Friday, May 30, 2008

Good Stuff

Random thoughts on LOST:

1. I was not surprised Locke was in the coffin, because of how everyone felt about him at the end of last season. But Ben speaking made me jump as much as Jack did.

2. I think Ben has become my favorite character. He and Locke cracked me up. "You didn't find the anthuriums, did you?" "Well, I don't know what they look like!" That's "favorite character" as in "most interesting/multi-layered/fabulous actor" as opposed to "I love them and want to be part of their world."

3. I loved Sawyer's sacrifice. This season, since Kate left the Others compound, he has been tremendously compassionate and caring. Protecting Claire, going after her when the house blew up, not wanting to leave Hurley...and most of all, jumping off the helicopter.

4. Best part of the whole episode: Desmond and Penny reuniting. I hope that doesn't mean we never see them again (especially Desmond), but if we don't, at least we didn't have to wait two more seasons for them to be together.

5. Best quick moment of the whole episode: Jack's dad(!) telling Michael he could go now, but then him not having time to leave, so "go" meant dying, which is horribly tragic and I'm so mad that Jin is dead, too. I feel for Walt that he lost his father, but Jin's death is worse. :(

6. Speaking of death (and Claire): The explosion of her house seemed too big for her to have survived. So it's possible she was dead but didn't, like, realize it until her father came for her, and her spirit was what appeared to Kate, rather than her consciousness. On the other hand, how likely would it have been for her to be able to carry Aaron, for Sawyer to touch her? And wouldn't Miles have said something? He was traveling with them after the explosion. So I don't think she's dead.

7. How the hell will they find the island? Where did it get moved to? And how friggin' cool was that?

~~~~~~~~~

I just read a new book, A Little Ray of Sunshine, by Lani Diane Rich. I met her at RWA National in Atlanta two years ago. Her publisher was setting up for their signing, and she came out to entertain all of us standing in line forever. She was very personable and bubbly, so I got her books. And I really, really liked them, especially the straight romances.

I'm not sure after which book it was, but I sent her a gushy e-mail telling her I hated her for being so good, for making me devour her books so fast and having to wait so friggin' long for the next ones. I prefer to think the e-mail never got through, rather than that she was a diva who ignores her stupidgushy fans.

But then last year's books didn't click with me as well. The Fortune Quilt was a good book, but it was present tense, which I always find difficult, and the heroine picked the wrong guy. But that's a risk with having two potential love interests, and one I wouldn't trade for. That was also a problem with me, not with the book. Her regular romance wasn't as good, IMO, as the ones before it, but it was still enjoyable enough that I looked forward to the most recent one, the aforementioned A Little Ray of Sunshine.

OMG. I started it yesterday, and took the entire afternoon and much of the morning off to finish it today. I sat in Dunkin Donuts this morning and cried all over my bagel. And then again in my living room. My eyes were in a constant state of wellingness, my throat swollen, from the intense emotion in the story.

The book isn't a "romance" as usually defined. The focus was on the heroine's growth, the book all in her POV, and the "hero" off the page most of the time. But their reconciliation was a major theme that underlay everything else in the story, her becoming "worthy" of him. There was also a tightly interwoven subplot with her "angel" that was also excellent.

Anyway, it's the kind of book that makes you sorry it's over, and makes me marvel because so little happens. I gravitate toward action-oriented stories lately, and ones that concentrate so hard on relationships to the exclusion of external elements tend to bore me. Maybe I identified well with the heroine for some reason--or maybe it was just that well written.

Go get the book here.

6 comments:

MJFredrick said...

I read Lani's first book and love it. I have most of her books but no time to read!

I'm with you on everything about LOST . I don't get why everyone's surprised it was Locke!

Anonymous said...

I'm not a Lost fan, so have no comments there. I read Lani's first book, which was chick lit, and I really enjoyed it. But you know how it goes with TBR piles. They get out of control. Thanks for recommending another books of hers for me to pick up.

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

Mary, I intellectually understand the concept of not having time to read, but I still can't grasp it. I will never NOT have time to read! In the bathroom, while brushing my teeth, while cooking (depending on what I'm cooking, of course), at long stoplights, in the ten minutes before I kiss my kids goodnight, and right before I go to bed. At minimum, of course. :) There are a hundred things I'd give up before not having time to read. :)

I hear you, Cindy. My TBR pile dropped a lot after I quit my day job, but I've slowly built it again, and I expect it to reach out-of-control proportions again after National. :)

Anonymous said...

Natalie,

I'm with you on the Lost. Did you see the other 2 alternative endings? and I refuse to believe that Jin is dead.He might have jumped the ship before it exploded and he could have been picked up by Faraday on the Zodiac boat. The Island and the raft might have dissapeared together,that is my way of thinking and won't believe otherwise until next year. I also don't think that Claire is dead. Emilie De Ravin won't be a regular cast member next year but I heard that she will be a regular the last season.

Rose

Anonymous said...

Sorry,


What I meant is that Emilie De Ravin is going to be a recurring cast member next year and a regular in the last season,at least that is what I've heard. A friend of mine is writing a book on "Lost" she has inside info on the show so I hear things from her from time to time.

Here is info on Amy's book.

http://hijinx400.livejournal.com/

if you can't see it because its friends only. check it out here.

http://www.ecwpress.com/books/lost_ate_my_life

and her blog on writing the book.
http://amyjjohnston.blogspot.com/


Rose

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

Hey, Rose!

Consensus seems to be that Jin will survive. That would make me happy. I don't think we've seen the last of Faraday, either, he knows too much. I adore him. He's so cuddly and sweet. LOL

I read that about Emilie de Ravin. That goes along with the theory (which may have been corroborated, I haven't looked) that next season is all about getting back to the island and what happens to those who moved with it, and the last season is about what happens when they do get back.

Claire COULD be dead, though. Her/Jack's father is dead, and is a recurring character. :)

Cool about your friend's book! I'll check it out!