2015 Book Goals Update #1

Goal 1: Read 150 books I have not read before.
So far no re-reading, but I've "fallen behind" the schedule, according to Goodreads. I've also decided to qualify the rereading part of this goal. I'm planning on reading the more recent volumes of Bill Willingham's Fables, but it' been a while since I've read any of the issues, so I am going to spend quite a bit of time rereading to refresh my memory. Thus, rereading for a purpose will count toward the 150.

Goal 2: Complete Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge.
I've completed 3 out of the 24 tasks and here's my take on the books I've completed.

• Task 8: Read a book by an African author. I chose Helen Oyeyemi's Mr. Fox. My take: "I enjoyed the interspersing of St. John's stories with the main characters' lives, but I wish there was a little more resolution."
• Task 20: Read a graphic novel or comic book. I chose Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona. My take: "I enjoyed the it. The addition of the culture clash between Kamala and her immigrant parents to the superhero origin story gave a new twist to the secret identity trope of superheroes. I do think the rejection of the blonde alter ego was handled a little abruptly and that villain still needs to be flushed out a whole lot."
• Task 16: Listen to an audio book. I chose Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America by Jill Leovy. My take: "An intimate look into the "Monster" of homicide rates among young black men in South Central Los Angeles. Leovy centers her book around the death of a L.A. homicide detective's son and the 77th Division's homicide detectives. The book shows the failings of the policing system, not focusing blame on the victims or the detectives working the cases, instead showcasing the entrenched indifference and ignorance of the system and society as a whole. On another note, I typically listen to comedic celebrity memoirs as audio books, so this was a bit of a change. I had the listen harder to follow the story and I found I really couldn't do anything else that engaged my thinking brain while doing it (the TVs at the gym were very distracting)."

Goals 3 and 4: Read books from my To Read list and books that I own.

Of the 9 books that I've read, 5 have been specifically on my To Read list and 3 I own. I am also currently reading two books that fit both goals.

2015 Book Goals (Belated)

After finishing the mammoth The Bully Pulpit, I am finally able to focus on creating goals for this year's reading.Thus my four part challenge for 2015.

1. Read 150 books that I have not read before. Last year I read 147 books, but several were revisiting favorites. I'm not saying that I won't reread this year, just that they won't count toward my goal.
2. Complete the Book Riot 2015 Read Harder Challenge. It's a great list and will help me continue to widen my reading after the diet of brain candy I'd been reading during college. I don't think it will be too difficult, with a few exceptions: the poetry (I much prefer to read a straight narrative), the indigenous culture (not an area that I've really been interested in), and the self-improvement book (though the "non-traditional" caveat will help somewhat). A self imposed limit is to not double-up on any book for the challenge, so 24 different books.
3. Cut down on my Goodreads "To Read" list. At this posting it's an impressive (and intimidating) 563 books long. This is even after a generous purge. I've forgotten about so many books on this list that it's time I really focus on it.
4. Read books that I already own. I went through a really expansive book buying phase in high school, instead of make-up, I bought books. So I have bookshelves full of canonical "classics" that I have never read and only bought because they were "classics." (If you can't tell I was fairly pretentious). I recently did some pruning, but there are still many that I have always intended to read and haven't gotten around to it.

My collection still packed from the move.

And those are the goals. Stay tuned to see how I do.

Crushing the Bug-crusher

To start off, the term "bug-crusher" in the S/F world (S/F meaning "speculative fiction," "science fiction," or "sci-fi/fantasy" depending on who you ask) refers to HUGE books, at least 700+ pages or 3 in. thick, that can easily be used to crush small-ish insects. In their purest form bug-crushers tend to be hardback rather then paperback for that extra heft needed to kill.

However, bug crushers need not be limited to the SF genres, recently I've been reading histories and my current project is Doris Kearns Goodwin's The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism. It's a monster of a book coming it at 910 pages, 750 of which are actual content and not notes or the index. I started the book before Christmas 2014, but have been struggling to finish it, even with my two weeks of vacation. When I'm in the story it's very interesting, but after putting it down picking it up again seems such a chore, and not just because it's soooooo heavy.

To finish the book I began employing a tool I used to get through horrible reading assignments.

Step 1: Figure out the number of pages you have left to read.
Step 2: Divide that number by the number of days you have left to read the book (in my case it was either the due date of the assignment or the library due date).
Step 3: Read the resulting amount of pages each day.

Sounds simple right? It should be but isn't always because... life. One tip is to keep the number of pages manageable, 100 pages is just a little too much, 50 or 60 isn't too bad, but 20 or 30 is very doable. The other tip is to use two bookmarks to keep track of how far you have to read, please see Exhibit A.

Exhibit A

I'm almost done! (It's an excellent read, btw).

