I was having trouble getting into the book Vanity Fair. I liked it a little more when I found out the real title was Vanity Fair: Novel without a Hero. The subtitle caught my attention because I always think sarcastic thoughts when Dr. Phil says “This family needs a hero” Yes, these people are on national TV yelling at each other, they are totally hero quality. I usually wait until I finish a book to review it but I read this passage & had to comment immediately:

That bowl of rack punch was the cause of all this history. And why not a bowl of rack punch as well as any other cause? Was not a bowl of prussic acid the cause of Fair Rosamond’s retiring from the world? Was not a bowl of wine the cause of the demise of Alexander the Great, or, at least, does not Dr. Lempriere say so?–so did this bowl of rack punch influence the fates of all the principal characters in this “Novel without a Hero,” which we are now relating. It influenced their life, although most of them did not taste a drop of it.

I will always think of William Makepeace Thackeray as the first person to write about Founder’s Day Punch.

I was watching The Jane Austen Book Club & I got all excited because the new Mia was in it. Granted, I hated the new Mia on Gilmore Girls. I didn’t realize how much I missed Rory until I saw the preview for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. Yes, I’m so desperate for anything Gilmore Girls that I’m even considering seeing the movie. Granted, it’s not to the point where I would actually buy a movie ticket, but I may watch it in a few years when it’s on television. I think I need some kind of intervention.

I was just thinking about the episode where Lorelai goes fishing with Alex. (Lorelai out of water. Yes, I actually looked up the episode title this time. Impressive eh?) Lorelai says she loves fishing. Sookie consoles her by telling her that she once told Jackson that she liked frogs & then Jackson started buying her frog figurines & all of Jackson’s family started buying her frog figurines & that is how she became frog girl. This inspired two thoughts:

1. Why do we always do that? Do we think a relationship will really come to an end if we don’t like fishing?Would we really want to be with such a guy anyway?

2. Why do boys think that the answer to such invitations will always be yes? I won’t go in the house if there is a spider in there. Yet, they always think I will love camping.

I have gone rappelling because some guy said “So do you like to do outdoors stuff?” I have gone fishing due to the same reason. Luckily when someone asks if I like hunting I can’t hold back an “Ewwww that is so wrong” I’ve decided I’m not going to be frog girl anymore. From now on I’m going to say “No thank you, that is stupid.”

I had heard of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair before. It always seemed to appear in trivia questions as “Which book helped form the Food & Drug Administration?” I chose not to read this book just because I didn’t think I could stomach anything about the meat industry in the early 1900’s. My thinking went like this “Meat industry in early 1900’s=grossness now let’s read a book about butterflies.”

However, it was on Rory’s book list so I had to read it. Yes, the meat industry in the early 1900’s=grossness times ten. However, the book is so beautifully written. Just the use of words is incredible. Usually I start yelling “just say what you mean” if words are too flowery & then people look at me. This book just captivated me & I’m glad that I bought it in hard cover because it’s going to have a place on my bookshelf for a long time to come.

Here are a few facts about The Jungle by Upton Sinclair:

He went to Chicago intending to write the book. When he arrived at a hotel near the stockyards he supposedly said “Hello! I’m Upton Sinclair, and I’m here to write the Uncle Tom’s Cabin of the Labor Movement!”

The Jungle received five rejections before it was published.

The book was intended to reform living conditions of the working class but instead led to meat packing regulations. Sinclair is quoted as saying “I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”