Book Notes and Writing News from Around the Web

Here are some notes and news I thought you all might be interested in....

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Khaled Hosseini's new novel, And the Mountains Echoed, comes out May 21st. I have no idea how he's going to top The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, but if anyone can do it, he can.

I absolutely loved Beth Hoffman's Saving CeeCee Honeycutt so I am counting the days until May 28th when her second novel, Looking for Me, comes out.

And June brings both the heat and the chills with two creepy novels  - Joyland by Stephen King and Always Watching by Chevy Stevens (whose novel, Still Missing, continues to haunt me years later!)

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Want a hilarious look at the writing and/or cleaning process? Check out Nathan Bransford's post, "How to Do Your Chores in 12 Easy Steps."       

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Two great posts on Writer UnBoxed - 

"Clawing Our Way Back to the Creative Center" by Robin LaFevers talks about having to disconnect from the real world in order to connect to her writing.

"The New Era of Self-Publishing" by Allison Winn Scotch is a great post about how she, a traditionally published author, is considering self publishing her next novel. The discussion that follows  in the comments of her post is civil and thoughtful.

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This actually has nothing to do with writing but since it's on author Joshilyn Jackson's blog, I'm counting it. Besides, it totally cracked me up - "The Third Piece of Unsolicited Advice Drops." 

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Looking forward to any - or all - of those novels? Going to check out any of the links? Is there anything you've come across lately that you'd like to share in the comments? 

To Re-Read or Not To Re-Read

When I was a kid, I re-read books all the time. I'd get to the last book in The Little House on the Prairie series or in the Anne of Green Gables series or the last story in a Stephen King short story/novella collection then go right back to the start. But, as I got older, I did that less often. I'm not sure why, exactly. Maybe because I had more access to libraries and bookstores, more money to purchase new books, more knowledge of upcoming titles that sounded intriguing?

Lately, though, I find myself turning back to old favorites (for a variety of reasons)...and loving every minute of it. Here are some of my recent re-reads (including the links to past posts if you want more of a review):

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell for The Heroine's Bookshelf's GWTW Read-Along. Still love it, probably love it even more now. It reminded me of how it feels to be caught up in a true saga.

Life as We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer. These are the first two in her YA Moon Book series and I re-read them because the third one had just come out and I wanted to experience them all in a row. (I'm geeky that way.)

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens. This was just as creepy the second time around, maybe even more so because I knew what was going to happen on the next page or in the next chapter and I was helpless to stop it. The reason I re-read this one was because I didn't enjoy her second novel as much as I had hoped. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but it didn't freak me out the way this one did, and I had wanted to go back and see if I had built the first one up in my head. Nope.   

Do you re-read books? Why or why not? Are there any books out there you keep meaning to go back to but haven't yet? (I want to go back to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith and The Betsy-Tacy Books by Maud Hart Lovelace.) Any favorite re-reads you'd recommend?

Scare Me. Please.

Author Joshilyn Jackson mentions in one of her posts how this was the "Year of Abduction Fiction" for her.  She lists her top three reads that all concerned long term abductions.  I'd have to say the same goes for me.  I enjoyed Laura Lippman's I'd Know You Anywhere.  I raved here about Chevy Steven's Still Missing.  And I was recently blown away by Emma Donoghue's amazing novel, Room. 

Great writers and writing aside, why do I enjoy these kinds of stories?  Why do I enjoy those end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it novels and movies?  Why do I enjoy creepy horror books and films?

Do I think they'll give me tips if I'm ever (God forbid!) in those situations?  Let's get real.  If a meteor crashes into earth or a band of zombies is eating its way through the United States, you'll find me curled up in a ball in some corner either weeping or wondering how I'd taste to the undead. 

Maybe it's because reading those books and watching those movies from my bed or the living room couch makes me feel safe.  It's easy to yell "Don't go in the woods!" at some stupid teenagers while I cower behind my husband's arm.   And I can always shut the book or turn off the TV.  Right?  Right?

Wrong.  Images from the books I mentioned above are going to stay with me for quite awhile.  That's the power that all well-done stories - scary and otherwise - have over us.  I don't know about you, but I, for one, am happy to let them.

Don't Miss STILL MISSING by Chevy Stevens

Have you ever read a book with a story so terrifying you wanted to put it down but it was so well written you couldn't?  Still Missing by Chevy Stevens is one of those books.

Forget reading the first half of the book in bed, at night.  Unless you enjoy having nightmares, that is.  But the book itself will keep you up at night for different reasons - it's horrifying, creepy and suspenseful, it introduces you to a woman you will not soon forget, and it will have you crying and cheering (sometimes at the same time!) for her as she struggles to find some semblance of herself again. 

And the end?  A reward unto itself. 

(Hmm, can you tell I liked this book?)