blabbery featured: Barack Obama cloris leachman dancing with the stars firebrand lacey schwimmer lance bass politics sarah palin Susan Wiggs TV
by Blabby
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so much to say!
Lacey Schwimmer on Dancing with the Stars? That’s almost not fair - she’s almost as famous as Lance Bass! That really seems like an unfair advantage. I can’t wait to see Cloris Leachman, either.
How about Sarah Palin? If she wasn’t pro-life, I’d love her. If she wasn’t on McCain’s ticket, I might vote for her. But it’s really not about her, is it? Although, remember that show with Geena Davis, where the Pres died and she takes office. She was only his VP to get the womens’ vote? That could happen - McCain is pretty old. BUT, he’s not going to win anyway *fingers crossed*, so it won’t matter. I think her 17-year old daughter being pregnant is a fun little twist for the conservatives to grapple with :)
Just finishing up Susan Wiggs’ Firebrand. Really awesome book. I highly recommend it.
I loved Barack’s speech. Can’t wait for him to be President!!! It’s time to start reading up on all the crazy propositions showing up on my Nov. ballot…inform yourself!
Hearing the written word
I usually have a book on CD going in my car, as well as a book or two on the nightstand. Right now on CD, it’s book two in Meg Cabot’s Mediator series. I just finished Barack Obama’s The Audacity of Hope. I just fininshed reading Susan Wiggs’ Dockside. On my iPod (my new gorgeous light blue nano), I’ve been listening to NPR Selected Shorts and New Yorker Fiction podcasts (free for downloading on iTunes). In the blogosphere, I’ve been catching up on Lin’s Breakdown in the Fastlane - a blog everyone should read.
Here’s what I’ve been noticing.
I love dialogue. I love how good dialogue advances the story and reveals so much. I tend to skip over lengthy detail in a novel and dialogue serves as the speed bumps to counteract my haste. If I ever fulfill my dream of becoming a writer, I think it will be when I learn to master the art of dialogue. It’s probably going to be a while.
I’ve been thinking about this for a few days, and reading Diane’s post about studying other artists for aspects you admire really brought it home. It’s easy for me to speed read/listen my way through 100 books a year, but to grow, I should slow down and pay attention. It’s one thing to say anyone can write a book (which I often hear about the romance genre, although I don’t think it’s true in the least), it’s another to really appreciate the skill involved in making short-attention span readers like myself NOT skip the detail.
So I’m going to take time to read about the smell of roses. Or something like that.
One reason I’ve been noticing dialogue so much is that in my current audiobook, The Ninth Key by Meg Cabot, there’s a lot of rehashing the first book to catch readers up in between the dialogue. I keep wanting to fast forward, but I can’t because it will just jump to the next track. So actually, the unabridged audiobook format is quite effective at making me pay attention.
If you’re a fan of podcasts, download some of the NPR Selected Shorts - they’re short stories written by well known classic and current writers, read by theater and film greats. My new favorite thing to take to the gym.
Book #36 - Summer by the Sea
Summer by the Sea by Susan Wiggs. I really should have purchased this one. More great recipes. I even made the rosemary lemonade for a cookout! The story was great - a fast summer read full of romance and good food. I really liked Rosa and (especially) Alex - both for their straight-forwardness and their personalities. Ms. Wiggs does an excellent job at creating believable characters that don’t fall into mind-numbing spirals of missed chances and bad choices. Her characters are smart, likeable, and most importantly - you cheer for them.
And seriously, the recipes are worth the cover price. Now I have to go buy it because I already returned it to the library.
My one complaint, hence the missing half-a-star, is that I guessed the mystery.
Still, highly recommended:[rating:4.5]
books mystery romance novels: family drama food recipe Susan Wiggs
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Book #35 - The Winter Lodge
The Winter Lodge by Susan Wiggs. Seriously, I’m so far behind on my book reviews, so I’m going to skip the three I owe (from the 48-hour book challenge) and forge ahead. I loved this book - much more so than the first book of the series, Summer at Willow Lake. But, since I did love the characters, I had to continue on with the series. This book had great pacing, great story lines and especially great recipes. I’m glad I purchased this one rather than checked it out from the library.
The story of Jenny Majesky is told here, as well as cameo appearances from well-loved characters from the first book. I was surprised by the twists of intrigue Ms. Wiggs weaves into the story - which is basically one of family with a little romance mixed in. I’m looking forward to the next installment of the Lakeshore Chronicles.
Highly recommended. [rating:5]
music: Amy Ray Brandi Carlile Emily Saliers girls with guitars Indigo Girls Susan Wiggs Thao
by Blabby
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Super Awesome Music Weekend!
This weekend, I went to not one but TWO Indigo Girls concerts. The first one I have had tickets for for months. I went with four friends. We went out to dinner first and made it into a fun girls’ night out. I even stayed and won a little money at blackjack (concert was in a casino) after the show. It was awesome. Both concerts were acoustic - just the girls and their guitars/banjos/mandolins.
Sunday night’s show opened with a band called Thao. They were good musicians, and I liked the lead singer’s voice, but I couldn’t understand what she was singing. This was particularly disappointing because when she spoke in between songs, she was really funny. Then she’d introduce a song with something like, “This is our most controversial song,” and then I couldn’t understand a dern thing she was being controversial about.
When the Indigo Girls came on, it was non stop singing/playing-their-asses-off music. I wonder just how many guitars they really have. Because their guitar-handler (not sure what the real title is there) would bring out a different one in between every song.
Basically, I loved every minute of it. So much so, that I broke down the next morning and bought another $50 ticket to see the next show a few towns away. (Thanks, sweet husband, for watching the baby again, so I could go rock out to my favorite band!) I decided to go to this one alone, so I could stand up and sing the whole time without feeling like I was annoying or embarrassing anyone.
This is a long post, so read the rest after the jump. more »
book binge books romance novels RWA: Dirty Dancing RITA Susan Wiggs
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Book #17
(Book Binge book #7) Summer at Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs. Probably the longest book I’ve read in a little while at 535 pages…it’s kind of funny to go from reading a lot of Harlequins to a mainstream romance novel. You know whats going to happen, but it takes a lot longer to get there.
Not to say this book moved slowly, because it didn’t. And I loved the characters and especially the location - a dreamy Dirty Dancing-esque campground in the Catskills. One character, a film buff, even refers to it as so - which I thought was cool.
- I wanted to live there.
- I wanted to see (as in, invite him to my house) Connor Davis - he sounds lovely :)
- I really loved Olivia - the heroine. She was a complete person, with great (but realistic) strengths and also realistic shortcomings.
I’m looking forward to reading more of Susan Wiggs’ novels. She’s got a huge collection of books under her belt. I happened to stumble onto her blog through the Tag Surfer, and boy am I glad I did. Consequently, she’s also up for a RITA. In a different category than Kathleen O’Brien, so I can cheer for them both!
