Did I tell you I'm writing a novel? Yeah, after reading all those terrible books on Amazon Prime, I decided I can write a story better than some of those. I loved to write stories when I was a kid and I love to read, so it makes perfect sense.
So, I'm doing some research. This includes reading lots of books and observing things like story arcs, plot points, character development, etc. My latests piece of research was Nicholas Sparks' The Lucky One.
This book follows Logan Thibault, a former Marine who had three tours in Iraq. While he was there, he found a photo of a woman. When the photo wasn't claimed, he took it with him and he believed that the photo provided luck for him. He was in a record number of IED attacks and avoided dying on numerous occasions. When he gets back from active duty, he decides to walk across the country to try to find the woman in the picture. Although this story sounds a bit creepy, it's pretty well put together and the Thibault character does not seem to be a mentally deranged stalker. The woman he finds is named Beth, a single mom with a crazy ex-husband. Naturally, Logan and Beth fall in love, the ex-husband loses his mind and the story resolves with the death of a major character, but it's the one you don't mind.
This book was good but not exceptional. The characters were interesting, but I didn't really identify with any of them on any level. It was a nice romance, but, honestly, I could have taken this book or left it. The characters are stereotypical (a war-hardened veteran, a beautiful woman who doesn't know she's beautiful, a manipulative ex-husband, a cute, smart kid). The plot was predictable. It's a good escapist read, but that's all!
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Monday, March 5, 2018
Some good books, some bad books
I've been reading a TON lately, mostly to keep myself off of social media. I find that FB and IG generally make me feel horrible, so I've been avoiding them lately. I'd generally like to continue that trend....
Luckily, my big reading habit has been helped by a few things: the discovery of free reading via Amazon prime on my Kindle, the local San Mateo library and the local Stanford library. Among those, I have been able to read about 2-3 books a week for the past several weeks. It's been a good thing. I thought I would tell you about a few that I've read.
America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tells the story of Martha Jefferson Randolph, the only surviving daughter of Thomas Jefferson. The novel follows Martha as her mother dies shortly after childbirth and she essentially becomes the mistress of the Jefferson household. The book is apparently based on thousands of letters and original sources and draws an interesting picture of the life of Jefferson's daughter. In her life, she lives in Paris during the French Revolution, is a witness to the dramatic forming of the American government, marries a cousin of hers and has a tumultuous relationship (and 11 surviving children), plays witness to Thomas Jefferson's affair with his slave, Sally Hemmings, and takes on the role of "first lady" in the White House. She lived a rich and varied life, in contrast to the slaves that Jefferson and her relatives kept. As a review, honestly, I thought this could have been so much better. The imagined dialogue is inane, the characters are fairly two-dimensional and several of the interesting plot points are imagined. With all the intrigue of forming a government and carrying out the American experiment, I would have thought that the authors could have created more interesting scenes, a more cohesive story (with or without the imagined romance) and more conflict addressing the fact that Jefferson wrote, "All men are created equal", except he kept slaves and women certainly were not considered equal. Although we know little about Sally Hemmings (and it's suggested that Martha destroyed any writings by Thomas Jefferson that referred to Hemmings), the authors create a love story between Hemmings and Jefferson. I find that largely unbelievable as Hemmings was a slave and many years younger than Jefferson (Hemmings was about Martha's age). It's well known that slave owners would rape their slaves - why would they not choose this scenario? It's definitely the more likely one, but I am assuming they chose the one they did to continue to white-wash history and not talk about reality during the creation of the US. If you like historical fiction and an easy read, you might like this book. Martha was a very interesting woman, I just think the authors could have done her more justice.
In the light of the garden by Heather Burch: I actually liked this story., although it was a bit cheesy. It was very light and easy to read. It follows Charity, who has just inherited her grandparents' house in Florida. She inherited a ton of money, too, so she decides to move to this sleepy community to start her life over. Her neighbor, Dalton, is a handyman who has moved to the island because he's experienced a dramatic tragedy (his wife and child were killed in a 7-11 robbery - a bit too dramatic, I thought). Anyways, there are some interesting characters, a slightly dramatic plot twist and the two of them end up together, naturally.
