Books

In the hospital, I read a lot of young adult, dystopian novels when I could read.  I read Uglies and Pretties, Cinder and Scarlet, Legend, Haven, Wool Omnibus (not YA), and I reread Divergent for the third time, to name a few.  I also read some great novels in fiction that I would recommend, The Language of Flowers, The Kitchen House, The Night Circus, and The Storyteller.  I've always been an avid reader but dystopian are my favorite.  Harry Potter is still the top of my list.  But there came a time when I couldn't read.  I would try to read, but couldn't focus enough on the story and I would end up just zoning out for hours at a time.  This was when I was really sick.  It took me awhile to get back into reading, which I found surprising.  I read a lot of samples but never wanted to read much more than that.  I've just recently gotten back into it again and last week, I was in the mood for something light and beachy, in anticipation of our upcoming beach vacay.  I downloaded Delinsky's new book, Sweet Salt Air, and all I knew was that it was about two friends, the beach, and some secrets.  Would you believe that it also ended up being about stem cell transplants and liver problems too?!  The irony almost made me believe in a comedic higher power.  Of course, this was about umbilical chord stem cells, which is more controversial, but still, I wouldn't have chosen to read had I known!  It brought back too many memories and I found myself panicking a little when I read it.  I would've put it down but I was mad!  So I made myself read it (I was also already invested in the characters and needed to know what would happen).  I wouldn't really recommend the book, not because of the whole transplant thing, but because the book ends in a perfect bow, and I don't usually like that.

My mom and I are heading to St. Louis soon and we're going to listen to The Girl Who Plays with Fire on cd on the way.  We've found that it makes the drive go much faster. Listening to a book makes it stick in my brain so differently than reading one.  The last book we listened to, The Woods, didn't leave me for a long time and I missed listening to the reader when it was done.  Usually I pick up another book so fast that I have a hard time remembering what the previous book was about, but listening to a story is completely different and, while it takes a bit to get used to, is very enjoyable.  It's kind of a lost art, that harkens back to when people would read sections of poetry or the Bible to their family and guests to end the day.  Before radio and television, that is.

I am writing a book.  Not based on my experience.  A book of fiction.  I've always wanted to write novels and I've started a few in the past but never completed them.  I'm going to complete this one.  I read an author's blog who was adamant: write everyday, even if you don't feel like it. Think of it as a job and just write something.  That's how I'm looking at it, because there are days when I think I have no idea where the novel is going, but then I sit down and start writing and I'm always surprised where it went.  I can now see how a novel starts to take its own shape and grow out of control.  I have to keep a calendar for my characters in addition to my own so that I don't forget their upcoming events!  I've got 4,500 words and I'm still at what feels like the beginning of the story (a novella is typically around 20,000 words and a first novel is generally around 60,000 to put it in perspective).   It's definitely a learning process but I am loving it so far.