The temperatures are dropping, scarves are being worn for warmth (not style), and your late summer glow has been replaced by rosy cheeks and a runny nose. The freezing weather makes it ever so difficult to unwrap yourself from the tight embrace of your down comforter and do anything remotely productive. Luckily, with winter break just around the corner, you can avoid the harsh realities of class, work, and responsibilities for a few weeks.

Break is exactly that.. a break. With all the required reading you’re given during the semester, it can feel like ages since you sat down with a book…for fun. So, we’ve compiled a list of 8 must-read classic English, classic American, and popular contemporary novels that should be enjoyed over break.

And, in light of the recent casting of Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby, we’ve picked a celeb for each novel that would be perfect as the hero or heroine. So check out our list, choose your favorite, snuggle up with a mug of hot chocolate, and escape from the world (and the cold) for a few hours by creating your own mental movie with the help of these texts. Read More »

[Click Here to read Part 1 of this series]

To the claim that romance novels are anti-feminist, well, it’s hard to argue this point. Not because romance novels are, in fact, anti-feminist. In fact, I would consider many of them to be extremely pro-female. No, it’s difficult because so many people have their minds set on what is considered under the umbrella of “feminist” and what isn’t, and those opinions are usually formed through one’s own life experiences.

So I will only say that I find a book like Jenny Crusie’s Bet Me more feminist, than, say, (Pitchforks at the ready?) Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. I applaud Chopin and, indeed, I even empathize greatly with her heroine, who is trying to establish herself as a woman as opposed to a mother or a wife amidst all that patriarchy. But I enjoy literature in which women are rewarded or at least not denigrated for their bold and brave decisions. Isn’t it more feminist appreciate a happy woman than to accept that the only way that she can be free is to die? I recall poor Anna Karenina, who threw herself under a g*ddamn train. What kind of a message is that?

It’s also patently untrue that all heroines featured in romance novels are unrealistically perfect looking with no problems (thus perpetuating unhealthy self-images in readers) . I would go as far as to say that most of the main female characters do have flaws in appearance or nature. The heroine in Bet Me is overweight and has low self esteem but her love interest sees her weight and interest in food as a good thing. She doesn’t have to lose weight to be loved, she is accepted for who she is. The novels in which women are loved instantly on sight because of their heart-stopping beauty or unerring kindness and generosity of spirit are almost always the least interesting ones, just like in real life. Read More »