Judy Blume has her moment...and so should we all!

LUCY BURDETTE: John and I attended a fundraiser for the Tropic Cinema in Key West several weeks ago, the premiere of the movie based on Judy Bloom’s “Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret.” The stars came out, including Rachel McAdams who plays the mom, Barbara Simon, and Abby Ryder Fortson, who plays her daughter, Margaret. It was written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig who was also in attendance, along with several producers and Judy Blume herself who lives in Key West. We had a blast watching the limousines drive up and drop off the stars, who were then interviewed on Eaton Street by Entertainment Weekly. (I also spotted Jeffrey Brown of the PBS NewsHour and managed to get his attention long enough to tell him that as PBS superfans, we thought he was a real star, too.)




After the notables were settled, ticket-holders trooped into the three theaters to watch the screening. For those of you who haven’t read the book, it’s the story of a 12-year-old girl in suburban New Jersey, wrestling with both the onset of puberty and her feelings about boys, mean girls, and religion. It’s been the target of numerous attempts at book banning since it was published in 1970. I was a little too old to have reaped the benefits of reading that book when I was going through puberty (my parents were mortally embarrassed by the topic,) but it’s hard to imagine wanting to ban a book or movie that helps confused teenagers understand rocky transitions.

(FYI, attempts to ban books have doubled over the past year.) 

One of my favorite parts of the evening was watching how much Judy (who is 85) enjoyed the experience. She maintains that she’s finished writing, and is focusing now on the bookstore that she and her husband were instrumental in founding. But Margaret was her third published book, and I think she had given up on ever seeing it filmed. Watching how happy she was, I imagined this might have been one of the peak moments of her long career.

Can you picture what a peak moment in your life and or career might be? (Maybe some of us have already had it!) (Here was one of mine:)

 

Lucy with Judy B at Books and Books

HALLIE EPHRON: I LOVE Judy Blume!! So jealous, Lucy.

My goal is modest. I’d like to walk to the bathroom on an airplane or Amtrak and pass someone who’s engrossed, reading one of my books. In hard cover. It has happened once, but I knew the person so that didn’t count.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: My career highlight so far might seem funny - it’s an editing experience. My manuscript was running behind (surprise!) and in danger of losing its slot on the publication schedule, so my then-editor and I hatched an idea. I had to come to NYC for a marketing meeting; I would stay an extra day and we would do the edit together in person. I arrived at the Flatiron building at 9am; in order to be undisturbed, we were allowed to use Thomas Dunne’s office - he was away. This was on the 17th floor, at the very tip of the triangular building, with spectacular views of Broadway, 5th Avenue, and the expanse of midtown.

My editor sat at the huge monitor on one side of the desk, and I sat with the printed manuscript at the other, and we went through the whole book, page by page, with me dictating changes while she added them in to the computer. We ordered out for lunch, and then for dinner, and I got to see the sunlight shift and slide over Manhattan until it disappeared and a million lights came on. We finished a little after ten that night. She had ordered the car service to take me back to my hotel; I remember sitting in the luxurious back seat, watching the streets fall away, feeling like a character in a movie about a writer in New York. It was an extraordinary, one-time-only experience, and I’m so glad I had it.

JENN McKINLAY: I feel like the plow horse here. LOL. I haven’t had a peak moment yet. I’m hopeful that someday I will, so I keep writing. If Judy had to wait that long then I guess I can be patient.

As for Judy Blume’s books, I was too young to be one of her readers – although I do remember a battered paperback copy of Forever - the pertinent parts highlighted in yellow - being passed around on my school bus by the older kids. So many of her books have been challenged and it’s just crazy because it’s not like parents were telling their kids the facts of life back then. Sheesh! I’m delighted the movie has been made. As Lizzo says, “About damn time.”

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, Lucy, that sounds amazing! I was too old for Judy Blume, but I see the adoration, and that’s so lovely. Hm, like Jenn, I’m thinking/hoping that the transcendent moment is still to come. I have had some wonderful amazing times, though. Like once, at a book event, someone tapped me on the shoulder, and said “Will you sign your book for me?” And I turned around, and it was SUE GRAFTON.

RHYS BOWEN: I remember my daughter asking if she could read Are You There God because it was controversial at the time. I let her, of course.

