Don’t let the titles fool you, most of these books deal with some heavy topics such as drug addiction, weight, death etc… Just because they are labeled “chic lit” does not mean that they are full of fluff and hearts. Sure their endings tend to be more of a feel good nature but the journey the characters take (not to mention the character development) are what makes these books so compelling. The authors are doing their job when the characters and their stories stick with you years after having read the books.

Woman’s Fiction

Marian Keyes – Rachel’s Holiday

Marian Keyes – Anybody Out There

Jennifer Weiner – Good in Bed

Jane Green – Jemima J

Emily Griffin – Something Blue

Judy Blume – Summer Sisters

Kate Jacobs – The Friday Night Knitting Cub

Jacqueline Susann – Valley of the Dolls

VC Andrews – Petals on the Wind

Ariella Papa – Up & Out

Favourite Series

Charlaine Harris - Sookie Stackhouse Series

Fiction – Other

JD Salinger – Catcher in the Rye (Cliche? Yeah sure, but there’s a reason for that, it’s a great book!)

Shakespeare – King Lear

Jean- Paul Sartre – No Exit (Huis Clos) (read both the French and English of this)

Non-Fiction

Anthony Bourdain – Kitchen Confidential (Picture this: Home at 3am from being out with friends and I see Evan Solomon  interviewing this surly guy about his food book on CBC Newsworld. Somehow I managed to remember the name and bought the book. It has opened doors to a whole new world for me. That doesn’t happen very often)

Phoebe Damrosch – Service Included

Michael Ruhlman – The Making of a Chef

Daphne Bramham – The Secret Lives of Saints

Naomi Wolf -  The Beauty Myth

]]> http://popoffculture.com/book-lists/feed/ 0 http://popoffculture.com/my-love-of-books/ http://popoffculture.com/my-love-of-books/#comments Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:19:13 +0000 admin http://popoffculture.com/?p=706 I’ve been meaning to write about this for about a week and just never got around to it. So let’s see if my thoughts are coherent and well formed!

There’s been some press lately about The Baby-sitter’s Club because Ann M. Martin wrote a prequel to it. I have to say I’m tempted to get my hands on it, even if the intended audience is tween girls. I grew up with The Baby-sitter’s Club (TBC from now on). I may not have finished reading the series but I read a lot of those books. Same goes for all of the Sweet Valley Series, which has been getting press lately too because finally!! Francine Pascal’s book about where they are now is coming out this year.

Francine Pascal’s new adult novel, Sweet Valley Confidential, which follows the later-in-life travails of the twin protagonists from the author’s bestselling 1980 YA series, Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield

I am ecstatic over this news as I have heard about this book for at least a year or two now.

Those books were my childhood, pre-teen and early teen years. They mean a lot to me. Hearing about them took me back. It’s like when I detect a certain amount of spring in the air, it takes me back to a certain time in my life. Anyways, back to the books….

Hearing about them took me back to those pre-teen years. I look on them with fondness because at that time I didn’t have any real responsibilities, I didn’t think and worry about my loved ones’ health and our eventual demise (dark stuff eh? Welcome to my brain circa 2010). I had to go to school, deal with 12yr old girls acting like bitches and I would read and do other things. It’s strange that I look at those times fondly because at the time, I hated them. I had trouble sleeping because I worried about things so much (ok this hasn’t really changed about me, it’s a wonder that I don’t have health issues related to the amount of worrying I do, oh wait, actually I do). I didn’t really like life that much back then because I hated dealing with the girls in school. Bitchy, catty, gossipy etc.. and I was one of them too. There was all this pressure about who is friends with whom and who said what about whom. blah blah blah. Psycho drama you know?

But Sweet Valley and TBC? They took that all away. It was like being in paradise in my mind. My mind had a break from its daily life and my on-going growing list of worries. It was like taking a vacation because I was now in someone else’s mind and as a result my mind got a break. It was glorious.

I still seek refuge in books, lately I’ve been doing this a lot more than in recent years. When I was in University and grad school I didn’t get to read as a form of escaping very much but at the same time I didn’t need it. Life was pretty good then, in terms of not having many responsibilities or thinking about “grown up” issues.