Coming Clean by Kimberly Rae Miller. This is a memoir about growing up with parents who are hoarders. This book was well written and interesting to read. It's clear it was therapeutic to write for the author. She talks about her childhood growing up surrounded by stuff - it's enough to make you want to clean your house! She describes not inviting friends over, being different people in the car as a family vs. being at home, and the complete and utter breakdown of a house they owned that literally fell apart because of stuff. I wanted this book to end with them finally cleaning everything out, but it doesn't end that way (of course it doesn't - this is her actual life), but it's interesting nonetheless.
Her Perfect Revengeby Anna Mara. This book is free on Amazon Prime and, honestly, I almost didn't make it through this one. It is billed as "a romantic comedy" and "laugh-out-loud funny". It follows Christina as she starts high school and is bullied by Bill. Fast forward 12 years later, and Christina is still mad about that bullying situation and decides to prank Bill for reasons that are beyond me. Christina barely has a job - she is a freelance photographer yet somehow affords to live in NYC unaided. Bill is a spoiled brat, but the heir to his father's dog food (?) fortune, so he drives fancy cars and does fancy stuff. Christina accidentally crashes her car into his and then Bill convinces her to pretend to be his fiancee so he can keep getting his dad's money. All of the characters are manipulative liars, so in the end they all deserve each other, I suppose. The only thing this author is good at is creating compulsion - I was compelled to find out what happened next so I finished the book but I'm unsure that I'm better for it...
A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy. This author was recommended to me because I love Rosamunde Pilcher, so I checked out some books from the library. This book is written about a new character each chapter, which I thought was an interesting way to write a story. The story centers around a new inn on the west coast of Ireland. It's being opened by Chicky Starr, the first character we meet in the book. The rest of the characters are either connected to Chicky in some way, or are connected to the Inn in some way. And each character has a problem that is subsequently solved by their trip to the Inn. It's a cute story with compelling characters, and, honestly, I wanted more to the story when I was finished (I think that is the biggest complement to an author, that you want to keep inhabiting their world).
The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy. This was a longer book than the previous one, but was a really interesting story. The book centers on Kit, a young girl in the beginning of the book, who lives with her mum and dad and brother in Lough Glass, Ireland. When Kit is 12, her mother goes missing one night and cannot be found. Kit grows into a woman during the course of the book and comes into her own as an adult, discovering the truth about her mother's disappearance. I thought this book was so great. I really enjoyed the story, the characters and the plot twists.
The Return Journey by Maeve Binchy - this is collection of her short stories, which were fine to read. It's nice to have a story without having to wonder what happens next. One of her stories was told entirely in letter form, which I thought was original.
I've got four more that I checked out from the library this past weekend - I will let you know what I think!
Luckily, my big reading habit has been helped by a few things: the discovery of free reading via Amazon prime on my Kindle, the local San Mateo library and the local Stanford library. Among those, I have been able to read about 2-3 books a week for the past several weeks. It's been a good thing. I thought I would tell you about a few that I've read.
America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tells the story of Martha Jefferson Randolph, the only surviving daughter of Thomas Jefferson. The novel follows Martha as her mother dies shortly after childbirth and she essentially becomes the mistress of the Jefferson household. The book is apparently based on thousands of letters and original sources and draws an interesting picture of the life of Jefferson's daughter. In her life, she lives in Paris during the French Revolution, is a witness to the dramatic forming of the American government, marries a cousin of hers and has a tumultuous relationship (and 11 surviving children), plays witness to Thomas Jefferson's affair with his slave, Sally Hemmings, and takes on the role of "first lady" in the White House. She lived a rich and varied life, in contrast to the slaves that Jefferson and her relatives kept. As a review, honestly, I thought this could have been so much better. The imagined dialogue is inane, the characters are fairly two-dimensional and several of the interesting plot points are imagined. With all the intrigue of forming a government and carrying out the American experiment, I would have thought that the authors could have created more interesting scenes, a more cohesive story (with or without the imagined romance) and more conflict addressing the fact that Jefferson wrote, "All men are created equal", except he kept slaves and women certainly were not considered equal. Although we know little about Sally Hemmings (and it's suggested that Martha destroyed any writings by Thomas Jefferson that referred to Hemmings), the authors create a love story between Hemmings and Jefferson. I find that largely unbelievable as Hemmings was a slave and many years younger than Jefferson (Hemmings was about Martha's age). It's well known that slave owners would rape their slaves - why would they not choose this scenario? It's definitely the more likely one, but I am assuming they chose the one they did to continue to white-wash history and not talk about reality during the creation of the US. If you like historical fiction and an easy read, you might like this book. Martha was a very interesting woman, I just think the authors could have done her more justice.
