IN WHICH The Girl Learns Christmas Lessons

Everything I need to know about love, I learned from a Christmas movie. Said no one. Granted, there are some nice lessons in Christmas films, such as being good to others and the importance of family. However, ridiculous lessons abound as well.

First, let's be clear what I mean by a Christmas movie because I'm not talking about Elf. I do not mean legitimate films that are shown in movie theaters. I'm thinking about the made-for-television Christmas movies - mainly romances - seen on ABC Family, Lifetime, and the Hallmark Channel. One of my not-so-secret guilty pleasures is watching these films every year about this time. I think I literally watched five of them yesterday. I put them on while cleaning and then got together with a friend to watch a couple more. Don't judge me! Nevertheless, I do realize how ridiculous and terrible these films are. I think that's part of what makes watching them so fun. They are silly but rarely take themselves seriously; therefore, you can make fun of them but also enjoy the experience.

A lot of these Christmas films follow similar romantic comedy story lines. They have some pretty outlandish ideas about life, love, and the holidays:

8 Christmas Movie Love Lessons

1. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single woman over 22 must be in want of a husband. Yes, I just plagiarized Pride and Prejudice. Granted, these are romances, so people seeking mates is not unusual. However, the pressure put on women (most of the films are aimed at a female audience and therefore have female protagonists/victims of marriage pressure) by family, friends, and themselves is immense. Family members in these films seem to see any unmarried woman out of college as a complete failure. Oh you have a good job? Who cares? Life is worthless without a good man! The moms are always the worst. In Holiday Engagement, the mom (Shelly Long) has to tell her daughter at least twenty times that she's not getting any younger. This has then led to three daughters in horrible relationships to make the mother happy. My parents didn't really start putting on the pressure (and very light pressure at that) until I hit 30. I also think the pressure has absolutely nothing to do with me getting married or finding the right man. It's entirely focused on the fact that they want grandchildren. Apparently though, my parents are the exception, not the rule.

2. If you are not able to get a boyfriend, or you break up with your boyfriend, the obvious solution is to find a man to pretend to be your boyfriend for the holidays - or even kidnap one if necessary. The fake boyfriend is a very popular trope in these films. Since her mother is such a nag, the woman in Holiday Engagement hires an actor to play her fiance, who inconveniently broke up with her a few days before Thanksgiving. My favorite example of this is another film, Holiday in Handcuffs, in which Melissa Joan Hart actually kidnaps Mario Lopez and takes him to her family's Christmas celebration. See this great Buzzfeed post about the film. Granted, the fake couples always fall in love, so this might be a good strategy. Insanity seems to work well. Or Stockholm Syndrome at least. I haven't tried kidnapping yet, but maybe this year.

3. Speaking of insanity, stalking is also a good way to find a man. If you see someone you like, just insert yourself into their lives. They will obviously then fall in love with you. In Dear Santa, a woman finds a sad letter to Santa asking for a new mom for Christmas. She then stalks the dad, starts working where he does, starts babysitting the kid, and even when he finds out she lied about everything to be part of his and his child's lives, he decides she's awesome. Maybe I should be be looking through the mail.

4. Not everyone finds their mate through crazy schemes though. In many circumstances, the perfect man has been waiting for you all along in your hometown. Usually, it's someone from your past. Maybe your high school boyfriend, though more likely your high school best friend that you never realized you actually love. In Christmas Crush, the girl returns home for Christmas and the high school reunion. She hopes to get back with her quarterback boyfriend, who turns out to be a douche, and instead realizes her best friend was the one all along. Unfortunately, I have not found this strategy of just returning home to produce boyfriends out of the woodwork. I tend to only run in to people from high school on those nights when a friend says, "Come on, let's go out. You don't even need to get dressed. Just wear your sweats. No one will be out on Christmas night." Then, of course, you realize that every single person you went to high school with is out on Christmas because no one can stand their families anymore.

5. If none of these strategies for finding a boyfriend work, someone will set you up with Mr. Right. In 12 Dates of Christmas (this is a good one), the protagonist's stepmother sets her up on a blind date (Zach Morris!) on Christmas Eve. One, who goes on a date on Christmas Eve? Two, it's someone they are planning to actually spend Christmas with this year, so if the date goes badly you can't escape them. She keeps reliving the day a la Groundhog Day until she falls in love - and learns to be a nicer person. My mother has never tried to set me up on a blind date, and I love her for this.

6. Now, one of the reasons women have so much trouble finding a husband is because they work way too much. In this feminist society, women have become obsessed with their jobs and have no time to find the right guy. Or they have met someone at work who is obviously not the right guy because he too loves work too much to love a woman. Caring about your career is bad. Obviously, we all need to find a way to balance our personal and professional lives but the way these movies portray working women is ridiculous. Christmas Cupid has a career obsessed publicist who ignores her mother, her friends, and the right guy all because of her job. She also tries to get ahead by marrying the boss. She eventually finds, through the help of the ghost version of a dead party girl actress in A Christmas Carol fashion, the error of her ways. Should I stop working? Hmm, I think then I will just be even more broke and single.

