Kryptonite

I am a voracious reader.  I especially love romance novels-the sweatier the better.  I owe both these things to my very first foray into illicit reading, Bittersweet Ecstasy by Janelle Taylor. 

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Today, I couldn't tell you what it was about but at the time, it was so impressive that I chose Singing Wind as my "Indian" name during summer school in the fifth grade.  I devoured that book and Zebra historicals with the hologram stickers were special treats.  I read about, and absorbed, all kinds of nonsense about the romantic confederacy, happy darkies, noble savages, dirty savages, drunken savages, pretty much every single form of rape possible, caricatures of sing-songy, opium addled Chinese. . . . really any and every offensive portrayal of man, woman, and beast.  I soaked it all up and overlooked a lot because I was pretty much only in it for the scrumpin'. 

Just keeping it real.

Needless to say, as a tween, my politics were still developing. 

These days, I couldn't force myself to read half of the books I devoured as a kid.  I had to give up on Nora Robert's MacKade Brothers series because the characters romanticized the Civil War era in a way I found really off-putting.  These are Nora Roberts books so you know I couldn't fault the writing or the storytelling.  In fact, the characters' thoughts and feelings were in keeping with the setting.  The books take place near Antietam, Maryland and there is a subplot that revolves around the ghost of a southern widow.  Something about it, probably the absence of any alternate narratives, just raised my hackles.  I have a similar response to Gone With the Wind which I thought was bullshit even as a child, and The Help, which I refuse to read on principle.

It seems strange to say it, especially in connection to this genre, but too much historical romanticizing is my book kryptonite.

Romance, particularly historical romance, is pretty white.  Your main characters are probably white, straight, and conventionally attractive in unconventional ways.  On one hand, that's fine.  I don't think historical fiction or historical romance are or should be bound by modern sensibilities.  What bothers me is the way many stories are told.

The Boatwright Sisters from The Secret Life of Bees movie

This example isn't a romance but I find it illustrative.  While the Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is chock full of magical Negroes with whimsical names, it doesn't bother me as much because at least those characters represent different facets of the black experience.  June Boatwright is pissed, May Boatwright is irreparably damaged-and that is important.  It's not as one-dimensional. 

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I also don't mind a little period or character appropriate racism.  I just read Lord of Scoundrels by Lorretta Chase and the hero, Sebastian Marquess of Dain, has all sorts of internalized self hatred that results in internal dialogue like,

"The worst was that he couldn’t stop. The worst was that his passionately intent expression had somehow become genuine, and he was no longer talking in Italian about drains, but about how he wanted to unbutton, unhook, untie every button, hook, and string . . . and slip off her garments, one by one, and drag his monstrous blackamoor’s hands over her white virgin’s flesh."

Lines like these may offend some readers but they didn't bother me because I thought it made sense.  I understand the self hatred and internalized racism that makes him feel like he is a monster.  He doesn't look like his white, English father at all.  The darkness of his skin and his Italian heritage have always made him an outsider and a target for mockery as a child.  His self-loathing is real.  It might be the realest thing I've ever read in a romance novel.

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Similarly, another Chase classic, Mr. Impossible, presents a more complex depiction of the European presence in Egypt.  The main characters never question the appropriateness of their presence in Egypt or their right to various Egyptian antiquities. They also exhibit paternalistic attitudes towards the Egyptians and other non-European peoples.  Both of these things were period appropriate.  

While the main characters probably saw imperialism as right and in order, Chase's Egyptian characters clearly had different ideas.  I would go so far as to say that the supporting characters were also more fully developed than they might have been in other books.  They had lives and histories outside of their interactions with the main characters.  They had motivations outside of those of the main characters.  They were considered and written with some care.  

In some sense, my personal kryptonite is a version of the wallpaper historical.  That is, as defined by Lydia Joyce and quoted on Smartbitches

 “Wallpaper” historicals are, essentially, costume dramas. Yes, the characters dress up in clothes that more-or-less resemble clothing of the period. Yes, characters sip warm lemonade and dance at Almack’s. But the reader can’t really believe for one minute that these people could have actually existed in 1813 (or whenever), nor did the world of the book ever exist. In essence, the readers just can’t believe in the book."

