Romance & Comedy - fave 2011 books part 3

Happy New Year!

And now for part 3 of my fave reads of 2011. I read romantic comedies this year, which is why I put these two categories together.

Aunts Aren't Gentleman - PG Wodehouse

This was the first Wodehouse I read, lent to me by an elderly Irish gent from church. (He also got me into Agatha Christie.) Wodehouse's books and stories are like polished diamonds. English author.

'And so began what I suppose my biographers will refer to as The Maiden Eggesford Horror—or possibly The Curious Case Of The Cat Which Kept Popping Up When Least Expected.'

'... his idea of a good time was to go off with a pair of binoculars and watch birds, a thing that has never appealed to me. I can't see any percentage in it. If I meet a bird, I wave a friendly hand at it, to let it know that I wish it well, but I don't want to crouch behind a bush observing its habits.'

 'The aunt to whom I alluded was my good and deserving Aunt Dahlia, not to be confused with my Aunt Agatha who eats broken bottles and is strongly suspected of turning into a werewolf at the time of the full moon.'

'If the Drones Club tie has a fault, it is a little on the loud side and should not be sprung suddenly on nervous people and invalids...'

 _____________________________________

 A Little Ray of Sunshine - Lani Diane Rich (Lucy March)
It made me weepy on the bus, so it's gotta be the best contemporary romance I read this year! (Mind I only read two others, but they were Crusie and SE Phillips, so to *win* means something!) More like "women's fiction" than a romance, but it was a lovely little gem with kind characters I sincerely cared about. American author.

 _____________________________________

Friday's Child - Georgette Heyer

I also read Sprig Muslin and Venetia, which are great, but FC was the first Heyer I ever read (my mother gave it to me) and it's just so funny. The characters aren't "aspirational", that is, you don't wish you were Hero, you don't wish to date Freddy, and his friends are idiots--but they're all loveable. And the romance and protagonist growth is gradual and convincing. English author.

This is my favorite cover. It's a scene from the beginning of the book, when Hero is indeed sad and Sherry is comforting her. They look just as they're described, and she looks like the sweetie she is. Unlike most of the other covers where she looks arch and worldly!

Never liked this series of covers, too generic.

And for the worst cover of all time...

 _____________________________________

Ooh a new bio!

Some Thoughts on Heyer:
I was musing recently on why most historical romances these days (80% of which are in Regency England) don't do much for me. Heyer's world isn't a realistic portrayal of 1800s England--for that, you go to Austen. Instead she researched and dug out all these amazing little expressions and cant and lingo, and unbelievable historical details (the mind boggles when you really take notice of it). It was world building, as complex as the best sci fi novels.

Almost all Regencies now use Heyer, whether they know it or not. It's like really good fan fiction. Heyer created the world, and most novels take place in it. Which means there's a lot of good plotting, and moving stories, etc., but no one can do what Heyer did, she was a total original. I'd say the only turn the genre took was the addition of graphic sex scenes (which is de rigeur, and I assume killed off the classic Regency Romance lines. Did Amanda Quick pioneer this?)

Which isn't to say there's no new research, or some emotional stories etc. But my taste runs to witty, over moving. (If I have to read about one more bally hero with a tortured past....)

I thought maybe the Pink Carnation books would provide a new twist, but they're Typical Historicals with a modern day framing device (which is a Typical Contemp.) I know many people swear by them, but I gave up 1/4 of the way in.

And I'm tired of the sex scenes. Tired of daughters who are all raised by single fathers who are scientists/classical scholars, and therefore all the heroines are smart and bookish. The heroes are all completely gorgeous. The hero and heroine almost always fight at first. He forces a kiss on her. She fights it for propriety's sake, but inside Oh my! and he knows it! ...I could go on. There are so many clichés, I just cannae take it nae more.

I have much respect for the genre and its authors, but I wish the conventions weren't so rigid.
  

2nd My fave books this year: Graphic novels

Read a lot of these this year! I couldn't even pick one as my top fave, cause these ones below are wonderful for different reasons.

Fun Home - Alison Bechdel

Memoir of a young woman around college age, coming out, dealing with her family and the secrets her parents had, etc. Just superbly drawn and interesting and touching. American author.

Burma Chronicles - Guy Delisle

 Delisle lives in other countries and cartoons about his time there. As these are usually usually non-democracies (North Korea, China, Burma) it's super interesting! Though his next one will be Israel and I'm sure it will be great too. I read it in English, but it's originally in French. Quebec author.

Aya #3 - Marguerite Abouet, illustrated by Clément Oubrerie

Series about a young woman in an Ivory Coast village, and her buddies. It was in number 3 that I really got hooked, wish my library would get books 4 and 5! I read it in French, but it's available in English (though not books 4 or 5, yet.) Ivorian-French writer, French illustrator, published in Quebec.

Ice Haven - Daniel Clowes

Clowes writes touchingly about social misfits. Ice Haven's my fave--I love how all these disparate stories feed into each other. And I love how he changes his drawing style, as though a variety of authors are illustrating his works (à la American Splendor). American author.

Paul series by Michel Rabagliati

I read 3 of these (just added one to Goodreads which I missed!) Loved loved loved. It's about a man in his 30s thinking back to his youth--each bande dessinée represents a different period. One from his summer job as a camp counselor, one about his first apartment w/ girlfriend, etc. They're funny, charming, the character is SO real, the drawings are beautiful, and in the end they're touching. I read them (the first three) in French, but the whole series exists in English. Quebec author.

  

1st My fave books of this year: Fiction

The Imperfectionists - Tom Rachman

A series of short stories, all about a little period of time in the lives of various *imperfect* people. Like Daniel Clowes, he's often writing about social misfits, and draws you in and makes you care about them. What I really admired, though, was how well he draws characters! A couple pages into each story the characters are already 3 dimensional. And he pulled it off chapters after chapter. Great writing. English-Canadian author.

