My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.
Life.
Today is my husband’s birthday! We went out for dinner over the weekend. You read that right — we went OUT for dinner! It was our first restaurant dinner in over a year — we went to a pretty French restaurant with a lovely patio garden, had outdoor seating with a heater nearby, and enjoyed some terrific food and drinks. It felt like such a treat!
Other than that, it’s been a mostly quiet week, with too many rainy days that interfered with my daily walks. And now, we’re gearing up to get ready for Passover!
What did I read during the last week?
The Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers: A dual-timeline narrative about a magical circus and family secrets. My review is here.
There There by Tommy Orange: My book group’s pick for March. Very powerful and sad — I think I need a little more time to digest it and get my thoughts together.
Christmas at Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop by Jenny Colgan: A terrific 2nd book in a terrific trilogy. My review is here.
Pop culture & TV:
It’s been a Disney+ week! After signing up last week, my son and I have been enjoying the Marvel universe, including WandaVision, the first episode of The Falcon & the Winter Soldier, and Iron Man 1 and 2. It looks like we’re going to do some sort of MCU watchathon over the coming weeks. Up next: Thor!
Also, I finally started watching What We Do In The Shadows, and I’m loving it. Almost done with season 1!
Fresh Catch:
One new book this week, and it looks amazing:
What will I be reading during the coming week?
Currently in my hands:
Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs: The release of a new Patricia Briggs is reason to celebrate! I just started her newest, the 6th book in the fantastic Alpha & Omega series.
Now playing via audiobook:
The Christmas Surprise by Jenny Colgan: Well, of course I’m listening to the 3rd book in the Rosie series! How could I not?
Ongoing reads:
Outlander Book Club is re-reading Outlander! We’re reading and discussing one chapter per week. This week — the final chapter!! Chapter 41, “From the Womb of the Earth”.
Our group classic read is part 2 of Don Quixote. Continuing onward, 3 chapters per week. Current status: 79%.
Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart: This is a fun little guide to all sorts of deadly and dangerous plants. I’m keeping this on my nightstand and reading it in small bites.
Rosie Hopkins is looking forward to Christmas in the little Derbyshire village of Lipton, buried under a thick blanket of snow. Her sweetshop is festooned with striped candy canes, large tempting piles of Turkish Delight, crinkling selection boxes and happy, sticky children. She’s going to be spending it with her boyfriend, Stephen, and her family, flying in from Australia. She can’t wait.
But when a tragedy strikes at the heart of their little community, all of Rosie’s plans for the future seem to be blown apart. Can she build a life in Lipton? And is what’s best for the sweetshop also what’s best for Rosie?
A Christmas-themed book is such a non-typical reading choice for me — unless it’s a book by Jenny Colgan, and especially if it includes favorite characters and is a follow-up to a favorite book!
I absolutely adored Sweetshop of Dreams, and just needed to keep main character Rosie in my life a little longer, so naturally, I couldn’t resist starting Christmas at Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop right away.
This 2nd book in the series (it’s a trilogy) picks up about a year after the events in the first book. Rosie is happily settled in the little town of Lipton, running the town sweetshop, living with her beloved boyfriend Stephen, and feeling happier than she’s ever felt in her her life.
As Christmas approaches, things are looking good. Rosie’s family is about to arrive from Australia (although she hasn’t quite gotten around to telling Stephen yet). Stephen has just started his dream job teaching at the little local primary school. They’re happy in their cozy cottage, and Rosie is relieved to know that her great-aunt Lillian is happy too in her retirement home, where she merrily raises holy hell amongst the old folks and is as feisty as ever.
But tragedy strikes due to a freak accident that injures Stephen and threatens the future of Lipton’s school. As Stephen recovers and Rosie’s family hits town, tensions rise and eventually come to a head. Meanwhile, because of the accident, an elderly man suffering from dementia ends up in Lipton, and appears to have connections to the town that no one could have imagined.
Once again, Jenny Colgan’s book strikes just the right note of joy and love, while blending in dramatic complications and moments of fear. The tensions play out throughout the plot, but we readers can rest easy knowing that the author would never truly leave us in devastation. There are sweet secrets revealed, plenty of feel-good family moments, adorableness from small children, dramatic rescues, and plenty of romantic highlights too.
