June, 2008Evil Editor said...Welcome to Book Chat 4. If we're lucky, the author may drop in to allow us to heap our praise upon her and to tell us which of her other books we would like. As last month, I've chosen a minion who had already read the book to moderate the chat. That being Tal tonight.
talpianna said... Is this, or is this not, the perfect role for an out-of-touch medievalist? I've just been arguing with an archaeologist. I'm in fine fettle. There are six people here counting EE--shall we start now, or give it a few minutes more? Jenny will be here if she can, but she's in the midst of home-remodeling hell and may not be free. Or may be locked in her refrigerator, for that matter.
Evil Editor said...Go for it.
Dave F. said... Well, it's a fun read. They are absolutely cutthroat women to the guy's rather stupid wolves.
BuffySquirrel said... Wolves? Puppies!
Evil Editor said... I didn't find them cutthroat. Maybe Liza.
Dave F. said... EE, she calls two of her friends "Wet" and "Worse"...My lover has friends I don't like and other than the one I call "dead" if he ever shows up at my house again, I never call them bad names.
Evil Editor said... Her sister's friends.
talpianna said... Liza, yes. And Cal's mother. And Cynthie.
Dave F. said... Cynthie is one of those "psychologist/psychiatrist" types who thinks she knows it all. I haven't reached her end but she believes she understands the world. I knew a few Nuns like that. And her sister is marrying the Maid of Honor's ex-boyfriend. In some cultures that would be an excuse for murder and mayhem.
Evil Editor said... Better than sleeping with the groom the night before the wedding.
Dave said...Wouldn't like:
a) helpless women (or those that pretend to be helpless) make me grumpy and snarly.
b) manipulative women (like Cynthie) I avoid. Life's too short for that stuff. And I've had a few manipulative women as bosses.
talpianna said... Since there are a bunch of guys here, I'd like to start by asking them what they thought of Crusie's male characters? Realistic?
Dave F. said... They think with their "manhood" ...
talpianna said... Roger (ironically) doesn't.
Dave F. said... Roger seems to have a bad streak of revenge.
Evil Editor said... I didn't buy the stuff the ex-boyfriend was doing. Sure, he was egged on by Cynthie, but...
talpianna said... I did--but then I've been reading a lot of books about psychopaths lately, and I think David is one. Not the serial-killer kind, the shallow kind who has no empathy and likes to make trouble for the sake of trouble--and only cares about himself.
BuffySquirrel said... Well, I just finished reading "Ice Bound", where the author's ex-husband did some pretty terrible things, like going around telling the press that she didn't really have cancer and was just attention seeking.... So maybe it's hard to believe someone can behave like that, but they can. With a slightly different motivation (the whole 'If I can't have her, nobody can'), I think the ex-boyfriend might have convinced more. Certainly he didn't care about her at all.
Robin S. said... the shallow kind who has no empathy and likes to make trouble for the sake of trouble--and only cares about himself. Yep. A Peter Pan sociopath.
talpianna said... One of the things I particularly appreciate about good romance novels is well-developed minor characters and relationships other than the h/h--family and friendship and colleagues. I thought the various friendships were well done. And Wet and Worse were DIANA's friends, not Min's. She couldn't stand them.
Evil Editor said... I thought he realized too late that he cared about her.
Robin S. said... No. David is a world-class user asshole. I've known a few.
talpianna said... I think it was pretty clear, in his conversations with Cynthie after she'd given up on getting Cal back, that he was much more about seeing Cal lose than about getting Min back.
Evil Editor said... No reason to believe he was ever honest with Cynthie.
Robin S. said... I agree - David's conversations were false by definition - because he's who he is. David 's the kind of guy who's never been honest with anyone ever - not even himself. And he has no self-awareness at all.
BuffySquirrel said... I don't think he cared about her. Maybe he convinced himself he did. Actions speak louder than words....
talpianna said... EE, I was thinking more about David's inner dialogue than what he said to anyone else, including Cynthie.
Dave F. said... David was obviously more serious than Minerva was about their "love life"... I don't think he's altogether bad, he's just very, very hurt and being mean about it. Besides, he has that bet for a seminar with Calvin.
talpianna said... In most genre fiction, the good guys and the bad guys are pretty clearly distinguished. In this one, as in many of Crusie's longer books, there are a lot of gray hats, so to speak. Any characters you have no sympathy with? And what did you think of the various endings she gave them in the epilogue? I thought David got too happy an ending.
