Had to do it again...

I had to get the second book - simply because I hate to be left hanging.  Yes, I downloaded and read Fifty Shades Darker by E L James.  :-)

I have no idea how long this book was (because I got the Kindle version and don't know how to look for page numbers on this thing) but it was a pretty fast read.  I can usually read a 400 page novel in about 3 days when I'm working, and this book only took me two.  So, it was either short or really easy to read.

My main complaint about the first book was that the writer didn't show us her true writing ability until almost the very end of the book.  I really enjoyed her style and the characters finally started coming to life.  I had to find out if the second book was going to be a continuation of not only the story, but the talent that this writer showed us at the end of the first book.  So, what I want to know is - why didn't the second book make all of the headlines instead?  It's so much better than the first.  Okay, maybe it doesn't have the same kind of sex in it that the first book has, but the story and characters develop and flow so much better!

Now, I don't have a fancy English degree, nor do I claim to be a writer of any kind.  I have my degree and work experience in accounting and can honestly tell you that this is the only industry I really know.  But I do know what I like and when I read, I do read my chosen books with a critical eye.  So, what I'm trying to tell you all here, is to not take my little rambles as a true critique or even review of these books.  Like the title says, it's just my humble ramblings and thoughts.  :-)  :-)

Fifty Shades Darker shows us our two main characters in a bit of a different light.  I still think they both need more help to fix their heads, but the writer shows us the playful and more normal side of Ana and her Mr. Grey.  I found it really interesting how much detail the writer put into the different types of therapy that Grey had gone through for his problems, and even though I really don't like to read or watch movies about mental illness, this impressed me and made me curious.  I may have to download a book about psychology next just because of some of the stuff that was mentioned in the book.  :-)

Now, at this point we all know that Grey has been see a shrink for some time to help him with his issues, but I wonder if Ana will ever seek the same type of help?  Now, yes, she is a fictional character, but I'm concerned with the type of impression that she may be giving.  In the time that Ana had started dating Grey, she had lost some weight.  She doesn't mind that she's lost that weight, but Grey and a couple of the other characters notice that she's gotten skinnier.  Even if Ana is not purposely starving herself, the fact that she always forgets to eat or that it if were not for the fact that Grey is constantly asking her if she's eaten, I'd think that she may have a subconscious issue with eating or food.  Most real life situations that I've known, when a person falls head over heals in love, they usually gain a bit of weight, not lose it.  Can it be possible that Ana is so addicted to sex now that she can no longer hear when her body is in need of food?

Okay, I'm going to write about my personal experience here which makes me think that  Ana, or any real life person with the same symptoms, may have some kind of food and/or eating issues.  When I was a junior in high school I started to work part time at a local retail shop in the jewelry department.  It was fun and I liked to have some of my own spending money.  I continued to work when senior year started and I added more to my plate by taking a calculus class at the local university down the street.  By this time I was working more hours and trying to save for college as well as trying to keep my grades up.  I pretty much only went home to sleep, and when I did sleep, it was never very much.  Because I was either in school or working, I hardly had time to do my banking, so it was rare for me to have any cash on me.  I got into the habit of drinking chicken broth that I could buy out of the coffee machine at work because of my lack of cash and most of the time that was all I could ingest in the short time I got for my breaks.

I was already a pretty light weight, skinny person topping the scales at a whopping 85 pounds.  I started losing a little bit of weight and noticed that my stomach didn't pooch out anymore and actually liked it.  I didn't weigh myself very often, but I saw that my clothes started fitting a bit more loose and that my almost 22 inch waist went down to a bit less than 20.  I didn't get the wake up call until the day I graduated from high school when I weighed myself after taking a shower.  I weighed 68 pounds and to my horror, I finally started noticing how my bones started sticking out of my skin.  I could see my ribs and my elbows looked huge and unnatural on my arms.  I realised that day that I was slowly killing myself and didn't even know it!!!  After that, I tried to make myself eat at regular intervals like a normal person, but I just couldn't.  Sure, food that I liked tasted wonderfully, but I just couldn't eat normal portions or on a regular basis.  I'd get almost a high when my stomach grumbled and it felt good.  I didn't really have an issue with the food itself, but with eating.  It took a long time for me to get over that and finally started eating again.  I was really lucky that I had met my husband at such a young age and he knew me while I was going through all of this.  It was his friendship and support that helped me get through this and later on in life when the tables turned and I found myself getting fat, it was his support that kept me from going back to those old habits.

So, I'll be really curious if this issue will come up in the third instalment of the Fifty Shades books.  For some reason I don't think it will, but I just really hope that some idiot doesn't get it in her head that losing weight by not eating and conveniently 'forgetting' to eat is normal.  We have enough of that shit in our society and really don't need a book like this to add to it.  I'm sure the chances of someone being influenced to try the whole dominant/submissive world will be more likely, but that is just sex - by two consulting adults.  When you get lost in your own head to make yourself think a certain way, well... that's more dangerous in my opinion.

