In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

There is a poem in the beginning of In a Dark, Dark Wood that is one of those sit around the campfire/ ghostly tale/ urban legend stories. It usually goes something like this:

In a dark dark wood, There was a dark dark house. And in that dark dark house, There was a dark dark room. And in that dark dark room, There was a dark dark cupboard. And in that dark dark cupboard, There was a dark dark shelf. And on that dark dark shelf, There was a dark dark box. And in that dark dark box, There was a ___________!! (You make up what was in the box!)

That may be one of the scariest parts of this novel.

The cover is really well done too.

And it's being compared to Girl on the Train and Gone Girl.

And it's a first novel that is getting a lot of hype.

You know those movies where the audience knows that the guy with the ax is behind the door/in the closet/under the stairs, etc. Well, the audience for this book knows it too, but none of the characters can figure it out and really, they just look stupid. And kind of whiny.

Without giving too much away (even though you will figure it out quickly for yourself), old friends are invited to a "hen" party (which is Britain's equivalent of a bachelorette party) way, way out in the country. The home where they are staying is a glass house in the woods. It turns out, there are reasons why these old friends have not seen each other in awhile. Secrets come out. Someone dies. Accident or murder?

So many questions. Easy answers.

Shake your head sadly and wonder how it is that Reese Witherspoon wants to turn this into a movie.

Karen

Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein

Carrie Brownstein is probably best known for starring in the IFC series Portlandia with Fred Armisen, but prior to her TV career she played in several bands, most notably the Olympia, Washington based trio Sleater-Kinney. In Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl Brownstein tells the story of Sleater-Kinney’s initial ten year run and recent reunion and also covers her unusual childhood.

Brownstein grew up in the Pacific Northwest. Her mother suffered from anorexia and eventually left Carrie, her father, and her sister to fend for themselves. Her father eventually started renting out rooms in their house to young man, claiming the house was too big for just the three of them. She would eventually find out that her father was gay and that he possibly had relationships with some of the young men who boarded there.

This fractured childhood led her to look for something to belong to and she eventually found it with the raw and often political music scenes that were forming in various parts of the state of Washington.  After forming a short-lived band called Excuse 17, Brownstein formed Sleater-Kinney with Corinne Tucker from the Riot Grrrl band Heavens to Betsy. After their third album, Dig Me Out, the band started to have success with indie music fans and music critics. This success, which was hardly on the level of the Spice Girls and other hugely successful acts at that time, led them to have some tension with the Olympia music scene. In Olympia, too much success was frowned upon. Acts were supposed to be quirky and not too serious about turning their bands into careers. Brownstein talks a lot about the politics of that scene and the indie music scene in general. She also talks about her love/hate relationship with touring, including many health problems she was stricken with while on the road.

I listened to the audiobook version of Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, which was read by the author. She does a wonderful job reading it and avoids getting too dramatic or monotone, the way many authors do when reading their own work. This book was truly enjoyable. I couldn’t wait to get into my car to listen to more of it.

John

Writing Movies for Fun and Profit by Robert Ben Garant

There have likely been hundreds of books published on the topic of screenwriting. What many of these books have in common is that they are not by well known and/or commercially successful screenwriters but are often written by college professors or writers best known for their books on screenwriting. Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon’s Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars and You Can, Too! immediately separates itself from many of these screenwriting titles due to the fact that Lennon and Garant have written screenplays which were produced. As the title suggests, they have not focused their writing on trying to get academy award nominations. Their writing credits include Night at the Museum and The Pacifier. They also worked on the Lindsay Lohan classic Herbie: Fully Loaded, before they were fired, and they even devote a chapter to what went wrong with that particular movie.

So you might be thinking, I’m an aspiring screenwriter but I want to write something good, not family comedies starring Vin Diesel. This book will still be worth your time as it contains valuable information about the ins and outs of the movie industry. Garant and Lennon are brutally honest about what it takes to become a working screenwriter in Los Angeles. They explain oddities of the industry such as the fact that professional screenwriters are constantly getting fired and rehired, the need to always follow certain screenplay structures, and how much of your writing you need to sell in order to qualify for membership in the Writers Guild of America, West. Despite its raunchy cover, Writing Movies for Fun and Profit contains a wealth of information for anyone interested in screenwriting.

John

BookLite Book Discussion: The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian

BookLite is one of our book clubs that meets offsite on the third Thursday of each month. We meet at The Still in Bartlett. Below are the notes of our most recent book discussion, where we read The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian.

Book Summary:

1943: Tucked away in the idyllic hills south of Florence, the Rosatis, an Italian family of noble lineage, believe that the walls of their ancient villa will keep them safe from the war raging across Europe. Eighteen-year-old Cristina spends her days swimming in the pool, playing with her young niece and nephew, and wandering aimlessly amid the estate's gardens and olive groves. But when two soldiers, a German and an Italian, arrive at the villa asking to see an ancient Etruscan burial site, the Rosatis' bucolic tranquility is shattered. A young German lieutenant begins to court Cristina, the Nazis descend upon the estate demanding hospitality, and what was once their sanctuary becomes their prison. 1955: Serafina Bettini, an investigator with the Florence police department, has her own demons. A beautiful woman, Serafina carefully hides her scars along with her haunting memories of the war. But when she is assigned to a gruesome new case--a serial killer targeting the Rosatis, murdering the remnants of the family one-by-one in cold blood--Serafina finds herself digging into a past that involves both the victims and her own tragic history.

Onto the discussion notes: 

 

6 liked, 0 disliked, and 5 were so-so

While 6 people liked the book, no one LOVED the book.

The killer: There was much speculation about who the killer was. Some thought that Serafina might have a split personality, and therefore be the killer. We felt that the murderer was such a minor blip in the story that no one considered he might be the killer. One member thought it would have been more interesting to reveal the killer at the beginning and go back and explain the motives. Another person liked that the killer wasn’t revealed until the end.

The love story: Some people didn’t feel the love between Cristina and Friedrich. We wanted the relationship to be even more developed.

Emotional connections: Overall, we didn’t feel emotionally connected to the characters. However, some of us felt connections with the older couple who were forced to sell their belongings. There was also an emotional connection to the Villa Chimera. The destruction made people sad.

Francesca: Did she have meaning in her life? We agreed that Francesca had no meaning in her life after her family died. She merely existed.

The ending: One of us asked: If Serafina was so concerned about the family, why didn’t she follow them from the cemetery? We didn’t really have a good answer for this.

The book overall: One member thought it was well written, because the violence was hard to read about, but not impossible. 

Our next discussion is on Thursday, December 17 at 7 p.m.  We'll discuss A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.










Carrie

The Consultant by Bentley Little

Horror author Bentley Little is back with his usual macabre twists; this time on corporate America.

The Consultant is the story of a software company in trouble. A merger has just gone down the drain, and the investors are worried.  The owner and Board of CompWare decide to hire a consultant to help them get back on track again, and BFG comes highly recommended. And Mr. Patoff,  their representative, seems at first to know his way around the corporate machine. Maybe too well?

Craig Horne, a senior staff member, is willing to go along with almost anything to save his job and the jobs of those that work for him. Maybe some of Mr. Patoff’s tactics seem a little, well, odd, but Craig urges everyone to be patient. Even when Mr. Patoff starts showing up at employees’ homes. Even when Mr. Patoff sends 300 emails in an evening. Even when his voicemails and memos are becoming increasingly inappropriate. And even when staff is forced on a CompWare retreat like no other retreat you could ever imagine.

Is the staff just fighting for their jobs? Or their lives?

This is classic Bentley Little.

Karen

Readalike author: Dean Koontz (in his early days)