June Books

My books this month are a little skimpy: I read a fair amount my first two weeks of traveling, but once I was going through four states a day and camping out, reading was forgotten.


Big Sky Country by Linda Lael Miller. Reviewed here. Funny enough, the day after this posted, I actually was in Big Sky Country - Montana!

Guts by Kristen Johnston. I picked up this book because I loved the actress on Third Rock from the Sun. I thought it would be a funny memoir about acting, being beautiful, achieving success again and again. Instead, it's about Johnston overcoming her addiction. I guess I'm naive, but I didn't even know she had an addiction! She glosses over her childhood and even her beginning acting success, which originally bugged me, because that's what I wanted to read about. The book instead centers around her stomach actually ripping open and releasing acid into her body due to ingesting so much wine and medication. (It is called Guts...) The majority of the book focuses on her period of recuperating in a London hospital, and finally getting sober after the fact. Pretty funny at times, kind of depressing and sad, but she has a fresh, honest way of approaching addiction that redeems it all.

Riding the Bus with My Sister by Rachel Simon. A great memoir documenting a year in the author's life as she tags along with her sister. Beth, the sister, is a mentally handicapped adult who is functioning enough to live on her own and be employed. However, instead of holding a job, Beth prefers to ride the city buses all day, learning all of the routes and schedules, and befriending drivers and passengers. Simon finds her life changed as she travels in circles with her sister. There are some really heartfelt emotional scenes that will open your eyes towards injustice as well as the beauty in life. There is also a surplus of honesty - Simon never glosses over how it feels to cope with a handicapped family member, recounting fights she picks with her sister, anger she feels, and the guilt that results from both. It's an amazing book, the second I've read by the author, and I'm eager to read more.

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman. Very humorous book about a struggling writer unhappy with his job, and what happens when he takes action. Thrown into the mix are relationships with his incredibly famous writer (and womanizer) father, his sweet step father, his wife, his daughter, his mother, and his crush at work. It sounds like a bunch of characters thrown into the mix, but it works beautifully. It's really amusing and while the ending seems a little too clean, it's worth a read. Bonus factoid: the author got his MFA from the program I attended!

One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf. Reviewed here. In airports on my way home from traveling, I saw this book on every bookstore's "Bestseller" shelf!

The Line Between Here and Gone by Andrea Kane. I liked the premise of this book: a newborn is struggling to live because he has a condition that only a transfusion from his father can cure. His mother, Amanda, isn't a match, but she's trying to find another donor because Paul, the baby's father, died before Justin was born. Then a friend sends a photo of Paul to Amanda - apparently he's alive and just ran away from something. He never knew she was pregnant but Amanda is still hurt that Paul might have abandoned her and their son. She hires an investigative firm to find him, if only for the transfusion that will save her son's life. The detectives start finding more and more trouble around Paul's disappearance. The story is well told, the suspense is well done, but too many external characters come into play. For half of the book, it was just Amanda, the baby, her close friend, her uncle, and the investigative team. As the book goes on, a bunch of criminals come in to play, as well as more FBI agents, and the names are really difficult to keep straight, as well as what role they play in the story. Otherwise it was a good read.
     This is actually the second book in a series. I haven't read the first one, so maybe it is easier to follow the characters' names and jobs if you read them in order.

The Power to Write by Caroline Joy Adams. Described as "a writing workshop in a book," this volume can either be a quick read of seven chapters, or drawn out to study each chapter over a week and dedicate time to the exercises included. It's a very basic writing book, with the focus being on inspiring you to get started. There are guidelines for having hooks in your first sentence, using sensory details, and including emotions so your reader is drawn into the story, but it's more of a starting point than a book to help hone your craft.

One Breath Away

I was contacted by Meryl L. Moss Media Relations to participate in a blog tour for Heather Gudenkauf's One Breath Away. My job is to post an excerpt to get you hooked:

My curly brown hair once again falls softly down my back, my favorite earrings dangle from my ears and I can lift both sides of my mouth in a wide smile without much pain at the thought of my children. Yes, drugs are a wonderful thing.

Read more excerpts HERE.

