Pride and Prejudice-Topics of Talk

As I stated elsewhere -the main book group I am in right now is doing P&P. We just got to the topic of Mr. Collins. 

I am wondering what kind of response the members will have to him, as he generally is not liked; and there were members who have already torn apart our beloved Mr. Darcy.

Jane Austen in Scarsdale

Chick-lit at it's best.   This modern retelling of Persuasion is an interesting take on the peer pressure that some society members put themselves through. 

High school is the backdrop for the character of Anne, who is working as a counsellor.  Her lost love Ben shows up after 13 years and unsettles her pride, hope and house. 

I thought this story failed only with how much information was presented on the SATs and could have given more on the characters themselves. 

One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell

I am a devotee of Candace Bushnell. And if you have been reading any of these posts over the last few years you guessed that.

So, here I am reading the latest novel by her, and have come to a part in the story that has me raising an eyebrow. Her commentary on the way blogging has become a contact sport.

Let me start by saying I have not finished reading the book. I am about half way into it.

Therefore I am not too sure if she is meaning this plot line as pro or con for us bloggers. But a large chunk of the story is revolving around the use of blogs as a main writing tool. A large chunk of the story is about communication today in general.


I just finished reading this novel.
I managed to read it in under 3 days. Any other author's work would have that a record for me, but Candace Bushnell's books are like chocolate candies to me. Once you pick it up you can't stop till its gone.

Two characters I wish she had spent more time on- Philip and Schiffer. They were a fabulous idea but could have used some extra chapters on them as a couple. I hope Bushnell is thinking of bringing them back in other novels.

I found myself really really hating, just hating the character of Lola. I just kept waiting for something horrible to happen to her. I hated that character because she was written too well, like too many twenty-somethings I have to deal with in real life.

Without giving away too much of the story -it centers around a group of people living in a very colourful and gritty building on One Fifth Avenue in New York. Two married couples, a famous writer, a movie star, an aged society lady, and a tart. Toss in some stolen art, blackmail, sex and desperation and it is one hell of a read.

The gods must have been whispering in Bushnell's ear when she wrote this, because she peppered it with mentions of Sex and the City, which for fans of hers is all it would take to get the jokes.

This book is worth it to pick up hardcover. It is on my top list of recommends to my friends.


Originally written on Oct 21 and 22 as a two part blog by Ardeth Blood on Andrew and the Aluminumsidings

Renfield by Barbara Hambly

There is something creepy about the cover of this novel that attracts you like the flies that seem to fill the pages. But I was trapped to it unable to put it down till I finished.

The story picks up with Renfield already in the asylum desperate for the tiny flies and spiders that can give him the strength to do "his job". Flashing back between nightmares of his past in India and the visions he sees through Dracula's eyes.
The novel also plays with the temperament of the 3 brides who are suppose to be waiting back in Dracula's Castle. Touching on the ideas that power comes in only one real form -fear- this novel tries to explain why everyone is betraying everyone else.
Less the erotic tartness that has seeped into the vampire genre for the last decade (about time we cleaned the steam and trash from the window) and more about how the fear feeds the will, Renfield Slave of Dracula, does follow the original story in the form of letters and diaries, and makes you care for the lesser public characters of Seward, Morris and Renfield.

The one element the novel has kept from recent vampire ideals is the use of the vampire as a metaphor for complete loneliness.


Originally posted on Alucard's Rose Dec 4 2008 by Ardeth Blood

The Rick Mercer Report the Book

Political Commentary with Satire  is the only way to describe the hardcover edition of Rick Mercer's number one selling book.

Elements from the hit show, moments that never made it to air, punchy and lyrical as only he can be.

The re-released paperback edition also has updated commentary from the latest season of the Rick Mercer Report.

A book no Canadian should be without.  

Another Page to Turn

This is the first post for this blog,  so please come back soon when I will have a little more on here.