Reading Something Old New Again

I'm going way off topic this week, but it's because of a certain call I've been answering. And I think that call has to do with all of the edits (and writing) I've been working on.

When I love a story, I always want more. I'll read and re-read the same book again and again. For example, I'm a huge fan of Jane Austen. And, while I haven't read all of her novels, the ones I have read, I read again. And again. She never wrote sequels of her most beloved books. But, other people have.

Just like Sense and Sensibility, I find myself re-reading the Pamela Aiden series Fitzwilliam Darcy, A Gentleman. But, every time I do, it brings to mind a question I've been asking myself for many years. Something of a debate I've held with myself over my guiltiest of pleasures. When is it art and homage and when is it just fan fiction?

What I'm Reading (Scat and The Time Traveler's Wife)

I kind of like it that I'm pretty widely read. I love my trash, YA fiction, literary novels and the occasional thriller. These past two weeks haven't been an exception. So, here's what I've been reading:

Scat- Carl Hiaasen
Scat, Carl Hiaasen's latest YA novel, has the same scatterbrained and hilarious characters that freckle all of his adult crime novels. If you've never read a Carl Hiaasen novel, I highly recommend them. They're fun, engaging and always packed with a muckracking ecological message. Scat is no exception-- touching on issues like the War in the Middle East, terrifying teachers, troubled teens and endangered Florida Panthers you're soon lost in a rip-roaring plot. What Hiaasen does so well is portray real people who get caught up in truly wild adventures. This is a great end of summer read-- or a back to school essential!

The Time Traveler's Wife- Audrey Niffenegger
This book broke me. I can't remember the last time I read such a heart wrenching story. I picked up a copy because I started to see the movie adverts (oh yes, I am highly motivated by marketing). I'd been told how wonderful the book was for years-- but I'm not a big fan of love stories. Romances, sure, on occasion. But 'love stories' imply something deep and tragic and just don't interest me. However, The Time Traveler's Wife is something rare and beautiful. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Its a beautiful novel of hope, longing, and love. I wont be reading anymore 'love stories' for a while, but for the first time I can understand why people love to read these novels.

I'll update you on what I'm reading now in a few weeks! Have a wonderful weekend. If you've got any book suggestions please do leave me a comment-- I'm always looking for another good read.

What I'm Reading - Thursday Next

I -- like many -- read as part of staying inspired in my writing. It is nearly as important to me as the sound tracks I write by. It refreshes me and nourishes me. It helps keep me in the mood; it helps me think about elements of the universe I'm creating by looking at what other people have done in their own.

Right now, I'm reading the first book in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series -- The Eyre Affair. And I'm loving it. I have always had a hard time with literary books -- they often take themselves too seriously. Meanwhile, the really playful books are often just fairy floss and popcorn -- fun, but not much in the way of substance. The thing I'm loving about this book is that somehow, it's both. There are tonnes of in-jokes and bad puns (really, the only kind of puns I love. Just ask my darling Other Half).

The world of Thursday Next is an alternate to our own, where England and Russia have been fighting the Crimean War for over 100 years, where Wales is an independent nation, and some people have the ability to move through time and into the worlds of books. The story is set in 1985 and there are two main powers controlling the globe: the Special Operations Network (a la 1984) and the Goliath Corporation. The main character, Thursday E. Next, a lowly LiteraTec Detective, SO-27, has a voice that brings to mind old detective stories -- and some newer ones. And there are elements of the world he created that I'm frankly jealous about -- I would love the ability to walk into the worlds created by books. And I would love to see a Richard the III performance like the one described in the book. It sounds like a cross between the Rocky Horror Picture Show viewings and the midnight show Shenandoah Shakespeare Express put on every year at my university. It sounded like so much fun it made me giddy. And don't get me started on the bookworms, fed on prepositions and expelling clouds of apostrophes and hyphens.

I love this book the way I love Harry Dresden books and Alton Brown cooking shows. I can already tell that this is going to be one of those books I end up reading again and again (a list I'll discuss some other time).

As you might be able to tell, I'd give this book five happy bookworms out of five.

What are you reading?