Genevieve and Stephanie become friends online through their mutual love for a television show. It's a fast friendship, accelerated by a fan convention trip where they meet in real life and find they really do enjoy one another's company.
They're both young women (18 and 22) with complicated lives - Gena's about to begin college (if she finishes her exams and papers), has absent and disconnected parents, and has a history of mental instability; Finn is looking for her first "real" job, has just moved in with her boyfriend, and is contemplating future options (marriage? kids?).
The book is formatted as blog posts and comment chains, direct messaging, text messages, emails, notes, diary entries, and more.
While there's a lot of back-and-forth chats that are quick to read, I can't say it's easy: the part that you instinctually want to ignore (the header, subject line, date and time) holds information that helps you work through the conversation. I found myself doing a lot of backtracking and rereading those headers - for example, some emails are drafts that were never sent.
I almost gave up on this book about 15 pages in, but decided to give it another go. I'm glad I did, too, because I really enjoyed it once I got to know the characters better. And it wasn't nearly as formulaic as I'd feared a modern-novel-in-messaging might be - the storyline went in a couple directions I hadn't anticipated. Hooray!
Showing posts with label epistolary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label epistolary. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher
You'd think you only get half of a story if you're given only one person's letters, but in the case of college professor Jason Fitger we get a more-than-complete story reading only his hilarious, twisted, and sad outgoing correspondence. Trust me.
Through his rants, recommendations, and personal letters of reference we learn all about Professor Fitger's ex-wife, ex-girlfriends, ex-students, college friends, and coworkers. We know all about the building's remodeling project gone wrong, about Fitger's love life gone wrong, and about his career gone wrong.
It's a story of office politics, university backstabbing, and one insufferable man's attempts to do right by a promising young writer. I laughed out loud on several occasions. It's a very good pick-it-up-and-put-it-down book, and make sure you stick around for the end.
Through his rants, recommendations, and personal letters of reference we learn all about Professor Fitger's ex-wife, ex-girlfriends, ex-students, college friends, and coworkers. We know all about the building's remodeling project gone wrong, about Fitger's love life gone wrong, and about his career gone wrong.
It's a story of office politics, university backstabbing, and one insufferable man's attempts to do right by a promising young writer. I laughed out loud on several occasions. It's a very good pick-it-up-and-put-it-down book, and make sure you stick around for the end.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
It's often debated whether love at first sight exists, but what about love BEFORE first sight?
Since the newspaper doesn't trust its employees with this new-fangled internet technology (the book is set in 1999), the IT department is filtering all email - and it's Lincoln's job to read flagged messages and issue warnings for violation of policy. But he's begun following the conversations between a copy editor and an entertainment writer like it's a daily soap opera, instead of sending the women warning notes from "security" like he should. Beth and Jennifer's relationship and all their daily interactions are so very interesting, especially for a guy who's stuck in a state of arrested development.
And as much as he'd like to take action - to walk into the newsroom and meet Jennifer face to face - it's hard to ask a woman on a date when you've been secretly reading her emails for months. Talk about awkward! Plus, she's got a boyfriend. But lately, meeting Jennifer is all Lincoln can think about.
I've had a huge booknerd crush on Rainbow Rowell since reading her teen books (Eleanor and Park, Fangirl) and this was her first adult novel, published in 2012. I've already read an advance copy of her upcoming adult novel, Landline, which you'll see reviewed here in June.
I've adored all of Rowell's books, and this one is no exception. She writes fully realized, relatable characters in the kind of real-world sticky situations you can imagine yourself in, too. I'll be passing this book along and recommending it quite a bit - don't wait to try it yourself!
Since the newspaper doesn't trust its employees with this new-fangled internet technology (the book is set in 1999), the IT department is filtering all email - and it's Lincoln's job to read flagged messages and issue warnings for violation of policy. But he's begun following the conversations between a copy editor and an entertainment writer like it's a daily soap opera, instead of sending the women warning notes from "security" like he should. Beth and Jennifer's relationship and all their daily interactions are so very interesting, especially for a guy who's stuck in a state of arrested development.