BuffySquirrel said... I had no sympathy with David. Or with the long description of the wedding dress. Enough already!
Dave F. said... The Wedding Dress is the dream dress of many a bride. It is the most oversold and overwrought piece of junk a woman can wear. It's utterly useless, completely impractical and merely "the stuff that dreams are made of" And don't get me started on the ugliness of a bridesmaid dress. The male equivalent of a bridesmaid dress is a speedo. YIKES can you look ugly real fast in those things.
talpianna said... Dave, that may be true, but the fact remains that it's the center of many girls' dreams from the time they are old enough to play with Barbies.
BuffySquirrel said... Dave, dear, do you honestly think you're telling me something I don't know?
Dave F. said... I know about wedding dresses. I know about dreams and barbie doll dreams. And I also know that y'all do to. That's why I added the quote from the Maltese Falcon - the stuff that dreams are made of.
talpianna said... Dave--that's Shakespeare
Evil Editor said...
MacBeth: Is this a dagger which I see before me?
Laertes: Naw, it's the stuff dreams are made of.
talpianna said... I didn't know Laertes dealt crack!
Dave F. said... From IMDB - The Maltese Falcon [last lines]
Detective Tom Polhaus: [picks up the falcon] Heavy. What is it?
Sam Spade: The, uh, stuff that dreams are made of.
Detective Tom Polhaus: Huh?
Something to believe in, dreams. I think that Minerva has no dreams. I think her family knocked them out of her with their constant fussiness. I think she's the designated spinster who stays home and takes care of mummy and daddy in their old age. Weddings are dreams -- completely impractical, expensive and outrageous dreams. I'm not out to rob a gal of her dreams.
BuffySquirrel said... Those sorts of weddings were never my dreams. Maybe cos my doll was a Sindy? Tal, we need a cast list for this chat!
Dave said...What girl doesn't dream of being Snow White to Prince Charming? What father doesn't have that heart-tugging moment when the little girl suddenly becomes a woman? All of that is a fairy tale, the best of all possible worlds that for a few minutes, actually comes true.
talpianna said... I didn't see Snow White--I saw lots of Cinderella and a bit of Sleeping Beauty, with Liza as generic fairy godmother. Unless you count Elvis as Puss in Boots?
BuffySquirrel said... Let us get this very clear. I never fantasised about Big Expensive Weddings. I never fantasised about Prince Fucking Charming. Are we clear now? Mostly I wanted a pony. And no, not for sex.
talpianna said... Dave, I think you have a good point about Min. Remember the scene where Bonnie tried to get Min to say what her dream was? It was like pulling teeth to get her even to envision it.
And THE MALTESE FALCON was still quoting THE TEMPEST.
BuffySquirrel said... We are such stuff as dreams are made on. ON not OF!
Dave F. said... When I use the quote "Stuff that dreams are made of" I am generally thinking of the lengths that the characters in The Maltese Falcon went to just to own the falcon. In the end it was nothing but a useless hunk of metal. The fullfilment of some dreasm is like that.
Now as to weddings. I really like "Four Weddings and a Funeral" which has no plot. And my other favorite movie romance is "When Harry Met Sally" because that's the way love is.
We like fighting couples because we know that in the end, they make up. SO Kiss me, Kate.
Evil Editor said... I liked a lot of characters. I guess it's a requirement in romance that someone be trying to keep the h/h apart. In my romance novel that won't be the case.
talpianna said... Well, fashion--and weight--is/are one of the themes of the book. How did you feel about Nanette, Min's mom? Black hat or gray? (Designer hat, of course)
Evil Editor said... Compared to Cal's mother she was a doll.
Jeb said... Nanette got off too lightly, imho. Is it really possible for her to have never challenged her own perceptions about weight/marriage/whatever in all those years, and then to turn around on a dime because her overweight 'disappointing' daughter says so the day after she catches an 'eligible man'?
talpianna said... Jeb--I think what shook Nanette up and changed her was the confrontation with her husband about his supposed affair.
BuffySquirrel said... I think I wished more that I had girl friends like Min's than I wished I had a man like Cal. Quite a lot more.