In the light of the garden by Heather Burch: I actually liked this story., although it was a bit cheesy. It was very light and easy to read. It follows Charity, who has just inherited her grandparents' house in Florida. She inherited a ton of money, too, so she decides to move to this sleepy community to start her life over. Her neighbor, Dalton, is a handyman who has moved to the island because he's experienced a dramatic tragedy (his wife and child were killed in a 7-11 robbery - a bit too dramatic, I thought). Anyways, there are some interesting characters, a slightly dramatic plot twist and the two of them end up together, naturally.
Coming Clean by Kimberly Rae Miller. This is a memoir about growing up with parents who are hoarders. This book was well written and interesting to read. It's clear it was therapeutic to write for the author. She talks about her childhood growing up surrounded by stuff - it's enough to make you want to clean your house! She describes not inviting friends over, being different people in the car as a family vs. being at home, and the complete and utter breakdown of a house they owned that literally fell apart because of stuff. I wanted this book to end with them finally cleaning everything out, but it doesn't end that way (of course it doesn't - this is her actual life), but it's interesting nonetheless.
Her Perfect Revengeby Anna Mara. This book is free on Amazon Prime and, honestly, I almost didn't make it through this one. It is billed as "a romantic comedy" and "laugh-out-loud funny". It follows Christina as she starts high school and is bullied by Bill. Fast forward 12 years later, and Christina is still mad about that bullying situation and decides to prank Bill for reasons that are beyond me. Christina barely has a job - she is a freelance photographer yet somehow affords to live in NYC unaided. Bill is a spoiled brat, but the heir to his father's dog food (?) fortune, so he drives fancy cars and does fancy stuff. Christina accidentally crashes her car into his and then Bill convinces her to pretend to be his fiancee so he can keep getting his dad's money. All of the characters are manipulative liars, so in the end they all deserve each other, I suppose. The only thing this author is good at is creating compulsion - I was compelled to find out what happened next so I finished the book but I'm unsure that I'm better for it...
A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy. This author was recommended to me because I love Rosamunde Pilcher, so I checked out some books from the library. This book is written about a new character each chapter, which I thought was an interesting way to write a story. The story centers around a new inn on the west coast of Ireland. It's being opened by Chicky Starr, the first character we meet in the book. The rest of the characters are either connected to Chicky in some way, or are connected to the Inn in some way. And each character has a problem that is subsequently solved by their trip to the Inn. It's a cute story with compelling characters, and, honestly, I wanted more to the story when I was finished (I think that is the biggest complement to an author, that you want to keep inhabiting their world).
The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy. This was a longer book than the previous one, but was a really interesting story. The book centers on Kit, a young girl in the beginning of the book, who lives with her mum and dad and brother in Lough Glass, Ireland. When Kit is 12, her mother goes missing one night and cannot be found. Kit grows into a woman during the course of the book and comes into her own as an adult, discovering the truth about her mother's disappearance. I thought this book was so great. I really enjoyed the story, the characters and the plot twists.
The Return Journey by Maeve Binchy - this is collection of her short stories, which were fine to read. It's nice to have a story without having to wonder what happens next. One of her stories was told entirely in letter form, which I thought was original.
I've got four more that I checked out from the library this past weekend - I will let you know what I think!
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Random stuff
- It's been really cold lately. There was snow on the mountains across the bay from us today.
- We went to Yosemite for a day and I can't upload pictures because my phone and blogger have stopped cooperating.
