What I’m Reading :
Any book by Mary Balogh.
Good heavens, this woman can write! I love Regency romances, and Mary Balogh knows how to string all the historical bits and pieces together with great character and, in her later books, some seriously steamy, hot scenes. I highly recommend any of her books as I have been working my way through her backlist, although my favorite so far is The Secret Pearl, which has been recently re-released, I believe. This book made my chest ACHE as I read it. And yes, I cried. Sigh. I’m waiting long enough to forget some details before reading it again.
See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson
I love this book. In fact, it’s one of my favorite contemporary romances. It’s crisp, funny, sexy, moving. It made me cry, it made me long for the two characters to get it together. More info? It’s about a plain Jane journalist - actually called Jane, hence the title - who gets assigned to cover an ice hockey team for the season. The team’s star goalee doesn’t like her. Which is fine, because she doesn’t like him. Except, they’re both kind of lying to themselves. The rest you can imagine, but it’s a great journey to go on with these characters.
Ain’t She Sweet by Susan Elizabeth Philips
Now, my editor nearly fell off her chair when I told her a few years ago that I had only ever read series romance. What can I say - my grandmothers were into them, and that’s where I nurtured my addiction. So, the wonderful Wanda put me onto Susan Elizabeth Philips, who is of course, as I now know, hugely successful and famous. The first book I read of hers was Ain’t She Sweet, mostly because it was the only one on the bookshelf at our local Borders store. This book opened up a whole new world of romance to me - ie single titles. What a great story. Great characters. Great humour. Sooooo touching and emotional. The thing that I love the most about this book is the depth of character exploration. Sugar, the heroine, is the quintessential head cheerleader, Miss Popularity, Homecoming Queen. On the surface, anyway. This book explores what happens to Miss Popularity when she grows up and gets hit with the full force of Life, complete with bad luck and tough breaks. It also explores the childhood behind Sugar’s apparently perfect life, making her so human and loveable and heroic…okay, I cried. Again. I admit it. This book also has a great sub-plot to do with Sugar’s arch enemy - who also happens to be her half sister. Thoroughly enjoyable.
A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke
This is a book about an English guy who goes to live and work in Paris for a year. My man and I spent 2 months in Paris at the beginning of the year, eating baguettes and making the French cringe with our appalling accents. So much of this book really rang true to me - it’s very, very funny, a really delightful read. Most of it is made up, I suspect, although some is clearly based on the personal experiences of the author, who is a journalist working in Paris. If you have ever been to Paris and had a taste of what it’s like, you will find something to laugh at in this book.
Temeraire (titled Her Majesty’s Dragon in US) by Naomi Novik
This book is apparently Peter Jackson’s next film. It was a birthday gift from my great friend and writing buddy Kirsty, and I loved it. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, it recreates military history with a great addition - dragons! The relationship between Will, the Captain of a naval ship who becomes a reluctant dragon rider, and his dragon, Temeraire, is so warm, loving and charming that it’s hard to put the book down. I think this book taps into our longing for the ability to talk to our pets. If dogs could talk, I suspect this would be the relationship we all wanted with our beloved pooch. If you’re into fantasy, give this a shot - it’s very charming.
Harvest by Tess Gerritsen
Now, my mum got me onto this writer. She found her first book, Harvest, in a second hand book shop, read it, and fell in love. It’s a really gripping medical thriller, and unputdownable. I love ER and House, as well as Medical Romances, so this was right up my alley, too. Loved the heroine, loved the tension, and could not put this book down. I have since gone on to read several others of Ms Gerritsen’s books. She’s a former doctor as well as a former romance writer for Harlequin, so there’s good detail and good sexual tension in amongst all the thrills. There’s a great quote on one of her books from Stephen King saying you have to factor in the cost of electricity when you by Gerritsen because you’ll be up all night reading. Ditto for me, Mr King.
