It’s a holiday weekend here in the U.S., so let’s keep today’s question simple–What are you reading? Anything special? Any particularly juicy summer reading?

It’s Amy here…Sally and Leah are actually on holiday in Costa Rica at the moment (well Leah lives there, but you know) so I’ve been holding down the blog fort so to speak.

I’m currently reading Love Starts with Elle by Rachel Hauck. I’ve been really looking forward to this book because I loved Sweet Caroline and I adore the cover and title of this one. I really like it, Rachel brings a special heart and believability to her characters.

As far as juicy reads? I don’t think anything in my queue of books is juicy exactly, just your typical literary fare.

How about you? What will you be reading this holiday weekend?

Don’t forget to enter our contest for a copy of Live a Little by Kim Green! Enter by July 23rd!

Also be sure to check out our contest for an ARC of Guardian!

Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?

For me one of the biggest differences is my ability to get inside a character.  With movies, the viewer is somewhat dependent on the actor´s/actress’s ability to portray emotions, thoughts, and attitudes.  In contrast, a book can tell us exactly what the character is thinking and feeling.   I’ve realized lately that many of my favorite books are my favorites because of the strength of the characters, so this is important to me.  I think movies can sometimes set a scene a bit more dramatically because they are that much more visual.  Storms for example, come to life in a movie.  Movies can take us places we’ve never been before.  Books can as well, but I have to imagine what Ireland or Rome looks like whereas a movie can show it to me.  Books can allow you to imagine certain elements the way you want to.   Movies can add sound effects and music to set the mood and add drama.  Sometimes movies can show us way more than we really wanted to see even if the story it is telling is worthwhile.  At the same time, movies can be limited in what they are able to portray (imaginary animals and locations, for example, though with computer technology movies are able to portray more and more) .  I think from both movies and books what I want is to get into the story.  To experience life or a situation through someone else’s eyes.  To be scared, or laugh, or cry, or remember what it’s like to fall in love.   To think about something different than my daily life.  I love the use of language and words in books - movie dialouge can be great too, but words are generally more of a strength in books - and that is probably why I would almost always choose reading a book to watching a movie.  What about you?

The question:

__________ would have been a much better book if ______________________.

My answer:

A Time to Dance (Karen Kingsbury) would have been a much better book if instead of the miraculous healing there was courage, strength, and perserverance. I love happy endings as much as anybody - and I love Karen Kingsbury books - but in this one I would have liked to see her deal with the shocking reality that people actually face. I would have loved for the happy ending to mean that the people in this book found a way to love and be content, even joyful, despite the circumstances they found themselves in. Because that is real life. Now, of course, we don’t always want to read about real life, but it could have been a way to encourage people through their difficulties rather than just taking the difficulty away - since that rarely happens in life. I think the healing was just an easier way to end the story.