I stopped by Joseph Beth Booksellers yesterday to pick up a copy of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. The movie trailer has been all over TV-land and it appears to be such a good thriller I knew it had to be my next read.
Upon arriving at JoBeth I was greeted with a hug by Eric, my second favorite bookseller (my daughter being my first favorite, of course) and taken to the section where we would find my book.
Of course he had to suggest that they may be sold out due to the upcoming movie release.
Oh, Eric, don't teeeeeeeease me about books!!
So there we are looking at the book and he suggesting, ever so gently, that I might prefer the mass market version because the print is larger... Really Eric? I love you, but really??? I inform him I am a book snob and only read trade paper or hard cover. So there!
Now we are joined by my darlin' Krissy who exclaims, "Mom! You can't buy that one, that's the movie cover!" Oh.My.Goodness, she's right! Being the book snob I am and the appreciation I have for cover art, there is no way I'll be buying a book with the movie characters on the cover. Fortunately for me, there was a copy with the original cover.
So my pet peeve is this - book covers which portray the movie that was made based on the book. Why? Why can't the publishers and the powers that be leave the original cover art alone? I don't' want shelves of books covered with photos of famous, has-been, and/or wanna be actors. I want the original art. Please, leave my book art alone!
Saving Grace
by Jane Green
I've really been enjoying reading pre-release books my daughter brings home for me. It makes me almost feel like I am a legit book reviewer. Yes, it is appropriate to laugh here. I'm writing a blog with only 8 (or is it less?) followers and only had five hits on my last review. This has always been for myself.
Saving Grace is another ARC that is scheduled to release on December 30th of this year. It's the third or fourth book I've read by Jane Green and I've become a fan of her writing.
Grace is the beautiful compassionate half of a literary power couple, married to Ted, a popular and in-demand author. She comes from a background she is ashamed of and has kept secret: a mentally ill mother who mentally abused and terrified her. Although she is happy in her marriage and loves her life, it takes no time at all for the reader to see that in her marriage she is repeating her past.
The couple hire Beth, an assistant for Ted who quickly makes herself indispensable to both of them. She is better than perfect. But soon Grace finds herself becoming forgetful and things happen that make her feel she's not quite right. Ted urges her to see a psychiatrist who begins pharmaceutical therapies and Grace continues to spiral downwards. As this is happening, Beth is there to step in for her and keep things running smoothly. Or so it seems.
I was running out of pages to read as I thought the story was coming to the ending that seemed certain. How was Jane going to pull this off? There was a bit of a twist at the end, a different happy ending than what I was expecting. Even so, there was no justice in the end, only another beginning.
Jane Green writes about women my age with similar issues. Although I am far from the glamorous Grace, I see that she just another woman with friends that could be mine and concerns that I also find in my life. The stories are not about young assistants or shop-a-holics. Maybe I'll call it senior chic-lit? I'll continue to seek out her stories. For me, this was a good book that kept me entertained and wanting to know more. Four of five shots!
