Bookspotting and Winning

This week, I spotted a Chinese woman on the MTR reading the third book in the Fifty Shades series. Meanwhile, a pair of young women in the same train car were carrying on a loud, derogatory conversation about the books and 'mommy porn'. Clearly, the reader knew English well enough to understand them, so I'm not sure whether they didn't see her or they thought she would be too engrossed in the story to pay attention to their vitriolic conversation. In other bookspotting news, I saw a Western woman in a coffee shop reading on a Kindle and a Western man sitting outside a hookah bar reading on an iPad. On the MTR, I spotted an English book with a swirly cursive title and a Chinese book in the hands of a man wearing some rather elegant saddle shoes. My new Kindle still hasn't arrived yet, and I've dealt with the impatience by purchasing ten e-books in the last ten days (CyberMonday was a factor as well).

In other news, I officially won National Novel Writing Month! I reached 50,000 words yesterday and pushed ahead to 53,000 at writers' group last night. I'm estimating that the story will be finished at 60k, but I have a feeling I'll be adding a lot to it on my next rewrite. In case you're curious, it's an adventure novel about a risk-taking mechanic on a post-apocalyptic cruise ship. I've been having fun writing something that has nothing to do with Hong Kong or Asia for a change.

Have you spotted any books lately? How's your Nanowrimo project going if you are participating?

Bookspotting and Nano-ing

This week I spotted a boy reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets near my work. I'm not positive, but I think it was a Chinese edition. The cover image was the same as the British version. Anyone know if the Chinese HP books have their own cover art? Speaking of cover art, I was sitting in a second floor window working on my Nanowrimo project this weekend when I saw a woman carrying The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I recognized the vibrant colors of the cover from my overhead perch. I also spotted two other Chinese books, one English book with a mystery cover and a 2nd generation Kindle around town this week.

I just reached 40,000 words on my Nanowrimo manuscript. There's no way the story will be finished at 50k, so it's full steam ahead into December. You may have noticed there haven't been any book reviews on the blog this month. This is why. Here's what I've read, but haven't had a chance to review yet:

-The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (I'm seeing the movie tomorrow)

-Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

-The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

-7 Days and Counting by Suvi Lampila

-A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans

I'm halfway through Hope Solo's memoir and The Power of the Sea: Tsunamis, Storm Surges, Rogue Waves, and Our Quest to Predict Disasters by Bruce Parker. How's that for an eclectic list!

What are you reading this week? What books have you spotted around your town lately?

Bookspotting and Kindle-breaking

Well, folks. It's the end of an era. This weekend my beloved 2nd generation Kindle got crushed. I went to the UFC fight in Macau with my fiance and a few friends, and my purse ended up getting stuck between two seats. When I turned it on the next morning, this was the result:

I've had it for 2 1/2 years and it has served me well. I've already ordered a new one, but in the mean time I'll be catching up on my stack of paperbacks.

This week I spotted a schoolgirl reading a middle grade novel with a bright purple cover. Another teenager was reading a dog-eared copy of The Mysterious Benedict Society. This book happens to be one of the best gifts I've ever received. On the last day of my first year of teaching (in the US), I turned up to my 6th grade classroom to find this book on my desk. Inside, a note inscribed on the first page said, "To my favorite teacher I give my favorite book." I can't even write that without tearing up.

I spotted a man in Starbucks at the Venetian Macau reading what appeared to be Norwegian Wood. A girl on the train this morning had three Chinese books in her arms and a man had a thick red paperback. I also spotted a total of ten novels-in-progress at a meet-up for National Novel Writing Month. I just passed the halfway mark on my own novel!

What are people reading in your town this week?

This is my favorite shot from the fight night

Bookspotting and Nanowrimo

This week, I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month for the second time. Last November, I wrote about 22,000 words that eventually became The Olympics Beat, my mini travel memoir. It was only ever meant to be a short piece, but after finishing I didn't write another 28,000 words to win the challenge. This time around, I'm starting a new novel from scratch, and I'm in it to win. My creative non-fiction comfort zone has been left behind and I'm experimenting with a totally new genre. So far, I've written nearly 14,000 words and met up with six other Hong Kong writers for a write-in. We are having another one tonight, Tuesday, at Holly Brown in Central, so please come along if you're in town!

In the bookspotting department, I saw two women perusing the Hiker's Guide to Hong Kong, whose author, Pete Spurrier, I happen to have met. Another woman had a Lonely Planet Hong Kong guidebook on Queen's Road. I spotted one Kindle near my house and three Chinese books on the train. I was just feeling disappointed with my bookspotting tally yesterday (especially considering how many hours I spent in coffee shops this weekend) when I spotted a woman on the MTR reading The Eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty. What are people reading in your town this week?