When servants, the poor, laborers, and working women are wallpaper, I just can't believe in the book.  When India, China, the Americas, and the Gold Coast are wallpaper, I just can't believe in the book.  

It doesn't have to be that way.  The Proposition by Judith Ivory is a smokin' Victorian romance featuring a ratcatcher hero of all professions.  It represents the lives of the working class in ways rarely seen in romance.  Elizabeth Hoyt and Courtney Milan are two more authors who write great books with great characters that tend to break the mold of what you would expect.  The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt gives you a unique perspective on life in the countryside with a commoner hero and a Georgian lady.  Milan's entire Brothers Sinister series addresses labor rights, expanding suffrage, academic sexism, gender, race,  and ableism.  I loved them all but The Suffragette Scandal made me want to stand up and cheer. 

We need diverse books, and we also need complex books.

A Little (Werewolf) Romance

Beauty and the Werewolf (Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, Book 6)

The Blurb:

The eldest daughter is often doomed in fairy tales. But Bella—Isabella Beauchamps, daughter of a wealthy merchant—vows to escape the usual pitfalls.
Anxious to avoid the Traditional path, Bella dons a red cloak and ventures into the forbidden forest to consult with "Granny," the local wisewoman.
But on the way home she's attacked by a wolf—who turns out to be a cursed nobleman! Secluded in his castle, Bella is torn between her family and this strange man who creates marvelous inventions and makes her laugh—when he isn't howling at the moon.
Breaking spells is never easy. But a determined beauty, a wizard (after all, he's only an occasional werewolf) and a little godmotherly interference might just be able to bring about a happy ending.…

My Favorite Line:
"Slowly, regretfully, he drew back. "I think I had better--we had better--stop now,' he said.  "Before things get quite enjoyable, extremely messy and potentially damaging to glassware and papers." (301) Beauty and the Werewolf by Mercedes Lackey 2011, Luna/Harlequin, New York

Why I Kind of Love It:

• I am a sucker for any fairytale adaptation but Mercedes Lackey's entire Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series is just great fun.  
• You get strong characterizations, fully fleshed out characters and a wide variety of cultural settings and traditions.  
• This Beauty knows what she wants and goes after it.
• The wizard is more along the lines of Leonard from the Big Bang Theory than Sirius Black.

Also Check Out:


The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey

Right Now I'm Reading . . . .

This post contains affiliate links.

I read multiple books at a time.  I generally have anywhere from 15-30 books checked out from my library at a time.  My husband is a little amazed by that.  He likes to focus on one or maybe two books at a time.  I like a little variety-especially if some of my books are nonfiction works.  Right now I am reading, slowly for me, Buddhism For Beginners by Thubten Chodron.

I am reading this book slowly-maybe a chapter a day.  It is almost dialogue style.  Essentially, Chodron has collected many common questions about various aspects of Buddhism and answers them in a clear, accessible fashion.

"Buddhism talks about accepting our suffering and also about feeing ourselves from suffering.  Are these contradictory? 

No.  Accepting our difficulties doesn't mean becoming apathetic and resigned to suffering.  Rather, our experience at a particular moment--whatever it is--is the reality of that moment.  When we refuse to accept this, we find ourselves in conflict with reality.  On the other hand, we can accept our present unhappiness and still work to free ourselves from future unsatisfactory experiences.  For example, if we accept the transient nature of our world, we will cease trying to control things that, by their nature are out of our control.  We will be at peace with whatever life presents and simultaneously work to benefit others with an altruistic aspiration that appreciates every being's potential to transcend suffering and become enlightened."

Chodron, 42-43

See Me by Pauline Allan

Trigger Warning: Violence

My fondness for romance novels began at an early age.  Sometimes I think it would be more romantic to claim that it was fueled by works like L. M. Montgomery's Anne books.  Then I think about those sweaty, gasping Zebra covers with that hologram sticker that I just couldn't quit.  Anne of Green Gables was great but hardly illicit reading for a nine year old.  I didn't even know what members were or why they might throb-but clearly there was no contest.

I don't devour romance the way I used to.  When I was in high school, my mother used to get Harlequins and Silhouettes by the Hefty bagful from a lady she worked with and we would Read. Them. All.  When I was in college I stopped reading them completely.

