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!

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.

…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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.