7. Once you do meet someone with potential, it is completely acceptable to propose after a few days or without ever having dated or even after several years of never seeing one another. Most of these relationships are instalove and the couples meet, fall in love, and get engaged within several days. Because you obviously want to commit the rest of your life to someone you have known less than a week. Even for those people who have known each other a long time or dated at one point, they have usually been separated for a while. Love at the Christmas Table - this might be my favorite Christmas movie ever despite its obvious flaws - tells the story of a boy and girl (Winnie from The Wonder Years) who grew up together and always go to the same Christmas party every year. They obviously have a connection but never actually date (they only kiss once  - well twice if you count the time they were 13 and she stabbed him with a fork - in twenty-odd years). They get in a huge fight during one Christmas party and the guy doesn't return for five years. They haven't seen each other in five years, but he returns and proposes at this final Christmas party. Of course she says yes. What? That's crazy! Though I'm not going to lie; it may bring tears to my eyes every time.

8. Lastly, beware of snow globes. This one actually has nothing to do with romance. However, there are at least two Christmas films where the characters get trapped in a snow globe: Holidaze and the aptly named Snowglobe. If you have a snow globe sitting around, you should get rid of it immediately! I warned you.

This is just the tip of the made-for-television Christmas movie iceberg. There are soooo many more. Now get watching, so that you know how to find love as well! Happy Holidays!

IN WHICH The Girl Breaks Codes

BBC Night - the night in which I watch British shows with my grad school friends - had hit a lull for a few months. We had run out of episodes of the shows we often watch and hadn't come across a good, new one yet. Instead, we had spent a couple months of our get togethers re-watching mini-series we had already seen and trying out dissatisfying shows. But then we read this description on Netflix: "When former codebreaker Susan Gray spots a hidden pattern in a series of murders, she enlists her wartime friends to try and track down the murderer." Codebreakers! Smart women working together! Crime solving! We immediately knew The Bletchley Circle was the show for us.

While on the surface The Bletchley Circle appears to be a show about a group of women investigating a crime on their own, the show mainly revolves around the after-effects of war. We are first introduced to the four main characters when they work in Bletchely Park, the British government's site for codebreakers during WWII. I think one of the reasons I was so drawn to the show was because I loved The Imitation Game, and you can see the Turing machine working away in the background. A German Enigma also becomes useful at one point in the show. Due to their high intelligence, these women worked out of Bletchley finding patterns in Nazi communications and were instrumental in the war.

However, the timeline quickly jumps forward seven years. The war is long over and lives have returned to "normal." We get to see how differently people react to life after the war, and how both men and women are affected. Susan, the main character played by the wonderful Anna Maxwell Martin (see her in North and South, Bleak House, Death Comes to Pemberley), has since become a housewife and mother. Her husband is a vet whose leg was injured by the war. Within this one marriage, we see two drastically different reactions to the end of the war. Susan's husband relishes the quiet, almost boring, job that he now has with the government. The trauma of the war and his handicap has led him to avoid risks of any sort in his current life. Susan, on the other hand, misses the excitement of the war. She's genius-level smart, but her intelligence was only considered useful during the war. Once the war ended, she had to return to a more traditionally female role. On top of that, Susan can't even tell anyone about her important role in the war due to the Official Secrets Act. Her husband seems to have never noticed that she's smarter than the average crayon, and once this becomes obvious, he is clearly emasculated by the concept.

We see an interesting juxtaposition of ideas about women as Susan starts her investigation of a series of murders based on patterns she notices in the news reports. When she first introduces the idea to her husband, he thinks she is being ridiculous, but the only way she can get someone higher up to listen to her is through her husband. To placate her, he uses his government connections to get a meeting with the police. The police inspector is actually willing to give her the time of day because of his suppositions about her part in the war, being a military man himself. So again we see a respect for women's intelligence when related to war, but rarely outside of it. Of course, when her first clue doesn't pan out, no one will give her the time of day a second time. However, this gives her a great excuse to collect her former codebreaking friends and solve it themselves.

The murder mystery, without giving too much away, also ends up relating back to the war. This time we see the disturbing psychological effects war can have on people. A man who probably had some issues to begin with is then traumatized by a horrifying event in the war. Seven years later, he is still reacting to that trauma. In addition, the show portrays what people within the military might do to protect their wartime secrets.

Overall, I recommend The Bletchley Circle not only because it has an interesting mix of characters and mystery, but also because it takes an good look at how war doesn't end when the fighting stops and the position of women both during and after WWII.

Warning: The first series of The Bletchley Circle is excellent, and the first two episodes of Series 2 are good, but stop there. Things fall apart in the last two episodes of Series 2. It's best to pretend those don't exist.

