To Paris, With Love (Whatever that means)

Happy New Year!

But before I depart, I have to share the strangest movie trailer I've seen in a very long time.

It looks like a buddy-cop movie staring John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

Yeah, I just said those two names together.

Makes no sense, right?

And I didn't even get to Travolta's bizzare bald/beard combo and bazooka-shooting penchant.



Seriously, what the hell was that? Probably really awful. Possibly totally awesome.

Again, happy new year.

Man, I want to see this movie. I'm such a sucker for underdog "man with a dream" tales. We all know how I feel about "Hustle and Flow." I'm sure if it's playing around New Years in Ithaca that A. would go see it with me.

Also, that Springsteen song playing over the trailer? Damn.

"Tell me, friend, can you ask for anything more?"

I know that if you dissect Springsteen songs up, they're mostly very simple, repeating melodies with easy rhyme schemes. But that's always been the key to Springsteen. I like to think of them as lean, instead of simple. It's like there's nothing superfluous or showy tacked on that doesn't belong there. It also helps that Springsteen's got such a full voice that it ebbs and flows and fills in any gaps. Man, I love that voice.

Proof? I downloaded a goddamn Christmas song the other day because of Bruce.

I even managed to find a single youtube video featuring the version I downloaded. My favorite part is when he can't stop laughing at the member of his band doing the "ho, ho, ho" bits.

One of these days, you'll get an entry without youtube videos. Probably not soon, though.

Doh!

So, we're at the dinner table tonight and I said yes to something and the boys erupted into a fit of "yes, yes, yes!" and "no, no, no!" I couldn't place the reference and Blue-Eyes' only response to my question of "where's that from?" was "you" so that wasn't very helpful.


Much googling finally presented by elusive prey.



Yeah, I pretty much have that entire movie memorized. I am such a dumbass sometimes.

And Blue-Eyes was right, he's never seen "Singin' In The Rain," so he got the reference from me.

You would think, given the amount of television I watch, it would be near impossible for me to discover shows on dvd that I haven't yet seen.

I'm currently totally enthralled in the demon-hunting adventures to be found in "Supernatural." I just finished the second season, am waiting for netflix to send me the third one, and am mostly caught up on the current fourth season.

The show is basically a never-ending male-bonding road trip revolving around two seriously attractive brothers who drive around in a totally awesome car, listen to a steady stream of classic rock, and... oh yeah... hunt demons and other supernatural baddies while trying to connect with their rogue father who has spent the last twenty years being singularly obsessed with tracking down and killing the demon who murdered his wife and burnt his house down.

Most episodes find the brothers investigating paranormal crimes (most often grisly murders), lying through their teeth with only charisma, fake IDs, and occasional costumes (see photographic evidence below) at their disposal.

I tuned into the first handful of episodes when it first came out (it's currently in a looming-apocalypse-themed 4th season). It was entertaining, but I didn't get hooked and eventually wandered off. I found the first season entertaining but didn't get hooked until the ridiculously awesome first third of season 2. The show can be kind of uneven. For episode that's ridiculously awesome there's one that's flat and cheesy. But the awesome ones are totally worth it.

Dean Winchester? Easily one of my favorite tv characters ever.

Here's a quick sample clip that not only showcases the funny, but a little bit of the brother interaction as well:

And this seriously cheesy link's for my friend C. and her remarkable ability to capture hilarious screen captures of attractive men, because the middle of the video features approximately 30 back-to-back shots of Dean pouting:

I'd like to write about...

how much I liked the new Hulk movie...
how awesome Georgette Heyer books are...
the great tv I've been watching lately...
how Meg Cabot's book tastes and mine eerily coincide...

but instead...

you get a video featuring a ridiculously awesome puppy prison break



Thems the breaks.

I know I've been posting a lot of videos lately... but this one's particularly hilarious.

They changed the words to Aha's "Take On Me" to match what's going on in the video and sung them to the original tune.

So funny.

Especially "Watch out for them. They're gonna beat you up with that pipe wrench."

Enjoy.

Tis the Season

Well, the fall tv season is in full swing now.

I'll definitely be watching every week: Gossip Girl, Privileged, Dirty Sexy Money, Friday Night Lights

Will keep tuned into: True Blood, Fringe, Pushing Dasies, 30 Rock, Top Design

At least, that's the line-up for now. We'll see how the season goes.

And yes, to respond to a comment Laura made, I'm interested in watching "Tabatha's Salon Take-Over" because Tabatha Coffey is awesome. She's smart and talented and a seriously entertaining bitch on wheels. And us Tabatha's stick together. I just haven't gotten around to it yet, but I can imagine watching a bunch in a row on a slow Sunday afternoon or something.

I want to talk about how Gossip Girl is crazy-mad-fucking-awesome this year. (Evil Serena! Impending cat-fight of terror! Woo!) And about how Privileged is fluffy adorable fun. And how Fringe is kind of boring me but I'm really hoping it starts to explode all over the place oncethe building blocks are establshed. And lastly, how Top Design is seriously entertaining this time around. But, I also want to watch the Dirty Sexy Money premiere, clean up my i-pod for tomorrow's Ithaca-bound road trip, pack my red duffel, put my laundry away, and go to sleep within two hours... so no more blogging tonight. Probably.

Song Of The Day

A new feature for the blog: song of the day.

The song of the day usually being something that played on my i-pod that just struck me.

The inaugural song of the day is an old Springsteen ditty.

"Badlands"



Like most Springsteen songs (and really, most songs in general), I have no real idea what it's about. However, I still love the way it sounds.

My favorite passage is easily:

"Workin in the fields till you get your back burned
Workin `neath the wheels till you get your facts learned
Baby I got my facts learned real good right now"

Massive Book Review Round-Up

My goal this year was to read 75 books. I really wanted to hit 100 but I think that was just too lofty a goal. I got really bad about keeping track in the middle, though, so here's a rough guess at where the count is at. I'm definitely missing a few, but hell if I can remember what they are.

Also, my well's running dry so if you have any recommendations, please feel free to comment. I need some fresh ideas.

43. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
44. Just One Of The Guys by Kristan Higgins
45. Wife In The North
46. Cruel Summer
47. Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks
48. Northern Lights by Nora Roberts
49. Born in Ice by Nora Roberts
50. California Demon by Julie Kenner
51. The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
52. The Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot
53. Boy Meets Girl by Meg Cabot
54. Every Boy's Got One by Meg Cabot
55. Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
56. Babysitter's Club: Kristy's Big Idea

And I've currently got the fourth Thursday Next book ("Something Rotten") and Heyer's "Frederica" jockeying for my next read.