As the 2nd book in a trilogy, Christmas at Rosie Hopkin’s Sweetshop left me very happy, but also eager to read more about these characters — most of who I’d like to either hang out with or give big hugs to, or both.
This was a quick and cheery listen that also packs in emotional moments and enough worries and sorrow to keep it from going too far over the line into a nonstop sugary utopia. I’ve loved both books about Rosie, and need to start #3 immediately! Highly recommended.
Here we are, a year into our masked-up lives, and while vaccines provide a glimmer of hope, it’s still way too soon to start stashing away our supplies of snazzy custom masks.
Side question: How many pretty/fun masks do you own? I’ve been pretty restrained, I think, and yet I somehow find myself with a drawer full of colorful fabric masks. They’re cute!
I’ve been having some mixed feelings lately about seeing TV shows featuring mask-wearing in their current season’s episodes. On the one hand, if the show is supposed to be set in our current day and age, they can’t come off as realistic if the characters aren’t quarantining, observing social distancing, and wearing masks.
On the other hand… well, there are two main negatives that have been coming up for me:
1 – I watch TV for escapism and entertainment. I see enough masks and hear enough COVID-COVID-COVID nonstop in my real life. Do I need to see it on my sitcoms too?
2 – For the shows that choose to go there, they’d better be doing it right. And that just doesn’t seem to be the case across the board, especially when it appears that masks might be inconvenient for storylines.
A couple of examples of mask usage, one mostly good but not perfect, and one just baffling:
On This Is Us, the show has mostly been very good about showing the characters in the modern-day storylines following social distancing and mask-wearing guidelines. Whether on a movie set or in a hospital giving birth, they’ve been pretty consistent about having masks in place where appropriate — but they still make some iffy choices, such as having a teen daughter’s boyfriend come to dinner without explaining whether he and his family are in their bubble. And if they are, that’s a pretty big bubble, considering that another daughter is planning to go over to a friend’s house too.
I give This Is Us pretty high scores on the realism of their COVID world, showing Zoom interviews and FaceTime hospital visits, but just wish they would get a little tighter. If you’re going to do it, do it all the way.
Then there’s Black-ish, which seems to have lost interest in COVID after a brief couple of episodes where they focused on it. People come and go from the family’s house, without masks. The main character goes to work and interacts with colleagues, without masks. There was an episode with a backyard wedding that had some people wearing masks, but then other people showed up after traveling and were not wearing masks.
If they want to pretend to live in a COVID-free world, that’s fine — but going partway and then ignoring it doesn’t make any sense.
At the other end of the mask-wearing on TV spectrum is the (always phenomenal) Queen Sugar. The currently airing 5th season is set squarely in the real world, moving through the early months of the pandemic (so far — we’re on the 5th episode, set in May 2020) with a very specific focus on what the show’s community would have experienced at that particular time. So far in the season, we’ve seen the characters go from the early days of learning about some distant virus to vague worries to quarantine and isolation, with the first death of a supporting character as well.
The characters on Queen Sugar experience all the shocks of the pandemic, from job loss to economic downturns to the isolation of Zoom school to the grief of losing a loved one, and it all feels hyper-real and powerful, especially knowing that the characters don’t yet know what’s still to come in that awful year. The characters responsibly wear masks, and even for gatherings such as a wedding, they maintain social distancing, stay outdoors, separate by family units, and — again — stay masked up.
Queen Sugar — in a promo pic for an upcoming episode, the main character is wearing her mask, but I’m worried about the guy she’s standing next to. Why can’t guys keep their masks over their noses?For what it’s worth, I don’t think this is the show not doing what it should — it’s (sadly) accurately showing how sloppy some people can be!
Another shot of the Queen Sugar wedding, mostly just because it makes me so happy, but also because this shot again shows how thoughtfully the show is approaching the characters’ lives and their commitment to being safe. I love how they throw a beautiful wedding with only a few people present, all except the bride and groom masked, and keep the people present outdoors and at a safe distance. Well done!