Review: Judging a Book by Its Lover: A Field Guide to the Hearts and Minds of Readers Everywhere

Judging a Book by Its Lover: A Field Guide to the Hearts and Minds of Readers Everywhere by Lauren Leto

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This book made me feel like a bad English major. I only recognized about half of the authors and titles that Leto mentions (one bit of advice is to keep paper and pen with you to take notes on all the books she references). It might be the fact that the vast majority of the books are "contemporary literature" and I haven't really read "literature" published in the last 50 years or so. My literary education focused on eras before modernism, probably because I like a linear plot and I am not apologizing for that.

It's just that after reading Judging a Book by Its Lover, I feel that there is so much I missed and now have seriously make up for lost time. However, I've gotten used to reading fun books, or commercial genre fiction (lots of paranormal fiction at the moment), so I'm out of practice with that kind of reading. I've been meaning to stop reading such fluffy books (usually with quite a bit of sex), and start on books that really make me think, but again I place some blame on my English and liberal arts classes for the sheer amount of reading they forced me to do. After all that scholarly reading I just wanted to turn my mind off, and thus fluff books and tv took over.

So I will make a resolution to start reading books that make me think. I'll start slowly and intersperse them with other types of reading as I have wanted to get back into more epic fantasy and there are quite a few nonfiction books that I think look interesting. Let's see how this goes.

On other notes Leto is pithy and acerbic at times while warm and touching at others. I'm sure that her insights into the authors and books would be more meaningful if I had read more of them, but at the same time she is often a little too critical for my taste.



View all my reviews

DoJ: Imperfect Bliss: A Novel

Imperfect Bliss: A Novel by Susan Fales-Hill

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Imperfect Bliss is an interesting edition to the Austen-inspired collection. Set in suburban Washington D.C., this contemporary, chick-lit follows Bliss Harcourt, a divorced mother and graduate student, on her path of rediscovery. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are very recognizable in Harold and Forsynthia Harcourt, a British professor of the history of science and a Jamaican-born Anglophile. Jane Bennet has transformed into Victoria Harcourt a thirty-five year-old librarian, who can't seem to love any man. The two younger Harcourts, Diana and Charlotte, are a mish-mash of the three youngest Benets, clamoring for attention in all the wrong ways, including being the star of a reality-TV show reminiscent of The Bachelorette and a sex-tape scandal.

What really intrigued me about this book was the fact that the Harcourt family dynamic was the center of the plot, not the romance between Bliss (Elizabeth) and Dario (the Latino TV director, Darcy). In fact Dario was such a flat and uninteresting character, I really didn't want Bliss to end up with him at all. I would have been much happier with Bliss realizing that she could be happy without a man after all three of the happily-ever-after potentials (ex-husband, dashing older professor, and Wickham character) turned out to be duds. The romantic aspect of the novel just seemed so forced and slapped on to the end that I was left feeling completely unsatisfied, especially after all of Bliss's feminist, politically correct, and self-actualized leanings in the book, especially when dealing with her mother and younger sisters as well as the lessons she tries to instill in her four year-old daughter, who reminds me of the little girl from Hope Floats.

So while the handling of the Bennet/Harocurt family dynamic was intriguing, the half-hearted attempt at romance left me feeling cold.

View all my reviews

Review: Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon

Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon by Melissa Anelli

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



A wonderful, insightful look at the fandom of Harry Potter from an insider's perspective. Anelli gives parallel histories of the Potter phenomenon: her own personal journey from novice Potter reader to super-fan, webmistress of The Leaky Cauldron as well as the stories of J.K. Rowling, the series' inception, and various big players in the Potter fandom. Covering topics like fan fiction, wizard rock, spoilers, and book challenges, Harry, A History gives an enthralling look into the deep and diverse Muggle world of Harry Potter. This well written guide will give any Potter fan back stage glimpses to the real world of Harry Potter, and the forward from J.K. Rowling doesn't hurt.

On a personal note, this book opened my eyes to the breadth of the Potter phenomenon. I'm what I like to call a periphery fan, not a FAN in the purest sense of the word. I obsess privately, don't own much merchandise, and only geek out once in awhile. This book makes me wish I had taken greater part in the greater phenomenon while it was still fresh and ongoing.

Favorite quote (context - Anelli's private interview with Rowling several months after the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:

"I have one last question: What does she [J.K. Rowling] hope people will take with them about this time?

She pauses, but then the answer is right on her tongue.

'When all the fuss and hoopla dies away, and when all the press commentary dies away, I think it will be seen that the phenomenon was generated, in the first instance, bu kids loving a book. A book went on shelves, and a few people loved it. When all of the smoke and lights die away, that's what you'll be left with.

'And that's the most wonderful thought for an author.'"



View all my reviews

Review: Gunn's Golden Rules: Life's Little Lessons for Making It Work

Gunn's Golden Rules: Life's Little Lessons for Making It Work by Tim Gunn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I loved it! Tim Gunn's unique voice really comes through in this advice/tell-all book. He expounds on his philosophies of good behavior, ambition, teaching, and even parenting. The book is deeply personal as Gunn's family dynamics (including his father's relationship with J. Edgar Hoover) and professional life play a major role throughout.

