At the insistence of Queen Elizabeth and Princess Natasha, I ordered this book from Paperbackswap.com (which is such a fantastic deal...you post 7 books you don't mind to ship off - I posted mainly trashy romance novels from my horny college years and a couple of textbooks that those asshats at Kennedy Bookstore wouldn't buy back...and then you instantly get 3 credits to order books from the site. For free. The catch? If someone wants your slut novel or Biochem 102 doorstop, you have to mail it to them at your expense. But you send it media mail so it's never more than a couple of bucks, even though it's essentially shipped by horse. Read: do NOT wait until 2 weeks before the book club meeting to order your book...unless you're nostalgic for Biochem all-nighters. For each requested and sent book, you get another credit! Until you're giving them away in exchange for homemade cookies and tickets to the dollar movies).Anyway, knowing my penchant for all things masked and caped, they simply insisted that I read book 1 of this Lauren Willig series. And I LOVED it. It's part historical fiction, part chick lit...which is so far up my alley, it's slightly uncomfortable. Admittedly, I did have moments of "Hey, I've read this...it was called The Princess Bride"...but the characters are so charming and the sex scenes are so cheesy (it's been a long time since I've read the word "shaft" and it wasn't referring to a hair follicle) that you tend to forgive the redundancy. Or I did. I think if you're a stickler for historical accuracy or thought-invoking dialogue then you will read this and toss it in the pile marked "crap I read while wasting hours I will never get back." But if you liked The Princess Bride, then you'll love Pink Carnation. It's got all of the wit, masked men, and chivalry of Bride, plus strong female characters and a slice of Napoleonic history (minus Fred Savage in his awkward years).
I am now waiting for the 2nd book in the series to arrive...The Masque of the Black Tulip. If you would like to read book 1, let me know and we can work out a trade (as long as you don't try to pawn something God-awful off on me like The Lost Symbol or anything by Joel Osteen).
If you would like to read a more informed, less random review of this book, check out Fyrefly's Book Blog. But I warn you...I don't think Fyrefly has ever fallen prey to the charms of caped crusaders crying out "Asss youuuuu wisshhhhh" as they tumble down a ravine. It is a helluva book review blog, though.
And now...the revelation....
Setting: Our living room, over a dinner of shrimp/mushroom/tomato/mexican cheese pizza (we call this "clean-out the fridge" pizza. It was, shockingly, not that bad.)
Neal: (as he fiddles with remotes) Hey, check it out!
Me: What?
Neal: Look! We can split-screen the TV with the Wii!!
Me: And why is that necessary in life?
Neal: So you can watch football and play Mario Kart at the same time!
Me: I'm not sure if you noticed, but you are the world's worst multi-tasker. I have to say your name before I start a conversation. You can't even listen to me and surf the internet at the same time. Besides, 25 inches of football and 25 inches of Mario Kart? ADD much?
Neal: This could be great!
Me: That's what they said about Tang.
At least our Prius won't let you watch football on the GPS screen. Yet.
