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I WILL MISS YOU RIZZOLI AND ISLES. At least we’ll still have the books.
But there is a lot of 2016 I am not going to miss. Such as, the election.
And now the cat has had a “neurological incident” from which she is still recovering (requiring her to use a litter box instead of the great outdoors—a skill which, like driving for me, she has yet to fully master).
Did you know cats could have strokes? I did not.
But, like humans, they can also recover from them, given time, patience, and lots of help (which she does not appreciate in the least, much like Sylvester Stallone in Creed).
So let’s hope for best.
In the meantime, here are still a few things we’re looking forward to (besides a Rizzoli and Isles reunion special):
One is the release of my newest book for adult readers, The Boy is Back, which will be out in the US on October 18, and available in the UK/NZ/AU November 17. (Check your local publisher for more publication dates!)
This is a brand new stand alone adult novel told ENTIRELY in texts, emails, journal entries, and even Amazon reviews (one character loves cats so much that she not only feeds all the strays in her neighborhood, she buys and sells ceramic cat figurines on Amazon. She would not find it ALL odd that we’ve currently spread blankets and towels all over our floors so the cat can walk more easily: hardwoods are slippery when you’re a cat that has had a stroke).
A scandal brings professional golfer Reed back home to the small town, challenging family, and first love he once left behind. Now Becky and Reed–and possibly the entire town of Bloomville–will never be the same, all because: The Boy is Back!
(Here is where I tried to find the photo I took of all the ARCs I received of this book, but I can’t find it. So just imagine it, and click here to enter a contest to win one.)
This book is as much about the enduring bond of families as it is about second chances at love. (<– Says my editor!)
If you want an autographed copy of The Boy Is Back you can get one by ordering it from Schuler Books! (You should really do this because it took me FOUR DAYS to sign these! Don’t make me have done it for nothing!)
Orders received by 10/9 will ship on 10/18!
OR you can visit me on one of the stops I’ll be making during my Boy is Back book tour in October. I’ll be making stops in Indiana, Florida, Michigan, and Oklahoma. Check out my tour page for exact dates and locations, which I’ll be posting soonnow when I get them (I swear I have them here somewhere)!
What else is going on? A LOT.
There are new re-issues of The Princess Diaries in France, leading up to the release of Royal Wedding (and a secret surprise) in December!
And From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess has just come out in Brazil!
And don’t even get me started about how amazing the Brazilian cover of Remembrance (Mediator 7) is:
There are a LOT of other things going on, but I want to keep them hush-hush for now. We’re trying to take things one step at a time. Otherwise we might get ahead of ourselves and fall into the water bowl.
It is enough to know that we can still find our comfy cat bed at the end of the day . . . even if our mom does accidentally keep leaving it next to the oven.
Hoping your fall is filled with delicious discoveries and plenty of naps.
Happy Official Start of Summer (in the US, at least) and welcome back to the blog!
What are your goals for the summer? (If it’s summer where you are.)
Mine are to finish writing and illustrating the THIRD Princess Olivia of Genovia book (yes, I know the second book just came out last month, but that’s how publishing works – as soon as one book comes out, it’s time to hand in the next one!) and then to finish the pass pages for The Boy is Back, the manuscript I just handed in, which will be out in October.
These goals are not so lofty. I feel as if they’re completely attainable. Not like past summer goals I’ve had, such as passing the Florida driver’s exam (written), or getting a dog, at which I failed miserably. I have faith that everything is going to work out this summer.
Not my dog. Keeping it this way.
In the meantime, I had a great time on my Princess Tour! Thanks to all of you who came out to see me. I met a ton of fun new people, especially at Book Con, where I got to hang out with celebrities like the Property Brothers.
OK, lie, I never met the Property Brothers, but a lady popped her head into the Green Room and asked, frantically, “Are the Property Brothers in here? I can’t find them!”
“OMG,” I screamed. “YOU LOST THE PROPERTY BROTHERS?”
“I didn’t say that!” she cried, and ran out again.
HA HA HAHA!!!
But I DID get to hang out with a lot of fun readers and authors:
YA readers in Irving, TX!
