Posted by: Trisha Leigh | January 26, 2012

Please Do Not Attempt This At Home

There are a great many things that are better in the stories.

One of them has got to be love triangles, because heaven knows I have trouble making room for one other person in my life, never mind two. Also, when I like someone (a rare thing), I can’t imagine liking someone else at the same time. The confusion! The freaking energy it would take!! I have no idea how on earth these poor girls, faced with the destruction of their lives or the honest to eggs end of the world have the time for any such nonsense.

That said, these situations make for a compelling read. Everyone loves to take sides, and an extra boy (or girl) means everyone has someone to root for.

These love triangles, though, follow a pattern. Even though there many, many stories that differ in plot, tone, and character – there are really only two teams.

Team Known Entity

def: These boys are your best friend. They make you feel safe. They’re the ones your mother would approve of, the boy next door, the one who you’ve always known but suddenly see.

Famous Members of Team Known Entity

Dawson Leery (Dawson’s Creek), Jacob Black (Twilight), Gale Hawthorne (The Hunger Games). See also: Cal (Hex Hall), Cal (The Notebook), Mark Darcy (Bridget Jones), George Tucker (Hart of Dixie), Riley (Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

Team Strange and Mysterious

def: This boy sparks your curiosity. Their eyes promise adventure, maybe danger, and the most intoxicating thing of all – the idea that at his side you could be part of it all. Sometimes they’re dangerous, other times they aren’t, but either way they have the unique ability to make you see the world, and maybe yourself, through different eyes.

Famous Members of Team Strange and Mysterious

Pacey (Dawson’s Creek), Edward Cullen (Twilight), Peeta Mellark (The Hunger Games), Archer (Hex Hall), Four (Divergent), Noah (The Notebook), Jack (Titanic), Wade Kinsella (Hart of Dixie), Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

Yes, there are men who encompass all of these qualities. One that comes to mind is Patrick Kenzie, from Dennis Lehane’s phenomenal series of detective novels, but I assert the following two things are true:

1. If there is a traditional love triangle in any book, movie, or television show, the boys will fall into one of these distinct categories.

2. Every girl instinctively gravitates toward one or the other.

Do you disagree? Can you think of any examples that disprove my theory?

If not, which camp do you fall into, and what makes you prefer one Team over the other?

Which Team am I on, you ask?

Well, I’ve been a lifetime, card carrying member of Team Strange and Mysterious.

Perhaps because I’m…one of those things. I’ll let you decide which.

 

8 Comments

Posted in characters, fun, lessons, life, movies, thoughts | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by: Trisha Leigh | January 24, 2012

An Open Letter to Andy Roddick

I’m a huge tennis fan. Somehow, over the last four or five years, I’ve also become a big Andy Roddick fan. There are many reasons, and I’ve written before about the ways he inspires me in my writing.

Today, though, he’s the one who needs the talking to. From what I can tell. I think. I could be wrong. It’s been known to happen. On occasion.

Like last weekend when I ate that cookie dough that was a little crusty on the outside. That…was not the right call.

But I digress.

Here’s my letter. Just in case.

Dear Andy Roddick -

Tough break in Australia. I listened intently when you talked of what this year means to you. How hard you’ve worked to prepare your body, to change your game, to make sure you’re ready. How important it is for you to reclaim your spot in the top ten, because you still feel like you belong there. And it made me smile, because I believe it too. I had some choice words for the announcers and bloggers writing you off, saying you’re no longer relevant, that you’re too old.

Then you went out in the first round, and boy did your game look fantastic. The match with Hewitt was sure to be a tough one, but I felt confident. If you’re both having your best day, it’s a good match but one you will win almost every time.

Then it happened. The ten seconds, the awkward lunge that changed the course of the tournament for you.

But it doesn’t have to change your season. Or your career. Not if you don’t want it to.

That look on your face while you toughed out another set and a half, it worries me. Defeat, depression, and maybe just the hint of they’re all right, I can’t do this hung in your typically defiant gaze.