What I’m watching:
Small Screen
We’re still mostly just watching TV on DVD, if that makes sense. Love those box sets. My brother’s partner has also been downloading shows from the US. And we recently got cable, so there are some reality TV shows getting a good running in our household at present. The best of all of the above are:
Brideshead Revisited. This is a boxed set my mother gave us. She bought it for herself and watched one episode from each DVD, not realising there were four on each DVD. Consequently, the story didn’t really hang together for her. By the time she discovered her mistake, she was over it. And since my man loves Brideshead, we were gifted with many, many hours of great British TV. It was made a long time ago. Jeremy Irons is in it, and he’s just a pup. So it’s at least 20 years old. But it’s good. Historical, subtle, complex. Full of humour and fantastic characer observation and nuance. Slow, too. Sad. Basically, for those who haven’t seen it before or read Evelyn Waugh’s book, it explores the friendship between Charles and Sebastian, two young men who meet at Oxford, almost certainly become lovers, and then the detrioration of their friendship as Charles becomes enamoured of his family and increasingly betrays his friend to earn his family’s acceptance. Yes, it can be heavy going, but it’s very charming, too.
Battlestar Galactica - the new season. Oh boy, this is such a great series. Turning Starbuck into a woman and playing her off against Apollo was an inspired idea. And the actress who plays Starbuck is so damned charming and charismatic, she’s singlehandedly revived my interest in kick-ass heroines. And the writers take the time to make her self destructive to go hand in hand with her devil-may-care bravado. I love that about this show - they’re not afraid to go to dark places, make their characters wrong or weak, then redeem them. Can’t wait for the next - and last - season to start playing.
Design Star. Okay, it’s a cable show, but I love it! We’ve just been watching the 2007 season, and watching wannabe interior designers tackle the challenges, deal with each other and the stress of the projects they are challenged with is endlessly entertaining. I love a good before and after. Sigh. And soon the 2008 season begins. Yay!
Heroes. How I love this show. Slow to start, but I just love the very clever time lines and the way people slowly discover and explore the benefits and pitfalls of their talent. One beef, however - is it just me, or is the show slowing down a lot? I am starting to get a little frustrated, which is why I couldn’t watch Lost. Instant gratification is my middle name…
Ned and Stacy Season One. We got this on the cheapy table at the DVD store. How I love Thomas Haden Church has great comic timing and delivery. It’s pretty interesting watching a show find itself, as they always do in the first few episodes. The pilot was very clunky, but you can see the actors, writers and directors hitting their stride. I guess I bought this because I was looking for The Muffin Bitch episode where Stacy’s sister becomes a muffin spokesperson or something like that. I’m not sure if it’s in season one or not yet. Shall delve further…
Deadwood. As long as you’re not offended by a bit of cussing, this is amazing. Okay, a lot of cussing. But the originality of the concept is worth it. It really brings home to you how brave and reckless and desperate our forebears must have been. Obviously, I’m an Australian, but I imagine that pioneer Australia was not far off the Wild West of America.
Family Guy. You think the Simpson’s are funny? Try this incredibly un-PC, adult, twisted take on the nuclear family. A friend lent us his box set. One episode in, I thought they were a pale imitation of the Simpsons. Even the house looks the same. Two episodes in, I could not believe how outrageous the jokes were. Or how much I was laughing. We now own our own copies and watch an episode whenever we need a laugh. The great thing about this show is that it was cancelled due to poor scheduling and hence poor ratings, but the high DVD sales and strong viewer feedback prompted the network to recommission a new series, and now it is HUGE. Now everybody has heard of the Family Guy. As it should be.
Curb Your Enthusiasm. Oh, Larry. How can one man be so annoying, endearing, amusing and irritating all at once? I think we’ve all got a bit of Larry in us. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this, it’s the new-ish show from Larry David, co-creator of Seinfeld. It’s very clever, but it’s one of those things that grows on you. Definitely worth watching more than one ep if the first one didn’t grab you.
Big Screen.
Here we’ve been a bit more active. We tend to go once a week, so I’m pretty jaded and opinionated about my movie experiences. For what it’s worth, my take on our latest ventures are below:
No Country For Old Men. Those Coen brothers sure know what they’re doing. Very gripping movie - had me on the edge of my seat. Disturbing, too, in parts, and drenched in blood and violence. But that’s a Coen brothers movie for you, eh? This movie cops some flack for it’s ending, and it certainly generated some discussion in our house, but Tommy Lee is great, as was Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem.
