The Pop Tart

I haven't posted in a bit. Sorry about that. I'd like to say that I've been too busy doing the holiday thing, but truly, not so much. Thought I'd post about what I've been reading lately as a change of pace. I am a librarian after all. Books have to factor in this blog somewhere.

I've been on a bit of a paranormal kick lately. As a pre-teen and young teen I read a lot of fantasy novels. As an adult traditional fantasy - wizards, dragons, quests to save the world - just doesn't appeal anymore. I still like science fiction but lately I've been getting my otherworldly kicks from paranormal fiction featuring kick-ass heroines. Werewolves and vampires and djinn, oh my.

If you're a fan of Buffy then you should definitely check out Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn. Originally released as a novella and recently expanded into a full-length novel, Kitty is a kick. Kitty Norville is a DJ in Denver. She's also a reluctant werewolf, turned against her will. While she struggles for a "normal" life Kitty accidentally starts a national phenomenon on the radio with a joke. Suddenly she has people calling from all over the country claiming to have the same problem she does - they're something more then human - and the powers that be don't like the attention.

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison is a grittier take. Rachel Morgan has decided to set up her own investigation service. Problem is her former employers aren't happy she left. Now with werewolves and demons on her tail, Rachel will be lucky to survive the week. Set in an alternative version of Cincinnati where supernatural beings are part of the fabric of life, this is just the kind of Urban Fantasy I've been loving lately. If you like this one then don't miss the Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine either.

What appeals with all of these is the tough female outsiders who star. Maybe if I'd had been a Veronica, I'd be battling the undead too.

When the first reality shows appeared on tv I swore I'd never be a watcher. But then I started watching Survivor and got sucked in like everyone else. Now I can't get enough of the stuff. I've watched the Surreal Life and whatshername's show where she picked a man to be her boytoy on VH1. I've been sucked into watching Tough Enough on MTV (and wish they'd bring it back). And lately I've been watching Survivor, Apprentice, and America's Next Top Model - and will watch Project Runway 2 when it starts this week.

Though I think of Survivor as the show that started it all. It's not. That honor belongs to MTV's Real World. As each progressively more disastrous season of RW starts I'm there. I watched Paris and Vegas and San Diego and most recently the Austin gang. Each time it starts I hope it will be as good as I remember it being. It never is. And lately it's been just bad. Kids barely past their teens who don't seem to think of anything other then getting drunk and hooking up. And MTV pushes that meme more and more each time. The editing revolves all around who's drunk and arrested this week - and if not that then who's sleeping with who. Is this reality?

The "realest" moments of the entire season came in the reunion show. Danny was mad at Lacey. Nehemiah accused Danny of getting a swelled head (though who could tell under that stupid hat? And what's with his hats anyway? Is the kid bald?) and thinking he's Ben Afleck. Everybody apparently hates everybody else and that wasn't shown in the series. Notice I don't include that nauseating bit of Danny proposing to Melinda and giving her a big diamond ring bought by MTV - how romantic, not.

The Gauntlet 2 starts soon and that one brings back all the reality has-beens MTV has in its stable. Screaming, crying, and fighting will be the rule. Can't wait.

So why do I keep coming back? I haven't a clue. Maybe one of you wise souls can clue me in.

Everyone's discussing the latest version of P & P and the merits of Keira Knightly and Matthew MacFadyen in the roles of Lizzie and Darcy. The discussion usually goes one of two ways. First is the hotness of Matthew vs. Colin Firth. Second is the prettiness of KK. There is also discussion of the abridgement that was necessary for this new 2-hour version. But usually it all comes down to who's hotter.

For me the success of the film is due more to the story then anything else, though I think CF and MM bring equal (if different) levels of hotness to the screen. Heavy breathing aside, I'm in it for the romance. Did I sigh? Yes. Eyes glow? Definitely. Find myself aahing with satisfaction when they finally make it through? You bet. And this after reading the book a dozen times and seeing other versions of the movie - including the very fun and fine Bride and Prejudice .

What I want is the tension. Will they get together, triumph over their obstacles, and achieve their HEA. If it's done well it doesn't matter how many times they tell the tale. So count this as another voice lauding the movie. I can't wait to see it again.

It's been ages since I last wrote, I apologize. Had a nice vacation in Chicago and saw the very wonderful Wicked with Ana Gasteyer in the Elphaba role. For those of you not familiar with this Broadway musical - it's all about the Wicked Witch and how she got to be that way. It's based (loosely) on the book of the same title by Gregory Maguire. The book has far more depth and some elements in the play were altered, but I highly recommend both.

Speaking of musicals...yesterday I led a teen book group discussion here at my library. I lead several book groups, but usually the youth services librarian handles the teens. I was asked to fill in while we search for a new YS librarian. So I dutifully read the book, Neal Shusterman's The Schwa was Here and prepared to talk with the teens. The teens were all boys and ranged in age from about 12-14 years old. Boys! The actual book discussion didn't last that long, but we did have a good talk about a range of entertainment topics. Here's where I bring it back to musicals. One of the boys was giving me a blow by blow description of a movie he'd seen called Equilibrium and in the midst of his description he asked if I'd seen the movie Newsies.

