Well, it’s Sunday and that means I get to ask a question. Today I’d like to hear about where you get your book-related news. What are your go-to places for book talk, reviews, news etc.
I love Goodreads. It’s easy to use and it appeals to that control freak side of me that likes lists etc.
I moderate a reading group at Chapters Indigo called 50 Books in 2012. We’ve actually been at it for five years – we just roll the date over every year. It’s just a place where we post short reviews of what we’re reading with a goal of reading 50 books. Some people triple (or more) that number. It’s not really about the number anyway – it’s more about talking about great books.
Here’s someone with a dilemma I can relate to. Too many unread books. But really, is it a dilemma?
Consider my unread bookshelves.
It would appear that I have a serious book-buying problem…but is it really a problem? I mean, some people have an addiction to shoes or purses – not me. I love knowing that when I am done a book I only need to peruse my shelves to find something else to read. There’s a book for every mood on that shelf: horror, mysteries, translations, non-fiction, YA, literary fiction, favourite authors, bargain bin finds that may be the next-best thing. Whatever – I am never without a book to add to my bedside table pile. I don’t have guilt about how many books I own. I have guilt that sometimes when I should be doing something else – I’m reading.
So the Internet is an amazing place. I followed a link and entered a contest for chance to win a ‘zine…and I won. A beautiful little book called Follow me to Venice arrived in the mail from Nicolette.
I was very excited to get this little handmade book because I am heading to Italy in June with my three very best girlfriends. It’s a trip we’ve been dreaming about for several years and none of us can believe that we are only four months away from actually going.
Nicolette’s beautiful photographs capture Venice perfectly – the stone and colours and water. I have been once before, but I can’t wait to return.
Nicolette’s lovely gift reminded me that books come in all sizes. Check out more of her work here
Patrick Ness has done it again with the second book in his Chaos Walking trilogy. When we left Todd and Viola in The Knife of Never Letting Go, they were running for their lives into the town of Haven. Well, Todd was running at least; Viola had been shot.
Haven turns out to be exactly the opposite; the pair are captured and separated. When Todd comes to, he is tied to a chair and the Mayor (remember how evil he was in the last book? You ain’t seen nothing yet!) is interrogating him. But all Todd can think about is Viola.
“Where is she?” I spit into the dark, tasting blood, my voice croaking, my Noise rising like a sudden hurricane, high and red and furious. “WHERE IS SHE?”
“I will be the one doing the asking here, Todd.
That voice.
The opening scene in The Ask and the Answer is but a taste of the horrors to come. Ness doesn’t pull any punches: literally. Haven has been taken by the Mayor and his men and Todd finds himself separated from Viola. No one is safe and the lines between who is good and who is not are constantly shifting.
The Ask and the Answer is about war. The themes are universal: outsiders rounded up like cattle and branded; a leader crazy for power (or perhaps just plain crazy), and two kids trying desperately to make meaning and find a way to do the least damage.So much comes at them and I often forgot that they were just kids. That was the hardest thing to believe about the whole book: Todd is supposed to have just turned 13 and he seems a lifetime older. But I am looking at him from my cushy, never-been-in-war, perspective. Who knows what you might be capable of if there was no alternative.
And that question is at the very centre of Ness’ terrific book. If you had no choice – what would you do? If you thought all was lost – what would you do? People constantly surprised me in this book, particularly the Mayor’s son, Davy. It’s a testimony to Ness’ considerable talent that he is able to make Davy sympathetic.
As for Todd and Viola – they continue to be resourceful and bloody amazing and true to each other is ways that are both heart-breaking and inspiring. They’re so brave and so resilient, I hated to leave them again.
Lee Thompson, Executive Director of the Writers Federation of New Brunswick, offers up seven excellent reasons to enter this year’s writing contest at Bread ‘n’ Molasses.
This is a post that I created last year to mark Valentine’s Day. I am editing it this year to add Hazel and Augustus to this list. These two teens from John Green’s amazing YA novel The Fault in Our Stars are just so heartbreaking. I haven’t yet met a person who’s read this book who hasn’t fallen completely in love with them.
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Well, it’s Valentine’s Day so I should talk about L-O-V-E. In fiction at least, things often work out happily-ever-after. But not always and I actually don’t mind that because in real life love is often fraught with difficulties that are impossible to overcome.