Heck yeah, it’s frustrating. No doubt you want to punch something, break something, and spend a couple of days talking about quitting and wondering why you’re putting yourself through this, and why for the love of Pete can’t you catch a break.

But then you calm down, you pick up the pieces, and you make a game plan.

You remind me a little of Chipper Jones, another athlete with a special place in my heart. He’s old (older than you). He’s played baseball a long time, and every year he answers questions about retirement. If he hadn’t been injured, he might have retired with Bobby Cox. If the Braves had made it back to the playoffs last year, instead of the massive implosion they suffered last September, maybe he would have been done already. But he isn’t.

A bum knee isn’t going to decide when he’s done. Neither is his age, or the fact that other people think it’s time. Chipper wants to go out on his own terms, and only he knows what those are – it might be making it back to the playoffs, or having a healthy year, or just that he feels like playing 182 games a year is what he wants to be doing. And when he does retire, no one is going to remember the bum knee, or the games he missed, or that maybe his last five years weren’t as outstanding as his first ten. He’s going into the Hall of Fame, maybe even on the first ballot.

You have the same right. You’re a great tennis player, one we’ve been proud to root for the past ten years. Only you get to decide if an injury is going to end your career. Only you get to admit you have nothing left to give the game.

I’ve had a rough year too. I think my stories are ready for the big stage. Other people disagreed. I’ve had a few painful setbacks, and yes, I’ve seen a similar they’re all right, I can’t do this look in my own eyes.

That’s when people like you and me have to look at those assholes and (excuse my French) say fuck you. I’ll do what I damn well please, and nothing you can say, no unexpected setback, is going to make me quit unless I’m ready, so get the hell out of my head.

And one day you’ll be ready. That day will be bittersweet for you, and for your fans.

But don’t let it be because they said.

Let it be because you can walk away and be happy with the contributions you’ve made, the achievements you’ve reached. If playing tennis 10 months a year still makes you happy, if those moments after you win a big match are still what lights you up, then it’s not time to go.

So chin up. Rehab your leg. Get your brain back in order, because we all know you’ve got to be mentally tough to keep fighting when people are whispering behind your back that you’re crazy for trying.

You’re not crazy. Neither am I. We’re fighters.

And fighters? We do everything on our own terms.

Figure out what those terms are, because eventually there won’t be anyone to answer to but yourself.

XOXO

Gossip Girl – Er – ME

Leave a Comment

Posted in advice, america, goals, heart, life, tennis, thoughts | Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Posted by: Trisha Leigh | January 19, 2012

The Dangers of Every Day Living

So I’m following behind my good friends Harley May and Anne Riley (which is a great place to be – nice asses on those girls), and jumping on the living dangerously bandwagon, even though I haven’t done too many crazy things in my lifetime.

I mean, there was the night I accidentally ate a salad with ground up peanuts in the dressing, and instead of asking my friends to take me to the emergency room, swallowed ten Benadryl. It only took about an hour to be able to breathe without wheezing. Living on the edge? Hardly.

I spent years letting my father, who is normally a level-headed type, drag me around behind the boat on an innertube at speeds inadvisable if you’re traveling by airplane. I spent entire afternoons inside with a headache caused by my head slapping water.

Last spring I agreed to share a hotel room in New York City with a girl I’d never met. Sure, she said she was a librarian from Texas, but who can really be sure about these things. (For the record, Claire is a beautiful girl and writer and now, a friend).

And you know how when you’re little and inevitably use the argument “but Sally’s doing it!” and your parents respond (because it’s in the parent rulebook) “If Sally jumped off a bridge would you do it too?” I did. Jump off a bridge because a boy I was head over heels in lust with did it too. Not proud. But it was fun.

I’m not talking about those kinds of dangerous things, people. These suggestions, like Harley and Anne’s, can bring a little spark to your life without even changing up your routine.