One (or Two) Sentence Reviews:

43. I had forgotten how much fun The Watch series really was. And boy was I glad to finally read a Pratchett I could follow again (the Death books are all twisty and stuff).
44. This book made me cry at points and I didn't like it as much as previous ones.
45. Blog turned memoir that I really found myself getting into. I really loved the ridiculous number of times she ran out of gas and cursed her husband.
46. Diary-framed YA novel that was a bit derivative but sweet nonetheless. Nobody does YA diaries like Meg Cabot, though.
47. Interesting YA with a strong, unique, feminist heroine. Alpha's drunken letter at the end was easily my favorite part.
48. Engaging read about a man finding a fresh start on life as a Sheriff in Alaska.
49. Very popular old-school Nora Roberts romance novel. Not bad, but I like my heroines feistier and my male leads less douche-y.
50. Very fluffy, not much substance. Good books to read in the tub, but not worth much more effort.
51. So Damn Awesome. Sophy totally rocks.
52. Fluffy chick lit written all in e-mails and the like. The first, and best of the series.
53. Retread of the first in the series. The leads in this were less like-able.
54. Really horrible. Didn't like it at all.
55. Finally completed after borrowing from the library at least 5 times. No evil time-traveling Frenchman though... so, damn!
56. Ridiculously cute. Love the artwork in this graphic novel re-working.

The horror!

Now, crap-tastic music is always playing in the store. "Mambo #5" was playing when I was in the bathroom the other day. And I had to listen to "beating down the walls of heartache, bang bang, I am the warrior" every damn day for four months.

But the other day, it reached a new low. So low, in fact, that I was certain my ears were going to spontaneously bleed from the torture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wJ-VPqFzy0

Yeah...

Now, it's well known that I'm not a fan of John Mayer. Elliott once asked me why I didn't like him but then answered the question himself with "Ah, the misogyny, right? Yeah, I see that." Force me to listen to even a few seconds of "Daughters" and I'm ready to punch holes through walls out of anger.

But that?! Ugh. Whole new level of awful.

Just watch the cheesy 80's Tom Petty music video. You'll feel cleaner, I promise.

Hysterical Ammounts of Racism

Alec Baldwin is absolutely hysterical on 30 Rock.

For those who haven't watched the show previously (I'm assuming anyone reading this), the only set-up you need is that Jack (Alec Baldwin) is an NBC executive, Tracy Morgan is the bat-shit crazy star of a popular sketch comedy show, and Jack's dragged him down to therapy because he's been acting out and doing whatever Jack tells him not to (all "you're not my father!").

The poor therapist has to sit through the following in sheer horror:

"Mind your own damn business, Mrs. Rodriguez!"

"Lady, just because I'm an ignorant black man and you paid me a nickle to bust up your shifarobe doesn't give you the right to call me ridiculous just because I'm proud of my son."

Butt-Fugging-Ugly

Ok, a quick word in about Project Runway. I haven't even watched the past week's episode yet, but I've seen photos.

Everyone keeps saying that the designers this season seriously suck. They're not wrong. There's pretty much only three or four of them with any talent at all.

Evidence:



Yeah, this was not the loser last week. In fact, it wasn't even considered the second worst.

I hate Kenley so damn much. I hate her stupid damn face and her stupid damn Betty-Page hair. And everything she designs is butt-fugging-ugly. But that? Is so damn atrocious. God, I think I hate it more than Vincent's trash dress from season 3. And now I'm ashamed of myself.

Ugh.

TV Thoughts

The new tv season had begun! Wee!


So far, I rather liked the pilot of HBO's new vampire show True Blood. It's on cable, so it has the requisite oddness, persistant use of the f-word, and plenty of sex and nudity. And although I don't care much for vampires, it also has a psychic main character. And we all know how I feel about psychics (LOVE them).

Assorted Observations:

• I like Sookie. I love how she gets all stupid and googly-eyed whenever Bill the Vampire is around. And how she totally choked that evil bastard with the chain (psychically, right? the him not being able to get it off part? it was unclear, though).
• "You just shut your nasty mouth, mister. You might be a vampire, but when you talk to me you will talk to me like the that lady I am." (The southern inflection on the last three words is really what kills)
  
• I hate her best friend. I both hate the character and the wooden actress (Side note: she was in the truly awful dance movie "How She Move" and she was awful in it).
• The bar-owner guy is really attractive. I'm always a fan of that.
  

I watched half of the pilot of 90210 but just wasn't interested. Also, the girls are all dangerously skinny skeleton girls and I just can't get behind that. I like to read the TWOP recaps at work... but I doubt I'll watch any more of it.

I made my way through the first episode of this year's Prison Break for one reason and one reason only. Dr Sara's back! Eee! Oh, well, and also cause I read that T-Bag eats a guy... but I didn't even keep watching till that happened. I haven't followed this show steadily for over a year and I really don't think that's bound to change now. Unless I hear about Dr. Sara doing something awesome... I can't resist. I love her so much.

Bonus: The TWOP take on Prison Break's return. First, the list of crazy-ass shit they compiled the week before the season premiere. And then there's this summary of T-Bag's plot:

"Meanwhile, T-Bag chews a lot of desert scenery in his blood feud quest for Michael. He also chews his former traveling companion. That's right -- T-Bag ends up in the desert thanks to some untrustworthy coyotes, and after his traveling companion dies in a freak accident, T-Bag roasts and eats him. Is there some way that you haven't violated the laws of God and man, T-Bag? Are you planning necrophilia for November sweeps, or will that have to wait until May?"

I didn't really care for the Bones premiere either. I missed most of the last season, but I was caught up on the major plot points. It just felt kind of lackluster to me. And if Angela and Hodgins don't figure out their shit and get back together, I'll be seriously pissed. (Although I did like that they didn't break up because of Angela's ex but because of their own individual insecurities and issues).


Next Batch of reviews to feature Gossip Girl, Privileged, Fringe, and Top Design. Possibly to be up later today... but the dentist prescribed me Vicodin... so maybe not.

Paul Simon, Obviously

I was at work the other day when the customer I was helping started to hum and tap his fingers on the counter. This actually happens all of the time.

But then I realized he was humming along to "You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon.

And I had an epiphany.

There was no Paul Simon in my life! (And by life, I mean ipod, obviously.)

Thus, here are my four favorite Paul Simon songs.

