Tag Archives: books

7 Ways We’re All Bridget Jones

YourTango.comNovember 13, 2012 //

Attention, Bridget Jones fans: We are v. excited that a new installment of our favorite awkward heroine is in the works! Helen Fielding has written another chapter in the life of the quirky Brit, and the book is scheduled for an autumn 2013 release.

For the uninitiated, Bridget Jones Diary — the tale of a desperate yet endearing everywoman and her clumsy and often hilarious pursuit of true love (or at least a good date) — debuted in 1996 and quickly became and international bestseller and cultural phenom. Two movies followed, with Renee Zellweger as our quirky protagonist, and single 30-something women everywhere found a fumbling heroine they could finally relate too. It was in Bridget’s constantly adorable flaws — namely her fixation on her body image, awkward approach to dating and penchant for wallowing in her misery (who can forget her onscreen rendition of “All By Myself”?) that we wach saw a bit of ourselves. We are all Bridget Jones to some degree — whether that makes us uncomfortable or not. Here are a few examples…

What Your Bookshelf Says About You On A Date

Kevin ArmentoNovember 11, 2012 //
View the Gallery / 13 Photos »

There’s a great and very important moment in every relationship — and Kindle be damned, it’ll stay that way — when you bring a guy or girl to your place for the first time…and they peruse your bookshelf.

Are they judging you based on what they see? Yes — oh yes. And what will your books tell them about you? These generalizations will explain all…

Archaeologist Finds The Cave Of The Lone Woman AKA Karana From “Island Of The Blue Dolphins”

The Mary SueNovember 4, 2012 //

Wow. This takes me back. Navy archaeologist Steve Schwartz has found the cave of the Lone Woman of San Nicolas island—a.k.a. the woman who inspired Scott O’Dell‘s YA classic Island of the Blue Dolphins, one of my favorite books growing up.

The woman was a member of the Nicoleño tribe, which had to leave its island home off the coast of California after an 1814 massacre perpetrated by sea otter hunters from Alaska (those darn sea otter hunters) left the tribe devastated. Franciscan fathers packed all the Nicoleños on a ship and took them to the mainland—all except the Lone Woman, who went back because her baby had been left behind. (In O’Dell’s book it was her brother.) The Lone Woman lived alone on the island for 18 years before being found in 1853 by a rancher and taken to Santa Barbara, where she died seven weeks later of dysentery. Read more…

13 Awesome Books Being Turned Into Movies

College CandyNovember 1, 2012 //

Nowadays, it seems like every movie that comes to the screen was adapted from a book. This can be very hit or miss for me but I always find myself curious about how the film will match up to the book. I’m also one of those people that MUST read the book before the movie comes out. Here are a few upcoming movies based on some of our favorite books, both new and old. Read more…

8 Favorite Literary Horror Heroines

The Mary SueOctober 31, 2012 //

Halloween’s about dressing up and eating candy (and, for many adults, getting incredibly drunk). But that doesn’t have to be all it’s about. Back in 2010 Neil Gaiman suggested a new Halloween tradition of giving away a scary book to a friend on that most spooky of holidays. Since then that basic idea has evolved into All Hallow’s Read, and we here at The Mary Sue are supporting it by highlighting eight of our favorite literary horror heroines. All of the books we’ve mentioned here—including one by Gaiman himself, which is only fitting—come with the TMS stamp of approval if you want to participate in the AHR tradition of book-gifting.

As always, this one goes out to the runners-up: Carrie from Carrie, Eli fromLet the Right One In, and the godmother of horror herself, Mary Shelley. Read more…

Jami Attenberg’s 6 Favorite Books With Overweight Protagonists

The WeekOctober 27, 2012 //

In Attenberg’s third novel, The Middlesteins, a Jewish family in Chicago is torn apart by the overeating of their 350-pound matriarch. Here she gives her favorite books featuring overweight protagonists.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (Random House, $15). To me, this collection of linked stories about a difficult but loving woman and her neighbors in small-town coastal Maine is perfect — precisely written, emotionally correct, and a dream to read. Strout writes about obesity with immaculate wisdom: “The appetites of the body were private battles.” Read more…

15 Of The Worst Romance Novels In Existence

College CandyOctober 27, 2012 //

Now, they always say not to judge a book by its cover…but in this case, we couldn’t help it. Here’s a collection of some of the cheesiest romance novels, from the most cliche titles to awkward cover art. While I’m a sucker for a juicy romance novel, some of these I just will not be able to take seriously. Read more…

What If It Hadn’t Been “Fifty Shades of Grey” But One Of These Erotic Novels Instead?

