NaNoWriMo and Morning Glory

Apologies for having been remiss in announcing the giveaway result!  It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. Joli @ Actin' Up with books is the winner of a copy of Diana Peterfreund’s Morning Glory (I’ve seen posters up around the city for the movie and am getting way excited.)  So congratulations, Joli! 

In other news, Casting Call Friday is going on hiatus for the month due to NaNoWriMo (that’s National Novel Writing Month), which I am again attempting (for the fourth year in a row) and this year hope to actually produce a full novel.  Most years end in the past have ended in tears around the third week so fingers crossed this year isn't more of the same.

I believe Janelle is going to take a stab at the writing marathon as well, so while we might not be mentally capable of writing reviews every week of November, we’ll be keeping you updated and talking about books from the view of the writer, not just reader and posting more fun stuff like Janelle's post about her favorite place to read.

Is anyone else participating in NaNoWriMo this year?  Have you participated in the past?  Does the idea of writing an entire novel in a month scare the hell out of you? (Because it scares me!)

Oh and add me as a writing buddy over at NaNo!  I love to see what people are working on and commiserate/wallow in the sheer absurdity of this folly together!  My screen name is filmphi.

Review and Giveaway — Morning Glory by Diana Peterfreund

Synopis (via Goodreads):

BREAKING NEWS: Plucky young TV producer is fired from her gig at a local morning show in New Jersey-but vows to land on her feet.

With an unfinished college education and suddenly out of a job, Becky Fuller finds herself at Daybreak, a floundering network morning news program in New York City that’s sinking faster than the Titanic. Abysmal ratings are only the tip of the iceberg: The outdated cameras belong in the Smithsonian, and executive producers never stay beyond the next commercial break. To reverse the downward spiral, Becky hires legendary newscaster Mike Pomeroy as co-anchor-or rather, she makes him an offer he can’t contractually refuse. Mike abhors Daybreak’s fluff pieces (pet psychics?) and takes an instant dislike to Colleen, his equally vain co-anchor. The only bright side of Becky’s career is Adam Bennett, the gorgeous producer of an actual hard news show, but Daybreak’s dysfunction spells trouble for their blossoming relationship. As Mike and Colleen’s on-air chemistry proves explosive, Becky must scramble to save her love life, her reputation, and Daybreak itself before the network pulls the plug.

Review:  Reviewing movie novelizations is tough (though probably not as tough as writing them).  If there are weaknesses in plot or characters, lack of motivation, or inconsistencies, do you blame the author or the screenwriter?  Where does one person’s creation end and another’s begin?

Morning Glory isn’t perfect, but it’s full of fun characters created by Aline Brosh McKenna and fleshed out by Peterfreund.  The plot really does play as the perfect chick flick.  Girl unlucky in love and life starts over in New York City where she overcomes preconceptions and antagonists to prove she’s got what it takes.

Okay, I’m making it sound more cheesy than it is, but you get the point.  I hesitate to criticize the book for being a little thin because you can tell Peterfreund is following rules set up by someone else, but the book does lack that certain spark that’s made me love all of her other work.  Becky, however, is a likable protagonist and I found myself rooting for her even if her social awkwardness was a little cliché.  Peterfreund made it work.  Becky’s dating troubles were a slightly eye-roll inducing until I got to the line “I don’t know a guy is into me until he’s naked” and it was frighteningly familiar to something I would have thought/said.  While you don’t really forget that it’s a movie in book form (there's a certain lack of well-roundedness to the world that you would find in a straight-up chick lit book), Peterfreund makes you care about Becky.

One thing that I don’t think I would have gotten out of the movie that struck me while reading the book was that the dismissal of morning shows by “real” journalists is similar to the dismissal of the chick lit genre.  Just because something is fun or “fluffy” doesn’t mean it doesn’t have merit or doesn’t have something to say.  There are real messages hidden beneath the fluff.  Just because it isn’t “hard-hitting” or literary doesn’t make it have any less value.  I think Peterfreund really used this vehicle to make a statement about dismissing “women’s” media as something less important than “serious” (read: male) media. 

