Books I Can't Wait to Read!

Oh there are so many... My TBR list is beyond out of control. Methinks I need to give up TV. Or sleeping. Or something. Facebook! I need to give up Facebook! No! Bejeweled! My life would be so much better if I could get the Bejeweled monkey off my back!

But in my huge TBR pile are two books by writer-friends that just came out.

The first is RUSH by Eve Silver. I've known Eve for close to 10 years, and she is one of the most generous authors I know. She actually helped me land my first publishing credit, by referring me to the editor of those "Mammoth Book of..." anthologies who bought my short story...

While Eve is a multi-published author in adult fiction, RUSH is her debut YA and I am chomping at the bit to read it.

Her post-apocalyptic romance, DRIVEN, changed my little writer brain.... Check it out too!

RUSH

June 11, 2013

ISBN: 0062192132

ISBN 13: 978-0062192134

Rush pulls you headlong into the thrilling, high-stakes world of Eve Silver’s teen series The Game, about teens pulled into and out of an alternate reality in which battling aliens is more than a game—it’s life and death. This teen debut novel offers science fiction and gaming fans romantic thrills at a breakneck pace.

Buy Now!

Indiebound | Barnes and Noble | Amazon | Powells | BooksAMillion | Chapter.Indigo

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I'm also very excited to read debut author Kimberly Ann Miller's TRIANGLES. 

While I've never met Kimmy, I feel as if I have, and she too is a super generous author. The writing world is filled with so many wonderful people! Kimmy and her sister both picked Advance Reader Copies of DEVIANTS at BEA in 2012, and were so generous in helping me promote it by recommending it to others. :)  

Really looking forward to digging into this one! What a cool idea!

TRIANGLES

the debut of Kimberly Ann Miller

June 18, 2013

A cruise ship. A beautiful island. Two sexy guys. What could possibly go wrong?  

In the Bermuda Triangle--a lot. 

Hoping to leave behind the reminders of her crappy life--her father's death years ago, her mother's medical problems, and the loser who’s practically stalking her--seventeen-year-old Autumn Taylor hops on a ship with her sister for a little distraction. When she wakes up in the Bermuda Triangle, she fears she's gone nuts for more than one reason: that loser’s suddenly claiming they're a happy couple... a hot guy is wrapping his arms around her and saying "Happy Anniversary"... and suddenly, she’s full of bruises, losing her hair, and getting IV medication. Autumn visits the ship's doctor, hoping for a pill or a shot to make the craziness go away. Instead, she's warned that these "alternate realities" could become permanent. 

Buy Now!

Barnes and Noble | Amazon | Powells | BooksAMillion 

What book in your TBR pile are you dying to read?

Books books books books books

Okay, I should be sleeping right now, so if this post is completely incoherent (or more incoherent than normal) please forgive me.

I spent most of Monday wandering around BookExpo Canada. What fun. My friend Danielle Younge-Ullman, whose debut novel FALLING UNDER, will be published next year by Plume, got some free exhibitor passes for us from some dude she met on Craig's List. Go, Danielle!

Anyway, I had to pretend I was a published author, because that was the closest I came to any of the boxes I had to check to actually redeem my pass for an entry badge, but luckily no one questioned it.

What is BookExpo you may ask? Well, the Canadian one is a small version of the US one, and it's basically a marketing venue/trade show for the publishers (and people in related industries targeting bookstores) to show off the best of their wares for the upcoming season. In addition to the publishers' booths, I was interested to see a very large booth sponsored by a book distributor I'd never heard of before. They had a huge list of the houses they represent in Canada, and basically it seemed to be all the US publishers who don't have Canadian offices/counterparts and some smaller presses, too. So, from what I could gather, instead of those houses having a sales force in Canada, this company basically acts as an agent for them. (I really should have found out more... Maybe I'll do a little research and get back to y'all. Sorry about the y'all. Warming up for Dallas, already.)

The most popular feature of the show seemed to universally be the author appearances. Basically authors show up for about an hour each and give away signed copies of their new or upcoming releases. Free books!

Fellow Toronto Romance Writer, Kelley Armstrong, had one of the longest lines for signings on Sunday, from what I heard, but sadly, I could only go on Monday. (Jean Chretien was there on Sunday, too... Not to mention Clive Barker and a few stars like that.)

The attendees of BookExpo are mostly booksellers and librarians. I'd say at least 2/3 of the name badges I spotted were people who worked at a Chapters or Indigo.

But some other business seems to get done, too. Danielle managed to meet the woman at Penguin Canada who'll be handling her Canadian publicity when her book comes out which was pretty exciting. And I pumped a few people I met to try to improve my understanding of the biz.

I got a HUGE bag-o-books I can't wait to read, including Tom Harpur's new one WATER INTO WINE which looks fascinating, and Jan Wong's RED CHINA BLUES. (Although, true confessions, with great non-fiction like that, I always love the idea of reading the books and buy quite a few that interest me... and then I never seem to get around to actually reading most of them. Most of the non-fiction reading I do these days is writing related and I admit I'm still in the second chapter of Harpur's book THE PAGAN CHRIST.)

The funniest thing I picked up? A little teaser booklet thingy (I'm sure that's the proper marketing term) for a new one of those Chicken Soup books. What's this one called? Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP. They are little stories written by past contestents on the show. And some bonus words of encouragement from Paula Abdul. Gah! What is the world coming to?

