Point Book re-reads - 2019

This year I am continuing with my goal of re-reading titles in my vast collection of pre-teen Point books that were super popular when I was in primary school. The purpose of re-reading these books is:

1. To love how extremely late-80s/early-90s the books are now, in hindsight
2. To laugh at the ridiculousness at some of the plots/descriptions/etc
3. To bask in nostalgia
4. To remember what the heck those books were actually about.

So far this year, I've re-read these two:

My Secret Admirer (Carol Ellis)

General thoughts:
I actually didn't remember much about this one, except I had a vague recollection of the cliff area (the Rimrocks). This book wasn't too bad, but wasn't one of my favourites either.

Jenny had a case of insta-love with David, but then he didn't really show up much in the whole story. Still, I was oddly convinced by their love. Ha.

I liked that every guy Jenny knew was a suspect - it wasn't one of those lame stories where the stupid heroine suspects everybody except the one that she should suspect. That said, Jenny was pretty stupid, for a number of reasons which I listed in my GoodReads review.

The 'Aww' factor:

Things that made me go 'aww' tended to be things that related to the sheer 80s/90s-ness of the story.

Dean and his "computer print-out", the telephone booth being a lifeline, everyone calling around on their house phones (no mobiles, no social media), Jenny's fashion wins (white shorts and a rainbow-striped shirt; later there's a washed out denim jacket).

Oh, and the VCR!! "Let's watch a tape." The mere fact that the telephone with its "built-in answering machine" was something fancy at the time.

[APRIL UPDATE] The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club & GOALS

~ The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club : April 2018 ~

I missed last month's update, and this wasn't intentional but it happened and I decided to just let it go. I guess you could say I've been busy with my rescue group, with work, and with life in general, so that has sort of taken over. But I'm here this month, and I've got a book to talk about! I must say that it's not a particularly amazing book, but it's certainly the one that entertained me the most this month. That book is ... 

R.L. Stine's Point books were a staple of my childhood/tween years, and I still enjoy re-reading them today. As an adult woman it's interesting to read back and realise how un-pc certain aspects of these books are through the viewpoint of today's lens. This book, for e.g., features a teen girl getting both scared and a little excited when she's surrounded by menacing dudes in heavy metal t-shirts.

Still, despite the awkward moments like the one described above, I found a lot to love about this re-read. One of the things I loved most was the description of the garishly 90s clothing the characters wore. Examples:

• The dudes in Def Leppard shirts paying to get their white "high tops" polished
• Jerry's tie-dyed jean cut-offs and a black-and-white striped crew-neck pullover (wuhhh?)
• Karen's short pink skirt over black bicycle tights and a white midriff top, and of course her rollerskates (date with Jerry!)
• Jerry's white tennis shorts and a shiny blue, sleeveless t-shirt
• Vince's faded cutoffs and no shirt (hey, Vince? You had me at your metal shirt from earlier in the book!)
• Ann-Marie's Day-Glo green bikini

There was a lot else to like, too, such as these favourite moments of mine:

• The jellyfish. Oh man, that amused me!

• The part where we get the imagery in the narrative that matches the book's front cover. Noice!

• The fact that certain expectations of characters' natures get turned on their head in the end

• This quote which is a thought from Karen after she finds a note from Ann-Marie on the fridge, held by a magnet: "How did people ever communicate before refrigerator magnets? she thought." Keep in mind this was before mobile phones were a general fact of life.

• The phrase: "... bombed off to the hospital."

And my personal favourite quote from the entire book, which made me burst out laughing:

"She could hear the wet suit ripping, a frightening sound,

like a lobster being torn apart."

So this re-read was quite a bizarre experience for me. For one, I didn't really remember much about the book at all - I'm not 100% convinced I ever read it in the old days, but then I think I must have. For another, it was extremely dated, but in a delightfully amusing way.

This is the GoodReads blurb:

"It's the ultimate beach party in California. And Karen, who's just broken up with her boyfriend, is going to enjoy every minute of it--especially having two new guys who like her. But the party takes a nasty turn when Karen realizes someone is out to spoil the fun by getting rid of her."

