And Now We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Program

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Back when I first did 25 things about me, Pam left a comment that I took as a challenge: to do, eventually, 75 more to get to 100. I took the challenge seriously, and determined to do another set… as soon as I could think up a decent theme. It hit me last night, on the way to yoga.

1. If you’ve known me for any length of time (and this probably spills over into my blogging), you know I have a “thing” for dark-haired, British actors.
2. I haven’t always been this way.
3. When I was in high school, I had enormous crushes on Michael J. Fox, Richard Dean Anderson and the blond-haired guy from Simon and Simon.
4. I had posters of all of them (and INXS) on my walls.
5. I also had one entire wall that was covered in comic strips cut out from the newspaper. But I digress.
6. So, obviously, my taste in actor crushes (which I “always” have had) has evolved.
7. I can pinpoint my dark-haired, British fixation to 1995, when a slew of Jane Austen adaptations came out.
8. I “fell in love” with: Colin Firth (Mr. Darcey), Jeremy Northam (Mr. Knightley) and Ciaran Hines (Captain Wentworth). And to a lesser extent Alan Rickman (Colonel Brandon… but he doesn’t count since I’ve liked him since the horrid Kevin Costner Robin Hood.)
9. I say “fell in love”, but it was more like appreciating fine art. I admire them. I enjoy looking at them. Watching movies they are in make me happy.
10. I am not a stalker. (Yet?)
11. I started tracking down everything they were in, because I’m that sort of person. Which means I’ve watched some pretty bad movies. (And have thought to myself: hey, Ciran Hines/Jeremy Northam is in that; I should see it!)
12. Colin Firth makes the best case for himself out of period clothes.
13. In other words: no matter how bad the movie is, I still like him. The others, I seem to only like in period dress.
14. For years and years, it was just those three.
15. I have adored others, though — most notably Viggo Mortenson (Aragon) and Orlando Bloom (Will Turner, not Legolas) — but nowhere near as much as the original Three.
16. And, generally, my interest seems to wane over time. (Sorry, Orlando.) Or just be limited to one movie.
17. I would add Daniel Radcliff to the list, but a friend of mine has a formula for how young is too young — take half your age and add seven years — and Dan falls outside that limit for me. I’m practially old enough to be his mom (though I would have been a teenage mom), and that’s probably a bit skanky.
18. Then this year, I’ve found others to adore and have found myself reacting in nearly the same way as I did originally: Jonas Armstrong (Robin Hood), Hugh Dancy (Grigg in The Jane Austen Book Club), and Elliot Cowan (Mr. Darcey in Lost in Austen.)
19. Which begs the question: what is it about dark-haired British men in period clothing?
20. I’m so taken with it that if I could go back and re-do my wedding, I’d make everyone wear period (preferrably Regency, but I’d go for Renaissance, too) clothing.
21. Thankfully, I’m married to a guy who’d go for that. And who doesn’t mind my actor-obsessions.
22. There is one exception, though: Brendan Fraser. He is dark-haired, but he’s not British. He’s not even a terribly brilliant actor. But he is imminently watchable, even in the really stupid movies he’s been in.
23. And I think he’s cute when he’s dirty and sweaty and smiles that smile of his.
24. Someday, I’ll probably look back on all this and cringe.
25. But then, someday, I’ll act my actual age and not like I’m 16. But, thankfully (?), that’s not quite yet.

The Ordinary Princess

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by M.M. Kaye
ages: 9-12
First sentence: “Long and long ago, when Oberon was king of the fairies, there reigned over the country of Phantasmorania a monarch who had six beautiful daughters.”

Charming. Completely and utterly charming.

The story of Amy — actually Amethyst Augusta Araminta Adelaide Aurelia Anne — who happens to be the seventh daughter of a king. The Queen and the council decide, since it’s tradition, to invite the fairies (over the King’s objection: “You may have forgotten what happened to my great-great-great-grandmother, but I have not. Had to sleep for a hundred years, poor girl, and the entire court with her, and all because of some silly fairy-business at the christening.”) to the christening of the baby. And, of course, something rash happens: the fairy Crustacea gives the baby the gift of being… ordinary.