Newsies? Being a musical fanatic, I've always been convinced I'm the only one who actually saw this one in the theater and loved it besides. And here's this 13-year-0ld boy asking about it. He then informs me that the guy who played the lead, Jack, is in this movie Equilibrium and oh, by the way, is also the guy who played Batman in the most recent movie. Wow! Christian Bale was in Newsies? I'd long since forgotten who played the lead (if I ever knew). So funny having this kid rave that it's his favorite musical!

Maybe I need to lead the teen book group more often.

Last week I went out and bought my first dvds of a tv show. Whew! Spend that kind of money once and the second time comes a lot easier. I've now seen the movie Serenity twice and today I bought the tv series it's based on, Firefly. Can't wait to get started watching that!

The movie is good stuff. Think of a cross between Star Wars and Pirates of the Carribean and you'll kind of have an idea. Space opera with some serious snark - oh and the eminently cute Nathan Fillion as Mal doesn't hurt either. Yes, the production values aren't always top-notch (I don't think they had a very big budget) but that sort of suits the movie.

It's supposed to be the little guys, Mal and his motley gang, against the big bad guys, the Alliance. This takes place years in our future after humanity had to abandon earth because it was ruined (doesn't sound that far fetched). People escaped to another galaxy and inhabited many planets, all of which the Alliance wanted to control. The rebel planets tried to fight them off, but they lost, and now former soldier Mal takes any job he can get to keep his ship flying. Currently residing on his ship is a young doctor and his very strange teenage sister, River. The Alliance wants them and will stop at nothing to get them. Causes a mite of a problem for Mal. Keep them on the ship and endanger everyone else, or dump them and leave them to the mercy of the Alliance. What's a tough, but good-hearted, guy to do?

As he proved with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon knows how to write good characters and snappy dialog. This movie is the Wild West in space and man is it a fun ride.

If you haven't seen any of the tv show, don't worry. All is very clear in the movie. Friends of mine who hadn't seen the show have seen the movie and are raving. Go now. I want this one to do well so that the creator, Joss Whedon, can do a sequel.

Are you still reading this? Go to the movie.

A little secret about me. When I was a kid and longed for a more interesting name then 'Jane' I decided I wanted to be called Veronica. Much more intriguing, don't you think? Why Archie always preferred Betty to Veronica is a mystery to me. Veronica is, by far, the more interesting of the two. Even Elvis Costello thought so.

Which brings me to the newest Veronica who makes a part of me still long to be something a little more interesting then a Jane. She is Veronica Mars of the highly regarded but severely underwatched show of the same name.

Being a mystery buff I began watching the show last year when it debuted. I was hooked from the first powerful episode. In that first season Veronica is a junior in the very well-to-do town of Neptune, CA. She and her dad Keith are on their own after a scandal pushed her mom into decamping. The scandal centers around the death of Veronica's best friend Lily Kane and the fact that Keith accused Lily's dad, a very powerful man in Neptune, of the murder. Keith lost his job as sheriff and now works as a P.I. with Veronica helping out. Each episode has Veronica on a current case and also on her quest to find Lily's killer.

This show is so good I went out and bought the dvds of the first season today - a Pop Tart first. Run, don't walk, to get the first season for yourself. And watch the current season. Yeah, yeah, I know it's on at the same time as the all-powerful Lost, but that repeats all the time. This show puts DH and Lost to shame for clever writing and character angst and development.

For a while I was contemplating starting my own website devoted to junkfood reviews. Then I realized it'd already been done - Taquitos.net - and my fabulous idea became just another one killed by my own inertia.

In honor of the site that could have been, I'll review a new product every now and then. Today's new junkfood is the new Reece's Cookies. If you've seen the advertisements you know each one is a chocolate cookie (like an Oreo) covered with the Reece's peanut butter filling and then the whole thing has a milk chocolate coating. Sounds good? It certainly did to me since chocolate and peanut butter as a taste combination is my absolute favorite. Call me a connossieur even.

To the cookie. First impression is of the packaging. Nice size box in the familiar Reece's orange. Can't tell how many actual cookies are in the box, though I'm guessing not as many as I'd like. Once the box is opened, my first surprise. The plastic covering the inner package is the same as what you'd find on a Hershey candy bar, what? Okay, not to panic, I realize that Hersheys and Reeces are owned by the same company and this is the result. I haven't gotten a box of Hershey's cookies (though I'm not averse to the idea, it just wasn't what I wanted in the moment).

