Popsugar Book Challenge review

WRITER’S SHELF: The Popsugar Book Challenge, Cary Elwes dishes on The Princess Bride & a Publishing Surprise!

It’s a freezing, rainy October weekend (thank you Hurricane Joaquin) so I’ve spent the day taking photos for the blog, making recipes for the you (prepare yourself for my attempt at food blogging) and realizing it’s been hella long since I’ve done a Writer’s Shelf feature and I’m overdue for some catch up.

Now before I jump into the books for my Popsugar 2015 Book Challenge, I have a big announcement to make. After forever and a day, (roughly), I have finally sold my first book! My middle grade fairy tale adventure novel, “The Ice Maiden’s Tale” will be published by Xist Publishing in 2016! Prepare yourself for more writing features that will actually feature my own novel.

Because I’m behind, I’ll be grouping books together.

Book #6
Popsugar Slot: “A memoir”

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride
by Cary Elwes & Joe Layden
The Princess Bride is my absolute favorite movie, and coincidentally my soon to be published novel was inspired a lot by it. This book is about the making of the movie and it was fun, quick read. The highlights include that Robin Wright (Buttercup) and Cary Elwes (Westley) had a bit of a crush on each other, Cary Elwes actually was knocked unconsciously when he was hit on the head by the 6 fingered man, the swordfight scene took an epic amount of training, and Andre the Giant was the nicest, coolest dude ever. (He really deserves his own book). If the movie is one of your faves, add this to your must read list.
QUOTE:
“As you wish” – Could I really choose anything else?
WRITER’S LESSON:
Apparently it took eons before someone could get the Princess Bride made into a movie and it didn’t find its audience until it was released on video after which it became a cult classic. The lesson I’ve learned from this and (my own struggle with publishing) is that eventually your story will find it’s way to the right audience. Sometimes you just have to wait it out.
BOOK SUGGESTION:
I don’t read many memoirs but I was moved and intrigued by Ekaterina Gordeeva’s book, “My Sergei: A Love Story” which detailed her life in skating with her late husband. It’s an oldie, but still good.

Book #7
Popsugar Slot: “A book at the bottom of your to-read list”

Bel Canto
by Ann Patchett
A classmate of mine in grad school, Morgan Matson, gave me this book to read. I started and for some reason I put it down and didn’t pick it up again. It’s been quite a few years since then and the books in my “to read” basket quickly covered this one up. It was literally at the bottom. It’s a beautiful, lyrical story about how humans behave and treat each other in extreme circumstances, using music as a link between them. As a musician, that aspect was quite compelling and I found this book to be an inspiring read.
QUOTE:
“She sang as if she was saving the life of every person in the room.”
WRITER’S LESSON:
Sometimes focusing on one sense (like sound or scent) can make compelling descriptions and are interesting ways to link emotions to the scenes unfolding.
BOOK SUGGESTION:
I can’t really suggest something from the bottom of your personal “to-read” list so I’ll suggest a book I loved where music played an important part. “When Venus Fell” by Deborah Smith is one of my favorite romance novels and features heroine Venus Arinelli, a concert pianist.

Book #8
Popsugar Slot: “A book that came out the year you were born”

The Neverending Story
by Michael Ende
I was born in 1979 and before I started googling, I was concerned at what I’d have to choose from. Turns out, 1979 was a great year for books and included such gems as “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”, “The Dead Zone” and “The Elephant Man”. Because I am obsessed with children’s lit and fantasy adventure, I opted for “The Neverending Story”. This was originally published in German and follows the adventures of the chubby, bullied Bastian as he escapes to and out of Fantasia. I’m not sure if it’s the translation or the Germanic origin, but the book felt almost as though it were written more for an adult audience than for children. That being said, I do think the world of Fantasia would be enchanting for all ages.
QUOTES:
“”He didn’t like books in which dull, cranky writers describe humdrum events in the very humdrum lives of humdrum people. Reality gave him enough of that kind of thing, why should he read about it? Besides, he couldn’t stand it when a writer tried to convince him of something. And these humdrum books, it seemed to him were always trying to do just that.”
WRITER’S LESSON:
Never try to convince Bastian of anything.
But seriously, you have to be sneaky when you want to teach someone a lesson in your story. Nothing is worse than preachy prose.
BOOK SUGGESTION:
1979 was a great year for literature both the highbrow and of the more sensational variety. “Flowers in the Attic” by V.C. Andrews is my suggestion as it built an entire genre. Even if incestuous romance stories aren’t your thing, you need to read it just for the OMG factor. (Plus it’s one of the few V.C. Andrews books actually written by her.)

