Fancy a trashy novel?

Okay, romance novels are long overdue for a review here. I had mentioned before that I read just about anything that catches my interest. Which is why you can even find romance or trashy novels on my bookshelves. Though I do tend to avoid buying or reading those books with the "windswept hero, shirtless and muscular holding the scantily dressed maiden in his arms" book cover. Aw, come on, own up. I bet that in your lifetime, you must have had read at least one of these books, even if it was to see what the fuss was all about. This book however isn’t as trashy as Harold Robbins’ books or even Sydney Sheldon’s (I had to point out that those books really did help the “sex education” part in school)

Romance is a huge business in the book world. Romance writers are best selling authors and their books are continually on the best sellers lists, selling millions of copies worldwide. But despite their staggering sales, they were never given serious consideration because they were merely “romance” novels. The formula is simple, guy, girl, wham bang = love. If you want your books to reach over 200 pages, throw in a little scandal, or a big juicy one, that is up to you. Make them separate; a misunderstanding here and there, heated fights, so on and so forth. Then of course comes the “make-up” part where everything is all peaches and roses at the end. Though, if you want your book to stand out to be more than just merely a romance novel, make sure you add in mysteries, murders, mayhem or even psychic abilities and you will end up with one hell of a heroine or hero. Which is the case among contemporary romance authors these days. Their books aren’t just merely the guy+girl=love formula but the guy+girl=murder, mystery, sex and love formula.

The ".... in Death" series by J.D.Robb who is actually Nora Roberts, (for those of you uninitiated in the romance world, she is one of the top best selling authors in the world) is based on the latter formula. It features the lead heroine, tough cop with a dark past Lt Eve Dallas, her stoic partner, Detective Peabody, Dallas’s impossibly handsome and impossibly rich Irish husband Roarke whose face is, I quote “drawn by artistic angels” and regulars who will appear on and off throughout the series. Set in a futuristic world where humans and droids work alongside each other, fancy meals are prepared by machines called Autochef (I gotta get me one of this!) and holidays are not just at the Caribbean Islands soaking up the sun but other planets as well, Dallas and her kick ass team work hard to rid the streets of New York of maniacs bent to dismember victims in ways as gruesome as possible.

What keeps me reading is that I do like Nora Roberts and have read her other books as well. And believe it or not, romance authors actually do make good use of vocabularies and imagination. I mean, how many ways can you describe sex without the readers feeling bored? I also like the fact that the romance does not overwhelm the mystery storyline. Most book plots these days have a little romance thrown in to spice things up a little, so why should this book be different? All right, you have to probably suspense your logic and reality for a while when you read this book (imagination people, imagination!) but I think it is a great way to just relax and enjoy the flow. You know those times when you just don’t feel like reading “heavy” books and need to clear you mind a little? Romance books do excellent job. They are not meant to be taken seriously and in some cases, really are just pure fluff but that is the beauty of it!

The World According to Bridget by MWY

The following post was written by my friend MWY

Feeling stunted at work? Dreaming of quitting that job and getting a career? If you are down and out, rest assured that there is someone lower than you… dear Bridget Jones! Or, so that is what we are all led to think.
Don’t be deceived by BJD: The Movie. This is not a romantic comedy… you need to trawl eleven chapters of maniacal confessions before Bridgie actually has a decent conversation with Mark Darcy.
Yes, Bridgie pines- for a normal bloke sans fuckwittage- but so do the rest of us. But in the movie, the pining and the physical klutziness seem more central while the important things: her frustration with her job, her incredible relationship with her parents, her marvellous group of friends and her struggle for some semblance of inner poise… all take a backseat.
For the uninitiated, Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding is an almost 300-page (depending on which publication) ranting of a 30-something single woman who drinks like a fish, shags like a rabbit and smokes like a chimney. Self-centred, thinks she is fat all the time, has a knack for getting herself into terribly embarrassing situations… hey, I can relate to all of that!
If Lizzie Bennett were a mini-skirt-wearing Londoner, would her diary be this? It would be an absolute sin to compare Fielding to Austen (but NOT as unforgivable as putting Rowlings on the same plane of existence as Tolkien… right Ling?) but admit it, Fielding is channeling Austen like a Sunday afternoon séance.

“I suddenly realise everything has shifted and now I am looking after my parents instead of them looking after me, which seems unnatural and wrong. Surely I am not that old?”

That is a very touching observation because parents, as we all grow older, are not the superbeings they once were. With the wrinkles and spots, it is frightening that the strong arms that shield us all our lives now seem vulnerable and human.
I love Bridgie because she is loyal to her family. She can easily make some sort of stupid excuse to escape going to those embarrassing Turkey Curry Buffets, yet she turns up. In this time and age, do we really care about making our rounds at the senior citizen circuit… even though it is on the request of our parents? I get rebellious during Chinese New Year and refuse to be under the same roof as certain relatives!
A woman about town who takes care of her dad and takes all that crap from her mom. Not so self-centred after all, huh?

“Anyway, we’re not lonely. We have extended families in the form of networks of friends connected by telephone.”

If indeed that Bridgie’s life is so crappy… the 3 reasons she gets through her days at all are Jude, Shazzer and Tom. Her incredible network that feeds her obsession but gently tugs at her every time she needs to feel the earth.
Jobs come and go, men come and go but the defining constant in her life never lets her down and neither does she them. One of the important essence of this book is the tie that binds a few people into a formidable unit… no matter how bad things get, there will always be someone whom you know will, unquestionably, take you in on a rainy day or tilt your head back when you puke in a drunken stupor in the toilet.
For a person who seems so fluffy and rather dense at times, Bridgie seems to write a darn witty diary… which makes me come to the conclusion that this is after all a diary!
The very thing you write doesn’t represent you truthfully. You are probably wallowing in self-pity and every little incident blown into a preposterous proportion. If Bridgie is such a brick, how come she has all the great friends and families?
I’m probably reading too much into it but THINK! If Bridgie is such a git, how come she has a pretty eventful social life with gorgeous men falling over her? If she were such a fumbling fool, no way in hell would Mark ‘The Constipated’ Darcy- Big Shot Barrister- let her anywhere near his high profile client.
She must be doing something right, no? Will the REAL Bridget Jones please stand up?