something borrowed & something blue

i can't believe i forgot to post about both of these. maybe it's because i blew right through them and soaked in every bit of my rereading. maybe it's because i took notes in my real notebook and forgot to do a digital version. who knows and who cares right? we are here now! 

i know you know this because i've said it before, but i have read all of emily giffin's novels, starting with these two back in the day. someone told me they would be "right up my alley" and so i bought them both and read them with lightning speed. my friends know me well. i loved them and couldn't wait to keep reading. that's my memory of it. and i remember the stories well enough to remember that i did in fact like the stories...but i had no idea how much i either forgot or was unable to appreciate back then. 

i may have said something like this before too, but i'll say it again. when i was reading these books before, i was in a totally different place. i wasn't a wife. i wasn't a homeowner.  i didn't have a regular, steady life. i was either a student or a recent grad (the years are blurry), and i had a record deal i was preparing to undergo. i was a singer, a dancer, a songwriter....a so-called "triple-threat",  and i thought that meant i would be satisfied and somehow successful--that's another blog post. so with my sights set on my upcoming 24-hour/day job, i was reading with a completely different attitude. i did not think i was better than anyone else (that's not what i'm saying), but rather, i didn't see myself as any character in the novels i read. it was purely an escape. like if i watched a tv show. it was entertainment. it was something i could do all by myself and enjoy. (that last part has not changed at all, even now as an aspiring author)

back to the books at hand: as i reread these books, i was thrilled to read the voices ms. giffin created. no wonder i loved the books so much! she researched her roles, her personalities, her fears and wonders, her hesitations that the characters possessed to the point that i wondered if it was real--rachel is consistently rachel and darcy is consistently darcy. i know that seems obvious, but when you are creating a person that technically doesn't exist, it's easy to stray from that character's brain and replace it with your own-especially at some point within 300+ pages. 

if you have watched the movie for something borrowed,  read the book, even if you think you already know the story and there would be no point. i'm not going to blast the movie version on a blog--to each his/her own--but i believe the book is better for a couple reasons.  first, in a book, you don't have a time constraint. you don't have to finish the book under two hours. you don't have to hurry or take out scenes in order to comply with some sort of regulation. you can take all the time you want to give backstories (unless they have no use in the story), to show funny moments, to give the characters more depth. basically, you don't have to rush. second, you don't have to pay for anything...locations, wardrobe, trailors, catering, and the most expensive, actors. if you have a character that plays an important role but only appears in phone conversations, you don't have to worry about how much screen time that character  for it to be worth what they are getting paid (in a book). you can have extra characters all over the place and not go over budget! and third, you can be the cast director. and as readers, you are the cast directors in every book. you decide who makes the best rachel or darby, so to speak. (disclaimer: i'm in no way saying that the movie was poorly casted- i am speaking in general terms.)

so, if you are a movie person, i challenge you to read the books of all the movies you've enjoyed. for example, all nicholas sparks books and the stieg larsson series (dragon tatoo). it's worth reading. and it makes the movies that much more dense because you know more than they have time to tell. 

again, BACK to the books. gosh, it's obviously monday. the books are sensational. well written. funny. real. everything you want in a two-book series. and it even gave me the idea to make a sequel for my latest novel, falling stars. you don't know anything about the my novels yet so i won't spoil anything, but let's just say that reading these two books again gave me the confidence to do the sequel. i've been feverishly researching and writing backstories for the past couple weeks, and i think i'm onto something. 

now, at my married, emotionally-adjusted, home-owning (and by that i mean an adult in the financial sense), routine-loving stage of life... i am reading these books with an understanding i could not have had back then if i tried. 

i highly recommend these two books for anyone who loves chick-lit. emily giffin really gets it. 

*i just saw all the points i kind of made in this post, and i want to apologize. i woke up with lots of thoughts. 

have a great week! :) 

ashlyne