My track record for predicting which Bollywood movies are going to be good based on the trailers is…not so good, but here are a few things I know for sure:
1. I love Saif Ali Khan.
2. I love Kareena Kapoor.
3. I love actiony spy movies.
So I’m really looking forward to Agent Vinod!
I had a discussion with some friends the other day about why I don’t like most Christian fiction, and ever since I’ve been thinking about the Christian fiction I do like.
The Treasure of Timbuktu by Catherine Palmer
This one was later republished, with a much less interesting cover, as “A Kiss of Adventure”, but I’ve always preferred the original title just because it’s the one I first knew it as.
Tillie Thornton is a botanist living in Africa trying to get a grant to plant trees and study ways of growing them in the desert and stop the ever-encroaching Sahara from taking over more grazing/farming land. One day in the market, just as she’s been complaining to Mama Hannah, the African woman who raised her and her brother and sisters, that nothing interesting ever happens to her, a man on a camel tries to kidnap her and she’s saved by Graeme, a rakish man in a battered jeep who looks like a pirate and claims to know why the man on the camel wants her. What follows is an adventure through Mali, piecing together a riddle from a hundred years ago and trying to stay a step ahead of the Tuareg tribe pursuing Tillie, the “tree planting woman” who a tribal legend says will lead them to treasure.
Monday’s Child by Linda Chaikin
Christa is beautiful, blonde, and models for her family’s jewelry store ads. When she first meets Mossad agent Jorden Keller he’s disguised as a Texas cowboy-turned-movie-agent cliche and neither of them forms a very good first impression. But when Christa learns some disturbing secrets about her family Jorden is the only one she can trust, even if he still thinks she was in on the secret all along.
Thursday’s Child by Linda Chaikin
After a year of marriage to Garret Holden, Paulette is sure their life together will be perfect. Then a misunderstanding leads to a bitter separation, until Paulette’s uncle in Greece sends word that Garret is there, wounded and being hunted by German agents. Unsure of the reception that awaits her, Paulette sets out to find her missing husband and learn the truth about the family she never knew.
I hadn’t read Mary Stewart yet when I read these two books, but there are elements to them that appealed to me for the same reasons that Mary Stewart appealed a few years later – the romance is about more than just “you’re hot and helping me get away from the bad guys, let’s make out”, and the settings are places like Greece and Switzerland, which makes you want to take a vacation and have an adventure of your own. I won’t say that they’re perfect – Linda Chaikin has a habit of using words that don’t quite mean what she thinks they mean – but I really like them.
Arabian Winds, Lions of the Desert, and Valiant Hearts by Linda Chaikin
I can’t recommend this series as wholeheartedly as I’d like, since large parts of it were copied from a book called Death in Kashmir by M.M. Kaye, but in high school I didn’t know that and I thought it was all just wonderful. And even now that I do know, I can’t bring myself to shun them on principle. The story might not be completely original, but what’s not to like? Romance, spies, danger, and Cairo on the verge of World War 1…these books have it all. When I was 16 or so, Allison and Bret’s romance was the standard I held everything else up to.
Allison is a nurse in Egypt, taking a short holiday before returning to the medical missionary boat her aunt sails up and down the Nile to provide care to the villagers. Awoken one night by a strange sound, she goes out to investigate and winds up smack in the middle of a ring of spies who now think she has the information they’re looking for. Trying to figure out who is on which side, Allison encounters a disturbingly attractive but emotionally cold German Colonel named Brent Holman…or is he really the English Bret Holden she was told to look for?
Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren
I’ve just started this one, so maybe I shouldn’t be recommending it yet, but so far it’s really good, and I can’t help myself.
Gabriella is in Italy with her sister and their archaeologist mother when she decides to explore one of the Etruscan tombs they’re investigating and comes back out to find herself 700 years in the past, in the middle of a battle. With no idea which side to trust, Gabi has to hope that Marcello, the knight who wins the battle and takes her to his castle, was the good guy, and try to figure out what happened to her sister, who was right there in the tomb with her until she suddenly disappeared, and how to get back home.
Wow, I didn’t realize it had been so long since I last posted here. I just haven’t had much to say, I guess. But now I’m back, so let’s talk about…
…shampoo?
I have finally found a shampoo which makes my hair silky soft and shiny, smells wonderful, and makes me so happy I want to give a bottle to everyone I see so that they, too, may know the joy of beautiful hair.
It is Bumble and Bumble’s Gentle Shampoo (and Super Rich Conditioner). And it costs $25 a bottle, so once my travel-size sample from Target runs out, I don’t know what I will do.
Eat…or buy shampoo?
I also got my hair cut yesterday, which is contributing to the “I finally love my hair!” feeling. I like it longer, but much past my shoulders it degenerates into a mess of split ends and frizz, so I put up with it as long as I can before bowing to the inevitable and having 5 or 6 inches cut off. And then I revel in how bouncy and healthy it looks for a few months, until the cycle starts all over again.
While I’m recommending beauty products, can I tell you how much I love Clean Provence perfume? I never like heavy, perfumey smells, so this is perfect – very light, and smells of lavender and lemons and freshly-washed sheets. It makes me think of spring.
* = didn’t finish
Miracle on Regent Street by Ali Harris
I wanted to start the month in a Christmas mood, so I thought a book about a woman who gives a run-down department store a makeover just in time for Christmas would be a good choice. There were a few parts I didn’t like – one of my personal chick lit pet peeves is when a character spends most of her time with one guy, only to realize at the last minute that she really loved her best guy friend all along – but for the most part this was a really fun, Christmas-y book.
*Chasing the Monsoon by Alexander Frater
I don’t know why I didn’t finish this…I liked it and then all of a sudden I just lost interest. It’s all about weather and how Indians in various parts of the country live with the monsoon, but he goes off on all these tangents that are sometimes interesting and sometimes not.
*Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
Six years after Pride and Prejudice ended, Lydia Wickham shows up at Pemberley one night in hysterics, screaming that Wickham is in danger. When Darcy and some of his servants find Wickham in the woods, however, he’s standing over his friend Denny’s dead body with blood on his hands. This is one of the better Jane Austen fanfics I’ve read, as far as keeping everyone in character and getting the tone mostly right, but I don’t like police procedural mysteries or courtroom dramas, and that’s what this one turned into.
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Whenever I get frustrated by people’s comments about Twilight, I always find myself reading it again, I guess to remind myself why I do like it, no matter what “they” say.
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
There’s no point in reading one and not finishing the series, right?
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
So I read them all.
Entwined by Heather Dixon
But then I had to take a break because this one has been calling to me from my to-read pile for months. It’s a re-telling of the 12 Dancing Princesses fairy tale, set in a pseudo-Victorian kingdom where magic is uncommon but generally accepted as possible. It was wonderful, exactly what I wanted to read. The romances – all 3 of them! – were satisfying (though I would have liked a little more about Princess Azalea and her suitor), the villain was extremely creepy, and the heroine was clever enough not to be fooled by him even when he initially seemed charming. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes Sorcery and Cecelia or Jaclyn Dolamore’s books.
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
And then I went back to Twilight-land for a while. And I loved it. So, “phhbbbbt” to all the haters.
Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
It seemed like every review of Entwined compared it to this other retelling of the same story, so I thought I’d compare them. They’re actually quite different – Entwined is more romantic and stays in the eldest princess’s viewpoint the whole time, while PotMB is darker and shifts between Princess Rose and the gardener Galen who wants to help. I wanted more explanations from this one, like how Galen figured out what to do to stop the King Under Stone, and when he and Rose developed feelings for each other, since they only interacted twice before suddenly they were both in love, and it was harder to keep track of the 12 princesses since the names weren’t in any sort of order (in Entwined the names go in alphabetical order according to age). But I did like PotMB nearly as much as Entwined, and I’m glad to know there are 2 more books about the princesses.
Little Women (1994, English) – Winona Ryder, Christian Bale
Even though only part of the movie takes place at Christmas, Little Women always feels like a Christmas movie to me. So it’s become my traditional “getting into the Christmas spirit” movie.
Junglee (1961, Hindi) – Shammi Kapoor, Saira Banu
I like the first half of this Bollywood classic better than the second – Shammi and Saira find themselves stranded in a blizzard together, falling in love despite his previous belief that wealth and position are more important than affection. Shammi plays the crankypants businessman with comic flair, stomping around and pouting like a toddler in full tantrum mode.
Beauty and the Beast (1991, English) – Disney animated, various voices
It always seems sort of wrong to see a Disney movie in DVD form – I remember envying my friends their collections of VHS tapes in puffy white plastic cases. My parents wouldn’t buy us the movies because my mom was boycotting Disney for some reason or other, but somehow I always ended up seeing them anyway, and Beauty and the Beast was my favorite. Happily it’s still as wonderful as it was when I was 9!
The Little Mermaid (1989, English) – Disney animated, various voices
I cringed a little while watching this one, not because it’s bad – it’s not, it’s still great – but because I could remember being 7 and having my first crush (on Prince Eric) and all the time I spent in the swimming pool that summer singing “Aaaaaaaaaaa” like Ariel and pretending to be a mermaid.
The Three Musketeers (2011, English) – Matthew MacFadyen, Orlando Bloom, Milla Jovovich
Pretty much every review I’ve come across for this movie panned it. And I can’t say that it’s a great movie, but it is ridiculously entertaining, and I kind of loved it. There’s a gleeful unconcern for historical accuracy, and a lot of swashbuckling, and nonsensical costumes. Oh, and Luke Evans, who plays Aramis? Hello, handsome…
Monte Carlo (2011, English) – Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester
Pure preteen-daydream wish-fulfillment: an ordinary (though of course spectacularly pretty) girl from Texas goes to Paris with her friends and winds up being mistaken for a spoiled brat heiress who walked out on her all-expenses-paid trip to Monte Carlo. I loved it!
The Lion King (1994, English) – Disney animated, various voices
I always got so frustrated with this movie when I was a kid – there were no princesses in pretty dresses, and Timon and Pumba were just sort of gross, with the fart jokes. (I was a very prissy child.) And now it just makes me cry a million times.
Cinderella (1950, English) – Disney animated, various voices
This movie was so wasted on me as a kid! I always remembered it for the “annoying mice” and “Cinderella’s ugly wedding dress”…what was I thinking? Watching it now, I loved the retro look of the animation, adored Cinderella’s wedding dress, and thought the mice were cute instead of irritating. Unfortunately it’s selling for $46 on Amazon, so unless I find a copy at CD Tradepost or somewhere, I can’t buy it. 
Stupid Disney vault… *grumblegrumble*
Captain America (2011, English) – Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones
I’m not much of a superhero movie fan, but I did kind of like this one. Or would have, if Captain America’s first superhero act hadn’t been to KILL RICHARD ARMITAGE. That is completely unforgiveable.
Oy! (2009, Telugu) – Siddharth, Shamili
Right up front the director puts a list of his “inspirations” for this movie, so if you’ve seen A Walk to Remember or Love Story, you know what’s going to happen. Still, a movie with Siddharth is always worth watching, and some of the songs are pretty. I wish the romance had been handled better, since it feels like the love is all on his side until the last 5 minutes or so, but it’s nice to watch now and then.
Christmas in Connecticut (1945, English) – Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan
My favorite Christmas movie! It’s very funny and I love the witty banter and goofy antics as Elizabeth Lane and her “husband” juggle two babies and a pompous magazine publisher while entertaining a war hero for Christmas. I’ve heard rumors that Jennifer Garner is starring in a remake next year, which should be interesting.
Die Hard (1988, English) – Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman
Someone told me I should watch this back in March when I said I liked Bruce Willis in Red, but hearing someone say this was their favorite Christmas movie finally got me to watch it. I could have done without all the f-words, and fight scenes will always be wasted on me, but I did enjoy the story, and Alan Rickman as a villain.
Ice Castles (1978, English) – Lynn-Holly Johnson, Robby Benson
I thought I remembered this from watching it at slumber parties when I was a skating-obsessed teenager, but I must not have been paying attention very well since none of it seemed familiar. The whole premise is fairly ridiculous – a promising young skater goes blind but attempts to compete again anyway – and for the life of me I can’t figure out why she’d want to date a floppy-haired slacker who quits everything he ever starts instead of a good-looking sports broadcaster, but it was the seventies. 
True Grit (2010, English) – Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, Jeff Bridges
My dad got this for Christmas and wanted me to watch it with him, so I settled in to humor him. To my surprise, I loved it! The acting is great, and it’s so funny without trying to make you laugh, if that makes sense. Like, there aren’t a bunch of jokes set up with pauses for audience laughter, but if you’re paying attention to the dialogue it gets completely absurd and you can’t help laughing.
How To Train Your Dragon (2010, English) – animated, various voices
One of the most lovable movies I’ve ever seen. Won’t someone please tell me where I can find a Night Fury?
Love U…Mr. Kalakaar (2011, Hindi) – Tusshar Kapoor, Amrita Rao
Even fast-forwarding through most of it, I swear this movie was about 5 years long. Tusshar Kapoor is so bland, and his character is drippy. I love watching Amrita Rao – she’s so pretty and dainty, like a Barbie doll come to life! – but she can’t carry a whole movie when her co-star isn’t doing anything to help.
Mausam (2011, Hindi) – Shahid Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor
The movie I’ve most been looking forward to all year, and I can’t say I was disappointed, despite a few moments that require you to suspend disbelief to the breaking point. It was a good idea for a story but the execution needed some work. However, it’s absolutely beautiful to look at, and Shahid and Sonam play their roles perfectly. And the scene where they say goodbye while Shreya Ghoshal sings “Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar” a capella is just perfect!
The Shop Around the Corner (1940, English) – James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan
I’ve had a lifelong aversion to Jimmy Stewart, so when I saw he was in this I almost changed my mind about watching it. Fortunately I didn’t, because this is such a cute, fun movie! And I didn’t even mind Jimmy – I even thought he was kind of handsome.
Love Actually (2003, English) – Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, etc.
I know I’ve seen this before at least twice, but either I saw an edited version or I’ve just blocked out a lot, because I didn’t remember there being nearly as much profanity or nudity. It’s too bad, because with the vulgarity cut out this could be such a sweet, heart-warming movie. I don’t mean to be a prude, but I just don’t want to see naked people or hear the f-word a zillion times.