And as much as he'd like to take action - to walk into the newsroom and meet Jennifer face to face - it's hard to ask a woman on a date when you've been secretly reading her emails for months. Talk about awkward! Plus, she's got a boyfriend. But lately, meeting Jennifer is all Lincoln can think about.
I've had a huge booknerd crush on Rainbow Rowell since reading her teen books (Eleanor and Park, Fangirl) and this was her first adult novel, published in 2012. I've already read an advance copy of her upcoming adult novel, Landline, which you'll see reviewed here in June.
I've adored all of Rowell's books, and this one is no exception. She writes fully realized, relatable characters in the kind of real-world sticky situations you can imagine yourself in, too. I'll be passing this book along and recommending it quite a bit - don't wait to try it yourself!
Monday, February 3, 2014
The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick
Completely narrated in letters to Richard Gere, this story of a man's journey of self-discovery unfurls story by story. Bartholomew is a little slow-minded and he's never had a job besides taking care of his mother, but at 38 years old he's got to stand on his own now that brain cancer has taken her. And in the course of grief counseling - and a major roadtrip adventure - his horizons begin to expand.
The book's very funny, but a little sad, and also philosophical. Bartholomew does lots of research at the library, so even though the angry man in his stomach sometimes calls him retarded, he's also thoughtful about Buddhism and Tibet (Gere's interests) and his own Catholic upbringing.
Author Matthew Quick has become a prominent voice for mental illness awareness and social understanding because he's such a master at putting the reader inside the head of his unusual and broken characters. This is the third book of his that I've read, and each has been wonderful and eye-opening for me in terms of compassion and empathy.
I really enjoyed this book and was engrossed from start to finish. It's a fairly fast read, but the story and characters will stick with you long after the final page.
The book's very funny, but a little sad, and also philosophical. Bartholomew does lots of research at the library, so even though the angry man in his stomach sometimes calls him retarded, he's also thoughtful about Buddhism and Tibet (Gere's interests) and his own Catholic upbringing.
Author Matthew Quick has become a prominent voice for mental illness awareness and social understanding because he's such a master at putting the reader inside the head of his unusual and broken characters. This is the third book of his that I've read, and each has been wonderful and eye-opening for me in terms of compassion and empathy.
I really enjoyed this book and was engrossed from start to finish. It's a fairly fast read, but the story and characters will stick with you long after the final page.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher
It's hard enough to be a teenage girl in love - but what if you fell for two guys? Well, at least in this story, somebody's going to end up dead.
Brit teen "Zoe" is writing letters to a death row inmate in Texas. She figures she can unburden herself to Mr. Harris since he killed his wife - he'll understand that terrible things can happen in the heat of passion. A boy is dead, and Zoe is to blame ... but it's going to take almost a year, a lot of letters, and a complicated backstory before we get to that.
This is a fun, addictive, and frustrating novel. I was completely sucked into the story and I read it in just two sittings - but I had to constantly stop myself from jumping to the end to find out WHICH ONE?!? And about the time you think, "a-ha!" you'll also wonder, "Was that a red herring?"
Brit teen "Zoe" is writing letters to a death row inmate in Texas. She figures she can unburden herself to Mr. Harris since he killed his wife - he'll understand that terrible things can happen in the heat of passion. A boy is dead, and Zoe is to blame ... but it's going to take almost a year, a lot of letters, and a complicated backstory before we get to that.
This is a fun, addictive, and frustrating novel. I was completely sucked into the story and I read it in just two sittings - but I had to constantly stop myself from jumping to the end to find out WHICH ONE?!? And about the time you think, "a-ha!" you'll also wonder, "Was that a red herring?"
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole
A literary who-done-it that sweeps across two world wars, this novel in letter format encompasses both a transcontinental pen-pal relationship during the first World War and a young woman's journey of self-discovery during WWII.
We know right away these two stories are connected; early on it's clear that the end of the first war story is going to illuminate the beginning of the second - and the getting there is truly the good part.
These are wonderful letters, the kind we don't write any more: back then friendships and entire relationships were sustained on paper and moved only at the speed of postage. And Brockmole does an amazing job fleshing out these characters into completely realized people only through their correspondence.
Book clubs will love this one as much as they did the similarly structured The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. But it's not a simple knock-off; this book stands on its own merit as an exciting read with fantastic storytelling.