As a viewer, I do get frustrated sometimes watching characters interact and show emotion from behind a mask, especially if the dialogue isn’t super clear — but if the show is asking us to believe that the events they’re showing are contemporary to our time, then they need to do this piece right. Queen Sugar is spot on.
At the same time, I’m fine with shows being only vaguely “now-ish” and not showing masks and social distancing — but I feel like they should either do it or don’t, nothing in the middle. Either go full-on COVID aware and be responsible, or have the show set in a pandemic-free bubble, but don’t give mixed messages about whether the characters are being safe. Frankly, it sends a terrible message to kind-of show appropriate pandemic behavior but then be inconsistent — are they saying this behavior is okay?
What are your thoughts about masks on TV shows? Do you appreciate the realism, wish they did it better, or feel like you’d rather just watch TV and pretend none of this real-world mess exists?
Title: The Ladies of the Secret Circus Author: Constance Sayers Publisher: Redhook Publication date: March 23, 2021 Length: 448 pages Genre: Fantasy Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Paris, 1925: To enter the Secret Circus is to enter a world of wonder-a world where women tame magnificent beasts, carousels take you back in time, and trapeze artists float across the sky. But each daring feat has a cost. Bound to her family’s strange and magical circus, it’s the only world Cecile Cabot knows-until she meets a charismatic young painter and embarks on a passionate love affair that could cost her everything.
Virginia, 2005: Lara Barnes is on top of the world-until her fiancé disappears on their wedding day. Desperate, her search for answers unexpectedly leads to her great-grandmother’s journals and sweeps her into the story of a dark circus and a generational curse that has been claiming payment from the women in her family for generations.
The Ladies of the Secret Circus is a tale of family secrets and a dark heritage — but it doesn’t quite live up to the mysterious air promised by the cover and synopsis.
Lara is eagerly awaiting her wedding to Todd, the man she’s loved since her teens. But her joy turns to heartache when she’s left waiting at the altar on her wedding day. Did he jilt her? Did something happen to him? His abandoned car seems to provide a link to a similar disappearance that occurred 30 years earlier. Dark forces seem to be at play. Could this be related to Lara and her mother Audrey’s talent for magic? Or the fact that their small town in Virginia hasn’t had a single murder case in decades? Or Lara’s strange memories of being visited as a child by an unusual man who made incredible things happen?
In the months that follow, Todd’s fate remains a mystery and Lara starts to rebuild her life, but a gift from her mother sends her on a strange journey. The gift is a small painting that’s been hanging in Audrey’s house for as long as Lara can remember — a portrait of her great-grandmother Cecile as a young circus performer.
When Lara takes the painting to be reframed, the art expert who handles it is astonished to realize that this may be one of the rumored missing paintings by the great Jazz Age artist Emile Giroux. He supposedly painted his masterpiece, a series of three paintings called The Ladies of the Secret Circus, before his death, but no one has ever seen the paintings. If Lara’s painting is authentic, then its value is in the millions, and its discovery will rock the art world.
But as Lara investigates, the connection to ancient magics is revealed, especially once she begins to read Cecile’s long-lost diaries. The diaries tell a story of a mysterious, otherworldly circus that only appears to those who truly seek it, and the strange, damned performers who populate the circus and seemingly can never leave. There’s a connection to Lara’s family, but it’s beyond anything Lara could have expected, and carries huge dangers for her and everyone around her.
While the set-up is promising, the book itself didn’t meet my expectations. Some of this may be me — I seem to have issues with magical circus settings, since apparently I’m the only person in the world who didn’t love The Night Circus. The big revelations in this book about the Secret Circus struck me as too out-there to accept. I have problems with books where the use of magic makes anything and everything possible — at some point, it stops feeling like any rules apply at all.
The connections to Lara’s family are confusing, and the origin of the connection is just kind of dumped on the reader earlier on. The how’s and why’s of it all just didn’t work for me. So many of the more fantastical elements are stated as fact, but without a sense of build-up or setting to make these aspects feel at all plausible. The identities of some of the circus performers are supposed to ground the circus in our own world, but without giving anything away, I’ll just say that these pieces struck me as absurd and funny, rather than dramatic.