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My Review:
A gunman enters a school in the small town of Broken Branch and no one knows who he is or what he wants. The story is told from the point of view of many different characters: a teacher and student inside the school, a police officer and grandparent outside the school, and a hostage's mother who is states away. At times the stories get a bit confusing - all of the townspeople are characters, and sometimes it's hard to remember who's who. The suspense, however, is incredibly well done. The story comes together piece by piece, and even though you may figure out who the gunman is a few pages for the big reveal, it's still a nice surprise.

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free and was given the excerpt, but the review is my own and is, as always, completely honest.

Sandcastles in the Sand

We ventured out early Saturday morning, stopping for coffee at the cute little Start Me Up Cafe, guaranteeing the Rolling Stones would be stuck in my head the rest of the day.


We went to Cannon Beach, Oregon for the sandcastle competition:


And were inspired to create our own:

(Julie's crawfish and my bumblebee, if you can't tell)

It was a chilly day - we wore two sweaters each - but finally
warmed up enough to let the Pacific Ocean wash over our feet.

We stayed in a little too long and had to run from the tide, and then drive from the tide - you park on the beach, but have to move before the 2p high tide washes your car away.

Even with the weather not being what I'm used to
on the beach, it was still beautiful and unique.

Continuing with the day's outdoorsy theme, we drove on to Silver Lake to catch sight of Mount St. Helens. The day was too cloudy, but we've since seen the volcano from other areas of the city. Silver Lake was gorgeous enough to tide us over.



Check out my Flickr for more photos of the sandcastle competition and Silver Lake.

Diners, Fishies, and a Boat

Day three began with a big greasy breakfast and coffee at Beth's. Patrons draw pictures on computer paper and hang them up all over the walls, but our favorites weren't hand drawn:


The bottom strips were the song lyrics. Gotta recreate this in Memphis.
We knocked off the fourth thing on the city pass: Woodland Park Zoo! It was a pretty decent zoo, but unfortunately they couldn't back the same claim as Beth's:

We continued on to the aquarium to mark off the fifth city pass attraction. Creepy fish galore!
Strangely human face...


Octoalli!


Life Cycle of the Moon Jelly Julie.

Just one pier over was the final item on our city pass: the harbor tour. It was a one hour boat ride around the harbor with a guide spouting interesting facts and, you know it - a commemorative photo:

We finished the six touristy attractions of our city pass in just three days, which has gotta be some sort of a record, but we got nothin'. The girl who took our last ticket for the harbor tour did comment that most people don't finish theirs, so I guess we have bragging rights.

Big Sky Country

I was contacted by Meryl L. Moss Media Relations to participate in a blog tour for Linda Lael Miller's Big Sky Country.

1. How much, and what kinds of research went into creating this novel?
I do a sort of ongoing research—I consult a friend who’s an expert on rodeos, for instance. Most of my stories, though, are pure imagination. I try to get things right, but I’m much more interested in giving the reader an emotional experience and a little vacation from the real world.

2. What are you currently reading?
Lately I’ve been listening to audio books—I’m iTunes’ best customer. I love memoirs, histories, and self-help books, because I love to learn. The current listen is a long memoir, “The Long Sunset”, written by Winston Churchill’s private secretary.

3. Who is your favorite literary character?
There are several who would qualify, but the one that comes to mind first is Dorothy Dunnett’s Francis Crawford of Lymond, introduced in “The Game of Kings” with five other books to follow. I absolutely LOVE her big, meaty historicals and Francis is the original hot Scotsman.

4. What inspires you when you’re writing?
Music—especially country. I knew Johnny Cash and his lovely wife June Carter Cash personally, so of course “Jackson” gets the creative juices flowing for sure. Randy Travis is another favorite, and so is Marty Robbins. Something about their music energizes me, big-time, and starts the pictures unrolling in my brain.

5. Do you have any tips for readers who are looking to become published authors?
Write, mainly—you’d be surprised at how many people don’t get that part. Believe in yourself and don’t quit—rejection is a vital part of the process, and all success is built on a series of failures. Be willing to write badly until you can write well, because it takes a long time to develop your voice and style.

