Review: Tweet Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick

As many of you know, I teach a Popular Fiction class.  In that class we discuss popular "trends, genres, and styles" of writing.  One of the styles I've discussed with them is the "Epistolary" form, which many classical writers have used, but that has been revamped for our modern day.  Generally, if I were to go on about how Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, and Bram Stoker utilized this style, many of their eyes would glaze over.  However, when I have brought in contemporary pieces to show them how this looks today, they get it, make the connection, and can appreciate.  For this style lesson, I got my hands on a copy of Tweet Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick to show my students are pretty modern twist on the Epistolary form and have to say that with all that color and the social network connection, I think they got it.  I then picked it up last weekend and read it in about an hour and a half to check it out!

Synopsis:  From Goodreads, "Claire is a #hopelessromantic. Lottie is determined to set up her BFF with Mr. Perfect. Will wants his #secretcrush to finally notice him. Bennett is a man with a plan.Claire can’t believe it when her dream guy starts following her on Twitter. She never thought he noticed her, and suddenly he seems to understand her better than almost anyone. But the Twitterverse can be a confusing place, especially when friends act differently online than they do in person. Things get even more complicated when Claire realizes she’s falling for someone else, the last person she ever would have expected….
 
Told in an innovative format combining tweets, emails, and blogs, Tweet Heart is a contemporary romantic comedy that will set your heart atwitter."

Review:  Tweet Heart was a pretty quick read and fun to follow.  As a big Twitter user myself, I was familiar with the 140-character commenting and felt comfortable reading short blips from each character.  The one thing that felt strange were the private conversations the characters etched out for themselves?  Unless they were direct messaging, I was unfamiliar with a private tweeting service.  I suppose I'll have to check into that.  Without that private tweeting though, many of the "I like him.  Why isn't he tweeting me back?" would be lost in the shuffle of conversations.

Claire is a nice girl, but all we only really get surface character development.  Will, also a nice boy, is her friend who has a secret crush on her.  We don't really know much about Will either.  In any of the character's cases, their development is lacking, so we get the sense that we're just eavesdropping on someone's conversations.

This was a quick, fun read with very surface-level story and character development going on, but what can you get with a book based on tweets?  Obviously, the reader has to fill in most of the back story and development, so I wouldn't expect full descriptions and narration.  This story really is quick and just about telling a story in a different way.  I would most likely recommend this book to my teen students, as it's a quirky new format that they'll get a kick out of!

I'm curious.  What epistolary-style novels have you read and do you like reading books in that format?

The Oscars After Blog

I make no apologies for the fact that I'm a total Oscar fan.  I will, however, apologize if you got caught in my avalanche of tweets @mjmbecky during the Oscar show!  I'll refrain from critiquing the show, as I think those will come out en force this next week.  The show had its interesting moments and montages (how about the musicals for Harry Potter and Eclipse), but it seemed that The King's Speech, Inception, The Fighter, and The Social Network took home the majority of the awards.

Although I'd seen many of the films featured in the show this year,  my favorite was The King's Speech.  As a longtime Colin Firth fan, I have long thought he deserved more recognition for the range of roles he has played.  In fact, if you had a chance to see him on 60 Minutes last Sunday (I linked it here in my Sunday blog post) or on Inside the Actor's Studio, you know that he has played in films ranging from period pieces such as Pride and Prejudice (1995) and A Girl With a Peal Earring to Bridget Jones Diary, Mama Mia!, and The Single Man.  When an actor can continue to film roles across the board and allow us to forget the actor and escape into the role, you know they are a master at their craft.  Kudos and congratulations to Colin Firth for Best Actor and to The King's Speech for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Director.

For a nice and easy list of complete winners, check out The Associated Press: "List of 83rd Oscar Winners".

Sunday Blatherings: Library Loot & Oscar Madness

After devouring four books last weekend, I went through a type of drought this week.  In the classes I teach at school and online, they're all reading such different things that I found myself coming home and just wanting to watch TV each night!  My juniors just started reading Les Miserables, my Popular Fiction students just finished Hunger Games, my AP students at school are in the middle of studying poetry, and in my online classes they're studying Canterbury Tales and Hamlet.  As you can see, I feel like I'm all over the board! 

