L Takes a Walk Down Memory Lane

Some weeks ago I stumbled across news of a most epic proportion.  Sweet Valley High, that teen romance series I so loved so much as a kid may be made into a movie.  Yup, Jessica and Elizabeth might just be coming to a big screen near you.  YAY!!!  Okay, so I am that much of a geek that I had to hunt down a copy of the first ever book in the series, Double Love, so I could re-read it and remember what all the fuss was about.  And remember I did, but mostly just what a geek I was at the age of twelve.  Sigh.  I was first introduced to the Wakefield twins when my sister started buying the books.  My sister, ten years older than me, was not much of a reader and I think she thought these short little books would peak her interest enough to actually get her reading.  It wasn’t long though before I got my twelve-year-old hands on the books and fell in love with the series and the characters – who didn’t love Elizabeth?  Okay she was just a little too goody two shoes, playing victim to her evil twin who I abhorred, but really, Jessica did have all the fun.  And then there was Todd.  Sigh.  I always fell for those boy-next-door heartthrobs….

 

Rereading Double Love, I realized just how much of a geek I was back then as whole sentences read so familiarly it was like I’d just read the book … but then I had read and re-read the first dozen ad nauseum because sister dearest was such a slooowww reader, that I could read five books to her one, and she wouldn’t buy more until she read the ones already purchased, so I had no choice but to read them again and again and again (I actually remember reading one of the books out loud to her, as she was working on a quilt, thinking this would help her get through the books faster.  I mean, really, who would quilt when they could read about Jessica’s latest shenanigans?) 

 

Anyway, Double Love introduces us to the Wakefield twins and their classmates in fictional Sweet Valley, California, a land of perpetual sunshine and beautiful people.  Head cheerleader Jessica likes Todd, captain of the basketball team and is desperate to get him to ask her to the upcoming dance, even though whenever Todd calls their house or runs into the girls in the halls of Sweet Valley High, it’s Elizabeth he wants to talk to.  But Elizabeth doesn’t like Todd, so Jessica is free and clear to go after him … right?  What follows is the usual teen heartache as Elizabeth and Todd navigate the rocky road to romance.

 

Considering there are about a couple hundred books written in the series and all its spin-offs, I won’t be continuing this trip down memory lane, but I will be looking forward to the movie, which I hear is being written by Diablo Cody who also penned the screenplay for Juno so I couldn’t be more excited!!

 

Till next time, happy reading.

L J

 

 

 

TBR = 5

WPL = 13

L plays catch-up

Just when I think it’s time to set aside the J.D. Robb books, out comes one that reminds me just what I love about them.  Treachery in Death is J.D. Robb at her best, weaving in just about everything I like about the series and characters.  Eve Dallas is at her kick-ass best, and Roarke is her ever steady, loving, supportive post with just enough print time of his own to make reading this book extra enjoyable.

 

Eve’s stalwart partner, the ever steady Peabody, Detective Delia has overheard a couple of dirty cops plotting death.  While Eve generally stands for murder, this time, she must protect the blue line and route out a squad full of the dirtiest of dirty cops – cop killers. 

 

While I generally don’t like knowing who-done-it right off the bat, Robb makes it work in this latest installment to the series, which is a satisfying read of one-up-man-ship between opposing lieutenants.  It’s good cop verse bad cop at Robb’s finest and a very satisfying read.

 

Till next time, happy reading,

L J

 

 

TBR = 5

WPL = 12

The Color Purple

 

I read Alice Walker’s pivotal novel The Color Purple for a Women’s Studies course called Gal Pal’s: Women and Friendship.  I saw the movie, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, many years ago so vaguely recalled the story.  The book is a beautifully written epistolary novel about the struggles of four women spanning several decades in the early 1900s.  Celie, the female protagonist, tells her story first in letters addressed to God, then later to her sister Nettie.  The story begins when Celie is twelve, and pregnant with her second child by her father who has told her she better not tell anyone except God, or it would break her mother’s heart. 

 

Celie’s children are taken from her at birth and she is soon married off to local widower, Mister, in need of a woman to clean, cook and look after his children.  Tragedy strikes when Mister preys on Celie’s younger sister Nettie.  Not wanting Nettie to go through what she did, Celie helps Nettie get out, but is soon left alone to undergo abuse and neglect by Mister and his bratty children.  The years pass, and Mister’s oldest boy brings home a bride, the feisty Sofia, who refuses to be a battered wife.  This is Celie’s first opportunity to realize women do not have to be slaves to their men.

