the problem with reading reviews…

… before you’ve finished the novel is this: you lose interest.

I know I’ve referenced Goodreads more than a few times on here. And I do love it. I’ve found several books that I might not have read otherwise… plus this 800 word prequel that Rowling wrote about James and Sirius that was pretty cute. But the problem with Goodreads is that I read reviews of books before I’ve finished them. In the case of Anna Karenina this was helpful. I realized other people in the world loathed this novel as much as I did. One reader even admitted to tossing his in a fire upon completion (I haven’t done that… I don’t think I could).

Other novels I’ve read reviews of didn’t really bother me because I didn’t care about them too much. So the reviews were merely entertaining and didn’t affect my reading too much. And then there’s this book

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

I want so desperately to like this book. I started it on December 7th and there’s no way it should take me 7 days to read. But I just can’t get into it. I mean Ms. Russell writes some beautiful pieces. Collections of words and phrases that thrill me. But this story is just plodding along and making me want to cry.

I read one of her short stories last semester in my Fiction I class. “The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach” found in The Best American Short Stories 2010. I think our overall reaction to the story was that it was bizarre and dense. I mean, Karen throws in polysyllabic words one after the other like it ain’t no thing. And after two paragraphs filled with heavy words and phrases I just find myself really really tired.

So, I’ll finish it. But I may need to pick up another book and start reading two of them simultaneously. I only have 17 days left after all.

another review of a book about book lovers

So in the exhilarating hours following my completion of Anna Karenina I read 84, Charing Cross Road quickly followed by the similar The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. A book with which I fell completely in love.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

As I mentioned in my review of 84 I heard about Guernsey when listening to the Diane Rehm show on NPR. And because of Anna I had to wait to read it. I opened the pages and found a quote from the book on this special glossy page at the beginning of the novel.

I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers. How wonderful if that were true.

  I teared up more than a few times while reading this book. Mary Ann Shaffer (described by her niece as their family’s best story-teller) and her niece Annie Barrows struck quite an amazing tone in telling the stories of the men and women who lived under German occupation in the British Channel Isles during World War Two. It is a story of courage and unlikely friendships and all those “feel good” cliches they use to describe novels like this. And I loved it.

Anna is considered a “great romance” and I guess I can kind of see that when it comes to Levin and Kitty… but to me it seemed more like a dissertation on dysfunctional relationships. So, this whimsical romance set in such a distinct little place was refreshing and just so cute to me.

Like 84, Guernsey is told through correspondence. The letters written to and from Juliet unfold the story of her life and the inhabitants of this quirky little island in the English Channel. All of the characters are resiliently recovering from the horrors of World War II and attempting to piece their lives back together. And Juliet, hearing of the people and their plight during the war decides to write a story about them.

I think after the bleak, bleak pages of early 19th century Russia the hopeful love story set in the late 1940s was so completely refreshing that I just liked it without even thinking about it. It is one of the best kinds of stories: people drawing together during a dark time and creating joy in the midst of terror.

I find the title of this book sort of amusing. As with most absurdly long titles it makes perfect sense once you’ve read the novel. And the quirkiness is sure to grab attention of book browsers. I like quirky names, but I am over them a little bit. I don’t think I’ll ever like books with one word titles. But somewhere in the 2-4 words range is acceptable I think. Or maybe I’m just in a weird mood after blogging about so many books with ridiculously long titles.

I have some exciting news for you all later this week… so make sure you stop by the blog Thursday to read it!

See you then.

yesterday (or NaNo update 3)

It’s possible that you, my loyal readers, may have wondered what happened to me yesterday after my triumphant review of The History of Love. You may have suffered a brief panic attack or heart palpitations, or something like that, when you realized that THE ENTIRE DAY had passed without as much as a 100 word snarky comment about anything.

I know I did. My heart palpitations were the result of my remembering at 10:45 that I was scheduled to work at 11 am. I was en route to a great little bagel place that happened to be sort of on the way to work. Luckily, Camille was with me and she played courier for my unprepared self for the next hour or so.

So, I worked from 11-6. And then I swam a beastly 1,450 yards. The whole while thinking about what a momentous day November 15th was supposed to be.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce that on November 15th, 2011 that I accomplished to major milestones. And I’m so excited to tell you about them I don’t know in which order to type them up. I guess in the order they happened will suffice.