(If I could figure out how to post audio rather than YouTube videos, I would. However, these particular videos are pretty interesting. Two are actual cheesy music videos and two are live performances. The Zimbabwe dancers in #3 are particularly awesome.)

4. Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard



3. Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes



2. You Can Call Me Al



1. The Obvious Child

I've found recently that lists work for me.

So, here are things I want to write about this week:

Kristan Higgins (and her 3 excellent romance novels)
The RWA RITA awards
The Sex and the City movie (I know, well overdue)
Step Up 2 The Streets (also well overdue)
Foods I Love (I must tell you about Stella D'Oro cookies... I must)

Hopefully, writing about wanting to write about them will get me to write about them.

You understand.

Book Round-Up

It's been a while since I've got any book reviews but here are the last eight books I've read. I think. I've probably forgotten one or two.

The Romances:

Lady Be Good by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Baby Don't Go by Susan Andersen
Leaving Normal by Stef Ann Holm
An Improper Proposal by Meg Cabot

Other Genres:

Queen of Babble Gets Hitched by Meg Cabot
One For The Money by Janet Evanovich
House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones
Reaper Man by Terry Pratchet

Capsule Reviews in two parts to follow in the next few days.

Oh Mama!

Fantastically odd little movie.

The thing is, so much of it is truly horrifying and terrible. And I'm sitting there going "Oh God, really, they're singing into a tampon... oh fucking God" and then five seconds later, every woman on the island is running around and joining in on "Dancing Queen" and I'm literally thinking "this is the most phenomenally awesome thing I've ever seen."

And pretty much every single scene was like that. No joke.

Need another example? How about the number where Sophie and her cheese-tastic fiance are singing on the beach and it's gross and he's a terrible singer and all of a sudden? Yeah, like 20 dudes come out of nowhere, abduct him, and they all do syncronized dancing on the pier wearing only swimming briefs and scuba fins. And I happily laughed my ass off. And no, I did not make an ounce of that up.

It was incredibly hit or miss. And the misses? Were bad. Really bad. But the hits? Dude, they were so fucking awesome.

Like I said, fantastically odd little movie.

I think I kind of loved it.

And the best bit was easily the "Winner Takes All" number. Holy shit. I'm not ashamed at all to admit to crying in the movie theatre at that one. Meryl Streep and Abba were blowing my mind.

Do you know ho many entry drafts are sitting in my blogger queue just from the last two weeks? Twelve. I've got like seventeen billion things to review.

But now I'm on my way out of the house to see Mama Mia. Dee said she'd see it with me but I have ants in my pants. Also, I spent the morning swimming with the kids so I have "Sexy Crinkly Tabatha Swim Hair" ( pretty similar to "Witchy Tabatha Rain Hair") and if there ever was a movie that needed to be seen while having "Sexy Tabatha Swim Hair," it's a fun musical set to Abba songs set on a tropical Greek island.

Ok, I promise to review something when I get back tonight.

(Hey, look! I updated the sidebar... with a to-do-list... yeah, this blog is so damn exciting.)

Dance, M@*#erF*&#er, Dance!

Well, I'm heading down to the Jersey shore for the weekend straight from work tomorrow, but before I go...

I'm leaving you with So You Think You Can Dance videos!

Eee. Yeah, I've got lots to say, but I'll wait till I get back.

For now, here's my favorite routine (not necessarily the best... just the one I've watched about 25 times in 3 days... and that's not even an exaggeration) of the current season so far:



And, as a bonus, a ridiculously awesome routine from last night's episode. And I don't even usually like Mia Michaels' choreography!

Sex and the City: Greatest Hits Montage

I've been trying to write about Sex and the City since the movie came out. Because I saw it opening night, and it was fucking awesome.

Anyway, I was having trouble. I pretty much just want to gush about my favorite parts of the movie. But then I wanted to talk about the series. And if I'm talking about the series, would that have to include recaps of each season? Each woman's individual journey? My favorite moments of the series? Yeah, I'm gonna take it in steps.

So, here's a somewhat chronological list of the episodes/moments/jokes that I recall most fondly from the series. And I'm aware that pretty much no one else reading this has seen more than a handful of episodes.

So, here we are:

• The one where Miranda is pissed/scared because Carrie's jumping back into Big territory and they have a huge fight and make up in their coffee shop. This episode also features the hilarious scene where Big and Carrie fall in the goddamn lake.

• The one where Big unconsciously pushes Carrie out of bed in his sleep (yet another example of him not making room for her in his life) and she retaliates by fucking punching him in the face.

• The one in the Hamptons where Charlotte gets crabs, Samantha gets even, Carrie manages to get her heart broken by Big yet again, and Miranda gets to hold Carrie's hair while she pukes. Understandably.

• The one where Big announces his engagement to the "Idiot Stick Figure With No Soul" and Carrie, in an awesome pink dress, wigs the fuck out in the restaurant. Again, understandably.

• The one where Carrie walks in on Samantha and the UPS guy, acts all judgmental and self-righteous, and rightfully gets called to task for it.

• Oh man. "Don't you bring that flat baby in here!" Hee.

• The "I'm an asshole!" encounter between Miranda and Steve after the second break-up.

• The one where Carrie models in a fashion show, falls on her ass, and becomes Heidi Klum's fashion roadkill.

• The opener of season 5 with all of the sailors. It features not only the "I gave you 'sushi' I need 'fuck'" line, the "park avenue, pink-shirt-wearing, flaccid pee pee mojo" line, Charlotte making both Carrie and Samantha stumble in the street by saying things out of character (like "I don't believe in true love" and "I'm gonna get laid"), the scene where Samantha plasters her cheating ex's neighborhood with pink fliers advertising his sleaziness, and last, but not least, a gag involving Carrie seeing everyone's boobs.

• Any scene with Harry. Ever. I love Harry. And his hairy back.

• "I fucked up Debbie's cupcakes!"

• The one where Samantha gets diagnosed with breast cancer and Miranda gets married. Yeah, I cried the first time I saw it and I had no experience whatsoever with breast cancer. Now, I'm pretty sure it's going to be a few years before I can watch the second half of season 6 without crying the whole way through. This is the one where Samantha gets the diagnosis and tells everyone at Miranda's wedding. And everyone cries. And it's awesome.

• The very last episode of the series. I'd say it's easily one of the best series finales ever. I can't actually think of a better one. The characters were all moving towards closure and growth and this episode finishes the story well. I always cry my way through the last five minutes or so. As soon as Charlotte says "I'm a bad wife, I ordered Chinese" I always loose it.