1. Put something in the oven for thirty minutes or less, then run an errand to Walmart. Trust me, you never know if thirty minutes is long enough to get in and out of Walmart. Some days, thirty minutes isn’t enough to get through the frozen pizza aisle. You can frantically check the clock while your heart races against the oven timer and images of your burning home dance through your mind.

2. Use the mute button on your phone to pee while you’re having a conversation with someone. It takes practice and talent to carry on a flawless conversation without the other person realizing you’re muting at regular intervals to tinkle.

3. Put on eyeliner before you insert your contact lenses. Because the possibility of blinding yourself first thing in the morning will rev up anyone’s ticker.

4. Don’t wash your hands after you go to the bathroom at work. First of all, someone might catch and shame you in front of half the office. Second, you will be staring a billion different kinds of germs in the face and saying “I FREAKING DARE YOU, YOU LITTLE SPECKS OF NASTINESS.

5. Tell your parents that you don’t care if you get married again or have children. You might want to try this one over the telephone, or run away as soon as the words leave your lips.

6. Black out all of the expiration dates on the dairy in your refrigerator. Potential food poisoning! Or, if you look at the bright side, a day off work!

What about y’all? Any advice for spicing up your everyday life? Because I’d like to try them!

10 Comments

Posted in advice, fun, goals, life | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: Trisha Leigh | January 17, 2012

Purse Dogs, Giant Bangs, and Fairytales

Fairytales are all the rage right now, like carrying a small dog in your purse was five years ago, or having really huge bangs was in 1985.

We’re seeing them everywhere. There are two Snow White movies being released in 2012, a boatload of books available that twist old tales and shine them until they sparkle almost like new, and on television we’ve been offered two new shows this year in Grimm and Once Upon a Time.

I’ve seen every episode of both shows, so that makes me an expert. Right? Isn’t that how it works?

The two series are completely different. Grimm is about a hard-nosed cop who learns that, after the death of his aunt, he’s inherited the legacy of the Grimm family – to fight the dark big bad’s that melt out of the fairy tale world into ours. Once Upon a Time is a whimsical, at times tragic story of Snow White’s evil queen selling her soul to Rumplestilskin in exchange for a curse that banishes all of the story book creatures to the real world – where there are no happy endings – and where none of them remember who they really are.

I prefer Once Upon a Time. It’s gorgeous, front to back, and I love the vaguely Lost format of doling out backstory bit by bit that changes and deepens our connection to every character, and makes us ponder the events that made them who they are. It makes you think about what it means to be good, or evil, and how no one is all one or the other. If they were, life (and stories!) wouldn’t be very interesting.

Recently, though, I realized the real difference between the two shows, and the reason I prefer one over the other.

Grimm is about accepting life the way it is, and battling the inevitable bad every single day, knowing good and well it’s never going to stop until you die.

Once Upon a Time is about hope. Hope that even in a different life, true love refuses to be forgotten. Hope in the belief that every person can be better. Hope that good will eventually triumph over evil. Hope that we can, in fact, go home again.

Each lesson is essential and true. But there aren’t enough shows on television, movies in theatres, or things in this life that encourage us to hope, and that’s why my Sunday nights are spent in Storybrooke.

Because real life teaches me that the fight against the bad things will never be over.

Storybrooke lets me believe, for an hour a week, that whether or not we get that happy ending is entirely up to our ability to believe it exists at all.

What about you? Do you watch either show? What do you like/not like about them?

Images courtesy of ABC and NBC.

5 Comments

Posted in fun, heart, media, thoughts | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: Trisha Leigh | January 12, 2012

The Neverending Pizza Story

A few weeks ago I had a very simple goal. I was tired. It was cold. I wanted a pizza delivered so I could sit on my buns in my warm house and do whatever it is I do to fill the house between work and bed.

This rather simple goal was not to be, people. It was not to be.

I called Pizza Hut on my way home, around 7pm, even though I haven’t been a fan of that particular establishment for some time. They told me I would have my pizza in 5o minutes.