Currently (re-)Reading:

Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Currently Reading:

Alice Will (Dreams of Chaos, #1) by Ashley Chappell

~ Do You Have Goals? : April 2018 ~

Each month, a group of bloggers report on what goals they have been working to achieve in the last month. A while ago now we set longish-term goals (and they were meant to be big goals, so we could feel bold and daring!) and each month we're tracking our progress towards achieving those goals. Check out the Do You Have Goals? blog for a list of participants, and feel free to join our hop if you want to have some extra motivation for achieving your goals. :)

This month's updates on my own creative goals:

• EDITS/WRITING - Things have really slowed down for me lately, as mentioned above - rescue chaos is getting in the way of my story plotting/editing/etc. But I've still got thoughts churning away in my head, and I'm eager to get stuck in as soon as I can. My little critique group is my main lifeline to this at the moment.
• Music - It's all completed from my end, in terms of vocals and final thoughts, but apparently my bandmate's computer just died, so not sure if that affects our project's outcome or not. ;) 

And that's about it for now. How are you doing with your goals/projects/etc?

The Secondary Characters bloghop

Today is the Secondary Characters Bloghop, hosted by Rachel Schieffelbein, Theresa Paolo, Kelley Lynn, Jessica Salyer, Jenny Morris and Suzi Retzlaff. You can win critiques by participating, so get on over to the linky if you haven't already and slap your name on it! 

Now to my favourite secondary characters. It's hard to choose one or two, so I went with a larger number! And this was also just off the top of my head! So, with that said...

My favourite secondary characters (of the moment):

• Vera's dad in Please Ignore Vera Dietz - I love his little charts. The little dad interludes brought a bit of extra lightness and cuteness to what was at times a really sad story
  
  
• I could name countless awesome secondary characters from the Harry Potter books, but for now I'll just say I love Neville - he's one of those characters who undergoes an amazing transformation
  
  
• Speaking of amazing transformations, can anyone say Wesley Wyndam-Pryce from Buffy / Angel? It was so amazing (and pretty tragic) watching him change from the absolute blithering weakling we first meet to a deadly, hardened warrior with serious war wounds
  
  
• Joel Tuck from Dean Koontz's Twilight Eyes (my favourite Koontz book), who is a gentle (dangerous) giant...with a third eye:
  
  
• From the TV series Medium, which I only just recently finished watching (sniffle! argh! noooo, what now?), I'm guessing Bridgette counts as a secondary character - she's the middle daughter played by Maria Lark, who was just the cutest little girl at the beginning of the series. Such a funny actress even at the age of 6!
  
  
• Neale from The Lifeguard, one of those tween scholastic books I read as a pre-teen (and still re-read sometimes these days!). Neale was troubled but sexy (and, eventually, sweet)
  
  

I think I could go on (and on, and on...), and I've probably forgotten some of my most favourite secondary characters, but this is the list as it stands in my conscious mind right now! :)

Retro reads

As we near the end of year, I'm indulging in some retro reading. Not just any old stuff but the stuff I used to read when I was, say, 10. Maybe a bit older too. Maybe in my teens...in my twenties...now in my *gasp* thirties! Yes, I still love reading these books. I guess they're my form of trash. They are YA of course, and I do love a good YA read. But YA isn't really my main passion. That would be Adult fiction, I guess. Still, I go back to these fluffy pre-teen reads at least every few years.

My little brother actually started reading them before I did. Oh the shame! I think the first one he read was THE ACCIDENT by Diane Hoh. That lady went on to write the NIGHTMARE HALL books, which I also enjoyed (and still have a fair few of in my collection). Out front of my place I've got a book shelf for more "literary" reads, you know, to impress all the visitors. But my beloved Point book collection is tucked away in my office, where only my cats can see.

Not that I'm ashamed, of course. I'm really not. But sometimes I do get a little confused. Why do I still love these reads? It's not just nostalgia, though that does play a significant part in it all. It IS also the stories themselves. The writing isn't always particularly authentic for YA, but while I'm reading, that doesn't matter. What matters is the story and the mystery and the...cute boys.