Which means, of course, that next to her beautiful, stunning, perfect princess sisters, she’s pretty much nothing. And that no one wants to marry her. And that suits Amy just fine. She’s allowed the freedom to explore, to discover, to grow, to be. Until, because no one wants to marry her, her father decides to hire a dragon and imprison her in a tower until she is rescued.

Of course Amy won’t stand for that, and so she runs away, and hangs out in the forest until her dress falls apart. Then she gets a — shock — job, in order to save for a new dress. Since this is a fairy tale, she obviously has to meet The One, and of course it all has to work out as a happily-ever-after, but I will say this: you will be utterly charmed. And enchanted. And come away with a smile on your face.

Because it’s just that sort of book.

(Thanks, Sarah, for recommending it.)

Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom

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by Tim Byrd
ages: 9-12
First sentence: “The Lyceum of the Wilde family’s manor was a huge, odd room that seemed a combination of world-class library and Olympic gymnasium.”
Release date: May 14, 2009
Review copy sent to me by the publisher.

I needed something, after finishing The Woman in White, that was as far away from Victorian serialized novels as I could get. And, sorting through my piles of stuff, I came across this one. Which screams “not stuffy”. (Also “campy” and “not deep”, among other things.)

First off: how awesome is that title? Just saying it makes me grin… though I have to admit that I tend to say it in that movie-announcer voice: “DOC WILDE and the FROGS of DOOOOOOM!” Honestly: how much better can you get than frogs of doom? Not much.

That said, it totally and completely lived up to my campy expectations. You have a god of a Dad in Doc: a tall, muscular, blonde, intelligent, rich inventor who happens to Love his family and adventures. So he takes his family on adventures. Alas, his wife is dead (presumably, she was tall, muscular, blonde, intelligent and rich also), but that doesn’t seem to stop Doc or his two kids 12-year-old Brian and 10-year-old Wren (who are not tall and muscular, but are intelligent and rich). Add into this mix a British majordomo/butler who tends, in a crisis, to quote from literature (which the kids can always guess — though they stump him with Dr. Seuss — obviously they’re home schooled) and an Irish pilot/heavy and you pretty much have the Wilde family.

The adventure begins when their super-smart, tall, rich (he lives on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building) Grandpa Wilde goes missing. Of course the Wilde family have to go rescue him, and following his trail end up in the Amazon jungle of Hildago. Flying their gyrocopter into the jungle, they are attacked by MUTANT FROGS (Really. Totally. Awesome.), which crash the gyrocopter (but, which due to the super-intelligent design of Doc’s doesn’t actually crash), and the Wilde family are forced to hike through the forest. Where they’re attacked by more mutant frogs (but which they manage to fend off, without killing, because they respect all life forms, no matter how mutant, and are repelled by killing) one of which eventually possesses the body of one of them. Of course, Indiana Jones style, they manage to make their way into the lair, and rid the world of mutant frogs forever. (I would apologize for the spoiler, but really: did you think this could have any other ending?)

It’s smart, enjoyable, campy fun. Perfect for a hot summer day (or a kid whose tastes tend toward the mutant…).

Library Loot #18

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Still have a pile, and now I’m making it bigger: I’m stocking up for Mother Reader’s 48 Hour Challenge…

For A/K:
Man on the Moon: (a day in the life of Bob), by Simon Bartram
A Weekend with Wendell, by Kevin Henkes**
A Beautiful Feast for a Big King Cat, by John Archambault and Bill Martin, Jr./Illus. by Bruce Degen
What’s Under the Bed?, by Joe Fenton**
Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!, by Mo Willems**
Waffle, by Chris Rashka**
Pickles To Pittsburgh, Written and Colored by Judi Barrett/Drawn by Ron Barrett
Prancing, Dancing Lily, by Marsha Diane Arnold/Illus. by John Manders
Milo’s Hat Trick, by John Agee**

For C/me:
Babymouse #10: The Musical, by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm
The Ordinary Princess, by M.M. Kaye

For M/me:
How Not to Be Popular, by Jennifer Ziegler*
Whales on Stilts, by M. T. Anderson*
Alcatraz Versus The Scrivener’s Bones, by Brandon Sanderson*
Wicked Lovely, by Melissa Marr*
Girl at Sea, by Maureen Johnson*

For Hubby/M:
(Yes, you read that right: I checked out books for my husband! He started Wee Free Men, and became thoroughly enchanted with the series, and since we don’t own the last one, I had to check it out. And, additionally, he wants to read more Terry Pratchett…)
Wintersmith, by Terry Pratchett*
Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett

The roundup is either at Out of the Blue or A Striped Armchair.

