by Candy · Dec 21, 2010 at 12:22 am ·
Comments Off on Oh, hell, since I’m being nitpicky and bitchy already…
(Prefatory note: Again, apologies to Dear Author for stealing their style. I guess I’m in a epistolary mood these days.) Dear various American authors of historical romances who are trying very, very hard to sound authentically British, It’s not like I’m the foremost Britpicker of all time. Not even close. But I’ve noticed a distressing trend among your ranks in recent days. I understand that you are probably sick of readers bitching and moaning about … Continue reading Oh, hell, since I’m being nitpicky and bitchy already…→
(With apologies to Dear Author’s style.) Dear Boneshaker, You will not find somebody much more inclined to like you. No, not just inclined. Downright eager to like you. Steampunk with zombies and pirates and airships oh my set in alternate reality Seattle? HOLY SHIT, and also HELL YES. It sounds absurd and fun and full of good times. Hey, I’m the girl who’s currently bugging her friends to go see Warrior’s Way with her, solely … Continue reading A Cautionary Note to a Book→
I recently lent my copies of Scott Pilgrim to a friend of mine—a delightfully geeky dude who, like me, works part-time in the law school computer lab. He’d never read the books prior to watching the movie; he loved loved loved the movie, and I knew he’d eat the books up. And sure enough, he spent a good part of our shift giggling like a girl as he ploughed through Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life … Continue reading In which Candy asserts that Scott Pilgrim is really a romance novel→
I know this is a romance blog and all, but we talk an awful lot about sexuality and gender roles and cultural mores in real life and in fiction, and then I read “What Happened to Hope Witsell” today (one week late!) on my friend Sylvia’s blog while taking a brain-break from studying, and it made me so incredibly sad and angry that I kind of want to break something. This is more than a … Continue reading Stop killing our daughters→
Candy: You know, the way those boys are looking at the baby? Not cute. I imagine veal farmers looking at their little boxed-in baby cows in much the same way. These guys are not contemplating what a blessing that kid is. Theses guys are contemplating whether they should bust out the fava beans and Chianti. Sarah: They say women and men can’t relate, but that poor man right there, he understands our pain. His stretched … Continue reading Category romance snark: alternative families!→
I’ve read some truly hilarious “Science fiction has become nothing more than romance novels in outer space!” arguments in my time, but I don’t think I’ve read one quite as poorly-written and outright hysterical (word used with all due irony) as the article on The Spearhead about “The War on Science Fiction and Marvin Minsky.” (Thanks to Eric Selinger for the link.) As far as I can tell, the argument in the article can be … Continue reading The War on Critical Thinking and Evolving Social Mores→
Dear Internet: I miss you. So very, very much. I’ve started a half-dozen posts (Katiebabs, I’m still working on finishing the cri de coeur—though cri de singe fâché might be more accurate—that’s my review of Cry No More) and left them unfinished. I am shaking my tiny, tiny fist against the various timesuck vortices that have spontaneously emerged around me. But if you miss seeing me on-line, you have an opportunity to see me IN … Continue reading Candy at Wordstock Festival events on Saturday and Sunday→
So Meg Cabot posted a rant today about mandatory reading lists, and how much she hated them, entitled “How To Foster a Hatred of Reading,” in response to a NY Times article entitled “The Future of Reading.” I think part of Cabot’s argument is sound—if you want to foster a love of reading in kids, forcing them to read isn’t the greatest idea. Kids aren’t exactly enamored with things that look like work, and mandatory … Continue reading How to foster a love of reading and literary analysis→
It’s been a little while since we’ve done any cover snark, and how do we herald the return of this time-honored feature? With bad fantasy covers, of course. If there’s a genre blessed with even worse covers than romance novels, fantasy (especially sword-and-sorcery high fantasy) would be it, with science fiction hot on its effete elven heels. So put on your robe and wizard hat, and get ready to cast Level 8 Cock of the … Continue reading And now for a slight change in pace: fantasy covers on the chopping block→
Part 1 of the Books What I Read While On Summer Vacation can be found here. Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas (Historical Romance – European), St. Martin’s 2007 Grade: B I went on quite the Lisa Kleypas roll this summer, and immersed myself, yea verily, in her ocean of fluffy romance goodness. Cam is a bit of a rarity for a Kleypas hero: more sunny-natured than not, and refreshingly angst-free, despite his half-gypsy, half-Irish … Continue reading Summer Round-Up: Books What I Read While On Summer Vacation, Pt. 2→
Y’all, I managed to get more leisure reading done in the past three months than I have in the past two years combined. It’s amazing what being stuck on a plane or a bus will do to one’s reading time, not to mention the one month I spent laid up in bed from a one-two whammy of a really nasty summer flu, followed by strep throat. (Lymph nodes the size of ripe plums, dudes. It … Continue reading Summer Round-Up: Books What I Read While On Summer Vacation, Pt. 1→
