Follow Friday and 'Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn
It's Friday, I've survived my first, and only, exam and I've pretty much finished my dissertation so yaay for me! I'm flying to a family reunion this weekend, which will be fine, and then I'm spending the week after in London for some family time, quiet work time, and a visit to the Arthur C. Clarke awards! But, today is Friday which means memes!Follow Friday is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. This week's question was suggested by Take Me Away...:
How do you cure a book hangover/blogging slump/reading slump?
I hate having any of those three. Ever since I've started blogging, I have at times felt the pressure to keep reading and to jump straight into the next book. Because my reading is usually very decided by "what I feel like", this can read to me feeling a bit done with it all. However, I love reading too much to ever really give up on it, so eventually, even if I hit a slump, I will always magically get over it.
Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Billy at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. This week's question was suggested by Elizabeth over at Silver's Reviews:Do you belong to an online book club?
Does The Classics Club count? I made a list of a 100 Classics I want to read for it and we all read our books and visit each others' reviews etc. but we don't really read books together. I would love to be part of a book club but I'm also very aware that together with university and blogging, I have enough reading on my plate for now.
I am terribly late with getting on the hype for this book and have already seen the film, so many twists and turns won't be surprises to me. But I recently read the author's Sharp Objects and loved it, so I am looking forward to getting into this one now. I'm talking about Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn of course!On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
Book Beginnings and Friday 56 are hosted, respectively, Gilion over at Rose City Reader and Freda over at Freda's Voice.BB:
'Nick Dunne: The Day OfWhen I think of my wife, I always think of her head. The shape of it, to begin with. The very first time I saw her, it was the back of her head I saw, and there was something lovely about it, the angles of it. Like a shiny, hard corn kernel or a riverbed fossil. She had what the Victorians would call a finely shaped head. You could imagine the skull quite easily.' p.1
I like this beginning because you immediately get the idea that something is already different about their relationship and the way they see each other.
F56:
'Then maybe we'll have sex again. And a late-night burger. And more Scotch. Voila: happiest couple on the block! And they say marriage is such hard work.' p.56Sex, burgers and alcohol sounds like a great marriage solver.... I love Flynn's sarcastic tone about marriage and the way people put on a facade to the outside. I am going to like this book, I can tell.
So, that's my Friday post! How do you guys deal with a reading-slump? And any only book clubs I need to get in to?
Do check out my FF: http://bookstopcorner.blogspot.in/2015/05/feature-follow-11-my-ways-to-get-over.html
ReplyDeleteOld follower
My reading slumps don't last long either. I move to a genre that suits my mood at the time and that usually works.,
ReplyDeleteBoth sound very intriguing, the second one made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteYeah I feel that way too. Reading has always been my hobby so I don't tire of it. I read what I want to read these days so all is good!
ReplyDeleteHere's my Follow Friday
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower :)
Whoa, all the blog hops at once!
ReplyDeleteMy Book Beginning this week is here: http://www.bookpunks.com/so-it-begins-this-is-the-way-the-world-ends-by-james-morrow/
But I also did the book hangover question one, as I happened to have written about that last week: http://www.bookpunks.com/finish-the-best-book-youve-ever-read-and-despair/
Oh god imagine a book slump that went on for...years. *gulps* That I can't even imagine.
I hope you like the book - I've already read it and seen the movie too. :) I'm looking forward to your thoughts on it!
ReplyDeleteI loved Gone Girl, and saw the movie twice. I also have read Sharp Objects and Dark Places. I can't wait to see what she brings out next.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.
I tend to dive straight into the next book. Especially when I am participating in a team challenge in the online book club htat I am a part of - https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/35559-nothing-but-reading-challenges.
ReplyDeleteI liked both the BB and 56. Sounds very interesting.
ReplyDeleteBook clubs are fun but do take time.
ReplyDeleteENJOY your weekend.
Happy Hopping!!
