I saw the book cover on the left, for Words Get in the Way by Nan Rossiter, and it immediately made me think of this book cover, for Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos. I guess that rainboots aren’t the most unique things ever, but still, you’d think that, only four years after Belong to Me was such a successful novel, the marketing people behind Rossiter’s book would have gone for something else. Unless they’re trying to draw a parallel without being too obvious? The descriptions don’t sound similar, so maybe not? Still, a curious choice of cover art.
I recently read two contemporary romance novels in which the main dudes (must I really call them “heroes”?) were recently released prisoners. Innnteresting. America has a huge prison epidemic on our hands, and yet I don’t really see this reflected in what I read.
Of course, neither of the guys in these books did anything really awful. In fact, one hadn’t done the thing for which he’d been imprisoned. How noble. The other guy was undoubtedly guilty, but his crime was too stupid to take seriously (he DOS-ed Twitter). I’d never really had occasion to think about what it would be like to date/marry somebody with a prison record. That’s something that must be disclosed on employment applications; you can’t vote for a certain amount of time; you face a certain amount of societal prejudice.
It’s not that I read novels expecting to find realism, but I was fascinated how a genre that is commonly held to be completely frivolous could handle such a sensitive topic in completely different ways.
FYI, the books were Julie James’ A Lot Like Love and Kristan Higgins’ Too Good to be True. Of the two, I preferred the latter, although both books were enjoyable.
Yay! I’ve been super productive lately. I set up the Jezepals penpal service, which is so brilliant that I can hardly stand it (except that there is a Pin Pal service that dates back to January, but I didn’t know about it when I made the suggestion on Jezebel). I received a post card from my Jezebel person today, and a postal letter from my Pin Pal last week. I have all the letters! I will write back to each person this weekend!
I also set up the Google Group Sharepin, where people can post things that they don’t want and hopefully find a non-landfilly home for them. This is perfect timing for me, as I clearly have too much stuff and not nearly enough space in which to keep it. My Birchbox castoffs alone would comprise a pretty hefty shipment. Add in some gently used, still adorable, but no longer “me” clothes, and that’s a metric ton of stuff that is needlessly cluttering my life. I’m doing things now, not just joining, and it’s a good feeling!
Ooopsie! Looks like Dustin just made the classic “if I’m not aware of it, it must be obscure” error common in children and privileged members of society, and decided that since he didn’t remember certain things from the 90s, they must have similarly fallen below everybody else’s radar, too. How could he forget Sister, Sister? Forgetting a character here or there is one thing, but an entire show? Pfffft.
Did you miss me? I know that I haven’t written in a while, but I’m still around. I had a great time in Dubai (pictures are forthcoming…allegedly), and more importantly, I’ve had a great time since I came home. My vacation helped me clear my head and appreciate the good things in my life, which I have. I’ve also made some unexpected new friends, which is a good feeling. It’s sometimes hard to make friends as an adult. Right now I love everything and am working on loving everybody.
I saw the book cover on the left, for Words Get in the Way by Nan Rossiter, and it immediately made me think of this book cover, for Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos. I guess that rainboots aren’t the most unique things ever, but still, you’d think that, only four years after Belong to Me was such a successful novel, the marketing people behind Rossiter’s book would have gone for something else. Unless they’re trying to draw a parallel without being too obvious? The descriptions don’t sound similar, so maybe not? Still, a curious choice of cover art.
April 30, 2012 2:19 pm | 
Subscribe