Skating Books

[Trillian]

The forthcoming novel The Favourites is described as Wuthering Heights set in the world of ice dance. I want it right now, but alas, we have to wait until January!

Layne Fargo discusses her new novel, which stages Wuthering Heights in the world of elite ice dance

Layne Fargo’s new novel, The Favourites, reimagines Brontë’s classic in the world of competitive ice dance.

www.thebookseller.com

If anyone is a Book of the Month subscriber (or thinking about joining), this is one of the selections for January. I don’t know if it would be my style without the skating hook, but I’m going to give it a shot.

ETA: No idea if the reason is accurate, but as soon as I submitted the selection, I got a message that my box would be delayed due to “unusually high demand” for the book. Maybe figure skating books will be the next publishing trend and we can look forward to all kinds of undoubtedly well-researched and plausible fiction set in the skating world.

 

[Wyliefan]

Thanks for reminding me about this one. NetGalley's got it, so I've put in a request!

 

[Miezekatze]

Thanks for reminding me about this one. NetGalley's got it, so I've put in a request!

I just checked on German and English Netgalley and now it's not open for requests anymore.

I already tried to win it in some other German book review site, but also wasn't lucky, so maybe it's really unusually hyped. Usually I get 95% of what I want on such platforms.

I of course generally am willing to buy books, but I have to admit, like Trillian, I'm not really sure it's 100% my style apart from the figure skating. I read an extract and the drama level seems to be high.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

I just checked on German and English Netgalley and now it's not open for requests anymore.

I already tried to win it in some other German book review site, but also wasn't lucky, so maybe it's really unusually hyped. Usually I get 95% of what I want on such platforms.

I of course generally am willing to buy books, but I have to admit, like Trillian, I'm not really sure it's 100% my style apart from the figure skating. I read an extract and the drama level seems to be high.

I’m going to request that my library purchase the ebook. They’re great about buying anything patrons request.

 

[nlloyd]

As much as I enjoy figure skating and am an avid Bronte fan (visited Haworth in August and walked the moors, visited the parsonage, etc.), I just cannot see how bringing the two together will work.

 

[Wyliefan]

As much as I enjoy figure skating and am an avid Bronte fan (visited Haworth in August and walked the moors, visited the parsonage, etc.), I just cannot see how bringing the two together will work.

Well, it looks like classic novel retellings + skating dramas are definitely becoming a thing. This one's based on Jane Austen's Persuasion.

Netflix, Canada’s Family Channel are Finding Her Edge in teen figure skating drama adaptation

Family Channel in Canada has commissioned a live-action teen drama adapted from Jennifer Iacopelli’s novel Finding Her Edge, with Netflix taking the rights to the rest of the world.

www.c21media.net

 

[TanithandBenFan]

Well, it looks like classic novel retellings + skating dramas are definitely becoming a thing. This one's based on Jane Austen's Persuasion.

Netflix, Canada’s Family Channel are Finding Her Edge in teen figure skating drama adaptation

Family Channel in Canada has commissioned a live-action teen drama adapted from Jennifer Iacopelli’s novel Finding Her Edge, with Netflix taking the rights to the rest of the world.

www.c21media.net

If they wanted to adapt a skating book into a TV show why couldn't they call me This was the book that had some elements very similar to mine.

 

[Trillian]

I got my copy of The Favorites last night and read about 45 pages so far. I can’t make any Brontë comparisons because I never got into Wuthering Heights, but it seems to at least be appropriately angsty? The author doesn’t have a total grasp of what the competitive skating world looks like, but there’s a basic level of research combined with some obvious choice of artistic license that at least doesn’t make me want to tear my hair out. It’s less careless than a lot of other depictions of skating in mainstream fiction, let’s put it that way. There’s a mention very early on of the documentary showing blood-spattered Olympic rings in Sochi and I was like, “Well, at minimum, that sounds like it will be more exciting than Davis & White.”

The book is getting some buzz (I’ve seen it pop up on some best-of-January lists) and has a lot of ingredients that I’d expect to be successful. I think it’s going to be pretty big as skating books go.

 

[Habs]

If they wanted to adapt a skating book into a TV show why couldn't they call me This was the book that had some elements very similar to mine.

Maybe we need a new book from you......

 

[Wyliefan]

At long last The Favorites showed up in my library catalog. I put a hold on it in a hurry! Luckily there's only one person ahead of me.

 

[Karen-W]

Hmmmm... the book is available on Google's Play Books on Jan 14th and my birthday is tomorrow. Perhaps I should treat myself to slightly delayed present, lol.

 

[peach_pear]

I got an early review copy of The Favourite on NetGalley. I have about 20 pages left, but overall I really like it. There are a lot of easter eggs that I caught as someone who has watched skating regularly since the late nineties, the interesting names being the least of them. It's obvious that a lot of research went into this.

 

[Sylvia]

Isabelle Stock’s post today: https://www.instagram.com/p/DEwjSF1i-we/

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

A pirouette, a twizzle... and here is the cover of volume 3 of PASSION PATINAGE!
Alba continues her adventures and hopes this time to be chosen to skate with a young American who has just arrived in their club. But the competition is tough and skating in pairs is not so easy...
With the interview of @dania_and_theo [Mouaden/Bigot], two great French hopes!
Released on February 5

Jan. 11 article about her in French:

Isabelle Stock, le nouveau visage des “Signes de piste” ?

Isabelle Stock aime raconter des histoires scoutes, des vraies, accessibles ! Une passion qui engendre un vrai renouveau dans la littérature scoute.

fr.aleteia.org

 

[peach_pear]

I got an early review copy of The Favourite on NetGalley. I have about 20 pages left, but overall I really like it. There are a lot of easter eggs that I caught as someone who has watched skating regularly since the late nineties, the interesting names being the least of them. It's obvious that a lot of research went into this.