Oh, and I do have to mention one thing that’s always kind of driven me nuts about Peterfreund’s books: her vocabulary.  Now, I know I probably don’t have the greatest vocabulary, but I’d like to think it’s pretty decent.  So when I come across lines like “I tried to adjust my circadian rhythms to a more diurnal schedule” it just makes me want to scream “just say you were trying to get your sleep patterns back to normal!”  I think what’s most jarring is that it’s out of character.  Becky doesn’t really talk like this or even think like this for most of the book so it just threw me.  Same for Rampant.  Maybe I wasn’t a precocious enough as a teen but I didn’t use SAT words in everyday life.

Anyway, the important thing is that Morning Glory is that it made me super excited to see the movie.  As you read you can't help but envision Harrison Ford as Mike and that’s some perfect casting there.  I hate to call him a grumpy old man, but…he kind of is…and is awesome at it (though Han Solo Ford will always be swoon-worthy).  I can’t wait to see Diane Keaton as the cheery, veteran morning show host with bite, Colleen. Add in my girlcrush Rachel McAdams and I’m in chick flick heaven.

Lit Snit Verdict: C+

So until the movie hits we have a copy of Diana Peterfreund’s Morning Glory up for grabs to tide you over!  Contest is open to US/Canada and will close 10/21. 

Jane Giveaway Winner and October's book club selection

A big congratulations to Erin (of Aelia Reads.  There were so many Erin's that entered!  It's a fairly awesome name so I'm not complaining) you've won a ARC copy of April Lindner's Jane.  I'll email you shortly to get your address.  We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

I hope you all check it out when it comes out October 11th.  It's a fun, clever take on Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and a pleasure to read.

Well, you guys have spoken and it looks like On Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta will be our October book club selection.  I've heard so many wonderful things about this book I'm really excited to finally get around to reading it!

Book Blogger Appreciation Week — First Treasure

It's a busy day here at Lit Snit.  Between our Jane Giveaway, our weekend at the Brooklyn Book Festival, and Book Blogger Appreciation Week, it seems like there's so much going on (though it all revolves around books so we can't complain)!

This is our first year participating in Book Blogger Appreciation Week and we're really excited about it.  Our first BBAW post asks us to share a great new book blog you’ve discovered since BBAW last year or share the very first book blog you discovered.

I can't pin point the very first book blog I discovered.  It seemed like I had one, two, and then the list quickly grew exponentially!  I can say that the first one I remember reading with any kind of regularity was Adele's Persnickity Snark.  Adele always has something smart and thought-provoking to say and creates interesting dialogue with her non-review posts about the industry or YA genre itself.

Two other blogs I can't overlook are Emily and Her Little Pink Notes and Forever Young Adult.

On my other blog I called Emily my chick lit soul mate after seeing she loved the vastly underrated Family Fortune.  Plus, she recommended If Andy Warhol Had a Girlfriend which was probably one of the best chick lit books I've read this year (PS. she's having a giveaway on both book that you should totally check out).  Her reviews are always fun and thoughtful, but more than that her blog really lets you get to know her and feel like she's not just a fellow blogger, but a friend.


The ladies at Forever Young Adult constantly make me giggle.  Between their Hunger Games drinking games, hilarious reviews, and recaps of shows like Pretty Little Liars and Vampire Diaries, they've created an inventive, fun blog that gives us (ahem) older young adults a place to gush and squee without shame. 


So those are my first treasures.  I can't wait to see what other new blogs I find for next year!!

Review and Giveaway — Jane by April Lindner

Summary (via Goodreads): Forced to drop out of an esteemed East Coast college after the sudden death of her parents, Jane Moore takes a nanny job at Thornfield Park, the estate of Nico Rathburn, an iconic rock star on the brink of a huge comeback. Practical and independent, Jane reluctantly becomes entranced by her magnetic and brooding employer, and finds herself in the midst of a forbidden romance. But there's a mystery at Thornfield, and Jane's much-envied relationship with Nico is tested by a torturous secret from his past.

Part irresistible romance and part darkly engrossing mystery, this contemporary retelling of the beloved classic Jane Eyre promises to enchant a new generation of readers.

 Review (spoilers if you haven’t read Jane Eyre):  It’s been a while since I read Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, but it’s been one of my favorites of the classics so I was excited and more than a little nervous when I heard there was a modern retelling of the iconic story to be published.  I’ve had this book on my shelf a while and have been reluctant to start it.  I wasn’t sure if it could be adapted well in this modern era.