And now I am off to probably watch another movie before the night is out. If I do, I’ll add it to the list tomorrow!
I’ve had this one sitting in my to-read pile for a few months, but wasn’t sure if I could count it as a 2011 book if I hadn’t actually read it this year. So last night I decided to start reading it so I could squeeze in one more book award for the year:
Prettiest Cover of 2011 (if not of all time) goes to…
Entwined by Heather Dixon
I love everything about this cover, from the color scheme to the ballgown to the fairy-tale castle in the background. And in person, all those silver swirls are done in a metallic ink that makes it look almost 3-D.
I’m only on page 16, but so far the story lives up to the cover, too. 
It’s pretty obvious that I’m only going to read one more book before the year ends, so I don’t feel that I’m announcing these prematurely. I did limit myself to books I’d actually finished, so “scariest book”, for example, isn’t actually the scariest thing I read this year. I just didn’t finish the others, to spare myself nightmares.
But I digress.
Funniest Book of 2011 goes to…
Withering Tights by Louise Rennison
For the Jane Eyre references, for Tallulah’s manic “Irish dancing”, and for so much more.
Scariest Book of 2011 goes to…
Texas Gothicby Rosemary Clement-Moore
For ghost scenes that made me shiver and not want to be left alone after dark.
Book I Read Most in 2011 goes to…
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
For 3 times in one year.
Most Disappointing Book of 2011
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
For being nothing at all like I expected it to be, and not in a good way.
Worst Book of 2011 goes to…
The Spy at the Villa Miranda by Elsie Lee
For wasting perfectly good opportunities for romantic tension, and for not being at all like Mary Stewart, despite recommendations to the contrary.
Best Fictional Romance of 2011 goes to…
Swept Off Her Feet by Hester Browne
For a romance that kept me up way past my bedtime clutching the book with tears coming to my eyes when I was afraid things wouldn’t end happily for Evie and Robert.
Best Book of 2011 goes to…
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
For making time travel seem possible, for making me laugh out loud countless times, for Princess Arjumand…for everything.
Tiny pig!
I love this idea for place settings.
The other royal wedding of the year: the king and queen of Bhutan. Isn’t she gorgeous?
I just love Corgis, don’t you?
Amrita Rao’s outfit at the Mausam premiere was so pretty.
One of these days I’m going to make these.
Old-fashioned elegance and glamour:
Much too cute to eat.
Prince Hisahito of Japan is TOO CUTE.
I just love these arches.
And this balcony.
And the poolside pavilion…basically I want to move in to the Lake Palace hotel in Udaipur, okay?
There’s something very Bollywood about this bridal bouquet.
Because my taste is the only one that matters, obviously.
Assuming right has prevailed and Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Britney Spears have all been banned from the radio, these are the other songs I never want to hear again. At least until 20 years from now when someone does a “Music of the 00s” retrospective and our kids all laugh at what we thought was music.
1. “Moves Like Jagger”
Because every time he says “take me by the tongue and I’ll know you”, I picture someone grabbing someone else’s tongue and leading them around, and it just sounds painful to me.
2. “Someone Like You”
Yeah, I liked this song, too. The first time I heard it. By the 400th, I was just wishing someone would give the poor girl a cough drop.
3. “Pumped-Up Kicks”
Because it’s just really freaking annoying.
4. “If I Die Young”
Morbid much?
5. “Love in a Hopeless Place”
Because it gets stuck in my head and I’m really tired of hearing “we found love in a hopeless place” over and over and over again.
Jab We Met (2007, Hindi) – Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor
Nothing in Aditya’s life is going right, and he aimlessly hops on a train to Delhi to get away from it all. When he and his seatmate, a cheerful, talkative girl named Geet, are stranded late at night in a strange railway station, Geet makes it his responsibility to get her home.
This is the perfect pick-me-up movie. It’s bright and happy, Aditya and Geet are adorable together and on their own, and I just never get tired of it.
Fanaa (2006, Hindi) – Aamir Khan, Kajol
Zooni, a blind girl from Kashmir, meets rakish tour guide Rehan in Delhi where she and her friends are performing for Independence Day. They plan to marry, but Zooni, after successful surgery to restore her eyesight, is told he’s died in a terrorist attack. Seven years later he shows up on her doorstep in a blizzard, wounded and half-frozen and on a mission for the same group responsible for the earlier attack.
I love this movie to pieces. No matter how many times I see it I still swoon in the same parts, get goosebumps in the same parts, and cry in the same parts. One of my very favorites.
Twilight (2008, English) – Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson
Bella moves from Phoenix to gloomy Forks, Washington, so that her mom can travel with her baseball-player husband. Expecting a couple of dreary years to endure before graduation, she’s surprised to find that the presence of Edward Cullen, her gorgeous and mysterious new classmate, makes Forks more interesting than she ever dreamed possible.
You know, I’ve seen this movie more than a dozen times now and it’s starting to grow on me again. I loved it at first, then went through a phase where I couldn’t stand it, but now it makes me a little nostalgic and I love it again. There are things I dislike about it, and gaping holes in the script that I can’t believe no one caught (like when Edward saves Bella from the van that’s about to hit her, and then hops up and over the bed of her truck to get away – right in front of the girl in the car behind her, who saw it all…so much for secrecy), but there’s an earnestness about it that I like.
Breaking Dawn (2011, English) – Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson
Bella finally agrees to marry Edward and he finally agrees to turn her into a vampire so they can be together forever. Bella’s insistence on staying human long enough for their honeymoon, though, has completely unexpected consequences.
Did I ever do my big gushing “I LOVE THIS MOVIE!” post? I can’t remember whether that ever made it out of my head. Well, anyway, I loved it. I thought they finally did a good job interpreting the book, Kristen and Rob finally felt like their characters to me, and overall it was just good. I know all the critics are saying otherwise, but I think they’re missing the point – this isn’t a movie made for critical acclaim or winning awards, it was made for the fans.
180 (2011, Tamil) – Siddharth, Nithya Menon, Priya Anand
Manu – or is his name Ajay? – shows up in Chennai one day, rents a room for 6 months, and spends his days doing nice things for people, which catches the eye of Vidya, a photojournalist looking for subjects. Her feelings for Manu quickly turn romantic. Meanwhile, in flashbacks it’s revealed that Manu is really Ajay, a doctor in San Francisco who fell in love with his patient Renu, but for some reason left her and came to India to do good.
Overall I really liked this movie, until it came to the end. Leaving the first time was understandable, the second was reprehensible. It didn’t ruin the movie for me, but it did end things on a sour note. It was presented as “look, he’s such a great guy now, completely carefree and just living one day at a time,” but…SPOILER…he abandoned his wife, who now thinks he’s dead. Sure, he’s playing with kids on the beach and helping elderly ladies carry big loads of vegetables, but he broke a woman’s heart and didn’t even give her a chance to say goodbye. I was expecting better.
Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011, Hindi) – Imran Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ali Zafar
Luv’s girlfriend breaks up with him and in a fit of pique he asks his brother Kush to find him a wife. Kush finds Dimple, a girl he knew in college but hadn’t seen for years, and the marriage is quickly arranged. During the wedding preparations, though, Kush and Dimple fall in love themselves.