Why?  Well, life got really real and complex and it wasn't romantic at all.  The relationship I was in became mentally and emotionally abusive.  When the abuse became physical, I fled the relationship but . . .  scars lingered.  For years afterward I was depressed, numb, and grieving.  There just wasn't any room for fantasy when I was clawing myself together just to make it through each day-and I couldn't always manage to do that. 

With that said, I'm surprised I purchased this.  

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The book description per Amazon says:

Abigail Swanson’s spirit has been battered, a body left for dead, only to recover to find fear and loneliness. Due to an abusive relationship, she is unable to feel the one thing she longs to have again. She builds a lucrative business specializing in the commodity she can’t afford to experience. Passion.
Sean Drennan traded his fists for a portfolio, but the cost was too great. Now, considered damaged goods, he’s unable to find employment. Desperate to gather some quick cash, he reluctantly agrees to take a job in the field guaranteed to make him sell his soul.
So what does a successful pornography entrepreneur do when her clients are demanding a tattooed hunk and her performers don’t fit the bill? She puts all her trust in an ex-con who has nothing to lose. For one voluptuous, scared woman it’s love at all costs. For one man it’s a new experience he’s more than willing to fight his way into. Can he save her business and her heart at the same time or will his fighting ways leave him cold and lonely yet again?
Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual situations, graphic language, and material that some readers may find objectionable: Exhibitionism/voyeurism, flashback to violence.

I usually take publisher's notes and trigger warnings seriously but the general hysteria over 50 Shades of Gray as kinky erotica has made me much more likely to disregard notes on romance because clearly explicit and erotica just don't mean what they used to mean.

This note, however, has legs, especially for me.

I wrote in my journal:

. . . .The hero in this book was a fighter-a strong man.  The heroine was trying to be strong too-and she was-but the author did a nice job capturing the waves of terror and paralysis, the fear, and the aching loneliness of feeling unable to reach out and connect.  Trauma might make you mentally averse to intimacy but the body and the emotions don't always comply.  It hurt to read this because she was so close to pulling it all out, including the desire for a man strong enough to protect and defend with the strength of character to be trusted.

The Good Stuff

• I thought Allan really nailed the portions that dealt with Abigail's response to trauma.  
• She also had an interesting take on the "I'm a bad boy but I'm sensitive hence my sexin is mucho superior" motif.  Sean was a UFC fighter type (are these guys the new Navy SEALs for romance writers?), but he had elements of nerdiness, his hobby was building a Lego Deathstar, that were really endearing.  His bookstore purchases were interesting and his thoughts while purchasing a romance novel were so right on the money they actually made me laugh and sigh.*

Along with the large hardback book of painted darlings, he snagged another book.  A paperback titled Deeper.  He felt like an ass going into the romance section, but he spotted the turquoise-colored book on her coffee table that morning and was curious about what she was reading. (Allan, Ch. 8)   

• Abigail's employment was plausibly implausible in that it involved porn which defies logic-so a smart choice for an author and a somewhat riskier choice for a romance author.  
• I also thought Sean's difficulty finding employment with a record was also believable.  
• The gay couple written into the book and Sean's interaction with them was well done.  
• Both gay characters are written well as individuals.

The Not So Good
It has good bits and some really good bits, but overall it's not a great book.  

• The writing can be clunky-the ending and epilogue especially were more eye-roll inducing than terrifying, suspenseful, or climatic.  
• Both characters' have long stretches of internal monologue that are boring and annoying as hell.  
• The gay characters as a couple tended to veer into a strange hyper-sexualized territory.  If both characters were together as a couple in a scene they were generally all over each other physically and with the innuendo even with others present.  It seems she wanted to convey intimacy and some passages do:

Eric padded over to Ron, who'd stepped out of the pool, and pulled him into his arms.  The pair was a contradiction.  Eric, with his lean muscles and long waist, pulled Ron, the linebacker, into his arms and nuzzled his neck. (Ch. 10)

Others seemed to express levels of PDA that take the depictions away from intimacy towards a more sexual place:

Sean realized why Ron gave him the sly look when he planted his big hands on the man's ass and massaged his way into helping Eric up onto the faltering raft. (Ch. 10)

Despite the deficiencies, I think this is an author with potential.  Contemporary Ebooks like this, especially in this genre, tend to favor "erotic" over emotion.  While that is the case here, there are moments in the writing that favor the emotion.  It feels like she is heading in an interesting direction.  If she comes out with anything new, I would definitely look it over. 

