Five Minute Friday: Broken

 Five Minute Friday was started by Lisa-Jo Baker.  She posts a writing prompt every Friday & hundreds of people write for five minutes straight on that prompt.  They then link their posts to her blog. Voila!  You have a community of writers sharing their ideas!  This is such a great idea!  Today is my first Five Minute Friday & I'm still getting used to the idea of just free-writing for five minutes.  I didn't get much, but here it is:

Prompt: Broken

There are many things that can be broken... homes, hearts, spirits.  I am lucky to have come from an unbroken home, though that couldn’t protect me from broken hearts or broken spirits.  But I believe that things which are broken can always be repaired, you just have to have faith.  A broken heart is repaired by your next love.  A broken spirit is repaired by a comforting word or touch.  I am blessed to have so many people in my life to help me repair broken hearts & spirits.  Enough cannot be said for having a group of people who will love & support you even when it seems that all is lost.  A few years ago I believed that I was broken, everything seemed to be going downhill.  It’s amazing how quickly things can turn around.

Note: There is a ton of traffic at the Five Minute Friday blog, so linking to it may be difficult today.

Sharp Objects ~ Gillian Flynn

I'm starting at the end this time & will (hopefully, maybe?) work my way back through the books that I've read so far.  I'm only at 14, so it's not unreasonable.  Except that I'm in the process of moving to a new house, which is super exciting but is taking up most (all) of my free time.

Sharp Objects is Gillian Flynn's debut novel, though I read Gone Girl first.  Much like her most recent novel, Sharp Objects can best be described as a psychological thriller.  Camille Preaker fled from her small home-town years ago, but is now forced to return to report on a series of murders.  Within the larger murder-mystery plot, Ms. Flynn explores her character's past and creates a truly creepy family.  A mother that has never gotten over her daughter's death, a forgotten first daughter, a physically present but emotionally absent step-father and a youngest daughter who moves between childhood and adulthood as easily as changing clothes.

Though the novel has a somewhat slow start, I found myself unable to put it down.  Ms. Flynn draws you in by deftly throwing out clues which only leave you wanting more. Her characters are not only psychologically damaged, but also entirely understandable.  The truly uncomfortable part for me was realizing that I could relate to each of them in some way - the daughter that wants to be seen, the mother that wants to be needed, the little girl growing up too fast.  Sharp Objects is truly disturbing on a primal level.

Running a little behind...

We're almost two months into the new year & I've been doing great on my reading goal of 75 books.  However, I haven't been very good about posting on the books.  My problem seems to be that, as soon as I finish a book, I want to read another one immediately!  But I've now exceeded my monthly book budget, so I'm finding things to re-read.  Hopefully I'll now find the time to post about what I've read so far...

New Year, New Books to Read!

Happy New Year!  It's only a few days into 2013 & I am already tackling my 75 Book Challenge!

Those who know me are aware that I'm fascinated by (read: a little obsessed with) Tudor England.  This fascination started in college with a British literature class & grew when I began teaching British Literature to high school students.  While I admit that I haven't read much literature FROM that time period recently, I have read lots ON the period.

I started with Philippa Gregory's series on the Cousin's Wars (War of the Roses).  Ms. Gregory tends to focus on powerful, but often overlooked, women of period.  I've finished the first two books, Lady of the Rivers and The White Queen, and am not on The Red Queen.  I read her books in chronological order, rather the order in which they were written.  I find that the characters & stories flow better that way.  The first two novels deal with the Woodville family, of the York princes in the tower fame.  I love that I'm now seeing the opposite side of the battle with Maragaret Beaufort, of the Lancaster & eventually Tudor family!  If you're a visual person like me, the family tree on Philippa Gregory's website will be a great help in keeping all of the characters straight.

The Host ~ Stephenie Meyer

I've always found it interesting when an author takes a chance of sorts by departing from their "typical" format.  Stephenie Meyer's "typical" format, or at the least the work she is most well-known for, is the teenage vampire love story.  While The Host is also a love story, it is uniquely different from the Twilight Saga.  I will admit that it took me a little while to get into the story, but once I became attached to the characters (and trust me, you will become attached), I couldn't put it down.

The basic premise is simple - an alien life form, which survives as a parasite by taking over the body of its host, has landed on Earth and has begun taking over the human race.  The human soul is simply overshadowed by the parasite soul.  But what if a human soul had something to fight for?  Something to remain for?  Ms. Meyer transforms the parasite soul into a being that we can relate to, that we can root for.

Gone Girl ~ Gillian Flynn

There are three sides to every story...yours, mine & the truth. In Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn explores both sides of a common story.  A woman disappears & her husband stands accused of murder.  Elliott Dunne may not be a stellar husband, but does that mean he killed his wife?  Do you believe the story as written in her journal?  Do you believe the story as told by her husband?  Ms. Flynn alternates between the story of a young couple first meeting, as told by Amy Dunne, and the story of a husband looking for his lost wife, as told by Elliott Dunne.

The psychological insight into a troubled marriage is astounding.  Ms. Flynn captures the excitement of young love and the demise of a marriage.  The characters are easily, if not frighteningly, recognizable.  The plot, with all of its manipulation and twists and turns, is amazingly laid out.  I devoured this book, literally unable to put it down.  By the end you aren't sure who to believe & who you are being manipulated by.

Here we go again...

I managed to read over 50 books in 2012, so this year I'm upping my game & shooting for 75.  I'll begin on January 1 & start listing every book I finish.  Ideally I will be better about updating the posts with some opinions since I was a little lax last year.  At any rate, here we go again...