My Fave Five: Spotlight on Authors

When it comes to my favorite authors, I am all about the girl power.  My favorite authors are all female: Daphne duMaurier, Carol Goodman, Sarah Addison Allen, Jennifer Donnelly, Marian Keyes.  Being a book lover has turned me into an author “groupie” of sorts: I regularly do searches on my favorite authors to see if they have anything new coming out or if they have an online presence I can be a part of.  When my friend request on Facebook was accepted by Sarah Addison Allen, I did a little dance. . .  Today I wanted to take a step back and shine a spotlight on my "Fave Five."

Screenshot from the Daphne duMaurier webpage, run by dedicated fans of her work

While Daphne duMaurier is in my Fave Five list (in fact, she tops my Fave Five list), my searches on her are not as frequent, as she is no longer with us to be writing new books or starting a new blog.  (Although, there is an annual duMaurier Festival I might need to start joining in on.)  I love her books because they are timeless, and I owe being able to include her in my list of favorite authors to my sister.  If my sister had not convinced me to read Rebecca, I never would have experienced duMaurier's ability to write mysterious and suspenseful storylines with beautifully marred characters.  Her books take me to a special place as a reader, and just holding a copy of Rebecca in my hands puts a smile on my face.

March is going to be an exciting month for me, with two new releases from the next ladies of my Fave Five: Carol Goodman’s Arcadia Falls and Sarah Addison Allen’s The Girl Who Chased the Moon.  (In fact, I just added a countdown widget to the right-hand sidebar for Allen's new book.)

Screenshot from Carol Goodman's website

Carol Goodman is an intriguing author for me because she weaves her interests (and education) in classical studies with modern-day plots.  When I read a Carol Goodman book, I find myself enjoying a story while learning something academic-y--that’s a combination I adore.  The first book I ever read of hers was Lake of Dead Languages, and as soon as I finished that book, I immediately called all my friends who enjoy reading and told them that they had to check it out.  I enjoyed that book so much, that when I stopped reading it in the late evening hours to sleep, I dreamt about the book.  I find myself wishing I could put me into her storylines, so her books stay with me long after I put them down.

Screenshot from Sarah Addison Allen's website

Sarah Addison Allen’s books are endearing to me because they weave together magical elements with reality so that you believe it’s possible to create potion-like results from cooking with flowers.  Her book Garden Spells was given to me as a gift, and it sat on my shelf for nearly a year before I picked it up.  I took it with me when I flew to Nashville to meet two of my friends for a girls' weekend, and on the way back, I finally cracked open the book.  I fell in love from the first chapter and was taken to a new world with her writing.  Yet again, as soon as I finished that book, I contacted all my reading friends and told them to immediately go out and get the book.  On her website, she states:

Garden Spells, my mainstream debut, didn’t start out as a magical novel. It was supposed to be a simple story about two sisters reconnecting after many years. But then the apple tree started throwing apples and the story took on a life of its own...and my life hasn’t been the same since.

How could you not love an author who says something like that?  Allen's online presence is another thing that compels me to include her in my Fave Five.  When you can friend a favorite author on Facebook, you feel a special connection forevermore.

Screenshot of Jennifer Donnelly's website

I enjoy reading interviews with Jennifer Donnelly because she is so down-to-earth.  She is open about her struggles to balance work and home life--as a mother and author, she’s got obligations galore that I can relate to--on her notes she writes to readers (on her website), and yet she’s a multi-genre author who excels in writing children’s books, young adult fiction, and historical fiction.  Her ability to twine together research about historical periods with fascinating storylines amazes me.  The first book I read by her was Northern Lights, which is one of her young adult books.  When I finished that book, I was so intrigued by her writing that I bought Tea Rose, which is the first book of a historical fiction trilogy.  Part of my love for her books could be attributed to my love of history, but the majority of my love for her books is solely attributed to Donnelly's strong writing.

Screenshot from Marian Keyes's website

I was introduced to Marian Keyes by my friend Kirsty about five years ago.  The first book I borrowed from Kirsty was Sushi for Beginners.  As soon as I finished it, I bought a copy for myself and then borrowed three more books by Keyes.  I am slowly collecting all her books (though I’ve read all but one through borrowing from friends), and I am ecstatic about her newest release, The Brightest Star in the Sky.  One aspect I appreciate about Marian Keyes’s books is that she has brutally honest characters.  They have flaws, and Keyes exploits those flaws perfectly so that I, as a reader, do not judge the characters but root for them to get over the hurdles they are facing.  I love her books so much that I am trying to convince my sister (a fellow Keyes fan) to go on a “Keyes tour” with me, which would include stops in the locations featured in her books (including Dublin and London).

Just looking at the screenshots from the authors' websites can give you an idea of the diversity represented by my Fave Five:  I like a variety of styles, and these ladies produce quality work that boosts my 'joie de lire.'  Who is in your Fave Five?