Jeb said... buffy - I agree with you about wanting good girlfriends more.
talpianna said... Buffy, I completely agree! Crusie does female friendships well. I think the truly bad characters in this book were Cal's parents and David. Oh, and Greg and Worse. Everyone else had extenuating circumstances. I disliked Nanette intensely (especially since she had my former name!) but she genuinely wanted happiness for Min.
Jeb said... I thought it was a very realistic touch that the sister's friends had their own 'pet names' for Min's friends. It's a common enough kind of shorthand. As for David, I've met guys like him. In fact, living in a oil-boom city, I'm surrounded by them. I agree his motivations could have been stronger; after all, he didn't really want Min back, and he could have bailed out on the bet any time. Cynthie... I've met women like her, too. Self-justifying co-workers like her were one reason I gave up psychology for accounting (not that accountants aren't evil in their own way) What saved the long wedding-dress description for me was Min's comment afterward.
sylvia said... Personally, I found David hard to believe. Not because I haven't seen sociopathic behaviour before, but he kept almost-not-doing-it then changing his mind for a view of Cynthie's cleavage. He wasn't sociopathic, just horny. And that seemed a bit hard to keep believing in, over time.
Robin S. said... Yeah, jeb, that was a bit of a 'wrap-it-up' tp me as well, re: Nanette.
BuffySquirrel said... Nanette might not change her views, but she might be prepared to eat stuff to save her marriage.
Dave F. said... Yeah, I was surprised that Nanette was so openly hostile to a "full-figured" daughter.
It seemed Calvin, (like me) likes them with a little meat on their bones.
Jeb said... Sadly, I've had supper with oil-company people who act a lot like Cal's family. Many of them don't allow children at the dining table until they've been properly socialized by their private schools.
Not sure I buy that Cal's sister-in-law... Bink... was really about to start standing up to her asshole husband after all those years. She'd been so spineless up til then.
In fact, most of the female characters were treated very sympathetically in the end. Normal women rip each other to shreds. But then, it's a fantasy, right? Like the romance with the gorgeous guy who loves you FOR your weight instead of in spite of it.
BuffySquirrel said... When one woman shreds another, I itch to bang their heads together. Maybe all Blink needed was someone who was on her side. Many people can't act unsupported, but can if they get help.
sylvia said... Both of them had an awful parent (her mother, his father) which struck me as a bit contrived to throw them together. The constant contact and open hostility seemed odd to me. For such strong-minded people, I would have thought that one of them would have walked away.
Evil Editor said... I didn't buy Min walking out of Emilio's after Cal sang. It was romantic. Her friends were there. It was time to go for it, not fret yet again.
Jeb said... I'm with EE on Min walking out at the most romantic moment of her life. It seemed like a ploy to extend the conflict for another few chapters. Loved the rehearsal dinner scene - I can see screaming out loud that on a movie screen.
Robin S. said... The endless fretting. Yeah - that's not something I'm fond of.
sylvia said... I did kind of understand the walking out of the song - or, I understood Min's reaction. But I would have thought she'd have stayed there and shut up and avoided causing a scene. It was very overt for the circumstances.
talpianna said... Sylvia, I think Min didn't want to break down and have a crying jag in public. EE--reread what she said to him after he caught up with her after the song. It really rang true to me. It didn't matter that David dumped her, because he didn't know the REAL her. But Cal DID, and she was certain he'd dump her--the real her--and that was what hurt so much. And up to that point we had no indication that Cal himself had any intention of permanence, just wishful thinking.
Evil Editor said... Is she still certain he'll dump her?
BuffySquirrel said... Sometimes hope can be the scariest thing.
talpianna said... Min didn't walk out on her family because of Diana, and Cal didn't walk out on his because of Harry and Bink. Min's father was OK, and as I said, Nanette may have been a lousy mother but she really loved Min and cared about her--she was just completely wrong about things. And maybe not even that--being myself overweight, I've been the recipient of a hell of a lot of cruelty on that account. And I thought that Cal's mother was even worse than his father; and Reynolds was a just barely redeemable butthead.
Jeb said... Bink had Cal's support years before, and it wasn't enough even though they were both at the same family dinner table month after month. I think she's one of the weaker characters as far as consistency goes. The guys seemed to be generally one-dimensional, one reason why I can't handle reading many romances per year.