Another highlight for me was getting a signed copy of NYT Bestseller John Connolly's THE UNQUIET. I admit I'm not a big thriller reader, and have never read Mr. Connolly before, but I'll read this one. What a charmer. He was too good looking for it to be legal, and when he noticed my name he asked if I was Irish, and I started babbling like an idiot and basically told him my entire family tree. I think what came out was:

MM: "Actually, I'm only 5/8 Irish."
JC: "Well, that's pretty good."
MM: "I've got some Scots blood, too."
JC: "We can forgive that."
MM: "And some Welsh."
JC: "Oh, can't forgive that."
MM: "And some Flemish."
JC: "Now the Flemish is interesting."

Witty banter. We're opening in Vegas in 2 weeks. LOL. Anyway, while I was embarassing myself, he was busily signing my free book with what I assumed was his stock book signing "happy reading" or whatever. What I actually got was: "To Maureen, my fellow Irishman (5/8)
Peace and Happiness, John." and a big smiley face.

So sweet.

Also got to say a quick hello to Tish Cohen again, author of TOWN HOUSE, and got a copy of her upcoming middle-grade release THE INVISIBLE RULES OF THE ZOE LAMA which looks like a very fun read.

So, all in all, in terms of days I should have been writing but wasn't, I don't feel too guilty about this one. A day well spent.

Does reading fiction make you a better person?

According to an article in Psychology Today, "frequent readers of narrative fiction scored higher on tests of empathy and social acumen than did readers of expository nonfiction."

The article goes on to say that a follow up study showed that starting to read fiction could actually hone those skills... answering the chicken and egg question. (That is, do empathetic people read more fiction or does reading fiction help make you empathetic.)

This seemed pretty obvious to me -- at least after I'd read it. I know one of the main reasons I love reading fiction is to understand better how other people think, to walk in someone else's shoes for a while, to, through understanding and exploring the emotions and experiences of others -- even fictional others -- understand better how I feel/act/react to the world.

A doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto, Raymond Mar, was the lead researcher on both studies. Yay, Ray. My new hero. He is quoted in the article I read as saying, "Stories often force us to empathize with characters who are quite different from us, and this ability could help us better understand the many kinds of people we come across in the real world."

I think this really sums up what I most enjoy about reading or basically any kind of story. (Frequent readers of this blog and my own, will know I see the occasional movie and watch just a tiny bit of television, in addition to reading. LOL.) I think statement also explains why I enjoy character driven movies and stories the best. I was talking the other week to my fellow drunk writers about how even the most theoretically fast paced film (like 300) can totally bore me, (okay, I wasn't that bored looking at those buff naked men) while theoretically slower paced films like Short Cuts or The Station Agent (just two that came to mind at this instant) can hold my attention, such that the time flies by.

A sidebar article in Psychology Today compares the reading habits of men and women and what kinds of books they list as ones which helped to shape their lives. This was interesting, too...

It got me thinking about what books have helped shape my life. I haven't thought about it long enough to come up with a definitive list, but I know of two for sure.

Okay, slightly more than 2 because one is a trilogy.
First, The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies: Fifth Business, The Manticore and World of Wonders. Reading these 3 books as a young adult (many Canadians read Fifth Business in high school. I didn't) I made some decisions about how I felt about organized religion, about Jungian psychology, and I developed a deeper understanding of how events like the depression and WWII affected the world. I also think I got a stronger appreciation for being a Canadian, a stronger feeling of my identity as a Canadian through Robertson Davies' books.

The other book I instantly thought of was The Cider House Rules by John Irving, who, incidentally, was mentored and greatly influenced by Robertson Davies. This book helped me decide how I feel about many things, abortion in particular, but also about social disobedience and how sometimes it can be better and braver to follow your conscience regardless of "the rules". Or at least to question the rules.

Remembering how the Deptford Trilogy helped me make some conclusions about religion made me think of a movie that was pivotal for me... The Mission. Now Molly and I disagree about this movie. It's one of my absolute favorites and she think's it's flawed. But I was a different person after I saw that movie. It made me see how even with the best intentions, people can do so much harm to each other. (Plus it was the first time I ever set eyes on Liam Neeson and that changed my life, too. LOL)

What books have been pivotal in your life?

Apologies and Books

So sorry to be such a bad blogger these days. I've been at my parent's house in rural Illinois and it's not that they don't have internet or even a fancy flat screen monitor - it's literally that I've so ENJOYED being unplugged. What a break. You know, it's not until you get off the totally exhausting non stop schedule of checking email that you realize how ridiculous it is. So, I took it one step further and didn't blog either. Apologies. BUT -while not blogging or checking email I have been reading some AMAZING books. AMAZING.

Water For Elephants -- excellent book and an excellent example of what happens when literary writing meets fantastic storytelling meets a super cover. Blockbuster. A bonafide can't put it down blockbuster.

Match Me If You Can -- is it the best Susan Elizabeth Phillips has ever done - no. Strange back story dump and a - for her - sort of blase hero -- however even a bad book of SEP is one of the best books I've read this year. Great heroine and as an addition to Sinead's thought provoking post I would have to add the heroine from Dream a Little Dream. Can't remember her name but man oh man was she something. She might be the heroine I aspire to replicate the most.

The Memory of Running -- just getting into this one but wow. Wow. Again. A beautiful meandering story - excellent storytelling but in a literary fashion Ihave no idea what's going to happen next and it's fantastic.

Silent As The Grave -- again just great storytelling told in a solid not flashy way. Excellent example of subplots and vivid imagery and a really great historical mystery heroine.

So - that's what I've been doing. Maureen? What's new with you??? Hmmmmmm????