Great Books and a Wrinkle in Time by Michele Lang
One of my favorite books is A Wrinkle in Time, by the wonderful writer Madeleine L’Engle. I’ve been thinking about L’Engle a lot these days…I was on a panel honoring her at Lunacon, and I had the privilege of meeting one of her writing students that day. I
f you haven’t had the joy of reading this book, please make time for it. No, it’s not a romance, but it has the great themes of love and redemption in it, and the characters are vivid, idiosyncratic, determined, and gorgeous. Meg Murray, the protagonist, goes on a quest to save her father. She is whiny and depressed and insecure – and she is glorious!
I love books that cross boundaries and change you as a person. It doesn’t matter whether a book is called a romance, an adventure, a children’s book, or a thriller…as long as it grabs me, I will love it. A Wrinkle in Time presses all of my hot buttons for a great book: supernatural settings, intense, flawed characters, a book that asks a lot of questions, tons of love in it.
What makes a book great for you? What books do you wish you could read today?As for me, I wish I could read a Madeleine L’Engle romance – those themes, settings, characters, but with a transformative romance in the middle of it. These are the books I’m compelled to write. Thanks so much to Romance Junkies for welcoming me as a guest blogger, and for you for visiting! Please leave a comment about your favorite book and why you love it – one commenter will win a NETHERWOOD prize package with signed cover flat, excerpt book, scented candle, and bed and bath delights! Thanks again and keep reading,Michele
interactions with azithromycin and astragalus…
Хех.. какой-то оффтопик уже начался 🙂
You should definitely find a better job… actually that was pretty well written 🙂
Hi Robynl —
I really like Sandra Brown too — she’s a genius of pacing. 🙂
Michele
Hey Anne —
Thanks so much for sharing your recommendations…they sound wonderful. I’ve been thinking about this comment thread in my feverish delirium this weekend (was dog sick all weekend) — books I read when I was younger imprinted me for life. Not all of the books, and some of them probably left their mark in a way I can’t even trace consciously, but when I found a good book it was like meeting a close friend.
thanks again!
Michele
My favorite is a series by Sandra Brown: Texas Trilogy – Texas Chase,
Texas Lucky and Texas Chase. Her characters are so real, the stories take place in a ranch setting which I love.
You’re welcome! 🙂
Another very good one is Kresley Cole – it’s paranormal romance – she’s one of my favorite authors, her way of writing, the stories and characters are just amazing!
[/fangirl moment] LOL.
I love books that leave me with a giddy feeling!
I read A Wrinkle in Time and I echo your exact sentiments about it. It was memorable and unique. I was intrigued with the entire story and the wonderful characters throughout. A book that stays with me has emotions that are true to life, characters that are realistic and a moving, strong writing style that never lets up. When I was younger I devoured the entire L.M. Montgomery series and still think about that time, what compelled me to read book after book until I had completed them all. Many years ago. A book that I loved recently and will think about is A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell. It resounds with empathy, and is filled with history and beauty.
Hi Wendy —
I love stories that are from a fresh angle, that open you up to seeing things a different way. Shiloh Walker’s another author I mean to discover, so thank you for the recommendation!
Michele
Hey Sarai!
This one sounds so delish…I have not read Julia Quinn, but so many people have recommended me to her that I will have to succumb. My TBR pile is growing by leaps and bounds, guys! LOL
thanks so much for visiting!
Michele
Hi, Michele!
I’ve never read a Wrinkled in Time, in fact I’ve never even heard about it but it sounds like a lovely book so I definitely want to look into it. 🙂
I’m reading Through The Veil by Shiloh Walker right now and I’m really liking it. It’s really different and the characters are wonderful.
Okay I don’t know if it is my favorite of all time but it is close. The Duke and I by Julia Quinn. IDK what it is about this book that gets me everytime. I love the Duke is completely mis-understood by all around him. I love that he has a secret and how he falls in love with the heroine allowing her to see what his secret is. It isn’t a major secret but it shows what lengths we will all go to in order to keep something we hold dear from those that might use it to harm us. And then when we give the secret up the waiting to see what the other will do. *sigh* it is one of my favorites!