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My Review:
Though this book is technically considered a romance, don't be off-put by that genre grouping. It's well-written, with a very compelling story and complex characters. It's a quick, easy read, but since it's set amid the ranches of Parable, Montana, I'll refrain from calling it a "beach read." Joslyn Kirk returns to Parable after selling her successful computer business, remaining secretive about her intentions of returning to her childhood home after her family was run off years before. Slade Barlow is debating with himself about running for sheriff again, when he really wants to be close to home and help raise his ex-wife's teenage daughter. The two are thrown together and while the ending is typical romance, everything up to that point is really enjoyable.


*Disclaimer: I received this book for free and was given the Q&A material, but the review is my own and is, as always, completely honest.

Space and Science

The second item on our touristy city pass was the Space Needle. Your ticket is good for two visits in a twenty-four hour period, so we went up in early afternoon and after sunset. The view was pretty nice, but I'm a bigger fan of our commemorative photos:


The third stop was the Pacific Science Center, which was hosting King Tut for his last time in North America. Unfortunately that counted as a special exhibit and cost extra. We were really only at the museum because we had free entry, and therefore were too cheap to pay to see the Tut. The rest of the museum is geared towards children, so you know we had a blast!
We saw:

Dinos


Butterflies



Oversized Furniture


and, our favorite… Naked Mole Rats

Our day's coffee was consumed with a late breakfast at the Hi Spot. We parked on a residential street a few blocks away, in front of the house I will one day own.


Check out more butterfly photos on my Flickr.

Startin' in Seattle

After meeting up at baggage claim, Julie and I went to get our rental car. The clerk informed me there were no more vehicles, and I was suddenly in a Seinfeld episode. "We have your reservation, we just ran out of cars." After quite a wait, we were offered a minivan, which was promptly turned down. She finally deemed us responsible enough to have a "luxury" car, so we got this cute lil' baby:

Our goal this trip is to try a different coffee place every day - preferably not one we can get at home. We started our first full day in the city by going to Seattle Coffee Works near Pike Place Market. I got pour over coffee, which I'd heard a lot about but never tried. Brewing was a long, intricate process, but the result was delicious and worth it.


Fortified and jittery, we walked around Pike Place Market.




You know I had to see the gum wall again.

We bought a city pass so we could do six touristy things for a great discount. We started at EMP. I visited last year and wasn't blown away, but this time an AC/DC exhibit was in town.

My favorite part was the Sound Lab, where I played a variety of instruments and remixed the vocals on my own rendition of the Meow Mix song.

The Drive-In

I have a roadside attractions book compiled by a traveling photographer; among the photos are a handful of abandoned drive-in theaters. They looked spooky, yes, but it made me realize I should probably take advantage of having an operating theater in my town. As a teenager I worked at the mini golf course down the street; I drove home those late summer nights, checking out what was playing on the screens as I passed by. But I never thought about going, not until recently.

A date wanted to see a movie and suggested the drive-in, because he knew the novelty would appeal to me. Two movies for the price of one (actually, even cheaper than one at a standard theater) sounds like a good deal, right? Except… I can't sit through movies. I prefer to be doing other things with movies in the background. I like to get up and wander around. Two movies meant twice as long to be sitting doing nothing. Well, nothing except watching a movie.

We paid at the gate and drove towards the massive parking lot bordered by four large screens. There were little wooden guardrails to keep you on the path to your screen: one immediately to the right, branch off here for screen two, over there for three. We continued to the back of the lot, screen four. Only a handful of cars were spaced around, so we ignored the faded lines and parked in what would be the middle row of the theater. I was a little bummed that there were no speakers on posts, like I had heard about. Instead we tuned the radio to a certain frequency, and after a few scans, finally picked up the dialogue.

The best part about the drive-in, besides the novelty of it all, is that you can do whatever you want in your car without disturbing anyone. I don't mean that in an X-rated way, either. I mean that you can sit with your date and mock the entire first movie, the one you didn't want to see, making up your own dialogue and easily predicting what will happen next. Short of flashing your brights in Morse code, you're not going to annoy anyone; it's like being on your own little island.

There's an intermission between movies, the same clip they must have shown in the 70s. Concession stand food meant to look appetizing, but the desaturated colors of the film made everything look several years beyond its prime. (When we ventured to the concessions building, I realized this wasn't the fault of the film.) Prepared food is kept under warming lights for patrons to grab and continue down the line to the register. Buckets of popcorn next to a butter spout, nachos soaking in liquid cheese, corn dogs and wrapped hamburgers, cups of french fries. It's a little disgusting; I was charmed.

