The 82nd Grapevine
October 9th, 2022
Hello and happy Sunday!
It's that time of year when we turn inwards.
The weather has gotten cold and the world has gotten a bit quieter, we're getting used to hiding beneath layers of clothes again, blankets are coming out, and cats are coming back in.
In autumn, our thoughts intensify. In autumn, readers start to consider heavier books.
I’m not surprised NaNoWriMo happens around this time of year. Silly acronym, I know. It stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it happens every November, mainly in the States, hence the “National”. I think we can drop the “Na” in the acronym since the initiative has taken off across the globe, with the term “Wrimos” now being the one attributed to the daredevils who take on this challenge: writers, aspiring or accomplished, strive to write a novel in 30 days.
According to Wikipedia:
Since 2006, nearly 400 NaNoWriMo novels have been published via traditional publishing houses and over 200 novels have been published by smaller presses or self-published.
Some notable titles include:
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, published by Delacorte Press
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, published by Dutton Juvenile
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, published by Doubleday
Wool by Hugh Howey, published by Simon & Schuster
Cinder by Marissa Meyer, published by Square Fish
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, published by St. Martin's Press
The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough, published by Del Rey Books
Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy, published by HarperCollins Publishers
Assassin's Heart by Sarah Ahiers, published by HarperCollins Publishers
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, published by Gollancz
The Cut Out by Jack Heath, published by Allen & Unwin
The Beautiful Land, by Alan Averill, published by Ace Books
The Wedding Date, by Jasmine Guillory, published by Berkley (Penguin Books)
Autobiographies in progress
There are many amazing things about this headline, but the thing I love the most, for its optimism, is the word “first.”
Jessie Gaynor from Lithub:
“I always appreciate it when an actor waits until they’ve actually lived the majority of their life to write a memoir (no offense to the youths), so I’m delighted to hear that Pacino, 82, is just now taking the plunge.”
I had often asked myself this: at what point are some people in the prime of their lives prompted to write their memoirs and publish them? In some cases it’s understandable; some celebrities get to live in a few years what others don’t experience in two lifetimes. When I noticed a surge in the phenomenon and in the way people use ‘memoir’ and ‘autobiography’ interchangeably, I did some digging and came across this table from Book Riot:
Here is a throwback to the 31st Grapevine where we first looked at this. Read on for impressions on our discussion of Educated, by Tara Westover:
Lithub continues: “Al Pacino is reportedly in talks to sell his first memoir to Penguin Press (which also published Will Smith’s Will last year).”
We revered Will Smith’s autobiography when it came out, only to be disappointed months later by the Oscar Slap.
Well, hold on to your bookmarks, because Jada Pinkett Smith is working on her own ‘tell-all memoir,’ which will be released in 2023. On Friday morning, when I first read about this, the title had not been decided on, but by the end of the day, the news was that it will be called No Holds Barred.
If that sounds like bad grammar to you too, it’s because it’s a phrase you don’t meet often, because it is one used in wrestling. I had to google it:
no holds barred
phrase of hold
(in wrestling) with no restrictions on the kinds of holds that are used.
used to convey that no rules or restrictions apply in a conflict or dispute.
"he's willing to take on all comers, no holds barred, for a good political argument"
I find this so appropriate for the abuser that I believe Jada to be. I won’t be rushing to read it, though, I can say that much.
A different kind of Underlined
I thought it would be fun to try something fun with quotes this week. The following three polls (with limited functions) represent quotes from books we have read in the 8 years since we started the Book Club.
It’s not a knowledge test, you can easily find out what books they belong to if you google them.
It’s not a memory test either, since they’re random quotes from various points in the story, and not first or last lines.
It’s a guessing game, and you can’t lose! I mean, you can, but at least it will be fun!
I’ll post the answers next week, or you can check them yourselves after you’ve cast your choice.