Marissa Meyer at BookCon!
In the Escalade with Harper’s Pam Jaffee!
And more!
But ultimately I was happy to come home because as I think I’ve mentioned, the cat has feline dementia (50% of cats over the age of 10 do), so I have to keep an eye on her. There’s no telling what she’s going to get up to at any given time. Mostly it’s sleeping but it could be:
Meowing at her own reflection in the mirror.
Fighting with Carlos the iguana.
Sleeping on anything that remains still long enough for her to sit on, including tourists.
Mainly what I wanted to mention in today’s post is that a lot of you asked on tour what I’ll be working on next after the Princess Olivia books and the Boy is Back are turned in, and the truth is, I’m not allowed to tell.
FOR REAL. It’s a secret.
So instead, I’m going to tell you about the books I would put on a summer reading list for kids if I was in charge of designing one (and also if I had time to read anymore, which I do not, given my busy Netflix viewing schedule busy writing schedule).
Anyway, a friend of mine told me what was on her kids’ summer reading list, and it was APPALLING, so I volunteered to make a new one for her.
She tried to say, “Uh, no thanks, Meg, you don’t have to,” and “That’s not how it works,” but I’m pleased to sacrifice my time for this cause. I do understand that a lot of careful scientific research goes into what kids are assigned to read over the summer, and also that parents complain a lot about what the kids get assigned to read (and the students do, too).
However, I really think my summer reading list is the best since I modeled it after the kinds of books I would have wanted to read if I were a kid who’d just seen Star Wars: Force Awakens, and then wanted to read some books that were in that vein (you know, adventure-y, or at least fun).
This was my all time favorite series as a kid, particularly the books that included Princess Eilonwy, a kick-ass teen sorceress who was always showing up on the adventures that the hero, Taran, had warned her were “too dangerous” for her to take part in. Ha ha, that did not turn out well (for Taran).
Neither did the not-so-good Disney movie—The Black Cauldron—that was based on the series and released in 1985. They’re trying again, though, and this time around, they might actually get it right.
Shannon Hale’sPrincess in Black (for younger readers) and Book of a Thousand Days (for older readers).
These would be much better books to assign for summer reading than Of Mice and Men. Everyone already knows that people can be cruel and that unfair things happen, because they’ve seen Force Awakens.So let’s just read about the bravery of young royals instead, and forget about those damned rabbits.
When a modern brother and sister find a magic mirror in their basement, it takes them on amazing adventures, and they end up improving the lives of characters in fairy tales in hilarious ways, helping Cinderella get a paying job, etc. While of course these books could lead naive kids (like I was) to constantly be looking for magic mirrors in basement, dreaming big is actually good thing. Look what happens to Rey!
Realistic
Going along with the sibling theme, let’s throw in Kinda Like Brothers by Coe Booth.
Only in this book instead of finding a magic mirror, Jarrett finds himself with a foster brother he doesn’t like, Kevon. If you’ve seen Force Awakens, you already know what happens when family members disagree (KIDDING), but this is the child friendly version, with crushes and farting instead of murder. Anyone who’s ever had to live with a sibling (or a troublesome roommate at camp) can relate to this book, which is why it makes a perfect summer read that Booklist calls just plain “excellent.” Every kid will love you for putting this on their required reading list.
This was my all time favorite book as a child because I could relate to the casual cruelty of the kids it depicted (in a much more realistic fashion than the kids in Lord of the Flies).
Whatever standardized test they give to 4th graders should be abandoned so that teachers have time to read this book out loud to them instead. Because Blubber will prepare them much more for whatever lies ahead. And yes, you know I’m talking about middle school and of course dating after college.
I don’t have kids (for which many are grateful) but I do have a lot of nieces and nephews, and all I can say is that many of them seem to experience a lot of social media drama. So this is a good book to give to any kid you know who might be having the same. And though Rachel is a friend of mine, I can say with total impartiality that because she actually has kids, she has a good grasp on this subject.
Do you know a reader who just wants to read about normal life? How about Alice McKinley?