Okay, I gently rip open the Hershey plastic and pull out my tray of cookies. Hmmm. Looks alot like the peanut butter cookies sold by the Girl Scouts in the Spring. Each has an individual slot in the plastic base and there are about 18 cookies in the box. I know that's not very precise, but I ate them last week the box is gone so I can't refer back, sorry.

As to the cookies? Well they tasted a lot like the Girl Scout cookies too. Not that that's a bad thing (I always buy a couple boxes), but there wasn't anything particularly exciting about them either. Will I buy them again when I need my peanut butter/chocolate fix? Probably not. And that's a big indicator right there - because as a consumer of junkfood I'm easy.

One thing you'll find out about me is I like cheesy (and not just when I'm talking food!). Cheesy what? Everything. Corny too. Schmalz? Bring it on. In fact name one bad 70's song about death and I've got a recording. Run Joey Run or The Night the Lights went out in Georgia? I know 'em by heart.

None of which means I don't like "good" stuff as well. With me it's more a matter of good and bad not meaning much. My inner sap knows no bounds.

Which brings me to the two soapy shows that have captured my attention. No this is not another tribute to Lost and Desperate Housewives. This post is dedicated to two lesser known shows, one beginning to get critical acclaim and the other, hmm, not so much.

First up is a show I discovered last summer. At first I watched occasionally when I was flipping around the dial on a Saturday night (something I do with all too pathetic a regularity). What did I find the first time? Beautiful people speaking with that Australian twang we accentless Americans love so much. McLeod's Daughters is set in the Australian Outback and follows the adventures of two sisters only recently reunited by the death of their father. Claire is the tough, no-nonsense daughter of a rancher who is determined to keep running the ranch her father left to her. Complications arise when her half-sister Tess shows up and says that she is now half owner of the homestead.

Most of this I had to figure out as I went along, since I missed the beginning. But in the meantime I was completely sucked in the melodrama of these women's lives. The WE channel has just started airing season three and the love lives of our intrepid heroines are as complicated as they ever were. Of course it helps that the ranch next door has two large, hot brothers always willing to help Claire and Tess and their all woman staff. Aah. Can't wait for it to come on at 9 tonight.

Equally complicated but, I'll admit, better written is the new series on HBO, Rome. Like the soapy MD, Rome caught me a few episodes in. The show follows the machinations of the powerful as Caesar (played by the lovely Ciaran Hinds) and Pompeii fight for Rome. It is made accessible by our getting to see these world shaking events through the eyes of two soldiers in Caesar's army, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo

Lucius Vorenus is an officer who believes in the Roman Republic. Though he follows orders as an officer, in his heart he does not believe in what Caesar does when he returns to Rome. Lucius' return to Rome and his wife after an 8 year absence is what drew me into the show. Vorenus is a serious, taciturn man who loves his wife Niobe but is unable to come up with the words to tell her so. The soapy scene where they first see each other again was perfectly done. He returns to find her holding a baby and accuses her of being a whore. She coldly informs him that the baby is his grandchild and walks out, leaving him looking bereft. Fabulous.

Titus Pullo is a common soldier who finds himself in trouble more often then not and frequently needs to call on Lucius for help. But where Lucius is intelligent, Titus is canny and pretty darn protective of those he takes under his wing. Nice.

What makes both of these shows is focus on character. Much as the cool technology of CSI and its numerous offshoots is, lately I've only been satisfied with deep character development. Give me tortured characters who struggle. Give me tough gals who can stand toe-to-toe with the hard guys who have hearts of gold.

May cheese and schmalz always rule.

A first timer at blogging, I feel like I'm trying to come up with something to write on a birthday card for a co-worker. I hope I'm clever, possibly amusing, and most of all original. Probably not going to happen here, but one can always hope.

A friend and colleague is blogging about all the nonfiction reading she does All Nonfiction, All the Time. I don't have that kind of focus. If you have to label me, call me a genre fiction junkie. I do read the nonfiction and literary stuff - but only for book groups or if they've been recommended by those I trust. My true reading loves are mysteries and romance and science fiction and fantasy. Just about anything that's considered literary trash by someone or another. I seek out books filled with conventions, endings that resolve plot threads and elements, and highly original stories.

Is that even possible? Genre conventions and originality? You bet your bippy. And that's what trips my trigger. In romance the Regency historical (especially those featuring aristocratic heroes who are former spies for the Crown) has been done to death. But a couple of years ago Tracy Grant worked wonders by melding suspense with romance in her Daughter of the Game and Beneath a Silent Moon. She turned the genre conventions on their head. Suddenly it was the heroine who had the tortured and checkered past and the hero who had to deal with the fallout.

More recently Susan Carroll has reappeared on the historical romance scene. Where once Ms. Carroll was writing within the overcrowded Regency subgenre and being largely overlooked, she is now taking readers back to the treacherous court of Catherine de Medici in Renaissance France with her new trilogy. Good stuff.

Whew! I've made it through a post. Though truthfully this is really about my fourth attempt as I learn how this blogging thing works. Bear with me.