This was an enlightment for me in an age where mothers stayed home, washed, ironed, cooked, and wore aprons.
Years later Clairol helped me have auburn hair for a year. I never learned to repair clocks, but am pretty mechanically inclined. I’ve reduced more than one man to quivering knees who tried to put me down.
So, what was your first favorite book? Why? How did it shape you? How old were you?
March 2nd, 2007
My sister visited this weekend. Well its not this weekend that you are reading this, but rather this weekend that I am writing this. But it seemed like a good topic for the Grill so you’re getting it now. Well not NOW now; its actually later. But its now for you. Are we clear on that? And what does that have to do with my title, you may be asking yourself.
I have a LOT of books. I freely admit that I am a book hoarder. Not every book I’ve ever read, but if its one I have really enjoyed, or an author I’m particularly crazy about … you might have heard of one or two of them … I have to own the book. Yes its an expensive hobby; but hey I don’t do drugs, smoke, gamble or drink to excess. Hey, I said to excess. Anyway, I deserve to have some vice, right? And its not like this one hurts anybody. See I knew you guys would understand. Also, they are mostly not laying around cluttering things up. Mostly. Okay a few have found their way to unexpected places, but most of them are on shelves and fairly well organized. Grouped by author (though not necessarily alphabetically) and somewhat by genre. Considering the volume of books I have I think that’s pretty danged good.
So back to my sister. I guess you could call her a minimalist. She detests clutter. Nothing wrong with that. The thing is, my books drive my sister buggy. I don’t know why since they aren’t in her house and aren’t laying around cluttering things up … mostly. But its not clutter anyway, its BOOKS. Also, as I said, they aren’t in her house so what’s the big deal? But she never misses an opportunity to nag me about getting rid of all my paperbacks. The hardbacks she grudgingly considers acceptable. But the paperbacks she considers trash. Huh? I was talking to a friend earlier today (that’s my today, it would be a few weeks ago for you) and, as she pointed out, the content is no less for the difference in covers so what’s the big deal? Some of these I’ve had for many years and are like old friends. Some may even have monetary value; but that’s not the point.
I had this flash, a vision of the future after I’m gone, and it worried me. I saw my sister cleaning off my bookshelves with a garbage bag at her feet. *shudder* So I emailed a friend of mine (a different one; yes, I have another one) and told her I was going to will all my books to her to keep them out of my sister’s hands. Even if my friend doesn’t elect to keep them, she’ll at least respect them. I may distribute a few to other people as bequests (so be nice to me), those people who I know will understand what the books mean to me. But the important thing is to keep the books safe. That was this morning (once again, this was a few weeks ago for you). This afternoon (a few weeks ago) my friend emails me back to say that she’s honored although she’s not sure she could read them all in three lifetimes. Well, I’ve read them all in less than one lifetime (assuming its going to last a bit longer) and anyway, its not like she has to deal with it NOW because, hey, I’m still here. I just want to know that my old friends will have good homes and I trust her.
I know we all read, but who else ‘collects’? Do you have a system? Do you have some ‘old friends’?
Discuss. Whenever.
February 10th, 2007
There’s a forum elsewhere that is discussing, Queen of Swords, by Sara Donati, AKA Rosina Lippi, over the next number of weeks. She asked me to be the moderator (Don’t even ask whether I’m qualified!). Rosina writes both contemporary romances and historical adventures with romance thrown in. Queen of Swords is the fifth novel of the Wilderness series. It takes place in New Orleans in 1814 and 1815 during the War of 1812 (I didn’t name the war!). It’s written so that you don’t need to read the previous 4 first.
Historical novels rarely are funny like Crusie’s romances are; so don’t expect contributors to have the CB craziness. Over there I have a different alias, unpronounceable, only 5 letters long since Blooger wouldn’t let me have it at J&B’s.
With J&B starting up their 2007 Online Writing Workshop, this might be a good opportunity (Hint! Hint!) to delve into a different genre from theirs for comparison. Some of my questions will have to do with Rosina’s purpose in doing things for the sake of structure, foreshadowing, character developing (arcs, I hope), and POV. Of course, many questions will be more mundane.
So why invite you all? On accounta you all are really literate in a writerish sorta way and could make some fine contributions. And, no, I won’t be deserting the CB Bar & Grill. You can take a peek without registering (you’ll be a GUEST), but must register in order to add comments. http://tiedtothetracks.com/forum/, then to Sara’s Stuff: The Wilderness Novels, then to Queen of Swords: discussion group.
Joining in after the study has already begun is not a problem since I designed it so that people could join in later and begin at the beginning or the middle or the end. (She blushingly pats herself on the back and makes a curtsy.)
Why such a web name? The forum started when Rosina’s contemporary novel, Tied To The Tracks first came out.
If you’re interested, check out Queen of Swords from the library; a lot interested, Amazon lists at $18.
January 5th, 2007
I couldn’t remember whether we had a tagline or not. Changed the blog name, but that’s about it. I’m going to leave the rest of the design up to you. Delete or change this post when you can so that I know you got in okay.
Edited to add all categories so that we quit getting the error when choosing a caategory from the sidebar. - Bryan
September 20th, 2006
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