Comments on: Tuesday Book Club–Austenland

By: robin

robin — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 15:42:34 +0000

Wouldn’t a movie be great? I can totally see that!

By: Little Willow

Little Willow — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 00:00:56 +0000

It’s a sweet little book, and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone snatched up the film rights.

By: bj

bj — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 03:21:49 +0000

Diana, if you are writing a story entirely from one person’s viewpoint, as you must if you’re writing in first person, then yes, the viewpoint by its very definition is more limited. It has to be. So only a very skilled writer can give a story breadth when writing in first person.

In third person you can look out of more eyeballs. You can jump around from character to character. You can get into more heads.

By: robin

robin — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 15:24:18 +0000

BJ, you reading machine, you make an appearance! That must be one great book to bring you out. It’s going on the list.

Alkelda, you’ll be sad to know I asked Mitali to come to the conference, but she can’t that day. Boo! Otherwise you could have had that coffee.

Michelle, thanks for the tip on Love, Stargirl. I really enjoyed Stargirl, and it’s nice to know the sequel not only holds up, but might even surpass.

And thanks for your Forever story. How funny.

By: Diana

Diana — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 15:22:48 +0000

First person is a limiting viewpoint? Or in Icy Sparks it is because of the premise/predicament the main character is in?

I don’t agree with the former.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 05:45:38 +0000

Now I must immediately read my autographed copy of Austenland, which has been sitting on the shelf enticing me for weeks. I keep starting paperbacks that I can toss into my purse instead.

The best I’ve read this week is Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. I really enjoyed it, perhaps even more than the original Stargirl.

Molly mentioned reading Forever by Judy Blume, and that brings back fun memories from fifth grade. I checked it out from the public library, and made the mistake of telling some friends about it. Of course they all wanted to read it, so Forever was passed around until our teacher confiscated it from someone in class. The girl blabbed that it was mine, and I was so embarrased when my teacher gave it back to me. She knew I had read it! Total humiliation in 5th grade. But now it’s a fond memory. I wonder if anyone else surreptitiously passed around Judy Blume books in elementary school?

By: Alkelda

Alkelda — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 05:00:07 +0000

I just finished Mitali Perkins' Monsoon Summer, and have decided that I want to have coffee with her. Before that I read World War Z, which was quite good, but has made me wonder if I need to get the windows of our house reinforced with steel bars. I have Austenland right here before me, ready to pick up and read. Yee hah!

By: bj

bj — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 03:47:32 +0000

Okay, so I’m only halfway through it but it’s such an amazing read I can’t not talk about it. Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio. Wow. Especially wow since it’s written in the first person, and only a really skilled storyteller can handle that limiting a viewpoint and still give the story wings. And this one has a wondrous wingspan!

By: robin

robin — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 03:41:56 +0000

Jules, I really understand what that feels like. On the one hand you feel weird acting like it’s a problem that you have so many books to read, but it really does create pressure. Sometimes I think about hiding my TBR pile so I won’t have to look at it and see what I haven’t accomplished yet.

Cracks me up to think about how much we’d all get done if we substituted X for our blog time. But then we’d be sad if we didn’t get to talk with everyone every day, so what are you gonna do?

By: jules

jules — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 03:36:06 +0000

I am sorry to report that I haven’t read in, like, two days, ’cause I’ve been too busy . . . uh, blogging and answering emails, I think. Seriously, as I was telling Eisha today, I’m planning a blog vacation soon — for about a week. And every time I’d normally blog, I’ll read instead and try to get caught up with the approximately 35 review copies staring me in the face. Not a bad problem to have, but I feel like such a jerk, seeing as how a lot of authors went out of their way to send these to us.

So, yeah, I’ve stalled on the same books I’ve been reading for about two weeks now (The Confessional, a YA novel; Into the Woods, an intermediate-aged one; a parenting book; a book about MomsRising; a book of free verse poetry that I’m about to just hang up; and Skullduggery Pleasant, which so totally and completely rocks so hard).