I haven’t loved a Bollywood movie this much since Dil Bole Hadippa. Seriously. It is just adorable and fantastic and fun. This is why I love Bollywood.
Badrinath (2011, Telugu) – Allu Arjun, Tamanna
A group of Hindu elders, concerned about the destruction of historic temples, assigns a group of boys to learn martial arts and defend the remaining temples. One boy, Badri, is a particular favorite of their instructor, who wants to make him his heir. This involves a vow of celibacy, which isn’t a problem for Badri until Alakananda falls in love with him.
I’m still not sure what I thought of this one. There were parts where it was a lot of fun, and parts where it was incredibly stupid. Tamanna has a lovely figure, but did we really need to see quite so much of it? I liked the songs, especially the ones where Arjun has short hair since the long, stringy look wasn’t doing much for me. It was a fun timepass, but I’d rather watch Parugu or Desamuduru again next time I’m in the mood for an Allu Arjun movie.
100% Love (2011, Telugu) – Naga Chaitanya, Tamanna
Balu is always the top student in school until his cousin Mahalakshmi moves in with his family and starts attending the same school. After arguing and feuding for weeks, they finally join forces to make sure they stay on top and their rival Ajith doesn’t beat them. During their study sessions Balu and Mahalakshmi fall in love, but his jealousy when she defends Ajith drives a wedge between them that lasts for years.
Yeah, I know, the cousin thing is kind of gross. If you can get over that, though, or ignore it and pretend they’re not actually related, this is a fun little movie. Naga Chaitanya is adorable, even more so than in Ye Maya Chesave. The drama in the second half got dragged out too long, I thought, but other than that (and the cousin thing), it was pretty good.
Bandslam (2009, English) – Aly Michalka, Vanessa Hudgens, Gaelan Connell
Will is excited to be starting over in a new school, since life at his last one was horrible. He’s flattered when gorgeous, popular senior Charlotte starts hanging out with him, and helps her put together a band to compete in the Bandslam competition, but his friendship with Charlotte jeopardizes his friendship with quirky Sa5m (“the 5 is silent”).
I was surprised by how much I liked this! For some reason I was expecting a sort of high school Almost Famous, but it wasn’t like that at all.
Breaking Dawn (2011, English) – Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson
Yes, I saw it again. And I liked it even more the second time!
The Bourne Identity (2002, English) – Matt Damon, Franka Potente
Fished from the water with two bullet holes in his back, a man wakes up with no memories and the only clue to his identity a chip with a bank account number embedded in his hip.
Another of my all-time favorites. I’m not usually much of an action movie fan, but for some reason I really like this one.
* = didn’t finish it
Tiger’s Voyage by Colleen Houck
Kelsey and Ren try to patch up their relationship, despite his amnesia and his insistence that his brother would be a better boyfriend for her. Romance has to be put on hold, though, when they embark on their third curse-breaking adventure, this time with dragons and terrifying sea creatures to battle.
I really can’t explain my affection for these books. Objectively I know that the story is predictable and the writing isn’t great (lots and lots of infodumps, and extremely stilted dialogue, not to mention prose so purple it could be a K-State fan), but something about them gets me every time. I think it’s that, despite everything, I do like the characters, and I like the adventures they go on, and the books are just fun to read.
A Rather Remarkable Homecoming by C.A. Belmond
Penny and Jeremy return from their honeymoon to find a request from the Prince of Wales himself, asking them to find proof that Shakespeare might have stayed at a house in Cornwall which is in danger of being torn down and turned into a luxury resort, which would kill the nearby village.
This one wasn’t as good as previous books in the series. I still loved Penny and Jeremy, but the mystery/adventure wasn’t very interesting.
Jane Austen Made Me Do It, edited by Laurel Ann Natress
22 short stories based on Jane Austen’s books, letters, juvenilia, or life.
With a few exceptions, this was great fun. Lauren Willig’s “Night at Northanger” was the story I was most looking forward to, but my two favorites ended up being “The Mysterious Closet” by Myretta Robins (a woman staying in the “old wing” of the Northanger Hotel is haunted by Henry Tilney’s ghost) and “What Would Austen Do?” (a boy signs up for “country dancing” expecting to learn the boot-scootin’ boogie only to find that it’s English country dancing, and starts modeling himself on a Jane Austen character to impress a girl in the class). Some of the stories weren’t so great – Carrie Bebris’s “The Chase” was so boring I nearly fell asleep, Adriana Trigiani’s “Love and Best Wishes, Aunt Jane” was terrible, full of “I hope you dance”-style advice and really nothing to do with Jane Austen at all, and “Faux Jane” tries to do a Nick and Nora Charles style mystery but doesn’t really work.
Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Amy Goodnight has always been the normal one in her abnormal family, until a ghost starts following her around and she realizes the time has come to embrace the weirdness instead of resisting it.
Rosemary Clement-Moore never disappoints. She has a knack for Nancy Drew-meets-Buffy characters and plots that make you laugh on one page and shiver with terror on the next, and this is no exception. She even made me love a cowboy!
Murder Most Persuasive by Tracy Kiely
Elizabeth Parker is caught up in a mystery once again when her Great-Uncle dies and the sale of his vacation home leads to the discovery of a body under the swimming pool.
The longer this series goes on, the less I like it. What started out as cute-and-quirky is getting tired and overdone, and the Jane Austen references are starting to seem forced rather than clever. I’d recommend reading the first one, Murder at Longbourn, since it was pretty good, and avoiding the sequels.
*The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Rory moves from small-town Louisiana to a London boarding school while her parents teach in Bristol. Meanwhile, a Jack-the-Ripper wannabe is recreating the Ripper’s murders, and somehow managing to avoid being seen by the ubiquitous London security cameras.
I loved this to start – the boarding school descriptions, especially – but it quickly got way too scary for me and I had to stop reading. What can I say? I’m a wimp!
*Hourglass by Myra McEntire
Emerson sees ghosts, which keeps her from living a normal life. Her brother, in a last attempt to help her, hires Michael from the Hourglass organization. Despite their instant attraction, Michael tries to keep things professional as he explains why Emerson can see ghosts and what it really means.
I wanted to like this one. Really, I did. But it just bored me for some reason. I liked Emerson and Michael and would have read a story just about them, but the whole supernatural story didn’t interest me.
*Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
Lola is a quirky, clothes-obsessed girl living in San Francisco, whose biggest problem is trying to convince her dads that her 22-year-old boyfriend isn’t bad for her. Then the Bells move back in next door, and all the drama of Lola’s history with Cricket and his sister Calliope gets dragged up again.
I expected to love this. Anna and the French Kiss was one of my favorite books this year, and I couldn’t wait to read more from Stephanie Perkins, especially since the books were loosely connected. Unfortunately, Lola ended up being my biggest disappointment this month. It felt forced, like Perkins was trying too hard to make Lola lovable by giving her every quirk in the book, from gay parents to dressing up in costumes and wigs every day. And to get halfway through the book, after Lola has been going on and on and on about What Cricket Bell Did, and find out that it was a lame misunderstanding that could have been cleared up in two seconds if she’d bothered to think about it or talk to him, was annoying. Then Max, the older boyfriend, had to be sacrificed on the altar of “Cricket and Lola’s love”, turning him from a fairly decent guy who put up with every hoop Lola’s parents made him jump through, into a jerk, just so Lola wouldn’t look like the bad guy when they broke up. (That they were sleeping together behind her parents’ backs wasn’t so honorable, but she was just as much to blame for that; he wasn’t pressuring her into it or anything.) It was just a mess of a story and left me wondering if I overlooked things in Anna just because it was set in Paris, or if it was really as good as I remembered.
