Romance & Comedy - fave 2011 books part 3

Happy New Year!

And now for part 3 of my fave reads of 2011. I read romantic comedies this year, which is why I put these two categories together.

Aunts Aren't Gentleman - PG Wodehouse

This was the first Wodehouse I read, lent to me by an elderly Irish gent from church. (He also got me into Agatha Christie.) Wodehouse's books and stories are like polished diamonds. English author.

'And so began what I suppose my biographers will refer to as The Maiden Eggesford Horror—or possibly The Curious Case Of The Cat Which Kept Popping Up When Least Expected.'

'... his idea of a good time was to go off with a pair of binoculars and watch birds, a thing that has never appealed to me. I can't see any percentage in it. If I meet a bird, I wave a friendly hand at it, to let it know that I wish it well, but I don't want to crouch behind a bush observing its habits.'

 'The aunt to whom I alluded was my good and deserving Aunt Dahlia, not to be confused with my Aunt Agatha who eats broken bottles and is strongly suspected of turning into a werewolf at the time of the full moon.'

'If the Drones Club tie has a fault, it is a little on the loud side and should not be sprung suddenly on nervous people and invalids...'

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 A Little Ray of Sunshine - Lani Diane Rich (Lucy March)
It made me weepy on the bus, so it's gotta be the best contemporary romance I read this year! (Mind I only read two others, but they were Crusie and SE Phillips, so to *win* means something!) More like "women's fiction" than a romance, but it was a lovely little gem with kind characters I sincerely cared about. American author.

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Friday's Child - Georgette Heyer

I also read Sprig Muslin and Venetia, which are great, but FC was the first Heyer I ever read (my mother gave it to me) and it's just so funny. The characters aren't "aspirational", that is, you don't wish you were Hero, you don't wish to date Freddy, and his friends are idiots--but they're all loveable. And the romance and protagonist growth is gradual and convincing. English author.

This is my favorite cover. It's a scene from the beginning of the book, when Hero is indeed sad and Sherry is comforting her. They look just as they're described, and she looks like the sweetie she is. Unlike most of the other covers where she looks arch and worldly!

Never liked this series of covers, too generic.

And for the worst cover of all time...

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Ooh a new bio!

Some Thoughts on Heyer:
I was musing recently on why most historical romances these days (80% of which are in Regency England) don't do much for me. Heyer's world isn't a realistic portrayal of 1800s England--for that, you go to Austen. Instead she researched and dug out all these amazing little expressions and cant and lingo, and unbelievable historical details (the mind boggles when you really take notice of it). It was world building, as complex as the best sci fi novels.

Almost all Regencies now use Heyer, whether they know it or not. It's like really good fan fiction. Heyer created the world, and most novels take place in it. Which means there's a lot of good plotting, and moving stories, etc., but no one can do what Heyer did, she was a total original. I'd say the only turn the genre took was the addition of graphic sex scenes (which is de rigeur, and I assume killed off the classic Regency Romance lines. Did Amanda Quick pioneer this?)

Which isn't to say there's no new research, or some emotional stories etc. But my taste runs to witty, over moving. (If I have to read about one more bally hero with a tortured past....)

I thought maybe the Pink Carnation books would provide a new twist, but they're Typical Historicals with a modern day framing device (which is a Typical Contemp.) I know many people swear by them, but I gave up 1/4 of the way in.

And I'm tired of the sex scenes. Tired of daughters who are all raised by single fathers who are scientists/classical scholars, and therefore all the heroines are smart and bookish. The heroes are all completely gorgeous. The hero and heroine almost always fight at first. He forces a kiss on her. She fights it for propriety's sake, but inside Oh my! and he knows it! ...I could go on. There are so many clichés, I just cannae take it nae more.

I have much respect for the genre and its authors, but I wish the conventions weren't so rigid.