Monday, June 8, 2009

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson is now available on paperback. I know Joshilyn from her so-hilarious-you-will-spit-Diet-Coke-out-of-your-eye-socket blog, Faster Than Kudzu. Joshilyn doesn't blog so much about writing, but a lot about funny things that go on in her household and I would definitely say that she has a higher ratio of funny to non-funny than the average household. Maybe this is because she has kids.

Anyway, she also is very talented at using all caps for emphasis instead of italics and NOT making it sound like she's screaming at you. I think this is very interesting skill and I'm not sure how she pulls it off.

I have a copy of her book Between, Georgia here in the living room. It's in my "To Read" queue, and if the book I'm supposed to be reading next for book club doesn't come in from the library soon, I am going to have to dig into this thing. I was excited that I read Joshilyn's blog, went to my local library branch (yes, I'm in Chicago but the branch near my house is just teeny) and there was her book on the shelf. I felt famous just for checking it out.

I feel bad that I didn't buy her book, since that's what authors really like you to do. But with the economy and all, I imposed a no book buying rule at the start of this year, and let me tell you that I am reading more books than ever.
Courtesy of the fabulous Chicago Public Library (and likely any library near you), you can request any book you like online and the library will send you a nice email when it arrives at your local branch.

So even though I haven't started Between, Georgia (okay, I read the first page when I checked it out and I was hooked and it also made me laugh) and I've never read The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, I can still heartily recommend Joshilyn's books solely by the quality and high level of fun in her blog.

Because we all know a good blog means a good book.

P.S. Joshilyn is hosting a little contest where if you visit her blog and make a comment, you'll be entered into a drawing for a free book. And if you post about The Girl Who Stopped Swimming on your blog or Facebook or MySpace, you'll be entered twice. Check out her blog for the details. And spread the word about a nice and funny lady who writes books for a living.

Update: The Girl Who Stopped Swimming just made the 7/7/09 New York Times Bestseller list!

6 comments:

  1. Lisa,
    I cantered off and gandered at Ms.Jackson's blog. (I even dropped your name)
    I also entered the contest...did not cast stars for the movie though having no frame of reference.
    Thanks for the heads up. I'll check out her books.
    Karen :)
    my brain is on fire I've now written over 12,000 good words in two days.
    Maybe there's a meteor headed for my house....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Karen, glad you joined the contest. I do not see my comment (which I made yesterday) on Joshilyn’s blog posted yet. But when I submitted it, I got a message that said it was being held for approval and maybe something went wrong. I thought about commenting again, but then I worried that might mean two entries and that just wouldn't be fair.

    But I did read the first chapter of Between, Georgia since this post and oh my goodness is it good.

    Congrats on your 12K words! That is so awesome, you deserve an ice cream cone and maybe it will help cool down your fiery head.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So, at first glance, I thought the book was by JOSHUA Jackson, and proceeded to laugh. Poor Pacey.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Adam that is too funny. Poor Pacey indeed. And poor Dawson. What ever happened to them?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lisa,
    As a fellow Konrath follower I wanted to give you a heads up....I posted my Q&A with Joe today and I may never be able to hold my head up in polite society again......

    ReplyDelete
  6. Did anyone read the book The Girl Who Stopped Swimming? If so did you understand why the girl was murdered?

    ReplyDelete