These books (over twenty in all!) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor follow a young girl named Alice who lives with her dad and annoying (at least sometimes) brother. These books describe the daily ups and downs of Alice and her friends from their pre-teens all the way to college. I got hooked on them in my thirties, and read them all. Look out, or it could happen to you (or a reader you know), too.
Disaster/Adventure
Do the young readers in your life like disasters? What about survival stories? What about plagues? YES PLEASE. This is why The Living and The Hunted by Matt de La Pena need to be on your summer reading list, because there’s nothing more fun that reading about a world in peril while you’re sitting in the sun on the beach. And Matt does disaster (and survival) like a pro.
I’ve never read this book, but I know a lot of young people who have, and they tend to give it raves. It’s the story of a sad young man who gets stuck in the woods and survives thanks to his lightcaber–what? Oh, sorry–hatchet.
Hey, if you get stuck in the woods and your kid gets you out of there thanks to his hatchet, you will owe me a martini for recommending this book.
It’s a spy school for girls, but in the 1810s! A little something for everyone…danger, intrigue, history, hot guys, romance, fancy clothes, Napoleon, horses, and humor. Kathleen has got you covered.
If the younger reader you know is more into historical with bad guys but no kissing, then the Newberry award-winning Al Capone series by Gennifer Choldenko might be just the ticket.
A young boy and his sister move with their parents to Alcatraz in the 1930s (the dad is working at Alcatraz, not imprisoned there. Duh, that would be creepy). Drama and hilarity ensues.
Sci-Fi/Fantasy
It’s rare for me to read sic-fantasy these days because I read so much of it as a kid that I burned out on it almost entirely and now can only read books about serial killers, but these authors are so good, they have revived my love for it:
You can’t go wrong with Tamora Pierce. She is the original gangster when it comes to fantasy fiction, and she’s got something for readers of every age. If you haven’t tried Tamora, you’re in for a treat.
Cindy’s writing is lyrical and breathtakingly entertaining at the same time. Plus, she makes drawing look so easy. Sometimes I look at Cindy’s website and get mad at myself for being so lazy.
All of Malinda Lo’s books are good but Huntress in particular drew me in. (Full disclosure: I know Malinda and like her – and her writing– a lot so it’s hard for me to be impartial about her…and her great books!) I loved Adaptation and its creepy sci-fi sequel, Inheritance, as well.
I honestly can’t remember which specific books by Ursula K Le Guin I loved. I’m pretty sure it was all of them. But I also remember thinking Le Guin’s books were quite racy (in a good way) back when I was 13, so these are good books for readers who are ready for something more adult, but not, say, more ADULT.
A very kind lady gave me the Harper Hall series when I was 13 and sick in bed with raging poisoned oak (on my FACE) and it definitely distracted me from scratching. A teen girl on a far away planet feels like an outcast and runs away from her cruel parents only to find nine rare baby “fire lizards” that imprint on her and follow her around everywhere (including music school–it’s a long story, but it’s like the Jedi Academy for musicians).
This series (and then the more adult Dragon Riders of Pern) might be a bit dated but will definitely resonate with anyone who might have felt like an outcast too from time to time.
Well, I know I’ve left off a ton of great books, but that’s only because I’ve run out of time and have to get to work on my own books or I won’t achieve my summer goals.
Have an excellent summer break (if I don’t talk to you before it ends, although I suspect I will) and remember:
Be safe! (Use sunscreen! Stay away from poison oak!)
I can’t believe it’s been a decade and a half since we first met that so not-ready-for-royalty princess, Mia Thermopolis, and six years since we last saw a book about about her! She–and we–have come a long way since then, from barely passing Algebra, to that first kiss from Michael, to saving Genovia, her kingdom, from financial ruin!
And now they’re here at last: Royal Wedding, the first adult installment in the series that so many readers have been waiting for (and those who aren’t familiar with Mia’s secret diaries will enjoy, too), along with the first middle grade installment (with illustrations by ME!) for younger readers about a brand new member of the Genovian royal family, From the Notebooks of Middle School Princess.
I hope you’ll enjoy this trip back to Genovia! Long live us all, because we’re ALL Genovian princesses, in our hearts!