BuffySquirrel said... I got the impression the incident at the game was the only time Cal had offered active support.
talpianna said... I think the support Bink needed was not just Cal (who after all was the family's Designated Loser) but Cal plus Min.
Jeb said... If Cal had never stood up for Bink or Harry before (although I thought that was implied by his interactions wtih Harry), then he was pretty spineless too. Sigh.
BuffySquirrel said... Spineless, or, perhaps, a real person rather than a movie hero?
Jeb said...Frankly, if I met a man's parents and they acted like Cal's did, I'd dump him and run, far and fast. No matter how sexy he is, that's a train wreck happening in slow mo for decades to come. I guess the author did such a good job with all these dysfunctional people that it was ultimately impossible for for me to believe in the 'happily ever after'. The odds against were just too strong.
talpianna said... Jeb, you might take a look at the previous post on my blog--"HEA? No way, Jose!" for what makes an HEA impossible.
sylvia said... Overall I liked it - it was a fun, quick read. Although at the start I thought "oh god, not ANOTHER miserable woman intro" - Homicide My Own and Twilight and this one - now I know how our book club books were chosen. :)
Evil Editor said... There's gonna be stuff I don't buy in any romance, probably any book. All in all, I thought this was excellent. Funny, with several characters I liked.
talpianna said... I loved the wedding--or rather non-wedding--scene. What did you people think of the use of fairy-tale tropes?
sylvia said... The sister wedding sub-plot was not very interesting to me. He was clearly a jerk, she clearly had the wrong intentions, it was simply waiting to see how their wedding or non-wedding was going to help Min and Cal get together. As such, I didn't mind it but I didn't see it as anything deeper than a convenient plot device, to be honest.
Jeb said... re fairy tale tropes, I thought it was interesting that Min had all these 'couple' snow globes that she didn't want, but other people, even those who supposedly knew her best, kept projecting their fantasy about what she wanted onto her. And she never stopped them. It seems so spineless of her. I really enjoyed this book overall, and a lot of it was from the witty dialogue. Like the best scenes in 'Pride & Prejudice' are of Lizzie and Mr. Darcy zinging each other.
BuffySquirrel said... Any fairytale references passed me by. I didn't much like the snow globes, either. Mostly I fumed about the dinky shoes. Why sqrls no can haz dinky shoes?
Dave F. said... Buffy, go back and read about the snow globes. Her family is buying her marriage substitutes.
talpianna said... One thing I found interesting was that so many characters had great insight into the behavior of others but absolutely none into their own.
Sarah Laurenson said... Just popping in. This is what I wrote on my blog: I don’t read much from the romance shelves. I used to occasionally dip into them and see what was going on only to find the same story repeated with the names and locations changed. Being a minion of the great Evil Editor, I’ve had the pleasure of opening a romance novel once again. Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie is wonderfully fresh, with likable, well-drawn characters. I hope this is a sign of the times when it comes to the romance genre. The book drew me in and kept me interested from the first page to the last. Jennifer - Thanks for the realistic, cynical, fun main characters. And the secondary characters are no slouches either.
Evil Editor said... Let's discuss the symbolism of doughnuts.
talpianna said... Hey, Buff--whatever happened to "What I tell you three times is true"?
BuffySquirrel said... Lol, Tal. I guess they expired ;)!
Evil Editor said... I for one don't like chocolate on my doughnuts.
talpianna said... The doughnut of course, symbolizes "One Ring to rule them all, one Ring to bind them...." Only half kidding
talpianna said... And Entenmann's are better than Krispy Kremes. The doughnut cake at the rehearsal dinner made me queasy just reading about it. I like cake doughnuts dusted with either powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar.
talpianna said... I think that for Min the doughnut symbolizes everything in life that she wants, fears won't be good for her, and can't have--like Cal.
Robin S. said... I love chocolate glazed doughnuts. At least I used to.
Jeb said... And Krispy Kreme spent millions trying to penetrate the market up here, but failed in our city for lack of interest (like Starbucks in Vienna - it's patronized almost exclusively by homesick Americans). We Canucks already have decent donuts. The donut motif didn't do it for me, either in the romance or the sex trope.
ril said... Krispy Kreme just opened a couple of places here. There's regularly a two hour queue outside. That's a pretty serious sugar craving, that is.