Michael Clayton. George Clooney can do no wrong. He’s gorgeous, smart, talented. This is a good movie, very entertaining. Tilda Swinton as the bad guy was great - she’s such a kooky lady. I love her in Orlando, one of my favorite art house movies, and she did such a good job of portraying a woman in over her head in Michael Clayton. I like it when movies make me think and don’t hand me all the bits of the story at once, and Michael Clayton definitely did that.
Once. This is a small Irish movie, a musical, basically. They won best song at the Academy Awards for the song Falling Slowly from the movie. It’s billed as a romantic comedy. It has some really, really charming moments. But it’s a small movie, and I found the ending unsatisfying. But, then, I write romance for a living and the happy ever after is tattooed on my forehead. The music is great, and the low key acting from both leads is so different from Hollywood movies. If it’s on near you and you’re curious, go along for a look but remember it’s a small movie with a small budget and great music.
Casion Royale. I had strong feelings about Daniel Craig playing James Bond. He’s blonde, for starters. Bond is a brunette. Definitely. And after seeing him cry in Layer Cake, I was deeply suspicious of his manly virtues. I have now seen Casino Royale twice, and would like to officially eat my words. He is hot. The movie is great. It’s exactly the exciting re-imagination of James Bond that the franchise needed. The stunts, the dialogue, the story - it’s all excellent. Hats off to the producers, writers, director and, of course, Mr Hot Buns, Daniel Craig.
Miami Vice. The movie, not the old series. This movie is hot. Smart. Sexy. Dangerous. I loved it to death. Really adult, sometimes a bit hard to follow but in a good, use your brain kind of way. And Colin Farrell is a very sexy guy. He looks a bit naughty, and like he knows his way around the bedroom. The sex scene between him and Li Gong, the Asian drug runner, is so moving and honest, I thought it was one of the best,most evocative sex scenes I have ever seen.
Look Both Ways. Saw this on the plane at Christmas time. It’s an Australian move, and it will probably only get an art-house release anywhere else in the world, but hopefully it might be available on DVD… A small movie about a handful of people who’s lives intersect after a train accident. Which makes it sound like Crash or something like that, but it’s not. It’s very human, very emotional, very touching. And funny. A great element is the way the director gets into the two main characters heads with animation. He’s a photographer, so the images we see depicting his thoughts are photographic. But the female lead is a water-color artist, and her thoughts are shown in water color animation. Really interesting and funny.
Goodnight and Good luck. Wow. I think my IQ went up just from watching this movie. George Clooney is officially the human equivalent of kryptonite for women – gorgeous, funny, sexy, talented and smart. Directing and co-writing and starring, George? Give us poor ladies a break! It was hard enough when you were just cute! This is a brave, clever, interesting and absorbing movie. Invest in the price of a ticket – haven’t heard a bad review from anyone.
Just Like Heaven. My partner is a script writer, and a few years ago we were talking about The Ghost and Mrs Muir, and thinking that it was time that someone did a remake. Just Like Heaven is that remake, with the added twist that Mrs Muir doesn’t have to pop her clogs before she gets to be with the ghost. Mark Ruffalo just jetted to the head of my Lust List after his very touching, funny, believable performance. He really lifted this above the ordinary. I love Reece, and she’s fine in this, but I thought her character was unfortunately a little whiney and bossy. That’s a pet beef of mine, however. I hate it when I’m naggy or bossy. Even though I suspect I often am… Ahem. Anyway, it’s a good PJ’s + bar of chocolate girls-night-in movie.
Munich. This was really interesting and compelling. Great performance from Eric Bana – we grow pretty cute blokes down here in Oz , don’t we? – and the rest of the cast. Very clever, thought provoking script. Gave me some scary insight into the passions that drive the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, if you can say that after a 90 minute cinematic experience. Again, well worth seeing. Will it make me incredibly shallow if I add that Eric takes his shirt off several times? And that he is extensively easy on the eyes…?
Brokeback Mountain. This movie has had so much critical acclaim it was always going to be tough for it to measure up. Heath Ledger is amazing, as is Jake Gyllenhaal. It’s shot beautifully, the supporting cast are amazing, the scenery is stunning. I cried at the end…but I did feel a little restless in the middle, before Jack made contact with Heath again. It’s a long movie, and the second act is always hard to sustain. Loved the inarticulate silence of Heath’s Ennis. Fantastic. Well worth seeing.