(Ooh he has a short story on amazon as a kindle single. Gonna get that!)

Superficialities: I love this cover. I'm sure it's part of what persuaded me to plunge in and buy.


Un petit pas pour l'homme - Stéphane Dompierre

Like High Fidelity --> guy working in indie record store, and his relationship problems. But I found it funnier and more charming than Hornby's book. I liked the protagonist more.


Superficialities: French book covers in general are truly wretched. I don't know if it's because it's a smaller market, so there's less money? Or publishing conventions from France. A different aesthetic. I can't stand it.

Best books I read this year

Here's the list! In the coming days I'll post more info about them.

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

Un petit pas pour l'homme by Stéphane Dompierre

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

Burma by Guy Delisle

Aya 3 The Secrets Come Out by Marguerite Abouet

Ice Haven by Daniel Clowes

Paul series by Michel Rabagliati

Aunts Aren't Gentlemen by PG Wodehouse

A Little Ray of Sunshine by Lani Diane Rich

Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer

Hold Me Tight by Sue Johnson

Writing the Other by Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward

Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner

Writing the Romantic Comedy by Billy Mernit

      

My reading roundup 2011! - Anticipation Edition

Hey there ho there. Here are the books I read in 2011 (I love Goodreads for tracking this stuff! Join Goodreads and friend me!) I don't read a lot of new releases, so my coming list won't be the best books pubbed in 2011, just the stuff I read.

I read about 3-4 books per month, which tends to be my average. Here they are in reverse chronological order (Dec 19 2011, to late December 2010).

 

I also read:

From my friend Onthatmidnightstreet

- The Deed of the Monkeys (short story, a reread)

- The Sickroom (novella)

- The Grimly Queen (novella)

- Hide and Seek (short story)

From my bloggyfriend Judy, Judy, Judy

- Hungry Ghosts (online serial novel)

Books I gave up on:

To see my 2010 reads click here.

   

Discovering discovery writing

It's interesting when you see something you do in your own writing process, and then someone else puts a label on it. Here's a course given by Lani Diane Rich/Lucy March (the writer who started the Betty-o-land community I'm part of):

Discovery Writing

How often have you gotten a critique back, or given one out, in which the advice was to cut the first three chapters? There's a reason for this phenomenon. There is a phase in writing called Discovery, in which the writer becomes familiar with their work, their world, their characters, their story.

As a result, they end up writing work that isn't quite right for the book, weighing early chapters down with infodump, backstory, and inconsistent characterization. By honoring your Discovery process, and setting aside time to write with abandon scenes and vignettes that won't be part of the book, you end up strengthening the book in the end.

In the Discovery Writing class, Lani will lead you through the writing techniques that will help you get to know your characters, find your voice for this story, settle your POV, and write your provisional opening scene, all while building a strong foundation so that when you're ready to start writing for the book, you can open with a bang.

If I wasn't having to watch my pennies I'd take the course, or at least the related one in September. But it's too late for me anyway, because I'm deep in this phase now. But I've never heard anyone articulate it--I wonder if she and her husband (who does a lot of the Storywonk instructionals with her) plan to write a writing "how to" book specifically focused on it. Wouldn't be surprised. 

I'd also like to take the course to toss her and her hubs some support! I'll do the next best thing and encourage everyone else to take her courses, cause I suspect she's a very good teacher. Her blog writing is very clear and inspiring.

I really experienced the Discovery concept when working on my next novel, because for my last few Nanowrimos that's what I did--instead of trying to write actual work, I just wrote nonpublishable faux writing. "Discovery writing." It was fantastic, I got tons of ideas, discovered my characters, cut some, added, understood the tone I wanted, etc.--all the stuff she talks about.


Which is why for this book I've been contemplating writing a very very rough first draft, and not even writing the book all the way through. Just writing the first third of the book maybe, and then stopping. See what that generates, what ideas it gives me, and then starting fresh. 

I wanted to know more about the Discovery idea so I looked for a Storywonk podcast on the topic and found this one. Lani and Alistair argue that watching TV shows and movies and reading is part of filling your personal creativity tank and figuring out your personal style in this stage, which confirms this is the stage I'm in right now. 

I've mostly been resisting TV series recommendations from other people, and just rolling around in the stuff I feel the need to watch, whether it's rewatching a Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors, or a Marx Brothers movie or Bringing Up Baby. And I'm reading 7 books at once, plus JJJ's Hungry Ghosts, plus I'll be starting another graphic novel soon. The creative side of my brain is very hyperactive right now. So I'm pretty sold on this novel discovery idea. No idea when it'll stop though! Ack! Some other things (good things) have derailed my attention at the moment.


Les films:

Les books: These first ones were chosen for non-mynovel reasons. By the way, my French Practicing is coming along well. My written French still needs work, but my spoken is really coming back to me--I was tested recently and to my relief it went well. ;-)

The ones I've since started relate in some way to me discovering/soak up/reflecting upon sense of humor and tone for my novel. Rich just re-released two books and I wanted to finally try her out.

About the various employees/owners of an English language paper in Rome. Just started but I like the characters right away. I like books with various characters/storylines. Communities. Very well written.

Total random pick up at the library. About a family with a complete evil mother, whom the father finally leaves, and how he starts a new life away from her. Sort of pedestrian but the characters are charming.

The new Rennison! Hard to top the Georgia character cause she was the classic dumb narrator, but it's good so far. No cat character alas, but there is a nasty big owl, and freaky child characters who just may rival Georgia's little sister (this time it's twin boys). And her Yorkshire setting is fantastic--the kind of setting where the setting is a character. But a comedy character!