Posts Tagged "Top Shelf Tuesday"
Top Shelf Tuesday
What I’m reading this week. No surprises here, huh?
Danse Macabre
I recognize terror as the finest emotion (used to almost quintessential effect in Robert Wise’s film The Haunting,where, as in The Monkey’s Paw, we are never allowed to see what is behind the door), and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find I cannot terrify him/her, I will try to horrify; and if I find I cannot horrify, I’ll go for the gross-out. I’m not proud.
Top Shelf Tuesday
What I’m reading and loving this week.
This one could double as a Monday Muse, as well.
Noelle Hancock’s My Year with Eleanor: A Memoir
“Noelle Hancock makes an eloquent case for spending a year with Eleanor Roosevelt, but an even more persuasive one for spending 300 pages with Noelle Hancock. Her book is a fresh and funny delight.” (Andy Borowitz )
Top Shelf Tuesday BONUS: CELL PHONE Cover Story & Trailer!
Dying to know more about the making of the adorable Cell Phone book cover? Check out Melissa Walker’s Cover Story, as featured on the B&N Unabashedly Bookish blog! Is it rude to quote myself in providing you with a snippet? Too bad, I’m going to anyway:
I could tell instantly that [my publisher and I] were on the same page in terms of the general tone we were aiming for. I said as much to my editor and agent, both of whom agreed. So I was excited that we were heading in the direction I’d hoped for, and I was looking forward to seeing the finished product.
And in other news, I’m finally able to premiere the book’s very delightful, most officialicious TRAILER! Have a gander, why don’t you?
Top Shelf Tuesday
What I’m reading and loving this week. 
Forbidden
Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives–and the way they understand each other so completely–has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.
Top Shelf Tuesday – and a reminder to come see me at BEA!
For those who might be wondering, this week, I’ve branched out from my usual YA, and/or supernatural/thriller fare. Crazy, right? I’m reading The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie
I fell in love with Wendy back in her days of writing for Television Without Pity, and loved her memoir, I’m Not the New Me
Anyhoo, Wilder Life is for any girl (or guy, I suppose) who ever strapped on a sunbonnet and played at Little House
Read the book! It’s good! I promise.
And when you’re finished, don’t forget to come see me at BEA, this Thursday, 12-12:30pm.
I’ll be signing copies of family and smiling very nicely.
I will not, however, be wearing a sunbonnet. But you totally should if you want to!
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CANNES-ed Goods: Top Shelf Tuesday
Yep, that’s my husband, posing with Return co-producers Meredith Viera, Amy Rapp, and star Louisa Krause. I’m just back from the film’s premiere at the Cannes film festival, one of the more decidedly glamorous moments of my life. What an experience!
I’d seen an earlier, very rough version of the film some months ago, but I wasn’t prepared for how utterly potent and moving the final cut would be. In the editing process, writer/director Liza Johnson managed to elevate her passion project to an entirely new level. Which, to me, underscored the point: revision is revision. Art is art.
That said, film and fiction are obviously entirely separate mediums. A good book does not always a good movie make. So, in honor of my husband’s latest triumph, I thought I’d pay tribute to some of my favorite book-to-movie adaptations.
1. The Shining. Few have had success translating Stephen King’s work to screen, but in Kubrick’s hands, a straightforward haunting story becomes stylish, iconic, and every bit as shudder-inducing as its literary inspiration.
2. A Clockwork Orange. Is it coincidence that this is yet another Kubrick masterpiece? Methinks not.
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Okay, fine. Maybe I have a thing for Jack Nicholson. And Ken Kesey.
4. The World According to Garp. It’s not a perfect movie, but it does perfectly capture the whimsy, quirk, and resonance of Irving’s novel.
5. Clueless. Confession: I’ve never been big on the Brontes. But holy LOL to Amy Heckerling’s ode to Emma. I dare you to resist the charms of one Cher Horowitz.
Of course, I’m barely scratching the surface, here. So tell me – which flicks would make YOUR list?
Top Shelf Tuesday
Better late-breaking than never…
Surely you can guess what I’ll be reading and recommending this week, yes?
Imaginary Girls
Not available until June, but you can read an excerpt here.
Well?! What are you waiting for?
Release Week Rally: Top Shelf Tuesday, ‘family’-style!
Happy book birthday to family
I can’t believe it’s a real, live novel, out there in the world! Wave hi and make nice if you see it, okay?
In truth, release days can be a touch anticlimactic; my next book event isn’t until Friday, and in the meantime, I’m catching up on blog interviews and other fun features for all y’all to enjoy. Also: celebrating The Mister’s birthday, which he shares with my latest work. Funny thing, that – but all the more excuse to eat cake!
So. Yesterday, I blogged about my inspiration for Melinda’s character. Today, in true Top Shelf Tuesday style, I thought I’d share some of the books I read while working on family. These are only the tip of the iceberg. It goes without saying that I highly recommend each one.
1. Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders
2. Manson in His Own Words: The Shocking Confessions of ‘The Most Dangerous Man Alive, Charles Manson and Nuel Emmons
3. Squeaky: The Life and Times of Lynette Alice Fromme
4. Tricks
5. The Chosen One: A Novel
6. Hate List
7. The Shining
8. Gentlemen, Michael Northrop
9. We Need to Talk About Kevin: A Novel, Lionel Shriver
10. The White Darkness
11. How I Live Now
12. Jellicoe Road
13. The Sky Is Everywhere
14. Before I Fall
15. How To Say Goodbye In Robot
Have you read any of the selections from my top shelf? What books inspire you when you’re deep in the trenches of a daunting new project?
Top Shelf Tuesday: Still rockin’!
Figment.com is running info about Rock the Drop all week long! Come Rock the Drop with us, and help spread the word!
Thanks mucho to rgz Miami HOST Crissa Chappell (and her niece, Corie, a very good sport!) for the excellent video.
Top Shelf MONDAY: Reading Rocks
I know, I know – you miss your Monday Muse, but hopefully this info will be perfectly inspiring!
Speaking of reading and loving (and loving reading!), I have to wax rhapsodic about this year’s readergirlz/figment Rock the Drop initiative, created to celebrate Support Teen Lit Day.
On April 14, (that’s Thursday, people!) download a bookplate from readergirlz or figment, paste it into a book for donation, and drop your copy someplace public for some lucky reader to find. Fun, right? Then send a photo in to one of the blogs (or both! But we’ll be cross-posting) to show us how you rocked the drop!
Right now I’m reading Sean Olin’s Brother/Sister
Just sayin’.