Sunday Soup - July 7

Note: Thanks Laura, for letting me know about some broken links.  I fixed two of them -- the third URL is correct I think, but it looks like the site is down, hopefully temporarily. If you tried to follow links that were broken before, they should be corrected now.


Sunday Soup is... a little of this, a little of that, not too much work, and hopefully a tasty result.

Soup Dish:  book people are talking about...
✽Although this article on Manic Pixie Dream Girls by Laura Penny starts out with a bunch of references to Doctor Who, which don't mean much to me, this line jumped out at me:

Men grow up expecting to be the hero of their own story. Women grow up expecting to be the supporting actress in somebody else's.

Which echoes a point that Jenny Crusie made years ago and that I have referenced ad nauseum. Anyway, the writer talks about depth of characterization, and then she kind of sucker-punched me with this paragraph:

Manic Pixies, like other female archetypes, crop up in real life partly because fiction creates real life, particularly for those of us who grow up immersed in it. Women behave in ways that they find sanctioned in stories written by men who know better, and men and women seek out friends and partners who remind them of a girl they met in a book one day when they were young and longing.

and just... wow.  I'm still figuring out what to do with that, but the truth of it blows my mind a little bit. I'm just loving this writer's voice and am about to go binge on Things She Has To Say.  Because:

Lately, though, as I've been working on longer ideas about sexism and class and power, I keep coming back to love, to the meat and intimacy of fucking and how it so often leads so treacherously to kissing. 

and because

I refuse to burn my energy adding extra magic and sparkle to other people’s lives to get them to love me. I’m busy casting spells for myself. Everyone who was ever told a fairytale knows what happens to women who do their own magic. 

I just love all of that.  (via @meredithduran on Twitter)

✽10 things about book blogging from Rebecca Schinsky.  Spot on. (via @THRJessica on Twitter)

✽News from Nalini! She names her next hero. Given the hints in Heart of Obsidian, I'm not very surprised, but I am definitely looking forward to Vasic's story, especially since it seems that he will be paired up with a Changeling.  Did I mention that I went to a signing a couple of weeks ago? How did I overlook that?? I did tweet about it -- and yes, I  tried to make sure to get the University Bookstore info in the picture -- I love that they have these amazing events so if I can give them a teeny boost, I will.

✽One last link [note: it looks like this blog is down at the moment - I'm going to leave the link in hopes that it comes back...] that left my jaw dangling a little bit with the power and gorgeousness of the very words.  Perhaps because I am not a person that poetry usually speaks to, on the occasions when I accidentally stumble over something that resonates for me, I get more than a bit blindsided. I predict [more] amazing things from this writer.


What I'm reading
✽OH MY GOD why did I wait so long to read Thea Harrison's latest release??  It is so, so good.  Go get your hands on Rising Darkness right now if you haven't already.  In the "hidden parallel world" style of urban fantasy, where the paranormal world lives alongside unsuspecting mortals, there is always a scene where one of the leads discovers the parallel world, and it is always a pivotal moment.  None have electrified me like the one in this book.  I swear, I had goosebumps.

✽I am hatching a plan for a Sheik Week at Alpha Heroes.  I used to read everything I could get my hands on in this subgenre, and they were pretty popular in the 80s.  Standalone or full length books with the European girl in an Eastern harem are now pretty few and far between, although there is still a thriving subgenre of contemporary category sheik romance.  So I was feeling nostalgic about them and re-read Bertrice Small's The Kadin, which was a huge favorite of mine.  I am pleased to say that the story holds up very well-- I went on some multi-hour reading binges like I haven't done in a while and actually was up until 2:30 am last Thursday night (yay for 4-day weekends!).  I'm saving a full review for the feature week, but two things: 1) I really really loved it, and 2) good god, the 2010 Kindle edition is really pretty awful.  Typos and missing periods EVERYWHERE.  If you can find a used print copy, I highly recommend you do that.

✽I finally finished the Janelle Denison's Born To Be Wilde, part of a 6-book set by a variety of authors.  It took me a while to get through this, but I think that was more a function of stuff going on around me.  I really liked the characters and the Dude Group that Denison has set up, and I'm looking forward to checking out more of the series.

✽I'm not reading it yet, but I just pre-ordered Chloe Neill's latest Chicagoland Vampire book, Biting Bad.  It's on sale for $8.89 (weird number...) which is close enough to mass market to suit me.

On Tap... what soup isn't a little better with a slosh or two?
I've had a pretty unadventurous week -- it's been all Apricot Ale, all the time with the hot hot weather.  So for your entertainment, I'm giving you this link:  36 cheap American beers, in rank order.

Bonus:
Since Maisey made this just for me, it seems only fair for me to share it with you.