bookstore ramblings

(No, I have no self control.  Why do you ask?)

Has anyone here read Philippa Gregory, Kathryn Davis, or Tracy Chevalier?  I keep stumbling accross their books, and am leery.  I'm one of those weird people who tends to end up disliking really popular/acclaimed things. 

But, while I was at the bookstore I noticed that there's apparently a chicklit series where all the titles were "The Little Ladies' [insert]."  Uhm, really?  They looked to be chick lit-ish, and all I can do is wonder at a series apparently marketed towards women that uses a phrase associated with dated, condescending attitudes to sell itself. 

I also was intrigued by and then sniffed disdainfully at a book about Sancia de Aragon and Lucrezia Borgia that was apparently about how that evil meanie Lucrezia threatened poor, defenseless Sancia and made her live in terror.  And then turned around and snagged Roberta Gellis's Lucrezia Borgia and the Mother of Poisons by Roberta Gellis (who I've been meaning to read for ages) which is apparently about how no one understands poor Lucrezia.

Now, as fond as i am of the ever so pure and innocent Lucrezia of Cantarella, I know that not exactly anything like an accurate representation of the historical woman.  But I'd rather read that take than the pure and innocent woman being the victim of the evil meanie, especially if the women in question are supposed to have been close friends in history.

I also snagged Tracy Grant's Secrets of A Lady, which appears to be one of those historical fiction books with heavy mystery and romance influences that seem to be increasingly popular, which I seem to recall  someone reccing a while back.

Dollhouse 1.13: Epitaph One (unaired)

My opinion here is unpopular with both critics and fans of the show: Interesting concept, but poorly thought out, often totally illogical, overdramatic, and a large chunk of the dialogue made me wonder if it was supposed to be a parody.

And yet, like with when the series started, I kept thinking throughout that if this were a manga, it’d be totally awesome. But then, a manga would rather revel in the absurdity, and if it took itself half as seriously as this episode did, it would enter into the realm of the utterly cracktastic.

However? I would still totally watch the show that’s set up at the end of this episode, overly caught up in the Serious Drama as it was.

( spoilery comments )