Book #9
Popsugar Slot: “A Pulitzer Prize-winning book”

Middlesex
by, Jeffrey Eugenides
Sometimes I think “real” literature is wasted on me and when I don’t love award winning books I’m afraid the Lit police are going to show up at my door and confiscate my writing degrees. I’d been wanting to read Middlesex for a long time and considering all the current discussion about gender and the role it plays in an individual’s life, this seemed a timely choice. It had some great spots but I really wanted to hear more about our hermaphrodite narrator, Calliope/Cal and how she/he matured through adulthood rather than hundreds upon hundreds of pages about grandparents and parents and even about sperm. It took me a ridiculous amount of time to finish it and when I finally did it felt like I’d been let out of jail.
I’m sorry. Please don’t take away my MFA.
QUOTES:
“Jerome was sliding and climbing on top of me and it felt like it had the night before, like a crushing weight. So the boys and men announce their intentions. They cover you like a sarcophagus lid. And call it love.”
WRITER’S LESSON:
You can’t tell every story even tangentially related to your main story without losing something. Backstory is important but not at the cost of your main story and lead character.
BOOK SUGGESTION:
I’ll admit I haven’t read tons of Pulitzer winners as a lot of the stories just don’t quite appeal to me. However, “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is perfection. I’m actually a little afraid to read “Go Set a Watchman” because I don’t want it to mess with my feelings for Lee’s first book.

I’ll be back soon with another bunch of books from my list.
If you’re participating in the challenge I’d love to hear your choices for the various categories and if you’re not, I’d just love to hear your recommendations for books!

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WRITER’S SHELF: THE POPSUGAR 2015 BOOK CHALLENGE! Book #5: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

So it’s time again to take a break from subscription boxes and catch up with my Popsugar Book Challenge. I’ve been plugging away at my reading scavenger list and I’m long overdue for another book review.

Awhile back I reviewed the awesome YA book subscription box, OwlCrate which included was the fantasy book “A Darker Shade of Magic” by V.E. Schwab. I opted to use this book to fill my slot for “a book with magic” (I know, you totally couldn’t see that one coming).

This was a new author for me and I was intrigued by the Dickensian setting that felt simultaneously familiar and completely foreign. The book begins with Kell, one of the last of the travelers, a magician who uses his own blood to travel through the different Londons. Yes, Londons with an “s”. There are 4 different Londons: Grey London, dirty, boring and without magic, Red London, a place where magic and life are revered (and where Kell was raised), White London, where people fight to control magic and the battle drains the life from the city and the lost, Black London that was cut off from all the others and is never spoken of. You follow Kell’s adventures as he travels between the Londons and meets up with the crafty Delilah “Lila” Bard, a thief who dreams of far away adventures.

This book is beautifully written and starts off a bit slow, but picks up speed once we are introduced to the compelling Lila. I found her easier to relate to and more intriguing than Kell, but this is the first book in a series so the hero of the story still has a long way to go. Unfortunately, we don’t get to visit Black London (which I spent the whole book dying to see), but I guess that’s a story for later in the series.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was a mix of Dickens and Harry Potter, and it worked well for the storyline. The one thing that detracted from the story was that the pacing felt a bit uneven, however that’s often the case in books that start a series. They have to set up an entire world and introduce characters that will last for possibly thousands of pages but still have a compelling story. It’s a heavy burden for a book and V.E. Schwab handles it well.