I enjoyed the diary entries, with their 1920s Paris setting, but again, the constant name-dropping of artists and authors like Hemingway, Chagall, and Man Ray made me feel distracted and as if the author were trying too hard to make the story real. It just didn’t work for me — somehow the use of real artists in this fictional tale felt out of place and at odds with the story the author was trying to tell.
Sad to say, overall this was a disappointing read for me. I loved the author’s previous book, A Witch in Time, and such high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, The Ladies of the Secret Circus started slowly and never fully pulled me in.
Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.
Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.
Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!
Title: All American Boys Author: Jason Reynolds & Brendan Kiely Published: 2015 Length: 316 pages
What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):
Rashad is absent again today.
That’s the sidewalk graffiti that started it all…
Well, no, actually, a lady tripping over Rashad at the store, making him drop a bag of chips, was what started it all. Because it didn’t matter what Rashad said next—that it was an accident, that he wasn’t stealing—the cop just kept pounding him. Over and over, pummeling him into the pavement. So then Rashad, an ROTC kid with mad art skills, was absent again…and again…stuck in a hospital room. Why? Because it looked like he was stealing. And he was a black kid in baggy clothes. So he must have been stealing.
And that’s how it started.
And that’s what Quinn, a white kid, saw. He saw his best friend’s older brother beating the daylights out of a classmate. At first Quinn doesn’t tell a soul…He’s not even sure he understands it. And does it matter? The whole thing was caught on camera, anyway. But when the school—and nation—start to divide on what happens, blame spreads like wildfire fed by ugly words like “racism” and “police brutality.” Quinn realizes he’s got to understand it, because, bystander or not, he’s a part of history. He just has to figure out what side of history that will be.
Rashad and Quinn—one black, one white, both American—face the unspeakable truth that racism and prejudice didn’t die after the civil rights movement. There’s a future at stake, a future where no one else will have to be absent because of police brutality. They just have to risk everything to change the world.
Cuz that’s how it can end.
How and when I got it:
I bought a copy for my son about two years ago.
Why I want to read it:
I read Jason Reynolds’ excellent, powerful book Long Way Down last year, and have been wanting to read more of his work ever since, especially since he was named the 2020–2021 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. His impact is profound, and I’ve been so impressed with every article and interview I’ve seen about him so far.
As far as the story itself, All American Boys sounds relevant and disturbing, and like an important read both for its intended YA audience and for adults.
What do you think? Would you read this book? Do you have recommendations for other books by Jason Reynolds?
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is about our spring 2021 reading plans. So many great books to look forward to! Here are ten I’m especially excited for:
1) Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs: The 6th book in the Alpha & Omega series. Releases today — can’t wait to get started!
2) There There by Tommy Orange: A book group selection for this spring.
3) The Fall of Koli by M. R. Carey: The final book in the trilogy. I loved the first two — so excited for the conclusion!
4) Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock: A new collection of connected stories set in Alaska, by the author of The Smell of Other People’s Houses (one of my favorite books!).
My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.
Life.
I’m home! I flew back from the East Coast on Tuesday, took a couple of days to unpack, do laundry, and settle back into my normal life, and went right back to work (from home). I also got my first vaccine dose! I’m so grateful and relieved that everyone in my household has now had at least one shot. Brighter times ahead!
What did I read during the last week?
Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales: A terrific YA novel. My review is here.
Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn: The Bridgerton books are perfect for airplane reading! My review of #4 is here.
Sweetshop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan: Such a sweet, fun audiobook! My review is here.
Pop culture & TV:
I watched all of Ginny & Georgia on Netflix — my reaction is here.
Also, I finally gave in and signed up for Disney+… and I’m now halfway through WandaVision (totally fun). My son is advocating for a Marvel movie watch-a-thon, starting with Iron Man and going through the MCU in release order. Gotta say, I’m not hating the idea!
Fresh Catch:
While I was away, all sorts of exciting new bookish delights arrived at my house. So much fun opening all the boxes! Here’s what I got:
What will I be reading during the coming week?
