One Book is Never Enough

Greetings! This week’s Broke and the Bookish Top Ten Tuesday post is all about the authors whom you’ve read one book from but that you NEED to read more of. Trust me, that was the least tangled way of explaining this week’s topic that I tried.

But we all have these authors that we LOVED a book from but just haven’t gotten around to sampling their other work. Some of these I’m actually quite abashed to have on this list because these authors have written some of my favorite books. So in no particular order here are the authors I need to show more love to…

*Links lead to author’s page on Goodreads and the photos were politely borrowed from that site as well*

1. Ian McEawn

Atonement is one of my favorite books. It is also one of the most stunning book-to-film adaptations I have ever seen. I don’t know why I haven’t gobbled more of his lyrical prose.

Next Attempt: Sweet Tooth

 

2. Emily Giffin

I received Giffin’s latest novel, The One & Only in my very first PopSugar Must Have box and fell madly in love with that book. It was the perfect amount of romance in my chick lit and I loved how the story revolved around college football. I never would have picked that novel up in the store and can’t thank PopSugar enough. I wish they’d send me more books.

Next Attempt: Something Borrowed. 

 

3. John Green

I am late to the John Green party, but not as late as I usually am with book trends, so that’s a plus. I enjoyed The Fault in Our Stars but also fell prey to the raging hype monster and didn’t love it as much as I expected to. Which is why I’d like to read more Green so that I can get a better sense of his style.

Next Attempt: An Abundance of Katherines

 

4. Chuck Klosterman

One of the best non-fiction culture writers of our generation and I’ve only read one of his books. I truly enjoyed I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling With Villains. Klosterman is a writer who rambles and will convince you that every step off the path was worthwhile. I’m also a fan of his prolific use of semi-colons. So I’d like to read more.

Next Attempt: Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto.

 

5. Michael Crichton

There is a good reason why this man’s books get turned into movies with regularity. Crichton has a very cinematic style, which appeals to me as a reader because I tend to picture any book I read as a movie projecting inside my imagination. Reading Jurassic Park after years of only knowing the movie was such a great experience. I like both stories independently of each other and that is rare for me.

Next Attempt: The Lost World.

 

6. Rainbow Rowell

I picked up Rowell’s Attachments as an e-book this spring, which is highly unusual because I do not often use my Kindle. Charming, quick little read that had me curious about Rowell’s other novels. And the book bloggers just adore her, so I’d better give her a second go.

Next Attempt: Fangirl.

 

7. Nick Hornby

I don’t know what I expected Mr. Hornby to look like but this photo wasn’t it. One of my best friends in college, Autumn, adores Nick Hornby and had been trying to get me to read his work for years. I finally read About a Boy last year and enjoyed it, so now I have to keep going!

Next Attempt: High Fidelity.

 

8. John Irving

A Prayer For Owen Meany is one of my favorite books. Hands down. And it has been that way since high school. I’m certain I have purchased other Irving books out of the intense love I have for that one novel, but I have yet to crack open these other books. Maybe out of fear that they won’t be as magnificent. I don’t know.

Next Attempt: The World According to Garp.

 

9. Alice Sebold

Way back when I first started doing TTT posts, I believe Alice Sebold made it to my authors I’d love to meet list. I was actually lucky enough to meet her and get my copy of The Lovely Bones signed. Nearly lost me mind over that one because The Lovely Bones was a book that crawled underneath my skin and lingered. Yes, that is an accurate if odd description of how it felt to read that book. I was in the seventh grade when I read the story of Susie Salmon and I still adore this book. Must read more.

Next Attempt: The Almost Moon.

 

10. Chuck Palahniuk

I’ve read Palahniuk’s most mainstream novel, Fight Club. If Palahniuk is taught in college, it’s probably Fight Club. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing; I’d just like to know what lies beyond that thing we’re not supposed to talk about.

Next Attempt: Damned.

 

Writing this post has gotten me excited about these authors again. I’ll have to take these under consideration when I head to the library next time!

Attachments

Several months ago, I inherited my grandmother’s Kindle. While I have my fair share of mixed feelings about e-readers, there are some books that are just suited to the quick-click nature of a Kindle. Rainbow Rowell’s Attachments is one of those novels. I absolutely devoured this one–started and finished in less than twenty-four hours. It’s ever so consumable, which makes Attachments the perfect book to take with you poolside or to the beach this summer.

Beth and Jennifer are two friends on the cusp of their thirties, working at their local newspaper. Lincoln is the internet security officer tasked with monitoring the paper’s emails for inappropriate conduct. The girls are constantly breaking the rules by gossiping and sharing personal emails on the company’s time, but Lincoln can’t bring himself to send the pair a warning. Though he feels a dreadful amount of guilt over reading their emails, Lincoln feels a friendly connection towards Beth and Jennifer. His guilt ratchets up another notch when he realizes he’s falling for Beth without ever having met her in person. As Lincoln works up his courage in order to introduce himself, Beth and Jennifer are struggling to figure out what they want from their own lives.

 

AttachmentsPBBlog

 

 

Despite the potentially off-putting topic of company surveillance, Attachments is one of the most adorable office dramas I’ve ever read. Set on the eve of Y2K fever, the novel still captivates those of us trying to define living in the digital era. Making connections through computers is something that many can relate to, though usually not without an online profile. It helps that the characters are also endearingly neurotic. You read their emails or their inner monologues and think to yourself that you’ve been there, you’ve had those conversations.

The chapters are pleasantly short, which enables the novel’s consumable quality. The perspectives alternate between Beth and Jennifer’s emails and Lincoln’s narration. As you read the girls’ emails, you know Lincoln has read them too, making the readers complicit in his prying. In a way, Attachments reminds me of one of my favorite Meg Cabot novels, The Boy Next Door. Cabot’s book is a longer read and is carried out entirely through emails, but the humor is something that both novels share. I snorted, chortled, and cackled through this book. The kind of involuntary laughs that take you by surprise and show that you really enjoyed something.

One of the things I appreciated most about this novel was that it was a coming of age story for all three main characters, and that they’re not teenagers. Too often when we hear the phrase “coming of age” in literature it is applied to teens, and while that may be an accurate experience for some, others take a bit longer to come into their own. At twenty-three, I’m still trying to figure things out for myself, and it was comforting to read about characters in their late twenties doing the same. Lincoln’s still living with his mother, Beth is stuck in a dead-end relationship, and Jennifer is battling the societal pressure to become a mom. Each character makes strides in discovering what it means to be in a family or a relationship, but they make mistakes too. As with life, their mistakes are just as important as their successes.

In terms of trouble spots, I only had one major problem throughout the story. Most authors give you sufficient character description to bring a person to life without being too explicit. Rowell didn’t give me enough physical description, or rather she gave me conflicting descriptions. One character would describe him/herself and it would be laden with their own insecurities. Then the character would be described by another as really attractive. While this duel expression is likely honest to how we see ourselves, it threw me off. I struggled through most of the book to get a firm image of Beth and Lincoln in my mind. Obviously I got through the book just fine, but this one little snag drove me nuts.

At the end of the day, Attachments is fluff. If it were food it would be meringue: melt in your mouth sweet. It’s not enough to fill you up, but you’re glad you ate it. This is Rowell’s first novel, so I’d like to see how she has developed her style since Attachments‘ publication. Her other titles include Eleanor and Park and Fangirl. I’d expect them to be equally engaging.