I let my dogs out, changed into comfy clothes, and turned on the television. 8:00 came. Then 8:15. I gave them a bit of extra time, you know, because of Monday Night Football, but I called between 8:15-8:30. They apologized. The store scheduled to deliver my pizza was just a bit backed up.

A bit. The pizza hasn’t left the store, but it will be here soon. Promise.

9:00. 9:15, I call Pizza Hut again. This man is not very sorry about my inconvenience. Don’t I know the store is backed up on deliveries?

Yes. But you see, sir, I’ve been waiting 2 and 1/2 hours for a large pepperoni pizza.

Technically, he tells me, I’ve only been waiting 2 hours and 23 minutes. But they can give me my pizza for free. He supposes.

What about an estimated delivery time?

No, we definitely can’t do that.

Um….

Thirty minutes later I call again and to be honest, at this point it’s all pretty much funny to me, except that I’m hungry. LIke a wolf.

This time the woman freaks out properly when she pulls up my order, and transfers me to some management team a hundred miles away from where I live.

My pizza hasn’t left the store.

“Which store? Is it the one on 40 Hwy?”

She hesitates, probably wondering if she tells me which store has been standing between me and my pizza for over three hours whether I’ll do something crazy. Or violent.

I work in a call center. I understand these types of concerns.

When she confirms that the store holding my pizza hostage is less than five minutes from my house, I wonder aloud  if perhaps I could just go pick it up. Seeing that it’s 10:30 at night and almost time for me to go to bed.

She checks, and we agree that I’ll get in my cold ass car, go out into the freezing ass night, and go collect my &*#($^#$ pizza.

The store is closed when I arrive, because it’s after 10:30pm and all good and decent citizens have had their dinner. I knock until a teenage girl shuts off her vacuum and opens it for me. The manager behind the register can’t be older than me. I tell him what i want. He explains that they requested the call center ask hours ago if people could come in and get their orders because he had a mutiny on his hands.

A MUTINY, people. And here I’ve been worried about a little ol’ pizza.

I have no good response for the fact that no one advised me to come get my pizza, and to be honest, the mutiny comment kind of stopped me in my tracks.

He looks up my order, then goes into the back.

He’s gone for a long time. A really. Long. Time.

Guess what?

MY PIZZA IS NOT THERE HE GUESSES A DRIVER TOOK IT BY ACCIDENT.

To make a long story short (too late)(name that movie reference ftw) he made me a fresh pizza and threw in two batches of breadsticks while I waited for twenty MORE minutes. My pizza was hot and delicious, and I ate it even though I knew eating it at 11pm would chew up my insides with heartburn.

The End.

Goals are funny like that. Sometimes the ones that seem easy turn out to be hard. But if you really, really want that delicious, cheesy pizza, you might have to jump through some hoops. You might have to deal with people who don’t believe in you, or want to make you feel dumb for wanting it.

The nice thing is, there are also people who want to help you get there.

Keep going, people. There is pizza for all of us.

11 Comments

Posted in america, dreams, goals, lessons, life, rants | Tags: ,

Posted by: Trisha Leigh | January 10, 2012

Hitting Refresh on My Brain

She twists in the seat, glaring. “So if you know that, what are we doing here, Mae?”

“I want to go see Kira the medium.”

Her mouth falls open, but she can’t seem to find the right words. If there are any for this situation, which seems unlikely.

“It’s a long story. I got this email…”

“Seriously, Maegan? We’re here because you got spam email from a psychic?”

“She’s a medium, actually.”

“Whatever. I can’t believe you.” She crosses her arms. “I’m not going in there. Take me home.”

I almost laugh, because she’ll totally go with me, but don’t want to waste time arguing. “Come on. You have to, because what if Kira is a ninety-five pound bald man named Chester with no teeth who kills people and puts them in his freezer?”

“Are you describing someone you know?”

“You’re not listening. I haven’t even been inside yet, how would I know Chester?”