Currently in my hands:
The Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers: The upcoming new release by the author of A Witch in Time, which I loved.
Now playing via audiobook:
Christmas at Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop by Jenny Colgan: I don’t usually go for Christmas books, but this is the follow-up to Sweetshop of Dreams — and I just wasn’t ready to leave the characters from Sweetshop behind when I finished the book.
Ongoing reads:
Outlander Book Club is re-reading Outlander! We’re reading and discussing one chapter per week. This week: Chapter 40, “Absolution”.
Our group classic read is part 2 of Don Quixote. Continuing onward, 3 chapters per week. Current status: 77%.
A delicious rom-com about finding yourself and breaking out of routines, The Sweetshop of Dreams is full of tempting desserts, family secrets, and second chances.
Rosie Hopkins has gotten used to busy London life. It’s…comfortable. And though she might like a more rewarding career, and her boyfriend’s not exactly the king of romance, Rosie’s not complaining. And when she visits her Aunt Lilian’s small country village to help sort out her sweetshop, she expects it to be dull at best.
Lilian Hopkins has spent her life running Lipton’s sweetshop, through wartime and family feuds. When her great-niece Rosie arrives to help her with the shop, the last thing Lillian wants to slow down and wrestle with the secret history hidden behind the jars of beautifully colored sweets.
But as Rosie gets Lilian back on her feet, breathes a new life into the candy shop, and gets to know the mysterious and solitary Stephen–whose family seems to own the entire town–she starts to think that settling for what’s comfortable might not be so great after all.
A one-sentence review: I loved this audiobook!
Need more?
Jenny Colgan’s books inevitably lift my spirits and get me deeply involved in her characters’ lives, and Sweetshop of Dreams is no exception.
Rosie is an auxiliary nurse, working busy hospital shifts and living in a small London flat with her boyfriend Gerard, who’s maybe a little too comfortable with their living arrangements. She thinks he’ll propose… eventually… but meanwhile, it’s been years, and he seems perfectly content with the status quo.
But after Rosie’s great-aunt Lilian injures her hip, Rosie’s mother Angie asks her to go stay with Lilian for a little while. Someone needs to get Lilian moved into a care facility and get her ancient sweetshop prepped for sale. And since Angie is currently living in Australia with Rosie’s brother’s family, it falls on Rosie to see to the family obligations in England.
Off Rosie goes to the small country village of Lipton, thinking she’ll be in and out in a matter of weeks. What she finds, though, is that Lilian’s shop hasn’t been opened in a few years, and that Lilian herself is underfed and weak, having stubbornly refused outside help or to leave her cozy little cottage. Rosie dives in, tending to Lilian and cleaning up and reopening the shop — because how can she put it on the market to sell unless she can demonstrate that it’s a viable business?
The longer Rosie stays in Lipton, the more she becomes involved in village life. Even though she sticks out like a sore thumb at first, with her city ways and clothes that can’t withstand the country weather, she eventually makes friends and finds a new purpose in life.
In a dual-timeline approach, we also get little snippets of Lilian’s life during the 1940s, as the young men of the village head to war and Lilian helps her father with the sweetshop. Through these flashbacks, we learn about why Lilian has been alone all these years and what caused the heartbreak she experienced so long ago.
Rosie is a lovely character, upbeat and curious and not afraid to jump in when a pair of hands are needed. Although she’s there for the shop and for Lilian, she also becomes friends with the village doctor, who involves Rosie in his most challenging case — which leads to a whole new set of possibilities for Rosie after she finally dumps her city boyfriend.
I really enjoyed Lilian as a character as well, and found myself so moved by her backstory and her experiences. The book treats Lilian with great respect as she ages, and I found her relationship with Rosie to be just so sweet and lovely.
And the sweetshop!!! Can I just say right now that I’d love to live inside it for a year or so? It sounds so bright and wonderful, full of nostalgic treats and joy and happiness. This book makes village life seem like something idyllic and peaceful and funny and wonderful.