A must read for any Tim Gunn fan going through withdrawal when Project Runway is not airing.

Favorite quotes from the book:

"But let us not be swept up in this tide of rudeness. This book (in addition to being a fun excuse to tell some of my fashion-world stories) is a call to arms, a manifesto for kindness, generosity, and integrity. I hope will join me in trying to make society a friendlier, more polite, and less aggressive place."

"Also: If you're going to yell demands for food into a room full of strangers, you'd better be as fabulous as Diane von Furstenburg if you expect to get away with it."

"There are times for protest, for civil disobedience, but on a day-to-day basis, it's best to avoid bringing out the big guns."

"Never try to resolve an emotional conflict over food. I recommend ordering drinks instead - with neither ice nor olives."

"Why bitch-slap someone unless you're leaving the planet for good? Don't burn bridges; you might need them later."

"If I were a waiter and someone talked rudely to me, I know I would be seriously tempted." I would never intentionally put someone's life at risk, bu half-a-dozen laxative tablets disolved in a cup of coffee would be sweet payback, indeed."

"I can't imagine a more aesthetically offensive item of footwear than Crocs. That little strap! I shudder."

"I also have no problem if you want to find a cave and have someone roll a boulder in front of it. To each his own."

"Call me a schoolmarm, but few things make me angrier than people not taking care of library materials." ~A man after my own heart!

"But let's talk some more about the bad ones, because they're the most fun to gossip about, and they deserve a little public shaming."



View all my reviews

DoJ: The Darcy Obsession

So I have definitely been out of the blogosphere for awhile, but it is not entirely my fault (AT&T screwed me out of a month's worth of Internet; it's a long story). Anyway, I'm back and hopefully will be more involved with my poor, neglected blog.

So a few weeks ago, I was browsing the new book shelves at the Champaign Public Library and I stumbled across Pemberly Ranch by Jack Caldwell. Think Pride and Prejudice meets Gone With the Wind (the tag line on the back cover is "Frankly Mr. Darcy, I  don't give a damn..."). It's set in post-Civil War Texas with the Bennets as transplanted Yankees and Darcy as a rich rancher (Darcy in a cowboy hat ... yum).  I really enjoyed this retelling because though it kept the same spirit of the story it transformed the Georgian comedy of manners into a Western romp complete with a cattle drives, barbecue, a whorehouse, and a railroad scheme. It was an entertaining read and I highly recommend it to Austen lovers, who are tired of the sequels and variations that try and fail to imitate Austen's style or are just a little to trite.

While I was perusing the shelves, I found another five P & P variations or continuations and all their titles have something to do with Darcy: What Would Mr. Darcy Do?, Mr. Darcy's Obsession, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy: The Last Man in the World, Mr. Darcy's Little Sister, and The Darcys & the Bigley's.

I was intrigued. How many times could P&P be retold? I checked them all out and found out.

The last three in the photo are all variations by Abigail Reynolds. Each of them diverge from the original story by changing one single event. Basically her premise is what if this happened, instead of this.

• What Would Mr. Darcy Do? is based on the premise that Mr. Darcy sticks around for a little bit at Lambton's inn where he and Elizabeth are almost caught in a compromising position.
• Mr. Darcy's Obsession takes the track of Mr. Bennet dying and Elizabeth having to leave Hunsford before Darcy can propose. The Bennet sisters must find their way with reduced circumstances, Jane married to a shop keeper, Elizabeth living with the Gardiners in London, and the others living with their mother and Mrs. Philips in Meryton.
• Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy: The Last Man in the World answers the question what if Mr. Darcy had compromised Elizabeth's reputation during his proposal and before she refused him. This one is the raciest of the three.

I read all of them, and they weren't bad. They have nothing on the original, but each explores a different facet of  Darcy's character. What Would focuses on his generosity. Obsession focuses on his loyalty and overcoming his prejudice. Last Man focuses on his pride. The one thing they all have in common: Elizabeth and Darcy end up happily-ever-after. Which begs the question, who will destroy the fantasy and write a story where E and D don't end up together?

The other two books are continuations, picking up where P&P leaves up.

I read Mr. Darcy's Little Sister by C. Allyn Pierson, which of course features Georgiana, but there was a whole lot of E and D as well. This book was a little hard to get through, just because the style felt a little forced, but the look into the Ton lifestyle was interesting, as Austen never touched on it though Darcy is related to the nobility.

After reading all the above P&P inspired novels in succession, I just couldn't bring myself to read another, even though the basis of The Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman is that Darcy gives Bingley the Kama Sutra as sex advice. But from the skimming I did, there weren't many steamy scenes and Jane and Elizabeth spend a great deal of time pregnant.

