On My Bookshelf: Veronica Roth, Lauren Layne and Ed Catmull

I have been doing a lot of reading lately. My preferences usually run the gamut. From YA to NA (explained below), to non-fiction, spending a day roaming a bookstore (or library!) is my definition of heaven. 

This is just the first in a series of 'on my bookshelf' posts I have planned. I'm currently diving head-first into The Maze Runner and the rave reviews were not exaggerated - this ish is engrossing! I'm trying to save Only With You for my vacation next week, but gosh, Lauren Layne makes it hard to put down her books. 

Four, Veronica Roth

I am a big Divergent fan. I wrote the Hypable review for the third and final book in the series, Allegiant and saw the movie the day it opened in theaters. So when Veronica Roth decided to publish short stories through Tobias "Four" Eaton's point of view, I was pretty thrilled. He was such a well-written, complex character in the books, that getting a peek behind the curtain (into his mind) was what helped make this such an enjoyable read. There are four stories total - three pre-Divergent and then one during the first book. Each story is about 70 pages long, making it very easy to digest one story in one sitting.

Roth initially wanted to write Divergent from his point of view, but the entire story didn't work, and I can see that through these vignettes. While Four's voice is certainly gripping for the majority of the read, he falters when touching certain areas of the world we need to know more about. Where Tris really comes into her own in Dauntless, Four takes quite a long time to develop his friendships. It is nice to meet him in Divergent as he is. Bold. Strong. Intimidating. Nevertheless, Four is quite a satisfying follow-up.

Only With You, Lauren Layne

I know it sounds crazy, but as a 20-something to doesn't want to hear about the drama of high school relationships, nor deal with the mid-life struggles of divorce and all that, I've been a bit lost trying to find something to read. I want stories about young women my age (college, recently graduated) and about figuring life out after we're handed our diploma. Or, as we get to be a few years out from college: figuring out where we're going in life.

I love 'evolution of a writer's space'!

Enter: the New Adult genre. Typically, the story centers around a female protagonist, great girlfriends, and a quest to figure out her career and/or navigate the murky waters that is dating in your 20s. She also usually is based in New York City - a cramped apartment where she marvels at Jimmy Choos in the window on fifth avenue and dreams of having actual walls in her apartment instead of hanging curtains to create the illusion 300 square feet is a livable space of a shoebox. (That last bit might have just been a diversion into my own fantasies.)

Only With You debuted this week and will be the fifth book I've read from Lauren Layne. She is, along with Cora Carmack, my favorite New Adult (or contemporary) author. Her heroines in her Stiletto series are all equally engrossing, strong and fantastic in their own rights. Their stories might focus around getting the guy (or thinking you don't want him, then realizing you do, then fighting to get him back), and their men may be swoon worthy, but the books prove that being in a relationship with men is not the end-all-be-all in life. You need your girls, too.

Creativity Inc., Ed Catmull

Pixar is one of the most innovative companies in the last 30 years, there is absolutely no denying. Toy Story, in addition to being a cultural touchstone movie for many 90's kids, was the first entirely computer-generated animated film. Ed Catmull helped found and oversee the exponential growth of this computer/animation/movie production company.

You can't pigeonhole Pixar into one industry because, at Catmull aptly explains, the technology behind the animation is what help tells the story. Wanting to tell better stories leads to developing new technology.

If you just want to read the bits that directly refer to Pixar movies, I'll complied them into an article over on Hypable. But if you're interested in the movie-making industry over the past twenty or so years, or if you want to learn how Catmull managed his growing team of a handful of developers and storytellers, into hundreds of movers and shakers, I really suggest you pick up the book.

All of the books above are available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.