The audiobook narrator, Beverley A. Crick, does a terrific job with Rosie and Lillian, but also masterfully conveys the voices and personalities of the other village residents, from small schoolboy to grumpy old farmers. Listening to this book was such a treat!
Sweetshop of Dreams does include a love story for Rosie, and it’s a good one, but it’s not the sole focus of the book. Instead, this book is a sweet mix of romance, quirky characters, family bonds, and a celebration of community, and it’s utterly enjoyable.
As with the best of Jenny Colgan’s books, Sweetshop of Dreams kept me enchanted by the setting and the people, and left me wanting to spend more time with all of these characters. Luckily for me, there’s a follow-up Christmas book (Christmas at Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop), and while I don’t normally read Christmas books, I just can’t resist this one!
I just finished the 10-episode first season of Ginny & Georgia on Netflix… and I have thoughts. And even feelings.
First up, let’s be clear: The blurbs (and even the show itself) keep comparing this show to Gilmore Girls. But friends, I’m here to tell you: This ain’t no Gilmore Girls.
I mean, okay. Mother and daughter? Check. Mother who had daughter as a teen? Check. Sweetness, sassiness, cleverness? Uncheck. Don’t watch Ginny & Georgia expecting the mother/daughter as best friends trope, or the sweet quirky small-town vibe trope. Yes, it’s a small town. But no, there’s no particular sweetness. And this mother and daughter are far from best friends.
Here’s the trailer:
Georgia is first introduced as a free-spirit, whisking her children off on a new adventure and starting a new life in a small town in Massachusetts. Ginny, age 15, is the same age Georgia was when she had her. Georgia positions this move as a fresh start, a chance to finally settle down, stop forcing her kids to start over again and again, and have a real, normal life.
There are problems, of course. We quickly learn that Georgia can afford her nice new suburban house because she’s recently widowed. Her wealthy late husband’s ex is contesting the will, so Georgia’s new fortune is tenuous at best. Ginny and her younger brother Austin have never lived in one place long enough to make friends, but Georgia swears that this time, life will be different.
As they settle in, the family becomes close to the family across the street, a very decent couple and their 15-year-old twins. Ginny becomes best friends with the girl, Max, and has an on-again, off-again flirtation/hook-up/maybe more with the boy, Marcus.
Meanwhile, Georgia goes full Southern belle on the town, with a big Julia Roberts-esque smile and a huge Southern accent, and charms her way into a job in the (very hot and single) mayor’s office.
With me so far?
So why did I end up hate-watching this show?
SPOILERS AHEAD!
I admit, there are elements of this show I really got caught up in:
The teen drama is actually pretty good. Ginny’s friend circle is fun and interesting, and while some of the girls’ issues are only addressed on a surface level, there are enough distinct personalities to make them a great group to get to know. I just wish the show’s focus was more on them and less on the adults (more on this in a moment), so it could go deeper into their stories.
Ginny is biracial in a mostly white town, and I felt that this component of her story was well portrayed. From her issues of not quite fitting in anywhere, to dealing with a racist teacher who doesn’t even seem to know he’s racist (he voted for Obama! twice!), I couldn’t help but admire Ginny’s courage in taking a stand, yet also feel sorry for her struggles to understand herself in the context of her friends and her new town.
Max is a sweet, outrageous character, and the actress who portrays her did a great job showing Max’s vulnerable side even while she’s totally out there and hilarious.
Jennifer Robertson, so great as Jocelyn Schitt on Schitt’s Creek, appears in Ginny & Georgia as Max and Marcus’s mother Ellen, who becomes close to Georgia. She’s just as wonderful as you’d expect, and it made me so happy to see her in this show.
Overall, the young cast playing the teens is very good, and I’m especially impressed by Antonia Gentry, who plays Ginny so well and with such emotional range.
The things I couldn’t stand, found irritating, or that just plain sucked:
Georgia. She’s just an awful person. I think we’re meant to admire her spirit, but she’s a terrible mom who continually puts her children at risk. Plus, she has a very dark past that maybe is meant to show her tenaciousness and ability to survive, but really just shows that she’s amoral and dangerous.