IN WHICH The Girl Quotes in a Thankful Manner

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. As always, I'm a day late and a dollar short - or a week late in this case as last week's list was top ten quotes from books you read this year. However, this week's list is actually a Thanksgiving freebie. Therefore, I am thankful for the chance to list my quotes now (and include more than 10 - you should have seen this list before I cut it down this far)! 

Quoty Quote Quotes

2015 Style

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

“My schedule for today lists a six-hour self-accusatory depression.” 

“You have to be with other people, he thought. In order to live at all. I mean before they came here I could stand it... But now it has changed. You can't go back, he thought. You can't go from people to nonpeople."

Fangirl

“To really be a nerd, she'd decided, you had to prefer fictional worlds to the real one.” 

The Girl with All the Gifts

“Melanie thinks: when your dreams come true, your true has moved. You've already stopped being the person who had the dreams, so it feels more like a weird echo of something that already happened to you a long time ago.” 

“And then like Pandora, opening the great big box of the world and not being afraid, not even caring whether what’s inside is good or bad. Because it’s both. Everything is always both. But you have to open it to find that out.” 

Never Let Me Go

“I saw a new world coming rapidly. More scientific, efficient, yes. More cures for the old sicknesses. Very good. But a harsh, cruel, world. And I saw a little girl, her eyes tightly closed, holding to her breast the old kind world, one that she knew in her heart could not remain, and she was holding it and pleading, never to let her go.”

The Joy Luck Club

“So this is what I will do. I will gather together my past and look. I will see a thing that has already happened. the pain that cut my spirit loose. I will hold that pain in my hand until it becomes hard and shiny, more clear. And then my fierceness can come back, my golden side, my black side. I will use this sharp pain to penetrate my daughter's tough skin and cut her tiger spirit loose. She will fight me, because this is the nature of two tigers. But I will win and giver her my spirit, because this is the way a mother loves her daughter.” 

Station Eleven

“WHAT WAS LOST IN THE COLLAPSE: almost everything, almost everyone, but there is still such beauty. Twilight in the altered world, a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a parking lot in the mysteriously named town of St. Deborah by the Water, Lake Michigan shining a half mile away.” 

“I've been thinking lately about immortality. What it means to be remembered, what I want to be remembered for, certain questions concerning memory and fame. I love watching old movies. I watch the faces of long-dead actors on the screen, and I think about how they'll never truly die. I know that's a cliché but it happens to be true. Not just the famous ones who everyone knows, the Clark Gables, the Ava Gardners, but the bit players, the maid carrying the tray, the butler, the cowboys in the bar, the third girl from the left in the nightclub. They're all immortal to me. First we only want to be seen, but once we're seen, that's not enough anymore. After that, we want to be remembered.” 

The Night Circus

“Prospero the Enchanter's immediate reaction upon meeting his daughter is a simple declaration of: "Well, fuck.”

“Stories have changed, my dear boy,” the man in the grey suit says, his voice almost imperceptibly sad. “There are no more battles between good and evil, no monsters to slay, no maidens in need of rescue. Most maidens are perfectly capable of rescuing themselves in my experience, at least the ones worth something, in any case. There are no longer simple tales with quests and beasts and happy endings. The quests lack clarity of goal or path. The beasts take different forms and are difficult to recognize for what they are. And there are never really endings, happy or otherwise. Things keep overlapping and blur, your story is part of your sister’s story is part of many other stories, and there in no telling where any of them may lead. Good and evil are a great deal more complex than a princess and a dragon, or a wolf and a scarlet-clad little girl. And is not the dragon the hero of his own story? Is not the wolf simply acting as a wolf should act? Though perhaps it is a singular wolf who goes to such lengths as to dress as a grandmother to toy with its prey.” 

On Writing

“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” 

Blue Lily, Lily Blue

“It was true that Blue was just shy of five feet and it was also true that she hadn't eaten her greens, but she'd done the research and she didn't think the two were related.” 

“What an impossible and miraculous and hideous thing this was. An ugly plan hatched by an ugly boy now dreamt into ugly life. From dream to reality. How appropriate it was that Ronan, left to his own devices, manifested beautiful cars and beautiful birds and tenderhearted brothers, while Adam, when given the power, manifested a filthy string of perverse murders.” 

The Penelopiad

“Who is to say that prayers have any effect? On the other hand, who is to say they don't? I picture the gods, diddling around on Olympus, wallowing in the nectar and ambrosia and the aroma of burning bones and fat, mischievous as a pack of ten-year-olds with a sick cat to play with and a lot of time on their hands. 'Which prayer shall we answer today?' they ask one another. 'Let's cast the dice! Hope for this one, despair for that one, and while we're at it, let's destroy the life of that woman over there by having sex with her in the form of a crayfish!' I think they pull a lot of their pranks because they're bored.” 

The Darkest Part of the Forest

“Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill monsters and feel quite proud of themselves.” 