Recent Reads: A Style Revamp

So, my project really isn't working. The entire blog is dominated by book reviews (which is really not what I wanted). They clog up everything, I never get to them untill weeks after I've read the book in question, and sometimes there isn't much to say. Also, it's summer... and I tend to read a lot of bad porny romance novles in the summer and I just can't make myself write more than a few words about them.

So... format change it is.

Once a week (after this week... obviously), I'll talk about my reading progress a bit and list the books I've read. If they're particularly note-worthy and I've things to say, then they'll get their own "splotlight" entries. Otherwise, they'll just get noted and counted. We'll see how it progresses.

So, to get caught up. Here's how progress since my last book review:

#28: Airhead by Meg Cabot
#30: Pants On Fire by Meg Cabot
#31: Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas
#32: Irresitable by Susan Mallery
#33: It Happened ONe Autum by Lisa Kleypas
#34: Mad Dash by Patricia Gaffney






Airhead is Meg Cabot's latest YA novel. The basic premise is the a normal teenager suddenly switches identities with a teen super-model. I won't give away the surprise twist regarding how this happens though. Luckily, the book is quite fun and I look forward to future entries. Not princess-caliber awesome, but still plenty enjoyable.


Pants on Fire is a YA novel Meg Cabot released last year. It sounds like it's about horny teenagers but it's not. Well, the heroine really does spend a lot of the book making out with very cute boys... but she spends more of it lying through her damned teeth in a attempt to keep all of her balls in the air. But she's at heart a sweet girl, and the crash isn't nearly as terrible as she thinks it's going to be. Fun little stand-alone from Cabot, skews a little younger than I'd prefer. (Even with all of the making out and boy-lusting).


Tempting was really a quite bad romance novel. I randomly picked up Mallory's The Sassy One last summer and surprisingly enjoyed it. (Even though the heroine wasn't really what I'd call "sassy" in the slightest). But every book I've read since of hers has sucked. The writing's hollow, the characters are hollow, and the sex isn't remotely interesting. All of her books feel plastic-y and fake. I'm done. Sorry Susan Mallory, but you're just not for me.


I LOVED Blue Eyed Devil. Lisa Kleypas' latest contemporary romance novel featuring members of the rich Texan oil family. If it were a film, it would be a very glossy, non-preachy, high-class Lifetime movie about a wounded heiress moving on from an abusive marriage and finding love with a self-made millionaire oil-man who is afraid that no matter how good a man he is, it's against his nature and he'll end up hurting those around him. Yeah, I can't imagine recommending it to a single person I know, but I loved it nonetheless. When the paperback comes out and the hardback is super cheap, I'll totally add it to my collection.


Kleypas' historical romance novels are less awesome, though. In fact, I don't really like them at all. I can't say I'm much for the historical romance novel genre in general though. It Happened One Autumn was especially porny and anachronistic (I think that's the word). I breezed right through it and it left very little impression. Except it felt a lot like a poor, sexed-up imitation of a Georgette Heyer novel. And Heyer, in many ways, wrote imitation Jane Austen. So a sloppy, underdeveloped, over-sexed imitation imitation. Not truly terrible, but not really any good either.


Oh, Mad Dash. I've been reading this book since December. This is the second time I borrowed it from the library. I meant to finish it the first time... I really did. It's not the book's fault. I just wasn't in the mood. It's a quiet, funny, bittersweet yet surprisingly hopeful book about a twenty-year marriage and the two individuals in it. It was very good, just not something in my usual style or something that I'd need to read again any time soon. I liked "Flight Lessons" better, though.

Book Review: Recent Reads #26 & #28

I started this entry about two weeks ago and sadly wrote

Oh my god! I'm all caught up!

With a super-fantastic
all-Meg-Cabot-all-the-time entry.

Yeah, not even close anymore. Dammit.

Anyways. Yeah, Meg Cabot books are my ultimate guilty pleasure books at the moment. Seeing as they're mostly aimed at young teenaged girls, and I am most certainly not one. But they're fluffy, and quick, and ridiculously entertaining. And Meg Cabot has the uncanny ability to create heroines with addictively sincere and authentic voices. They all sound like teenaged girls I know/knew/am/were/only was inside my head. And it's awesome.

Anyway, I somehow got addicted to Meg Cabot last summer when Laura ran across her blog and I thought it was pretty funny and decided to give one of her books a try. Unfortunately, I started with Queen of Babble, which I didn't hate per se, but the heroine was far too stupid to live and I really couldn't stand her. I'm pretty sure I then picked up the Heather Wells books. At which point I commenced laughing my ass off. And then, Amy and I were trapped in Vancouver with a bunch of misogynistic assholes and I picked up The Princess Diaries and there was just no turning back. The Princess Diaries are fucking awesome.

(TANGENT ALERT!! If you haven't read any of the books but did see
the movie, keep an open mind. Yeah, the movie was kinda cute, but it got a
lot of things wrong. Like Anne Hathaway being a twenty-yr-old beauty queen
where Mia is an awkward, gangly, 15-yr-old with seriously short blond
hair. And Julie Andrews being poised and regal where Grandmere is a
raging, manipulative, scheming, crazy-ass bitch (who is nonetheless
awesome). And instead of Mia's hilariously stoic Swedish boygaurd Lars
(whose also a big old teddy bear where Mia's concerned), we get Hector Elizando
as a chauffeur named Joe who annoyingly dispenses wisdom from the front
seat. The books are infinitely more interestign and engaging. OMG!
END OF TANGENT!)

Which leads me to... Princess Mia (Princess Diaries #9)!

This is the penultimate book in the series and it continues right along where #8 left off. Which means Mia is depressed, eating meat, and refusing to get out of bed while desperately shooting apologetic emails to Tokyo hoping she can take back the fact that she freaked out and broke up with her boyfriend just before he got on the plane. Yup, Mia's finally hit teenaged-girl rock bottom. Misery, depression, and apathy. Woo. Somehow, in the midst of teen depression, the book is still a riot. Comedy highlights include getting kidnapped by her father and boyguard and literally dragged kicking and screaming (while still wearing her grummy Hello Kitty pajamas) to a bizzare "cowboy therapist," going bra shopping with Lana Weinberger, the school blowing up, and incredulously having ranting about having gained almost an entire "Fat Louie" while at the doctor's office.

I loved it. It was sweet and endearing and Mia feels happy and hopefull going into book 10. But there's still lots of stuff to get cleaned/cleared up in the next one. The last one ever! Woo.

Pick up "The Princess Diaries" because they're awesome. And I mean it.