For those of you who haven’t grabbed a copy yet, you can find it just about anywhere, (except your local church), from your local bookstore to your local Target . . . . it’s even downloadable in Kindle and Nook format!
Some of you have written to say you’ve already read and enjoyed it (and even posted glowing reviews). Thanks so much for doing your part help to spread the truth about the upcoming vampire apocalypse!
Don’t forget, I’ll be kicking off my Overbite tour TONIGHT at the NYU Bookstore (just a hop, skip, and a jump from where I used to work in the 90s) at 6:30PM, on 726 Broadway!
And for those of you who can’t make it, don’t worry, because tomorrow night, I’ll be in New Jersey (yes, I know about the terrifying news broadcasts coming from New Jersey. But I’ll do anything to save you! And it will be worth it to see your shining, living faces!)
When:
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
7:00 PM
Where:
BOOKS AND GREETINGS
271 Livingston ST
Northvale, NJ 07647
Why:
Because it’s going to rock.
And if all goes well, on Thursday, I’ll see you in Nashville, TN!
Where:
NASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY
Tennessee Humanities Council
615 Church St
Nashville, TN 37219
When:
Thursday, July 7, 2011
7:00PM
Then on Saturday, July 9, at 11AM, I’ll be taking a trip to NORA ROBERTS’ BOOKSTORE in Maryland (that will be LIVESTREAMED) followed by a live signing at noon!
TURN THE PAGE
Bookstore Café
18 N. Main St.
Boonsboro, MD
21713
(Contact: Janeen Solberg Main Phone: 301-432-4588 [email protected])
I’ll be making lots more stops all around the country after that. You can click here to see if I’ll be coming to a town near you to rescue you from the vampire hordes!
I’ve got LOTS more to say, but right now I’ve got to get my crucifix on if I’m going to get to my first signing on time and unscathed. Check out these amazing chapter excerpts and other extras in the meantime, and see YOU soon!
I was kind of trying to keep a low profile about my adult Summer 2010 release because
a) I’m still tweaking it (it’s kind of hard to finish a book when your husband breaks his ankle!), and
b) I have two other releases (Glitter Girls and Runaway) before it even comes out!
But I guess it showed up in some catalog somewhere, because 30,000 people have emailed me about it already this week!
So, yes, hopefully if I finish tweaking on time, I finally have a new adult book coming out in July 2010 called Insatiable.
(Don’t worry: I’m working on a new Heather Wells mystery, too!)
Here’s the full disclosure:
Sick of hearing about vampires? So is Meena Harper.
But her boss is making her write about them anyway, even though Meena doesn’t believe in them.
Not that Meena isn’t familiar with the supernatural. See, Meena Harper knows how you’re going to die (not that you’re going to believe her. No one ever does).
But not even Meena’s precognition can prepare her for what happens when she meets—then makes the mistake of falling in love with—Lucien Antonescu, a modern-day prince with a bit of a dark side…a dark side a lot of people, like an ancient society of vampire-hunters, would prefer to see him dead for.
The problem is, Lucien’s already dead. Maybe that’s why he’s the first guy Meena’s ever met that she could see herself having a future with. See, while Meena’s always been able to see everyone else’s future, she’s never been able look into her own.
And while Lucien seems like everything Meena has ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, he might turn out to be more like a nightmare.
Now might be a good time for Meena to start learning to predict her own future….
If she even has one.
The cover you’re seeing all over the Internet is just a placement cover for the catalog, meaning it may not be the final cover.
This book is actually a modern sequel to Bram Stoker’s Dracula!
PS: This is the book I was finishing for NaNoWriMo. Congratulations, fellow NaNoWriMoers! Give yourselves a well-deserved pat on the back. Whether or not you finished, you tried, and that’s what counts.
Now I’m going to go back to finding my husband some home help, so I can finish editing this book, and maybe eventually turn it in!
I’m glad we got that out of the way, so next time we can talk about Tiger Woods! People keep going, “Did you ‘Tiger Woods’ your husband? Is that how he broke his elbow AND his ankle in one year?” I didn’t, I swear! He’s just very active.