What I did like about this book is how Grey's views on this whole dominant/submissive world changed when Ana left him at the end of the first book.  He learn to "make love" instead of "fuck".  Is there a difference?  Yes, and the writer shows that very well.

So, our wounded soul is starting to heal, but I'm sure that Ana and her Mr. Grey will have a whole other set of worries in the third book.  The last chapter gives a hint of what may be expected, and I can probably go ahead and give you a summary of what will happen - simply because some of these plots are so predictable.  I wonder... these authors that are lucky enough to get their stuff published -  is there a set of formulas that they follow that insures popularity?  Maybe that's why I'm starting to enjoy some of the really cheap or free books that are self edited and self published by new authors that are offered through Amazon?  Many of these do not have the usual plots, and even though some are written really, really bad, I'm sure that with a bit of coaching that the stories can be made into something spectacular.

I've spend more money on these last two books than I have on all 225 kindle books that I've downloaded in the past year (yeah, I read a lot).  I'm not entirely sure if I'll download the third book.  i still need to think about it.  I like the author and her writing.  The sex, as unrealistic as it is, doesn't bother me and is written just as well, but I know what the third book is all about already.  So why spend another $9.99 if I don't have to?

I'll read a few of my indi writers in the mean time and think about it.  It's not like I have a fan base to please.  :-)  :-)  ...and for the whopping three of you that do read my blog, you'll just have to wait.  :-)  :-)

Happy reading,
Pinka

Okay, I had to do it.

Yes, yes.  I did it with the Twilight series, then the Harry Potter books.  I was able to put it down with Hunger Games, but I think I'll have to continue with this one.

You're probably thinking "What the heck is this lady talking about!"  Well, should I hang my head down with shame, or stand an imaginary 10 inches taller than my 5 feet?  If anyone that knows me knows - I can read just about anything.  Sure, fantasy fiction is probably my favorite genre of all time, but I just can't resist when there is a title that is being a made a big deal.  So, I had to do it!

I read Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James.

Okay, if you're easily offended by bad words and sexual content, then stop here.  If you're like me and can read just about anything, then read on.  :-)

Now, when I first started this book, I didn't find it any different than any other romance novel out there.  Shallow characters, weak story and lots of super descriptive sex.  Reading about sex, fiction or non-fiction, it doesn't bother me.  Sex is a perfectly natural part of life and there is nothing shameful in it as long as the participants are all consulting adults.  I've read some series from some pretty good writers like Laurel K. Hamilton or Anya Bast.  Sure, their stuff is paranormal, but to me, the books were enjoyable because their writing styles were good - they just throw in the sex to make it sell better - and I'm sure it does.

Now, going back to Fifty Shades, you have two really messed up characters and neither are very likable.  Ana, the main character, was almost Twilight Bella depressing, with a totally stupid self image of herself and absolutely no self esteem.  Sure, she was young (I believe in her early 20's), but come on!  My own 22 year old niece has 100 times more back bone than Ana - and my niece had a pretty messed up childhood!  Ana, who grew up with loving parents and had a pretty comfortable, though not spectacular, life.  So where the heck did her hang ups come from?!?!?!

Mr. Grey - he's almost as unbelievable as Bella's vampire lover that sparkles.  He's super uber rich, owns his own mega empire, beautiful beyond anyone's imagination... but messed up in the head really, really bad.  As he described himself in the book: "Fifty shades of fucked up."  Yes, this guy should have never allowed himself to have any kind of relationship with anyone with all of his hang ups.  So why are so many women going ga ga over this book?

Well, I can't speak for myself, but I'm thinking that Grey was the perfect 'wounded animal' type of characters that they hope the heroine, messed up Ana, will somehow change and save from himself.  You can pick up just about any trashy romance novel and see very similar stories.

What made this book different from many of the others that I've read is the detail that goes into the whole dominant/submissive/bondage lifestyle.  It certainly gives one a good glimpse into this world, even if the story is totally fictional, I have a feeling that some of that messed up thinking is true with some of the people in that world.  What kind of fucked up person do you have to be to actually enjoy beating someone into submission like that?  Okay, I can't pass judgement on someone else's personal preference on how they want to have sex.  That is something that is almost as personal as someone's religion, but are all dominants and submissive that messed up?  Even one of Anita Blake's lovers, who used to be a submissive before she rescued him from that world, was messed up in the head.  You know what?  I really don't want to know...

Okay, enough of that because I don't think that is what this whole book is about.  There actually was a story in there after you get through all of the garbage that is probably the reason that this book became such a hit.  About three quarters through the book, Grey and Ana actually start to show signs of having a normal relationship and do fun things together that any 20-something gazillionair may want to shower on his naive and sheltered girlfriend.  The story actually becomes cute and a shade of realistic.

