They say books hold up a mirror to who you are, as well as windows to other worlds. I thought I'd look back at what I read in 2014 to see where I've been!
WARM UP
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell was the first book I read in 2014. It is set in 1986 - the year I met my husband, the year the Philippines had a revolution. The details are super authentic and made think: hey, Rainbow Rowell must be MY age! But when I looked her up, oh boy. She's just a baby compared to grizzled old me.
Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve. I've got a proper version of this book of course. But I had a sudden longing to read the opening chapters again. So I got a Kindle version too. Anyone who loves good writing will adore this cross-dressing, re-envisioning of an epic tale.
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones. Another re-reading! I am currently writing a historical novel, in which I'm crafting a massive culture clash not just between West and East, but between past and future. Because I write both for a Western and a Filipino audience, I am constantly aware that what one reader from one culture will find acceptable may be totally repulsive to another. I went back to Mister Pip to experience again how Lloyd Jones manages to be unflinchingly true to a painful setting.
Running Girl by Simon Mason. This is a mystery of the hard-boiled kind - and its hero is a 16 year old genius / slacker named Garvie Smith, described by the Guardian as "sharper than Sherlock, more moral than Marlowe, and way too cool to be in school." Garvie solves a murder mystery while dodging his determined mum and Police Inspector Raminder Singh who is always just one step behind. Please let there be more Garvie mysteries.
I took forever writing
Shine -- three years. But
SF Said has to win the Endurance Prize, taking seven years to finish
Phoenix. It's completely different from anything out there at the moment and don't miss the
brilliant book trailer made by illustrator
Dave McKean.
DARK AND LIGHT
Then in February, I read three books that starred characters plagued by demons not of their own making. Unputdownable
Salvage by Keren David takes a brother and sister separated by adoption and explores the painful realities of nature and nurture. In
Close Your Pretty Eyes by Sally Nicholls you feel like a hapless companion to Olivia as she careens through her own emotional minefield. Tulip in
The Tulip Touch by Anne Fine is in a similar predicament. I read it for the first time because I was speaking to some girls who'd just read it in class. We had a fantastic discussion about empathy.
By March, the CILIP Carnegie shortlist was announced.
I read a couple of the happy ones first:
Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell and
Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead. Man, there is such warmth and kindness in Rebecca Stead's books. And I loved the fortune cookie bit. Katherine Rundell has an engaging, whimsical style -- I hope there are more Rooftoppers books because the world on the rooftops part ended too quickly for me. I wanted more!
Then I read
Anne Fine's Blood Family, which was wow but pretty heartbreaking. Anne Fine is never the first to look away when a plot is playing chicken.
I read
Ghost Hawk by
Susan Cooper of
The Dark is Rising fame, not quite my thing but it had a twist right in the middle that jolted me right out of my seat! I love lyrical writing and debut
Julie Berry of
All the Truth That's In Me is definitely an author to watch! I started
The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks, but I'm not a very brave reader and I had to stop fairly early on. I will try to finish it sometime. But with all the lights on.
Sadly, I got busy and didn't manage to read the other Carnegie books. The Bunker Diary won, and I was kicking myself for putting it down too quickly.
TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED
My friend
Cliff McNish is known for his creepy, scary books. His latest, published in April certainly gave me a start ... but for other reasons.
Going Home, about dogs in a rescue centre, was sweet and heartwarming. Sweet? Heartwarming? Cliff McNish?
Speaking of heartwarming, another favourite author who's somehow turned to the light side is
Marcus Sedgwick. The brilliant
She is Not Invisible had no beheadings and no gruesome deaths. Marcus, Cliff, are you guys on heartwarming medication or something?
About that time, my author pal
Jon Mayhew (
Mortlock) messaged to ask me to stand in for him at a school visit in my area. Sure, I said. And then, as authors do, we got to talking about books.
You've got to read
The Girl Who Had All the Gifts by M R Carey, Jon said. But it's a zombie novel! I said. You'll see, he said. So I read it. Ahhh! Wonderful - I had no idea that zombie novels could be so filled with pathos.
USEFUL PROCRASTINATION
About May, someone asked me what I was going to do about my unpublished novel
Volcano Child.
Well ... I've cannibalised so many ideas and characters from Volcano Child for
Tall Story and
Shine. Volcano Child needs a total reimagining. So I'm thinking of turning it into a fantasy adventure for younger readers.
To research fantasy fiction, villains, monsters and magical settings, I read
Doomspell by Cliff McNish,
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and
The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black. Brilliant stuff.
What did I learn? It's NOT going to be easy. I had thought I could write the adventure book in the afternoon and my historical work-in-progress in the morning. No, no, no. Focus, Candy. I got back to work on the historical book.
PICTURE PERFECT
Spring was an explosion of graphic novels.
