The Misadventures of Super_Librarian
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Thursday, November 27, 2003Happy Thanksgiving to all you web denizens! I just got home from my parents - where I proceeded to gorge myself. We ate around 1PM and I'm still digesting. And naturally they sent me home with food - including more stuffing than I'll know what to do with. It was just me and my folks this year. I have one sister who's doing time in Florida (she's a teacher - I figure that's sort of like prison), and my older sister and her family were with the in-laws today. That left me, the old man, and my mother to try and stay awake to watch the Detroit Lions actually win a game for a change. Who knew they had it in them? I'm still debating on whether or not I'm crazy enough to go shopping tomorrow. What I do know for certain is that the local library is having a book sale - and I just have to at least check it out, if only on principle. I'm also enjoying another stint of time off. Normally my boyfriend and I are visiting his family in NY this time of year. That trip didn't happen this year, but I chose to keep my time off anywho. I don't have to be back in the office until Tuesday. Jealous? Monday, November 24, 2003I love living in the Midwest. If the weather isn't agreeing with you, wait 5 minutes and it will inevitably change. After mild temperatures yesterday (I acutally went for a walk in the morning with just a sweatshirt on), we have snow today. Should make my commute home interesting since it always takes the morons a few snow days to remember how to drive in it. I'm still slogging through The Duchess Diaries by Mia Ryan. A mere 160 pages to go and I'm ready to do the happy dance. Assuming I don't allow myself to get distracted this evening I should have it wrapped up tonight. I was able to watch the Bills/Colts game yesterday, and while I was swearing up and down that it would be a blood bath - imagine my surprise when Buffalo actually scored a pair of touchdowns. However, I was a bit on the tired side and ended up falling asleep on the couch during the final minutes of the game. This was likely a blessing since Buffalo blew their lead and the Colts came out victorious 17-14. Sigh - it's been a long season. Friday, November 21, 2003Well I haven't blogged in a week - again. I really need to get down a more consistent routine. How about some reading news? - TRR's editor is trying to kill me. It's the only explaination I can come up with for the current crop of semi-dreadful books she's been sending me (affectionately known as "3-Heart Hell" among the reviewers). I still haven't quite forgiven her for this, and she's gone and sent me another infuriating read. The Duchess Diaries by Mia Ryan could be a decent read if it weren't for wacky plotting and a heroine who is too-stupid-to-live. Our heroine is 19 (but acts 15) and is "dared" through her late grandmother's will to go to London for one season and snag a husband. So even though our heroine has no desire to marry, she agrees to this nonsense since after all, she can't say no to a dare. Then there's the scrapes the plucky heroine finds herself in - all of which go against the grain of what little I know about the Regency era. She hops on a mail coach and races the driver (I seriously doubt young ladies were schooled in the arts of driving coaches), and she engages in a shooting contest during an afternoon tea party. Assuming a Regency miss would know how to fire a gun well enough to win a shooting contest - I seriously doubt such an event would take place at a tea party. Even with a degree in British history (my focus was the Irish "troubles" and the Victorian era), I'm not a nit-picker when it comes to historical accuracy in my romance novels. Frankly, I don't care if the hero should be referred to as Mr. Peabody or Lord Peabody. However it's improbabilities like the above scenarios that even get my panties in a bunch. Add all this to the fact that the heroine continually has to be rescued due to her own idiotic stunts - well my patience is wearing thin. However, there are some minor bright spots. The villain shows some promise, and the elderly lady sponsoring the heroine has her moments. Mia Ryan is actually one of those cloak and dagger pseudonyms for previously published author Malia Martin. Ms. Martin/Ryan can write, and there are some nice turns of phrase that even get a chuckle out of me - too bad about the rest of it though. Friday, November 14, 2003I'm a big enough person, and secure in my own laziness, to admit that I have no life. Proof? Well besides the recent reading tear I have been on (I just started my 7th book for the month of November), I'm looking forward to filthy TV once I get home from work for the evening. It's Who Shot J.R. night on SoapNet. I know - I'm so pathetic. I just can't help myself. I adore Dallas - by far the trashiest, filthiest, cattiest soap opera ever. I'm a bigger fan of the middle years of the show (Hey - Bobby's not dead! He's in the shower and the whole season was some dopey dream Pam had!), as I was a bit too young to really appreciate the whole Who Shot J.R. hype. I was only 5 at the time - although it still amazes me my mother let me watch this show as a preteen. I watched it with my grandmother no less! Talk about family entertainment. I only worked 3 measley days this week and I'm still looking foward to the weekend. I think my lazy tendencies are getting the better of me. I don't have much planned outside of the general laundry/cleaning/grocery shopping stuff - but I do hope to devote some time reading my latest book - Two Cooks A-Killing by Joanne Pence. Sunday, November 09, 2003What can I say - I've been on vacation! And I've been soaking up as much lazy time as humanly possible. So what does a swingin' chick like myself do with copious amounts of free time? Read too much of course! I've been off from work since Thursday and I've managed to plow through 2.5 books. I know - I have no life. Well I finished A Thoroughly Modern Princess - and the less said about that the better. Trust me, it didn't improve. The heroine's teeth-grinding behavior towards the end of the novel actually made the whole thing worse (if you can believe that). Next up was a futuristic romance, Unraveled by C.J. Barry. While the story was quite a bit of fun (an intergalatic treasure hunt), the cliche characters put a damper on the romance. If I never read another romance heroine who thinks she's "bad" at sex because her only partner told her she was "frigid" I'll be a completely content woman. And just a few moments ago - I finished Shotgun Wedding by Maggie Osborne. I can always count on Osborne to give me unconventional and real characters. She doesn't disappoint here - but I had a hard time with the heroine. While I wouldn't classify her as "too stupid to live" she just didn't stop and think - if that makes any sense. However the hero was a dream! I am in love with this fictional character - like how sad is that? If any of my romance reading buds stumple across this entry - Jesse Harden is a prime example why I love the beta hero :-) Well it is obscenely late out here in the Midwest - and while I don't have to be work tomorrow, a girl does need her beauty sleep. Monday, November 03, 2003I am counting down the days until my upcoming vacation time. Yours truly will not be in the office from November 6 - November 11. A big thanks to all you veterans out there - I get November 11 off because the library is closed on Veteran's Day. I'm currently reading a not-so-good book and I can't decide if it's the book's fault I'm not enjoying it, or if I'm just being a picky ninny-pants. I'm reading A Thoroughly Modern Princess by Wendy Corsi Staub. It's about a European princess who is engaged to be married to a prince when she has a one-night stand with a wealthy American business man. You guessed it - the girl gets knocked up. Her solution to this little dilemna is to call said wealthy American business man and become a runaway bride. Where to begin. First I find it more than a little distasteful that the virginal heroine would throw her chastity aside for a one-nighter when she's engaged. I mean, sure the marriage is arranged, but in my mind she still owes the poor sap a little consideration. Then there's the completely distasteful behavior of the hero. He knows she's engaged - and he still deflowers her. I know men are dogs - but c'mon - there's still a code of honor. Most men I've known in my life strongly believe in two things: 1) Never make a play on your best friend's girl (ex or otherwise) and 2) Don't mess with women who are in a committed relationship. And then there's the fact that the heroine gets pregnant. Now, I've never been to Europe, but I'm pretty sure you can probably buy condoms there. And while I'm willing to cut a little slack the virgin's way - a playboy hero should know better. All this aside, the book is well written. Hence my feeling that maybe I'm being a ninny about the whole thing. However, everytime I think about this premise it makes me want to hurl something - pottery, dishes, my lunch.... |
