What’s a story that you’ve been gripped by recently?

[petra]

Whether it's something that you heard about that really happened or a piece of fiction, what's spoken to you lately?

Comments

[petra]

The Oedipus Project, which happened last night, was well-done and moving. I had neither seen nor read the play before, so it was fascinating to see a tragedy set in the middle of a plague. The discussion after the dramatic presentation was also intriguing and food for thought. I may well seek out more works by the same production company in coming days.

[scytale]

Oh my goodness, this seems amazing.

[petra]

It was beautifully done and hard to take in the best tragic sense.

[minoanmiss]

That was AMAZEBALLS OMG I AM SHOOK, as the youth say these days. HIS EYES AND HIS DANGLING CURLS AUAUAUAUAUAUAUAUAGH

(the teenager is watching me type and laughing at me)

[petra]

I'm not laughing *at* you, I'm laughing very fondly *near* you. Metaphorically.

His eyes! His beard! Dude is really goddamn good looking, and one hell of an actor.

[althea_valara]

Oh this is an easy one! The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan. Here's the review I posted in my journal:

I am pleased to say that I finished reading The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan last night, finishing it just a few hours before my loan expired, oops. But yeah, I finished it!

Folks, it is brilliant. Utterly brilliant, and perfect, and just wonderful.

I've been reading romance novels since I was a teenager. In the past I read a lot by Johanna Lindsey. I loved them at the time. But she's pretty predictable: hero and heroine meet and fall instantly in lust but dance around each other for a time until they finally come together. There is a lot of banter and fun conversations, but usually the hero denies his feelings for her (sometimes the heroine is in denial, too, but usually it's the hero.) Then the damsel gets in distress and shoot, the hero realizes how much he loves her and rescues her and they live happily ever after, the end.

They're fun for escapism, but I don't think I could really tolerate them today, mostly because of the damsel in distress trope. But also: there is nothing in the books to really convince me that the couple is in love with each other, other than the author says they are.

Contrast that with Courtney Milan's books. The Countess Conspiracy is a romance novel, so yes there is a certain amount of sexy stuff going on, but it's really a book about love. Halfway through the book I was thinking, "Of course he loves her, look at all he's done for her! Look at how she sees him. I would be in love, too, if someone saw me the way she saw him." And the same goes for the heroine, who has her own reasons to love him that are just as believable.

I cannot recommend this book enough. I'd suggest reading the other books in the series first: there's a pre-quel novella I haven't read, but book 1 is The Duchess War and book 2 is The Heiress Effect. Both are also great reads, though I had some problems with first one (there were times it felt like the heroine knew stuff the reader didn't know. Also, the hero's name was too close to the name of one of my exes, which was awkward.) But The Heiress Effect is super fun and I loved it for its nuanced characters (and what a cast of characters it has!). And I didn't think it possible, but The Countess Conspiracy got even BETTER.

I really do recommend reading the first two books before reading The Countess Conspiracy, because the latter opens with a bombshell that I didn't foresee coming, and I don't think it would have heard same effect of I hadn't met the characters in the previous novels.

[petra]

This is a great recommendation! I keep meaning to look into Milan's work and I think you've tipped me over the edge to actually do it. Thank you.

[gibbles]

A bit of a vague answer, but I read a book a few months (/an eternity) back called A Paradise Built In Hell, that is basically a case study of a few different disasters that have happened since the early 20th century and how communities react to them. And the thesis of the book is just that like... when put under pressure, the most common reaction (by a huge margin!) is for people to help other people, and to go to great lengths to do so. There was a particularly striking argument where the author points out that helping becomes a need...when in despair, people will go out and actively try to help other people in order to ease their own despair. It's a wonderful circle of human connection when allowed to flourish.

So especially these days, during this slow and strange disaster, it's nice to have those stories in my head. As often as we do see terrible people highlighted in the news, it's important to look around our immediate areas and, as Mr. Rogers said, look for the helpers. And it's wonderful to have these stories to help me shush the voices that insist a positive view of humanity is just a naive fairy tale.

[petra]

That sounds like a great book to have on your mind these days. Thanks for the recommendation!