And I’ve had more than my share of career highlights: 3 Edgar nominations have been amazing. Guest of honor at conventions. And being #1 on Kindle was heady. However I don’t feel I’ve ever written that definitive book, the one that will last and people will say “ Oh Rhys Bowen. She wrote xxx.” Maybe that’s wishful thinking.

LUCY: Oh no Rhys, reach for the stars!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: What a fun event that must have been, Lucy, and I love that Judy is so committed to her bookshop. I remember you taking me there the first time I visited Key West.

As for career highlights, I suppose I'd include getting an Edgar nomination for Dreaming of the Bones (although I was much too nervous to enjoy the banquet) and finding out that The Sound of Broken Glass had debuted in the top ten in the New York Times. I was in a hotel room somewhere on book tour and ordered a half bottle of champagne with my very glamorous room service dinner. I still keep the cork in my carry-on bag.

Lucy again: Your turn Red readers...can you describe a peak life moment, or do you have one in mind? If you don't like that question, we'd love to hear any Judy Blume or banned books stories!
 

What We're Reading

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I've had a request from one of our regular commenters (that would be you, Gigi Norwood!) for a "What We're Reading" update, because she needs some good new book suggestions! And we are happy to oblige.

I'm two thirds of the way through Tina Whittle's Tai Randolf #1, THE DANGEROUS EDGE OF THINGS, and I keep wanting to sneak off and finish it when I should be working.  We had Tina as a guest last week talking about her latest in the Tai Randolf series, #5, and I was so intrigued that I started the series from the beginning and I am loving it. (JRW gets me in so much book-buying trouble...)


Next up, THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah, which just came out in paperback and looks fab.  And I've ordered THE ESSEX SERPENT, by Sarah Perry, which comes out in pb next week and is supposed to one of THE books of 2017.

On the non-fiction side, I'm reading BEATEN, SEARED, AND SAUCED by Jonathan Dixon on Kindle, a memoir of his training at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America.) (I plead research related.)

And in hardcover, Greg Easterbrook's IT'S BETTER THAN IT LOOKS, and A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVERYONE WHO EVER LIVED by Adam Rutherford. I heard Easterbrook on NPR and was so fascinated that I immediately bought the book, and the Rutherford was recommended by our own Ann Mason.

Oh, and I just finished Anthony Horowitz's HOUSE OF SILK. It's a Holmes pastiche, and very well done. I dare say Horowitz writes better than Doyle!

JENN McKINLAY: I just finished A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE by Malla Nunn. Set in 1950's apartheid South Africa, featuring Detective Emmanuel Cooper, it was a fantastic read. It fascinated me because I don't know much about that time and place but also the writing was crisp and clever, the characters sympathetic, and the relationships complex. In nonfiction, I am enjoying KNIT LOCAL: CELEBRATING AMERICA'S HOMEGROWN YARNS. I had no idea there were so many yarns handcrafted in the States. Now I want to visit them all. Next up is Anne Gracie's newly released MARRY IN SCANDAL because...Anne Gracie! No one writes regency romance as cleverly as she does. And then I will dive into WHY KILL THE INNOCENT by C. S. Harris because I am signing with Candi (C.S.) at the Poisoned Pen in May. I've told her before that  Sebastian St Cyr is my fictional boyfriend, but she insists he's actually hers. So rude. LOL.

INGRID THOFT: I’ve read a lot of intriguing things recently.  AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE by Tayari Jones is about a marriage that is put to the test when a black man is wrongly convicted of a crime and sent to prison in Louisiana.  He and his wife struggle to maintain their connection under the most difficult of circumstances.  THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT by Chris Bohjalian was a page-turner that I read in a matter of days.  An alcoholic flight attendant wakes up in a bed in Dubai next to a dead man.  What she did and who he was are just some of the questions that get answered in this suspenseful tale.  I’m currently reading MAGPIE MURDERS by Anthony Horowitz, which is a book within a book.  The story starts with a book editor reading her star author’s latest manuscript, a traditional mystery set in England in the 1950s.  I don’t want to give too much away, but the book toggles between that story and the present, and I’m equally engaged with both threads of the story.  On the non-fiction front, LOOK ALIVE OUT THERE, is a great collection of essays by the hilarious Sloane Crosley.  If you need an injection of humor into your life, look no further.