Lindy sighs and unbuckles her seatbelt. “Just so you know, if we get chopped up by a serial killer named Chester I’m not going to be your friend anymore.”

It’s a new year. I’ve spent the past several weeks eating all of the sugar and butter based concoctions I can get my hands on and not working out, so I’ve got some rebuilding to do as far as muscle mass is concerned.

As we’ve discussed at depressing length, 2011 was a rough year for me, writing wise. I’ve had trouble remember what I love about it, and why it is I’m willing to put myself through all of the pain and growth and critiques and rejection.

So I’ve decided to take what I know about exercising (which is very little) and apply it to my writing life. Sometimes you get to a certain point in your weight loss that no matter how many calories you count or how many times you work out, you stop getting results. Know why?

Because you’re doing the same exercises over and over again. You’ve trained your muscles. They don’t have to work so hard anymore. Or something.

The stories I’ve told so far are all on the heavy side, dealing with intense concepts like fate, humanity, death, and the end of the world as we know it. But the other day I got an idea for a lighthearted mystery, which I’ve been describing as Veronica Mars meets Odd Thomas.

Can I write a mystery? Shrug. Am I funny? Remains to be seen.

But I’ve decided it can’t hurt to stretch writing muscles either.

So that’s what I’m working on. The snippet above is from Chapter 2; after three days of writing I’ve got almost 8,000 words. My main character, Maegan, is full of skepticism and opinions and she pretty much never shuts up. I love her.

I even have a title – What I Know About Charlie – which makes me happy.

It’s a new year. I have big plans.

What about you guys? Any changes in store? Have you ever branched out and written something totally different just to see if you could, or just because you got an idea you couldn’t let go?

8 Comments

Posted in author, characters, WIP, writing | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: Trisha Leigh | January 5, 2012

It’s Like I Don’t Even Know Me Right Now

So it’s that time of year again, where people make resolutions and plans and lists of what they want to accomplish during the upcoming year. Me? What I want is no secret – to take the next step on the road to becoming a published author.

That aside, there are certainly areas of my life that could use, let’s say, work. One of the big ones for me is the financial arena. I’m a spender. A buy it now, think about it later kind of personality. An impulse buyer. With frequent impulses. It’s a good thing my impulse is to buy clothes and not to, like, whack someone random in the face with a frying pan, because then I’d really be in trouble.

This looks like me. Sort of. I don't look good in hats.

Even though my shopping habit isn’t likely to result in assault charges or jail time, it’s still something I’d love to get a handle on, because although the instant gratification is soothing and nice, the subsequent oh-dear-lord-who-spent-all-this-money-now-I’m-broke-how-am-I-going-to-feed-myself moments are not so attractive. Not all of us can look like Amy Adams when having a meltdown.

I’m enacting a plan to attack my horrendous spending habits. Chip away one chunk at a time. Baby steps. One day, one week, one month at a time eventually turns into one year, right?

So here it is. I’m going to say it loud, on this blog, so you are my witnesses.

All of you put up your right hand and shout WITNESS.

I’m not going to buy any clothes or shoes in 2012.*

For some of you, this might not seem like a big deal. Others just gasped and fell out of your chairs. I fall somewhere in the middle as far as an actual fashion lover, but shopping is what I do when I’m feeling down, because looking pretty or snuggling inside soft new clothes makes me happy.

It also makes me stressed and poor, and the truth is, I have enough clothes and shoes to last at least three more years, provided I don’t lose/gain a significant amount of weight.

Can I do it? I’m sure going to try.

It’s 2012. Let’s get crazy.

What are your resolutions for the coming year? How do you plan to keep them, or are you of the mind that these things are meant to be broken?

*I have this adorable dress that I bought about 4 months ago but have not been able to find shoes or a cardigan to wear with it. So, I’m making an allowance for those 2, and only those 2, items. If I find them, they must be purchased, or I can’t wear said adorable dress. And that would be a travesty.