*Ones that M eventually read.
**Picture books we really liked.

The Woman in White

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by Wilkie Collins
ages: adult(ish)
First sentence: “This is the story of what a Woman’s patience can endure, and what a Man’s resolution can achieve.”

First off — and I know it’s bad form to do this — I have to say novels that have been serialized and I have not gotten along in the past. Yes, I stand here and say that I dislike Dickens. Sorry. But, novels like these tend to go on and on and on and round and round and round and take FOREVER to get to the stinking point. Which drives me batty.

That said, I — mostly — liked this one. Yes, it was serialized, but for the most part, Collins handled that serialization quite well. He is a master of the cliffhanger. At one point while reading this book (if you really need a summary go here; it takes way too bloody long to explain, as I discovered the other night when trying to sum it up for my husband…) that if I had been alive in 1859 when this was being serialized, I would have totally lined up to get a copy. Every single day/week/time.

The mostly part is because the middle part is the best. It takes a while to get going — say 150 to 200 pages. But by the time Walter (our hero) is out-of-country (having been Spurned in Love) and Marian and Laura (our two heroines: Marian being strong and sensible and ugly; Laura weak, flighty and beautiful. Guess which one gets the guy…) are in the house of Sir Percival and under the influence of Count Fosco (our villains) and you don’t quite know what everyone is up to… that’s the good part. It’s okay after the first couple of twists, and Walter (who came back) sets about avenging the women, and is on the trail of Sir Percival’s Secret and there are still several twists you don’t quite expect. But the last 120 pages… yawn. I skimmed. I slid. I wished it would go faster… think of it as a really, really good TV show that kept you engaged throughout the entire run, and then completely and totally tanked on the season/series finale. Then you’ve pretty much got how I felt.

That said, I think I’m going to give Moonstone a go, if only because I’ve heard it’s better (that, and it’s on the schedule for my in-person book group…). And because, all my complaining aside, I did enjoy the ride that this book was.

Supernatural Graphic Novels

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I’m not sure if that’s the right description, but “fantasy” and “paranormal” didn’t quite work for this pairing either.

First up:
Kin (The Good Neighbors, Book 1)
by HollyBlack and Ted Naifeh
ages: 14+
First sentence: “West City, Thursday evening.”
(First sentences in a graphic novel is almost self-defeating…)

I’m conflicted about this one. I liked it well enough: the basic story is a girl, Rue, whose mother has disappeared after a fight with her father. Soon afterward, Rue starts seeing things she’s not supposed to. Turns out her mother was a faerie, and is slowly dying because Rue’s father had betrayed her. The art was a lush black and white (I think color would have overwhelmed the book, so I appreciated that choice), and I liked the characters okay (especially Tam; even though he doesn’t have a large role, I appreciated that nod). However, while I think it’s a good beginning to a series, it doesn’t really hold up as a stand-alone. It’s all set-up, no action, no resolution. And just leaves you feeling weird. However, I’m going to have to get the next volume, if only because I’m curious what happens to Rue.

Up next:

Life Sucks
by Jessica Abel, Gabe Soria, and Warren Pleece
ages: 16+
First sentence: doesn’t really have one. As I said, that’s pretty self-defeating when you’re dealing with a graphic novel.

This one has a fantastic premise: the undead are alive and among us. Dave, a college schlep who needs a job, applies for one at a 24 hour convenience store called Last Stop. Little did he know that applying for the job comes with a catch: being turned into a vampire. Stuck in a dead-end job (ha, no pun intended) working for a vampire master he loathes, Dave figures there’s nothing worth living (ha, again) for. So far, so good. Dave making his way as a vampire is pretty funny, the fact that he’s got a human roommate, and undead friends. His boss, Lord Radu is a great parody of the immigrant entrepreneur.

