springdellgirl

February Indulgences

February is truly a month to indulge...in romance...chocolate...little luxuries...and some fun reads. Both of these books fit the bill. One is a funny easy read and one is a great epic tale. Pick your pleasure. You will enjoy both.

First up...
This book written by Mindy Kaling aka Kelly Kapoor from The Office was a FUN read. It requires very little thought and very little time. I think I read it in about a day. I found it to be hilariously funny. The back cover alone sealed the deal.

If you don't find that funny then a.) I don't understand you and b.) you won't like the book. In my case, however, as I picked it up from the hold section at the library I actually laughed so hard that I snorted with laughter. Oh yes... Snorted.With.Laughter... much to the humiliation of my 11 year-old son, who was like "Geez, Mom!!" as he furtively looked around to see if anyone he knew just saw/heard me.

I thoroughly enjoyed Kaling's collection of short humorous essays, musings and lists. I laughed out loud many times. I found the first half particularly funny...the middle section and how she rose to fame a bit less so... and then it got really funny again.

For your enjoyment:

On high school:

“The chorus of “Jack and Diane” is: Oh yeah, life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone. Are you kidding me? The thrill of living was high school? Come on, Mr. Cougar Mellencamp. Get a life.”

"Teenage girls, please don’t worry about being super popular in high school, or being the best actress in high school, or the best athlete. Not only do people not care about any of that the second you graduate, but when you get older, if you reference your successes in high school too much, it actually makes you look kind of pitiful, like some babbling old Tennessee Williams character with nothing else going on in her current life."

On married couples:

“I don't want to hear about the endless struggles to keep sex exciting, or the work it takes to plan a date night. I want to hear that you guys watch every episode of The Bachelorette together in secret shame, or that one got the other hooked on Breaking Bad and if either watches it without the other, they're dead meat. I want to see you guys high-five each other like teammates on a recreational softball team you both do for fun.”

This book is constantly compared to Tina Fey's Bossypants. I read both and enjoyed this one much more.

My rating: Excellent. Unless you have no sense of humor. Unless the back cover didn't make you laugh.

Next up...


Remember how I've told you about the deal I have with my husband...we read several books a year that the other one picks out...therefore making it impossible that we ever become that boring old couple who have nothing to talk about. Well, this was one of the books I was assigned to read by Tyler. At first I wasn't too jazzed about it as it is in the ol' Fantasy genre and I am not a fan of Fantasy. (Big shout out-- to the random person on Goodreads who told me "maybe I should read more fantasy"...so I could stop writing mean reviews about her favorite author.) I took her advice and read some more fantasy and still don't like her favorite author. Sorry.

Anyway...my husband has been talking up this series of books for over a year and in such a way that they actually DID sound interesting. He promised me that it was more like historical fiction (but of a place that doesn't actually exist) with a few fantasy elements thrown in. He was right.

From Amazon.com:

"Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens.

Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones."

I REALLY liked the book!! Sort of shocking...probably because to some die-hard fantasy readers it is soft fantasy. (The reviews show that readers either love it or they hate it.) I enjoyed it being set in a medieval style world with knights, kingdoms, and political intrigue. (A critique of some fantasy readers.) I enjoyed the world of the Seven Kingdoms. I could picture it. Not too many weird creatures and not too much magic. I loved the idea of the length of the seasons...where different seasons could last for years. I had fun getting immersed in that fantasy world. I enjoyed, despised, rooted for, and cared about the characters that Martin created. I want to know more and I wish there was a prequel. That is saying something and I am eagerly awaiting getting my hands on the second book in the series. Who knew?

FYI...It just dawned on me that the Harry Potter series (that I loved) is fantasy with magic. Maybe I'm not such a hater after all.

This is the perfect series to get cozy and read this winter. Go ahead and indulge. I will be.

My rating: Excellent