I have to say, it was done pretty darn well.  Lindner keeps mostly to the original story, but changes it up enough to make it her own and keep you from feeling like you know exactly what’s going to come next (even if you kind of do).   

Jane is a heartbreaking character.  You see snippets in flashbacks and memories of her childhood and how misunderstood she was (and still is).  Her mother, in particular, calls her “a cold fish” at one point and it killed me because not is she a horrible mother, but I felt Jane’s frustration at not being able to fully articulate her passion and emotions. 

Rochester, however, was a character that I reacted to totally differently in this version than I did in the original.  I remember thinking Rodchester was brooding, dark, and compelling.  Maybe it was because I was younger when I read the original or maybe it’s easier to forgive certain male character flaws in Victorian and pre-Victorian era novels like those by the Bronte’s or Austen than it is in a modern setting, but in Lindner’s version I didn’t find him nearly as attractive, and it has nothing to do with the way she wrote him.  I saw his actions in a completely new light.  Instead of finding him brooding I just thought Nico was pretty childish and emotionally manipulative.  I mean, really, you’re going to try to make Jane jealous by teasing her that you’re going to marry some rich photographer?  Um, no thank you.  I’d like not to re-live the games I played when I was in 6^th grade trying to get Matt Baker to notice me.  I remember thinking at one point, “Jane, you should just run now, because you could do so much better than this head case.”

Yet, just when I started to worry that she was going to overlook his immaturity and the fact that he was still kind of in love with this crazy ex, she stood her ground. There’s a passage right before she leaves Thornfield where Jane realizes that her relationship with Nico won’t work.  It was pretty much word for word all the reasons I had been mentally compiling as to why their relationship was toxic (though she’s way more forgiving of his emotional immaturity).  I so admired that she was so completely in love and utterly heartbroken, but she still knows that she can't stay.  She’s strong when she needs to be strong and is rational throughout the entire relationship without losing any kind of romance or sympathy.

In the original I was so caught up with the epic love story, that Jane’s journey didn’t completely sink in.  In this version, it was watching Jane discover her self-worth that really made this a compelling story.  She moved me to tears several times and impressed me with her independence and courage.  By the end, you don’t fault her for going back to Nico because although he hasn’t really changed, she is better equipped to deal with him and put him in his place.

Whether you’ve read the original or not Jane is a great read.  The second I finished I grabbed my copy of Jane Eyre off the shelf to re-read.  I love that Lindner’s version doesn’t try to replace the original, but it’s a fantastic story on its own and makes you slightly nostalgic for Bronte’s version.  Jane just proves that Charlotte Bronte created a fascinating and timeless character.  Luckily, Lindner is more than capable of capturing her spirit.  Though…I still think Jane could do better than Rochester/Rathburn.

Lit Snit Verdict: A-

I was lucky enough to receive two copies of this book from the publisher and want to share one with you!  Enter below for your chance to win the fabulous Jane by April Lindner.  This is a US/Canada giveaway only (sorry!) and will end 9/24.

The Duff Winner!

Let me just say that I stayed up way, way too late last night starting and finishing Mockingjay (which was awesome) so my brain is a big pile of mush right now.  I blame Janelle and her awesome review that made me speed through it (though she did put up with my fervent texting whenever I got to the suspenseful bits so I guess she's forgiven).

Anyway, on to the winner of our first ever Lit Snit giveaway!

Congrats to Alice!  You are now the proud owner of an ARC copy of Kody Keplinger's The Duff!

You should be getting an email shortly to get your contact info and we'll send it out to you.

Thanks to all that entered!  We should have another giveaway up in a few weeks so keep an eye out.

Don't Forget!

Oh, and don't forget that our giveaway for an ARC copy of Kody Keplinger's The Duff (which I LOVED) ends tomorrow!!

Giveaway - The Duff

I don't know if you heard, but I kind of loved Kody Keplinger's debut novel, The Duff (and by kind of loved I mean I couldn't stop talking about it for days and bordered on crazed stalker-fan of Kody).  I happen to have gotten my hot little hands on an extra ARC copy and thought we'd do our very first giveaway here at Lit Snit.  The rules are simple, just enter the form here and you're entered to win.  You will get extra points if you follow our blog and follow us on Twitter.  Contest ends 8/24 so what are you waiting for??



**Sorry this giveaway is US only.