People like to laugh at me and be shocked over my choice of books, since I’m so politically-minded and have a love of academia. See, I tread mainly in the chic lit areas with a tendency to read some biographies and sociological or food related books. I tell them it’s because in University it took my mind off of things but that’s not the complete truth. The complete truth is that not only do I seriously enjoy these books but it allows me to escape. I can get to know some other characters, and deal with their life and its associated problems. It takes me away from my own problems and responsibilities. It helps my mind and body to relax and trust me that is not an easy thing for me to do (it’s entirely possible that if I were to take a meditation course, that my brain would fight it).

I actually have a pile of new books to read and haven’t really touched them because I go to the library constantly. Having a new book to read is an obsession of mine, I always have to have a few in the wings ready to go. I read on average 2 books a week and would probably read more if I a) didn’t watch television at night and b)would allow myself to relax during the day.

So while I may wish to go back to Sweet Valley High or go hang out in Claudia’s bedroom, I have new books to read and new places to escape to. With that in mind, yes I will be buying that TBC book and the new Sweet Valley one and will be relishing every moment, every page and every word in them!

So now he’s at the vet and we wait for them to do the xrays and to find out what’s going on with him. I mean they could find nothing or well…something.

It just all sucks. A.Lot.

• why do anti-choice people KILL abortion doctors?
• why do anti-choice people believe in violence for living humans but think that a zygote is too precious to harm?
• if these anti-choices love kids so much, why aren’t they adopting them in droves instead of yelling outside of clinics and meddling in other people’s business?
• why do anti-choice people use children as a propaganda weapon in their fight to take away choices that affect women’s health?
• will sleazy stevie work towards removing our women’s health choices here?
• why do the ultra “religious” and right-wing conservative men hate women? WHY?
• why are the ultra religious always the most hypocritical and hateful?
• will Canada go blue?
• when will I stop being able to sleep at night for fear of Canada going blue?
• if I ever met sleazy stevie, would I do something that could land me in jail?
• what would I do or say to sleazy stevie if i ever met him, besides possibly spitting on his shoes?
• can we start a petition to oust Jane Taber from the Globe and Mail?
• can we get a big batch of pork rinds and dump them on Duffy and sleazy stevie?
• when will sleazy stevie GO AWAY?

Yeah there’s more floating around in there but you know… those are the ones I’m sharing.

I have to say this whole H1N1 chaos is amusing when on the sidelines but also sad and upsetting if this is what our feds consider an effective pandemic plan. Last week they complained that not enough people wanted to get to get the vaccine and this week they complain that too many want it all at once. Well guess what feds, you’ve had since March to come up with a plan and you failed… miserably.
When I look at clinic locations for Montreal (my area of Montreal, which consists of downtown, Westmount, Outremont and Mont Royal) there is NO CLINIC. NOTHING. We’re talking about an area of Montreal that has numerous CEGEPS, Universities and Hospitals, on top of a dense population and not 1 freaking clinic? And then you can’t understand why people are lining up in droves at the very few clinics that are open?

This is how they should have set it up:
Clinics set up at schools so that parents and their kids can go there
Clinics set up across the city (even if they move every few days to different locations) for people who do not have school-age children.

Yes that was hard. So hard. And why weren’t teachers on the priority list? They’re stuck in rooms with kids who do not cover up their sneezes and coughs, nor do they wash their hands on a consistent basis. This was very very poorly planned. As someone who is in the healthy group, I have to wait over 1 month to be eligible for a vaccine. I don’t mind the wait so that other people who are more at risk can get theirs, but I do mind that they started these vaccinations so late into the season, so that we have to go through most of the season without a vaccine.

To be honest, I’m not even sure if I’ll get the vaccine. The day H1N1 broke in March, I was actually sick at home with very, very similar symptoms. Was it H1N1? Most likely not but it was eerie to have the same symptoms. Plus since I reside out of province temporarily, I’m not even sure if they’ll give me one here. One more thing, I’m a bit leery of signing a consent form for a supposedly safe vaccine. If the government and the pharmaceutical company really stand behind this vaccine, why do I have to sign my life away?