Thankfully, I have a lot of books I'm interested in escaping into on my own time.  I'm still in the middle of reading twelve different books.  Yes, I'm a little crazy, but for some reason I tend to bounce around when I read.  Once something gets far enough into the story or grabs me, then I push the others aside to finish the book.  This weekend, I hope to finish Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning.  I'd heard so much buzz online about the latest release, Shadowfever, that I thought I'd give the series a try. 

Today, however, I dropped into the library and just wandered around a bit.  I haven't done that in so long!  There is something so relaxing about looking through shelves and shelves of books.  Usually, I put books on hold and then run in, check them out, and run out again, managing my entire library account online.  It was nice to have a moment to spare to take a look around.  In fact, I ended up picking up a stack of cookbooks, since all these snowstorms put me in the mood for some nice home cooked meals.  Here's what I picked up:

Art Smith was Oprah Winfrey's chef and also appeared on Top Chef Masters 1.  His food had a lot of heart and won over the judges for quite awhile.  I'm eager to flip through and try out some of the recipes in this cookbook, since I was raised on good "home" cooking like he features in his cookbook.

 
Considering we have a fresh layer of snow on the ground today, nothing sounds better than a hearty bowl of soup.  I actually happen to really love soup and think that it makes for a great meal that I can divvy up for lunches throughout the week.  This is a small cookbook, but the pictures and variations make it pretty appealing.  In fact, I'm going to take a look at this one to possibly purchase it for my own collection.

I'm starting to see a trend here!  Could I be in a "home cooking" mindset right now?  This particular cookbook by country singer Trisha Yearwood is actually the second that she has put out.  I was given her first cookbook for Christmas last year and really love it.  This second cookbook seems to have a much larger dessert section, which is fine with me!  I'm also trying to decide if I should get her second cookbook to go with the first one.  Decisions.  Decisions.

Now I can take a look and whip up something great for the Oscars!  I usually have people over to watch the Oscars, but this year it didn't work out that way.   I'm okay throwing my own Oscar soiree though.  I can put on my pj's and watch all the red carpet madness, thankful that I'm not in a constricting dress (although I love seeing what they're wearing).  My hope is that Colin Firth wins a much-deserved Oscar for King's Speech!

What are you reading this weekend, and will you be watching the Oscars? 

*Library Loot is a meme hosted by Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader and Claire from The Captive Reader.  Join us, and share what you've picked up from one of our many great libraries!

Utah Book Bloggers Winter Social

It's that time again for anyone in our area to get together for our Book Blogger bash!  The time is ticking down quickly, but it's always an exciting time to gather with other bloggers, authors, and publishing industry folks.  If you can make it, please join us.  The information is all below, along with the RSVP address.

Here is the basic information:

• WHEN:  Saturday, March 5th at 6pm
• WHERE: Golden Corral @ 655 East 7200 South in Midvale
• WHO:  Book bloggers, authors, booksellers, etc.
• WHAT:  The cost is $9.88 per person, plus drinks and tip. 
• HOW:  There's not much to the how bit, except to come with a paperback book, ready to swap, chat, and have a great time. 

***Please RSVP to utahbookbloggers(at)gmail(dot)com so that we know who can make it that night.  Also, please don't hesitate to get in touch of any one of us for more information.  Other than our blogs, we can also be reached on Twitter at: @mawbooks, @SueySays, and @mjmbecky (that's me).

Other places to check in:  Utah Book Bloggers Group, Utah Bloggers RSS Feeds, or Utah Book Community Twitter.

We hope you can come and look forward to chatting and socializing again!  It's always great fun to see the wizard behind the curtains, meaning that we're happy to get to meet the amazing writers of blogs and books alike.

Film Review: Lady Jane (1986)

Thank goodness for the occasional three-day weekend to save my sanity!  Over the weekend, I watched a couple of period films and thought I'd pass along one of them.

I recently was recommended the film Lady Jane through Netflix.  The film was about Lady Jane Grey, who was asked to step forward and take the throne of England during the tumult of the Reformation that occurred after Henry VIII's death, and sickness of his son Edward.  Along the way, she is forced into marriage with Guilford Dudley, the son of one of the king's ministers.