Book Review: Recent Reads #25, #27, & #29

Quick Note: I was so close to being caught up! I was three books behind! Almost there! Then I knocked my computer off my bed, fucked up my wireless card, had to get the techs at work to fix it, procrastinated as usual, unexpectedly read a giant pile of fast-going YA literature and ended up way behind. As usual. Dammit. Also, the ordering is all messed up at this point because I skipped #17 and #18 which were comics (and thus require me to download programs to read digital comics and rip images before I can post that review... as you have to see Tabby to believe her... not to mention Aaron's mighty robot head). Plus, the Meg Cabot needs to go together so chronology be damned! Anyways, enough with the ramblings... on with the reviews!



Title: Remember Me?
Author: Sophie Kinsella
Genre: Chick Lit

Quick Review: Easy breezy chick lit novel. The heroine is your standard, ordinary, chick lit heroine until she blacks out, wakes up in a hospital bed, and finds out that she's lost all memory of the past three years of her life. And now she's glamorous, has perfect hair, teeth, and botoxed lips, is married to an extremely handsome and wealthy man, and is the boss at her workplace. She may also be a big ole bitch. One who alienated all of her friends, is a tyrant at work, and was cheating on her "perfect" spouse with his hot architect. So, yeah, harmless fluffy beach read with a heroine who is a little annoying (as are all chick lit leads) but fortunately not in the "too stupid to live" category.

Final Note: I love how she used to go to "cute architect guy's" house to eat toast (sadly, that's totally not a euphemism... although "planting sunflowers" creepily is).



Title: Looking For Alaska
Author: John Green
Genre: Young Adult

Quick Review: I picked this one up because Meg Cabot's always saying how awesome John Green is and how he's not a pornographer (seriously, since when does one quick blow-job scene make a book pornographic). So, yeah, it's totally a "young man searches for his identity at an elite boarding school" book. Which makes me think of A Separate Peace or Dead Poet's Society or Prep (though that last one revolved around a self-centered unlikable girl rather than a self-centered unlikeable boy) which is unfortunate because those all have mighty portions of angst. (Oh god, A Separate Peace. I swear, that's one of the worst books I had to read in High School. Oh man, now I'm thinking about The Awakening and Woman Warrior and The English Patient and My Antonia... will this evil mental spiral ever end!? )

Except Looking For Alaska is a very modern, sad and melancholy yet hauntingly beautiful, and really incredibly well written little book. And the angst is at a minimum. And I totally cried in the middle. And I really can't say more without giving away plot.

Final Note(s): My favorite scenes totally involved Cap at the basketball games, harassing the opposing team till he got kicked out ("I am concussed."). Also, I want to read An Abundance of Katherines just because of how awesome that cover is. And that title is cool too.



Title: Book Of A Thousand Days
Author: Shannon Hale
Genre: Young Adult/Children's Lit

Quick Review: I keep reading Shannon Hale books because I liked her Newberry-winning first novel, The Princess Academy. Unfortunately, she keeps writing the same book over and over again and I keep getting bored. I'm officially done. These books have teenage heroines who are seriously great role models for 12-yr-old girls. But I'm not twelve anymore and the writing's just not good enough to hook me in as an adult. Again, another good book for kids, but not a good book for Tabatha.

Movie Review: Iron Man

Oh my god. Iron Man was frickin awesome.

I really shouldn't have liked it. I mean, it's a comic book movie and I pretty much always find them lame, Iron Man was never my favorite superhero, Tony Stark's a total asshole in every comic I've seen him in, and it features a guy in a suit with a mask that covers his face (HATE! SO MUCH!).

Luckily, I love Robert Downey Jr, Stark's an asshole in a good way, the whole film is pretty funny (without being slapstick), the love interest/assistant is awesome (despite the fact that Abi hates Gwenyth Paltrow), and the CGI action sequences are kept to a bare minimum (and the ones they have are awesome).


Favorite Bits:

- Robert Downey Jr frequently running around in a muscle-baring tank top.
- The robots in Stark's house. "You douse me again when I'm not actually on fire and I'm gonna donate you to the local college."
- Tony Stark's sheer awesome brilliance. "Tony Stark made one in a cave... from junk!" "Well, I'm not Tony Stark!"
- Pepper running from the big-bad-guy robot monstrosity and not looking back for a second.
- "Just call us S.H.I.E.L.D"


Also, I totally call my puppy "Pepper, Pepper, Pepper Pot" but I also call her "Pepper, Pepper, Pepper Pants." It's an alliteration thing.

Book Review: Recent Reads #24

Title: Lost In A Good Book (Thursday Next #2)
Author: Jasper Fforde

So much fun. I'm totally addicted to Thursday Next now. And who ever thought Miss Havisham would be a kick-ass book-police mentor? But she totally is.

There's really no way to explain the plots of these books without ruining surprises and workings. So, I'm just going to leave you with a few quotes.

"I took a deep breath and waded into the swirling maelstrom of popular-prose-induced violence. Almost instantly, I was punched in the jaw and thumped in the kidneys."

"She smiled triumphantly as she head-butted a woman who had tried to poke her in the eye with a silver-plated bookmark. I took a step forward to join the fray, the stopped, considered my condition for a moment and decided that perhaps pregnant women shouldn't get involved in bookshop brawls."

"Undeterred, they thumbed through a yellowed statute book and eventually charged me with a little-known 1621 law about permissioning a horse and carte to be driven by personn of low moral turpithtude, but with the "horse and carte" bit crossed out and "car" written in instead- so you can see how desperate they were."

My absolute favorite part of the whole novel involve one character telling another that "For what you've done to me, I hope you rot in Hell." That shit's serious. Seriously awesome.

Book Review: Recent Reads #23

Title: Small Favor (Dresden Files #10)
Author: Jim Butcher
Genre: Urban Fantasy


It's the latest Harry Dresden book! Woo! Ten books strong and the series is still kicking. It's been on a serious kick in the last couple of entries with 7, 8, and 9, being my favorites of the series so far. Book 10 doesn't live up to the sheer awesome that was "White Knight" but little could and it feels a lot like a transition/set-up book so I think that was source of any disappointment. Also, it heavily involves the Knights of The Cross and the fallen-angel lackeys they pursue and the holy knights have never been my favorite of Dresden's allies. Also, no Ramirez! I like Ramirez! Luckily, Kincaid and the Archive show up to make things interesting, though, and Thomas is still around to take constant jabs at Harry's ego. And Bob the Skull talks like a pirate.

"I stopped for a moment and gave the skull an exasperated look. 'I can't believe I just heard that word."
"What?" Bob Asked brightly. "Weregoats?"

