Thursday, August 4, 2011

Books I've been reading

It should come as no surprise that regardless of what else is happening in life, I manage to squeeze reading time into it. Sometimes, it's only a few minutes, but it all adds up to a book read after a while.

I usually have a thing about watching a movie before I've read the book. I always read it first. but in the case of "I am Number Four" I watched the movie...twice. Then read the book.

While I rarely review books, I'm thinking this one is so popular that it won't hurt. And I learned a few writing lessons along the way.

The movie made the characters more relate-able, real, and made me sympathetic for them. The book was a lot more cardboard in terms of character development.

The book had a lot more detail and a cooler turn of events when it came to the legacies and how they fought the battle in the end.

So where the author fell short, the movie people jumped in, and where the author had better stuff, the movie people cut it into bits.

My lesson: develop the characters. Give the readers a character that not only seems real, but that they can't help caring about.

Plot counts. While the characters make the book, the plot makes all the difference. Something cool needs to happen or we'll get tired of reading it and loose interest.

More books I'm reading/read lately.

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. Confession on this one... I drug my feet getting to this book because I thought it would be too much like all the other middle grade fantasies I've read. I was pleasantly surprised to have been proven wrong.

Illusions by Aprilynne Pike. Again, I was wary that she wouldn't be able to top her last book. Series can be hard to write, but I enjoyed the new elements and characters and felt she breathed fresh air into this book.

Possession by Elana Johnson. I just started reading this (I know, finally, but I've been saving it for dessert.) I was right. This book is dessert. I love the voice. Completely. Combined with the fast plot, so far, all I can do is think about this book when I'm not reading it. Seriously. You need this one.

Now it's your turn. And while I'm at it, check out Wings of Light.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've read POSSESSION and THE RED PYRAMID but not the other one. I actually never finished the pyramid. I guess I should!

Laura said...

I love books that make me feel like anything's possible- like "I could do that". I won't tell you which one made me feel that way, but I'm sure you could guess.