I may regret my bitching in a few weeks if I get sick but to be honest, standing in line for 7 hrs with hundreds upon hundreds of people doesn’t seem like a good idea either, if we’re talking about prevention. Hell, I don’t even want to go see some friends’ band tonight because I don’t want to be in tight quarters with people unless necessary.

Yes we should all be taking extra precautions right now, but we shouldn’t be clogging the ER’s and clinics. The pandemic right now, is the culture of fear that has been propagated.

There are many, many reasons that I do not want to have children, and right now I’m going to discuss one of those reasons. To put it simply, I do not want to be lumped into a group called “parents”. Specifically, the entitled, whiny, bratty kind. You know the ones I’m talking about. They let their kids run amok in stores, they let their dirty kids touch strangers’ hair (I have long and kids are attracted to it like a moth to a flame). These types of parents think their kids can do no wrong even if they shit on the floor in a grocery store (not a true story). These could be the type that talk about their offspring non-stop on facebook; I mean really, I love my dog a lot but you don’t see me telling others how his shit was today do you?

So today in the Windsor Star comes a highly entertaining story about these entitled parents. The parents attended a track and field meet and were told beforehand that if they parked illegally they would be ticketed. Well la-di-da guess what happened? They parked illegally, along the side of a major road, near a freaking gas plant no less and they got ticketed. Then they got mad. Mad for getting a ticket they deserved.
Here’s their rational:

“I just thought it was pretty crappy — the economy the way it is, people lose their jobs, the big CUPE strike in the summertime. The kids missed half of their community centre events. These kids work hard and parents take time out of their day to come and see their kids run, and then there’s some guy ticketing your vehicle. I think it’s low.”

That’s right people, because there was a strike that ended over 2 months ago, they should be allowed to park illegally. Because we have a shitty economy, they should be able to park illegally. Yup yup. Most likely these fat asses didn’t want to walk an extra 2 min, and trust me, most of them could use some walking. The tickets they were given were around $30 too and they’re complaining. They were warned in advance, the kids were given notes to take home, the newspaper even warned them in an article and yet, not only did they not listen to the warning, they believe that parking illegally is just alright for them. These are probably the same lazy people who need family parking spaces at the mall. Or who will drive around for 40 minutes at the mall just to get a front spot, I mean heaven forbid you walk! I’d love to see these people live in a big city, where walking and taking transit is encouraged!

Yes, entitled parents, you and your offspring are truly an inspiration to society. I cannot wait to see how they grow up.

I find this feeling occurs more after I’ve had a good night out or I’m feeling lonely, but the main underlining cause remains: I’ll read something in the news (or something similar) and can’t believe what I’m reading (read: can’t believe the world I’m living in).

Case in point: Had a great evening last night with some friends over – great food, great conversation etc… Today it’s grey out, I’m working, listening to the Destroyer show I recently saw (which makes me feel happy) and then bah-da-bum… I read this horrific headline:

U.S. speeds up delivery of big bomb

Wait what? WHAT????
Rewind

What happened to Mr. Nobel Peace Prize? What happened to we hate Iran for having a nuclear program? What happened to we’re a broke country?

Ok now it’s time to read the article, let’s see if there’s anything to dispel these depressive grey thoughts whirling around my brain. Hmm.. well the first paragraph only confirms what I’m feeling:

The Pentagon is speeding up delivery of a colossal bomb designed to destroy hidden weapons bunkers buried underground and shielded by 4,535 kilograms of reinforced concrete.Call it Plan B for dealing with Iran, which recently revealed a long-suspected nuclear site deep inside a mountain near the holy city of Qom.

I’m not sure I can handle reading more. I don’t care if this program is from the Bush years Snr. or Jnr. If Mr. “Yes we can” Obama is truly worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize (please), then this program would have ended. Our current connotations of “peace”, “terrorist”, “fundamentalist”, “Muslim”, “Arabic” etc… are all very twisted and warped. All of a sudden a country building a huge bomb is a peace loving country and yet, anyone else who does it is a terrorist. Well, well, well…what can I say to this besides the obvious (hypocrites).