There obviously so many ways to riff on Austen's works, but the allure of P&P and Darcy is overwhelming. The fact that all six of the books I found in CPL's new fiction section somehow mention Darcy in the title suggests that the Darcy complex is still a strong force, even if he is an intolerable a**hole in the original. But what is even more astounding is that all six books were published by Sourcebooks Landmark, a publisher who seems to make all its money on P&P inspired books with 64 books published with "Darcy" in the title, plus an entire section of Austen sequels. Sourcebooks is not the only publisher cashing in on the Austen craze; just check out these Listopia lists from GoodReads:

• Best Pride and Prejudice Sequels/Adaptations/Spin-offs
• The Monster Mash (not exclusively Austen, but she is definitely a heavy-hitter)
• Jane Austen Books, Sequels, Bios and More
• Inspired by Pride and Prejudice (This one is mine. I added the 100 book limit and was still finding more, so please continue the add and vote! An interesting note, I searched for "Darcy" and got a ton of results, but "Elizabeth Bennet" only gave me six. As a feminist, I am a little offended that one of the feistiest heroines in literature isn't better represented as an inspiration for spin-offs.)

How long will the Austen craze last? Will the Darcy Obsession continue? I don't know, but for right now they are going strong if these articles provide any evidence:

• PD James to write Pride and Prejudice murder mystery (telegraph.co.uk)
• Review: Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star by Heather Lynn Rigaud (thewriterscloset.com)
• The Trouble With Mr. Darcy by Sharon Lathan...review (mybookaddictionreviews.wordpress.com)
• The latest Austen mashup: Pride and Prejudice and murder (guardian.co.uk)

"Hit List" Misses the Mark

When I first was introduced to the Anita Blake series, I loved it. Anita was a kick butt heroine with some hefty emotional issues, trying to cope with the horrors of her job as an animator. But slowly and surely Hamilton bumped up the kink with the multiple men and the ardeur plot line which meant that in the second half of the series is practically page after page of sex. Now I like a little bit of raunch just as much as the next girl, but enough is enough.

That was why I was glad that Hit List, the most recent edition to the series only had one very short scene. At the same time, Anita has added another man to her already full dance card and spent most of the rest of the book putting up a feminist defense to the overbearing bully of a U.S. Marshal. It's old. And it leaves me wondering whether or not Hamilton can keep the series going. The logistics of Anita's life are mind boggling and if another guy or two gets added each book ... I can't even keep them straight now.  Plus, I keep forgetting who she's done and who she hasn't; I need to make a score card like I did for the Merry Gentry series.

Plus, Hamilton has killed off the Marmee Noir plot line, a little to easily for my taste. But what now? I mean the Olaf plot is heating up, but how far can that go?  Does Hamilton have some bigger, badder monster than the Mother of All Darkness? On the other hand, how is this series going to end? The only way I can see is that Anita has to die, but that isn't exactly the happy ending I want.  This series is too much like an amusement park ride. It's great and exciting while your on it, but at some point you have to get off. But when do we get off?

**I just found this awesome drinking game via GoodReads and Reading Amidst the Chaos. I may try this on my next day off. (Though some of the other books will get soused faster.)

Branching Out

I began this summer with no specific reading goals in mind except to explore some of the social networking sites for readers. However, I am amending that previous decision. Because of my joining both LibraryThing and GoodReads, plus the book blogs I follow: Reading Amidst the Chaos and  Blogging for a Good Book, I am realizing just how many books out there I want to read. So instead of re-reading some of my favorite comfort food reads, I am branching out and not going to re-read anything else this summer. (Two exceptions: Name of the Wind, so I can remind myself of the story before I move onto The Wise Man's Fear, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows because the final movie is coming out this summer!).

Here are just some of the books I want to read this summer:

Image via Wikipedia

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins -  It's a very "in" book right now and I do love me some, post-apocalyptic teen fiction. I've heard some rave reviews about it and my colleague let me borrow her copy, so I should be getting started fairly soon.

Fifth Avenue., 5 A.M. by Sam Wasson - I usually stay away from exposes, but I love Breakfast at Tiffany's the movie, though Capote's story was not my favorite.



The Riddle-Master by Patricia McKillip - My supervisor recommended the series to me and the cover blurb was intriguing. However, the GoodReads reviews are mixed, so I will proceed with caution.

Broadway Musicals: The Biggest Hit and Flop of the Season, 1959 -2009 by Peter Filichia - It seems like such an interesting book and will get me one step closer to the bright lights I have never seen but long to.

Check out my GoodReads for future updates! (I hit the 200 book limit for LibraryThing so I have to decide how much to pay for a membership). And look for a post towards the end of the summer where I will discuss the various reading social networking sites.

Summer Project: Books Online

from bookshelfporn.com

Last summer, I had a specific set of reading goals that I attempted to accomplish (attempted being the operative word).  This summer - not so much. Instead, I am going to focus on exploring some of the different book sharing websites, mainly LibraryThing and GoodReads though I am intrigued by BookGlutton and Shelfari.