"I didn't see anything. My highly tuned investigative instincts didn't see anything either. I hate feeling like Han Solo in a world of Jedi. 'I'm supposed to be the Jedi,' I muttered aloud."

Final Note: A particularly hilarious scene involves a confrontation I like to call "Harry vs. An Elevator" and if you're all caught up with Harry's adventures, you're picturing it already.

Book Review: Recent Reads #22

Title: Agnes and the Hitman
Authors: Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer

Totally awesome book. And yes, I read it last year pretty much the day it came out. Myself and two friends actually managed to read the book within three days with all of us sharing one library copy between us. It was that good.

A cranky food critic, with a penchant for going into blind rages and hitting her cheating fiances in the head with frying pans, runs into some trouble involving a wedding, a deceitful bitch trying to steal her house, thugs trying to kidnap her dog, and yet more thugs trying to simply kill her. Logically, her former-mobster pal Joey, calls in his estranged nephew (and government hitman) at the first sign of trouble to "protect his little Agnes." Eventually, Agnes learns to channel her anger and embrace her crazy in a good way and Shane finds comfort and stability and family, things he never knew and never really knew he needed.

After a second read, it's still a great book. Agnes is still totally fucking awesome (and easilly my favorite Crusie heroine so far) and Lisa Livia is even better than I remembered her being. The collaboration between the authors is also incredibly tight. It's one damn cohesive novel. The only bits that stuck out involved Shane going off and doing "guy stuff" like shooting people in the woods or engaging in boat chases. I think that had a lot to do with the fact that Shane left the house and I couldn't help but sit there and heckle "But Agnes is back at the house! Get back to the good stuff!"

My favorite scene is still the one where Agnes and L.L. are in the kitchen and L.L. lifts a bucket of cake icing and is all "Dude, what's this sticky red stuff, oh god it's blood." And Agnes, without skipping a beat, promptly leans over, wipes it with a dishrag, and nonchalantly explains that "Shane picked it up for me" because no further explanation is needed. And L.L. responds in a tone laden with "Which one of us is mob princess? Well, whatever makes you happy." Hee.


Note: I meant to post my favorite quotes, but I forgot and returned the book to the library before I could snag them so I'll just post them in a separate post later. (In an effort to truck on through these damn reviews and get caught up).

Book Review: Recent Reads #17, #20 & #21

Title: Mean Season
Author: Heather Cochran


Easily one of the best books I've read all year. It's sort of a combined women's fiction/chick lit novel. The protagonist is a mid-twenties law clerk named Leanne who lives at home with her some-what crotchety mother and her mentally disabled brother and feels a bit penned-in and stuck in her life. She's also the president of movie-star Joshua Reed's fan club, even though she's not a fanatic in any way shape or form. It just kind of fell into her lap. And then Joshua comes to town, acts like a total asshole (becuase he is one), gets drunk, hits a cow, and ends up serving a house-arrest DUI sentence in her house during the summer. And the whole thing's a catalyst for change in a bunch of people's lives. For the better.

"I told her you were an asshole but she still wanted to sleep with you."
"Ain't fame great?"

Title: The Lightning Thief
Author: Rick Riordan

Summer camp for demi-gods! My thirteen year-old cousin suggested/loaned this to me at Thanksgiving and I figured by Easter it was about time I read it and gave it back. It follows the adventures of a 7th grader named Percy who finds out the Greek gods are alive and kicking, one of them's his father (probably one of the big three: Zeus, Hades, or Poseidon), and if he leaves the special summer-camp/demi-god training camp he's at, about a billion different things will try to kill him. So of course, he ends up going on a quest.

It's fun and I'm sure kids in the 10-12 yr old age range would enjoy it. The mythology stuff is pretty cheesy, though. And that's coming from a person who has watched a truly embarrassing amount of "Hercules: The Legendary Journey" and "Zena: Warrior Princess" and who read every book in the school library on Greek mythology when I was thirteen. So, to sum up, it's a good kid book. Just not a good kid-book-for-Tabatha.



Title: The Eyre Affair
Author: Jasper Fforde

Amy and Dee Dee both like these books. Although Amy's head-over-heels-in-love with Thurday's pet dodo and I could care less. The books are classified as "mysteries" but I'd say they're more "adventure" than "mystery." Which is good for me, as I love adventure. Also, a main villain is named "Jack Schitt" and it's a stupid joke that never stops making me laugh (al0ng the same lines as Pratchett's "Rob Anybody"). Anyway, the books seem to mostly involve Thursday Next cleverly running around, having adventures, dealing with bureaucrats, time-travelers, nefarious villains, and embodied literary characters/beasts. This is the first in the series and I found it a little clunky in the execution but having an interesting premise. Then I read the sequel and promptly got thoroughly addicted.

Quick Bits!

Some quick bits:

- I'm currently entirely addicted to 30 Rock. Everywhere I went on the internet last week seemed to be talking about how hilarious the "MILF Island" episode was. And it was pretty funny. Especially "eat my poo." I then went back and watched most of the second season from nbc.com and am currently working through the first season via netflix "instant play."

"I love Foxy Boxing! It combines two of my favorite things! Boxing and referees."


-Dude. Monster's Inc is so adorable. That little girl cracks me up. The boys just acquired that movie for 80 cents at a thrift store. Totally worth it.

- I excitedly bought Willow on my way out of work today and spent the afternoon trying to explain to 20-yr-olds who've never heard of it why a fantasy movie about midgets and sorceresses and fairies was awesome. I totally failed. But I'll watch it with the kids tomorrow.

- I bought a new-release chick-book because it had a Crusie quote on the front of it and I just can't hunker down and get into it. I think I'll wait till my day off on Sunday so that I can just buckle down in my chair and read most of it in one go.

-I totally lost my keys yesterday. At the house. After successfully driving myself home from work. And let me tell you, it wasn't nearly as funny as the time I threw them in my trunk and had to call AAA. It was damn frustrating. I mean, I checked the driveway, the ground near my car, the sandbox, the shoe shelf, every surface in the kitchen/dining room, the food cabinet, the fridge, every pair of pants I own, every sweater pocket, every friggin purse, and the entire front lawn. I even checked all of the holes Pepper had dug in the front lawn in case she had found and buried them.

They were on the fucking grill! The stupid, gray, overturned goddamn grill that's laying in the grass in front of the garage. My best guess is that I bent over to pet the puppy (who sits by it because it's as close as she can get to the kids' sandbox while on her yard leash) and I set them down. Fucking puppy. I knew she had to be involved.