 

Although Celie is brutalized by the men in her life, she finds solace in the female friendships she forms, the “sisters” she bonds with and who together transform each other’s lives, giving Celie the much needed strength to fling off male oppression and stand on her own two feet as a strong independent woman.

 

The Color Purple is a truly wonderful read about the strength of female friendship and the redemption and reconciliation that can arise from true hardship.

 

Till next time, happy reading,

L J

 

 

TBR = 5

WPL = 11

What L’s been reading lately

 

Not a whole heck of a lot, actually.  I have been grossly neglectful of this poor blog, but only because I’ve been reading academic articles on ethical hacking, net neutrality, free speech and porn in libraries.  Needless to say, the coursework this semester has kept me from reading for fun.  But I have managed to fit in a quick book or two here and there, namely Skinny Bitch and The SkinnyGirl Dish.

 

I am so addicted to Slice TV.  Sad but true.  Several months ago I spent a quiet Saturday afternoon glued to a Real Housewives of New York marathon.  Yes, it was misspent time, wherein I wasted several hours of my life which I will never get back, but it’s like watching a train wreck.  I just couldn’t tear my eyes away.  Then I saw the ads for Bethenny Getting Married?, a reality show focused on the more famous housewife of New York, Bethenny Frankel.  I quickly became obsessed.  I clearly have no life.  It’s my dirty little secret laid bare, please be gentle with your criticism.

 

Bethenny (I have to use her first name, cause it’s like we’re best buds!) is a cook and founder of the SkinnyGirl Margarita, a line of 100 calorie cocktails that’s taken New York and now elsewhere in the States by storm.  She advocates a healthful eating plan that helps you lower the fat, while not skimping on the taste.  I’m not a complete convert, but her book The SkinnyGirl Dish, which is a cookbook companion to her Naturally Thin “diet” book, takes any recipe and shows you how to modify it using the ingredients you have on hand.  Just what this new-to-the-whole-cooking-thing girl needs to gain confidence in the kitchen.  This book is a great take on the traditional cookbook and I’m eager to try some of her offerings.

 

While checking out Bethenny’s other books on Amazon, I came across a mention for Skinny Bitch, which is a similar philosophy to The SkinnyGirl Dish.  Essentially these books are not about dieting and setting up yet another diet meal plan for those who have some pounds to shed, but instead look at how you can make your favourites less fatty and caloric.  Bethenny advocates the “taste everything, eat nothing” philosophy, in that you shouldn’t deny yourself any type of food, or make food your enemy, but that you should have some, in moderation, but fill up on good, healthy food like veggies.

 

In Skinny Bitch, former Ford models Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin also advocate not denying yourself previously labeled “bad” food, but to eat in moderation and consider healthier choices – namely vegan choices.  Skinny Bitch is blatantly vegan and is not a read for the weak stomached as it graphically details the hell that is the killing room floor in most slaughterhouses, not to mention just what crap is put in our food chain (antibiotics, growth hormones, bacteria, etc).  It’s enough to make this meat eater seriously consider going full vegan (in fact, while reading the book, I had to give my dog extra cuddles to ease my guilty conscience). 

 

Both books are a refreshing take on “diet” books.  Rather than giving you a list of don’ts and foods to avoid eating, or put you on ridiculously restricting diets (anti-carbs, super low cals, etc), they focus more on the psychology of eating – eat when you’re hungry, not when you’re stressed; think about what you are eating and why; think about your food choices – what’s healthy, what isn’t and how food makes you feel.  When food stops becoming your enemy or your friend, but is just food, only then can you obtain the skinny girl, or skinny bitch you were naturally meant to be (oh and neither book expects you to weigh yourself obsessively, count calories, weigh food, or obtain a specific weight/size). 

 

In April Bethenny Ever After starts up.  I’ll be hooked again.  Don’t laugh.  And don’t call me on Saturdays either, cause I’ll be watching Slice. 

 

Till next time, happy watching, er reading!

