What I Read: Phoenix Edition

Between the flights and pool-side lounging, I had a lot of reading time crammed into my 4-day vacation to Scottsdale – which was good and timely, considering how large my TBR pile had grown. I ended up bringing 4 books with me, and that number wasn’t greater only because I wanted to leave room in my suitcase for vacation shopping loot. In no particular order …

The Rise of the Unruly Woman by Anne Helen Petersen

I “treated” myself to this, brand new, on Amazon because I love Petersen’s writing. I hesitated between this and her book on classic Hollywood scandals; the latter is my reading catnip, but also well-known territory for me at this point. I was intrigued to read Petersen’s take on some of the “unruly” women profiled in this book, and I’m glad it was my ultimate choice.

Each chapter is devoted to a famous woman who personifies some aspect of “unruliness” that’s challenging current social/cultural norms. I strongly identified with Petersen’s intro where she talks about herself and how she **. I enjoyed every single chapter but my faves where probably the ones on Serena Williams (too strong), Melissa McCarthy (too fat), and Lena Dunham (too naked) – though Lena is problematic in other ways, which I wish Petersen had a chance to address.

Heavier than Heaven by Charles R. Cross

Although I am on the cusp of being a Millenial, I have always considered myself a Gen-Xer. (Growing up in a Communist country, we were about 10 years behind on pop culture stuff until the early 90s, so this actually tracks; I remember watching Dallas one year, and then Twin Peaks the next.) By the time I had moved to the West, I missed the peak of the grunge movement, but still got to experience its tailwinds. Which is by way of saying that I feel oddly nostalgic about a decade that straddles my least favourite time of life: my early to mid teenage years.

I was super into Pearl Jam back in the day, and am still not a big fan of Nirvana; nevertheless, I enjoyed a documentary on Kurt Cobain that I happened to catch on TV a few months ago, so I thought this book would be an interesting follow-up. Actually, I was more interested in reading about Courtney Love than Cobain, to be honest, but I figured the book would have something to say about her as well. It does, but it left me wanting to read more about her specifically. As far as Cobain, my takeaway is that in addition to being a talented artist (still not a fan of the music but I can appreciate its significance), he was also a deeply troubled person. Also kinda weird. I am deeply interested in people’s weirdness – I think as an antidote to the hyper-sanitized version of reality presented by IG – so I found the book engrossing as a window into that.

The Loves of Charles II by Jean Plaidy

I’m pretty sure I’ve written about Plaidy before, but she is one of my favourite old-school historical (romance) novelists. I put the “romance” in brackets because while her books inevitably feature romantic plots, they are definitely of the PG-13 variety; also, the stories are centered around various historical figures – with varying degrees of artistic license being called upon in service of the narrative – so they generally don’t fall into the happy-ever-after category. I grew up with Plaidy’s books, so I find them comforting to read. For what it’s worth, I think she is a better (and more historically accurate) writer than, say, Phillipa Gregory – but we are talking the same genre here.

Anyway, this was a collection of several 3 separate novels, all of them about Charles II and his various paramours. Charles II is one of my favourite English monarchs because, though he doesn’t have a reputation as a strong kind, he knew how to have fun and wasn’t a massive prig (relatively speaking). Plaidy writes him as a very sympathetic character, but approaches the women in his life – even the controversial Barbara Palmer – with equal sympathy. The book has made me want to dig up Plaidy’s other novels, particular on the Stuart monarchs. Mary and Anne are often overlooked queens, and I want to read more about them. I did re-read Antonia Fraser’s biography of Charles, which I recommend if you want a more scholarly view of his reign.

What have you been reading lately?