Book 33 Zen and the Art of Writing

 

 

Zen and the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury fulfilled the category “Book that Begins with Q, X, or Z” for the PopSugar 2021 Reading Challenge. Though this book is almost thirty years old, it contained wonderful gems about the writing process.

The book is a series of essays written by Mr. Bradbury throughout his career. I’ll admit I’ve only read two of his novels, Fahrenheit 451, which shocked me to the core, and Something Wicked this Way Comes. I saw the movie before I read the book, but man, what a book, what a movie! Go read that and Fahrenheit 451, too. I have great respect for the writer and enjoyed listening to the essays. I’m not a nonfiction reader, and I don’t love poetry and only tolerate biographies. So I’ll focus on his writing advice.

One brilliant point of Mr. Bradbury’s was about feeding the Muse. It is some of the best advice I’ve heard about writing. And here it is in a nutshell. Feed the Muse. Feed it everything, stuff you love, things you hate, new things, old things, all things. As a writer, we need to experience not only various a wide variety of book genres, but we must also experience life. Our lovely writer brains collect experiences, words, adventures, failures, observations, and file them away to pull out later for our stories. Essentially, an author should be all things, see all things, and feed the Muse on a varied diet so that we can write our tales well.

People tease me I’m not really a romance writer because I read so much fantasy, sci-fi, and mystery. I try to read everything (including poetry and nonfiction). I read romance too, just not the gallons and gallons of it my colleagues read. But every story I love has an element of romance in it. Look at Doctor Who. What would it be without Rose Tyler? Think about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. What if she never loved Angel or Spike? And Lord of the Rings. Sam and Frodo, but I’ll say no more on that one. Many marvelous stories have a love story at their heart, and my reading tons of “off genre” still gives me great food for story. So read wide, my friends, and enjoy the variety.

Another great tidbit he shared discussed the emergence of science fiction as a popular genre. (I also loved that he put sci-fi as a subgenre of fantasy, which solved a live-long argument between Hubby and me, but I digress). He passionately spoke of how it was a grassroots movement with children bringing comics and stories to their parents, teachers, other adults and showing how sci-fi was interesting and smart. He was right. Science fiction went from “trashy” comics to literature (well, genre literature) in his lifetime. Probably thanks for Fahrenheit 451, am I right?

If we examine the book world today, we can witness the same emergence of Young Adult literature. When I was a teen, we had The Outsiders, Babysitters Club, and Sweet Valley High. I hated those books (except for The Outsiders, I read that book into tatters). There were no other teen books. In the early 2000s, more chapter books for kids hit the bookstores, Magic Tree House, A to Z Mysteries, and the like. The trend continued with books for older children until finally, we had rich choices in both children’s and YA books. And the grassroots movement began with teens showing teachers, parents, and other adults these wonderful books like The Hate You Give and Speak. Now, these books are included in high school English classes. It’s wonderful to have books teens will actually read and enjoy taught at school. End of soapbox rant.

Needless to say, Mr. Bradbury had piles of amazing thoughts and advice for writers. (I didn’t even touch on his word association bit. That was gold!) Most importantly, he urges us to not chase the dollar or literary accolades. Write to write. Zen begins with his mantra: Work, Relaxation, Don’t Think.

I give Zen and the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury Five Whispers in the Dark.

 

Book 32 Diary of an Oxygen Thief

 

Diary of an Oxygen Thief by Anonymous fulfills the category “Book that Was Published Anonymously” for the PopSugar 2021 Reading Challenge. Not only was it published without a named author, the reader for the audiobook was also Anonymous.

Summation of my thoughts on this title: Ugh.

So, do I wish I had finished working through The Bride Stripped Bare for this prompt? No. Or grabbed the standard, Go Ask Alice? Probably. But this challenge is about getting out of my rut and/or comfort zone. I read it. Here are my thoughts.

This novel was a diary of a man who’s lived a troubled life. Real love has eluded him, and he tells us so from the start. He’s also a reformed alcoholic. He also asks us to withhold judgment until he’s finished. The novel begins by telling the reader how he used to be a jerk to women. The man purposely got women to fall for him, then dumped them. He has a whole system for doing it and leaves a trail of broken hearts and then revels in it. He’s an ass. He’s writing the tale to tell how he got his comeuppance from someone who got him back. As the diary progresses, we witness a young woman who not only takes him down but humiliates him and trashes his heart and mind. He needs to publish his story before her book, with the humiliating photos of him, comes out.

Here’s the perfect example of toxic masculinity. There is nothing redeemable about the author. He’s an unapologetic alcoholic and uses people. Faking his way through everyday life, he gets people to like him, only to screw everyone. He uses women purposely to humiliate and hurt them. What kind of person does that? A white privileged male, that’s who. He is hurt, so he hurts others. Boohoo. Poor baby.

This book reminded me of American Psycho. You follow along, not believing that this story “actually happened.” In American Psycho, we are still not sure in the end. Diary of an Oxygen Thief, where doubt is irrelevant, left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

The woman who screws him over has no redeemable qualities, either. She uses her contacts, money, and photography skills to abuse others. She’s no better than him. The whole thing is a pile of trash the author has sorted out into nice, little story chunks. At least we can attribute his early behavior to his drinking. When he sobers, he’s more tolerable as a human. And the woman is just as narcissistic and toxic. They would have been perfect for each other.

