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Portland, Oregon, United States

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Who knew tea shops could be so dangerous?

I love books.  I wouldn't say I was a great reader, but I do like to read and have read many of the classics.  I have enjoyed reading since I was a child and go through periods of reading abundantly to not reading at all.  Most of the books I read I am not ashamed of.  I would happily recommend them to others and feel a sense of pride in my selections.  My favorite books are all classics.  Jane Eyre, To Kill a Mockingbird, Frankenstein.  And yet... there is a whole other side of my reading that most people don't know about.

I like to read crap.  I mean really stupid garbage, junky, rot your brain, reality television-esque type books.  Case in point; the book I am reading right now.

It is a murder mystery set in a tea shop.  Well, I guess if I am going to be truthful I should be totally truthful.  It's a series of murder mysteries set in a tea shop.  This is actually book 4. Oh my.  I actually tried to get my mom to read the first book "Death by Darjeeling."  She started it and then gave it back saying it was trite and insipid and the characters were predictable and it was just a sugary sweet book where nothing bad ever happened.  She is right and that is exactly why I love them so much.

Nothing bad ever happens!  Well except for the dead guy, but the readers don't know the dead guy.  Sure, the main characters know him in some obscure and abstract way and the carry on as though they feel really bad about the death, but it doesn't really elicit any real emotion from me.  And then the murder is solved and everybody comes back to the Indigo Tea Shop for a nice pot of tea and some cranberry scones.  The books even have recipes!!

Yes, the books.  I may have more than one.  I may have this many:


I love the way this goes.  1984, The Catcher in the Rye, Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, my Indigo Tea Shop mysteries and then Gone with the Wind.  Classic.  Literally.

So if you enjoy a book with insipid plots where nothing bad ever happens, may I recommend this Laura Childs gems?  I hear she has a series of books about a knitting group.   Can't wait!!

2 comments:

Birdy: The Mighty said...

I like how you've hidden those amongst your classics. Some people may never know it's just crap. :)

Clever girl

Mona said...

Well, just so you know, I have also read books that are vapid. One was a Victorian period murder mystery series where the policeman's servants solved the crimes.
I think I made it through 3.5 of those before I just couldn't go on. But sometimes what you want to read is something nice, simple, and predictable.
Like Gothic romances. I spent my 30's reading those!!!! ^_^
Love, Mom