R is For Ransom Riggs

A little note for everyone stopping by for the A to Z challenge:

First off, hi! Welcome! Look around, have fun. My posts will be short this month, but they'll be following a theme: Books and Authors. I'll be showcasing some of my favorites within those categories. But I'll also be having some special posts regarding the release of my debut novel, Elemental, from time to time.  


Stop back tomorrow for a sneak peek of Elemental!!

Bio (taken from his official website):

"About me, the short version:

I live in Los Angeles, where I write books and make movies.

About me, the official-stuff version:

For books I'm represented by Kate Schafer Testerman of KT Literary. For film I'm managed by Heroes and Villains and repped by APA.

About me, the longer version:

I was born on a 200-year-old farm in rural maryland, where at the tender age of five I decided that I definitely wanted to be a farmer when I grew up, because being a farmer meant driving tractors.  Then, partially as a result of my new ambition, my mom moved us far away to Florida, where there were relatively few farms but lots and lots of old people and not very much for kids to do.  In retrospect, it was precisely because there wasn’t a lot to do, and because the internet didn’t exist and cable TV was only like twelve channels back then, that I was forced to make my own fun and my own stories -- and that’s what I’m still doing, only now I get paid for it.  So thanks, sleepy Florida fishing village!

I grew up writing stories and making videos in the backyard with my friends.  I knew I wanted to do one or both of those things in some professional capacity when I got older, but I didn’t know how.  For three summers during high school I attended the University of Virginia’s Young Writer’s Workshop, and I still consider it one of the shaping experiences of my life.  I met so many great, brilliant people, and it convinced me that it was possible to make a life for myself as a writer.

I also knew I wanted to make movies.  So I compromised, and went to Kenyon College first to study English,  then moved out to Los Angeles to go to film school at the University of Southern California.  Looking back, that was a lot of time and money spent on school, but I don’t regret it at all.  Being part of those creative communities gave me lots of time to practice writing things and making movies before I had to go out and try to do either of those things professionally.

So now I do a lot of different things, which can make for a rambling and confused-sounding answer when I am asked, as I often am in work-obsessed Los Angeles, “So ... what do you do?”  But I will attempt to answer this question, in list form:

• I write books.  First, a non-fiction book about Sherlock Holmes.  Then a novel about peculiar children (which comes out June 7th).  Then a book of found photographs with writing on them, coming out in 2012.  I'm fairly certain there are more novels on the way. I can feel them clanking around half-formed in my brain.

• I make movies.  I went to film school and made a lot of shorts there, then after I graduated I got jobs making short and some book trailers, too, like this and this.  I also write screenplays and make the occasional video blog.

• I word-blog for mentalfloss.com.  My favorite column is a series of photo-travel-essays called Strange Geographies."

IF you guys haven't read Ransom's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children yet, you need to get on it!!! It is so brilliant. You need to check out the book trailer, too. This is one of the BEST book trailers I have EVER seen. 

Enjoy!!

A Review of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children--Finally!

I know, I know.  I promised this last week.  But better late than never, right?  Right??  :D

 

From Goodreads:

A mysterious island.


An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

What I liked:

This story started out very Big Fish-esque (which may have occurred to me because I watched the movie the day before I got the book--and seeing as I love that movie, this is a huge plus for me).

Jacob's grandfather likes to tell stories, fantastic stories about a levitating girl (see cover), a bird who smokes a pipe, an invisible boy, and other peculiar things. But as much as the grandfather insists his stories are true (with gorgeous pictures to prove it), he comes across as pretty senile to the rest of his family.  That is until something horrible happens, and then everyone thinks Jacob is senile too.

So the quest for the truth is on and there are plenty of times when you wonder if maybe Jacob and his grandfather weren't just a couple of loons.  It's definitely not a story where you know right from the beginning how it's all going to pan out.  And I like that because that's what makes it a good mystery.

I have literally never read anything like this book before, and I'd be willing to bet few of you have.  Ransom Rigg's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children revolves around authentic antique photos, which litter the pages.  And some of those photos are absolutely freaky.

In fact, this book is so gorgeously crafted with antique-looking paper, scrolly details, and the black and white pictures, that it's become a work of art in itself.  In fact, if you have an ereader, I suggest you buy the hardcover anyway.

What I didn't like:

I'm honestly trying to be nit-picky here so I can come across as fair, but I can't think of anything I didn't like.  Well...maybe one of the relationships did border on creepy for a second or two, but I got over it and I'm sure you would too.

What I would rate it:

5 stars!!  As in, go and buy this NOW! 

And for your purchasing convenience, I offer you this link.

Have any of you read it?  What did you think?  And if you haven't read it yet, are you going to now?