The Goldfinch

“And I add my own love to the history of people who have loved beautiful things, and looked out for them, and pulled them from the fire, and sought them when they were lost, and tried to preserve them and save them while passing them along literally from hand to hand, singing out brilliantly from the wreck of time to the next generation of lovers, and the next.” 

“Because--isn't it drilled into us constantly, from childhood on, an unquestioned platitude in the culture--? From William Blake to Lady Gaga, from Rousseau to Rumi to Tosca to Mister Rogers, it's a curiously uniform message, accepted from high to low: when in doubt, what to do? How do we know what's right for us? Every shrink, every career counselor, every Disney princess knows the answer: "Be yourself." "Follow your heart." Only here's what I really, really want someone to explain to me. What if one happens to be possessed of a heart that can't be trusted--? What if the heart, for its own unfathomable reasons, leads one willfully and in a cloud of unspeakable radiance away from health, domesticity, civic responsibility and strong social connections and all the blandly-held common virtues and instead straight toward a beautiful flare of ruin, self-immolation, disaster?...If your deepest self is singing and coaxing you straight toward the bonfire, is it better to turn away? Stop your ears with wax? Ignore all the perverse glory your heart is screaming at you? Set yourself on the course that will lead you dutifully towards the norm, reasonable hours and regular medical check-ups, stable relationships and steady career advancement the New York Times and brunch on Sunday, all with the promise of being somehow a better person? Or...is it better to throw yourself head first and laughing into the holy rage calling your name?”

The Outsiders

“Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold.” 

IN WHICH The Girl Hides from Ghosts

Happy Halloween everyone! Many people would see Halloween as the time to break into the horror movies. I, however, have never been able to deal with scary movies. The stress is just too much for me. I also jump out of my chair whenever something pops out of nowhere, even when I know it's coming. What's a girl to do in October then?

Since I actually do love supernatural and science fiction stories with suspense and a little bit (but not too much) scare, I watch those instead of Saw. I've spent the last couple weeks catching up on a large variety of both good and bad shows about not-too-frightening things that go bump in the night.

I re-watched the 7th season of Buffy, which instead of making me hide under my covers is like a nice bowl of chicken noodle soup on a cold night. I know not everyone thinks highly of Buffy's final season, but I actually like it a lot. I will say that "Conversations with Dead People" does still gives me the heebie jeebies though, so that's a good episode for Halloween watching.

Next was part of The Secret Circle. I will admit that this show is awful and it only got one season on the CW. But it's about a circle of teen witches and demon possessions, so it works for Halloween.

Yesterday, I went with part of the first season of the British teen show, Wolfblood. Despite it's ridiculousness, I kind of love this series about a family of wolfbloods - similar to werewolves - living in this tiny village in Britain. It's the type of show that would be on ABC Family in America, but it's hilarious and cute. I made my friend watch a few episodes though, and she totally judged me for my life choices.

I did finally go outside of the teenland to watch Fringe today as well. Fringe is one of my favorites, but it's been awhile since I went back and watched the beginning. I forgot how gross some of the cases they investigate are, which does actually work well for Halloween. I think what's most frightening about Fringe, at least at the beginning before it gets super crazy, is that the idea of some crazy scientists doing all sorts of experiments for the military back in the 70s that are now reeking havoc on the world is just slightly plausible. I also enjoy the highly evolving mythology of the show, and I'm a sucker for anything with parallel universes. Plus, Joshua Jackson. And the amazing antics of John Noble's character, Walter.

What do you watch for Halloween?

Anyways, now I need to go put on my utterly not scary costume of Madeline, the little French girl from the children's books.

IN WHICH The Girl Paints Tom Sawyer's Fence

So, let's just assume that anytime I say I will do something soon, it will be at least three weeks. I keep my promises though, and I promised some details on my trip through Mark Twain's boyhood home.

Mark Twain's Boyhood Home: National Historic Landmark

Over the summer, I borrowed a car from my parents to use for work. I haven't actually had a car since high school due to my city living. As summer came to a close, it was time to return the vehicle to Kansas City. As one of my best friends had recently moved back to KC from Chicago, a couple people decided to join in my trip and visit her as well. Road trip buddies!

We weren't able to leave Chicago until the evening, so we needed to stop somewhere along the way. After stopping for a late night dinner in Springfield at a very interesting Italian restaurant/cocktail bar that was still serving food at 11 PM on a Thursday and had a variety of dog pictures and statues, we continued on for a couple more hours to Hannibal, Missouri.

Now, I have made this drive before and remembered that Hannibal was interesting in some way, but in my head it was the town from Gone Girl. Wrong - apparently that was just a made up Missouri town. However, I then discovered it was Mark Twain's boyhood home. Way better!