- Yesterday it rained as we were coming in. As we were descending our twisty-turney mountain road, we saw a cop ahead and slowed to a stop. He had pulled someone over. When we could finally pass them, we saw that the person pulled over was driving a forklift truck. Like the ones you see in a warehouse. On a mountain road. With his dog sitting up on his forklift too. It sounds like the beginning of a "You might be a redneck if...." joke...
- It's been sunny but cold. I think our electric bill will be thru the roof.
- I've stopped reading the FB and I have to say it makes me pretty pleased. I can't handle the vast majority of the rhetoric in my news feed and I'm unsure why I am friends with the people I have friended. Most of them I do not even know. It would be nice to erase it all and start over :)
- My cousin will be on The Voice either this week or next. Do you watch that show? I never watched it, but I love my cousin, so I will be watching. I really enjoy the Kelly Clarkson - Alicia Keyes - Blake Shelton banter but Adam Levine seems like kinda a dick. I guess there always has to be one!
- Tonight, we are getting a Hello Fresh box. My friend Jessica gave us a free one, so we will see if we like it. Alex claims he doesn't like Blue Apron because of all the trash it generates. Here's hoping HF is better because I like the idea of not having to come up with meal ideas sometimes.
Friday, February 16, 2018
Honestly, Haiku Friday
Honestly I just
can't with all the news. Instead
I hug my kid tight.
***
Valentines, he wrote
his name on all twenty four
This is the best age.
***
Today, Chinese New
Year Dragon dance with his friends
Renewal begins.
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Valentines
Today, D's class had a wee Valentines Day party. It was super cute. He handed out cards to his friends and was super excited to get a little box of Nerds candy from his friend. Then I turn around and he has pulled out another thing from his box and he's chomping on it. It looked weird since it didn't have a wrapper on it...so I ask him what he is eating? A candy, he says. I look closer....
Yeah....
Not a candy....
It's a crayon....
Someone had melted crayons together and poured it into a heart mold.
:)
Yeah....
Not a candy....
It's a crayon....
Someone had melted crayons together and poured it into a heart mold.
:)
Monday, February 12, 2018
Some good TV
There are three shows on Amazon that I love and I would watch over and over again. In no particular order:
1) Catastrophe: this is a comedy/drama/sometimes hits too close to home about an American man, Rob Delaney, who meets an Irish woman (Sharon Horgan) in a bar in London. They have a one night stand and she ends up pregnant. The first season follows the couple trying to navigate this complicated situation and each show is more ridiculous than the first. Horgan and Delaney wrote the show and it's absolutely comedy gold. Also, sometimes painful. You know when sometimes art imitates life a little too well? Yeah, that kind of painful. The next two seasons follow the couple as they have kids and go through ups and downs in their marriage, all with a touch of ridiculous comedy. Nearly every line in the show has some type of comedic element to it. I love it. It's so amazing and good. If you are married and/or have kids, this may be totally up your alley. Also, it may piss you off, haha!
2) Good Girls Revolt: This show was so good and it was cancelled, unfortunately, so there is not a chance it will return. However, fantastic nonetheless. This show follows the fictional Patty as she works as a researcher at the fictional News of the World newsmagazine at the end of the 1960s in NYC. There are so many things that I love about this show. Firstly, the cinematography, the costuming, the lighting are so well done. It creates a nostalgia in me because a lot of the decor reminded me of my grandparents' house or my parents' house. Secondly, the acting is phenomenal. Thirdly, the story is about women trying to gain equality and it centers around the women trying to become reporters instead of researchers (being a female reporter at NotW is not allowed). The women bring a lawsuit against the company and that's where the story ends. It's all loosely based on the real women who brought a lawsuit against Newsweek in the late 60s asking for equality in the workplace. The women actually won the lawsuit, but equality in the workplace is still far from here, even in 2018. The show is great and I wish Amazon would recognize that we want to see strong female role models in our entertainment. I guess they will realize that when they actually have female executives...