The title speaks to his low self-esteem. Honestly, it’s accurate. I hated him, hated the woman, but I didn’t hate the book. I could not stop reading. I listened, shaking my head, wondering if the world is full of people like this. (Again, it took me back to American Psycho, another gnarly novel I had to finish.)

I give Diary of An Oxygen Thief by Anonymous Four Brutal Winters in an Old Victorian.

 

 

 

Book 31 Forbidden

 

Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins fulfilled the category “Book from my TBR list I Meant to Read Last Year” for the PopSugar 2021 Reading Challenge. I had it as a choice for the prompt “Book by a Woman of Color.” Last year, I chose A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole. I’ve been a bad romance reader, as this is my first Beverly Jenkins story.

The long and short is I loved this book. It’s a historical romance about a woman of color making a place for herself in the world. Through hard work and endurance, she strives to work toward her dreams. She wants to own her own restaurant. Not an easy thing for a woman in 1870, a tremendously hard thing for a woman of color. But Eddy Carmichael endures. She starts her journey after saving her money, then is robbed, and left for dead. A handsome, wealthy, and powerful landowner saves her (of course), and Eddy’s world crashes into Rhine Fontaine’s.

He’s a dreamboat, but he’s also white. Hold up a minute. He’s not actually white. He’s been passing for years, building his fortune, thumbing his nose at the town’s white folks, who would shun him if they knew. He falls for Eddy almost from the start. She’s attracted, too, but holds back, knowing society and the law will never let them be together.

The story follows this forbidden love affair with the two mains pining away from each other. There are moments of true love and passion that make goosebumps form on my arms. And when they finally—(it’s a romance, and they will be together, so no spoilers)—when they finally get together, oh the heat!

The novel had loads of historical information. Ms. Jenkins is highly regarded for her research, and this work alone proves she knows her history. I loved all the little details she added to put us in 1870. I recently read Roughing It by Mark Twain about Nevada near this time period and felt it gave me a good background for reading this tale.

The only problem I had with the book was with Eddy’s appearance. The woman was described as beautiful over and over. She worked to help support her family and get her sister through some troubled times. I had a hard time with a woman who was so talented at cooking and so “beautiful” never getting married. If she was so perfect, wouldn’t someone have scooped her up when she worked at the restaurant? She was almost too perfect. But I love her.

The story got me thinking about race issues. Rhine’s passing as a white man particularly made my brain whirl. He was an honest, good person who helped so many. But he lied to everyone around him every day. He had to if he wanted to keep all he’d gained in respect and fortune. It made me sad to think that he was forced to lie about his true self, even to Eddy, to be respected and prosperous. Is the world any different today? I’m not sure. These thoughts linger in my head weeks after finishing the book.

I give Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins Five Homemade Meals by Eddy.

 

 

Book 30 Murder in the Mystery Suite

 

Murder in the Mystery Suite by Ellery Adams fulfilled the category “Book with a Subject I Am Passionate About” for the PopSugar 2021 Reading Challenge. This cozy mystery centers on a reader’s retreat full of literary references and books and books and books and then a secret library. I was in heaven!

I originally read Twisted Threads by Lea Walt for this prompt. My friend, Rose, gifted me the book because she knows I am obsessed with cross-stitch. The book highlights an embroidery business with members handcrafting the items they sell. I loved the book until the end when one detail screwed up the entire premise of the book. I was still planning to use it until I read Murder in the Mystery Suite.

I’m a huge cozy mystery fan. MC Beaton is one of my favorite authors, and I’m entrenched in a complete reread of her Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin books (audio, of course, thank you, Libby). I’m always ready for a series to sweep me away to a quiet, fun small town with too much murder. I’ve completed all the Cat Who books and Diane Mott Davidson’s culinary mysteries. Few others have kept my attention beyond two or three books.

The Book Retreat series (Mystery Suite is the first book) hopefully will keep me hooked. But man, oh man, this first title had me at a Murder and Mayhem weekend. In the novel, Jane Steward runs a family-owned resort. The place is in a hidden valley with sprawling land and a tiny village nearby. Did I mention all the shops in the village have the perfect cozy mystery names? I want a book about each one! (We won’t even get into the names—Butterworth, Pimpernel, Hemingway, etc.)

Jane decides to have a special theme weekend to drum up business and funding for the upkeep of the retreat. There are scavenger hunts, pickleball games, and mostly wondrous, a costumed ball where everyone must come as a detective. Ms. Adams includes some of my favorite detectives, including Sherlock, Ms. Marple, and Hamish Macbeth. One of the suspects dressed as Agatha Raisin. I was done.

The mystery was complex enough to keep my interest, but not overdone or bloody to scare off a cozy reader. It was over the top and fanciful for any bibliophile. It was like finding the Thursday Next series all over again. (I can only hope as I download book two from Hoopla.)

This book checked all my literary lists—cute cozy, adorable well-written children, lots of books, references to my favorite characters, and a twist in the plot about the real purpose of the retreat. More, please!

I’m so glad I grabbed this book at random.

I give Murder in the Mystery Suite by Ellery Adams Five Rare Books in a Secret Library.