I already have an account with LibraryThing and am in the process of putting my collection onto the site. I'm only doing reviews of what I have recently read, but I plan to add as I read/re-read.  Hopefully, once I get everything on LibraryThing, I can just copy it all over to GoodReads and the other sites.

The main reason I am undertaking this project is so that I am more aware of what I am reading and to help with my future as a librarian, though I am still not sure I want to go into public librarianship. Also I will miss my adult pop lit class and joining these book communities may help to make up for it.

DoJ: Pride/Prejudice

From Herendeen's website

I recently picked up Ann Herendeen's Pride/Prejudice. It is a slash fiction re-telling of P & P.  Herendeen's definition of slash fiction is when "existing stories are re-told with same-sex relationships between some or all of the main characters" (410). Basically, Darcy and Bingley have a relationship inspired by ancient Greek and Roman culture, when men had relationship with younger men in an "ideal love." Plus, Lizzy and Charlotte also have a relationship, though Charlotte is really a lesbian.

The premise isn't that strained, as Darcy obviously has a whole lot of authority over Bingley, but the fact that Darcy is part of the Brotherhood of Philander (the gentlemen's club whose members are all gay/sodomites). The Brotherhood is a major part in her first book, Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander.  It's a little to much product placement for me; plus she adds so many characters, the actual story of P&P is lost.  The flip side of not dwelling too much on the original is that Herendeen actually creates rather than retells:

"all authors who write versions of Austen novels are faced with the hellish problem that the Divine Miss A. produced some of the most elegant prose ever to appear in English literature... we have two unpalatable options: to paraphrase, or to dump vast chunks of her text into our narrative. Neither alternative is attractive to a writer. Copying is, well, copying - not creative at all" (412).

On the whole, it was okay; pretty smutty, but being able to see more of Darcy (even a bi Darcy) was refreshing. Grade B. Rating R.

Other Reviews:

B&N Bookclubs     Good Reads     Library Thing

Chick Lit, Chick Flick

I recently saw the trailer to the newest rom-com that will be hitting theaters this May. It's Something Borrowed starring Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin, Colin Egglesfield, and John Krasinski (aka Jim from The Office) and directed by Luke Greenfield.  I am a fan of Ginnifer Goodwin having seen her in He's Just Not That into You, Mona Lisa Smile, and a the few episodes of Big Love I watched.  She usually plays a sweet, somewhat naive best friend (seems to be the standard for brunette actresses), so I am excited to see her with a leading role, though I will admit the role is still in her 'type.'

Cover of Something Borrowed

The film is based on Emily Giffin's novel by the same title, and because the trailer was so intriguing I checked it out from the local library.  It was a quick read, as is most chick lit, but I'm kind of ambivalent about the premise. Basically, on her thirtieth birthday, Rachel has semi-drunken sex with her best friend's fiancé, Dex, and then proceeds to have a summer affair with him before his September wedding date.  As much as I was rooting for Rachel and Dex, I was almost hoping that Dex's continuous avoidance of calling off the wedding would spur Rachel into dumping his a** and finding someone who deserves her. Also, ruining your best friend's wedding is a huge no-no in my book, though Darcy, Rachel's bff, is not a prime candidate for bff of the year.  Really, I just wanted Rachel to grow a spine and dump both Darcy and Dex and find some other way to fulfill her life. So I give the book a B, and I plan to see the film, probably as a matinée.

Related articles

• Movie Review: Something Borrowed (2011) (pacejmiller.wordpress.com)
• Something Borrowed...5/6/11 (cyberiasha.com)
• Attention Chicago Movie Loving Brides! (chicagonow.com)
• Watch Kate Hudson & Ginnifer Goodwin's 'Something Borrowed' Trailer! (okmagazine.com)

Coming Out of the Closet

First of all, I am declaring this blog a no-shame zone. Having said that, I am not gay, regardless of what the title of this post may lead you to believe. To explain the title, you will notice in my profile that I describe my self as "a closet romantic." Well, I'm owning up to romantic, slightly gooey side, inspired by my Adult Popular Literature (APL) in structor who proudly owns up to reading romance and even erotica. I've made baby steps in the past with my "Vamping the Bookshelf" and my "Daughters of Jane" series, but this post is a no holds-bar exposé. Here goes nothing ... I read romance novels.

Granted I am not usually drawn to the contemporary or historical love stories. I like a back story, usually with a robust mythology, harkening back to my exclusively fantasy period. Most of the time, the straight love story is not enough to hold my attention. I want some action, usually of the political conspiracy/large objects blowing up/sword fighting and if at all possible, a kick-butt heroine. However, in an effort to broaden my reading horizons for my APL class, I decided to read outside of my box and got the first two books of Nora Roberts' The Bride Quartet as well as a true bodice-ripper.