But thanks so much for asking about Insatiable. I’m so grateful that you care! And I really can’t wait for you to read it! I think you’re going to like it.
Finally! I thought I was going to go crazy if I didn’t get that cast version of Bust a Move.
But now I can relax.
November is also the month when controversial end-of-the-world movie blockbuster 2012 comes out!
I so want to see the White House underwater (no offense to the current residents…The White House looked totally cute on Halloween)!
And since it’s November, that means Stephen King fans are just days away from being able to get his new book, Under the Dome! The one with the creepy cover! That he swears isn’t a rip-off of The Simpsons Movie (I believe him)!
Also, November means they finally printed that article about the Betsy books in New York Magazine (of all places) that they interviewed me for so long ago!
And (sadly) November means Daylight Savings Time is back.
And it still sucks! My cat doesn’t understand that it’s not OK for her to start crying for breakfast at 7AM.
“What’s the problem? The sun is out! Get up, Meg! Feed me Whiskas Temptations now! Are these curtains supposed to be so wrinkled? Where’s Debbie Travis when you need her?”
How can something so small make so much noise?
Oh, and finally, November means it’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)!
Have you started your novel yet?
Don’t worry…it’s OK if you haven’t! No pressure.
It seems like too many people are putting pressure on themselves to write novels…and then publishing them by a certain age. This is a phenomenon author Diana Peterfreund blogged about recently.
Well said! No one expects anyone to have published a novel by the time they’ve entered college. Or ever, really.
PS How good does Diana’s new killer unicorn book, Rampant, look, by the way?
Anyway, if you like to write, do it! The whole point of NaNoWriMo is just…to…write.
Write without revising or worrying about getting your book published.
I know what you’re thinking, though:
“Meg, a novel? Really? Where do I even start?”
The answer to that is in this video:
So, whether you’re participating in NaNoWriMo or not, don’t worry—there’s more fun stuff coming out this November than I could even get to in one blog post (more is coming)….
(It goes without saying that I will be participating in NaNoWriMo. I have another deadline!)
And for those of you who DON’T want to write a novel, this November or ever, well, that’s cool:
I knew the cover for the new book in the YA series by Robert B. Parker looked a little familiar.
I just couldn’t figure out where I’d seen it before.
Then I was like, Oh yeah….
That’s where!
Well, they’re a little similar.
And no, you can’t find that Jenny Carroll book anymore, she’s the pen name I used to use when I wrote for Simon Pulse (that was my dead cat’s name) and she’s out of print! You can find that book with a different cover, under Meg Cabot:
(I know, I like the original cover better, too. Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone.)
Anyway, I love RBP. I’ve been to so many of his signings, but he never knew I was there because I was too shy to go up and talk to him to myself. I worship the ground he walks on. But I have like seven of his books signed…I made my friends go up for me. I like to call him The Bear!
Since getting home from Brazil I’ve been really tired, as you can probably imagine. Who wouldn’t be after all those crazy but fun signings; the party bus; the monkeys…
…then coming home to get a flu shot that has caused my arm to inflate like a piñata; all the work I have to catch up on; unpacking and reading all your wonderful cards and letters…
And now repacking because I have to leave on Sunday for a Totally Important Business Trip in Alabama.
Plus my cat, who won’t shut up.
But here are some things I’ve been reading* and some things I’ve been watching. You know, in between gigantic loads of laundry:
How could I miss Kathy Griffin’s new book, Official Book Club Selection (even though I know all these people who are scandalized because she got a $2 million dollar advance for it)?
Kathy’s problems are way bigger than mine—her husband tried to gamble away her money, and her brother was a pedophile. That makes me feel better about myself. Here is my $32.00, Kathy.
David Cross doesn’t make me feel better about my problems the way Kathy Griffin does, but he is dating Amber Tamblyn, which is dishy because he’s like twice her age.
Plus, he’s the guy who played the Never Nude in Arrested Development, and also various characters on Mr. Show, including Ronnie from the musical version of Cops, Fuzz.
So, for those reasons alone, I will read anything he ever writes.
Oh, I also bought this book:
Because the trailer for it cracks me up (but DO NOT CLICK ON IT, because the song will be stuck in your head all day).