Evil Editor said... Krispy Kreme is big in the South, Dunkin Donuts in the Northeast.
Sarah Laurenson said... Stan's doughnuts in Westlake Village, CA. Or Southern Maid if you're in the Southern US.
Dave F. said... Crispy Creme makes a cinnamon bun donut that I'd kill for... It is the forbidden fruit of temptation he is the snake and they are in the garden. Even the innocents (Harry) are watching them).
BuffySquirrel said... It has a fair few food as substitute for sex scenes :).
Evil Editor said... It's unrealistic to eat chicken Marsala every night for three months straight.
ChrisEldin said... It's not if you have one of those mango lhasi drinks with it.
Sarah Laurenson said... Eat the same thing every night? Not difficult for computer geeks.
Jeb said... WAY too much chicken marsala in this book! I liked that she learned to cook something, though. Girls my daughter's age think they are at home in a kitchen if they can fix steam-in-bag veggies.
Robin S. said... I'd starve if I had to eat that. yuck.
talpianna said... Buffy, did you ever see the original film of TOM JONES with Albert Finney and Susannah York? There was a great food = sex scene there.
talpianna said... Guess what I'm having for dinner tonight?
Evil Editor said... Donuts?
talpianna said... No--I'm having chicken Marsala. talpianna said... Actually, come to think of it, I DO have some cinnamon-sugar mini-doughnuts.... Isn't it Brenda who is getting married this weekend?
BuffySquirrel said... Umm, no, Tal, I haven't :). Brenda sent me a message but I can't locate it now. Something about hoping to attend. She's traveling, I think.
Robin S. said... Oh yeah - that food/sex scene in the old Tom Jones was fantastic.
talpianna said... For those who like funny romances (mainly romantic suspense) I recommend Jayne Ann Krentz in her various incarnations (JAK, Amanda Quick, Jayne Castle).
Skipper said... Anyone But You is really one of her categories, so you can't lump it in with her stand-alone novels. It was originally a Harlequin, which has restrictions on word count.
BuffySquirrel said... Here we are: Brenda said: I'm not at my own house til July, so it really depends on whether or not I can get online that night. I'm going to try though.
ril said... I didn't manage to read this book but thought I'd drop by and see if I should have. Looks like a yes.
Evil Editor said... Yes ril, I'd call it our second best book, though I expect next month's to move into the top two.
Robin S. said... The next two look wonderful.
Evil Editor said... Is this a typical Crusie book? Are they all funny? Do the others have more sex?
talpianna said... Crusie writes two types of books, really. Her earlier ones, mostly categories, like MANHUNTING and CHARLIE ALL NIGHT, tend to be mainly funny, though there may be a few serious matters. Her later standalones tend to have much darker elements. In CRAZY FOR YOU, the heroine's nicest-guy-in-town fiance turns into a crazed stalker when she breaks up with him. TELL ME LIES has adultery and murder. FAST WOMEN is also darker, but all these have a good deal of humor as well. Many people's favorite is WELCOME TO TEMPTATION, though BET ME is mine.
Robin S. said... What's up with the end-of-book sex? It was pretty good. I wished there'd been more.
Evil Editor said... It's not uncommon for a romance to have three sex scenes.
talpianna said... For some reason, most romances have a sex scene as the penultimate scene, followed by an epilogue-type HEA with them surrounded by children.
Dave F. said... I read FAKING IT a few years ago and it was fun, cute story. About art forgeries and forgers. I gave my Mother "Agnes and the Hitman" for Christmas. I could only get to read about 100 pages but it had me laughing too hard. Christmas came and I had to wrap up Agnes. I'm waiting to grab it off my Mother's bookcase and finish it someday.
talpianna said... Dave, FAKING IT is the sequel to WELCOME TO TEMPTATION and makes more sense if you've read that first. And Canadians--let's hear it for Tim Hortons!
Skipper said... Just joining in.... This is a typical Crusie book in voice; the humor, snappy dialogue and characters are part of what you expect in a Crusie. As for sex, this book is more of a straight romance compared to her other books. Her romantic comedies, especially Welcome to Temptation or Fast Women, or her collaborative novels.