*Men reading romance novels needs to be a romance type.  A Navy SEAL moonlighting as a romance writer?  Someone suggest that to Suzanne Brockmann.

Works Cited:

Allan, Pauline. See Me. San Francisco: Loose ID, 2012. Web.

The Search by Nora Roberts

I don't know if I've mentioned it on this blog before, but I will read pretty much anything Nora Roberts writes.  Wes and I have mostly been reading her J.D. Robb novels, but I decided to jump back into her romances.

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I'm glad I did.  This book was an interesting mix of romance and thriller.

• Simon Doyle is a great character if you are partial to gruff, cranky types who tend to say true things to your face.
• Fiona Bristow is another great character.  Sensible, strong, engaging, and only a little nonsense but in a fun way.
• The supporting people characters are charming on their own and I'd totally buy any books featuring any of them.
• It makes you kind of want to love the Pacific Northwest.
• The dogs.
• The dogs.
• The DOGS! (hilarious)

My favorite part:

He strode to the window, slapped the palm of his hand against the sparkling glass. "Leave it," he ordered, pointing at the smudged print he left behind.
"Okay.  Why?"
"I don't know why.  I don't have to know why, but if I want it gone, I'll wash it off.  You leave it alone." (Roberts, 387)

You can find a legitimate book review here.

Works Cited:

Roberts, Nora. The Search. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2010. Print.

Miss Viola and Uncle Ed Lee

by Alice Faye Duncan and illustrated by Catherine Stock

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Wes found this one at our local library too.  We were really taken with the story.  It was very cute and anyone who has a somewhat irascible, loveable, and relaxed-to-the-point-of-lazy uncle would know exactly what I mean.  There is also a hint of old-fashioned courtship that was very sweet as well and definitely worthwhile to impart to a perpetually grubby little boy.  The artwork, as you can see from the cover, was also beautiful.

The Kid had the added bonus of having Grandpa read it to him so he was very thrilled about that.  We will definitely be looking for more from this author.

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain

An oldie but still a goodie.

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We checked this out for the Kid from the public library.  Wes and I have fond memories of this book courtesy of a childhood spent with the much beloved Reading Rainbow.*

Wes came across this book on the shelf by accident.  It really is not easy to go into libraries or bookstores and find books that feature Africans or African Americans unless you just know precisely what you are looking for.  Needless to say, we were both very excited about it.

The Kid was kind of meh.

I KNOW right!?

Anyway, he finally consented to the reading of the book and just to make sure it made the right impression, I sprinkled on a little of the delicious crack that is James Earl Jone's hypnotic voice the next day.

*If you refuse to watch Power Rangers like I do, whole episodes of this show are on YouTube.

The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram Your Genes for Effortless Weight Loss, Vibrant Health, and Boundless Energy

I have been contemplating a lifestyle change for a while now.

There is so much that I want to see and do and I think that my level of health and fitness is holding me back.  Added to that, I'm not getting any younger and I want to avoid, if at all possible, the illnesses that have started to strike older family members.

Wes and I have flirted with primal eating before and it definitely had noticeable benefits for us.  We both visit Mark's Daily Apple a lot but this week I finally broke down and bought the whole book.

I am so glad that I did.*

Lately I have been doing the rounds at the health center.  I'm there so often and in so many different departments that people are starting to remember me.  I've visited my doctor, the nutritionist, my doctor again and so on and so forth.  I've asked a ton of questions and gotten a lot of information and I have to say-not all of it added up.  What I liked about this book is that things are laid out in ways that make sense and the disconnect between prescribed "best practices" and what actually happens in the body are pointed out and explained.

The emphasis is on nutrition but this book takes more of a holistic approach towards health that I really appreciate.  You should definitely give it a read, if not a try.

*I have been experimenting with primal eating for the last three days.  As I said, we've tried this before but this time I am paying more attention to what is happening in my body and monitoring any changes.