Not compared to like, the animals in the ASPCA commercials or starving children in Africa, but a middle class American white girl travesty, for sure.

2 Comments

Posted in america, goals, life, thoughts | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: Trisha Leigh | January 3, 2012

This is Going to be AWESOME. Or Not.

There are few things that stink as much as a night that doesn’t live up to expectations. I’m going to tell you something that is pretty embarrassing, and even though it happened some time ago, you’re probably still going to judge me. And I don’t blame you one single bit.

In college, my friend (let’s call her The Beast) and I somehow managed to acquire a rather rabid level of devotion to a little band (we’re using that term loosely) known as N’Sync. You might have heard of them. I’m aware we were just a smidge outside their target fan base, but that didn’t stop us from acting so nutso in the pursuit of the ultimate fandom that I will absolutely never, ever speak of them again. I’m not sure how we managed to come out of this dark, disturbing period in our lives with any friends at all. Cheers to those who stuck it out.

One autumn I came back to school early in August because we had floor seats to a N’Sync concert at Texas Stadium. It was going to be the best night of our lives.

Texas. In August. With thousands upon thousands of our closest friends and only a little moonroof to let out trapped heat.

I’ve never been hotter in my life. They took a record number of patrons out with heatstroke. I literally wrung sweat out of my sundress every thirty minutes. It’s safe to assume our spirits were already a bit dampened by the time we ran out during the encore.

Wait. We ran out? While our favorite band was still playing on stage and we were in the 4th row? Why on earth would we do such a thing?

I’ll tell you why. It’s because we knew about a little afterparty that a local club was throwing and promised the band would be in attendance later that night. OBVIOUSLY this was our chance to get Justin and Lance to fall in love with us.

The local club? An under 18-no alcohol-no parents type establishment. We were 21 at the time (I just died a little typing that), so The Beast and I had secured fake ID’s.

That made us younger.

They worked like a charm, but once inside we had to contend with an army of kicking, biting, sweating, shrieking teenage girls fighting for the best vantage point to see the guys once they arrived. The Beast used her considerable elbowing skills to secure us a pretty good spot ourselves, and we waited.

And waited, and waited, and waited.

More than 3 hours after we left Texas Stadium, N’Sync showed up. And they were wasted out of their minds. Little Justin Timberlake could hardly stand up, and none of them had a lick of interest in being on display (not that I blame them, for heaven’s sake, but why didn’t WE think to drink first).

We left. We were tired, soaked to the bone with sweat, and worst of all, it was all for nothing. The best night ever had turned into something like the worst disappointment ever, though The Beast and I can still have a good laugh about it from time to time.

You know what else is never, ever as good as you think it’s going to be? New Year’s Eve. I hate New Year’s Eve. What I want to do it spend it curled on the couch with my dogs watching all of the movies I need to catch up on, but since I’m single, that smacks a little bit of giving up.

New Year’s Eve is supposed to be about hope and anticipation and possibility, a night when anything might happen. “Out” is packed with other single people searching the room for their own possibilities, and if I’m “In” then it’s like I just don’t care.

Which I really don’t, but that’s a blog for another day.

At any rate, New Year’s Eve always disappoints on those big moments. Instead it’s full of queasy stomachs, shouted conversation, and waking up with a nasty headache before trekking to the nearest Whataburger. Which is not to say I didn’t have a great time with my friends. I did.

I think I’ve decided the key to everything is not expecting anything, and that way good times are a pleasant surprise. Is that a bad way to go through life? I don’t know, but so far it seems to be working for this girl.

What about y’all? Any funny stories about events that were supposed to be the pinnacle of greatness that turned into the biggest turd your life punchbowl has ever seen? Any GREAT New Year’s Eve stories?

If you have one, I think you deserve some kind of prize.