Rachel Rabbit WhiteOctober 25, 2012 //
What If It Hadn’t Been "Fifty Shades of Grey" But One Of These Erotic Novels Instead?
View the Gallery / 9 Photos »

My mom never read erotica (that I know of) when I was growing up, but on a recent trip home I spotted a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey in the back seat of her car.

“Mom, I can’t believe you’re reading that!” I screamed.

“I just read it for the sex,” she said, matter-of-factly.

Twilight fanfiction/S&M erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey has struck a nerve not just with my mom but, with millions of woman around the world. The Fifty Shades phenomena has led to endless articles about women’s sex lives and how men should buy things that go thwack in sex shops. Apparently even Oprah likes to read the series in the bathtub? (I don’t need to know.) Keep reading »

Kinky Sex Tips
Kinky Sex Tips For Curious Vanilla Girls
Some kinky sex tips for beginners. 8 Photos »
Impossible Sex Positions
Impossible Sex Positions
These sex positions are absolutely impossible. 11 Photos »
Sex Dreams
Ten common sex dreams and what they mean... 10 Photos »

Cheryl Strayed Refuses To Apologize For Being Female Or Human

Ami AngelowiczOctober 19, 2012 //
Self-Help Books
These ones actually work! 13 Photos »
Tiny Beautiful Things
tiny beautiful things
A book by Cheryl Strayed. Read More »
Comforting Memoirs
These memoirs will make you feel better about your life. 11 Photos »
Quotable

“I’m not going to apologize for being female or human. But I will apologize to the party I’ve wronged. About a month ago, I posted this video on my Facebook page about being pro choice and why. There was this conversation that ensued in the comments about whether abortion should be legal. And this man who is a fan of ‘Wild’ and ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’ said, well, I’m against abortion, but I do think it should be legal. And Cheryl, the thing about you is, you had an abortion but you regret it. And you’ve told us how that does stay with you and how many regrets you have about it. And I was like, uh, no I haven’t. I thought, I can’t let that stand. I said, actually, you’re mistaken. I do not regret it. I wish I hadn’t gotten pregnant. I don’t think it’s this great, exciting chapter of my life that I treasure. But I certainly think that having an abortion was the best thing I could have done in that situation. And I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever, nor am I scarred by the experience. I think it’s really important to assert that. Because the generation of women before us, they could do things like have an abortion or have sex in ways that are conceived as promiscuous, so long as they felt bad about it afterward or have been, like, oh, but what I was really looking for was love. When really it’s — a lot of times what I was really looking for was sex.”

–Cheryl Strayed on the balance between claiming responsibility for your actions and apologizing for yourself. This is just a snippet from an interview published in The Millions. I highly recommend reading the entire interview. At least twice. And if you haven’t already, I implore you to read Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things, Cheryl’s collection of Dear Sugar columns from The Rumpus. She is my inspiration/life hero at the moment. Amelia and I went to see her speak a couple of weeks ago and the best thing she said, which has been my mantra ever since, was: “True motherfuckerhood has to do with being humble.” [The Millions]

Woot! ABC Developing TV Show Based On “Dirty Girls”

Amelia McDonell-ParryOctober 19, 2012 //
Gross Dating Problems
We solve 8 gross dating problems for you. 9 Photos »
Gross Beauty Rituals
The gross things we do to be beautiful. Read More »
What grosses you out?
Don't get me started on hairs in my food... Read More »

Finally, proof that getting really drunk on wine and gabbing about the world’s most personal shit with your girlfriends is actually a productive way to spend your time! First, my friend (and occasional Frisky contributor) Gillian Telling wrote a book called Dirty Girls about just how grimy women can be, using anecdotes from her own life and the lives of her friends (including yours truly), and now it’s being developed into a half-hour comedy for ABC! According to Deadline Hollywood, “The single-camera half-hour revolves around a group of female friends who reveal the dirty truth about the secret lives of women.” Because I’m slightly self-obsessed, my second thought — after “Holy crap, go Gillian!” — was, Oh my god, there’s maybe going to be a character on TV based on meeeeeeeeeeeeee! Fingers crossed “Dirty Girls” makes it all the way to the small screen, because, based on the book that inspired it and the hijinks therein, it’s bound to be hilarious.  [Deadline Hollywood]

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