My parents weren’t romantic – so I can’t say that I come by my starry-eyed notion of love naturally. I am, however, a real romantic. I swoon at the notion of the grand romantic gesture. Star-crossed lovers gut me every time. I love angst: characters that should be together, but can’t for whatever reasons.
So, in no particular order – here are some of my favourite romantic moments in fiction (including tv and movies, because someone had to write those, too).
1. The Way We Were – Screenplay by Arthur Laurents
Like a lot of people, I watched this movie for the first time with my mom. And I loved it. Even now, just watching these six minutes – I bawled like a baby. Yes, I know Hubbell left his daughter – but consider the times. I still think this moment is classic. And the music. Gah!
2.The Bridges of Madison County – novel by Robert James Waller
Okay, I know. The book is mediocre – well, the writing at least. But the story, the soaring ache of it. I read the book almost 20 years ago and cried so hard it was ridiculous. I haven’t read it since and I doubt I could get through it given that I am the characters’ peers now and understand, even more fully, the sacrifices Francesca made.
3. Sydney Bristow and Michael Vaughn from Alias created by JJ Abrahms
Okay, so Syd and Vaughn aren’t together anymore because Vaughn is married to someone else. And this fact ratchets up the angst like OMG. Now, they are in a prison in North Korean and are about to be executed, so Vaughn has to make an admission. This video actually gives you a little back story.
4 . The Time Traveler’s Wife – novel by Audrey Niffenegger
Never mind the crapola movie, the book is a fantastic love story.
It’s dark, now, and I am very tired. I love you always. Time is nothing.
Oh, Henry – if only it were true. But for Clare and Henry time is both friend and enemy and Niffenegger’s deft handling of their story and the way their lives intersect is a powerful and heartbreaking tale. Love it.
I cried so hard during the last 50 pages of this book, I couldn’t see the words.
5. The Notebook – novel by Nicholas Sparks
Never read the book. The movie made me bawl like a baby. Instead of showing the obvious clip, with hotter than hot Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, how about this with James Garner and Gena Rowlands. This is what makes the story so heart-wrenching. It’s sort of the epitome of what I imagine true love to be all about. Nothing lame about loving someone like that.
6. Ben and Felicity from the show Felicity created by JJ Abrahms
I just finished rewatching all four seasons of Felicity and the Ben and Felicity stuff gets me every time. Some people are just meant to be.
7. The Lost Garden – novel by Helen Humphreys
At the centre of Helen Humphrey’s lovely book is Gwen Davis, a shy horticulturist who has been sent to the Devon countryside to oversee an estate garden being cared for by the Women’s Land Army. At an estate close by is Raley, a sensitive Canadian officer waiting to be sent to the front lines.
What can I say about love? You might see me sitting in this taxi, bound for Paddington Station – a thirty-five-year-old woman with plain features – and you would think that I could not know anything of love. But I am leaving London because of love.
If you haven’t read anything by Humphreys you are in for a treat; her writing is lovely and this book is gorgeous and romantic – though not, ultimately, in ways you might expect.
8. Romeo & Juliet – William Shakespeare
Lots of people would argue that there is nothing romantic about Shakespeare’s tragedy. They’d say that Romeo and Juliet were too young, and too self-centred to know what true love is all about. Perhaps it’s the beauty of Shakespeare’s poetry that makes me all emotional when I hear it. If you happened to have been with me in my high school auditorium the year we gathered to watch Zefferelli’s version, you’d know that I am prone to sobbing pretty much through the whole play.
Baz Luhrmann did an updated version of the play starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Clare Danes and it was okay. The death scene, however, is gorgeous. As death scenes go.
9. Dirty Dancing – Screenplay by Eleanor Bergstein
Oh, come on. Nobody puts baby in a corner. And that final dance. Who knows if Baby and Johnny are living happily ever after, but those two dirty danced straight into my heart and the film gets special dispensation for being my mom’s all-time favourite movie. She wore out several VHS copies of it. It’s extra meaningful now that Patrick Swayze is no longer with us. This clip doesn’t show the entire dance…but it does have that famous line.
This clip shows the final dance sequence in its entirety.