I'm a total sucker for these dramas surrounding royalty.  Besides, this particular film stars Helena Bonham Carter as Lady Jane, who needs no introduction!  Helena is a fantastic actress, and according to my students, she's "hot" as Bellatrix LeStrange in the Harry Potter series.  (Yes, that one makes me laugh.)  Playing her husband Guilford, on arrangement of her family, is Cary Elwes.  If you're not familiar with him, no fear.  I didn't know him by name, but will admit that I instantly knew him as Westley in Princess Bride.  (Who didn't have a thing for Westley and his "As you wish"-silent-brooding hot guy act? As a young teen when that film first came out, I can honestly say that Westley was an early heart throb!)  In Lady Jane, he plays the ultimate love interest to this spirited, soon-to-be monarch. 

The relationship between Lady Jane and Guilford is funny and has a very 80's feel to it's development.  There is appropriate tension and conflict between them, but it is offset by the type of filming that involved what felt like dream sequences that had me giggling a little at their silliness.  Just as a warning, there is some female nudity, but is all done in those dream sequence moments and is not long.  Overall though, I thought it was worth my time and was an interesting story.

Review: Things I Know About Love by Kate Le Vann

Let's be honest, there are books you see circling the web continuously and wonder if you should try.  I remember seeing Things I Know About Love on multiple book blogs and started to brush them off after 10+ times.  Somehow though, that cute cover kind of grabbed me (yes, I was that shallow in my choice) and I decided to give it a try.  Boy am I glad that I did!

Synopsis:  Livia Stowe has had a tough couple of years.  Besides a string of teen boyfriends over the years, Livia has also battled cancer.  In this short novel, Livia allows us entrance into just what she knows about love from a series of journal/blog posts as she travels to America to visit her college-age brother for a vacation.  While there, Livia catches up with a fellow Brit who she met as a teen, and who just might have the real key to her heart.

Review:  Although I've seen some serious mixed reviews on this novel, I have to say that it really grabbed me and shook me up a bit.  In short, it made me cry, and I was okay about it.  Livia was a sweet character, filled with vulnerabilities and a kind of guilelessness that didn't have me skeptically doubting her goodness, but rather had me wanting to have someone shelter her.  The experiences that Livia has had as a teen with boyfriends of various kinds feel very familiar and real, from the boy who wanted to kiss and tell, to the boy who stole her heart but couldn't follow through when she needed him the most.  Every heart break and tale of vulnerability had me heartbroken!

For an honest, personal moment, I have to acknowledge that some of the themes of love and loss really spoke to me. I'm not always about butterflies and rainbows, so the balanced happiness and sorrow of this novel felt very real and open.  The ending is very bittersweet, and one that I felt gives the reader a real chance to think about love for themselves.  I can definitely recommend this book to my students and friends, as it is a great, thought-provoking read.   Don't be deceived by the cute, "chick lit" type cover.  This is not a light read. It might not end exactly how you think it's going to, but it was beautiful and one that I can't help thinking about days after I finished reading.

Three-Day Weekends

It seems that when I disappear for a few days, I can blame a busy work schedule and grading stacks of papers.  For once, I have to say that work hasn't been keeping me from writing; in all truth, the reading has kept me away!  Maybe because work has been so stressful over the past several weeks, I just hadn't had real down time to read, but I sure made up for it this weekend!  Every spare second I wasn't working on my taxes, cleaning house, or running errands, I was reading, and it was GLORIOUS.  Over the weekend I read four novels, which might not seem like a lot to some, but it was for me!  Having pushed everything aside for reading, I know I'll have a lot of writing to do. 

Also, as the weekend comes to a close, I'm reminded that the Oscars are in a week.  I like to make a big deal out of Oscar night, often having a nice dinner party or group of people over to watch them, but won't be doing that this year.  Strangely, I'm all right with not making a big deal out of it, but will definitely be watching.  My hopes are mainly for The King's Speech, and if you missed it, check out the following link to see the wonderful Colin Firth on 60 Minutes this weekend.

I hope that whatever you were doing this weekend, that it was a good one!