The second movie, the one we actually intended to see, was good - especially compared to what came before it. The parking lot had cleared out by then, due to the late hour and possibly the weather. Water droplets on the windshield didn't disturb us, and when the rain tapered off it had cooled the Memphis heat so much there was a chill in the early morning air.

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I visited the drive-in Sunday, and started drafting this post Tuesday. On Wednesday, I was surprised to see the day's Google Doodle was a drive-in! After realizing that didn't mean my brain ruled the Internet, I read that the first drive-in theater opened on June 6, 1933.

Perfect timing, no?

Long Way Home

I have a really long commute when I work in the office. The funny thing is, once I weave my way out of my neighborhood, the drive is only two streets. Two of the longest streets in Memphis, stretching from my area of town all the way out to the office complex. Thankfully the traffic is never too bad - I'm heading the opposite way of those who leave the suburbs for downtown jobs. These particular roads are full of slow-startin' eighteen-wheelers, though, which can be a bummer when you're used to peeling out from red lights in your speedy little car.

I try to find things to distract me from the drive, so to speak (I always keep my eyes on the road). I fill my travel mug to the brim so some sips still remain by the time I reach my destination. I make playlists to sing along with. I try to keep count of the eighty-seven fried chicken places along the way (tally not final, but no exaggeration here). I check out other drivers and people running for the bus and street walkers and make up stories about them.

I notice the sun casting shadows to make the mundane street signs more appealing.


This remains my favorite view, which I actually only see on the drive home. The first time I saw it, I felt a physical jolt. "GOD LOOK" is not what I'd expect to see as graffiti in that area of town (although God probably should look at that area of town...). It inspires so many questions. Now I look for it every evening and it brings me a strange sense of peace.

The commute isn't really what I'm focusing on right now, because I'm taking a break from it. That's right, the "Allison Writes... On the Road" header is back!

Today I fly out (for free!) to meet Julie, and we'll divide two weeks between Seattle, Portland, and wherever else strikes our fancy. When she leaves me, Kelly will come to pick me up, and we'll spend a week camping and road tripping in Montana and Utah.

There are things I will miss dearly in Memphis, which is a nice change from traveling last year when I couldn't wait to get away from it all. But I'm eager to explore with two of my best friends, and I know I'll come back feeling more refreshed than ever.


Check out my latest Six Sentences, Coming of Age.

May Books

The Good Father by Diane Chamberlain. Reviewed here with a guest post from the author.

U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton. I've been reading this series since my mom introduced me to it in middle or high school. They're good detective stories that are entertaining, yet to-the-point, with no flowery language. The last few books, however, have been getting wordier, with entire paragraphs of information (say the history of a certain city, or why people react certain ways to photographs or memories, yada yada yada) that have no bearing on the plot, and don't add anything to the story. You can look at the first half of the books and tell that they're slimmer and more concise than the later half. It's not a problem to skim these sections since, as I said, they don't affect the story. The book still entertained me and was a quick read. By this point I'm so far in it'd be silly not to finish the alphabet, regardless of the writing style.

Split by Swati Avasthi. A young adult book about a father who abused his family and how they came to escape. Jace, the main character, leaves years after his older brother, but still manages to track him down. They live together and try to get along and get through the childhood they've left behind. Jace struggles to adjust to a new high school and come to terms with the girlfriend he left behind. The book has a good pace of revealing things that happened, and the ending is realistic and not rushed.

The Best of Good by Sara Lewis. Another re-read. Like last month's Baby Plays Around, I've probably read this book once a year since it came out. Also like Baby Plays Around, it's based around music. Good is a bartender who plays guitar in his spare time - like, every second of his spare time. He lives in a one-room apartment and soundproofed a closet so he could sit inside and write and record songs. He rarely tells people that he was the songwriter for a famous band, because no one understands why he willingly left that life behind. He doesn't socialize with his neighbors, doesn't have a girlfriend, and is really only friends with his older sister. Then he hears that his old girlfriend is back in town, and she has a kid who looks exactly like Good. This sets things in motion for Good to try and change his life, and the results are a mix of hilarity and heart-breaking reality.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson. This book is kind of like reading a woman's hilarious blog. In fact, that's exactly what it is . Jenny Lawson is the Bloggess, and this is her memoir. She claims it is "mostly true" so her family can deny what they want and no one's reputation will be damaged. The stories are hilarious, and at least one sentence in each will you have you laughing out loud, whether it's how her dinner party conversations focus on getting stabbed in the face by serial killers or how she came to love costumed dead animals, despite her father scarring her by being a taxidermist. My favorite sections have to be: the exchange with her husband about GPS while she was driving around lost in her own town, and sharing bits of her crazy experiences working in an office's HR department. Lawson's sense of humor centers around being incredibly ridiculous and potentially offensive - right up my alley!