The Count by Helena Dela
Depressed and slightly suicidal after the death of her husband, Elle accepts Count von Drachenfels’ proposal of a marriage of convenience to provide him with an heir, even though every Drachenfels wife has died giving birth since a 15th century curse was placed on the family.
I fell in love with this book on page one. Right from the start it has a sort of European glamour that I associate with Mary Stewart’s books, and the story reads like a combination of Mary Stewart and the Vicky Bliss series. There is one unnecessarily crude part, and I would have liked more detail and closure at the end, but despite that it was very enjoyable.
The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley
Coming back to Cornwall after her sister’s death, Eva hopes to find closure and recapture the happiness of their childhood vacations there. Instead she finds herself 300 years in the past, falling in love with a man whose involvement in the Jacobite rebellion practically guarantees a sad ending.
Susanna Kearsley is often compared to Mary Stewart, but I’ve never quite agreed. Finally, I understand! This is very much a Mary Stewart sort of book, from the descriptions of the countryside to the romance to Eva herself. I want to go back and re-read The Winter Sea and some other Kearsley books and see if I feel differently about them now. The Rose Garden is wonderful – best book of the month, easily.
*Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
Romeo and Juliet with zombies.
I wanted to read this when I saw Stephenie Meyer’s blurb on the cover, but it was way too disgusting and descriptive for me. I don’t understand the whole zombie thing. Vampires, yes. Werewolves, okay. Zombies…no.
It’s funny how up to a certain age, “At least they’re reading!” is a cause for celebration, but then as an adult the fact that you like to sit down and read for pleasure is no longer acceptable unless you’re reading the “right” things. Prize-winning novels aren’t even good enough for some people; I read an article a few weeks ago saying that it’s irresponsible to be reading any fiction when you could be reading non-fiction and learning about real-world problems.
But who decides these things? Last time I checked, there was no committee somewhere marking each book that’s published “acceptable” or “unacceptable”. (Well, there might be in China.) Why do we have to be so judgmental of each others’ reading habits?
Even in my personal experience, there are people who think I must be some sort of genius for reading so much, and then there are people who think I must be some sort of idiot for reading so much “frivolous fiction”.
You know what I think? I think a book is only as good or bad as it is to the person reading it. We all have different tastes. There are books I put down after 10 pages because I can’t stand any more – that’s someone else’s favorite book of all time. And vice versa. Who says either of us is right or wrong? Why should either of us have to be?
So I say read what you want. The attitude shouldn’t be “life is too short to read frivolous books”, it should be “life is too short for literary snobbery”. Just read.
I’m not saying you’re never allowed to criticize a book. But if you tell me what you didn’t like and I tell you why I saw it differently, we’re having a discussion and might end up teaching each other something. If you tell me a book I love is stupid and worthless, I’m just going to get mad and probably avoid you in the future.
So besides making up random abbreviations, I did have other things to say to you today.
For example, I have five words for you: Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake.
Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake.
Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake.
Okay, I’ll stop. But seriously, doesn’t this look gooooood?
It looks easy, too, so I will probably make one soon. If my dad gets off his health-food kick and stops grousing every time anyone even suggests dessert. Luckily there is a perfect excuse for dessert in one week…
And then there is this hotel in Dubai. Do I want to go to Dubai? Yeah, kinda. I don’t know that I could point it out to you on a map without a lot of searching first, but I’ve seen it in a couple of movies and it looks like a fun place.
And really, I’d go anywhere to walk into a hotel with a courtyard like this:
While we’re talking about travel destinations, how much do I want to go on a cruise down the Nile? Quite a lot, if it’s on one of these boats.
Yes, please.
I can’t do NaNoWriMo. I’ve tried before and I either run out of steam after two weeks, or I start writing the most awful gibberish just to make my word count for the day, and end up with a “novel” that makes no sense.
But if I’m ever going to write a book, I have to actually sit down and do it. I can’t keep putting it off. For one thing, if I wait too long someone else is going to come up with the same idea – I actually saw a comment on an author’s blog on Tuesday encouraging them to write a book very similar to the one I’ve had in mind for the past couple of years.
So I’ve come up with my own novel-writing abbreviation: EmSiDoWriNoA, which stands, as you might expect, for “Emily! Sit Down and Write a Novel Already!”. Every night I have to sit down and write for at least an hour. I can do an hour. I waste more time than that channel-surfing and listening to my dad complain about whatever is on the news. I don’t even have to write anything good – which is a relief, since if yesterday is any indication, I’m incapable of writing anything but inane drivel – and I don’t have a word count quota, but I do have to spend at least an hour a day working on my story.
And in fifty years I might even have something to show for it.
I’m not normally a big celebrity-follower (there are actors I like, but I pay more attention to what movies they’re making than what they do in their personal lives). That being said…
Abhishek Bachchan is a daddy! Aishwarya had a baby girl last night!
I would say I can’t wait to see pictures, but honestly…I hope the paparazzi leaves them alone for a while. There’ll be plenty of time for pictures when she’s old enough to be taken out in public.
So, you know, I think Star Wars is boring and stupid and people who get obsessed with it are wasting their time, but I don’t go around trolling Star Wars fan sites and articles about George Lucas just so I can tell people how stupid I think they are. I don’t do it for football, either, or Friends, or How I Met Your Mother, or James Patterson’s books, or anything else I dislike. I just accept that I have different taste than people who like those things, and move on.
Why can’t the same courtesy be extended to Twilight fans? Why, on every article about Twilight that shows up this week (and there’ve been quite a few, since Breaking Dawn comes out next weekend), do people feel the need to rant and rave about how stupid Twilight fans are, how we should be forcibly sterilized so we can’t pass our stupidity on to children, how we should all go die in a fire…seriously, why is this okay?
I don’t care if you don’t like Twilight. It’s not for everyone, and I’m not saying no one should ever be allowed to criticize it. I’m just saying don’t get your panties in a twist just because something you aren’t a fan of is popular. Good grief!
I have an article in this month’s Femnista magazine, which you can read online or download here. It’s a magazine published by my friend Charity, which takes a Christian look at various books and movies and tv shows. For the Halloween issue she wanted a pro and con discussion of Twilight – I took the pro side, obviously.
I would like to say that I didn’t watch many movies this month because I had better things to do, but…not really. I was just busy watching season 2 of Vampire Diaries, and then my sister and I watched Gilmore Girls every chance we got, so there wasn’t much time for movies.
Quantum of Solace (2008, English) – Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko
Follows up the events of Casino Royale, with Bond hoping to avenge Vesper Lynde’s death while pretending he’s fine and doesn’t need a break. It’s a Bond movie. It’s exciting while you’re watching it and then you forget everything you just watched…if you’re me, anyway.
