What I’m Reading, What I’m Writing

I realized something the other day, right after I’d spent five hours on the couch watching the new SyFy show Helix – what I WATCH is very different from what I READ. I enjoy science fiction movies, but I can’t think of one syfy book I’ve ever read. I love YA books, but other than the Hunger Games, I don’t enjoy watching it. I tried Pretty Little Liars, I really did, but I couldn’t really relate, maybe because I’m none of those things.

Anyway, back to it. Here are some things I’ve read, am reading, and want to read.

What I Read:

The Ocean at the End of the Lane 

I enjoyed this book a lot. I thought it was a little scary/dark for kids, then I found out it was for adults, so never mind. It was actually the first Neil Gaiman book I’d read and I see why everyone loves him so much.

What I’m Reading:

Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo

From Amazon: Winner of the 2014 Newbery Medal

Holy unanticipated occurrences! A cynic meets an unlikely superhero in a genre-breaking new novel by master storyteller Kate DiCamillo.

It begins, as the best superhero stories do, with a tragic accident that has unexpected consequences. The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book Terrible Things Can Happen to You!, is the just the right person to step in and save him. What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry — and that Flora will be changed too, as she discovers the possibility of hope and the promise of a capacious heart. From #1 New York Times best-selling author Kate DiCamillo comes a laugh-out-loud story filled with eccentric, endearing characters and featuring an exciting new format — a novel interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences and full-page illustrations, all rendered in black-and-white by up-and-coming artist K. G. Campbell.

My daughter got this for Christmas and read it for a book report. She loved it, and because I’m no stranger to the brilliance of Kate DiCamillo, I decided to read it too. I’m enjoying it so far. It’s a great, middle-grade book, but I don’t know if it will surpass The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane as my all-time favorite.

I Want to Read:

Stitches, a Memoir, by David Small. From Amazon: David Small, a best-selling and highly regarded children’s book illustrator, comes forward with this unflinching graphic memoir. Remarkable and intensely dramatic, Stitches tells the story of a fourteen-year-old boy who awakes one day from a supposedly harmless operation to discover that he has been transformed into a virtual mute—a vocal cord removed, his throat slashed and stitched together like a bloody boot. From horror to hope, Small proceeds to graphically portray an almost unbelievable descent into adolescent hell and the difficult road to physical, emotional, and artistic recovery.

A National Book Award finalist; winner of the ALA’s Alex Award; a #1 New York Times graphic bestseller; Publishers Weekly and Washington Post Top Ten Books of the Year, Los Angeles Times Favorite Book, ALA Great Graphic Novels, Booklist Editors Choice Award, Huffington Post Great Books of 2009, Kirkus Reviews Best of 2009, Village Voice Best Graphic Novel, finalist for two 2010 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards (Best Writer/Artist: Nonfiction; Best Reality-Based Work). Illustrated throughout.

A memoir, in graphic form! I used the Look Inside feature of Amazon and it looks like an amazing story, and the illustrations are brilliant. I could download it but it seems like the type of book you’ll want to hold in your hand so I’m waiting on the Atlanta snowstorm to pass so I can buy it from a real person in an actual bookstore.

What I’m Writing:

I’m editing my MG novel! My wonderful editor sent the first round of edits last week and I’m happily back with Lou and the gang in Zollicoffer. My goal is to get everything done in 6 weeks and lucky for me, I’ve got a scheduled writing retreat with my critique group in two weeks.

That’s the update. Let me know if you have any suggestions for reading material. I’m willing to try a good science-fiction novel. I hate to let an entire genre go to waste!