100 Things 五
May. 11th, 2012 02:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mildmaythecatWe're 1/20th of the way through with this one! *throws single solitary grain of confetti*
Kiss My Book by Jamie Michaels.
One-Sentence Review If You're Pressed For Time (Or Just Lazy): Ruby Crane's life as a newly famous author--while still in high school--comes crashing down when she is accused of plagiarism on national TV; she runs off to her aunt's small-town home to hide from the fallout.
Why It's Awesome: It's pretty hard not to relate to Ruby, especially when most of us on Livejournal seem to be writers or at least enjoy books. Ruby is a huge bookworm, and all she's ever dreamed of is getting a book published. She achieves this a short time before the book begins, so there are a few lovely chapters where we can live vicariously through her and enjoy her newfound fame.
Of course, she's accused of plagiarizing the novel and everything falls apart. Ruby runs away to live with her...eccentric aunt in the middle of nowhere, avoiding her new infamy. She cuts her hair in the bathroom, ditches the celebrity makeover, changes her name and decides not to go near another book--or a pen. Small-town living bores her at first, but she begins to see the perks with the help of a few new friends (and awesome characters).
Aunt Fin is glorious; I can't describe her in one sentence. She runs the Curious Cup, a coffee shop/bakery/museum/curio shop, and claims that the coffee is so good because she brews the water under the full moon. She reads Tarot cards and does psychic readings and wears kimonos and turbans and oh, she's just so much fun. Then there's Rabbit, who's small but bold (and possibly a black belt) and decides to befriend Ruby's alias Georgie whether she likes it or not. And then Jacob, whose style Ruby describes makes him look like "a Buddhist punk"; underneath the mohawk and piercings, though, is a goofball and genuine sweetheart.
This book makes me all kinds of happy, because Ruby really is likable and relatable, particularly for us book-y, geeky writer types. Even the minor characters have distinct personalities. The oddities of Aunt Fin and her shop and the town in general are really fun to read about. And of course, Ruby ultimately has to figure out how to move on with her life--as well as be honest with herself about whether she plagiarized or not.
Okay, Fine, Here's The Downside: I'll admit I haven't reread this one in a while, so there might be horrible literary flaws that I never noticed. But I didn't notice any in the four times I've read the book, so there you go.
And Now For Something Completely Different:
Within Dreams (The Album Leaf)
Music doesn't need words to be gorgeous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fegio5Z5AA0&list=PL1D2572AD10448D7D&index=5&feature=plpp_video
Kiss My Book by Jamie Michaels.
One-Sentence Review If You're Pressed For Time (Or Just Lazy): Ruby Crane's life as a newly famous author--while still in high school--comes crashing down when she is accused of plagiarism on national TV; she runs off to her aunt's small-town home to hide from the fallout.
Why It's Awesome: It's pretty hard not to relate to Ruby, especially when most of us on Livejournal seem to be writers or at least enjoy books. Ruby is a huge bookworm, and all she's ever dreamed of is getting a book published. She achieves this a short time before the book begins, so there are a few lovely chapters where we can live vicariously through her and enjoy her newfound fame.
Of course, she's accused of plagiarizing the novel and everything falls apart. Ruby runs away to live with her...eccentric aunt in the middle of nowhere, avoiding her new infamy. She cuts her hair in the bathroom, ditches the celebrity makeover, changes her name and decides not to go near another book--or a pen. Small-town living bores her at first, but she begins to see the perks with the help of a few new friends (and awesome characters).
Aunt Fin is glorious; I can't describe her in one sentence. She runs the Curious Cup, a coffee shop/bakery/museum/curio shop, and claims that the coffee is so good because she brews the water under the full moon. She reads Tarot cards and does psychic readings and wears kimonos and turbans and oh, she's just so much fun. Then there's Rabbit, who's small but bold (and possibly a black belt) and decides to befriend Ruby's alias Georgie whether she likes it or not. And then Jacob, whose style Ruby describes makes him look like "a Buddhist punk"; underneath the mohawk and piercings, though, is a goofball and genuine sweetheart.
This book makes me all kinds of happy, because Ruby really is likable and relatable, particularly for us book-y, geeky writer types. Even the minor characters have distinct personalities. The oddities of Aunt Fin and her shop and the town in general are really fun to read about. And of course, Ruby ultimately has to figure out how to move on with her life--as well as be honest with herself about whether she plagiarized or not.
Okay, Fine, Here's The Downside: I'll admit I haven't reread this one in a while, so there might be horrible literary flaws that I never noticed. But I didn't notice any in the four times I've read the book, so there you go.
And Now For Something Completely Different:
Within Dreams (The Album Leaf)
Music doesn't need words to be gorgeous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fegio5Z5AA0&list=PL1D2572AD10448D7D&index=5&feature=plpp_video
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-05-11 09:10 pm (UTC)Aghh plagiarism. The thing of nightmares. These characters seem fascinating though.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-11 09:32 pm (UTC)I really enjoyed the book, personally; it's a pretty quick read too. Although not as, er, "literary" as your recs, for lack of a better word. ^^'
no subject
Date: 2012-05-11 10:14 pm (UTC)Ffffff, I should get to some other book reviews soon. I don't want to come across as a pretentious dustcloud that doesn't like genre fiction. (much to the contrary).