Getting really spoiler-y here…
Scott Porter, so charming in Hart of Dixie, plays the mayor in Ginny & Georgia, and it’s like the show couldn’t decide what kind of character he was playing. For most of the episodes, he comes across as super sweet, somewhat innocent, very wowed by Georgia and kind and loving toward her children… until near the end, when he makes a speech to Georgia about how they’re both motivated by seeking power, and it just doesn’t jibe with anything we’ve seen of him so far. He hadn’t once been portrayed as power-hungry, and now that’s all he cares about?
Georgia’s criminal past isn’t charming or endearing. It’s impossible to root for her, so why does the show want us to?
At age 15, Georgia and Zion (Ginny’s father) are living with Zion’s parents, who propose becoming legal guardians to Ginny. And really, that makes total sense — but instead, Georgia takes off in the middle of the night with Ginny. And again, I couldn’t help but wonder whether the show wanted us to see this as a brave move. Because it was irresponsible and crazy and put both of them at risk, when it would have been the best thing for all concerned for the adults in this situation to take responsibility for Ginny and provide the security and stability needed for her upbringing.
I haven’t even touched on how awful Georgia is when it comes to the younger child Austin, whose father is in prison for embezzlement (and we have to wonder, did Georgia frame him?). She allows Austin to live in a fantasy world in which his father is a wizard imprisoned at Azkhaban, and then wonders why he gets bullied all the time — but then we he gets pushed too far and stabs a kid (!!!), doesn’t even get him therapy.
Ginny is approached by the seemingly only other Black girl at school, but basically brushes her off until she needs her. Why not allow her to explore finding a place with the small Black community? We’re supposed to empathize with Ginny’s struggles to figure out her identity and where she fits in, but her callousness and unfriendliness toward Bracia seem so unnecessary.
One more time, because I just can’t say it enough: Georgia is awful. It’s a bad sign when one-half of your title characters are simply impossible to feel positively toward. While we may want Ginny and Austin to finally get a “normal”, stable life, I couldn’t help feeling that they’d be much better off without Georgia at all. Go live with Zion! Have a responsible, non-criminal parent! Ugh.
Whew. Ranting over.
Despite how much I disliked certain characters and plotlines, I did binge my way through this show this past week, and couldn’t look away.
It hasn’t been announced yet whether there will be a season 2, but given how season 1 ends, it certainly would appear that Netflix is planning on it. Also, the show has done really well for Netflix, so I can’t imagine they won’t continue.
Will I be back for season 2?
Ummm… probably? I do want to see what happens to Ginny next. But, is that enough of a reason to tolerate sitting through more of Georgia’s awfulness? TBD.
Has anyone else watched Ginny & Georgia yet? Please let me know what you think!
Everyone knows that Colin Bridgerton is the most charming man in London. Penelope Featherington has secretly adored her best friend’s brother for…well, it feels like forever. After half a lifetime of watching Colin Bridgerton from afar, she thinks she knows everything about him, until she stumbles across his deepest secret…and fears she doesn’t know him at all.
Colin Bridgerton is tired of being thought nothing but an empty-headed charmer, tired of everyone’s preoccupation with the notorious gossip columnist Lady Whistledown, who can’t seem to publish an edition without mentioning him in the first paragraph. But when Colin returns to London from a trip abroad he discovers nothing in his life is quite the same – especially Penelope Featherington! The girl haunting his dreams. But when he discovers that Penelope has secrets of her own, this elusive bachelor must decide…is she his biggest threat – or his promise of a happy ending?
Bridgerton books have become my go-to for those times (like long flights) when I want to be entertained, without having to make too much effort. Romancing Mister Bridgerton, the 4th in the series, was a perfect choice for a travel companion for me this week.
This time around, it’s Penelope’s turn to find romance!
While the Bridgertons series revolves around the eight children of the Bridgerton family, each getting a book in which to find true love and marriage, the love interests in each book are just as important as the Bridgerton family member at the center of the action.
