February Round-Up

It felt like I was back on track with reading this month, but it's almost on par with January! With the exception of the manuscripts I read for Split/Lip Press, phew! I read 33 this month and there are more coming in right before the deadline! I can't wait to see what's chosen.

Too Old for This by Samantha Downing. I forgot how this book got on my radar but I’m so glad it did. I absolutely love Lottie and the chapter cliffhangers were just intriguing enough without giving me an anxiety attack like some thrillers try to do. That also means the resolution to this book felt right and realistic, instead of being a letdown like a lot of current thrillers end up. Definitely reading more by Downing ASAP.

Green by Melissa Fite Johnson. My poetry book for the month. I’m biased because I’ve gotten to know Melissa as a friend, but this collection is so emotional and powerful. The little moments give way to deeper thoughts and feelings that have me thinking about my daily life and interactions in more poetic ways, wishing I could put them into words as beautifully as Melissa has done in this collection.

Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh. I liked this one - the twists were ones I didn’t really see coming, mostly because the writing was so strong that I was propelled along, page after page, without feeling the need to stop and dissect what was happening to try and figure out what comes next. I like how it all wrapped up and will read more by this author.

Mystery in the Mansion by Lauren Magaziner. I read this aloud with my son because we love mysteries and choose your own adventures. I previously read this on my own.

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing. This book was interesting but I’m glad it wasn’t the first of Downing’s I read, because it didn’t make me want to read more. (Too Old for This was the first I read and I HIGHLY recommend it.) This one felt stale to me because the trope of the educated man who is level-headed and doesn’t use contractions secretly being a psychopath feels overdone. I feel like I’ve heard this voice too many times before. I also hated all of the characters so I didn’t care if it all went up in flames. Characters don’t have to be likeable but if I don’t care at all, I’m not going to enjoy the book.

A Twisted Love Story by Samantha Downing. I like Downing’s writing style a lot but this story just wasn’t it for me. It’s the third book I’ve read of hers, and the second where I really didn’t like any of the characters. The storyline wasn’t that compelling either - I wanted more, to have it really ramped up, but it almost read like a season of a CW show to me.

Delicious Strangeness by Stephanie Barbé Hammer. My writing book for the month. Just reading this really helped me understand what I love about magical realism and how I can pull it into my own writing more. The prompts kickstarted my imagination and I’m going to re-read this immediately, slowly, giving myself time for each prompt to see what I can create.

For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing. This one gave me twisted Tom Perrotta vibes, which I liked! I thought it was interesting without being overly suspenseful. It’s the fourth Downing book I’ve read, and the second one I really liked. I still recommend Too Old For This first, but this one is also worth a read.

Carver Country: The World of Raymond Carver by Raymond Carver. Beautiful coffee-table type book of Carver’s writings and letters with photographs of him, his desk/office, and the land where he lived and set many stories. The selections of his stories and poems went well with the photographs, but the letters and introduction by Tess Gallagher were my favorite parts because they were so eye-opening.

Out There by Kate Folk. I loved Sky Daddy but I am IN LOVE with these short stories. And Folk’s brain. These stories were fascinating and weird and many had wonderful twists at the end. “The Turkey Rumble” was especially a favorite that I didn’t think I’d like much at all when I started it, but the ending made it all worth it. I love that she’s not afraid to have narrators die in the end.

Stolen from the Studio by Lauren Magaziner. The second book in the Case Closed choose your own adventure mystery series. A re-read for me, but I’m reading it aloud with my kid this time. We take turns both reading aloud and making the choices.

He Started It by Samantha Downing. Downing’s books are so hit or miss for me. I’ve read 5 now and loved one, liked one, and trudged through the others. I love road trip books and this one had a lot of potential for suspense but it felt so lacking to me. Reading it was like wading through mud. I only finished thinking that the ending had to be worth it but… womp womp. Just a big no for me.

The Life of Chuck Book and Movie

It's no secret that I love reading books, then watching the movie or TV adaptation and comparing them, so here's the latest... The Life of Chuck.

The Life of Chuck by Stephen King. Read this on the recommendation from a writer friend who watched the movie. I like reading the books first to see what I imagine, so I got this from the library immediately. I love the story structure and how innovative it is to have the world exist because one person’s mind created it. This was a short story made up of beautiful moments and I read it in just an hour or so because I couldn’t put it down. Even with the sad ending (at the beginning), it was so wonderful that I just wanted to crawl inside of the story. I can’t wait to compare it to the movie.

It's also super cool that the dance scene is a flip book on the movie version of the book! Little details like that make things feel special.

Now to the screen adaptation...

I don't know why I thought Chuck was Kevin Costner... something about the image looks like him to me. Am I crazy? It also made me think of the In & Out cover, which is Kevin Kline, so maybe I just merged "dancing on a movie cover" and Kevins and had that impression. I also don't know a lot of "current" actors, so me thinking it was Kevin Costner was actually me thinking that I was "in the know" and had some movie knowledge by identifying the actor from this random shot alone. But I digress.

I liked the movie overall. I liked the callbacks about math and the stars, which, if they were in the book, I missed them or had forgotten by the time I watched the movie (maybe two weeks later, but two weeks in January 2026 is two fucking lifetimes, so consider that).

I liked that some of the same actors from Act 3 were in other acts as different(?) roles at the dance in Act 1, though it also seemed that Marty was a teacher at the school when Chuck was a kid, talking to him at the dance, yet wasn't old enough in Act 3 for that to be true... Am I missing something here? I'm convinced I have a degree of face blindness because I don't recognize people until I know them very well (see also thinking Chuck was Kevin Costner), so maybe it wasn't the same actors? And I understand how Chuck knowing them when he was young would bring them to life in Act 3, the way that's framed, so maybe I'm just nitpicking too hard at something that shouldn't be a big deal.

Beyonf that, there were some differences, like Chuck's time in a band is glossed over, which impacts the dance scene in a subtle way. Honestly, the shift of that moment linking back to his grandmother is so much more touching to me. That was a great change.

Overall, I liked the book better than the movie just because I felt like it had more depth. I learned more about Chuck in the story. But in the movie, it felt like some random peeks into his life without really feeling the weight of who he is. That made the ending seem a little flat, because I wasn't connected to Chuck like I was in the story.

I keep seeing things about this being an "uplifting" movie, and maybe it's just the fact that I read the story and watched the movie in January 2026, but it really doesn't feel that way to me. It feels really dire. Knowing you're going to die and the waiting being the hardest part... yes, exactly, except now it's breathing down our necks. The moments of Chuck's life that we do get to see are sweet, yes, and though he dies young he still had a full life - I get all that. But it's not uplifting to me.

Have you seen and/or read The Life of Chuck? What are your thoughts? Let's talk about it!