Thanks Michele! Will have to look up the book if I can fine it.
I have to agree with that one. Wink!
Hugs!
Lisa
Hi Lisa!
You might really like Wrinkle…Meg and her companions travel all through the galaxy before the end. No vamps, tho 🙂
I love getting lost in these worlds too…thanks right backatcha. I always say a book isn’t finished until somebody reads it.
Thanks for stopping today!
Michele
Hi Michele,
Not sure if I have read wrinkle in time but I do love time travel books and fantasy and paranormal and sci-fi and big on vampires. Nice to go into another world as I mite never get there in real life so thank you as author to help relief the stress with the wonderful ways of your writting no matter what world it is.
Hugs!
Lisa
Hey Cherie —
P & P is another book I love, and now you’ve got me wanting to reread that one too! LOL The romantic progression in that book is so masterful, you are so right. I love Austen’s eye for detail, and her subtle rendering of character. And it’s just plain romantic too 🙂
Thanks so much,
Michele
Hi Diedre —
Ooh, both those books sound wonderful! I recently read Lois McMasters Bujold’s The Sharing Knife: Beguilement, and the hero in that one is a one handed goblin hunter 🙂 She makes brilliant use of his “disability” to demonstrate his resourcefulness and heroic qualities — I highly recommend that book for folks who love fantasy and romance in equal measure.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Michele
Hey Crystal —
I reread books all the time. I haven’t reread Wrinkle since the talk but now I have the urge!
One book I’ve read a zillion times is I, Claudius. Another one is To Kill a Mockingbird. What makes Wrinkle different to me is that the writer in me always wants to go write after I read anything by L’Engle. I love the idea of writers having conversations through time in the course of their writing, and L’Engle is a writer who fills me up with ideas every time. Ursula LeGuin is another one; Ray Bradbury, another one.
I love books that evoke emotion, too. Some books wring it out of me too hard and I can’t go back to them too often. That’s one of the reasons I love romance so much — it’s almost always intensely uplifting.
thanks so much for your thoughts!
Michele
Hi Rebekah —
I totally agree with you about the lack of time! LOL I was actually going to make this a much longer post, about how time is not a linear phenomenon. It sometimes goes too fast, and sometimes it magically opens up and you can experience infinity in a moment.
I am totally going to blog about this! Thank you for the idea. I also totally love Iliad/Odyssey, and think those settings would be awesome ones for romances.
Thanks so much for sharing…
Michele
[…] stop by at the Romance Junkies blog today if you get a chance — we’re talking Madeleine L’Engle and what makes a […]
I have never read A Wrinkle in Time. Will have to remedy that sometime soon now that my curiousity has been aroused. A favorite book of mine that I read over and over is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I love reading about the progression of the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy over and over again. Such great dialogue.
I must have read The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin fifty times when I was a kid. Certain books just remind you why you love reading so much and it was one of them. It was a mystery and a coming of age story rolled into one and I just loved it, one of my all-time most favorite books, ever.
Another book I read as a teenager and fell in love with was Night Magic by Charlotte Vale Allen. The hero is flawed physically in the same vein as Phantom of the Opera and it is uncommon to have a less than perfect hero or heroine in a book, so that appealed to me. The story between the two lead characters is just amazing though, so beautiful.
I haven’t read A Wrinkle In Time. It sounds good. What makes a book great for me is when it evokes emotions and when I close the book it gives me that “sigh” moment. I want to read the book again to have that experience all over again.
I remember reading a Wrinkle in Time in high school and that I liked it, but can’t remember much about the story. I’m going to a library book sell this weekend. I wonder if they would have there, I think I will have to look. I don’t have a certain type of book that I read, I read anything that sounds interesting. I will still pick up my old R.L. Stine books and reread them. I have been wanting to read the Iliad and the Oddessey agian. I really loved that book. So many books and so little time to read them all. I need to go to a different demension where time stops and I can read to my hearts content.