It’s enough to blow your mind if you think on it too hard, or at least make you crave a glass of wine at 11 on a Sunday morning. That post was the first thing I thought of when I heard about Lucy Keating’s new YA novel, Literally, “a book about a book about falling in love.” A book with a concept like that was was of course making it’s way around all the book-ish sites that I follow, so when I finally got my hands on it, I bumped it to the top of my TBR pile (I am very strict about my pile; nothing gets bumped).
I have to take a moment to geek out, because I #bookstagram -ed that I was reading it and Lucy Keating “liked” it; it was definitely a booknerd moment that no one else in my household seems to appreciate.
Back to the book: Annabel’s life is chugging along perfectly until guest speaker author Lucy Keating describes her latest novel to Annabel’s fiction writing class and it sounds an awful lot like she is ripping off Annabel’s life for her story. When Annabel confronts Lucy, she has as different explanation: she *is* writing Annabel’s story because Annabel is a character in her book.
As Annabel realizes that Lucy Keating may be telling the truth, she struggles to answer the questions “I keep thinking, what is real and what isn’t? What if my decisions are really mine at all?” Especially when it comes to her love life. There is the guy Keating wrote to be perfect for her, Will, and the guy that Keating can’t control, Elliot.
I do love a good meta story (Supernatural and Zach Morris are the ideals). Keating did a wonderful job showing the fighting that can take place between an author and their characters. We’ve all seen what happens when the story diverges from the author’s original path and the author refuses to accept it (How I Met Your Mother finale, anyone?). It is a lovely book for anyone that reads; it is exactly what I picture is happening in author’s head while they write.
If you want a few more books about books, here are a few more that I like:
Books about Books
Swear on this Life by Renee Carlino:
A book in a book, for those of you doing a reading challenge this year. Emiline, picks up a best-selling novel and immediately recognizes herself in the story of two kids turning to each other–and falling in love–while growing up in poverty-stricken, tumultuous homes. With the intimate details that only Jace–her high school love–would know, she sets out to confront him about both the profit he is making off of their shared traumas and the liberties he took with their story.
Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan:
This book was suggested to me by another librarian, describing it simply as “charming.” And it is. Nina loses her job as librarian and must figure out what the heck she is going to do with her life. While romance is a major plot point, I appreciate that Nina really figures out her life on her own, and it is a story about loving yourself before worrying about loving anyone else.
Also, it has men in kilts.
If you aren’t normally a reader of Author’s Notes, this is the book that will change your mind about that.
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell:
I just read this for the first time because my TBR is out of control.
Cath has to navigate her freshman year of college while on the outs with her twin sister, having feelings for her roommate’s boyfriend, trying to keep her father on his meds, and her mom trying to reenter her life after more than 10 years of silence. She escapes from reality by writing fan fiction of her favorite fantasy series.
I think that my favorite thing about this book is that RR published Carry On—Cath’s fanfic–last year.
Thursday Next Series by Jasper Fforde:
This is one that I keep telling myself that I need to get back to. In fact, I’ve read the first book twice but get sidetracked by new releases and hold lists. This will be the year!! The first book, The Eyre Affair, starts us off in an alternate reality, where people can literally dive into a book. But, instead of being bystanders, someone is holding the classics hostage. New to the investigative team, Thursday Next helps solve the mystery before the world-renowned romance loses its happy ending.
Which books are must-reads that would you add to the list?
Written by Angela
Angela spends her days as a librarian but has never shushed anyone–at
least not at work–and her nights pretending that she has time to have
an active social life, work out, keep up with her HULU queue, and read
200 books a year. She can’t. She believes that books are the answer to
world peace but uses the word “book” loosely as format really
shouldn’t matter. Follow her on Twitter @apbennett12
