Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Star Trek Into Darkness: A Review

There are thousands of reviews of Star Trek Into Darkness out there, but I know you Bitches only have one burning question:  Is there smooching?

Well.  Of course James T. Kirk has a certain amount of casual sex, because he's James T. Kirk.  Fans of TOS (The Original Series) will be intrigued to note that a certain Dr. Carol Marcus shows up, and although there isn't time for more than light flirting in this movie, it looks like she'll be staying around.  Hmmmmm. 

The Great Gatsby: Review and Romance Analysis

It is imperative that when you go see The Great Gatsby, you know these two things:

1.  It's a Baz Luhrmann movie.  Baz is not known for subtlety. 

If you want something restrained, something in which Leonardo DiCaprio isn't introduced by the sounds of Gershwin and the sight of fireworks, then look elsewhere.  If you want lavish madness, then go see this - and see it in 3D.  Both my friend and I saw it in 3D despite some skepticism, and we both felt it enhanced the story.

2.  This is an anti-romance.  Nothing ends well and as a matter of fact things tend not to start well, either. Expect a lot of angst and drunken wailing. 

I do think this is a good movie, but if I had gone to it expecting a romance, I'd have hated it.  It's a tragedy about people who dodge responsibility even when it literally flies at their heads, people who fall in love with figments, and people who love money and the facade of money and never know each other.  It's… read more »

Iron Man 3: A Review and Romance Analysis by Carrie S

I haven't been reviewing any Marvel movies because generally they aren't very romance-y.  Certainly they can't wrap everything up into a nice HEA, because then there would be no franchise. 

But Iron Man 3 intrigued me because it seemed to promise a lot of Tony Stark/Pepper Potts stuff, so I checked it out for you, dear readers (oh, please, like I totally wasn't going to see it anyway).

The Host: A Movie Review by CarrieS

The Host is a movie about a person trapped in a body that has been taken over by an alien (it's also a story about an alien trapped in the body of a loud, irritating person).  In a similar manner, The Host is a really great movie trapped inside a really bad movie.

To carry the analogy one step farther, I went to the movie with the full intention to snark mercilessly and within minutes my fifteen-year-old self had completely hi-jacked my middle aged body and was totally entranced.  So all the snark you'll encounter is snark that occurred to me hours later, when I was busy being forty again (I just had a birthday, yay me).  Fifteen-year-old self thought the movie was great and despite all the snark I am about to unleash, I bet you'll fall for it too.  It has a strangely hypnotic power.

If you Google "The Host" I'm sure you'll find hundreds of spoiler free reviews.  This is not one of them.  I plan to spoil away, so if you want to avoid… read more »

The Woman Reader by Belinda Jack:  A Guest Review by CarrieS

The Woman Reader is both too much and too little of a good thing.   Belinda Jack takes on the monumental task of telling "A story never told before: the complete history of women's reading and the controversies it has inspired" (quote taken from book jacket).

The book beings with prehistory and proceeds through the modern day.  My feeling about The Woman Reader that it while it has great scope and ambition, it is too academic in style for the casual reader, and too incomplete for the academic reader.  The book is packed with content but low on entertainment.  At times I was fascinated and at times I felt like I was doing homework. 

The Little Book of Heartbreak by Meghan Laslocky: A Guest by CarrieS

Smart Bitches is a safe haven for all of us who cherish our happy endings in fiction (and in real life, when we can get them).  But I often find that right around Valentine's Day all the romance is leached from my bones and nothing will do but some heavy cynicism.  If, like me, you are all HEA'ed out and you need a drastic change of pace, you might enjoy The Little Book of Heartbreak:  Love Gone Wrong Through the Ages, by Meghan Laslocky.

Little Book of Heartbreak is a light, anecdotal look at some of the many ways that love has gone terribly awry through history (mostly Western history).  It's cute (but not too cute, and occasionally quite dark) and vastly entertaining.  Usually I read non-fiction much more slowly than fiction, but I zipped right through this.  It's not laugh out loud funny but on the other hand it's more informative than I had expected.  

This is fairly educational stuff, but not hard scholarship.  Here's my personal favorite bit of trivia: medieval lovers sent… read more »

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal - $1.99

If I try to explain this book, I kind of sound like I'm on something rather exceptional, but this book really rocked my world. If you ask me about it in person, I'll gesture with my hands and make Good Book Noise™ and try to explain how much this book changed the way I view things. I converted from Episcopalianism to Judaism 13 years ago, but this book, which I read about 12 years ago, made me appreciate my former faith and culture, my current faith and culture, and, most importantly, the way in which thinking of Christ as a person instead of as a mythic figure can change the way one understands the various interpretations of Christ.

The basic premise is that the angels resurrect Levi, known as Biff, who was Christ's best friend during the missing years of the gospel - better known as Jesus' adolescence. The angels stick Biff in a hotel room and ask him to write down his gospel, and the story found in the… read more »

Warm Bodies:  A Guest Movie Review by CarrieS

Warm Bodies is a delightful and moving film that succeeds because of its very engaging stars, despite a plot that, while sweet, does not make a ton of logical sense.