What's on your "guilty secret" shelf? (assuming you're not too cool to have one)

The Spark Blogfest

This is the last blogfest (and it's a contest, too!) on my list for a while. It runs from August 22-26, so there's still time to sign up! You can add your name to the list over at Christine Tyler's website. Anyway, let's get on with it! Here is what is required in the Spark Blogfest:

What book made you realize you were doomed to be a writer?

What author set off that spark of inspiration for your current Work in Progress?

Or, Is there a book or author that changed your world view?

As writers, we're always striving to get out a message of inspiration to others. This blogfest is a celebration for those who have done this for us. Join the Spark Blogfest, aka Sparkfest, by posting your answer to any of the three prompts above (or make one up as long as it fits the theme). - Christine Tyler

So, I thought I'd have a go at answering all the questions, just for fun!

What book made you realise you were doomed to be a writer?
Well, I've been writing stories since I was a kid, but probably the first books that inspired me to write something that took a bit more commitment than a short story were the Point Horror (etc.) books. I mentioned these books on my blog back in March of this year. I'd say they were the main inspiration for my first extended story (my English teacher jokingly called it "the novel"), The Winter Downfall. It was a terrible story, but it was the beginning of me trying to write longer works.

What author set off that spark of inspiration for your current Work in Progress?
Well, if we take SUNDOWN (et. al.) as my current WIP, even if they're complete and I'm far into revisions, I guess I can thank Stephenie Meyer and her TWILIGHT series. Or rather, I can thank all the women who read TWILIGHT and fell in love with Edward Cullen. I read somewhere about women's reasons for loving Edward, and it got me thinking about what sort of hero I'd love to read about in a novel. Unsurprisingly if you know me at all, he turned out to be a humble rock star. So yeah, that's how SUNDOWN and friends were born.

Is there a book or author that changed your world view?
I'm sure there are countless books or authors I could mention here, but I want to mention Emergency Sex (and Other Desperate Measures), which three peaceworkers wrote together. It details their experiences in some of the world's most war-torn locations. How did it change my view of the world? You can read about it in my GoodReads review, but suffice it to say it made me question how I thought of war and foreign intervention in civil war zones, a subject very near and dear to my heart both before and after reading this amazing book.

So, uh...what I read in primary school

I saw over on Bronwyn's blog that she's participating in the Road Trip Wednesday, and today's (well, yesterday's for me :P) theme is Back in the Day, i.e. What books were you obsessed with as a kid? She mentioned Goosebumps, and I left her this comment:

This is going to make me sound (and look) very old, and maybe that's because I AM old...but I still remember the days when "Goosebumps" were the new thing and I was like, "Eh, can't go past Point books!" :D R.L. Stine used to write Point books too, you see. ;) I still own heaps of those books and love them. There were Point thrillers, Point horrors, etc.

And I'm totally serious! I have a large part of one bookcase in my study dedicated to Point books and similar types of books. I see a website for Point books, but none of my old favourites are listed there that I can tell. I'm talking about authors like R. L. Stine, Caroline B. Cooney, Diane Hoh (who went on to do the Nightmare Hall books), Richie Tankersley Cusick, etc. Some of my favourites included Funhouse, The Fever, The Lifeguard, Trick or Treat, and this one about a ski trip whose title I can't remember.

I'm not sure what it was about these books that got me exactly, but I think it must have been the fact that in almost every book there was at least one sexy guy I could develop a crush on, and of course a lot of action to keep me hooked. I haven't read any of these in a while, but the truth is I can still go back and re-read them and enjoy them. Of course, nowadays I'd go, "Wow, that dialogue sucks, I could make it so much more real than that!" and yet I still love the reads.

So yeah, I guess I just felt compelled to write about these books after seeing Bronwyn's mention of the not-quite-so-old-skool series Goosebumps. Hehe.

P.S. I also read The Babysitter's Club, but let's not go there...