Happy reading!

Hollywood's Take on Books

My post today was inspired by two things: (1) a book review of The Lost Symbol (the review was written by Dawn at She is Too Fond of Books);

 and (2) a colleague lending me the movie version of Mother Night.

If I were you, I would be scratching my head about now, wondering what the connection is between the two events and what the connection is between a book review and Hollywood.  Please allow me to explain.

I'll start with the Dan Brown connection.  The first book I read of his was DaVinci Code, and while reading it, I noticed some stylistic stumbling but wasn't distracted enough to not be intrigued by the plot.  At the end of the book, I was satisfied with the story but knew I probably wouldn't be able to read the book again because I was dissatisfied with the way the story was told.  When I heard a movie (starring Tom Hanks, no less) based on the book would be coming out, I was excited--the plot was a historical web that made me want to run out and do research of my own, and I thought that web would translate well to the big screen.  I've seen that movie quite a few times, and I still can't decide whether I like it.  Something just seems off about it...

Even with the problems I had with the book and movie, I wasn't deterred from trying to read Angels & Demons in time for that movie's release last May (as I said in an earlier post, I prefer to read the book before I see a movie that is based on it).  About 70 pages in, I closed the book for the last time.  For anyone not familiar with the book, it is in fact longer than 70 pages.  Much longer.  For me, A&D's plot couldn't hold my attention to help me make it through my problems with Brown's writing.  All I kept thinking while I was reading the book was something close to, "I read better stuff than this coming from college freshmen who need remedial help in writing."  A few thoughts weren't that nice, but I'll keep those to myself.  As an aspiring writer, I kept A&D on my bookshelves solely for motivation: If that book can get published, mine can, too.  Needless to say, I had no expectations when I walked into the movie theater to see the A&D movie (in case any of you are asking why I would pay to see a movie I had no expectations for, it's because my husband loved the DaVinci Code movie and had been tracking the release of the Angels & Demons movie for over a year).  I was mystified at how Ron Howard (the director) and the screenwriters took a book that I couldn't even make it through and turned it into a movie that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Because of my history with Dan Brown's books and the movies based on them, the book review of his latest book, The Lost Symbol, got me thinking about the rare cases in which Hollywood took a book that I either didn't really enjoy or only semi-enjoyed and turned it into a good movie.  Two other examples (for me) are In Her Shoes and Stardust.  I liked both books well enough, but I adored the movies.  In cases like these, I say kudos to Hollywood and its ability to bring books to life.

In many cases, though, I usually end up completely disappointed with what Hollywood did to the book to turn it in to the movie.  I sit through it, thinking things like, "That wasn't in the book," "Why did they take that scene out?" or "Those characters look completely wrong."  The most recent example of movie disappointment I can think of is The Other Boleyn Girl.  When I read the book (by Philippa Gregory), I devoured it.  I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to finish it because I couldn't stop without knowing what happened to Mary and Anne (even though I already knew what history had in store for her).  And so when the movie came out, I was ecstatic (especially when I saw the long list of incredible actors and actresses who starred in the movie adaptation).  I was ecstatic until about 30 minutes into the movie.  Then I was slightly less impressed.  About an hour in, I started doing chores, leaving the room, doing anything that would make it so I wouldn't have to concentrate on the movie.  Disappointed doesn't even really begin to say how I felt while watching the movie.  Not all movies in the "disappointment" category are so extreme.  Oftentimes, my sentiments are, "The movie is okay... but the book is amazing."

The connection to Kurt Vonnegut's Mother Night, then, is that I am really enjoying the book (and will probably write a post based on it when I am finished).  I have the borrowed movie version sitting on the counter, taunting me, and I'm wondering which category that movie will fit into: it is automatically ruled out of category A where the movie is better than the book, and I'm hoping it won't fall into category B where the movie is disappointing (especially since it was highly recommended).  Instead, I hope it will fall into category C: I like both the book and the movie.  Such an example is Bridget Jones's Diary--the book and the movie are separate entities in my head, and I enjoyed both.

The connection to the larger picture of books and movie adaptations of them is that even though I am more often than not left feeling disappointed with the movie version, I am always willing to go back for more.  If I enjoy the book and its movie counterpart is released, I will go see the movie.  Moreover, as I read books, I often find myself thinking, "This would be a great movie!"  A few times I have considered changing careers to become a screenwriter--my first project would be writing the screenplay for Carol Goodman's Lake of Dead Languages, my second would be Sarah Addison Allen's Garden Spells, and my third would be Jennifer Donnelly's A Tea Rose.  I have yet to figure out my fascination with seeing books played out on the movie screen.  If any of you can offer me insights as to why I would still want to pay to see movies I will most likely be disappointed with, please share them with me.

Happy reading, and may all the movies you watch that are based on books be good ones.