Cowboys and Aliens (2011, English) – Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde
A man wakes up alone in the desert with a wound in his side and a strange metal device strapped to his wrist. He stumbles into town, gets in a fight, and winds up in jail…until spaceships appear over the town and start abducting people. It’s cheesy and predictable and silly, but also a lot of fun to watch. I wouldn’t buy the DVD and watch it twenty more times, but once, at the cheap theater, I liked it.
Bodyguard (2011, Hindi) – Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor
Bodyguard Lovely Singh is hired to protect the daughter of a man to whom he owes his life. Divya is annoyed by him at first, but comes to love him and wants to marry him. Lovely, however, is in love with the fictional Chayya, a character Divya and her friend Maya made up to prank call Lovely when he first showed up. Salman “naked mole rat” Khan creeps me out generally, but Kareena Kapoor is one of my favorite actresses and she made up for his sleazy-cheeseball-ness.
*Na Tum Jaano Na Hum (2002, Hindi) – Hrithik Roshan, Esha Deol, Saif Ali Khan
Esha and Rahul are pen pals, but agree never to meet or reveal their real names since Esha’s strict family would frown on her corresponding with a man. When Esha’s marriage is arranged to Rahul’s best friend, he figures out who she is but leaves without saying anything, not wanting to mess up the wedding plans. I can forgive a lot of things from late-nineties/early-00′s movies, and usually I can overlook Hrithik’s overacting, cheek-quivering, Stare of IntensityTM, but when Esha started fake-crying so badly that I actually felt my skin crawl, I turned it off. Life is too short.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 (2010, English) – Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
Harry, Ron, and Hermione set out on their own to find the Horcruxes which are the key to destroying Voldemort. This is the first of the Harry Potter movies that I actually loved and thought did justice to the books, and I cry from beginning to end at all sorts of random little places.
Moulin Rouge (2001, English) – Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman
In 1899 Paris, naive and romantic Christian falls in love with the courtesan Satine, but their love is doomed from the start when a wealthy duke also pursues her. Every once in a while I hear a song from Moulin Rouge and get all nostalgic about it, and then I rewatch it and realize that I don’t actually like the movie all that much. This was one of those times.
A * means I didn’t finish it.
Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
Everyone in the family assumes Gwen’s cousin Charlotte inherited the time-traveling gene, and they’ve been training and preparing her for years. So it comes as a huge shock to everyone when Gwen is the one who starts popping in and out of different times.
I LOVED this book. Gwen is a very relatable, likeable character, and the time-travel aspect is interesting since it’s genetic and not based on machines. The bad guy is maybe a little TOO mustache-twirlingly sinister, but it fits the spirit of the book. I can’t wait for Sapphire Blue next summer!
The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye (page 884 to the end)
After everything else he’s been to, Ashton Pelham-Martyn now has to go fight in a war in Afghanistan and lose all his friends.
I thought I was never going to finish this book, and a few times I almost sat it down and walked away, never to return. But since I’d already spent so much time on it I decided I might as well finish it. The end of the book is basically M.M. Kaye’s tribute to her husband’s great-great-uncle and his regiment, who were massacred in Kabul. Since she couldn’t very well have fictional Ash play a major part in a real battle, she leaves him locked in a room, only able to watch helplessly from a distance, and focuses on three British officers instead. It is long and gloomy and by the end Ash has no one in the world left except Anjuli, which makes the ending slightly depressing. I’m glad I finished it so that I can say I’ve read all of M.M. Kaye’s books, but I wouldn’t read it again.
The Far Pavilions Picture Book by M.M. Kaye and David Larkin
This is exactly what it says – a collection of photos and drawings illustrating scenes and locations from The Far Pavilions. It was interesting, especially the pictures of characters who were based on real people. It made me wish I’d liked the book better.
*Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough
When Tamsin was born her grandmother prophesied that she would be the most powerful witch in their family, but somehow her powers never showed up. Now she’s the only non-magical one in a huge extended family of people who can do amazing things. Frustrated and bitter, Tamsin tries to help a stranger who mistakes her for her sister, and ends up putting the whole family in danger.
I really liked the sound of this one, but it was a little tiresome. Tamsin is almost too rebellious, and I hate reading books where the main character is deliberately blind to the sinister things going on around her, just to stretch things out longer.
*Radical by David Platt
There are some things to like about this book. It’s true that Jesus didn’t die so we could live cushy middle-class lives and not worry too much about anyone but ourselves. But David Platt is either not a good enough writer to say what he means, or else he’s a little confused theologically. His version of John 3:16 seems to be “For God so hated the world that he sent his only son to die so that he could stand to look at a few of us.” There’s no grace in David Platt’s view of Christianity, instead you have to be living this “radical” life in order to be saved.
I agree with him to an extent – a church which can raise $30 million for a new sanctuary but only sends $5,000 to help suffering brothers and sisters in Sudan needs to sort out its priorities, and a lot of us in America have no idea what it’s like to be a Christian in places where persecution means losing everything, possibly even your life. But salvation doesn’t depend on what you do. You can’t save yourself, even if you do sell everything and live in a tent in Africa telling people about Jesus. All you have to do to be saved is accept that Jesus died for your sins, and repent. Adding anything to that is misleading and false.
The Spy at the Villa Miranda by Elsie Lee
A young woman, recently divorced, is asked to accompany a retired college professor on a trip to Greece, but on the eve of departure she catches someone trying to break in, and at their first stop on the way her suitcases are searched. Clearly there’s more going on than a simple vacation. Then her ex-husband shows up and they’re forced together as house-guests.
Elsie Lee was recommended to me as “similar to Mary Stewart”, and I suppose she is, in a very superficial way. I’d rather just re-read Mary Stewart’s books, though, and not bother with more Elsie Lee. She’s not a very descriptive writer, and the romance was extremely disappointing. There’s so much tension and pent-up emotion available in a story about estranged lovers, but she didn’t take advantage of it at all. The heroine just whines, “Why were you so mean to me?” and then cries on her husband’s shoulder, and that’s the end of it.
Fateful by Claudia Gray
Ladies’ maid Tess is planning to leave the snooty, overbearing family she works for as soon as the Titanic docks in America. No sooner has she boarded the ship, however, than she becomes involved with a handsome first-class passenger named Alec who has problems of his own he’d like to escape from: he’s a werewolf.
I got tired of Claudia Gray’s Evernight series, but I loved this one. The combination of historical drama and paranormal romance was a lot more interesting than if it had been just another werewolf book. It made me want to watch Titanic again, but I promised myself that would never happen…isn’t 12 times enough? (Don’t judge me; I was only 15!)
Every Secret Thing by Emma Cole
An elderly man approaches Kate Murray in London where she’s covering a murder trial. He asks her to consider meeting him so he can tell her about a murder he witnessed during World War II, then steps off the sidewalk into the path of an oncoming car, and is instantly killed. Kate is shocked by what she’s witnessed but doesn’t think much of it, until she begins to learn more about the man and his involvement with her grandmother during the war.
Emma Cole, who is actually Susanna Kearsley, was also recommended to fans of Mary Stewart, and this one was much more what I was hoping for than Elsie Lee. The climax was a bit anti-climactic, and it was fairly easy to spot that the “bad guy” wasn’t actually bad – also I would have liked a little more romance there, and not just a hint that at some point he’s going to take her to dinner now that they both know who the other is – but overall it was very good.
