The inconsistent, contradictory ramblings of Scarlett the Harlot

Along the same vein as my review of Smack I am again reviewing a young adult book. Well, independent reader.

I love me some Holly Black. I can honestly say this woman has written nothing I have a problem with. And she's perfect as the poet laureate of the Hot Topic generation. Her books Tithe, Valiant and Ironsides are all books that I will be reviewing, once I've reread them, of course. I discovered The Spiderwick Chronicles in a movie trailor. I mean, I knew they were books that people liked. I even knew that they came from the big, gaping maw of fantasy fiction that Harry Potter opened up. But, like  A Series of Unfortunate Events  and Artemis Fowl I was content to not mess with it.


I'm still a bit pissy that Eragon and The Golden Compass got made into movies, truth be told. If for no other reason than the former, while imaginative, was written by a fifteen year old and it shows. And the latter, I've heard, was quite good as a book--but the movie left a lot to be desired. Either the subject matter is sub-par or the execution of the subject matter is. Not that I'm saying either book is bad. I'm sure they're quite good. But the excerpts of Eragon that I've read have led me to believe that the kid who wrote it, should have held off on publication until he had college and some life experience under his belt so he could go back and re-edit after his balls dropped. I imagine it would have made the story ring truer. As to The Golden Compass I heard it was based so heavily on the Narnia Chronicles, I just reread them.

I digress. My point is thus: In a time when children's fantasy is experiencing a huge boom, and the fantasy genre itself has gone incredibly mainstream, one has to be careful what one reads. Because otherwise you might end up with the Harry Potter equivalent of fucking Norbit.

A movie/book that is based on original jokes and ideas, but has been so watered down over the course of it's previous incarnations (Big Mama's House I & II, The Nutty Professor I&II, the Medea Series, et al) that it doesn't even manage to become a decent caricature of itself. It's just a 90 minute fat-lady, fart joke.

I mean, don't get me wrong. They're a really prolific company and they have a TON of different divisions. I keep telling myself that if I ever want to get published, I'm going to write a throw-away romance novel and submit it. I mean, because of my fanfiction days, I sure as shit can write some REALLY good smut. So that shouldn't be a problem.

But I've always had a problem with the conventional bodice ripper, you know? Then I discovered LUNA and MIRA presses. Both are divisions of Harlequin, but neither hold the major focus on sex. In fact, you'll find that sex is rarely mentioned, and when it IS, the romantic relationship between the main character and the man, is only used to further the original plot device. These two companies are about women being empowered in their own universe. Which is pretty cool. And LUNA specifically is a sci-fi/fantasy company. Pretty effing sweet.

Enter Poison Study.



Poison Study is published under MIRA press, but the sequel, Magic Study (which I will, at some point be reading) is published through LUNA.

At this point, who has NOT heard about the Vagina Monologues? For those of you not in the know, it's not just a play about pussy--it's also a grassroots movement to end violence against women. It's actually very cool. Up there is actually a picture of the DVD because I could not find a picture of the newest copy of the book, which is the tenth anniversary copy. Yeah, it's been around for ten years this year, and they've raise upwards of $50,000,000 for their cause. These women rock.

Magic realism (or magical realism) is an artistic genre in which magical elements or illogical scenarios appear in an otherwise realistic or even "normal" setting.

My friends make fun of me because within a few seconds of meeting me I've recommended, like, a zillion books to you. And if I haven't told you where to buy them, I've offered to lend them from my personal library. That said, I'm starting a required reading list. This is more for me than you, because in the back of all of Inga Muscio's books she gives a required reading list and I keep meaning to add to my library. So yeah. Books in bold are books I've read. Books in red are books I've reviewed, probably here on this blog. You know what to do with questions or comments.

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I'll update as time allows. I have SO many books to put on here. Really I'm just updating as they come to me.

ANYHOODLE, the Merry Gentry books, like the Anita Blake books are essentially one big cluster fuck. However, they are extremely well written. If you're not keeping notes on the plot holes (the big ones just got mentioned) they are incredibly entertaining reads. I forgot how good a writer LKH actually is. Her prose is engrossing, her descriptions throw you right in. There were actually a few scenes that seriously freaked me out.

I recommend you read them if you haven't already, if lots of sex isn't your cup of tea, start with the Anita Blake series and quit after Blue Moon. If you do like lots of sex in your porridge, start wherever you like. But I gotta warn ya, you're gonna be tempted to take notes just to keep the women's relationships straight.

I was late to jump on the bandwagon for The Heart Is Deceitful Above all Things by JT LeRoy. I know a bunch of people think it's fecking awesome. I know that the Emo-kids consider it a master work. And that's fine.