3) The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: This just came out and won a bunch of awards and I loved this show so much I hope it comes back. Rachel Brosnahan plays Midge Maisel, a young, upper West Side Jewish Housewife in NYC in 1958. In the first episode, her husband, Joel, leaves her and she discovers her previously unknown talent for stand up comedy. Brosnahan is phenomenal - I literally cannot take my eyes off of her. The entire cast is superb, including Tony Shaloub as her father. The show is written by Amy Sherman-Palladino, who was creator of the Gilmore Girls, still one of my favorite shows, so I guess it's no surprise I would love this one too. I hope they renew it. I can't wait to see where Mrs. Maisel goes.
1) Catastrophe: this is a comedy/drama/sometimes hits too close to home about an American man, Rob Delaney, who meets an Irish woman (Sharon Horgan) in a bar in London. They have a one night stand and she ends up pregnant. The first season follows the couple trying to navigate this complicated situation and each show is more ridiculous than the first. Horgan and Delaney wrote the show and it's absolutely comedy gold. Also, sometimes painful. You know when sometimes art imitates life a little too well? Yeah, that kind of painful. The next two seasons follow the couple as they have kids and go through ups and downs in their marriage, all with a touch of ridiculous comedy. Nearly every line in the show has some type of comedic element to it. I love it. It's so amazing and good. If you are married and/or have kids, this may be totally up your alley. Also, it may piss you off, haha!
2) Good Girls Revolt: This show was so good and it was cancelled, unfortunately, so there is not a chance it will return. However, fantastic nonetheless. This show follows the fictional Patty as she works as a researcher at the fictional News of the World newsmagazine at the end of the 1960s in NYC. There are so many things that I love about this show. Firstly, the cinematography, the costuming, the lighting are so well done. It creates a nostalgia in me because a lot of the decor reminded me of my grandparents' house or my parents' house. Secondly, the acting is phenomenal. Thirdly, the story is about women trying to gain equality and it centers around the women trying to become reporters instead of researchers (being a female reporter at NotW is not allowed). The women bring a lawsuit against the company and that's where the story ends. It's all loosely based on the real women who brought a lawsuit against Newsweek in the late 60s asking for equality in the workplace. The women actually won the lawsuit, but equality in the workplace is still far from here, even in 2018. The show is great and I wish Amazon would recognize that we want to see strong female role models in our entertainment. I guess they will realize that when they actually have female executives...
3) The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: This just came out and won a bunch of awards and I loved this show so much I hope it comes back. Rachel Brosnahan plays Midge Maisel, a young, upper West Side Jewish Housewife in NYC in 1958. In the first episode, her husband, Joel, leaves her and she discovers her previously unknown talent for stand up comedy. Brosnahan is phenomenal - I literally cannot take my eyes off of her. The entire cast is superb, including Tony Shaloub as her father. The show is written by Amy Sherman-Palladino, who was creator of the Gilmore Girls, still one of my favorite shows, so I guess it's no surprise I would love this one too. I hope they renew it. I can't wait to see where Mrs. Maisel goes.
Friday, February 9, 2018
Home Again
In case you didn't know, I am a huge Reese Witherspoon fan, so I was excited to see her latest rom-com, Home Again on the interwebs. I had some high expectations for this movie, and I have to say, it did not disappoint. Firstly, I have been home most of this week with some sort of head cold, so this was a perfect movie for hanging on the couch. Secondly, the NYTimes recently published an article about how Witherspoon is so smart because she came up with her own movie production company (all on her own! With her own head! AMAZING!) that wants to focus on making more movies for women, by women, etc. I'm not sure why the NYTimes felt that this was a revolutionary idea, because, DUH. Of course women want movies made for them. And of course women tell good stories, and can direct and act and all that jazz. I mean, really people.
ANYways, his movie was written and directed by a woman (Hallie Meyers-Shyer) and stars some wonderful actresses like Reese Witherspoon and Candace Bergen. The story is that Alice (Witherspoon) has just separated from her husband and moved back to CA from NY. She has two daughters and she is the daughter of a famous movie director (who is now dead) and her mother (Bergen) is a famous actress from her father's movies. The movie begins with Alice dropping her kids off at school and being just generally unsure about her life's direction. Witherspoon nails her role, man she is such a good actress.
