Relationship arcs have been on my mind since last week. My post on Opposites Attract got me started. I had just finished The Austen Playbook: An Opposites Attract Romance by Lucy Parker. The fact that the relationship arc of the story found its way into the subtitle interested me. Such... read more
After finishing the trilogy London Celebrities by Lucy Parker, I picked up another by her, namely The Austen Playbook. This one announces in the title that it is An Opposites Attract Romance. I decided to ruminate on the category. First image to come to mind: Danny and Sandy from Grease.... read more
I am reposting this blog from October 8, 2015 in response to the October 25, 2019 opening of The Current War: The Director’s Cut. This movie first appeared in 2017 but played mostly in art houses. It’s about Thomas Edison who favored direct current (DC), and George Westinghouse who favored... read more
There are a zillion Christmas romances out there. Nothing for it but to wade in and read what I can read. I’m on the hunt for blazing hearths, hot toddies, and the scent of pine to inspire warm and fuzzy love stories. And let’s not forget the mistletoe. Christmas Romances:... read more
I just finished reading the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy by Kevin Kwan which consists of Crazy Rich Asians, China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems. As one of Kwan’s characters might describe it: Tons. Of. Fun. The trilogy is a smart, super sophisticated three-issue version of Us Weekly. First, you get pages... read more
Halloween romances are a more vexed sub-genre than I would have thought. However, after reading a bunch this week, I now know they have two big problems to surmount. First, effective titles are restricted by a limited number of holiday-related words such as trick and treat – and if you... read more
Lately I’ve been reading memoirs and have already written a post on them. Now I have more memoirs to share. More Memoirs: Trevor Noah Born a Crime (2016) Loved it. Absolutely loved it. Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show, offers a gripping account of his childhood and young adulthood... read more
Just this past week I’ve been gobbling up memoirs. As opposed to autobiographies which chronicle an entire life, memoirs focus in particular on one aspect of a person’s life. Memoirs: Steve Martin Born Standing Up (2007) I love stand-up comedy and just happened on Steve Martin‘s account of his 18 years... read more
I don’t usually read graphic novels probably because so few of them involve romantic plots, but I did run across Jen Wang‘s The Prince and the Dressmaker (2018) because the New York Times crossword blogger I read, namely Rex Parker, recommended it as a romance. As it happened, one of her... read more
This week I read A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. In a word: delightful. I could also say that reading it was like eating the fluffiest of soufflés, but instead of it melting in my mouth I could actually sink my teeth into it. Double yum. I know this book was... read more