Our two lovers also do something that I don't see in some of these other novels that I think makes this one unique in another way - they communicate!  They actually go through different points as to what they expect, what they want and what they cannot tolerate.  Okay, Grey does this, but it takes Ana almost the whole book to finally open up (yeah, can you tell that this really annoys me?) and grow a backbone.  This went into more detail than what you'd expect to see in some of the trashy novels.  I just wish that the author didn't have to give us this wonderful treasure of a story at the end of the book!!!

The end is a bit of a cliff hanger, so I have to download the next installment and see what else Ana and her Mr. Grey are up to.  I just hope the writer rewards us that choose the next installment with her true writing talent for the whole book instead of just a taste at the end.

As you can tell, I'm not really a huge fan of romance... I've read quite a bit of it - maybe a couple hundred books, so I think I can honestly say that it's not all that great.  There are some awesome writers out there - I just wish Laurel K. Hamilton would have been able to stay in my favorite genre of fantasy fiction because she is a wonderful writer.  Her Anita Blake books are really popular and I can see why... but I wonder how much better these books would could be if she left all of the sex up to the readers imaginations instead.  :-)  :-)  :-)

It's been a while!

Okay, so I've been bad about posting anything new and exciting (well, at least exciting to me)  :-)  :-) but it's been hectic around here!  :-)  I've been working my new job for almost a month and I've been finding that personal computer time is the last thing on my list of stuff to do when I get home.  I'd rather spend those few precious hours with my baby boy than on the computer.  Sorry, but y'all have to take a back seat to my kiddo.  :-)

Well, enough of that.  Lets talk about something we all know and love - YARN!  :-)  :-)  I've been playing with all kinds of yarn lately.  Yes, quite literally as well.  I've been hoarding so much yarn that I've been putting aside as "free form" yarn that I can't quite find anymore storage room for it anymore.  So, I've decided to use some of it up.  I've been making these really cute scrap yarn scarves for Christmas and not only am I using up some of that 'free form' yarn, I think these scarves are looking quite cute!  :-)

This has also been an awesome exercise in color as well.  I've been finding out really quick as to which colors work well together and which do not.  Most of my color choices are coming out fine, but I find myself having a little bit of trouble with the lighter and pastel colors.  Some of these do not blend well together - especially the lavender or purple color families.  Gray is another color that I've been having trouble with as well.  I don't have enough to make a scarf by itself, but I'm finding it hard to blend with other colors other than black.  And I don't have enough black to mix with it either.  So, I find myself putting those colors aside and hope that they will either start to multiply so I can make a scarf, or hopefully find a color that I can successfully mix with it.

So, color is one thing that I've been learning with this exercise, but another is about yarn weights and density.  Yes, this is going to become a short science blog because I've never really thought about this too much or for very long until I started making these scarves.

I find that I can take three or four different yarns from different manufacturers that all claim to be the same weight - lets say that in this case it is worsted weight.  I have found that not all worsted weight yarn makes the same type of fabric.  It doesn't matter if it was knitted or crocheted because a wool will not necessarily have the exact same gauge as an acrylic even if they both claim to be worsted weight.  One yarn will be a little more fluffy than the other and the non-fluffy of the  two will have a more dense fabric even when knit or crocheted with the same size hook or needle.  Even if the difference is slight, it's still enough to mess up gauge if I'm trying to match for a pattern.

This reminds me of a lady that I met a couple weeks ago at the yarn shop that was substituting a different yarn for a Caron brand pattern.  She was using worsted weight as the pattern called, but even if her stitch number was right on gauge, her row gauge was off a bit.  Because this was a sweater that was worked from shoulder to shoulder, her off gauge row count would have ended up messing up the shoulder and neck width if she followed the instructions exactly.

This is what we had to do:  since her stitch count was right on gauge, we didn't worry about having to alter the stitch pattern.  All we had to figure out was the number of rows that she had to increase because her row count was higher than what the gauge stated.  It wasn't too difficult.  Since she wasn't working a very complicated shaping, all she had to do was add an extra four rows of working even to make up for the difference.  I advised her to work to measurement instead of number of rows since I knew that she's be short.  So instead of working 20 rows, she had to work 24 rows to achieve the desired inches.

So, no matter what everyone says about it being easy to substitute yarns, it's not necessarily true.  This lady's pattern called for a worsted weight acrylic and she substituted an acrylic/wool blend instead and ended up off on her row count.  So what does that mean?  My guess is that the Caron brand yarn is a little more dense or less fluffy by a small amount to make the rows a little taller.  The substituted yarn was a little more fluffy and squished a little more making the row a little shorter even though the stitch count was exactly on gauge.  I don't think the row problem would have been fixed with a hook change either, because then at that point her stitch count would have been off.

So, not all yarns are created equal.  If you find a really cute pattern that you've fallen in love with and want to substitute the yarn, make sure you practice that gauge to make sure your fabric will be the same.