We know right away these two stories are connected; early on it's clear that the end of the first war story is going to illuminate the beginning of the second - and the getting there is truly the good part.
These are wonderful letters, the kind we don't write any more: back then friendships and entire relationships were sustained on paper and moved only at the speed of postage. And Brockmole does an amazing job fleshing out these characters into completely realized people only through their correspondence.
Book clubs will love this one as much as they did the similarly structured The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. But it's not a simple knock-off; this book stands on its own merit as an exciting read with fantastic storytelling.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
When Bee's mom disappears, the super-smart middle-schooler gathers up all the pieces (emails, faxes, correspondence, a magazine article, police police reports, and more) in an attempt to determine what really happened. So, what really happened? Her mother Bernadette's artistic frustration, amplified by a chain of chance encounters and epic irritations, boils over in a series of cacophonous misunderstandings - all before the book begins. Once Bee's on the case, it gets even more mysterious and strange when Bernadette is found, then lost again.
The darkly funny novel is told through disjointed bits of writing - since it's made up of all the information Bee has gathered. Some of the sources are wildly untrustworthy, and everybody's got their own prejudices and biases. Your perception of Bernadette shifts as you uncover more and more of her illustrious past and unrealized potential. Bee is a heartbreaking conduit for the story; she's a kid who really just wants her mom back.
I loved the digging-through-the-files way the story unfolds, and I adored the crazy, vindictive characters involved. The city of Seattle is practically a character, too, and the eccentricities of the nerd micro-culture at Microsoft Corporation are well featured. While I'd like to say the story's a bit improbable, I know that truth is often stranger than fiction ... and it's probably not all that improbable.
The darkly funny novel is told through disjointed bits of writing - since it's made up of all the information Bee has gathered. Some of the sources are wildly untrustworthy, and everybody's got their own prejudices and biases. Your perception of Bernadette shifts as you uncover more and more of her illustrious past and unrealized potential. Bee is a heartbreaking conduit for the story; she's a kid who really just wants her mom back.
I loved the digging-through-the-files way the story unfolds, and I adored the crazy, vindictive characters involved. The city of Seattle is practically a character, too, and the eccentricities of the nerd micro-culture at Microsoft Corporation are well featured. While I'd like to say the story's a bit improbable, I know that truth is often stranger than fiction ... and it's probably not all that improbable.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Dear Enemy
by Jean Webster
Webster was Samuel Clemens' great-niece. I had not known that until I picked up this book, which is the sequel to one of my favorites from childhood: Daddy-long-legs. Believe it or not, these are as close to teen books as you will find from the era in which they were written. Both books revolve around women who spent part of their lives in the fictional John Grier Home for orphans.
Sallie McBride, a recent college graduate, finds herself the superintendent of an orphan asylum as a favor to a friend. Throughout much of this epistolary novel, she contends that her role is temporary. As the book was written in 1915, it makes sense that Sallie believes she is meant for marriage and a life that does not involve paid work outside the home. Modern girls will cheer for Sallie as she triumphs over many adverse conditions left by her predecessor. Owing to that pre-suffrage era, Sallie does manage to fall in love and plot her married life. Far too often for my modern feminist taste, she is rescued by men. I repeatedly reminded myself that men would have been the benefactors who could provide all that the orphanage needed.
Webster was Samuel Clemens' great-niece. I had not known that until I picked up this book, which is the sequel to one of my favorites from childhood: Daddy-long-legs. Believe it or not, these are as close to teen books as you will find from the era in which they were written. Both books revolve around women who spent part of their lives in the fictional John Grier Home for orphans.
Sallie McBride, a recent college graduate, finds herself the superintendent of an orphan asylum as a favor to a friend. Throughout much of this epistolary novel, she contends that her role is temporary. As the book was written in 1915, it makes sense that Sallie believes she is meant for marriage and a life that does not involve paid work outside the home. Modern girls will cheer for Sallie as she triumphs over many adverse conditions left by her predecessor. Owing to that pre-suffrage era, Sallie does manage to fall in love and plot her married life. Far too often for my modern feminist taste, she is rescued by men. I repeatedly reminded myself that men would have been the benefactors who could provide all that the orphanage needed.
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