You clicked on it, didn’t you? I warned you.
Oh, I also bought a book by Mindy Kaling (you know, Kelly from The Office). She co-wrote a play called Matt and Ben, about Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and how they wrote Good Will Hunting. Then she starred in it. I wish I had seen it.
AWESOME.
Anyway, there are a bunch more books I’m going to read if any of my three planes to or from Alabama break down, especially Dan Brown’s new book, The Lost Symbol, so I’ll know what everyone is talking about. I hate being out of the loop.
I’m especially sad about the latter because Jeff Bezos, the head of Amazon, took down his letter about how closely Amazon was guarding their copies of The Lost Symbol….
…which sucks as I was inspired to work on improving the letter for him. Even though it’s too late now, since the book is already out, I want to share it with you.
Mr. Bezos–also, Mr. D. Brown–you don’t have to thank me! I did this completely for free and out of love for Mr. Brown’s priceless work–due in stores September 15, completely coincidentally the same day as a certain other book known as Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girl’s #4 Stage Fright was due in stores!
So when you’re in there buying the adventures of the dashing Professor Robert Langdon, you might just want to wander over to the children’s section and pick up this other fantastic work!
Amazon Da Vinci Code Security Letter (as improved by Meg Cabot):
Dear Da Vinci Code Fans,
The Da Vinci Code sold 80 Million copies in 51 languages. Now, after five years of work, Dan Brown is unveiling his new novel, The Lost Symbol.
The contents of this book remain such a deep secret that Amazon is keeping their stockpile under 24-guard in its own chain-link enclosure, with two locks requiring two separate people for entry….
…as well as Cerberus, the multi-headed hell hound, guarding the people who are guarding the entry.
Not to mention the Hydra of Lernaean, a serpent-like chthonic water beast whose poisonous breath was so virulent even her tracks were deadly, guarding Cerebus.
Amazon is confident that with the stockpile under 24-hour guard in its own chain-link enclosure, with two locks requiring two separate people for entry, as well as Cerberus and the Hydra of Lernaean guarding the people who have the keys, copies of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol will not get out before the release date, thus keeping Robert Langdon’s latest intrepid adventure unspoiled for you, the reading public.
But just in case someone does slip past Amazon’s chain link fence, locks, Cerberus, and the Hydra, Amazon is prepared to hunt down anyone who steals copies of The Lost Symbol using trained chupacabras.
Yes, chupacabras, the legendary cryptoid rumored to inhabit parts of the Americas and to drink the blood of livestock, will track down anyone who steals copies of The Lost Symbol (or posts a PDF of it online) before the release date, find them, puncture their jugular vein, and drain them of their life’s blood.
In this way, no one will survive to spoil handsome yet intellectual Robert Langdon’s next exciting tale.
You can depend on us, America!
Sincerely,
J.B.
Did you like that? I think it had a certain flair that the original letter lacked.
Anyway, I’m always happy to do what I can to help.
I just wish Amazon had come to me, a professional writer, first!
I hope all of you are watching Glee, which kind of flagged towards the middle but then got really good, and that you also saw the premiere of House (I wish that show were always set in a mental institution).
Just whatever you do, do NOT watch the horrible movie I saw on the way back from Brazil, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.
Really, Hollywood? Why don’t you just throw up on me next time and get it over with.
Personally, I recommend instead you see the Showtime documentary Battle of the High School Musical, Guys ‘n Divas.
Because it’s like Glee, only for REAL. Set in Southern Indiana near where I grew up (but my school had nowhere near as much money for arts as the schools in this documentary! At least not when I was there), it shows three different high school drama/arts departments struggling to put on their school musical, from auditions to opening night.
How much do I love the story of one student who began praise dancing (after slamming another boy’s head into concrete and hospitalizing him for two months)? Docudrama gold, baby.
And what about Floyd Central High School, where they put on a show called “Zombie Prom,” and where one of the male leads almost had to quit when….
Well, I don’t want to spoil it for you. But it has to do with a 14 foot python.
Seriously, people. It’s Indiana. You can’t make this stuff up. (My drama director used to throw her Bic lighter at us when we got a line wrong. I swear.)
