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Thursday, April 8, 2010

Word Counts, Bookstores, and Handcuffs

Hey everyone. I wanted to do a quick blog on a few different things, two of which move away from JUST my word count updates, which consist of 98% of the blog entries I've done so far. I figure that's getting a little old, and I need to expand my topics a little bit.

So I'll get the word count update out of the way first: 30,207. My goal is 35,000 by Saturday night. And since I won't be here most of tonight and I have work most of Saturday morning, my Plan B is 35,000 words by Sunday night. Either way, by the end of the weekend I want to be at 35,000. I think I can! I think I can! I think I...can't? We'll see.

Next up: I'm going on something of a road trip today. The fabulous Kody and I are hitting the town in an attempt to figure out what bus takes us to Barnes & Noble. We plan on sitting there for a few hours, at least, and just checking out all the books and sharing what we like and don't like, and offering suggestions to each other. I know for me, I'm going to be buying Kelley Armstrong's new YA, The Reckoning. I also plan on checking out some books by Courtney Summers, Sarah Dessen, and Elizabeth Scott - all authors that Kody has suggested to me.

Next up: I've never done a book review, so this is kind of an...unofficial review of the amazing book Handcuffs, by Bethany Griffin. The main character is Parker Prescott. And After finishing the book last night, I felt like Ms. Griffin had written my autobiography - sans handcuffs. Haven't tried those. Yet :)

Anyway....Parker is considered an Ice Princess - cold. frigid. But she's really just a little shy, the nice girl in her family. The GOOD girl. I can relate to this. I actually once had a friend tell me people thought I was a bitch, and stuck up, because I didn't talk to people in the hallways at school. And really? I was just shy. I avoided saying hi to people or making eye contact because I was extremely shy. Once you get to know me, you'll probably say to me, "No way you're shy..." But I am. I'm working on it. So I know how Parker feels.

Also, Parker has an infatuation with her ex that she tries to deny, and I've definitely felt that way before. She also has a good friend to keep her sane, and I DEFINITELY have my good friends, whom I'd be lost without.

Would I blackmail someone for money? No. Would I let a guy handcuff me to a chair? .... Maybe? :) I mean...no, never! But there are a lot of ways in which I feel connected to Parker - I didn't even list half of them - and I could read that book over and over and over. It will sit on my list of "Best books in the universe" for many years to come.

Bethany Griffin did an amazing job making Parker real, relate-able, and interesting. She moves the book along, and you really get a good look into her mind. I know it's first person and you ALWAYS see inside the mind of the character telling the story, but this was intense. I felt like I knew Parker. Like she was a real person. Like I WAS Parker. A book hasn't touched me in this way in a long time.

Congrats, Bethany, for an amazing job well done and good luck in all future projects.

Now I have to go do homework...This was much more fun than homework -_- Wish me luck! And then in a little bit, off to B&N to do what book nerds do best: browse!

Until Next Time
Meredith

4 comments:

  1. Courtney Summers' books are quite amazing. My favorite is CRACKED UP TO BE. Have fun at B&N! I wish so badly that I could go to mine today.

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  2. Cracked Up To Be looks really good. B&N only had Some Girls Are, though. But I only had enough on my gift card to get two books, so I got The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong and this book called If I stay by Gayle Forman - it looks amazing. And tomorrow starts the weekend - so spend Saturday morning browsing the shelves! It's so much fun.

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  3. Good luck with your writing! I enjoyed the blog post.

    I've been accused of being stuck up before, when I'm in fact simply shy. So I can totally relate!

    If you decide you like reviewing, you might want to check out Goodreads.

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  4. Thanks, wbabiak! I have heard of Goodreads and I've browsed it before. I've always wanted to do book reviews but I'm not very good at them, haha.

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