-The other day, I told Pepper she was a bitch "both biologically and attitude wise." I was in the process of throwing her outside because she was barking at the vacuum (so annoying). It still cracks me up. It's probably not good that I find myself so amusing.

Book Review: Recent Reads #15 & #16

Two mini reviews for a two mini-books! You'll note there are no actual reviews for either, though. Basically they were both short and cute and fun. And had awesome dogs in them.

Really, you and I both know I just mostly write these reviews to aid my failing memory, add cover art, and write about the often mundane details of when and why I acquired/started/stopped/resumed said book.


Title: Anyone But You

Why I Picked It Up: It was sitting on Kelcie's coffee table, it was 7am or so and I was wide awake, and Kelsie and Amy were still asleep.

Plot: Short but sweet 80's romance novel involving a strong, independent, and recently divorced forty-year-old woman, her cute thirty-year-old ER doctor neighbor who has family pressure from every direction, a depressed Bassett Hound named Fred, and watching old movies.

Wrap-Up: Simple and fun little book that made me smile while I was reading it and left a smile on my face when I was done.

Title: Getting Rid of Bradley
Why I Picked It Up: Acquired it in a used book store, read a couple of chapters once I got home and then promptly put it aside for a year and a half or so until I was wide awake with stomach cramps the other night and read the rest of it in one go between 1 and 3 am.

Basic Premise: Lucy is a sweet physics teacher who just divorced her so-so husband for cheating on her, accidently turned her hair green from futzing with the color too much and lives in her dream house with three crazy mutts all named after physicists. Oh, and someone's try to kill her. Possibly someone named Bradley. Zach is the detective who literally gets caught in the crossfire (and bashed in the head with a physics textbook for his trouble) and then promptly sets himself up in her house to protect her/figure out what's going on. And then all five of them (dogs included! Woo!) bond. Duh.

Best Part: The dogs. What? I'm easy to please. Schroedinger's "dead dog" trick cracks me up and how "Heisenberg" got his name is just great.

Gaius Baltar Gets An Unfair Ammount of Tail... I'm Just Saying

It never ceases to boggle my mind that with how hot most of the Battlestar cast are, Gaius Baltar gets the most action. By far!

Dude. First, there are three different incarnations of "Cylon Model Six" including the one who slept with him so that she could bring about the mass genocide of humanity, one who appears to only exist in his head (and thus is routinely naked), and one who was a seriously traumatized rape and torture victim who had sex with him and then promptly committed suicide with a nuke, taking half the human fleet with her.

And there's Starbuck that one time. Ewww. Yeah, not a high point for Starbuck.

And those random skanks strewn about him just as the concentration camp rolled into New Caprica.

And then there was that whole bizarro threesome thing with "Caprica Six" (aforementioned genocide instigator) and "Three" (a cylon model so crazy obsessed that the other robots shut her down and wiped out her entire model as defective).

And now. Now it looks like he has an entire harem of creepy religious cult girls at his disposal.

Oh, Baltar.

I do not like Green Eggs and Ham.

I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

I do not like green eggs and ham.

I had never read the book as a child. Then, I discovered a copy while cleaning out the kid's entertainment center downstairs and picked it up and started reading it to Blue-Eyes (who quickly started yelling at me that he already read that one in school). And it was totally awesome. I mean, this asshole Sam is being totally annoying and the narrator just keeps yelling at him that he doesn't like this bizarre disgusting food and I was totally waiting for the punchline where the narrator just can't take it anymore, goes ape-shit, and takes Sam out. And then the book got stupid. Because it turned out that the narrator never even tried the nasty pile of green grossness. And when he does, he doesn't even have enough righteous indignation at that asshole Sam to even pretend that it tastes like ass. He just has to teach children about the importance of not making rash judgment based on appearance. Like anyone's gonna learn that lesson before age 16 anyways.

All I'm saying is, if I had been the narrator, I would have shoved that plate right up Sam-I-Am's ass. And no one would blame me. Or be surprised in the slightest.

Cutest. Jedi. Ever. For Serious.

On my first day off from work in six days, I stumbled downstairs at the bright hour of 11am this morning and found the following sitting on the sofa...

Watch out!

Or Jedi Hippo will kick your ass.

Hippo is totally the new Yoda.

Recent Reads: #13 and #14

Teenaged girl boarding school spy books!

Title: I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You
Title: Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy
Author: Aly Carter
Genre: Young Adult

Why I Almost Didn't Pick Them Up but then did Anyways: Well, I was in the Barnes & Noble, looking to burn plastic fake money (ah, birthday and christmas gift cards... I'm a stretching those suckers out) and the sequel was propped up prominently on an end-cap. And the blurb on the back turned me off. I think I've just been reading things wrong lately but it really made it sound like Cammie had a secret love affair with some boy and he turned out to be a double agent and she and her friends had to prove to the CIA that Cammie was innocent in the whole thing... but no. It's much much lighter than that. Both books are. They're about cute teenaged girls who watch Gilmore Girls and Buffy and Alias but who also happen to be kick-ass little super-spies in training. Oh, and they pretty much no nothing about boys. Which is kinda bad. Luckily, I looked a little more closely at them the next time I found myself wandering aimlessly through Barnes & Noble and finally bought the first one.


Choice Quotes:

"But then I looked at the woman who had raised me and who, rumor has it, once sweet-talked a Russian dignitary into dressing in drag and carrying a beach ball full of liquid nitrogen under his shirt like a pregnant lady, and I knew I was sufficiently outgunned..."

"We'd been studying boys for almost an entire academic year, and yet I didn't feel any closer to understanding a culture where people insult you, then tease you, ignore you for weeks, and then ask you to the movies!"


Final Thought: Very cute, very fun, light books. I swear, I kept laughing out loud while reading that second one. Every time Zach said something and Cammie was like "How did you know that?!" and he'd just point to himself and go"Spy" I laughed (and fully would have kicked his ass had I been Cammie). Oh, boy spies. Mayhem! Hee. Also, Cammie's Mom (the school headmistress) is a total Sydney Bristow clone and there's nothing but awesome in that. Nothing at all.

Book Review: Recent Reads #12

Title: The Hogfather
Author: Terry Pratchet
Why I Picked It Up: I told you I would! I did!

Review: Well, here we are again, Mr. Pratchet. And again, I can't really review the book. But I definitely liked it. I liked "Thief Of Time" better, but that one was more straight-forward and less profound. Also, I'm having a really hard time remembering waht this book was actually about and I only read it three weeks or so ago. The next time I read it, I'll make sure to read it faster, uninterrupted, and in a quiet place so that I can let everything click properly together. Sometimes Pratchett is tricky like that.