Oh, and before I forget, don’t miss Appaloosa, starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortenson.
I know what you’re thinking: Ed Harris? Seriously?
But stop right there. Viggo Mortenson was VERY VERY NAKED (FULL FRONTAL!!!) in Eastern Promises, a movie that scored VERY VERY HIGH on the Best Movie Ever Approval Rating (Romance, Action, Hot Guys With Guns, and Viggo Mortenson Full Frontal Naked. In fact I would give Eastern Promises three HUGE tiaras).
Sadly, only Renee Zellweger is naked in Appaloosa…and it’s through a telescope from super far away, in this pivotal scene. You don’t really see anything:
For which I suppose we should be thankful. Because, you know. It’s Renee Zellweger, who claims she can’t gain weight for Bridget Jones 3 because it’s “too hard” on her body.
Really, Renee? I could gain 30 pounds in three minutes with a bag of Oreos, some Ding Dongs, and a twelve pack of Coke.
However, Appaloosa was still an excellent, excellent movie, scoring very high on the approval rating!
This movie was based on the bestselling Western by Robert B. Parker who writes the Spenser series, one of my favorite mystery series of all time.
Watching Appaloosa, I remembered why I had liked the book so much: Viggo Mortenson and Ed Harris are super hot (although older) gunslingers for justice.
Also, they’re funny (but not slapstick. This wasn’t Lethal Weapon, which is good, but a totally different style of movie). They’re violent, but with good reason, and the romance was deliciously complicated.
All in all, I give Appaloosa three tiaras. I’m going to be buying the sequels to the book of Appaloosa, Resolution and Brimstone, and I’ll be reading them someday, along with all the other books I’m totally going to be reading someday.
If they got made into movies, I’d watch them someday too.
When my friend Beth called me to ask, “Wasn’t Appaloosa good?” I only had one thing to say about this film: “I would like to be in a Viggo Mortenson and Ed Harris sandwich.”
The end.
More later.
Much love,
Meg
*I swear I’m totally going to read these books when I have time.
Okay, maybe they aren’t that practical but who cares! They’re so princessy.
I’m also loving:
Mercy Corps!
A few weeks ago I read such a touching story in the NY Times about women fighting against being oppressed in their native country by the very people who should have been helping them that I picked up the phone and made a donation to their organization on the spot (the spot being my breakfast table).
You can help, too, just by making this book your book club pick of the month:
“A country can’t grow and be stable if half the population is marginalized.”
What a powerful message! Half the Sky is a book devoted to women in the developing world…because if you want to fight poverty and extremism, you need to educate and empower women!
What better book for you book club? Click here to find out how you can get a moderator’s kit, register your book club, and host your own fundraiser in your community now! (You can also just buy the book for yourself.)
But I’m not all about the serious stuff. I’m also loving:
This book was so much fun I sent a copy to my mom for her birthday (who loved it) last week. It’s not really a guide on how to act 25—it’s a series of short satirical pieces that make fun of twenty-somethings AND fifty-somethings (and over).
And it’s absolutely hilarious.
Finally, I’m also loving:
Gorgeous by Rachel Vail which I finally got around to reading, and which was just a heavenly delight.
Rachel’s heroine wishes she could be pretty (in fact, she sells her cell phone to the devil in exchange for being pretty).
And you know what? She gets to be pretty!
Sure, she makes some dumb mistakes (like we all do), but nothing bad happens to her (well…some bad things do happen to her, or there wouldn’t be a book…duh).
But she’s really snarky and believable and I just loved her (and I really loved the boy she’s crushing on) and the way the story is resolved.
But I especially loved that she just wanted to be pretty, without being shallow. Who doesn’t want to be pretty? I mean, it seems like it would just make life easier, you know?
(I wish I could look like my author photo every day, but THAT’S not going to happen, unless a mega talented makeup artist, hairstylist, and photographer started following me around all day every day.)
But anyway, back to Rachel Vail: I love that she just gets it.