QUOTE:
It was Lila’s longing for a different life that made her character so endearing to me. “Lila knew what it felt like to want something, knew the way it whispered and sang and screamed in your bones.”….“I’d rather die on an adventure than live standing still.”

WRITER’S LESSON:
In Fantasy, the world is another character. Fantasy stories, more so than any other genre, demand that the world and setting carry as much weight as the characters in the story. People want to visit these exotic and foreign destinations with all of their senses and it’s important to put in enough detail that they can touch, taste, see and hear the world.

BOOK SUGGESTION:
For another great book with magic and a young hero, try John Connelly’s “The Book of Lost Things”.

Do you like books with magic? If so, what are your faves?

WRITER’S SHELF: THE POPSUGAR 2015 BOOK CHALLENGE! – Book #3 – Room 702 by Ann Benjamin

It’s that time again for one of my book reviews for the Popsugar Book Challenge. After my last review, I was approached by an author, Ann Benjamin, who asked me to review her novel, Room 702. I thought it was a great idea to include a self-published author in my list. As a struggling writer, I feel it’s important to support new authors, so I opted for Room 702 to be my “book with a number in the title”.

This book presented an intriguing concept. Our perspective on the story is from a single hotel room as various people move through it. This brings us many characters and stories; some of which intertwine and develop while others will only appear in isolated flashes.

The book starts off with an unfortunate and overly detailed description of the hotel room that reads like a giant advertising brochure. There are pages and pages of unnecessary detail—even down to the brands of toiletries. These all basically just tell us that this is a super-fancy pants hotel suite in a super fancy pants hotel. As readers, we’re going to spend over 300 pages in Room 702, so there will be many opportunities to describe the bedspread or the mini bar. A shorter, simpler description could have described the luxury in a more compelling way.

We get introduced to a lot of characters and stories, some are successful, many are not, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why some storylines receive more attention and others don’t. My favorite was one of the smallest, where a gay couple is supposed to have a romantic weekend and instead get ill together. It’s a short flash, but the dialogue and scenario felt far more authentic than some of the recurring stories like the NBA basketball player who receives counseling.

Unfortunately, the unique construct of the book is what ultimately makes it unsuccessful. It tries to be too many things all at the same time – quirky romance novel, spy thriller, ghost story, and literary drama. To make the ordinary moments more compelling you need super tight dialogue and a knack for lovely prose and while Benjamin’s writing is satisfactory it doesn’t have the heft to make those quiet moments sparkle. And because we are constantly being introduced to new characters, there is a ton of exposition which slows the book down. With this type of setup, the characters need to shine through actions and dialogue otherwise we’re reading page after page of backstory.

After reading through the many different types of stories, I felt that the author was most at home with the more romantic exchanges (particularly the lighthearted and comical ones). In my opinion, this is where the writing and story seem to have the best flow and I’d love to see Ms. Benjamin focus on that type of tone.

I appreciate the level of effort that went into this book and I think Ms. Benjamin had a wonderful concept that just needed a lot of editing and revision. I commend her for attempting a book that would be difficult for even the most experienced and talented of writers to successfully complete.

WRITER’S LESSON:
Don’t let a unique concept or idea hold your writing hostage.
As a writer, you’ll be struck by great moments of inspiration that push you to do things like write your entire story in 2^nd person or decide that having 10 different first person narrators will be awesome. You have to temper that unique idea with staying true to your characters and your story. Sometimes those great, wonderful ideas can hold you back and no matter how amazing they *could* have been, or how much time you spent fleshing them out, you just have to let them go.

QUOTE:
Because of the myriad of characters and stories, it was too hard to find a quote that felt like it jumped out at me. So instead, I’m going to grab one from Robert Browning that highlights the great aspirations of this book. “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?”

BOOK SUGGESTION:
If you’re looking for another book with a number in the title and a unique construct try Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.

So what are you currently reading for the Popsugar Book Challenge?