Sarah Laurenson said... I've read two more of hers. They don't quite measure up to this one.
talpianna said... Dave, the pink flamingos are for real. And DON'T LOOK DOWN (not as good as AGNES) had a one-eyed alligator that eats people. Also appears briefly in AGNES. Eats somebody.
Sarah Laurenson said... DON'T LOOK DOWN had a lot of military influence from her co-author. ANYONE BUT YOU was cute, but not as 'deep' as BET ME.
Dave F. said... Aside from dead bodies and hidden chambers in Agnes, there's a wedding that they discuss having a "pink flamingo" theme. You want a dream wedding, put pink plastic flamingos at each table...
Evil Editor said... I had live flamingos on each table at my fourth wedding.
talpianna said... One of the more difficult to understand elements of the romance is the idea of the new society forming at the end centered on the H/H. I thought that was much clearer here, with the gangs of friends melded, Diana included in the group and dumping Wet and Worse, and Min's parents' marriage mended.
ChrisEldin said... From wedding dresses to Krispy Kreme to pink flamingoes.... I'd better click on refresh now.
Sarah Laurenson said... I'm getting married tomorrow. And word count limits suck. Ah well. It's still a cute story.
talpianna said... Sarah, what are your bridesmaids wearing?
ChrisEldin said... Congratulations Sarah!! Let's talk about this for a while. Do you have rings? Will it be outdoor or indoor? Can you bring a computer wit a camera and let us witness? :-)
Evil Editor said... Can you put wedding cake into hundreds of little boxes and mail them to us?
Robin S. said... Brenda AND Sarah are getting married? Wow. This is some 'June wedding' month!
Sarah Laurenson said... Only witness is the friend who used to do wedding photography. Outside at our home with some sort of paralegal or other to do the documents and officiate. Will post photos after we get back from the honeymoon.
BuffySquirrel said... Tal, dear, as moderator you're supposed to keep the chat on track :).
Congrats, Sarah :). Many happy years ahead, I'm sure!
ChrisEldin said... Yes to EE"s idea!
Sarah Laurenson said... Well, EE, there is this little cupcake delivery joint here that makes cupcakes that are much better than any donut.
Dave F. said... It's a gay wedding (in both senses of that word) and I really am happy to hear about it. It's been a long wait but well worth it. Many happy years.
talpianna said... I think I was mistaken about Brenda. Unless she's marrying Sarah?
Sarah Laurenson said... But I would need your address, dear.
Sarah Laurenson said... Me marry Brenda? She's way over my head in sexiness.
Robin S. said... Hey- there are different kinds of sexy.
Jeb said... Yay! A wedding! Congratulations, Sarah! I'll go eat kahlua fudge cheesecake in your honour. 'Bye all. It's been the fastest hour of my recent life.
Sarah Laurenson said... I think I'd like that too much, tal. ;-)
Sarah Laurenson said... Thanks for the great chat and for letting me usurp the ending.
ChrisEldin said... EE usurped it when he kept talking about donuts. :-)
talpianna said... Anyway, Sarah, I hope that your wedding is as different as possible from Diana's! And may you have a little Elvis of your very own.
talpianna said... I'm the Molederator. Does anyone have any further points they want to make about BET ME?
BuffySquirrel said... Only to say that I enjoyed it far more than I expected to. A fun book.
Evil Editor said... I'm told Ms. Crusie is a very entertaining speaker.
Sarah Laurenson said... I'd love to hear her speak. I'd love to meet her. I think she's a fabulous writer.
talpianna said... She is indeed, EE. She and Mayer were at a booksigning here for DON'T LOOK DOWN, and she cracked up the room.
Robin S. said... It would be fun to see her speak. I agree.
talpianna said... Those who enjoy her voice should check out her blog: http://www.arghink.com./
Sarah Laurenson said... My mom loved Bet Me and is passing it around to her friends.
Evil Editor said... The July chat book is To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis.
The title comes from the book Three Men in a Boat, to Say Nothing of the Dog, by Jerome K. Jerome, considered one of the funnier books ever written. You don't need to read it to enjoy To Say Nothing of the Dog, but the characters from one do make a cameo appearance in the other, so you might want to do so. I believe you can find Three Men in a Boat online at no cost if you want to read it and prefer not to purchase it.