Mark Twain's Home and the Famous Fence

We wanted to get on the road at a decent time the next morning, but we took an hour to tour Hannibal. Like any small town with a main attraction, most everything in the downtown area relates to Mark Twain. It's cheesy but adorable. Unfortunately, it was too early to do any of the activities, but they have a Mark Twain museum, gift stores, a paddle boat tour, the house itself, a diner, and much more. I'm sure it would be fun to spend more time there.

The Mississippi River

We did walk up to a look out point over the Mississippi river, and after passing it a few times, figured out exactly which house was Mark Twain's It was obvious; we were just oblivious. They even have this very disturbing life size Mark Twain in one of the upper windows. Guess what: there is actually a white picket fence outside! Sadly, I did not actually paint the fence, though I'm fairly sure I read that this is an option. Tom Sawyer's house is based off this home. Apparently there is also a Huck Finn house, where the boy Huckleberry Finn is based off lived, but we missed that. We did, however, see the home of the girl who inspired Becky Thatcher. Overall, it was a fun look into the settings of some classic American literature. Maybe my next pass through Hannibal will be during business hours, and I'll check out the museums.

Mark Twain Wax Museum

See the Creepy Twain Statue

Mark Twain Dinette

We followed all this cultural interest up by eating massive amounts of BBQ in Kansas City.

Burnt Ends Baby

Oddly enough, right after I got back, there was a huge box of free Mark Twain novels at school. I picked up copies of Tom Sawyer for each of my traveling companions.

IN WHICH The Girl Goes Down with the Ship

Bad blogger, bad blogger! It's been a busy month including moving, traveling, and the start of school. In those travels, I did visit Mark Twain's boyhood home, which I plan to come back and write more about later this week. Here's a picture to get you excited!

Not excited? We can no longer be friends.

The other thing that has taken over my life this week has been the Queen of Shadows release. This book is destroying me. Sarah J. Maas's fourth book in the Throne of Glass series was released on Tuesday. As a serious fan of the books, I re-read the previous two installments in the last few weeks, and then started to take on Queen of Shadows on Tuesday night. After getting about 100 pages in, feeling very frustrated by one character, and realizing I couldn't possibly get through the nearly 700 page book if I ever wanted to sleep, I started skimming ahead. I know, I know, bad reading technique. Granted this skim to the end still took me until four in the morning, which left me with just a couple hours of sleep before tutoring at eight AM. 

Now, I'm going back and re-reading in depth. I have so many many feels - some good and some bad - in reaction to the book right now. I'm seriously thinking about it non-stop and have gotten lost in a scary land of Goodreads and blogger reviews. I need to find my way back to the real world. But first I need to finish the book. Once I do, I may write something that actually makes sense. 

Go read the book too! I seriously need discussion buddies.

By the way, if I were to get drunk right now, I would totally think I was a badass assassin trying to take down a king. It would probably be entertaining and embarrassing. Those that know me understand I can get a little too involved in fictional worlds and that seeps out when I'm drinking. I've tried to investigate murders and make meetings at the White House. I swear I don't take drugs.

IN WHICH The Girl Lists Things

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. I'm double parking on this one. The list I really want to do - top ten books I've read so far in 2015 - is actually from a couple weeks ago. I'll throw in today's question - last ten books to come into my possession - as well.

Best Books of 2015 Part I

My Goodreads goal for 2015 has jumped up to 150, and I'm nearly halfway through (just one book off). Even though I've read 74 books this year, I still get stressed when Goodreads tells me I'm 5 books behind schedule. Stop pressuring me! Here are my favorites in the first half of the year. I had an incredibly hard time narrowing it down and can hear the runners-up yelling, "Why didn't you choose me???" in my head.

The Literary

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. This book will creep into your mind and never let go (see what I did there?). It's like watching a car crash; you just can't look away. I think my eyes were wide open in fascinated horror throughout the whole book, which I read in almost one sitting. The less you know about the book going in, the better, so I won't give anything away. My favorite so far.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. As one of the bestselling books in the last couple years, this one isn't much of a surprise. However, critics and regular old readers have hotly debated its merit. I really enjoyed it. Many people have called it Dickensian for good reason. It's a sprawling coming-of-age tale that despite its length (all 800 pages) actually left me wishing I had more details about the missing moments of Theo's life. And boy does it have some entertaining minor characters with great names: Pippa, Welty, Toddy, Hobie, and Boris.

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. I have mixed feelings about Atwood's work, but I liked this little book a lot. We all know Penelope faithfully waiting for Odysseus, but she's got her own tale here that she is more than willing to provide from beyond the grave. It's a weird combination of styles, everything from memoir to chorus song to play, and deeply feminist. But Atwood's got a biting wit here that pulls me in.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. I read this once before, but it was over ten years ago, and all I remembered was that putting salt on your food while at a dinner party deeply insults the host. Tan provides multiple perspectives on the mother-daughter relationship with all of its expectations, misinterpretations, and twisted acts of love. I found it best to read each story separately because it's a little like getting punched in the heart. Sometimes the losses each of these women experience are so subtly mentioned that they are all the more heartbreaking. Tan just has a beautiful way with words.