 

4 Comments

Posted in fun, lessons, life, rants, thoughts | Tags: , ,

Posted by: Trisha Leigh | December 29, 2011

Books I Hugged in 2011

I know I promised you all my favorite new television shows of 2011, but I was too lazy to write a blog post on Monday night. Well, actually I could hardly move because of all the food I’d ingested, but either way. Here they are: Hart of Dixie, 2 Broke Girls, The Secret Circle, and New Girl.

The real purpose of this post is to share with you my favorite reads of 2011. Now, this is a hard thing to do because there are just so many that I enjoyed, and picking a top 10 is difficult. Strangely, for me picking a number 1 wasn’t hard at all – there is one book I read this year (and have raved about on this blog previously) that completely blew me away. That said, each of these books won my heart.

Here by Denise Grover Swank

Denise is my longtime critique partner, and this year she took the self-publishing plunge. The decision has been good for her, and she has flown past any expectations either she or I had. Denise writes tight prose, interesting, deep characters, and stories that keep you turning pages until you’re done. Here is her first YA offering, and it is no exception. The story offers all of those things, plus an innovative element/twist that will bend your mind and get you thinking that question we all love – “what if?”

Fall For Anything by Courtney Summers 

I’ve loved everything Courtney has published, but this one is my favorite of hers to date. Up until now, Courtney’s stories have been brutally, painfully, beautifully (whoa that’s a lot of adverbs) true. Sometimes humans aren’t poetic or pretty or nice at all – but that’s what makes us human, and Courtney is an expert at shoving her characters under a microscope and showing us, through their struggles, how beautiful the pain can be if we overcome it.

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

You might have read Stephanie’s first book last year, Anna and the French Kiss, which was a huge contemporary success. Stephanie’s books are full of the longing, hesitation, and expectation of first crushes that sometimes turn into first love, and reading them makes me both miss those days and happy I never have to experience them again. I loved Lola even more than Anna, and, in my opinion, no one writes teenage girls better than Stephanie Perkins.

County Line by Bill Cameron 

This is the fourth book I’ve read by Bill, and though I love them all, County Line really steps outside what I believed was his comfort zone. That said, he totally nails it, and this is one of my favorites of not only the year, but of his stories as well. If you’ve read his previous offerings, I’m sure you love Ruby Jane as much as I did, and County Line takes us not only inside her rather mysterious past, but inside her mind, and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey – even though it also broke my heart.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Yes, I know this didn’t come out in 2011, but I finally got around to reading it in 2011, since the movie was slated to come out, and wow. I can’t believe I waited this long. I would guess that many people have the attitude that I do, which is I sometimes don’t read books that a million people are saying is so good. I don’t know why. Maybe I’m obstinate. But this book? Exceeded my very high expectations. I laughed. I cried. I hated when it was over. This book is truly a treasure.

Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz 

I didn’t expect this book, which is one of the many reasons I ended up loving it so much. There are a million young adult books, especially contemporary novels, that not only focus on romance, but leave families out of the equation, because, as we all know, they complicate matters. Hannah doesn’t do that, and at the heart of this book is a real, loving, dysfunctional family. She doesn’t pull any punches, and her ability to do that with complete honesty makes me excited to see where her career will go from here.

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

Reading this novel is like stepping inside a dream of a story you heard as a child, whispered by the wind and curled deep into your mind by time and the safety you felt in your childhood bed. This tale is different, but familiar. Strange, but recognizable. It’s not like any other novel I read this year, and left me feeling half-asleep for hours after I put it down.

 

 

Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard

The fact that this novel didn’t reach the audience it deserves makes me sad. Instead of the typical girl meets boy centric story lines that pervade literature for teenagers, Kirsten explores instead the complicated relationships between girls, especially during the years we’re all figuring out not only who we are, but who we want to be. This is a special book, easily one of my favorites of the year.