The movie is being marketed as a romantic comedy, and it is very funny, but only in a very dark, very understated way.  There were only a couple of moments where I laughed out loud, but there were plenty of things that I was still quietly chuckling over days later.  It's basically a variation on the Beauty and the Beast story, while also being quite overtly a variation on Romeo and Juliet. 

Upstairs and Downstairs:  A Guest Review by CarrieS

Upstairs and Downstairs is a lovely non-fiction coffee table book describing the lives of the rich and of their servants during the Edwardian Age.

The first thing you'll notice about the book is that it is gorgeous to look at.  It is packed with drawings, paintings, and photos.  It's organized by time of day, and in keeping with its focus on describing all the work that happens to keep a country estate running, the first time of day mentioned is Before Dawn. 

Each chapter includes a description of what the rich were doing, and what the servants were doing, and a profile of a famous personage of the time.  In general, there are more details regarding the activities of the servants than those of the wealthy.  This book gives a very detailed picture of what a day on an estate would be like.

Dirty Minds by Kayt Sukel: A Guest Review by Carrie S

"Dirty Minds:  How Our Brains Influence Love, Sex, and Relationships" is a nice, basic, but fairly comprehensive overview of the latest scientific information about love and sex.

It's not very exciting - for a fun, ribald take on the topic I highly recommend Bonk, reviewed here previously.  For a more detailed look at the topic, I recommend Love, Sex and the Brain, also reviewed here.  Dirty Minds is essentially a summary of all the info you can find in Love, Sex, and the Brain but with a slightly more conversational and personal approach.

All Roads Lead to Austen by Amy Elizabeth Smith:  A Guest Review by CarrieS

All Roads Lead to Austen:  A Yearlong Journey With Jane is a fun, thoughtful, and entertaining memoir by Amy Elizabeth Smith.  Amy spent a year travelling through Latin America.  In each country she visited, she led or attended a book club meeting about one of Jane Austen's novels. (SB Sarah: And since today, as Carrie noted in an email today, is Jane Austen's birthday, this seemed like a good date to talk about this book.)

She had two primary questions:

1.  Do the novels of Austen resonate with contemporary Latin American readers?

2.  Who is/are the Austen(s) of Latin America?

The Scientific American Book of Love, Sex, and the Brain by Judith Horstman -Guest Review by CarrieS

It's time for...SCIENCE!  That's right, I finally got a copy of Scientific American:  Love Sex, and the Brain.  This non-fiction book summarizes the results of studies that were written up in Scientific American magazine regarding, well, love, sex, and the brain.

Although the book doesn't talk in detail about the methodologies of various studies, it does have references to all the original articles, which presumably contain more information.

Review: XCOM WiFi for International Travel

I was loaned an XCOM MiFi unit for use in Australia, in exchange for a review. I know a lot of you travel for work or conferences, sometimes internationally, and we've all groused about the highway robbery that is hotel in-room internet in some locations. I knew the hotel WiFi where I was going to be in Sydney was rather expensive, and wanted to explore other options. After contacting XCOM, I was shipped a MiFi, two batteries, carrying case, and an assortment of plugs and adapters to use in funky international power outlets. What follows is my opinion (my very long winded opinion) of the XCOM MiFi unit.

First, I'm predisposed to love this thing because (a) it saved me a pile of money and (b) I needed to know I was connected to the internet while I was away and my home state was having the crap kicked out of it by Sandy. Even if I hadn't felt the repeating need to check my phone for new messages or new information, I would have been very happy having this device with… read more »

The School for Wives: Bell Shakespeare Production, Sydney, Australia

This was an English (rhyming!) translation of a Moliere play, performed by the Bell Shakespeare Company at the Sydney Opera House. I was feeling predisposed to like this play because I was in the Sydney Opera House (COOL) and it was a perfect night to go out near the harbor. By the end, and in the days after seeing the play, I recognized it's flaws, but was so pleased to have experienced it, because I'm still thinking about it.

In the opening scene, the lead, Arnold, announces he's getting married to Agnes, a girl he's had educated in a convent to be the perfect wife: completely innocent and naive, without any worldly knowledge of anything. He says in the opening he fell in love with her when she was 4 (EW DUDE) and bought her from the poor woman who was raising her (DOUBLE EW) and had her installed in a convent for her education, and has only recently brought her to his home (TRIPLE EW DUDE SERIOUSLY).

What's amazing is the level of… read more »

Tai Chi Zero: A Guest Movie Review by CarrieS

Tai Chi Zero is a movie so gloriously, epically insane that it merits a review even on a site that almost only reviews books.  Seriously, this was the most WTF crazy fun EVER.

You could assume (I did) that once you are dealing with a synopsis that involves a "tai chi, kung fu, steampunk romantic comedy with self-aware comedic elements of videogame and comic book imagery" you are really beyond categories like "good movie" and "bad movie".  Certainly if that plot description doesn't make you pee your pants with joy and excitement then I'm not sure you're going to get much out of Tai Chi Zero. 

On the other hand, I really think this is a genuinely good movie - it reveled in its craziness, it was funny as hell, the one on one fights were great to watch, and I cared about the characters.  Everyone had motivations and everyone had an actual personality.  This wasn't an "it's so bad it's good" movie; this was just good, in a crazy, over the top, cost one dollar to make, meta kind of… read more »