The Fantastical Adult

The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey. What if you were a monster and didn't know it? The Girl with All the Gifts is a new take on a old genre. It's not a genre I usually enjoy, but I found the character portrayal and the moral complexity interesting. I actually found myself losing a bit of interest once the book moves on to more action and less introspection. The book works better if you don't know the topic (though I think most people already do), so I'll just stop here.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik. Once upon a time, a little girl went into the forest and never came back. A common tale but I've rarely read a story with a forest as terrifying and alive as this one. The villagers must sacrifice one girl every ten years to the "dragon," or wizard, who protects the residents from the Wood. But the Dragon doesn't pick the expected girl, and the world starts falling apart. The complex relationships between the characters makes this fantasy stand out from all the others.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Man, I just want to live inside the world of this book. It's just so magically magical. In the book, two magicians start a contest between their young protegees. As the contestants age, their entire lives, and the lives of everyone in the Night Circus, revolve around this duel they know little about. Inevitably, the competitors fall in love and must find a way to break free. Morgenstern's language is incredibly visual, and I can easily picture how the circus and all of its inventions would look on screen.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Another unusual spin on a common genre. It follows the lives of several characters before and after a flu takes out all but a handful of the population. Beyond displaying the tragedy of witnessing an apocalypse and the harsh reality of living in its wake, Station Eleven focuses on the creative outlets people need to survive. For example, the two most prominent perspectives are of a Shakespearean actor and a Traveling Symphony. While most dystopian novels involve intense action and drama, Mandel's book is understated and elegant.

Youthful

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black. I must have a thing for scary forests lately. I don't always like Black's novels; they have a grittiness that leaves me checking for dirt on my skin. However, I loved this one. I read it back in January and it still keeps popping up in my head. Again we have villagers living on the edge of a dangerous forest - though this one is set in the modern world. Black plays with the childhood interest in fairy tales. Did you fight imaginary monsters as a child? Did you imagine a prince or princess trapped in a magical forest who would one day awaken and fall in love with you? The Hansel and Gretel-esqe main characters do both these things, but in their case fairies are real and the prince does awaken. But fairies are not always nice and both children have been dreaming of the same prince. Adventures ensue. Also, I like that this book is a standalone, which is rare in the young adult fantasy genre.

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan. You might be able to tell I love the fantasy and science fiction stuff. Unspoken wonders whether being able to read someone's mind is a good thing. Kami never really lost her childhood imaginary friend, but has convinced herself the voice inside her head is not real until the day he shows up as an actual person. Rees Brennan does a remarkable job at showing the complicated inner thoughts of her characters. It also brings up some intriguing questions about how we define our selves as unique from others and where we draw the line on sharing our deepest thoughts. Do you really want your best friends or significant others to know everything inside your head? The rest of the series doesn't quite live up to the first book, but it's an enjoyable read.

I have read so many young adult books this year that I couldn't fit nearly enough of them in here, so here are some honorable mentions: Angelfall, The Raven Boys, Shadow Scale, The Court of Thorns and Roses, Scarlet, and The Girl of Fire and Thorns.

And now for my recently acquired books, I will provide a picture of my latest haul from the used bookstore.

Happy reading all!

IN WHICH The Girl Relives Her Twenties

How much would you give to be 26 again? This question does not count if you are 27. Two shows - on surprising channels - took on this same theme during the spring, producing an interesting look at the ups and downs of reliving the good ol' days.

VH1's Hindsight goes the science fiction route back to the 90s. Becca, about to embark on her second marriage in her early 40s, suddenly travels back in time via a magical elevator to the eve of her first wedding twenty years earlier. Fully aware of her time travel, Becca must navigate the 90s and decide which past wrongs should be righted. This is the ultimate game of "what if?" What if you had quit that job before you learned it went nowhere? What if you had noticed your brother's drug problems earlier? What if you didn't marry the no-good man? We all wonder about different choices we could or should have made in the past, particularly the big life decisions of our twenties, and Becca has the impossible chance to find out the answers. However, while it seems easy to just make a new choice, Becca quickly finds out that knowing the future doesn't mean you can prevent it, and making "better" decisions can have disastrous effects. Becca ultimately just has to struggle through the 90s again, hoping she's doing the right thing like all the rest of us. At least she gets to listen to great music in her twenty-year-old body. 