Cover via Amazon

I just finished A Vision in White, the first book in the quartet. The plot focuses on Mackensie "Mac" Ellot, a wedding photographer, and Carter Maguire, a PhD high school English teacher (one of those prestigious academies in Connecticut). Mac is an owning partner in Vows, an almost all-inclusive wedding planning company, with her three best friends: Parker, the brains of the operation, Emma, the florist, and Laurel, the baker/pastry chef. Carter has had a crush on Mac since high school and the romantic journey ensues after a chance meeting when Carter's sister comes to Vows to plan her wedding.

Having never read Nora Roberts before, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. It follows the basic romantic tale plot: boy meets girl, boy loses girl (this time because of the girl's deep-rooted trust issues), boy gets girl back. The dialog is witty, the characters seem real, and the situation is not that implausibly fairy tale/chick flick romantic. Also, the love scenes are tasteful and there aren't too many of them. I also appreciate she had me going to the dictionary to look up some words, like "stevedore" which is a person who loads and unloads cargo from ships. The issue I had with the book is some overly sentimental metaphors and dialog, but the comes with the territory.

Having said all that, it was predictable to the point that I feel comfortable forecasting the direction of the rest of the series. There were only three single, eligible men introduced in A Vision in White: Carter, Jack Cooke, and Delaney "Del" Brown. Carter has been spoken for, but there were hints as to who the other men would fall for in the end.

Cover via Amazon

There was an interesting scene with Emma and Jack which ended with her yelling at him and storming out, so I will predict that the second book in the quartet, Bed of Roses (remember Emma is the florist), will feature them.

                  Cover via Amazon

The third book in the series, Savor the Moment, will feature Laurel, the baker (clever title Ms. Roberts), and Del based on one interaction between Mac and Laurel. Mac has just apologized for being bitchy and explains that Del helped her in a situation with her mother, Laurel's response: "In the act of getting down a glass, Laurel glanced back. 'Del was there?'" (p. 141). I will admit it isn't much to go on, but just the fact that she mentioned him is significant and besides that he's Parker's brother.

Cover of Happy Ever After (Bride Quartet)

The final book in the quartet, Happy Ever After, will feature Parker with a yet-to-be-named suitor. Parker's book has to come last because she seems to be the strongest, motherly personality and she has to see her friends settled before she can find her ... wait for it ... happily ever after.

The Potter Generation

Image via Wikipedia

The end of an era has begun. That's right Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 was released two weeksago to mixed reception by fans and critics alike (see the related articles at the bottom of this post for reviews).  I was at the midnight showing with a group of like-minded Potter-fans (excluding the two boyfriends who got dragged along). I have to say I was impressed with the accuracy of the movie as compared to the book; they even kept the George's "holey" joke.

The downside of following the book so closely was that the film inherited the problems of the book as well.  First of all, the cast was really lacking. Very little Snape and Hagrid, no Dame Maggie Smith aka Prof. McGonagall,  and a whole lot of Harry and Hermione moping in the woods, though I must admit that I loved seeing all the landscapes of Britain.  Second, plot is sparse with explanations (how does Ron actually find them) and the extended camping trip does not lend itself to excitement. Finally, there is no recap, so if you haven't read the books or haven't seen the movies in awhile then it's hard to remember what happened.  Now the last is a bit of a double edged sword because by not re-reading the seventh book before seeing the film, it gets rid of all the plot-spoilers so I was able to enjoy the movie more.

Now granted there were a few gratuitous cinematic liberties (why Ginny couldn't have asked Hermione to zip her dress up upstairs I will never know) and some missing info (I had no idea what the mirror shard was until I started re-reading), but overall the films have matured just as the books have.

And that's what I love about the series; we grew up with it. When the first book was published in 1998 (U.S. date) I was 9 and when Pottermania really took off I was about 12, the same age as Harry, Ron, and Hermione.  With each successive book the material got darker and more serious, in effect we grew up with the characters (though Harry is actually close to 30, you can figure it out with the second book and the date on Nearly Headless Nick's death-day cake - yes, I'm a dork, deal with it) and then the actors, who are my age.  We waited through midnight book releases and movie showings just to continue on with the story.  We embraced that magical world buying into all the commercialization and trying to recreate that world in this one.   We've even made it our own through parody (for laughs watch the two clips at the end of this post) and fanfic.  We are truly the Potter generation.

Related articles

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Ralph Fiennes interview - exclusive (telegraph.co.uk)
• Jackie K. Cooper: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1: Half the Book, Half the Entertainment (huffingtonpost.com)
• YAB Review: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (ypulse.com)
• Google search for more reviews

Of Reading

Image via Wikipedia

Earlier this semester, my descriptive grammar professor had us come with a word that filled a void in the English language.  One of my classmates attempted to come with a viable option for the third person singular plural pronoun: "thair." I was not a fan.  The best one I heard was "freeper," a facebook creeper or one who "freeps."

