New Year’s Reading Resolutions February 27, 2008
Posted by Evelyn in Fiction, Uncategorized.add a comment
So, I thought I’d start out easy and take on Danielle Steel and Dean Koontz. I haven’t read either of them in probably ten years and can remember back when I used to be first one on the list to get anything by them.
First I read Amazing Grace by Danielle Steel. It seemed like a good choice–after all, it was set in San Francisco and featured a devastating earthquake…..how bad could that be? I noted that even the book’s cover had a nice graphic instead of those generic ones with just her name and the title. Immediately, I was hooked by the plot and potentially interesting characters, but soon I was forcing myself to keep reading in hopes that the tired plot lines and trite coincidences would develop into something special and unique. The book ended up being an OK read, but the characters were never really fleshed out and were just a little too stereotyped for me to really care about them. Wow! A far cry from the books I remember from the ‘80s that used to bring me to tears at 3 a.m.! I wonder who has changed–Danielle or me?
So, next on to Dean Koontz’s The Darkest Evening of the Year. This story is not your usual Koontz horror story, but instead is much more supernatural in tone. You can sum it up as the story of two unlikely couples share a past secret that brings them together with disastrou
I have to say that although this wasn’t like Koontz I remember, it was a good read. Koontz has proven that authors can adapt and grow. I learned from the author bio at the end of the book that Koontz had just lost his golden retriever companion of many years and I’m sure that influenced his story. Is it just a coincidence that dog is god spelled backwards?
It will take some discipline on my part to keep reading the old favorites when I’m tempted by all those shiny, new and enticing book covers I see everyday. I’m not sure what my next reading choices will be, but I’ll keep you posted. ~Evelyn
The Lobster’s Last Stand February 27, 2008
Posted by Ann in Fiction.1 comment so far
I keep lists of books I want to read. I get to about 20% of them. Sometimes I have to make myself throw away the very oldest lists, which is what I did when I moved to Oklahoma for a year and did a complete housecleaning. Near the end of my 2007 list, is a book called Last Night at the Lobster. When my husband announced a few weeks ago that a couple of people where he works were doing an informal book discussion group and that the first book they chose was Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan, I decided to read it too. As it turns out, I was also able to attend the first discussion.
The story follows Manny, a restaurant manager of a down-and-out Red Lobster at the edge of an older mall, on the last night for the restaurant. To top it off, it’s only a few days before Christmas, and there is a vicious snowstorm blowing. Manny is lucky that any of his staff has showed up. As you read about the fine tuning each night of running a restaurant requires and about how Manny deals with his often cantankerous crew, you realize that O’Nan has an eye and ear for writing about the working class. In fact, he did his homework, swiping menus, observing traffic patterns, and interviewing Red Lobster employees around the country. This book is a little gem.
~Ann
The New Love Letter February 7, 2008
Posted by Victoria in Uncategorized.add a comment
Technology has changed the love letter. (As if you didn’t already know.)
A new literacy has emerged, that of text messaging. Think of the teen or young adult you know best. What do they spend most of their time doing? Does it involve limber thumbs? Text messaging or chat perhaps?
Digital communication has its own literacy. Your average young person is more likely to text or email their Valentine this year than send it through the mail. Here’s why.
The world of communication has speeded up. Individuals under the age of thirty nowadays have a more immediate need for feedback from their beloved than they did ten, or even five years ago. The US Postal Service, UPS, Fed Express, what have you, just can’t measure up. And that is the crucial difference. Gone are the days of waiting for a phone call or letter response. Things happen much faster now. Good or bad, it’s the way of the world.
This has led to an evolution in romantic communication. Remember when you wrote “love letters”? Remember when you had things you could actually bind up in ribbon without having to print out?
Don’t get me wrong… I don’t hold one over the other. I am more likely to email my beloved than sit down and write out my feelings. ……….
It’s so much easier to express yourself in print, digitally or otherwise. And, hey, it’s less expensive than buying a card or pretty stationery.
Some hold text messaging and chat on the same playing field as written love letters. There are even texted marriage proposals. Can you imagine?
Well, for those of you who just long for the “olden days,” read Love Letters Lost, by Babbette Hines.
It’s a throwback to the “olden” days of romance.