Younger, on TV Land of all places, has a more realistic, if still somewhat unbelievable, premise. Upon leaving her husband and finding herself financially stricken (said husband gambled all the money away), Liza attempts to find a career after 15 years away raising her daughter. She quickly discovers that she's considered too old and inexperienced to get a book publishing job. Since she looks young and her daughter is studying abroad, the 40-year-old Liza decides to pretend she's 26 and lands a marketing assistant position. In this act, she befriends other twenty-somethings - who introduce her to the crazy hot mess of being young with some spending money - and she even starts dating a hot tattoo artist. However, Liza must learn the intricacies of social media, the lingo, and the norms (shaving trends have changed since she got married). She eventually loses out on some great opportunities only her age and experience could provide because she has to pretend she doesn't understand the perspective of a 40-year-old woman. Liza's adventures let us see how fun, but exhausting and limiting, returning to your twenties could be. 

These are both entertaining shows that feed on the nostalgia many feel for the past, but Younger is the better show. Hindsight provides an awesome time capsule of the 90s - the music, the clothes, the trends - which I love. Plus, it contains a great sidekick in Lolly. Becca, nevertheless, quickly gets annoying in her constantly switching love interests and ideas about how to fix the future. On the other hand, Sutton Foster's portrayal of Liza is utterly delightful. Younger is funny and cute with story lines that evolve steadily and keep the audience invested. It has the same feel as Sex and the City, which makes sense as it has the same producer. I can't wait for the next season in January!

Speaking of awesome shows on unlikely channels, everyone should check out UnREAL on Lifetime. My boss came in this morning explaining how she was so tired because she stayed up until two in the morning binge watching all the current episodes. I did the exact same thing last week. UnREAL is a scripted show about producing a reality series like The Bachelor. It follows the producers as they manipulate the competitors in truly awful ways to make drama. It's addicting as all get out!

IN WHICH The Girl is an American

Hey look, I'm actually getting through my summer reading list. I finished Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah a couple days ago, appropriately leading up to our most American holiday. We are about to embark outside in our red, white, and blue to sing about freedom and celebrate independence. All good things. But Adichie's book is a useful reminder that America the beautiful will pretend our many faults don't exist on this and most other days.

One of the book's characters asks, “Why did people ask "What is it about?" as if a novel had to be about only one thing.” And Americanah certainly pokes at many issues - immigration, race, love, identity, hair. Adichie may even try to take on too many things at once, as the narrative becomes a bit long and cumbersome. However, the novel mainly tells the story of Ifemelu's emigration to America during college and return to Nigeria many years later. Adichie looks at both countries, particularly the United States, with a scathing critical eye. 

As an immigrant, Ifemelu can see and discuss our flaws, particularly race, more clearly than most native born Americans. Race in America both fascinates and repels her, so she starts a blog called Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) by a Non-American Black. The novel and its blog reveal what America looks like to outsiders, and it's not always pretty. One of the biggest conundrums Ifemelu witnesses is how Americans try so hard to appear politically correct and open minded, to the point of claiming race is no longer an issue here.

“The only reason you say that race was not an issue is because you wish it was not. We all wish it was not. But it’s a lie. I came from a country where race was not an issue; I did not think of myself as black and I only became black when I came to America. When you are black in America and you fall in love with a white person, race doesn’t matter when you’re alone together because it’s just you and your love. But the minute you step outside, race matters. But we don’t talk about it. We don’t even tell our white partners the small things that piss us off and the things we wish they understood better, because we’re worried they will say we’re overreacting, or we’re being too sensitive. And we don’t want them to say, Look how far we’ve come, just forty years ago it would have been illegal for us to even be a couple blah blah blah, because you know what we’re thinking when they say that? We’re thinking why the fuck should it ever have been illegal anyway? But we don’t say any of this stuff. We let it pile up inside our heads and when we come to nice liberal dinners like this, we say that race doesn’t matter because that’s what we’re supposed to say, to keep our nice liberal friends comfortable.It's true. I speak from experience."

Despite the harsh truths her characters spout, you can still feel a love for America peeking out from the novel's corners. America becomes one more piece of Ifemelu's identity by the time she moves back home to Nigeria. Sometimes reading Americanah can feel a little more like attending a lecture than reading a novel, but it is an enjoyable lecture. So for this 4th of July, keep your eyes clear and your hearts full - as Coach Taylor would say.

IN WHICH The Girl Beach Reads

Sadly, I'm not actually going to a beach, unless you count the lake shore beach here in Chicago. But whenever I think of summer reading, I think of beach books. Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish in which they provide a weekly top ten list topic. This is my first go at the list. This week's topic is Top Ten Books on My Summer TBR List.

I'm always making a plan for what to read, but I get off track very quickly. Maybe making my list public will actually push me to read the books I intended to this summer. Since I know I will probably read 20 young adult fantasy novels, I'm mainly focusing on my other reading goals on this list. Here are ten books I hope to get through before September. 

1. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I have been meaning to read this for a while now as it has excellent reviews. This will be my first novel by Adichie, though I am a big fan of her TED Talk "We Should All Be Feminists." Plus, I finally got it from the library, so I can start reading this one shortly.

2. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Beyond being at the top of the bestseller list right now, this just seems like the perfect summer mystery. I haven't read a good mystery in awhile, so I'm looking forward to deciphering clues.

3. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

I need to lighten the mood after a thriller with some comedy. I recently borrowed this book from a friend, so I suppose I ought to read it soon. It's also set in New Orleans, which I just visited for the first time. 

4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

Since I plan to use this for a class in the fall, I need to actually read the book. You would think we teachers planned a little more ahead than that, but no. We are going to compare the book to its movie version, Blade Runner. As I've been so interested in science fiction lately, it will be good to read one of the genre's classics.

5. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Magic! Parallel universes! London! Need I say more? 

6. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

I don't actually know much about this one other than the incredibly positive reviews it keeps getting from people whose book interests are similar to mine. I also like the black and white of the cover. Yeah yeah they say never judge a book by its cover, but you know we all do.

7. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

Adding one non-fiction for diversity. I rarely read non-fiction, and I need to start making up for the deprivation. Plus, once I read this particular book, I can watch the movie.

8. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

I lied. Here's one more non-fiction book. I try to sneak in books actually related to my job every once in awhile. I hit up my grammar requirement earlier this year with Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. Stephen King's background and prolific career should make for an entertaining read.

9. The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Often called the Harry Potter for adults, I'd like to see what this series is about. Also, Syfy plans to produce a television series based on the books next year.

10. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Let's add one classic. I loved the trailer for the recent movie version but am trying to hold off on seeing the movie until I read the book. Never hurts to knock one off the bucket list of classics as well.

Extra Extra 

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas 

This book doesn't technically get released until September 1st, so I'm not sure I count that as a summer read. However, I'm dying to read this continuation of the Throne of Glass series. I would trade all the other books to get this one sooner.

I need to get reading folks! Happy summer!

IN WHICH The Girl Wants Waffles

Random question of the day: do people actually meet up for breakfast on a weekday? While watching Friends the other day, I noticed how often the characters eat breakfast together. In fact, this group waffle time is quite common on television. Now this might just be my abhorrence of all things morning speaking, but really? These people take the time to move to another location and hang out together before heading to work at a normal time? I don't buy it. However, maybe real people do this regularly, and I just missed the invite. 

Let's address this one point at a time. First point of contention with television portrayals of breakfast: the characters actually eat a full breakfast at a designated place - i.e. not on the go. Yes, yes, I do know that people do this; I've just rarely really seen them. When I was very young, my mom got out the cereal and all that, but from my teenage years on we were each responsible for our own breakfasts. Therefore, mine usually consisted of a yogurt consumed standing while waiting for another family member to grab his coat or in the car on the way to school. These habits followed me into adulthood. As I mentioned, I hate mornings. I'm a night owl at heart and give myself the least amount of time physically needed to get ready in the morning. As a result, I always eat breakfast at work instead of at home. I've noted this habit in a good deal of the people I've lived and worked with as well. So, while possible, I find it unlikely that most people - real or fictional - give themselves enough time to eat a nice sit-down breakfast before work.

The young women of Gossip Girl at least eat fairly realistic breakfast items on the go, such as yogurt and muffins. However, they actually got up in enough time before school to meet before classes started. I remember a couple special occasions where my friends and I went to breakfast before the bell rang in high school, but there was no way I was dragging my butt out of bed early every day, even for social brownie points. Hmm, maybe that was the reason I wasn't part of the in-crowd. 

Point number two: these shows imply that people often get together for breakfast. I see this the most in sitcoms, such as Friends. Granted, I understand that all of the characters on this show live near each other except for Phoebe. It's not like they have to travel across the city. However, this still seems unlikely. I've lived in a Friends situation before where I lived with one friend, another lived on the floor below me, and another lived right across the street. We were pretty cool if I say so myself! Nevertheless, we never once got together for breakfast on a weekday. I don't think it was ever even suggested. On that matter, I've never eaten a weekday breakfast at home with a roommate. Everyone is in a hurry and on a different schedule in the mornings. Now, weekends are a different matter. I do love to brunch.

Last point: if the characters aren't cooks themselves, they venture out to get a full breakfast instead of grabbing something ready-made like yogurt. The women of Gilmore Girls go to Luke's diner almost every morning before school/work. For one, this takes even more time than eating at home due to transport, even if it's just a couple blocks away. Plus, you have to be completely ready before you leave.  It also cannot be good for you to eat all the yummy breakfast foods - eggs, bacon, waffles, pancakes - on a daily basis. I know I'm getting old when I really worry about the food a television mom gives her daughter. Almost all the meals Lorelai and Rory eat are bad for you. Lastly, isn't this an expensive habit?

If you are rich enough, however, you can get a cook to make you a nice fancy breakfast at home. Oh the beautiful lives of the Upper East Side. I must be craving a Gossip Girl binge. 

I know not every television show provides such idyllic morning gatherings, and some people probably do have a similar daily ritual to the Friends clan. But how common is the breakfast meet up? You tell me.