*The Shadow Thieves by Anne Ursu
A sullen girl named Charlotte and her cousin Zee have to enter the Underworld to stop a mysterious illness afflicting all the kids they know.
I had such high hopes for this one. It started off a bit Harry Potterish, but the charm quickly wore off. The witty/snarky tone of the narrator got on my nerves, and it felt like the author was trying too hard to be clever.
Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace
Five-year-old Betsy wants a friend her own age, and gets one when Tacy’s family moves in across the street. After a bit of a rocky start they become best friends and have many imagination-fueled adventures.
I’ve heard about the Betsy-Tacy books so many times that I felt like I’d already read them. They’re kind of the city girl version of the Little House books, but without the undercurrent of “life is really hard and this family is constantly on the verge of poverty and homelessness” that I never noticed until I re-read the Little House books as an adult. Not much happens in this first book, since the girls are only 5, but it sets up the characters for the rest of the series and is really cute.
Betsy-Tacy and Tib by Maud Hart Lovelace
Betsy, Tacy, and their friend Tib are now 8, and despite adults saying annoying things about how three best friends will just fight all the time, they get along perfectly. They smear mud on each other and pretend to be beggars, cook up an awful mess in the kitchen, and give each other disastrous haircuts, and they always have a good time together.
This one is, again, sort of uneventful and more kid-friendly than adult-friendly, but I liked it.
One Night of Scandal by Teresa Medeiros
Lottie Fairleigh just wanted to peek at the “Murderous Marquess” in the townhouse next door. She didn’t expect him to find her and drag her inside, mistaking her for a nosy reporter. She didn’t expect to be found kissing him by her brother-in-law and all the guests at her debutant ball. And she certainly didn’t expect to be married to him and on her way to his secluded home in Cornwall, where his first wife died – or was she murdered by her husband?
I don’t read many full-on romance novels anymore, but I made an exception for this one since I loved the book about Lottie’s older sister. There are elements of Rebecca and Jane Eyre here, and grown-up Lottie is still as fun as little-girl Lottie was in A Kiss to Remember.
Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill by Maud Hart Lovelace
Now 10, Betsy, Tacy, and Tib feel very grown-up. They fall in love with the king of Spain, make new friends in Little Syria, just over the hill from their neighborhood, and squabble with Betsy’s older sister Julia about whether Julia or Tib should be crowned Queen of the May.
Charming, like the first two, but still just a little too young for me. Or maybe I’m just bitter that my own childhood wasn’t this much fun!
Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown by Maud Hart Lovelace
And then they were 12. A public library opens in town, rich Mr. Poppy buys the town’s first horseless carriage, and if Winona Root would just invite them to go to a play at the new Opera House, Betsy, Tacy, and Tib would be perfectly happy.
I liked this one but it wasn’t my favorite. I think because so many people love the Betsy-Tacy books I was expecting something more. I had to take a break before going on with the series.
*Sideways on a Scooter by Miranda Kennedy
27-year-old Miranda moved to Delhi with some idea of becoming a foreign correspondent for NPR, and learned firsthand what life is like for single women in India.
My ideas of India are all influenced by Bollywood, so maybe it’s good to get a perspective based in reality rather than movies. On the other hand, Miranda Kennedy seems to think the solution is more freedom to have sex before marriage, rather than changing misogynistic attitudes in the culture. It was very eye-opening about how restrictive the whole caste-structure is, and how it plays a part in keeping India from really reforming and being able to better support a huge population.
Love Story by Jennifer Echols
Erin Blackwell is rebelling by majoring in creative writing instead of business, so her grandmother is leaving their racehorse farm to the stable boy, Hunter, who is attending the same college. Erin and Hunter have a long, complicated relationship, which gradually unfolds in the stories they write for class.
I usually love Jennifer Echols books – Going Too Far was fantastic, and Forget You, while not quite as good, was still a great read. But Love Story for some reason didn’t have the same grab-you-and-don’t-let-go appeal. Erin acted like a two-year-old, reacting but never stopping to reason things out or ask why Hunter or her grandmother were doing certain things. And I finished the book feeling like there should still have been a few chapters to go – where was the resolution?
Die For Me by Amy Plum
Depressed and reclusive after her parents died in a car accident, Kate doesn’t protest when her sister decides they should move to Paris to live with their grandparents. When she meets gorgeous, mysterious Vincent and his family of gorgeous, mysterious “siblings”, she is drawn into the world of the revenants, who become immortal after dying to save someone else.
There are a lot of YA paranormal romances which are heavily influenced by Twilight, but Die For Me pretty much IS Twilight. Just set in Paris, with zombies instead of vampires. So you might think I would have loved it, but…no. Where Twilight was interesting, this book is wordy and just sort of meanders from plot point to plot point. It’s like bad fan fiction. Vincent is incredibly cheesy and dull, without any of the appeal of Edward Cullen. Where Twilight felt like the author really cared about the story and characters, Die For Me feels rushed and half-hearted. Just…save yourself the trouble and re-read Twilight, instead.
How To Save a Life by Sara Zarr
Jill has changed since her dad died – she used to be friendly and fun and kind, but now she just feels cold and uncaring. Mandy is pregnant and has no idea what to do with her life, besides get out of Omaha. When Jill’s mom decides to adopt Mandy’s baby and invites her to live with them until the baby is born, Jill is outraged.
The other Sara Zarr book I’ve read was a disappointment, but this one was great. Mandy’s story was just a little predictable – the big shocking twist was exactly what I assumed was going to happen, since it almost always does in this sort of book – but Jill’s story made up for it. I guess it was predictable, too, but not quite as much so? I don’t know. I just liked it a lot.
Heaven to Betsy by Maud Hart Lovelace
Now 14 and starting high school, Betsy and Tacy are still best friends, though Tib moved back to Milwaukee. Despite taking place in 1906 the story feels very modern – Betsy and her friends are boy crazy and spend most of their time planning parties and going on picnics. Betsy worries about her straight hair and lack of beauty, and realizes that her family’s cheerful home is more of a draw for the boys who hang around than she is.
I started this at a bad time – I was feeling sorry for myself and reading about a girl half my age who has three or four boys constantly dancing attendance on her didn’t really help. It just made me feel old. I liked it, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I should have.
This is a long-overdue post, but it’s taken me this long to sort out my thoughts on the subject and not rant and rave incoherently.
Back in May I started to see links to this article on several blogs. Almost everyone who linked to it seemed to agree with the author Russell Moore, who states that all romance novels – even the Christian ones, even the YA ones, even the ones with no sex scenes – can “hurt your heart” if you’re a woman. He worries that reading romance novels is the equivalent of porn for women. It might make us discontented with real life relationships, if we’re expecting an Alpha Male Hero and instead get, as he puts it, “what by comparison must seem to be underachieving lumps lying next to them on the couch”.
There were a few other articles at the same time, which I can’t find now to link to, saying much the same thing: Romance novels give women unrealistic expectations about love and men and romance and life. They encourage us to believe in happily ever after. They fill our heads with happy fluffy nonsense and turn us into mushy nitwits.
And always that refrain of “porn for women”.