On November 15th, 2011 at approximately 9 pm I finished Anna Karenina, the Russian behemoth that has plagued my existence since June.

AND

On November 15th, 2001 at approximately 11:20 pm I hit and passed the goal of 25,000 words.

My official word count at the time of writing this post is 25,177 words. Yes, all about the same story. Now, I only have 25,000 words to go. And at this point I’ve made up all the words I was behind on… so I can take a slightly more relaxed pace dropping from 3-4,000 words a day to the much more pleasurable 2,200.

And now it is 11:40 and my eyelids are quite droopy. So, I will bid you goodnight. (Chalk it up to eccentricity, since you’ll probably read this sometime midmorning on Wednesday the 16th).

you have already received your reward

Dear faithful readers,

NaNoWriMo officially begins 12:01 am November 1st (or midnight October 31st. I don’t really know how that works… I’ll most likely be asleep). I’ve been convincing myself not to cheat though I’ve had several inspiring ideas in the past few days. I’ve just been keeping note of them in my handy-dandy notebook (a Moleskin if you’re curious).

thinking with steve

I’ve become quite the notetaker.

Anyway, like I’ve mentioned before I’m nervous about sharing what I’m working on for the story. I think I’ve only described it in the vaguest of terms to my fellow crazy adventurer Jenna. The other day I got an email from one of the cheerleaders employees at The Office of Paper & Light (who run NaNoWriMo) that was a sort of checklist and timeline for the month. One point she made was to tell EVERYONE I KNOW that I’m participating for accountability purposes. This called to mind an article I read around New Year’s that suggested keeping your resolutions to yourself. The article posited that the reaction you get from people when you share your resolution is similar to the approval you experience when you actually achieve it so your brain is tricked and your motivation drops.

Sort of makes sense. But the cat’s out of the bag here. Y’all ALREADY KNOW.

So, I guess this is a call for accountability. Two-thousand words a day PLUS normal human interaction AND a semblance of a regular blogging schedule. It can be done, right? You guys have faith in me, right? (It’s tough looking for encouragement on the internet).

In order to keep you interested (and help keep me motivated) here’s some tidbits -

-it’s set in Tampa (in the year 2004/2005)

-its main characters are teenagers (but I don’t know if I want to take the traditional YA approach).

-it will be told in journal style entries (so first person narrator EXTRAVAGANZA!)

-it may involve “research” of watching old Law & Order episodes

-there will probably be an older hippie sister

1.5 days left. Insanity is imminent.

Two Parting notes:

1. Count Vronsky keeps showing his teeth off whenever he enters the room or meets a person. I don’t know what Tolstoy meant by this, but it’s creeping me out. Any insight?

2. That blog I wrote about the 20 Things I Would Rather Do than Read Anna Karenina you guys looked at it over 130 times. So, good job guys. That’s sort of ridiculous, but I was flattered. In fact, September had dismally low blog views, but in the past week you’ve managed to make October my highest month in views to date. So, you know, thanks again.

Stick around. It might even be entertaining again.

Saturday Bonus

Last night in effort to avoid watching a LMN Original movie with my mom I suggested we watch one of the most beautiful movies in recent history

Pride & Prejudice

During most movies I get a little antsy and pull out my phone to peruse the IMDB app to look up inane things. I was curious as to what Matthew Macfadyen is up to and what I discovered was a whole new motivation to finish reading Anna Karenina.

Guys, pretty much the same team is making Anna Karenina into a movie. I’m already imagining how beautiful it’s going to be with Joe Wright directing. And with heavy hitters like Kiera Knightley, Jude Law, and Matthew Macfadyen as well as two of my recent favourites Aaron Johnson and Domhnall Gleeson this movie is going to be gorgeous. I can’t wait to see the exquisitely detailed horse race translated into movie magic.

One caveat I have is this entirely Russian story is being acted out by a British cast. But I can get over that I think cause they’re just so dang pretty.

The movie is slated for 2012 (one more reason the world won’t end) so I still have plenty of time to finish the novel. It’s been sitting stubbornly at page 407 for about a month now. It also means that all of you waiting in anticipation for my review can start reading with me and we can have a celebration with the movie releases. Deal?

Until then Happy Saturday.