Collision

As if I wasn't paranoid enough about getting into a car accident, Collision did a good job of convincing me that every single person on the road except for me is FREAKING INSANE and not to be trusted.

Collision, which aired on Masterpiece Contemporary the last two weeks, takes us into the fascinating world of... a traffic accident. Yeah, I didn't exactly find the premise gripping, either. But Ruth from Booktalk & More assured me that it was really good (check out her review), so I decided to give it a run on the ol' DVR. And, as usual, she was right!

Okay, so here's the run-down: a bunch of cars are in this huge pile up on the A-something-or-other, which I'm guessing is like the British version of an interstate. And every single person in this crash has something suspicious going on in their lives, and half of the people are murdered! It might even be a higher percentage than that. And yummy yummy Douglas Henshall (oh, Cutter, I missed you so {{{hugs}}}) has to sort through all this crap to find out what caused the accident, and meanwhile his ex-luvah is in charge, and his boss keeps going, "Why haven't you solved this thing yet??? You only have one more day!"

Usually the multiple-storylines-thing annoys me, but somehow Collision managed to completely suck me into all the characters' lives. I think the pacing of the revelations about their lives had a lot to do with it--the idea that all of these people have progressively bigger secrets is patently ridiculous, but I loved learning about them, and was completely willing to suspend any disbelief.

I'm not going to go through all the characters' storylines, but I do want to recount my favorite, which involved a young woman named Jane Tarrant. Jane works at the gas station, but longs for bigger and better things. Yet how can she break out of her rut? After the crash, a rich old guy (well, older) comes into the gas stop and starts crushing on Jane. Then he asks her out for a drink, and btw he's married, and oh haha Jane's actually engaged to some bloke who wants to get married in a pub (uhg). But why don't you go to this art exhibition with me, baby? Wellll, let's just say, he's rich and he loves art. *fans self* Of course, it's Kandinsky, but hey, I can put up with that. And so, apparently, can Jane, who agrees to go to Paris with him, breaks up with her fiance, and quits her job. But will Richy Richard leave his wife for a gas station employee? Oh please oh please say yes, because that would be totally cool.

Um, anyway. Aside from that guy, the other men in this show are NOT SMOOTH. Henshall trying to get back together with his ex-luvahrrrr was totally awkward. Despite that, though, I highly recommend this show. And I believe you can still watch it online at PBS.com.

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What's On My Desk Wednesday

Hey, look everyone!  I'm doing a weekly meme and it's actually on the day it's supposed to be on!  Hooray!



My new blogging buddy, (^_^) mjmbecky at One Literature Nut, tagged me for What's on Your Desk Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sassy Brit at Alternative Read.  Here are the rules:

Here's what you do:

   1. Grab a camera and take a photo of your desk! Or anywhere you stack your books/TBR pile. And no tidying!
   2. Add this photo to your blog.
   3. Tag at least 5 people!
   4. Come back here and leave a link back to your photo in the comments section.

That's it. However, for those without digital cameras or blogs of your own, you can do this instead: (or both if you are keen!)

   1. List at least 5 BOOKISH things on your desk (I'm thinking your TBR pile or books you haven't shelved...)
   2. List at least 5 NON BOOK things. (I'm thinking some of some of the more unusual items on your desk/table?)
   3. Tag at least 5 people to do the same.
   4. Come back and leave your link, so we can come and visit your blog. Or add your answers in the comments.

Feel free to grab the above picture to place on your blog - as a way of showing you are participating, and of course to spread the word! Have fun!

So here is my desk, such as it is:



Ack, it's a mess!  You can tell I heart the post-it notes.

Five book-related things on my desk are two books, a Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix window-cling, a list of books that are being released that I need to buy, organized by month; a few bookmarks, and a bookplate sticker signed by Yasmine Galenorn that my mom gave me. 

Five non-book related things are a music box with kittens that dance in a basket when you wind it; essential oils I bought as part of a project inspired by Broom_Service (I was going to try to mix them to create an aromatherapy mist to help my students concentrate in class, but then I started getting concerned one of them would have an allergy to it or something); a business card for a puppet- and mask-maker in Venice, some money (so that's where I put that!), and a letter that I started but didn't finish (yet!--I swear I will finish it, Vicki).

So now it's my turn to tag five people.  Here they are:

• Collette at Loves Romances
• Ruth at Booktalk & More
• Shannan at ShannanLovesBooks
  
• Amy at Haiku Amy
  
• Rebecca at Lost In Books

The reason why I chose these five people in particular is because I know they all started blogging about books (exclusively at least) around the same time I did--which is to say, only a few months ago.  But if you like this meme and you want to do it, you should consider yourself tagged!  I look forward to seeing all of your desks.

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Beastly

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle.  Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind.  But then, one winter's night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold.  Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered at her gift, and turned the old woman away.  But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within.  And when he dismissed her again, the old woman's ugliness melted away, to reveal a beautiful enchantress.  The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late; for she had seen that there was no love in his heart.  And, as punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast and placed a powerful spell upon the castle, and all who lived there.  Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast concealed himself inside the castle, with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world.  The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his twenty-first year.  If he could learn to love another, and earn her love in return, before the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken.  If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time.  As the years passed, he fell into despair, and lost all hope--for who could ever learn to love a beast?

Sound familiar?  That's the introduction to Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and I used it here because this book is basically exactly like that.  It takes this introduction from the Disney movie, which focuses on the Beast's perspective, and turns it into an entire novel.

I read this book because Ruth from Booktalk & More recommended it; and as I believe I've mentioned, I pretty much do whatever she tells me. :)  I didn't like it as much as she did, though.

Kyle Kingsbury is the most popular and handsome boy at a hoity-toity NYC prep school.  Then he makes the mistake of pissing off a girl with green hair (witch! hel-loooooo!), and she turns him into a beast. 

Don't feel too sorry for Kyle.  His father installs him in a huge brownstone mansion in Brooklyn with a private tutor and internet access.  The guy doesn't even have to go to school!  My parents would have made me go to school--I'm just saying.  And he has two years to find his tru wuv and have her kiss him so he can return to his perfect human form.  Conveniently, he manages to get a girl to stay with him, and she just happens to fall in love with.  How convenient.  And they live happily ever after.

The problems I had with this book mostly stem from the fact that it's told from the Beast's perspective.  There's a reason why the original fairy tale is told from Beauty's point of view--Beauty is the one who is put in peril, who discovers things, and who risks the most by falling in love.  The Beast is a whiny brat.  He sure as heck doesn't deserve to be loved by Beauty--or Lindy, in this case--and I have serious doubts about how much he really loves her.  I mean, she's the only woman in the house, and she's the only chance he has of breaking the curse.  If she was the most terrible bitch on earth he'd probably still want her.  Telling a fairy tale from the prince's perspective can work (I'm thinking of something like The Slipper and the Rose), but I don't think it worked here.

Not that the book didn't have its good points.  I did laugh at Kyle's self-deprecating humor and the borderline-psycho things he does to get Lindy's attention.  By far the most entertaining part of the book were the IM chats between Kyle and several other fairy tale characters--the Little Mermaid, the Frog Prince, and a bear.  I also loved all the literature shout-outs in the book to works like The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Overall Beastly was a light, enjoyable read.  But in the end I just couldn't believe that Kyle, returned to his beautiful human self, would still see the beauty in Lindy and think reading was cool.  I didn't really feel like he suffered for being fugly and that he was fully reformed, or truly in love, and that is a fail of the book's most basic premise.

Buy Beastly by Alex Flinn at Amazon

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