In the 4th book, it’s 3rd son Colin Bridgerton who takes center stage. At age 33, everyone agrees that it’s about time for Colin to settle down with a wife and start a family. He’s restless and unfulfilled, though, lacking a greater purpose beyond being a member of the ton and attending social functions. When his restlessness hits, he takes off, and has traveled extensively around the world, returning to England for brief periods before he’s driven to set out again.
Meanwhile, Penelope Featherington, at age 28, is now considered firmly “on the shelf”, having navigated many social seasons without a single proposal to show for it. Best friends with Colin’s younger sister Eloise, Penelope has been a fixture in the Bridgerton household for years. Unbeknownst to Colin, Penelope has also been secretly in love with him for over a decade, but being an overlooked wallflower, she has no hope that Colin will never notice her in any but a brotherly fashion.
Anyone who’s watched the Bridgerton TV series on Netflix will already know what Penelope’s huge secret is… but for those who don’t already know, I’m not spilling the beans! Trust me — it’s huge, and could have a permanent impact on Penelope’s social standing if it ever got out. In book #4, the truth is about to be revealed, and Penelope may not be able to stop it.
Meanwhile, she and Colin are thrown together more frequently, and each begins to learn more about the other and see their previously unnoticed depths, as well as the chemistry that begins to spark between them. Naturally, they fall in love, but (as is the case in all of these books) complications pop up and threaten to derail their blossoming romance.
Romancing Mister Bridgerton is such fun! It’s especially rewarding to get to see Penelope taking center stage — the overlooked girl growing into a confident woman who just needs to learn to use her voice. She’s a terrific romantic heroine, not the classic beauty, but a vibrant, intelligent woman who doesn’t need to be a cookie-cutter replicant of society’s ideal.
Colin has always been a favorite for me, and his sense of humor and playfulness make him funny and relatable to read about. Colin and Penelope make a charming couple, and it made me so happy to see them together!
This book sets up the events of #5 with a sort-of cliffhanger about Bridgerton sister Eloise, so I have a feeling I won’t be waiting too long to continue with the series.
My usual random thoughts:
Years have gone by, and all of a sudden, Hyacinth is out in society! And Gregory is in university! Kids grow up so fast these days.
We learn that Francesca (that’s Bridgerton child #6, for those keeping score) has not only married off-screen but is already widowed. I don’t believe we’ve really seen her much in the books so far, so she feels like a non-entity to me, but I guess she’ll get her turn in a couple more books.
The Bridgerton family dynamics make these books so much fun. It’s delightful to see all the sibling bickering and Violet (Mama Bridgerton) rolling her eyes at her children’s outrageous behavior.
I love that Julia Quinn has created a whole little world among the ton. Even though some people are only mentioned in passing, I feel like a lot of these characters are well enough known by now that I’m exclaiming over who’s gotten married, as if they were actually part of my social circle.
This wouldn’t be a Bridgertons review if I didn’t include at least a few juicy and/or fun selections:
Sex…
When he felt her relax slightly beneath him, he pushed forward a bit more, until he reached the undeniable proof of her innocence.
… and true love…
He smiled, and suddenly she knew that his words were true. Everything would be all right. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow, but soon. Tragedy couldn’t coexist in a world with one of Colin’s smiles.
… and some family silliness…
Penelope tried to signal discreetly at her husband, but all her attempts at circumspection were drowned out by Hyacinth’s vigorous wave and holler of, “Colin!”
Violet groaned.
“I know, I know,” Hyacinth said unrepentantly, “I must be more ladylike.”
“If you know it,” Violet said, sounding every inch the mother she was, “then why don’t you do it?”
“What would be the fun in that?”
Ah, these books go down like candy! They’re sweet and fluffy, and I’m enjoying every moment. Even while chuckling over some ridiculous societal affectation or silly romance wording, I’m still having a great time. At this point, I’m all in, and won’t stop reading until every one of those eight Bridgertons is happily married.
My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.
Today is my husband’s birthday! We went out for dinner over the weekend. You read that right — we went OUT for dinner! It was our first restaurant dinner in over a year — we went to a pretty French restaurant with a lovely patio garden, had outdoor seating with a heater nearby, and enjoyed some terrific food and drinks. It felt like such a treat!
Bookshelf Fantasies 