L J

 

TBR = 4

WPL = 11

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Picking up where The Girl Who Played with Fire left off, Larsson’s third novel blows it right out of the water.  A gravely injured Lisbeth Salander slowly recuperates in hospital while Mikael Blomkvist searches for the truth behind a government conspiracy buried within Sweden’s Security Police.  A small, elite group of SIS officers formed a secret agency in the 60s to deal with spies and stumbled across the Russian defector Alexander Zalachenko.  Zalachenko, who worked for Russia’s GRU (similar to KGB) sold information in return for absolute immunity, including freedom to commit crimes against the citizens of Sweden.  As a result Zalachenko’s daughter, Lisbeth Salander, was grossly denied her civil rights and locked up in a psychiatric hospital at the age of twelve for fear she would leak the truth of Zalachenko’s existence.  Now in her 20s and still a ward of the state, Lisbeth faces re-incarceration in a mental ward by those who still protect Zalachenko and must fight to regain her life and freedom.

 

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest is the very best of spy novels, with so many intricate twists and turns and revelations, it will keep you turning the pages until the very end.  Larsson is a master storyteller who has polished off his trilogy with his best writing yet. 

 

Till next time, happy reading,

L J

 

 

TBR = 4

WPL = 9

L Reads New CanLit for February

Jeff Lemeire’s graphic novel trilogy, Essex County, is true down home reading.  Lemeire’s hometown of Woodslee ON, located in the heart of Essex County, is the backdrop for this tale of rural family life.

 

In Tales from the Farm, young Lester lives with his uncle Ken on a farm in Essex County, ON.  His mother has recently died and he does not know who is father is.  Lester spends his days feeding the chickens, reading comic books and playing down at the creek.  He is befriended by Jimmy LeBeuf, a one-time NHL hockey player who took a hit in his first major league game and is now “a little slow” as a result.  Jimmy runs the local Esso and is kind to Lester when he badly needs a friend.

 

Ghost Stories is the tale of two brothers who share a dream to move to the big city (Toronto) and play major league hockey.  Vince has all the talent, but yearns for quite days on the farm with his best girl Beth.  Lou busts out his knee in the minor leagues, falls for his brothers girlfriend, and lives out a lonely existence as a TTC driver in Toronto. 

 

Rounding out the trilogy is The Country Nurse, a woman who makes house calls to the neighbouring farmers, repairs family rifts and has her own unique ancestry. 

 

Lemeire’s Essex County trilogy is a beautifully written and illustrated graphic novel filled with community, family, grief and reconciliation.  Jeff Lemeire writes for every kid who grew up in rural Ontario.  Essex County is truly a delight.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

 

Update on the WPL vs TBR challenge

 

Well gentle readers, it appears I have a conundrum to solve.  The Essex County trilogy was published in three separate volumes, and I had to sign each of them out from the library individually.  So, would you count this as one (1) WPL book or three (3)?  The librarian in me says three, since they were individually catalogued and barcoded.  But man, that really skews my stats!!  I’m now four TBRs behind.  Boo. L 

 

TBR = 4

WPL = 8

The Girl Who Played With Fire

Stieg Larsson knocked another one out of the ball park with his second novel and follow-up to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.  Kiss-ass girl power is back in the form of Lisbeth Salander, who finds herself framed for a triple murder.  Her lurid past dragged out in the press, her few friends targeted and beaten by very bad criminals, who can she turn to for help?  Friend and journalist Mikael Blomkvist staunchly defends Lisbeth’s innocence and will not rest until the truth and real killer are discovered. 

 

Once again Larsson draws you in to his wonderfully written web of plot twists and turns that will keep you captivated to the very end, and leave you wanting more.  I am now dying to read the third book, yet so very sad it’s his last one.  (For those unaware, Stieg Larsson died shortly after handing in three complete novels to his publisher).

 

I do have one criticism of Larsson’s work, and I’m left to wonder, had he lived through the editing process, would the flaws have been polished before the books were printed?  The first two books have started off incredibly slowly for me, but once I got past the first 50 – 100 pages, the story completely grabbed me and didn’t shake me loose until the final page was turned.  As I don’t normally read books of this genre, I found the reading went easier after first watching the movies, and even knowing how they ended, I was nonetheless completely enthralled with the books, so much so that I literally couldn’t put them down until finished. 

 

I highly recommend both The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and its follow-up The Girl Who Played With Fire as they were excellent, but unless you normally read books of this ilk, watch the movies first, it will enhance your reading enjoyment to no end.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

 

 

 

TBR = 4

WPL = 5