Let me get my issues with that out of the way first: If you’re talking about the books where a thin veneer of plot is stretched between graphic, descriptive sex scenes, I agree with you. That is porn for women, because its only purpose is to arouse the reader, in the same way that “porn for men”, or visual porn, is designed only to arouse the viewer.
But to take that so far that you’d say Beverly Lewis’s books about Amish people falling in love are also porn is simply ridiculous.
Aha, but it’s “emotional porn”! they cry. It engages your emotions and makes you feel, or want to feel, what the characters are feeling. To which I respond: what is the point of reading a novel which doesn’t engage your emotions? If I’m reading a book and I don’t feel sad when the characters are sad, or frustrated when they’re frustrated, or scared when they’re scared, then I’ll probably put it down and never finish it. We’re supposed to be engaged by a story.
What bothers me even more than the porn comparison is the overall tone of these articles, especially when they’re written by men. “Oh, those poor silly little women,” they seem to be saying. “We can’t let them read things like that, it might fill their silly little heads with ideas and then us men will have to live up to Mr. Darcy instead of being able to sit around watching football and putting off mowing the lawn.” It’s appallingly sexist.
Even the secular articles which don’t try to convince you that romance novels are sinful take this tone. One doctor in England had an article – again, I can’t find the link – where she accused Mills and Boon (our Harlequin) novels of causing unplanned pregnancies. “Women read these books,” she said, “and then think it’s okay to have unprotected sex, and then they get pregnant and the father isn’t anything like a romantic hero, and that’s why we have so many single mothers: Mills and Boon novels.” (I’m paraphrasing from memory, obviously, but that was the gist of her argument.)
Look. If you’re using Harlequin romance novels as your guide to life, you have bigger problems than a possible unplanned pregnancy in your future. But I have yet to meet anyone who goes around asking herself what the heroine of The Greek Tycoon’s Pregnant Virgin Mistress Dilemma would do in every situation. Women read those books for an escape from humdrum every day life, not for realistic plots and characters.
I’m not married, so I can’t say whether reading romance novels makes you less in love with your husband. I do know that a lot of romance novelists get letters like the one Teresa Medeiros often talks about, from a woman who’d had a hysterectomy and was afraid she’d never feel any desire for her husband again, until she read one of Medeiros’s books. I also know that it isn’t romance novels which gave me my ideas of what men should be, it was Lord of the Rings. And that while it’s true that love stories in books and movies make me wish for romance in my own life, so far at least it hasn’t turned me into a romance-crazed ninny. It’s more of a “*wistful sigh* I hope the right guy comes along someday” feeling.
But that’s just me. If reading stories about romance fills you with contempt for your husband, or makes you want to run out and have a baby with the first Italian billionaire or vampire you find, maybe you should be looking elsewhere for your reading material.
Friday night I was up until 1 in the morning watching the last 6 episodes of Vampire Diaries season 2. I don’t know that I would recommend that sort of thing – I had the strangest dreams I think I’ve ever had, even including the one where I pelted Robert Pattinson with apples while screaming at him, “You’re not Edward!” – but by that point I couldn’t help myself. I got so caught up in the story that going to bed before it was over just wasn’t an option.
I’m a terrible person, but I’m kind of glad that Stefan is off being Evil!Stefan so Elena and Damon can have some time together. Stefan annoys me. I can’t decide if it’s just Paul Wesley, or if it’s Stefan himself, but he’s always so…smug.
And now we transition gracefully into Bollywood with a song from Singham which should win an award for best use of twinkle lights:
I have finally figured out what creeps me out so much about Salman Khan: his body is completely hairless. Yesterday when I was watching Bodyguard he raised his arms in one dance move and I realized he had shaved (or more probably waxed) his armpits, and suddenly it all made sense. Men with no body hair…it’s just kind of gross. Not that I find back hair or overly abundant chest hair attractive, but there should be some hair.
Creepy Salman aside, Bodyguard is actually a fun movie. As you might expect it’s about a bodyguard. Lovely Singh is a very moral, by-the-book sort of guy who puts duty above everything. He’s asked to watch over Divya but, since her father doesn’t want her to know her life is in danger, she just finds Lovely irritating. He gets her out of bed at 4 in the morning to exercise and learn self-defense, and embarrasses her at school. So she and her friend Maya start prank-calling Lovely, pretending to be a girl named Chayya who is in love with him.
Then Divya is attacked at a nightclub and realizes why her father hired a bodyguard for her, and falls in love with Lovely. But he is completely enamored of the fictional Chayya, and thinks of Divya as only the person he’s supposed to protect.
Kareena Kapoor is the best thing about the movie, playing a toned-down version of her old “Poo” character from movies like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and then letting her grow up. She has some of the most gorgeous costumes I’ve seen in a long time, too – so many beautiful salwar kameez sets!
Being a reader can be very stressful. There are so many books I want to read, but I’m constantly haunted by fear that if I wait too long I might not get the chance to re-read some of the books I love. So I’m torn between my ever-growing to-read pile, and the books that have just been sitting on the shelf since I read them, patiently waiting for me to come back.
I wasn’t always like this. But I read a blog post – maybe on Angieville? – about a man who’d decided he wasn’t going to re-read certain books anymore, because life was too short, and so he was embarking on his final read of Moby Dick. And I panicked. What if the last time I read Nine Coaches Waiting was the last time I ever read it? Or Evelina? Or Harry Potter? Should I really keep putting off that Lord of the Rings re-read? No!!!
And that is why, even though there are a dozen books I’ve never read waiting for me, I’m about to start Nine Coaches Waiting for the fifth…or is it sixth?…time. Because I can’t bear the thought that I might never get to read it again.
Completely unrelated: You must make this soup. It is fantabulous.
Actually, that’s not entirely unrelated, because I have the same problem with recipes. So many new ones to try! But what if I never make that great Orange Sesame Chicken recipe again because I’m too busy trying new things? Gah!
Last week my dad told me he needed to change the oil in my car sometime soon. So I told him I had Monday off and could come over then, and he said that would be fine. My mom said, hey, why don’t you come over for lunch? And I said okay. I saw Mom on Sunday and she said, again, you’re coming for lunch tomorrow, right? And I said yes.
So yesterday I got to their house at noon, which was when they told me to come over. Dad was huddled on the couch, wearing a hooded sweatshirt with the hood all pulled up around his head (that’s not really relevant, it was just weird to see my 62-year-old father dressed like a wannabe gangsta), coughing, and saying he didn’t feel good and didn’t want to mess around under a car. And Mom hadn’t made me anything for lunch “because we had turkey burgers and I know you don’t like those and I figured you were eating before you came out here anyway.” WHAT? What part of “come over for lunch” involved me eating something before I went to their house?
Oh well.
Mom had the Christmas list papers put up on the fridge yesterday, which made me start thinking about things I’d like, which reminded me that it’s been a while since I did an Etsy wish list on here, so here goes:
This purse, in the prettiest plaid ever:
Or possibly this one, since I bought a wallet yesterday in almost identical fabric:
These beautiful postcards:
A typewriter, either pink:
or red:
And not on Etsy but I really really want one: KitchenAid mixers now come in hot pink!
I wish they’d let you send in your old, boring white mixer to be painted!
