Finished and It's Thumbs Up

Well I knew there was a surprise, but didn't know the half of it. Love it how Keyes makes it all come together. Got a little teary eyed in the end, but it's one of those...well better stop so I don't give anything away. Maybe because it takes place in Hollywood and is full of script talk and movie lingo, but I can totally see this as a movie. One you'd go to with your girlfriends or on a date if you have a good guy! It's an easy read, and I love one of those every now and then! Another thing, as you read more of Keyes' books, you get to know the family better. I looked at Anna differently since I've read Anybody Out There already (which takes place later). And how can you not love Mammy Walsh, she's the mom that drives her kids crazy but all the friends want to hang out with, despite her orange face. Like I said before, Keyes' characters win you over. Now I sort of want to learn more about Helen....

Another Good Surprise from Keyes and What's Next for Me

I am winding down Angels and just like in Anybody Out There, Keyes gives us something unexpected. This one is not near as shocking as in Anna's story, but it makes you understand Maggie better (maybe Garv's not soo horrible, we'll see). So after some bondage and lesbian experiences, she is coming back round to herself. Her family just popped in for a visit, and you just have to love them, too. Anyway, I am rooting for Maggie in that she finds herself and her happiness amidst the pink champagne and I Will Survive. She's got a great best friend, and it makes me appreciate mine!

On another note, my 9 year old is presently devouring the new The 39 Clues. I am anxious to see how this series plays out. What a great concept to grab them in, books tied into a website where the reader can become one of them - she loves it, though it is a little on the scary side.

I'm trying to figure out what's going to be next for me and I'm thinking of a book I saw on Amazon, Goldengrove, by Francine Prose. I have read her essays but not her fiction. Maybe that or Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. If anyone has a great suggestion, I am open!

Go Maggie Go and the Importance of Strong Characters

I'm about half way through Marian Keyes, Angels, and it's a fun read. I am waiting for a surprise like I was knocked over the head with in her book, Is Anybody Out There, but so far, none yet. Just Maggie freeing herself slowly from her marriagea nd cheating husband, what better place to do it than with good friends in the city of angels. So far she has gotten a new hair cut (not sure about it yet) and met her first lesbian. Not so very wild, but more than she can say of her life with Garv. I want things to work out for her, I wnat her to quit thinking about her heel of a husband and hook up with long faced Troy; I want her to be happy. To me, characters are the most important element in a novel. It can have a great plot, full of action and relay a touching theme, but if I can't bond with the characters, it doesn't work. When I think about my favorite books, Wuthering Heights, The Sun Also Rises, The Harry Potter Series, The Outlander Series, some Stephen King and To Kill a Mockingbird, I think of the characters. I may forget what actually happened in the book, but I won't forget Scout or Hermione, I'll remember Queen Sasha and Jamie Fraser long after the book is shelved. I want to know what those characters are doing after the story, I think about them when the book is closed. So, yes, Keyes, characters charm me. They are likable and I care what happens to them, even the ones I don't like, they still entice me. So I'm wishing Maggie and rooting for her all the way.

New Reads, Old Reads

Coming off of The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett, I needed something a little lighter, so I just started another Marian Keyes novel, Angels. Pillars is one of those epic sagas, epic in lenght, epic in timeline. His language is beautiful, if not a bit lenghty and the reader just wants peace for Jack and Aliena who have such trouble gaining it. Follett touches on some of the unjust horrors of the times, as well as the boundaries set but creates characters strong enough to challenge them. At almost 1000 pages, it's not a quick read, but the political, sociological and emotional plotlines are all worth investing the time. I recommeded it to my architect friend because of the prominence of the building of the cathedral. But as I said, I needed something a little lighter this time, so just began Angels by Mrian Keyes. This is the third of her novels featuring the Walsh sisters, and this one centers on Maggie, the clean one, the predictable one, "the plain yogurt at room temperture" one. I love Keyes' easy conversational first person tone and too bad I'm not on vacation because it would be a good beach read. Maggie just arrived in LA, after leaving her husband, a big change from Ireland. Can't wait to see what happens. Will she hook up with a tan, hardbodied surfer? Will she find a place in the entertainment industry? I'll let ya know!

Hello Out There!

So I'm entering the world of blogging to see where it takes me! I know there are a million things out there to read, so I am flattered you're reading this. I plan to share my love of literature and reading here, sort of like my own private book club, but where everyone is welcome!! I always want to talk about what I'm reading, just like I did when my daughter was two and I would tell her all about The Count of Monte Cristo, or when I would bore my husband to death telling him about the Twilight saga (somehow he got some wierd satisfaction when I didn't like the last book!). I love to read all sorts of genres, from Harry Potter to the Outlander series to Victorian Brit Lit and good Southern writers like Faukner, Flannery O'Connor and Harper Lee. Every now and then I love some good "chick lit" or some trashy pulp, a good horror novel by Stephen King excites me, too.

I think about the characters during the day, I've even dreamed about them at night. But I will put a book down unfinished, not to be picked up agian, if it doesn't grab me, whether it's considered a great book or not. I figure I'm too old (i.e. not in lit class with required reading anymore) and there are too many other good books out there to be read. No one can like everything, that's just the way it is.

So put me on your favorites, check back now and then. Freshen up your coffee, sit back and take a few minutes every day to read something that you love, that will give you cause to think.