I bring this upon myself

[gwendolyngrey]

Snow today.  It didn't stick to the ground, but the real honest-to-god flakes swirling through the air were depressing enough as they were.  I'm not ready for four-five months of winter! 

Without fail, whenever I get overwhelmed or stressed out, I turn to books.  Not just any books either.  I check out stacks of YA fantasy novels and schlocky chic-lit (or morbid horror stories, or classics I've not yet gotten to, or authors that people have recommended, or whatever's on the "New Fiction" shelf at the library... but mostly fantasy and romantic swill and teenage angst) and just devour them. 

Case in point:  I just finished reading a truly nauseating book entitled "Me and Mr. Darcy".  It was basically what one might call 'published fanfiction', and featured a hopeless Mary Sue as the main lead.  The young woman, manager of a bookstore in New York and jaded by love, seeks solace within the pages of her beloved Jane Austen novels, proclaiming Mr. Darcy as her only true love.  She travels to England, has a romance that directly parallels the plotline of Pride and Prejudice, defies time and reality by meeting the real Mr. Darcy before deciding that he's hopelessly closeminded, and ends up with a journalist named "Spike". 

I first realized this woman was a complete ninny when she found Mr. Darcy attractive "in spite of his fancy dress costume".  The author of this book had CLEARY never laid eyes on a man in breeches and coattails in real life, or she would have realized that there is little that makes a man more attractive than nice regency clothing.  And let's not gloss over the unconscionable crime of referring to Mr. Darcy's clothing as "Victorian".  VICTORIAN!!!

I should take this as a lesson to stop reading what are clearly worthless books, but it's a habit I can't bring myself to break.  It's easier to read this rubbish than to think about next week... and the week after... and the week after...

Comments

[bauhausfrau.livejournal.com]

I read a lot of worthless stuff too, although I like to think there are some goodies mixed in with the bad.

[ktlovely.livejournal.com]

I...I really only have one thing to say to this:



WELL HELLO THERE.

[idlewild-grey.livejournal.com]

WORD.

And this picture totally doesn't do him justice.

[ktlovely.livejournal.com]

I KNOW! Kermit is much cuter in person.

[lyschan.livejournal.com]

Oh but it DID stick to the ground here!! Not heaps and mounds like we're sure to get in the coming weeks but it's quite visible. I am just as sad over it as you!

Sorry about the bad book experience (it sounds infuriating!) I haven't dared to read any book with Jane Austen characters not written by Jane Austen herself, for about those reasons.

I've been wanting to find more things to read lately, but I'm not sure what to start with so I keep going back to books I remember liking back when I read more (I read SO much in middle and highschool and then kinda just stopped. sad... I don't want to put you on the spot, but is there anything you've read recently and really loved, that you'd recommend?

[idlewild-grey.livejournal.com]

Shhhhh, don't say that. You'll just encourage it!

I keep going back to books I loved years ago too. I haven't found anything wonderful recently, but one that I highly recommend (though you've probably read it) is "I Capture the Castle". Another favorite is "Dark Lord of Derkholm" by Dianna Wynne Jones. Oh! And "Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome. I'm afraid that's all I've got for right now... I'm in dire need of good recommendations too!

Re: Youth Fiction

[idlewild-grey.livejournal.com]

Dianna Wynne Jones is one of my favorite YA authors (and yes, I have read the sequel to DDofD... I've read nearly every one of her books). And I did read and enjoy "Thief", but I've never read "The Secret of Platform 13", I'll have to check it out! I've also read the Dark Materials trilogy too, natch, and "Life of Pi" which, even though I liked it while I was reading it, left me frustrated.

[lyschan.livejournal.com]

Thank you!! I will check those all out :D I haven't actually read "I Capture the Castle" but it sounds interesting and I trust your good taste!

I just reread Tanith Lee's Claidi journal series this week, and then found out there was a 4th book I'd never yet read, so I have to track that down from a library. I still like them a lot! (but perhaps you've already read them too?)

[tartancravat.livejournal.com]

I read that! It was terrible! And men in any clothing prior to the mid twentieth century just win. I do not understand the person who does not think so.

[bite-the-rose.livejournal.com]

By the time I got out and about on the town (around 10pm), the snow was sticking, but only on the grass and bushes and other vegetation, not the cement and asphalt. Which is always a good sign since it shows that the ground's still too warm for real snow to happen, and just a little time left before the coldness of winter.

And if you like slightly more non-fiction books that are more science- /disease-based, I'd recommend something by Richard Preston. The Hot Zone is his most famous, about the Ebola virus and how, in the 1980's, America was nearly exposed to it, or The Demon in the Freezer, which is a little more recent, about the anthrax scares after 9/11 and the smallpox scare the world experienced afterwards.

Sorry I don't know too many romantic fantasy or teenage angsty books, but those really aren't my thing.

[idlewild-grey.livejournal.com]

You hit on the one subject that really freaks me out! I CANNOT handle medical/disease based books. Horror, violence, blood, sex, and swearing I can take... but not disease. I start to imagine what exactly it would feel like and how I would react to having something and how people I know could contract it, and get really paranoid. I still haven't recovered from a "medical mysteries" book I read when I was about twelve. *shudder*

[bite-the-rose.livejournal.com]

haha well, ok then. how about the Myth Adventures series by Robert Asprin? They're fantasy based and pretty funny. First book is actually called Myth Adventures. My dad gave me it to read when I was 16, and I was a little leery because I usually don't read the sci-fi/fantasy stuff, but I thought it was so good that I read the other 4 or 5 books that he has in the series, too.

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

I love reading rubbish! Except mine is 50+ years old. :D Old, adventurous, sheer fun science fiction, and good old-fashioned detective and adventure stories.