Book Chatter

As you may recall, I had the privilege of being a Lit Fiction judge for last year’s Indie Lit Awards. It was a great experience. I met some great bloggers, befriended an author or two on Facebook (all of them rock stars!) and we read lots of great books. Honestly, I was just pleased to be a part of it.

This year, I am a Vice-Chair (fancy, eh?) to Wallace, who is the founder of the awards and once again I am honored to be a part of it. Wallace’s enthusiasm is contagious and rubs off on me in lots of good ways. It’s good for this forty-something (ahem) blogger to rub elbows with young, enterprising individuals. Keeps the juices flowing, you know?

Anyway, we have lots of great stuff planned and nominations open in September but what we need from you now is quite simple. We need you to read lots and lots of great books so that you can nominate them come September. Can you do that for us? All we ask is this:

You must be a literary blogger; and a link to your blog must be provided so we can verify this. (You may not be the author, publisher, or publicist of the book you are nominating).
Books nominated must have a 2011 release date.
You may nominate a book that has already been listed (the books with the most nominations will be what we add to the Long List).
You may nominate books in more than one genre, but only one per genre.
Nominations are open midnight PST September 1, 2011 – 11:59 PST December 31, 2011.

Why am I telling you about this so early? Well, it’s already March and the year seems to be flying by, but don’t worry, I will be talking about the awards off and on throughout the year so I won’t let you forget about them. If you want to stay up to date, follow us on Twitter @indielitawards.

Until then.. READ and if you really want to help us spread the word, grab a button and share it on your blog.

Lots of great bloggers are involved, check out the bio page to see if you know any of them, and if not… why not check ’em out?

The Other Life
By Ellen Meister
Penguin
February 2011
320pp

The Short of It:

This book had me squirming in my seat. It asks the “tough” questions. The ones that we don’t like to ask ourselves unless we have to.

The Rest of It:

Quinn Braverman is happily married to Lewis. She has one son and is expecting a baby. This should be a joyous time for them all, but Quinn struggles with what she’s been given. Her life seems “safe” and at times, a bit mundane. When she discovers a problem with the pregnancy, she is forced to consider her options. Most of us, when faced with a grave decision, make the decision based on any number of things. We look for support in those close to us. We seek guidance from professionals, etc. But Quinn? Quinn’s a bit different because she can actually escape her current life, to visit her “other” life, where she is dating Eugene and doesn’t have to face any tough decisions. Through a portal in her basement, she attempts to live both lives.

As much as I enjoy portals and the idea of parallel universes, I struggled with the premise. Not so much the idea of it, because I can certainly suspend my disbelief in order to enjoy the story, but the execution of the portal pieces, didn’t come together for me so much. The appearance and the placement of the portals seemed a bit convenient and I had a tough time believing that a pregnant woman would even attempt to go through one, not knowing what would happen to the baby on the other side.

With that said, I was surprised at how anxious I was to get back to reading it! Some readers might argue this point but Quinn is a selfish character. Not overtly so, not enough to hate her, but enough to make me shake my head over her decisions. I kept reading it though because I wanted to see what she would do next and how her decisions would affect her life with Lewis and her son.

Overall, this would be a great vacation book. There is enough of a story here to make you want to turn the pages, yet it’s not just bubble-gum lit in that there is nothing to think about. Oh, there’s plenty to think about and if you’re like me, you’ll find yourself frustrated over Quinn’s decisions, but also cheering her on in the end.