Now that the book is out, I can't wait for the discussion. I had a few issues with the ending, but overall I really liked this book and I'm looking forward to seeing what others think. I had a lot of fun trying to figure out who some of the characters might have been inspired by. Does anyone want a review using spoiler tags?

 

[Trillian]

What I will say about The Favorites is this: it gives a kind of “darker side” depiction of skating that a lot of us here might not find that exciting (because we’ve heard way more dramatic stories IRL), but it will have a lot of appeal for the general public. The skating content is on the better end of what I’ve seen in mainstream fiction in terms of research, so that aspect of the book shouldn’t be a dealbreaker for most people. I’m curious to see how non-skating fans respond to it and what kind of pop culture impact it has.

Skating aside, as a book, I think it succeeds on a lot of levels. If it looks like something you would like, then you’ll probably like it. It 100% deserves to be in the company of a lot of other books that are very popular right now. For me personally, it wasn’t my style (I have really low tolerance for melodrama and that many plot twists), but I suspect I’ll be way in the minority on that. Most of my friends would like it more than I did. I won’t be surprised if it ends up selling really well.

 

[bwayrose7]

I enjoyed The Favorites, and I would agree with the other posters in saying it does a significantly better job of depicting the sport than I'm used to (if I read one more skating/hockey romance that can't even get basic rules right, so help me...). I would say, though, that it is definitely a Wuthering Heights riff first and a skating novel second, and going in with that mindset helps with expectations.

It does seem to be getting a major publicity push, so it'll be interesting to see if it ends up really breaking through.

 

[Trillian]

(if I read one more skating/hockey romance that can't even get basic rules right, so help me...).

I mean, not ALL pairs skaters do sbs quad lutzes. Just the ones trying to keep their college scholarships.

(I didn’t read it, but I did read the kindle sample for the lulz.)

 

[dramagrrl]

I mean, not ALL pairs skaters do sbs quad lutzes. Just the ones trying to keep their college scholarships.

(I didn’t read it, but I did read the kindle sample for the lulz.)

I haven't read it, but I'm guessing this is about that Icebreaker nonsense that all the chick lit book clubs seem to fawn over?

 

[bwayrose7]

I haven't read it, but I'm guessing this is about that Icebreaker nonsense that all the chick lit book clubs seem to fawn over?

That’s the one. I love romance, read a lot of romance… but that one was insufferable. It’s like The Cutting Edge but with every ounce of charm and tongue-in-cheek humor taken out of it.

 

[Habs]

I also enjoyed The Favourites. It was a compelling, easy to pick up/hard to put down book. A little but it was enjoyable. And I will second (or third or fourth) that the author did a good job with her research for the skating content - it was way better than we're used to!

The book has a lot of hype and it's a page-turner. I can see it doing really really well.

 

[Miezekatze]

I haven't read it, but I'm guessing this is about that Icebreaker nonsense that all the chick lit book clubs seem to fawn over?

My best friend hated it and in theory it‘s exactly her type of genre.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

I devoured The Favorites over a few days. I never read Wuthering Heights, so the relationship drama was a bit much for me, but what I LOVED most was the author used the historically correct locations and dates of competitions. The story started about the same time I started traveling to events (and also the same time period where I started my books) so I was in high heaven reliving all those trips. When she mentioned the US International Classic in Salt Lake City I gasped and shed a tear. She even got the weather right at 2006 St. Louis Nats!

She also did a good job with the technical side of the sport for the most part. This is what I want from a skating book. Realistic elements and true-to-life events so I can feel like I’m actually immersed in the real skating world.

 

[Lanie]

I decided to buy it! I've never actually read much skating fiction unless it was @TanithandBenFan 's books!

I'm always looking for new books since with traveling a lot (mostly for skating ) I read a ton on planes.

 

[nlloyd]

I decided to buy it! I've never actually read much skating fiction unless it was @TanithandBenFan 's books!

I'm always looking for new books since with traveling a lot (mostly for skating ) I read a ton on planes.

Lol, the last book I read on the plane was Elizabeth Gaskell's biography of Charlotte Bronte. It was not a difficult read and quite illuminating of the whole family, although some of her stories have been challenged. She was a friend of Bronte later in Bronte's life. Wuthering Heights was written by Emily, though.

 

[CassAgain]

I got in line on my Libby app for the book, and there’s an estimated 11 week wait.

 

[Wyliefan]

I'm partway through and I really like it. Absolutely love what she did with the names from Wuthering Heights and Emily Bronte's world in general -- not just Kat and Heath, but so many others (Jane Currer being a hidebound U.S. Skating official! Perfection! ). And I agree that the skating content is really good. The most unrealistic thing I've seen so far is that the U.S. wouldn't let their world champion team petition to the Olympics if they had to WD from nationals with injury.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

Layne Fargo, author of The Favorites, was interviewed on TSL

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

 

[CassAgain]

I got in line on my Libby app for the book, and there’s an estimated 11 week wait.

My turn came sooner than 11 weeks. I really enjoyed the audiobook. Johnny Weir stole every scene as Ellis Dean.

 

[SkateGuard]

I’m thrilled to share that my new book launches today! Barbara Ann Scott: Queen of the Ice is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones & dozens of other retailers worldwide. You can read reviews and a synopsis and find ordering links right here:

Barbara Ann Scott: Queen of the Ice

Ordering information for the upcoming book "Barbara Ann Scott: Queen of the Ice", a new biography of Canadian figure skating pioneer Barbara Ann Scott

www.skateguardblog.com

If anyone has any questions about the book, I'd love to answer them!