This Week’s Topic: Dear Diary...
I had the pleasure of finishing The Year of Living Awkwardly: Sophomore Year by Emma Chastain yesterday, and I was thinking of why I love this format so much!
As you all know, I am a BIG fan of the epistolary format, and a book of diary entries falls under this style, but there is something a little different from those books, which included letters, texts, blog entries, etc. After much thought, I think I determined why.
Diary entries are so confessional. I feel they are always really honest, and the author can be as raw or brutal as they want to be in their personal entry. What fear does one have, when they are writing something for their eyes only? They don't worry about offending anyone or revealing too much. It's a very private and intimate look into the character's life.
I also think the characters do a lot of introspection via their personal journals. Yes, we can get something similar via a characters point of view in a book, where we are in their head. However, I feel an authors sometimes digs a little deeper, when their characters are recording their own thoughts via a diary.
Here are some diary style books I have read and some I really hope to read soon.
by Louise Rennison
|
by Judy Blume
|
by Megan McCafferty
|
by Doodie Smith
| 
by Isabel Quintero
| 
by Meg Cabot
|
by Anne Frank
| 
by Sandhya Menon
| 
by C.D. Payne
|
Now it's your turn!
Do you have a favorite diary-style book?
Let us know in the comments!
From Twinkle with Love is probably my favorite recent read that's written in a diary style. Anne Frank's Diary is my all-time favorite just because it truly is a diary. I really do love the confessional nature of a book written this way, although I do occasionally have an issue with it not feeling like an authentic diary, mainly if the author includes entire lengthy conversations between characters in what is supposed to be a diary entry. I probably just haven't kept enough journals/diaries in my day and am coming into it from that perspective, but I just can't imagine ever recording conversations verbatim.
ReplyDeleteThe huge swaths of dialog are a little out of place in a journal, however, I have seen a few authors pull it off quite well.
DeleteI haven’t read many diary-style books, but my favorite is The Perks of being a Wallflower. I love that book.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
I loved Perks, but didn't include it on this list, because I thought it was letters Charlie wrote. Though, I don't think we knew who the letters were written to, so it very well fits a journal format, since it has that uber-confessional nature.
DeleteI do like the diary-style too but don't think I've read too many that way. I'll have to check out the ones you listed!
ReplyDeleteI read another journal format book just yesterday - Smothered, and it was hilarious.
DeleteI haven't read many books with the journal format to them. I think I'd enjoy it though.
ReplyDeleteSome people aren't huge fans of the epistolary format, but I love it. Sometimes it can suffer a little, because you tend to only get one POV, but I have been seeing a lot of authors incorporating other POVs via social media snippets, which I think is pretty ingenious.
DeleteLol, loved that Mike Myers skit on Saturday Night Live. I can't think of any diary type books I've read off-hand, but Attachments by Rainbow Rowell was in a fun epistolary format, emails back and forth. The audio book was wonderful. Wonderful post, Sam! :)
ReplyDeleteCoffee Talk was one of my favorites too. Attachments is my favorite RR book. I loved the emails the two sent back and forth.
DeleteI love epistolary novels. I think you’re right, they offer a intimate look into the characters that you don’t quite get in other formats; not even first person.
ReplyDeleteI am a fan of all epistolary formats, but found the diary/journal format to have a special intimacy, and you do get an honest look at other characters, albeit through another person's lens.
DeleteI like diary entry books too. I have Sloppy Firsts (and the rest of the books) on my shelf and I need to get to it!
ReplyDeleteI am curious about Sloppy Firsts, because I have seen it mentioned often. I will have to see if they have the physical copies at my library, because they don't have it electronically. =/
DeleteI'm a very traditional format for a book lover. But as a younger teen I read Anne Frank's Diary, Angus Thongs etc and also Are You there God by Judy Blume. I appreciated them all, all for different reasons (especially the first one mentioned.) I used to love reading the diary format. Less so now as in I don't actively pursue books featuring it, but I do enjoy diary formatted books.
ReplyDeleteMy recent post: https://oliviascatastrophe.com/2018/06/resolutions-progress-18-goals-in-2018-update/
When I hear that a book is epistolary, I sort of jump on it. I like to see the different ways the author tells the story, and I think it's rather fun. Though, format is not as important to me as content, obviously.
DeleteI've read The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte - that was interesting!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds interesting. I like the blending of fact and fiction.
DeleteI really love the diary format, and agree with all your reasons for why it's great. Although, I couldn't imagine reading a lot of that type of books in a row. Generally, at least in my experience, these tend to be more self-focused than normal first person POV, to the point where the other characters, even the more important ones, are nowhere near as significant as the narrator. Great discussion idea! :)
ReplyDeleteVeronika @ The Regal Critiques
Yes, part of their charm can also be their downfall, but I have seen a lot of bookslately, where they pepper the book with different types of media, often of the social media sort, which allow for other POVs
DeleteYou know, it has been SUCH a long time that I read a book with diary entries. I just read Aristotle and Dante which had a few journal entries, but I can't tell you the last book that I read that had straight up diary entries. I don't mind them, but I really am a sucker for some dialogue and action. And sometimes description can get lost for me. Wonderful discussion post, Sam! :)
ReplyDeleteThey definitely have a different feel from a traditionally formatted book, but the last few I have read were really well done. Menon combine some blog entries and group texts to let us get inside the hero's head In From Twinkle, With Love, and I just finished Smothered yesterday, where there were new articles, letters, emails, Instagram/Twitter/Facebook posts. Though both were predominately journal entries, those additional bits added a little extra something in a fun way.
DeleteI've read very few books in the diary entries style. The only book that comes to mind is The Secret Blog of Raisin Rodriguez By Judy Goldschmidt. I remember this book being so cute, though I think it's more of a middle grade read. I read this book over a decade ago, so I'm not sure how it's held up over the years :)
ReplyDeleteI feel like the universe is brining more and more books in this format to me lately. I read middle grades every now and again. There are some brilliant books being written for that age range.
DeleteI am liking epistolary format so much the more and more I read it. I think the first one I ever read- after I started blogging- I loved the letter format (it was told all in letters). That was unique to me at the time, and since then I've loved others as well. Now an epistolary always gets a second look from me.
ReplyDeleteIt all depends on how the author uses the format, but I am seeing it utilized so well in more and more books, and I love it. It's especially a winner, when the author mixes different media.
DeleteI honestly haven't read any epistolary books! The books I've read only feature short diary entries as a chapter teaser. I'm not sure if I will like it?
ReplyDeleteOh, I forgot to add... I used to keep a diary and I really LOVED writing things down when I was younger :)
DeleteThe only kind of diary I kept was a gratitude journal, which was supposed to make me feel better about my life, but I did used to write a ton of letters as a kid. I had pen pals all over the world.
DeleteI just got this book too. I think the format can actually be hit or miss for me, but I'm hopeful when it comes to this one!
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I adored Chloe. Her voice was phenomenal, and I really enjoyed her story.
DeleteThose Rennison books are hilarious! I also like the format, but I also like the mixed media as well. :)
ReplyDeleteGeorgia is a very special character, and I am glad Rennison brought her into this world.
Delete