My contribution to the English language was "snack-lit," a term that describes contemporary fiction that falls somewhere between "literature" and form-fiction, like Harlequin romances.  Books that would fall into this category are mainly from those authors featured on the New York Times Best Sellers list, or are often serialized.

There could even be stratifications within snack-lit ala Francis Bacon's "Of Studies" essay: health food, literary fiction that makes you think a little, to candy bars, form-fiction that really only takes a day to read, and everything in between. Dear readers, please aid me in this endeavor to make snack-lit a commonly used term. So spread the word, literally!

Daughters of Jane: Darcy's Passion

The whole interest in Austen spin-offs was in part inspired by Denise, friend and co-worker at the UGL, who sent me various quotes from horrible internet Austen fan-fiction.  So, whilst I was shelving, I stumbled upon Darcy's Passions: Pride and Prejudice Retold Through His Eyes by Regina Jeffers and checked it out.  As my first spin off it wasn't too bad.  Jeffers incorporated quite a bit of the actual book and her language was pretty authentic.  Of course she does take the story past the wedding (and yes, Darcy is good in bed), but her additions, such as Anne de Bourgh an Col. Fitzwilliam marrying and Georgiana finding someone as well, don't really detract from the original.

My only complaint is that Darcy the enigma disappears.  Mr. Darcy is the ultimate heartthrob because of his brooding darkness that women just love to pry into and try to fix in some way.  Trying to put emotion behind the Darcy's facade comes out a little fake; there are a lot of tormented emotions that do not seem possible in a man as contained as Darcy. Also a lot of embracing occurs between the whole Darcy family in a way that Austen probably would not have written it. It's just a little too sappy, however ti wasn't bad enough to sully the original for me.

Vamping the Bookshelf

I'm just going to admit it - my literary guilty pleasure is paranormal fiction.  I do like the, ahem, steamier moments and the epic battle scenes, but what really interests me is all the different mythologies about paranormal creatures, especially vampires.  I know it's kind of playing into the whole Twilight thing, but there are a lot of other series out there that are better written and more creative.  Here are some of the series that I have read and enjoy.

Laurell K. Hamilton -- She actually has two series, and both are high on the steamy meter. One about Anita Blake, an animator (someone who raises zombies) and a vampire executioner, who has a very complicated love life and is lives under the threat of being annihilated by various powers of evil.  The second is about Meredith (Merry) Gentry, an American Faerie princess, who also has a very complicated love life, has the threat of an evil queen's machinations, and moonlights as a private investigator.  There are other similarities between Anita and Merry, mainly physical build and the propensity to be the tough girl, but each series has me coming back for more.  I just want to find out what happens.

Kresley Cole -- Her series is called Immortals After Dark and is straight up paranormal romance.  The focus is a coven of valkyrie and a coven of witches who find their fated mates, werewolves, vampires, and a couple of demons.  I have no excuse for liking this series except that the characters are rather endearing and the mythology behind it is incredibly interesting.





Lindsay Sands -- Her Argeneau/Rogue Hunters series, more paranormal romance, is about a family of immortals (vampires) who are all finding "lifemates."  Her take on the vampire myth is one of the most original I have read: immortals are survivors from the fall of Atlantis who had "microbes" introduced into their blood stream to repair any injury and cure any disease and their fuel is blood, but the microbes work too well as the body is constantly sustaining damage (i.e. the sun).  The immortals need to ingest blood so their bodies evolved fangs; in the modern world they drink bagged blood.  Hilarity ensues as the "lifemates" are usually mortals who only know the traditional "damned, soulless creature of the night" myth.  Also the titles are great, Vampire Interrupted and A Bite to Remember are two of the better ones.

Charlaine Harris --She writes the Sookie Stackhouse series, the basis of the HBO series True Blood. My roommates began watching the first season and I got hooked, so I did the English major thing and read the books.  There are quite a few differences between the book and TV series, mainly that Tara, Eggs, Andy Bellefleur, and Lafayette are not main characters.  The books are a lot more humorous, especially Eric.

Jim Butcher -- He is the author of The Dresden Files, which feature the Chicago's only wizard in the yellow pages, Harry Dresden.  Harry looks like a bit of a ne'er-do-well, but is a great guy who fights on the side of good and makes the tough decisions. My favorite battle is when he necromances Sue the T-Rex to life and rides her into battle.  The last books, Changes, ended with a huge cliff hanger and I still cannot wait for the next book to come out in March, ironically on my birthday!  His wife Shannon is also a paranormal author, but her series is a romance.

Patricia Briggs -- Her Mercy Thompson Series is based in the Tri-Cities of Washington state and focuses on Mercy Thompson, a coyote shape-shifter who was raised by the leader of all American werewolves and falls for the local alpha.  Mercy is a smart-alec mechanic who can talk to the dead and gets in trouble with the fae. The series is well-written and and smart with a sexy alpha too boot.