WRITER’S SHELF: THE POPSUGAR 2015 BOOK CHALLENGE! – Book #2 – Every Day by David Levithan

So it’s time again for a book review for my Popsugar Book Challenge. After my intensely unhappy experience with Outlander, I decided that I needed to choose a category that was more likely to lead to a book I’d enjoy. I opted for “A book from an author you love” with the desperate I hope I wouldn’t somehow end up with another accidentally rapey book.

I chose David Levithan not just for his amazing writing abilities, but for his teaching as well. I was privileged to attend the graduate Creative Writing program at the New School and David Levithan was the professor for all our children’s literature classes. From the mockery of the ellipsis abuse in “Go Ask Alice” to our Q&A with authors like John Green, my time in his classes remains among the most remarkable experiences of my writing career. That’s why he was the perfect author to fit this category on my list.

I am embarrassed to say that Every Day has been on my “to read” list since almost forever, so I knew it was the one to choose.
“We all contain mysteries, especially when seen from the inside.”
This book begins with a most intriguing (and unsettling) premise. Imagine every day you wake up in a different body? In a different stranger’s life? You could be a boy or girl, gay or straight, a broken loner or the Queen Bee. Every day your life reboots and you’ve never known anything else. You have never had your own face, or family, or home. All you’ve ever done is borrow little bits of other people’s lives for a day at a time. The concept itself is both exhilarating and terrifying.

This story starts with A, who isn’t a boy or a girl, but a conscious entity that moves through lives trying to be of as little disruption as possible, until A meets Rhiannon and falls in love with her. Like Cinderella, when midnight hits A will be pulled from one life to another, but after A falls in love, one day is just not enough.

While this book is a love story, it grapples with larger issues of identity and how we as humans discover who we are. Imagine you don’t have your father’s eyes, or your deep voice? Imagine that you’re not a girl or a boy? Imagine the place you sleep every night is not the place you will wake up. The world is both full of possibilities and yet somehow missing something inextricably precious.

This novel was beautifully written and interspersed with so much lovely prose. A’s plight will break your heart especially when A describes being a child and arguing with different Mommys that “goodnight” means “goodbye”. There are a lot of niggling unanswered questions that I hope will see some resolution in a sequel and at times A was a bit hard to relate to, but overall this book was moving and thought provoking. The story and prose will stay with me for a very long time and I recommend it to anyone interested in literary YA.

WRITER’S LESSON:
Make every word count. Descriptions should flow and have a music of their own. When you hit just the right words at just the right moment in a story, it’s magic. Sometimes that means being brave and cutting phrases and words you love, but always remember the sacrifice is for the greater good.

QUOTE:
I could fill this entire post with quotes I loved from this book, so here’s just one of the many beautiful passages:
“He was the corner that her eye always strayed toward. When she closed her eyes to go to sleep, it was thoughts of him that would lead her into her dreams.”

BOOK SUGGESTION:
If you’re looking for another Young Adult book that has supernatural elements, (along with a body jumping narrator) try Laura Whitcomb’s “A Certain Slant of Light”.

So what are you currently reading for the Popsugar Book Challenge and what did you think of it?

WRITER’S SHELF: THE POPSUGAR 2015 BOOK CHALLENGE! – Book #1 Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

For 2015, I added a writery blog feature and christened it with the Popsugar Book Challenge. I know a bunch of you were excited to join me in this reading treasure hunt. For those who missed it, we’ve got a list of book categories we need to complete before the year is out. It’s not too late to join us, so if you want in, head over here for a printable list.

For my first book I decided to tackle the category of “A book based on or turned into a TV show”. I’d heard so many amazing things about Outlander (both the book and the show) so I was certain I would love it (which is almost always the setup for disaster). I mean romance, time travel, and a hot ginger hero, what’s not to love?

Now before I begin, if you love Outlander, and Diana Gabaldon is your favoritest author to ever author, then look away now. Come back when I’m talking about awesome mascara, or the latest Birchbox. Seriously, I’d like to be friends when this is all over.