It happens to be Alice's 40th birthday, so she sends the girls to Grandma's and she goes out with her friends to live it up. She ends up drinking too much and meeting some young guys and they end up partying all night long. These scenes were so amazing to me. Firstly, when a mom lets loose, sometimes she totally lets loose, especially with lots of stress in life. Secondly, moms miss going out and having lots of fun and sleeping in and all those things we did as kids, and this movie captured these sentiments so well. And, of course, we all want to be attractive to younger people, so this whole part was so satisfying to me.
Of course, all comes crashing down the next day when her kids show up and the young guys are actually trying to get a film made but have just lost their place to live. The movie ends up being about kismet (being in the right place at the right time), and about the unexpected roles people can play in our lives. It's also about being a mom and going through a life transition and just being a woman, you know?
My favorite part of the movie (this may be a spoiler, I'm not sure) is after Alice sleeps with one of the guys (Harry), she asks him to come to a dinner party with her. He tells her he will meet her there, but ends up standing her up. She's upset, obviously, and the next day basically tells him that she doesn't want to be in a relationship where she is wondering whether the other person will show up or not. She is "too good" (meaning she knows her self worth) to put up with that. It is a remarkable scene because never, ever in rom-coms, do women stand up for themselves. Women always seem to be the last to know their true feelings, the last to understand the situation, the last to realize all of the elements. And in this movie, man, Alice knows exactly what she wants. And she gets there through the movie and through the people she brings into her life.
I loved this movie. I really, really hope this means there will be more movies made of strong female characters, lead characters, who know what they want out of life and who grab life by the balls. I also hope this leads to more mom characters who are complex and interesting and not just "mom" and also more stories about unexpected roles people can play in our lives. These stories are by far more interesting than the less complex rom-coms of the past.
ANYways, his movie was written and directed by a woman (Hallie Meyers-Shyer) and stars some wonderful actresses like Reese Witherspoon and Candace Bergen. The story is that Alice (Witherspoon) has just separated from her husband and moved back to CA from NY. She has two daughters and she is the daughter of a famous movie director (who is now dead) and her mother (Bergen) is a famous actress from her father's movies. The movie begins with Alice dropping her kids off at school and being just generally unsure about her life's direction. Witherspoon nails her role, man she is such a good actress.
It happens to be Alice's 40th birthday, so she sends the girls to Grandma's and she goes out with her friends to live it up. She ends up drinking too much and meeting some young guys and they end up partying all night long. These scenes were so amazing to me. Firstly, when a mom lets loose, sometimes she totally lets loose, especially with lots of stress in life. Secondly, moms miss going out and having lots of fun and sleeping in and all those things we did as kids, and this movie captured these sentiments so well. And, of course, we all want to be attractive to younger people, so this whole part was so satisfying to me.
Of course, all comes crashing down the next day when her kids show up and the young guys are actually trying to get a film made but have just lost their place to live. The movie ends up being about kismet (being in the right place at the right time), and about the unexpected roles people can play in our lives. It's also about being a mom and going through a life transition and just being a woman, you know?
My favorite part of the movie (this may be a spoiler, I'm not sure) is after Alice sleeps with one of the guys (Harry), she asks him to come to a dinner party with her. He tells her he will meet her there, but ends up standing her up. She's upset, obviously, and the next day basically tells him that she doesn't want to be in a relationship where she is wondering whether the other person will show up or not. She is "too good" (meaning she knows her self worth) to put up with that. It is a remarkable scene because never, ever in rom-coms, do women stand up for themselves. Women always seem to be the last to know their true feelings, the last to understand the situation, the last to realize all of the elements. And in this movie, man, Alice knows exactly what she wants. And she gets there through the movie and through the people she brings into her life.
I loved this movie. I really, really hope this means there will be more movies made of strong female characters, lead characters, who know what they want out of life and who grab life by the balls. I also hope this leads to more mom characters who are complex and interesting and not just "mom" and also more stories about unexpected roles people can play in our lives. These stories are by far more interesting than the less complex rom-coms of the past.
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