How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

I discovered Sara Zarr earlier in 2011 and became an immediate fan of both her work and her passion for writing for teens. When I learned they would be giving away a few advanced copies of this title at BEA, I camped out until the Little, Brown reps coughed them up. Let me tell you, she doesn’t disappoint. How to Save a Life is a masterpiece of characterization. Even though one (and at times both) of the point-of-view characters are difficult to read or like, they’re never hard to root for. The common thread in Sara’s writing is her ability to break my heart, then piece it back together again while exposing the possibilities in human nature.

Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts 

I’ve beaten everyone over the head with my recommendation to read this book. I’m like a broken record, but I just don’t want to stop until everyone has discovered what a gem this story is, so at home in the explosion of dystopian literature this year, but bringing so much more to the discussion. The novel has elements that will leave you breathless, it has characters you can’t forget, and a world that feels terrifyingly real – but it also has something to say. It frightened me with the way it laid bare the truth of what we should be afraid of – the dark, twisted urges that lay inside all of our minds.

So that’s my top ten. I have to give honorable mentions to these, also: A Game of Thrones (George RR Martin),  Angelfire (Courtney Allison Moulton), Never Let Me Go (Kazua Ishiguro), The Dark and Hollow Places (Carrie Ryan), The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern), The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (Maggie O’Farrell), and Divergent (Veronica Roth). Nearly all of these authors have previous books or titles being released in 2012 and I, for one, am looking forward to what they offer up next.

What are your favorite books of the 2011?

6 Comments

Posted in author, fun, reading, series | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by: Trisha Leigh | December 22, 2011

Something Old…

So now we’ve talked about movies, and it’s time to move on to my favorite returning television shows. I hesitate here, because I know so many of you watch your fancy pay cable series that are just *nose up* SO SUPERIOR to all that network crap, but two things:

1. I’m poor

2. I have no desire to see graphic violence and/or boobs in my television shows on a regular basis. Call me a prude, or whatever, but it makes me uncomfortable. I have made an exception for Game of Thrones, since I enjoy the books so much, but even then there are times I fast forward or cover my eyes. I’m a wimp.

At any rate, these are my favorite television shows, the ones that don’t sit for more than a couple of days on my DVR without making me crazy. Next I’ll do new television shows, because there are (for once) plenty of those to go around too.

5. Gossip Girl – It’s guilty pleasure. You know it. I know it. That doesn’t stop me from loving the crap out of the silly, implausible drama and getting so worked up about whether or not my favorite television couple is finally going to be able to work it out and get their happily ever after. I haven’t been this nervous/sick about a storyline on a television show in…maybe ever. It’s ridiculous. Totes. XOXO.

4. Bones – A year and a half ago I was only watching this show because I review it for Poptimal. Halfway into Season 7, I can’t believe how they’ve turned it around, and while doing the unthinkable at the same time – breaking the sexual tension by putting the main characters into a relationship. It’s working so well for them that I might be forced to eat my words, because not so long ago I was begging Fox to pull the plug on this one.

3. Castle – What a fun police procedural. It’s essentially the same thing as The Mentalist, or Lie to Me (a guy who has no business solving crimes assisting a hot lady police officer) but the interaction and humor brought to the screen by the delectable Nathan Fillion make this one stand out from the crowd and earn its spot on my weekly Must Watch list.

2. Big Bang Theory - This show just keeps getting better and better. Centered around what, in my opinion, is the most original character written for television in the last ten or so years (who is brought to life by the genius that is Jim Parsons) the comedy is spot on and the supporting characters have found their groove. Now that it’s on TBS 6835x a day, no better time to catch up.

1. Fringe - The best show you’re probably not watching. The writing is smart, the acting is way above average (a fact that has sadly gone unrecognized), and the worlds (yes, plural) are so well constructed sometimes the details take my breath away. It’s a story that will bend your mind and break your heart in subsequent moments, and each episode is a work of art unto itself. Come to the party. The combination of J.J. Abrams, John Noble, Anna Torv, and Joshua Jackson will not disappoint you.

8 Comments

Posted in america, characters, fun, media | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Older Posts »

Categories

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 33 other followers