Kim Harrison -- She writes the The Hollows series about Rachel Morgan, a witch turned private investigator who lives with a vampire, not yet turned soulless. I like her spin that the paranormals have always been living with us, but didn't come out of the coffin, so to speak, until a virus in tomatoes killed off the majority of the human population.  There are also so cute titles; my favorite being The Good, the Bad, and the Undead. I am quite a few books behind in th series; there was a big gap between the books coming out and I couldn't get back into the swing of the plot.

Angela Knight -- Her Mageverse series is the other incredibly original take on the vampire myth, mixing the paranormal with Arthurian legend.  Merlin was an alien that turned the round table and their ladies into vampires and witches respectively.  He also created werewolves as a check for the Magi, as the vamps and witches are properly called.  This series teeters on the line between romance and adventure, but definitely leans more toward steamy romance.




These are by no means a comprehensive list, but they are the ones I have read.  I really need to branch out; I've heard P.N. Elrod is good, and here is a list from GoodReads that I have to look into.

Related articles

• Fiction Affliction: Diagnosing November Releases in Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Romance (tor.com)
• Ghoulish pleasures (boston.com)

To Blog or Not to Blog...

Recently I have been considering the idea of branching out in the blog-sphere and writing another blog.  Do not be alarmed my few and faithful followers, I will continue to spout my mind's junk onto this blog, but recently a lot of junk has been building up in one specific category and I need an outlet.  The category is this: Jane Austen.

I realize that as a female English major, loving Austen is somewhat cliche, but I confess that I do love her wit.  But what kind of fascinates me is the cult of Austen that sprang up in the 1990s and continues today.  There are countless spin offs and published (and not published... thank you Denise, my eyes still burn) fan-fics as well as movies.  Not to mention the blogs!  So hear is the question, should I add my voice to the multitude out there already spouting their love of all things Austen or should I simply make them a recurring segment on this blog?

Please report back.  And to entertain you... from Kate Beacon's Hark, A Vagrant, I present Jane Austen!

Update on Summer Reading List

Way back in May I created this post about my aspirations for reading this summer.  Needless to say, it did not go as planned, but here is the update of my journey so far.

1. The Dresden Files -- Read them, loved, them, and so obsessed that I found almost all the short stories that go in between the books.  For my immediate reaction after reading Changes see this post.

2. Steig Larsson's Millennium Trilogy -- I have been trying to find them all summer, however they are constantly checked out as they seem to be the IT books of the summer.  However, Tony, the library specialist from the Modern Languages Library is on the look out for their copy for me.  He's such a nice guy.

3. Devil in the White City -- I started it in May and just finished yesterday (7/31).  It isn't really that long of a book, it just moves a little slowly and is rather jumpy going from the architect to the serial killer to the insane assassin.  Also, each chapter tries to end with a mini cliff hanger which gets tiresome after awhile.  But all in all I really liked it, especially the little bits of sarcastic humor Larson threw in every once in awhile,

"No one saw Twain.  He came to Chicago to see the fair but got sick and spent eleven days in his hotel room, then left without ever seeing the White City.

Of all people."  (285)

I think my favorite quote about it was the Chicago Sun-Times one on the back of the book, "Larson is a historian with a novelist's soul."

4. Kathy Reichs' series -- I have started Deja Dead, the first book of the series and so far, I am unimpressed, especially in comparison to Bones.  The characters aren't very engaging so far and it's a little too graphic for me.  I will at least finish it, but if I don't end up liking it, I'm not going to read the others.

Update 8/11: I got through most of the book and just didn't care what happened. It's probably because I love Bones so much, but Reichs' characters seemed kind of flat and the attention to detail was a little too much for me.

5. Orwell's 1984 --  It's in my bag right now and I plan to start it today, as soon as I finish the other book I am currently reading (I'll get to that a little later).

Update 8/11: 1984 just stayed in my bag. I'm just not in the mood for disturbing, dystopian novel, as I'm already bummed enough that classes are starting up and my relative summer freedom is coming to an end.   

6. A.S. Byatt's  Possession -- I have it checked out from the library and will get to it, but it's a HUGE book, so I am not sure I will be able to finish it before classes start.

7. Italo Calvino -- I am currently reading the revised edition of The Path to the Spiders' Nests (finished 8/2) and so far it's okay.  It reminds me For Whom the Bell Tolls a little. I prefer his more experimental fiction so I also checked out If on a winter's night a traveler.

8.  The Woman in White -- I still have to catch up to Renae.

At least I have most of the books, and no those aren't all the Dresden Files.

As mentioned in the May post, my reading this summer was not limited to the above list.  In addition to the list I have read Namaah's Kiss and Namaah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey (just get past the sex goddess thing and it's an epic tale), Mercedes Lackey's The Sleeping Beauty (see this post), the graphic novel version of Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton, and a few trashy romances to rot my brain. 

I really don't think I did too badly, considering all the time I've been at work, plus the TV I've watched as well and the blogs I read daily.  But hopefully, I will finish the rest of the list in the next few weeks.