I
took an evening course in graphic novels at the suggestion of my friend
Bridget Strevens who, ever since we met, has been convinced that I'm an illustrator pretending to be a writer.
After the course (with
Emily Haworth-Booth), I realised that Bridget might be right. I LOVED it.
I realised that I'd been suppressing my love of drawing maybe because I can barely keep up with myself now, why take up yet another interest?
I think it's too late now to train to become an artist of the caliber of
Craig Thompson (Habibi),
Stephen Collins (The Gigantic Beard that Was Evil),
Isabel Greenberg (The Encyclopedia of Early Earth) and
Jon McNaught (Dockwood).
I was very much intrigued though by the non-fictionish storytelling of
Pyongyang by Guy Delisle and
Line of Fire by Barroux (translated by Sarah Ardizzone) and
Fun Home, Alison Bechdel's autobiographical reflections.
The graphic novelist I'd most like to emulate?
Marjane Sartrapi who applies magical realism to true stories like
Chicken With Plums.
SUMMER OF LOVE
Reading graphic novels reminded me that, before I became a novelist, I had wanted to write and draw picture books. I gave up when my picture book rejection pile outgrew its shoebox and turned to novel writing instead. Should I return to that dream?
In the summer I signed up for
SCBWI's picture book retreat. What a joy to hang out with illustrators. They sit around scribbling in their sketchbooks all the time. It kind of re-orients your brain.
I've joined a picture book critique group to focus my mind. I'm writing picture books again. Fingers crossed, maybe this time I'll be more successful.
Meanwhile, oh the stories, oh the pictures, here are some picture books to fall in love with:
WORKING HARD, READING HARD
Then I realised that I had to crack on with the novel I was writing. I had a big book tour in the Philippines in September and I had to make lots of progress before then.
So I went on a frenzy of research which involved buying obscure, out of print books from obscure out of print online bookstores, downloading lots of diaries and old government documents from
Open Library and, sigh, lovely research time at the British Library.
It looks like hard work, but the truth is ... it's addicting. I have to physically force myself to stop researching and get on with writing the book!
Go, go, go!
PINOY READS
I did manage to acquire some treasure.
The delightful school series
Supremo by Xi Zuq, illustrated by Al Estrella is funny, sweet and totally Filipino.
Woman in a Frame by Raissa Rivera Falgi is about a girl who discovers the story behind a painting.
Moymoy Lulumboy Ang Batang Aswang (Moymoy Boy Monster) by Segundo Matias opens with a strange creature clutching a baby passing unnoticed in a mall because people think he's part of a Cosplay event.
Anina ng mga Alon by Eugene Evasco caught my eye because of its cover, and when I opened it, I was hooked by the lyrical prose (
you can hear me reading passages from it here).
Fish Hair Woman by Merlinda Bobis -- I haven't read it yet but there's a woman with 12 metres of hair who trawls the river for corpses ... what's not to like?
READING SOON!
Yup, I've done a lot of reading this year. A lot of it work-related. Which is my excuse for not yet reading
Shattered, the third book in my friend
Teri Terry's trilogy. I've left it so long, I'm going to have to start from the beginning and read all three in one go.
Another series I've got to catch up with is
Mo O'Hara's My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish. I blinked and three came out all at once! And there's going to be a picture book too! (Wait, was that a secret? I hope not)
2015 is gonna be a delight though. I'm SO looking forward to the publication of my friend
Jeannie Waudby's book
One of Us. Go, Jeannie!
Another friend
Jo Franklin just got a book deal in the United States. At last, I will be able to read her book
Hilf Ich Bin Ein Alien (
Help! I'm An Alien!) in English!
The Secret Dog by Joe Friedman is out in May. Joe's in my fiction critique group and I've read all the early versions. Can't wait to see it in print!
Chitra Soundar is in my other critique group and she seems to be roaring away with her
Farmer Falgu series -- Old Macdonald doesn't hold a candle to what Farmer Falgu gets up to! I just got a copy of her second Farmer Falgu and I can't wait to read it!
And what about
Sarah McIntyre? I haven't seen my lovely illustrator friend all year except via
her blog. She's published THREE books this year --
There's a Shark in the Bath, Jampires with David O'Connell, Cakes in Space with Philip Reeve -- how will I ever catch up? The woman is a whirlwind!
And hey,
Jane McLoughlin, is your new book out in 2015?
In related news, writing buddy
Kathryn Evans has at long last been discovered - her book
More of Me will be published by Usborne in 2016. I've been in critique groups with Kathy and she writes with a to die for voice. Look out, world, your favorite author is about to be published!
You can read about her amazing book-to-be here and
her inspiring blog post announcing the deal is here.
... that was MY Reading Year. I can't wait to see what books will be coming my way in 2015. What was YOUR reading year like?