This is How by Augusten Burroughs. It's probably not fair of me to review this book, because I'm not a big fan of Burroughs' writing. I've read almost all of his books though, and thought this one looked interesting. I figured it would be a humorous spin on a self-help book, but it turned out to be an incredibly preachy self-help book. I thought Burroughs would use instances from his own life and share how he got through them, and he did… to a point. But the overall tone was condescending, like he knew what was best in every case. There were some good lines, some good lessons, but overall it wasn't what I was expecting, and not worth the read.

Drop Dead Healthy by A. J. Jacobs. I've read Jacobs' The Guinea Pig Diaries and thought it was really funny how he jumps into these experiments, so I knew that his quest to be the healthiest man in the world would be just as funny. It was also very educational, because he drops in facts he learns along the way. Each chapter is a month that he focuses on a different aspect of health - like trying to find the right diet, how to get the best sleep, the best exercise, how to protect your hearing and your memory, etc. He puts a humorous spin on things, but it's also written so it's really easy to understand - there's not too much science, there's not too much opinion. In the cases of diet, for instance, he balances equally between vegetarianism, veganism, and being carnivorous without taking sides. Eventually he does express opinions on what worked for him, but it all seems really fair, not biased. The pictures accompanying each chapter of Jacobs in action are pretty funny, too.

On Writing by Stephen King. I've only read King's Everything's Eventual because I found the few novels I started to be too verbose; they didn't grab my attention in time so I cast them aside. I thought this book would be the same way. The beginning is a little slow going, starting with blips of his childhood that don't really provide an emotional connection. (I did like that the scenes of getting his eardrums punctured reminded me of Roald Dahl's "surgeries" in Boy). Once he got into his experiences with writing, however, I was more interested. I still found the writing to be a little clunky, ironically, and it was hard to relate to some parts that seemed to deal solely with science fiction. It was a good read though, and there were some good tips, some good lines. My favorites:
- " Description begins in the writer's imagination, but should finish in the reader's. When it comes to actually pulling this off, the writer is much more fortunate than the filmmaker, who is almost always doomed to show too much."
- "Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up."

24 Girls in 7 Days by Alex Bradley. I've read this a couple times before. It's a really cute young adult novel about a boy, Jack Grammar, who is trying to find a date for the senior prom. His friends write a personal ad for him to put on the school's website, and the response is overwhelming! The friends narrow the list down from hundreds of girls to just twenty-four, whom Jack must go out with in the last 7 days before prom. Parts of this book are laugh-out-loud funny, and overall it is just a great story that reads well and sticks with you once you're done.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. I read this book a few years ago, but didn't enjoy it much, and therefore couldn't understand the hype around it. With this re-read, everything clicked. The book is amazing. Melinda is a high school freshman narrating the hell of her first year after everyone thought she called the cops at a party with underage drinking during the previous summer. No one knows the real reason she called the police, and she's not speaking. The tone is darkly humorous and poetic at times, though always straight to the point with no fluff.

The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon. The first chapter will hook you immediately. After that, it's a little stop and go. The book spans forty years in several people's lives, but the first few years take up the vast majority of the book. The action isn't necessarily slow, but by the time years start passing, it's a little frustrating that the early years took up so much of the book while the later time is more glossed over. Each chapter is from the point of view of a different character, and because of this, it was harder for me to remember characters' connections or places in life as the years jumped by in bigger increments. At the same time, the story is very compelling and well-written. It deals with handicapped people and their rights throughout the years, though it is fiction so that's not really the focus. The truth is well-balanced with the stories, and there are some emotional moments. The ending was pretty hokey in my opinion, but was satisfying enough.