1o. Buffy and Angel – from the shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Series created by Joss Whedon
Oh, please, as if these guys wouldn’t make my list. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, the vampire with a soul- put ’em together and you get seven seasons of prime tear inducing angst. Did they love each other? Desperately. Could they be together? Nope. Did every B/A fangirl on the planet wish they’d have their happily-ever-after? I’m tearing up just thinking about it.
Here’s a video someone made tracing the B/A love story It’s pretty comprehensive.
These scenes are by no means definitive and I’d likely have added and deleted a few scenes, but the videos certainly do offer a sampling of these two characters. If Joss Whedon never did another thing again – he could be satisfied knowing that he created a masterpiece with these shows and characters. I am forever in his debt.
You might think there are some obvious omissions on this list. Titanic, for instance. Can you believe it – I’ve NEVER seen it!
I also should have included Legends of the Fall because Tristan and Susannah = romance like whoa.
Or Tristan and Isolde
Okay. I’m a sap.
I’d love for you to share your favourite romantic book or movie or tv show.
A million years ago, when I decided to become a teacher, one of the things that appealed to me was the whole notion of getting students to fall in love with reading the way that Iwas in love with it. Sadly, I found those first couple of years of teaching really hard. Really hard and, quite frankly, not enjoyable. So, I stopped teaching and did other things.
I’ve been back in the classroom for almost four years now and I am having a ball. All the things I believe about teaching – particularly about reading and writing – are the things that everyone seems to be talking about: the value of a classroom library (have one, small but growing), time to read, time to write, time to talk about those two things.
The other thing that has changed, of course, is the availability of resources – many just a click away. The Nerdy Book Blog is one such go-to place for me. I am a reader, sure, but I’ve only very recently started to read YA (Young Adult) fiction again and Nerdy Book Blog is an invaluable resource for all things YA. According to their About page:
If you love books, especially those written for children and young adults, then you are an honorary member of The Nerdy Book Club. Like us, you probably always have a book along to read, a title to recommend, and time to talk about works held dear.
This online space was designed to give us a home to share that love of reading with others as well as to organize voting and announcing winners of our First Annual Nerdies Book Awards.
We’ve had a pretty tame winter in Eastern Canada. Yesterday, however, we did have a bit of a weather incident and this morning it’s a glorious, white world out there. I can’t say that I’m really a winter person; I don’t like the cold. It’s ridiculous really considering where I live, but it is what it is. Still, on a day like today it’s hard not to see the beauty.
That said, I am already dreaming about summer. And – okay, the connection is slim, but it got me thinking about desert island books. If I was stranded, what five books would I take?
This is actually tougher than it seems, but after careful consideration my five desert island books are:
1. Velocity – Kristin McCloy
I’ve had this book for over 20 years and I’ve read it at least that many times. It doesn’t matter how many times I read it, it continues to speak to me in ways that are difficult to explain. Plus – it features the quinessential bad boy and I’m a sucker for those.
2. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
This is a book I haven’t read in many years, but I dearly loved it as a child and I know that a return visit is long overdue. Being stranded on a desert island would certainly afford me that opportunity.
3. A Little Princess – Frances Hodgson Burnett
Another book from my youth, this story of an orphaned little girl whose imagination sustains her never fails to make me cry. I never tire of spending time with Sara Crewe.
4. Collected works of William Shakespeare
I just don’t think you can argue the fact that Will was a terrific observer of human triumphs and frailties, of love and hate and you could read his plays forver and see something new every single time.
5. a great big poetry anthology – don’t care which one, just so long as it starts at the beginning and takes me through to present day. Poetry is good for the soul.
So, what five books would you take with you if you were stranded on a desert island?
I don’t have a tattoo. I don’t want a tattoo – it’s a needle thing. Growing up, my grandfather was the only person I ever knew who had a tattoo. They were old, faded things on his forearms, leftover remnants of his time as a Chief Petty Officer in the Royal Navy.
Nowadays it seems like just about everyone has a tattoo – young people and older people – but I often wonder if people ever suffer from tattoo regret. What happens when you break up and you’re stuck with the name of your “one true love” emblazoned on some part of your body? Yikes! What happens if you couldn’t afford to go to the really good tattoo artist and ended up with a picture that’s more turnip than rose. Yikes!
The Ludic Reader 