LUCY BURDETTE: Jenn, A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE was one of the top five Edgar nominees one of the years I served on that committee. I still remember it as an excellent book. I have recently finished DEATH AL FRESCO by Leslie Karst (she was a guest recently--love this series), HUMMUS AND HOMICIDE by Tina Kashian (ditto, guest, fun first in a new cozy series), and DEAD WATER by Ann Cleeves. Thanks to you all, I am now addicted to this series. Sadly, I'm getting toward the end of what's available, so I will have to beg her to hurry up and write! I may try a non-mystery next, maybe Elena Ferrante's MY BRILLIANT FRIEND, or Amy Bloom's WHITE HOUSES, or Joshilyn Jackson's GODS IN ALAMBAMA? I hate this in between feeling so suggestions warmly welcomed!

HALLIE EPHRON: I'm reading a wonderful book, THE WIDOWS by Jess Montgomery (a pseudonym for Sharon Short) and it will be published by Minotaur, but you'll have to wait for it to come out. It's a historical mystery set in Ohio coal country in the 1920s. Keep an eye on it. It's a winner. And a book that Lucy recommended by Karen Joy Fowler, WE ARE COMPLETELY BESIDE OURSELVES, beckons. I've also added AXIOS to my daily mashup of newsfeeds that are keeping me from getting my novel finished.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, I loved MAGPIE MURDERS, Ingrid, (can't wait to read his upcoming one) and THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT, too. Because things are all coincidence, I was in an airport, and needed a book and the was absolutely nothing,..until I saw A TALENT FOR MURDER by Andrew Wilson. It's the mostly-fiction story of why Agatha Christie disappeared for those two weeks.  I completely adored it! And have scarfed up all of his books now.  Kate Moretti's THE VANISHING YEAR! Yay.  I love Wallace Stroby, and am reading his terrific upcoming SOME DIE NAMELESS,  and got to love Alafair Burke's THE WIFE.  I am judging for a contest, though, and cannot talk about most of the stuff I'm reading!  (And thank you Gigi, I love doing this and hearing about everyone's reading!)

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: In audiobooks, I'm still working my way through OREGON TRAIL: A NEW AMERICAN JOURNEY by Rinker Buck. Not that it's a slog, just that I'm (thankfully) not in my car as frequently as I used to be. In my hot little hands, but haven't started it yet: HEAD ON, John Scalzi's sequel to his near-future police procedural LOCK IN. Interestingly, as a SF reader, I'm seeing a lot more mash-ups of science fiction and mystery - mostly from writers known for the former. I'll be interested to see if some crime fiction authors get into the genre-splicing game.

I'm also reading my way through the Agatha Best First Mystery nominees. I'm on THE PLOT IS MURDER by V.M. Burns, which has a delightful mystery-within-a-mystery story; and Kellye Garrett's HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE - great characters and and a genuinely fun read. I can see why both of them nabbed the nomination.

RHYS BOWEN: I'm impressed with the amount of time the rest of the Reds seem to have to read. I find it impossible to read fiction when I'm writing as I tend to pick up another writer's style. I mailed off my latest book to the editor a couple of weeks ago and since then I have been reading nothing but books to blurb. I seem to have become the blurb queen of historical fiction these days. If there is any book about a British aristocrat in the first half of the 20th Century it is sent to me. I can't tell you about the books as they are not yet published but I enjoyed them.

 But what I am also doing is re-reading Louise Penny's series in order as I have to interview her at Malice next week. However, I'm going to Europe at the end of May and my Kindle is already loaded with things I want to read, have been dying to read.

DEBS: It's so interesting how different our reading choices are, but at the same time, books on my to-read or have-read list turn up on other people's lists. Now, if we follow even a few of these suggestions, I don't think any of us will run out of things to read anytime soon...

(And I haven't even mentioned my Bookbub addiction, which means that I buy mumble mumble $2 books a week for my Kindle--enough to keep me in reading matter for the next two-hundred or so years!)

READERS, tell us what you're reading that you love love love and that we should add to our lists!