Bookspotting and Book Launching

This weekend I attended the launch for my friend Suvi Lampila's debut novel 7 Days and Counting. The event was held at Kapok, a unique design shop on Sun Street in Wan Chai. Suvi's book features an experimental, intentionally ambiguous structure, and it has had a unique publishing journey. She originally wrote the book on her blog, receiving constant feedback from a team of editors around the world. Then, she received a grant from the Arts Development Council here in Hong Kong to self-publish her novel. The result is a beautifully-produced paperback featuring original artwork that can be viewed in a number of different ways, just like her story. I'll do a full review of 7 Days and Counting, most likely when the e-book edition comes out later this year.

My bookspotting adventures this week were quite successful. I spotted a man carrying a book by Mike Gayle in Central Station. On the MTR, I spotted a schoolgirl with a middle grade novel titled The Goddess Girls. A Chinese man was reading the Chinese version of Onward, that book about Starbucks, which has an easily recognizable cover. Over the weekend, I spotted a girl reading Lost and Found Girl in a Japanese restaurant and a young man carrying The Honeymoon by James Patterson in an Italian restaurant. Finally, there was a backpacker in Central Station bright and early this morning with one of the Game of Thrones books in hand. My fiance was reading The Sun Also Rises yesterday and I'm reading a non-fiction book about extreme weather at sea in preparation for Nanowrimo.

Have you spotted any books this week?

P.S. If you're a Hong Kong-based writer, we're having a write-in for Nanowrimo at Holly Brown in Central on Saturday the 3rd. We'll get there at noon and write until we can't write any more, then go for dinner. We will also be writing at Holly Brown every Tuesday night. Find us upstairs!

SKINNY: A NOVEL by Diana Spechler

THE GIST:

A young woman works at a weight-loss camp in an effort to connect with a sister she didn't know about until her father died.

THE VERDICT:

Gray is a 26-year-old woman who has spent the year since her father's death binge eating. Somehow, she has only gained 15 pounds, but she feels consumed by self-loathing and a hunger that is not about food. She decides to spend a summer working at a weight-loss camp for kids, despite not particularly liking children. While there, she hopes to weasel into the affections of a girl who may be her father's love child. At the camp, her "daddy issues" run rampant and she quickly becomes anorexic with the encouragement of a bone-headed PE teacher.

Self-destructive women do not usually appeal to me as characters. By self-destructive, I don't mean Gray's struggle with eating disorders, which could have made for an interesting premise. The way she treats all the people in her life is horrible and selfish, and I found her quite frustrating. There was a Q&A at the end of the Kindle version of the book in which the author talks about how she intentionally created an unlikeable protagonist. It makes for an interesting read, but it doesn't work for me personally. In fact, most of the characters are unlikeable. The only exception is a girl called Spider, but she leaves less than halfway through the book.

Spechler's descriptions of hunger and eating are powerful, and she goes to great lengths to show Gray's guilt and desperation. The prose is often visceral and evocative. However, her actual response to the various eating disorders in the story is not particularly enlightening. The resolution was unsatisfying, and it felt like a missed opportunity to explore the kinds of hunger that are not really about food by tacking on a stilted, guilty ending. This is a book I might recommend for the strong writing alone, but I'm afraid I didn't enjoy reading it.

THE LINK:

Diana Spechler's website

THE COST:

$7.99 for the Kindle edition, though I bought it when it was on sale

THE QUESTION:

Have you read a book you really liked with an unlikeable protagonist? What made it enjoyable/worth reading?

Bookspotting and Thriving

This week, I spotted a woman carrying a thick paperback with some sort of green design on the cover in Central station. It looked like the copy of Salem's Lot I got from a used bookstore here. Also in the MTR, I spotted someone reading Sizzle by Julie Garwood. One of the poets at the Wednesday poetry reading I sometimes attend had a book by a prominent literary fiction writer, but I can't for the life of me think of what it was. It may have been Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje. Do you have any other guesses? Another poet unashamedly pulled out her copy of Fifty Shades of Grey. I spotted five Chinese books this week, including a graphic novel, and one textbook. Have you spotted any books lately?

In other news, today I have a guest post on the Live.Write.Thrive. blog about my publishing journey. In it, I talk about how the writing journey can be like training for the Olympics. Enjoy!