Then Dave sees Rosa, that is. A goth girl with an obsession with vampires, she would die (ooh, I’m killing myself… whoops, did it again.) to actually know (or be) one. He musters up some courage and strikes up a friendship with Rosa, not revealing that he’s a vampire. Then things start to go south, at least for me. Wes — the evil undead surfer dude (such an oxymoron) — decides Rosa is hot, and he decides that what he really wants to do is bite and bag her. (He’s got three vampire brides and could use one more.) Dave makes a valiant attempt to stop Wes, making in the end a dare out of seeing who Rosa would go for. And that’s when the book tanks. It gets all sex-obsessed (big-boobed, scantily-clad bimbos anyone?), and violent, and just plain weird. It wraps up badly — could they not think of anything better? — and leaves us hanging.

Sigh. I had such hopes for both of these.

Like I Really Need Another Challenge

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But I was going to do this anyway, and I’m always up for supporting bloggers when hosting their first challenge…

Em is hosting her first challenge: The Sarah Dessen Challenge! The rules:

1) Read all 9 books by Sarah Dessen.
2) Set your own time frame. My goal is to read all 9 books by June 30th but yours could be by the end of 2009 or by the end of the summer. Whatever works best for your schedule. Don’t stress…this is supposed to be fun! 🙂
3) Comment on this post or link to this post on your blog. The more people that hear about this, the more people we’ll have cheering us on!

I’ve read:
Lock and Key
That Summer
Someone Like You
Just Listen

Books to Movies: The Bee Season

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Ack.

The movie was just scenes from the book, which didn’t endear me to it.

If you hadn’t read the book, it wouldn’t have made much sense (I know, because Hubby didn’t get what was going on.)

There was no visible emotion. It was telling us what the actors were supposed to be feeling, but it felt like everyone was going through the emotions.

Richard Gere’s hair was nice, but Juliette Binoche and the girl who played Eliza were just weird.

They did change a bit of the story, drawing out the spelling bee so it lasted the whole story arc, but that really wasn’t enough to make it likable.

And it still didn’t make any sense.

Perhaps I should just chalk this whole thing up to “outside of my realm of enjoyment” and move on.

BOB Final Round

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I’m going to make you work for it today. If you want to know who won, click through to the BoB blog. Can I tell you that I like that Lois Lowry said she was pissed that she didn’t have a book in the running? And that she says she has an ax to grind with Roger Sutton?

Just go read it. It’s worth the time. (Even if the ending’s not really surprising.)

P.S. Don’t forget to read the comments. They’re just as fun as the piece itself.

Library Loot #17

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Another week, another bunch of books. Only one for me (though I might read the Maureen Johnson one I got for M…), because I really, really, really need to read the books I have on hand. I have made headway since last week, though.

For A/K:
Marvelton, by Bruce McCall
My Bear and Me, by Barbara Maitland/Illus. by Lisa Flather
Lottie’s New Friend, by Petra Mathers
Countdown to Kindergarten, by Alison McGhee/Illus. by Harry Bliss
Duel!: Burr and Hamilton’s Deadly War of Words, by Dennis Brindell Fradin/Illus. by Larry Day**
Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed, by Mo Willems**
Night’s Nice, by Barbara and Ed Emberley**
Wild Boars Cook, by Meg Rosoff and Sophie Blackall**

For C:
The Magic Thief, by Sarah Prineas
Chiggers, by Hope Larson*

For M:
Devilish, by Maureen Johnson*
Cyrano, by Geraldine McCaughrean
Black Horses for the King (Magic Carpet Books), by Anne McCaffrey
On Etruscan Time, by Tracy Barrett
Stravaganza: City of Stars, by Mary Hoffman*
Stravaganza City Of Masks, by Mary Hoffman*
The Falconer’s Knot: A Story of Friars, Flirtation and Foul Play, by Mary Hoffman*

For me:
Life Sucks, by Jessica Abel/Gabe Soria/Warren Pleece*

The roundup is either at Out of the Blue or A Striped Armchair.

*Ones that M eventually read.
**Picture books we really liked.