I do not understand this world at all. I do not understand how I can go from having a nice evening to hating this world. I do not understand how we can live in a world full of hatred where a country preaches peace and proclaims everyone else as “evil” and yet their President can win a freaking Nobel Peace Prize FOR DOING NOTHING. Ooh you inspired hope, big fucking deal. If you got rid of this bomb and worked on changing perceptions, we wouldn’t need to be inspired to feel hope because the world would be a better place (in theory). I can talk the talk too, but can you actually walk the walk? Certainly seems like you cannot Sir.

Screw this, our current connotations for “power”, “money”, “consumption”, “greed”,”business”, “equality”, “humanism”, “socialism”, “conservatism” and “love” are all warped beyond repair. Where do we go from here when the terms I just listed are warped… the negatives ones are seen as positive and the positive as negative. What is this? WHAT IS THIS?

OK here’s the thing  – polygamy. I am obsessed with polygamy; reading about it, watching tv shows about it.. No clue why, I’ve probably discussed this in one of my Big Love threads (best show).

So the latest thing is that the case against Blackmore and Oler has been thrown out. As usual.

I am all for freedom of speech and for the most part freedom of religion. But problems arise when people ‘interpret’ religion to further their own psychotic beliefs.  This is a case of that. We have 12 yrs old forced into marrying 80 yr old men. 16 yr olds pregnant with their 4th child. They have little to no education and cannot think for themselves. They have no outside sources or money. They are trapped and the worst part is, is that for the most part, they don’t even know they are trapped in a a living hell.

I actually posted on the ctv.ca news story about this.  I’m not sure if it’ll get posted but here’s what I wrote:

It’s not polygamy that I take issue with. It’s the lack of choice for the women (actually children) forced into it. It’s the lack of education they are given. It’s the lack of a childhood. They are turned into breeding machines and have no options.

There are so many things wrong with this and it’s not polygamy because in theory (like anything in theory) there isn’t anything truly horrible about it. It’s the pathetic manipulative power hungry abusive men who control it that I have an issue with.

Blackmore, Oler, Jeffs etc… you will get yours.  The super religious are always the most hypocritical.

Where does this come from? From here:

ONLY RAPISTS CAN PREVENT RAPE

A lot has been said about how to prevent rape. Women should learn self-defense. Women should lock themselves in their houses after dark. Women shouldn’t have long hair and women shouldn’t wear short skirts. Women shouldn’t leave drinks unattended. Fuck, they shouldn’t dare to get drunk at all. Instead of that bullshit, how about:

If a woman is drunk, don’t rape her.
If a woman is walking alone at night, don’t rape her.
If a women is drugged and unconscious, don’t rape her.
If a woman is wearing a short skirt, don’t rape her.
If a woman is jogging in a park at 5 am, don’t rape her.
If a woman looks like your ex-girlfriend you’re still hung up on, don’t rape her.
If a woman is asleep in her bed, don’t rape her.
If a woman is asleep in your bed, don’t rape her.
If a woman is doing her laundry, don’t rape her.
If a woman is in a coma, don’t rape her.
If a woman changes her mind in the middle of or about a particular activity, don’t rape her.
If a woman has repeatedly refused a certain activity, don’t rape her.
If a woman is not yet a woman, but a child, don’t rape her.
If your girlfriend or wife is not in the mood, don’t rape her.
If your step-daughter is watching TV, don’t rape her.
If you break into a house and find a woman there, don’t rape her.
If your friend thinks it’s okay to rape someone, tell him it’s not, and that he’s not your friend.
If your “friend” tells you he raped someone, report him to the police.
If your frat-brother or another guy at the party tells you there’s an unconscious woman upstairs and it’s your turn, don’t rape her, call the police and tell the guy he’s a rapist.
Tell your sons, god-sons, nephews, grandsons, sons of friends it’s not okay to rape someone.
Don’t tell your women friends how to be safe and avoid rape.
Don’t imply that she could have avoided it if she’d only done/not done x.
Don’t imply that it’s in any way her fault.
Don’t let silence imply agreement when someone tells you he “got some” with the drunk girl.
Don’t perpetuate a culture that tells you that you have no control over or responsibility for your actions. You can, too, help yourself.

If you agree, re-post it. It’s that important.

Note:
This goes for any gendered rape, male on female or female on male or female on female or FTM on MTF or non gendered to dual gendered and so on and so forth….

-author unknown

Here’s another take on it.