(And I’m not just saying this because Rachel and I recently went on the Deadline Diet together. In fact, I’m actually a little mad at Rachel because she beat me to the finish line and already handed her new book in. So, my saying her book is good is HUGELY nice of me, considering the fact that I actually hate her a little right now.)
And now I have to stop loving other stuff so much and get back to work loving the book I’m working on (which I really do love. Well, sometimes).
Summer’s not over yet! We still have a few weeks to go!
So you still have time to enjoy a few more summer reads….
I remember a few years ago when I was trying to get The Mediator series published, all I got were rejections. That’s because the publishers were like, “No one wants to read about heroines who are in love with dead boys.”
Ha!
Well, now heroines have moved on not just from loving dead boys but to loving boys who are also wolves sometimes, to loving boys who might actually live…
(Isn’t this cover gorgeous? I love it. I would like to spray paint it on my bedroom wall, but He Who Shall Not Be Named In This Blog Won’t Let Me).
16-year-old Miranda Merchant is great at science…and not so great with boys. After major drama with her boyfriend and (now ex) best friend, she’s happy to spend the summer on small, mysterious Selkie Island, helping her mother sort out her late grandmother’s estate.
There, Miranda finds new friends and an island with a mysterious, mystical history, presenting her with facts her logical, scientific mind can’t make sense of. She also meets Leo, who challenges everything she thought she knew about boys, friendship…and reality.
Is Leo hiding something? Or is he something that she never could have imagined?
Bloggers love this book, and so do librarians (so you know it’s got to be good, because librarians are around books all day).
Critics love it too:
“Friedman deftly demonstrates the positives of moving forward and not clinging to the past; she also presents a sister dynamic that many girls-particularly younger sisters-will recognize.” – Publishers Weekly
“Friedman has transformed the traditional YA novel about moving and growing up and away into an authentic, real-life exploration of adaptation and acceptance… a delightful, funny, insightful journey.” – Booklist
This would be a perfect book to read by the pool. Or by the lake. Or at the beach….
Book bloggers are giving away signed copies in their excitement over it.
Even YA librarians can’t wait to get their hands on a copy.
And lucky me…I’ve already read it!
Take a look at this gorgeous cover!
I have to admit, I’m a reluctant reader. And I’ve only gotten pickier lately.
But Psych Major Syndrome lured me in with its smart writing and by the fact that the heroine is in college. I loved that she has to mentor a problem teen who is always dissing her, and has a quirky roommate, frenemies, and a boyfriend who won’t sleep with her.
And the boyfriend has a roommate. Note the emphasis.
Plus the fact that she’s a psych major means, naturally, that she’s always analyzing herself and everybody else for neuroses.
Plus the book deals with sexual issues in a manner that gets the heroine, as a teen mentor, in trouble from time to time, and should get this book banned in a few schools for sure. YAY For Alicia Thompson!
Did I leave out the fact that the boyfriend’s roommate is often around….
…shirtless?
From Publishers Weekly:
Psychology major Leigh Nolan wants to devote her life to analyzing people, but in her first year at a small, highly liberal college, she has her hands full trying to decipher the meaning behind her own idiosyncrasies. Why is she so reluctant to buy a parking sticker when the tickets she has accumulated will cost far more than a decal? Why can’t she pinpoint a happy moment that she’s experienced? Why hasn’t she had sex with the boy she’s been dating for over a year? In a romantic comedy that at the same time deals frankly with sexual issues, first-time author Thompson pokes fun at academia as she explores Leigh’s muddled feelings about her boyfriend and his good-looking roommate, Nathan. Ironies abound in this novel, and the supporting cast of offbeat characters—Leigh’s unconventional parents (“My mom teaches shamanistic dance at the local Y, and my dad takes a weeklong vow of silence every year. Their view of ‘normal’ is a little skewed”); her arty roommate, Ami; and Rebekah, the smart-alecky, all-too-worldly middle schooler Leigh mentors—add depth. Ages 12–up. (Aug.)
This was one scorching hot read that once I got into, I couldn’t put down, because I was all, “Are she and the roommate’s boyfriend going to DO IT? Because that’s going to be messy and wrong, so very, very wrong, and yet so very, very right….”