How about the characters? Mr. Teatime is truly creepy and evil, I kinda loved Susan, the children Susan governessed for were hysterical, the God of Hangovers made me smile, Death's depth and complexity and sense of compassion and feeling for the humans just about killed me with awesome, and I still don't really understand what the hell was going on really. Like I said, 'll have to read this one again.

Favorite Quote: Surprisingly enough, it's a wizard quote.

"I don't actually think," he said, gloomily, "that I want to tell the Archchancellor that this machine stops working if we take its fluffy teddy bear away. I just don't think I want to live in that kind of world."

Second Favorite Quote: (a conversation between Death and Susan)

"The children had to watch that!"
EDUCATIONAL. THE WORLD WILL TEACH THEM ABOUT MONSTERS SOON ENOUGH. LET THEM REMEMBER THERE'S ALWAYS THE POKER.
"But they saw he's human-"
I THINK THEY HAD A VERY GOOD IDEA OF WHAT HE WAS.

Book Review: Recent Reads #10 and #11

Ok, my current mission is to get all caught up on book reviews by tonight (unlikely) or tomorrow (less unlikely). Because I'm finishing up book #15 and I find the reviews are better if I've actually read the book recently, as the title suggests.

So, first off today are two mini-reviews of "beach read" type books that I picked up last summer, read bits of, was ambivalent about, and returned to the library without completing.


Title: Ex and the Single Girl
Author: Lani Diane Rich
Genre: Chick Lit/General Fiction

Why I picked it Up: The author is a friend of Jennifer Crusie, I liked Time Off For Good Behavior from her, and I enjoy listening to her podcasts while on long car rides.

Why I Put It Down: Meh, I just wasn't in to it. It felt a lot like a story I'd already read before. Wait, that was probably just bits of "Ya Ya Sisterhood" I saw on tv randomly. That's not good.

The Gist: Portia's life is stalled and she's unmotivated. She got left by her live-in long-term boyfriend about a year ago and can't seem to finish her Ph.D. thesis about Jane Austen because she's only inspired enough to sit on her couch and watch the "Pride and Prejudice" miniseries over and over again. Then, "The Mizzes" as she refers to her perpetually single Grandma, Aunt, and Mother, trick her into spending the summer at home. And eventually, she learns that she has intimacy issues and maybe she should straighten herself out.

Overall Thoughts: Not a bad book but I really think I didn't like it. You read "the gist," you've read that book or seen that movie before too? Right? Well, this book doesn't add anything new. Except the really stupid term "Penis Teflon" (It's why men leave all of the women in the family... not cause they're shrews or they push them away... no it's because they have innate Penis Teflon) which made me want to hit Portia with a frying pan every time she said it. Also, I really didn't feel like the elder women in her life got their fair share of plot lines and back story. If you're gonna write a good novel about multi-generations of women in one family, you've gotta thoroughly explain each woman's motivation (See "Flight Lessons" by Patricia Gaffney for an example of doing it right) and I didn't feel like there was enough oomph behind them. I keep trying to pick up Lani Diane Rich's books because I think that I should love them, but I just don't.



Title: Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom
Author: Julie Kenner
Genre: Supernatural Fiction

Why I Picked It Up: I had finished reading Shanna Swendson's "Enchanted Inc" books and was looking for something else light and fluffy with a dash of the supernatural.

The Gist: The heroine used to be a Buffy-esque demon fighter but is now a suburban soccer mom with a tragically deceased first husband, a teenage daughter, a two-year old son, a politician husband, and a secret past. And the demons are back.

Why I put it down: The constant suburban-mom brand-name dropping annoyed me. But mostly, I just wasn't in the mood.

Overall Thoughts: Fun, very light, beach read. I'm glad I picked it back up. The sequels will keep me busy during the summer. I like how she's a little rusty, but can still kung-fu like the best of them, stab demons in the eye, and keep her teenage daughter from dressing like a ho all at the same time.

Book Review: Recent Reads #9

Title: Frederica
Author: Georgette Heyer
Genre: Historical (Regency) Romance

Why I Picked It Up: I read "Devil's Cub," fell in love with Georgette Heyer, and scoured the internet for reviews of her works so that I could figure out which ones to read next. And it seemed that a serious fan favorite was the one involving a quiet and sensible young woman who strikes up an unlikely friendship with her scandalous new neighbor in the countryside.

So, I put it on hold from the library, picked it up, sat down in the papazon chair in my bedroom, and dug in. Then I read the intro, and got a little confused. I didn't recall any young brothers or big rambunctious dogs from the synopsis I had read. And then I read some more, and the book was set in London, and the male lead wasn't notorious in the slightest... and then I realized that while "Frederica" and "Venetia" are both female names, they are not the same damn Georgette Heyer novel. One day, I will read "Venetia" but that day has not happened yet.

Review: Yeah, I pretty much loved it. I especially loved the male lead in this one.

The Marquis D'Alverstroke: is not a particularly rougish fella. He's mostly just an overly-wealthy, self-centered aristocrat with nothing to do who easily becomes bored with everything and everyone around him.

Frederica: is a self proclaimed "old maid" despite being attractive, intelligent, and only 24 years old. She's also the unofficial guardian of her three younger siblings and she pretty much runs the affairs of the whole family because she's responsible and sensible and her similarly-aged brother (who is officially responsible for them all) would rather horse around and get drunk and get his ass temporarily suspended from college.

Eventually, Frederica gets around to asking the Marquis, who she only knows because her late father once mentioned that he knew and liked him, to help introduce her extremely lovely (and rather docile and a bit naive) sister into society and Alverstroke agrees mostly because he's bored and it'll piss off his bitchiest sister. And of course, the Marquis ends up finding a family he was never looking for in the first place and Frederica ends up finding a husband she wasn't looking for either. Happy ending! Woo.


Final Note: I'm really starting to love the awesome middle-aged women (usually sisters) who walk around pointing and laughing at the male leads. They're all "Hah! I've got it! You're acting strangely because you've finally fallen in love with a woman! Hah! Serves you right. And you're absolutely fuckin terrified that she doesn't love you back! Hah! Excellent! Turn-around's a bitch!"

Also, I'm pretty sure Frederica and the Marquis are the best matched couple I've read in a romance novel in quite a while. They're just immensely compatible and it's not a leap at all to assume they lived happily ever after.