Elizabeth
Silver's Reviews
My Blog Hop Answer
Yeah, gotta love those slumps, but they do always pass. Interested to see how you like Gone Girl. I thought it was an interesting read, but I really didn't like the ending. I may be the only one, tho. :D Happy Friday! My FF
ReplyDeleteI totally get what you're saying about feeling like you have to jump straight into the next book. Sometimes I'll take a night or two off and read stories on Reddit instead and I end up feeling super guilty!
ReplyDeleteHere's my F&F!
You and I must be the only people on the planet who haven't read this book! I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually.
ReplyDeleteThe opening makes me want to know more. "...hard corn kernel..." sounds weird to me. What kind of person would think that about someone's head? I like the Page 56 excerpt a lot.
Thank you for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. I'm always interested in what you have to say.
Sandy @ TEXAS TWANG
I tend to try to just push on through a reading slump myself. I try not to let them beat me. :-)
ReplyDeleteShannon @ The Tale Temptress FF
Such a strange book beginning! I wonder if there's something strange about him?
ReplyDeleteAmy x
I read this one not too long ago. Hold on because you're in for a wild ride! Happy reading.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the film because I prefer to read the book first! Hope you're enjoying it!
ReplyDeleteHappy weekend!
I am such a "what I feel like reader" too! :) I haven't read or watched
ReplyDeleteGone Girl but have encountered very few bloggers who disliked it .... so think your gut feel tis probably right. Have a great weekend!
I am so behind on the trends myself. I don't have a copy of Gone Girl yet either though it intrigues me so. I like your blog by the way. I Shall follow it
ReplyDeleteI'm like that as well. A lot of my slump comes from the pressure to keep reading and keep up on my promised reviews and such, even if I really want to be reading something else. It's just a dumb pressure I put on myself, but it does effect me sometimes.
ReplyDeleteOld follower!
My FF!
Awesome pick I really loved and enjoyed reading Gone Girl but it was a really slow start from the very beginning for me it took my exactly six days to finished it but I really loved it so it was alright with me for reading it that long. Thanks for stopping by my blog!
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about reading and book so the slumps are never really a problem, I've had a passion books for as long as I can remember and love escaping into a book so much that even if I did hit a slump I don't think it would last for very long anyway!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog and leaving me a comment xx
My FFF - Thea @ Gizzimomo's Book Shelf
Gone Girl was a great read! And it was a book club selection for Mocha Girls Read book club a few years ago (before the movie) I need to see the movie still.
ReplyDeleteInteresting snippets, and you're right, that opener definitely shows us how different their relationship and their perspectives are.
ReplyDeleteHi Juli,
ReplyDeleteYou are not on your own in not having read this book yet, although you do have one up on me, as I haven't watched the film either.
Those first lines are a little creepy if you ask me, someone remembering me by the shape of the back of my head, just doesn't sit well!
Your 56 lines are quite cynical, aren't they? especially as the couple have only been married for 5 years ... When you get to 36 years, you have something to be cynical about :)
Still a book worth reading, even if it is a little late in the day, thanks for sharing.
I have endured both a blogging and reading slump over the last few months, simply like yourself, because of the many pressures of everyday work and life. It does also feel that I am being pulled from one review request to another, still getting behind and therefore letting people down! I have had to make the conscious decision that I can only do what I can do, so if some review requests are accepted ( I still can't say 'no' to anyone ) and then only receive promotional posts rather than a full review, then that's just how it has to be!
I don't belong to a bookclub per se, however I do like to trawl the various sites and gather together other readers thoughts and observations about a book, normally before posting my own review. My thoughts and comments are never influenced by anyone else, however it is always useful to gather alternative perspectives about a storyline or characters.
What an interesting post, thanks for sharing.
Enjoy the extended weekend, despite the typical British Bank Holiday weather :)
Yvonne
That's great that you magically get over slumps. I wish I was the same.
ReplyDeleteI'm a new follower on google+.
Thanks for visiting my blog.