BuffySquirrel said... I read "Three Men in a Boat" prior to reading "To Say Nothing of the Dog", and thought it hilarious.
Robin S. said... Who's moderating next month?
ril said... Yes, project Gutenburg has "Three Men in A Boat". Another very funny book, though not to everyone's taste. Quaint, perhaps. I wrote a paper on Jerome's books in High School. Guess I might have to try and get hold of next month's books.
BuffySquirrel said... And I sent a copy of "To Say Nothing of the Dog" to my dad, and he's now busily buying up Connie's back catalogue.
talpianna said... I have a copy of TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG around here somewhere, presumably in one of the 175 cartons of books that hasn't yet been unpacked.
Evil Editor said... Someone requested moderating duties a while back. I thought it was Buffy.
BuffySquirrel said... It was!
Evil Editor said... Still want it? It's yours.
Robin S. said... Sounds good buff.
Dave F. said... I just downloaded Three Men in a Boat from Project Gutenberg. about 380K
ME said... I just caught up here (It's over!) and thought I would say that this month's chat was much more orderly than earlier ones and extremely funny when you get to the part about Brenda marrying Sarah!!! Great job, minions, better than a review and I think I'll try to get a copy!
Evil Editor said... Thanks for coming, everyone. Thanks Tal.
BuffySquirrel said... H'okay :).
Robin S. said... I'd like to do one at some point.
Evil Editor said... You can have August, Robin.
Robin S. said... OK- if no one else wants it. It looks fascinating to me. And I can read it on vacation.
BuffySquirrel said... Any news on September's Mystery Book, EE?
ril said... Do we know what September is yet? That's the one from the Auction, right?
Evil Editor said... I emailed the winner, but got no response. According to Google, it might prove to be a book in which numerous successful authors are interviewed about how they first got published, but he may have another book in mind.
BuffySquirrel said... Hmm, well, we can't read it if they won't tell us what it is!
Moth said... I'm trying to catch up on the comments. I had to work. *cries* Sorry if this has been covered but I know I wanted to know what people thought about Cal and Bink being in lurv before Min. It came out of left field for me, personally.
Sarah Laurenson said... Cal and Bink? I think it followed as standard from the dysfunctional family setup. Seems to me, Cal is a rescuer. And Bink needed rescued. That's why it takes so long for him to figure out he's attracted for real to Min. She didn't need rescued. Except she really did need rescued from her fat-phobic mom and her own bad self-image.
Moth said... *talking to herself*
Also, my top 5 Crusies for anyone who wants to pick up more are:
1.) Faking It
2.) Bet Me
3.) Agnes and the Hitman (with Bob Mayer)
4.) Fast Women
5.) What the Lady Wants
I'm still sad I missed the whole freakin' book chat. *sigh* Stupid day job.
talpianna said... Moth, they weren't really "in love": it was more like she was depending on him, and she was what he wanted, only more as a foreshadowing of Min that truly as herself--an image of what a woman could and should be: loving, loyal, etc. And I'm surprised that your best Crusies list omits WELCOME TO TEMPTATION and includes WHAT THE LADY WANTS, which I disliked, on the whole.
Phoenix said... Excellent moderating (molerating?), Tal! I lurked live on and off for the first half or so and have just come back to catch up. EE, these book chats are really all going SO well!!
Julie Weathers said... This was a good discussion guys and gals.
Moth said... I do like Welcome to Temptation. It would probably be 6 or 7 on my list, but whatsherface the selfish little sister annoys the hell out of me and I do NOT understand why that one person (you know who) gets away with killing TWO PEOPLE and only has to vote the right way at council meetings to get away with freaking murder.
Pretty much all Crusies are keepers and chronic re-reads for me, though. Faking It and Bet Me just come out tops.
Jennifer Crusie said... Oh, HELL. I missed it. I had to go out and get a faucet because the one that was supposed to be here they told me today was back ordered four to six weeks and the plumber is coming tomorrow . . . This is why I will never promise to do anything ever again. Damn. I am SO SORRY, Tal. I’ve got the plumber and the electrician coming tomorrow and they all need different things and I just forgot. I’m scum. I hate it when I do this. SO sorry, really.