Now for those of you left, here’s what you should know going in. This book has more attempted rape in it than a maximum security prison. Attempted rape pretty much sums up the entire plot, except when we get to the successful rape. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

First let’s start with the most unlikeable heroine I have ever encountered in a romance novel. Claire is cold and detached and at first I thought this was a set up so that we would see her blossom as she time travels from her boring 1940s life with her kind, (but unexciting), husband to 1700s Scotland and the younger, hunkier Jamie. But once again I was wrong. Claire’s reaction to time travel is the following: “They must be doing a reenactment. Oh wait, no one would use real bullets in a reenactment. I must have traveled back in time.” The end. That’s it. Imagine for one damn second, that you just went poof and were back in time. YOU WENT BACK IN TIME. MAGIC IS REAL. YOU ARE ALONE WITH NOTHING IN THE 1700s. What the hell is running through your mind? What is the first thing that hits you? The smell. IMAGINE IT. There is no running water. There are no regular toilets and you can die of gangrene faster than you can blink. Where is the panic? Claire is very, very (very!) frequently almost raped and she reacts to this with as much alarm as you might reserve for a hang nail.

Now, putting aside these issues a romance novel lives and dies on its sex scenes. An awesome first kiss or steamy sex scene can totally transform an otherwise mediocre book. The scenes in Outlander move from clinical disinterest to violence with not much in between. I don’t need the flowery language that pervades too many romance novels, but no sex scene needs the word “testicles” in it. Ever. Sorry, it’s just not sexy and it never will be. Also, I mentioned Claire is married before she time travels from the 1940s, right? Because she forgets this 99.999% of the time. In fact she marries the hunky Jamie, bangs him like a billion times and doesn’t feel guilty until halfway through the book. Halfway through a 642 page book. So it took her over 300 pages to feel bad about cheating on her husband with her new husband. (And yes, I actually read all 642 of these terrible pages, for you people, just for you).

You know the best part of time travel books, where you watch the main character struggle to deal with the dramatic changes in the world? Yeah that never happens. She just easily adapts. We never hear much about her difficulties with hygiene or anything she misses from her old world. After 300 pages she finally does freak out about the possibility of bedbugs. But at this point she’s been living in the 1700s for months. I mean just think of how much you miss your own bed after a trip? Imagine losing your entire world? For example, I caught the Vh1 show Hindsight the other day that also features a time-traveling heroine, except she’s only going back 20 years (from 2015 to 1995). It was gloriously entertaining to watch her try to explain to her best friend that you can watch anything on your phone at any moment and listening to her friend ask if we finally have flying cars in 2015. The fish out of water experience is the BEST DAMN part of a time travel story. And we get 642 pages and none of it. Sigh.

Okay so back to the rape, which you will never leave for long in this book. We also have many many many many (did I say many) whippings. And our villain, well, he’s a homosexual and it portrays being gay with this type of gleeful evil that is hard to stomach. And don’t worry you’ll get lots and lots of details about that successful rape. You know, because graphic, violent rape is why we all pick up romance novels.

Because this is my writer’s feature I figured I’d include some writer extras with each of my reviews including: a book suggestion, interesting quote and something I learned about writing. Thankfully you can often learn more from books you hate than ones you love, so no story is ever a waste.

WRITER’S LESSON:
This book is written in first person, where the viewpoint is of a character writing or speaking directly about themselves. This is a great perspective to use when you want to put the reader right into a character’s thoughts and emotions. Unfortunately, it means that when you don’t give us a character’s feelings/ reactions it can make that character unlikeable and distant. If this book had been written in a third person view, it might have been far more successful at creating likeable, engaging characters. I think that stories really have a will of their own and each one has a perspective that works best for that particular tale. If you can’t figure out if your story should be in first or third person, try writing a page in each format and see what feels like home.

QUOTE:
This book has some pretty prose from time to time and I thought this quote was lovely.
“Those small spaces of time, too soon gone, when everything seems to stand still, and existence is balanced on a perfect point, like the moment of change between the dark and the light, when both and neither surround you.”

BOOK SUGGESTION:
If you’re looking for a time travel romance that has a bit more well, romance, try Jude Deveraux’s Knight in Shining Armor.

So what did you choose for your first book of the Popsugar Book Challenge and what did you think of it?

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