Books
fromThe Atlantic
18 hours agoUnconventional Novels About Conventional People
Aging revolutionaries and conformists share parallel narratives of disillusionment and the loss of youthful dreams in recent literature.
Lorena Bradford started monthly tours in American Sign Language, established a program for individuals with memory loss, and brought in medical students to learn soft skills to apply in their caregiving. 'I was a sub-department of one,' she joked to writer Emma Cieslik, who spoke with Bradford over Zoom and at the NGA about her own circuitous path into the profession, and the future of the field of museum accessibility.
At first, I think in the early drafts of Heated Rivalry, Ilya was much more of a jerk. I think he was much meaner. The things he said to Shane were more, I don't know, just meaner. And I think he was maybe more of a stereotypical bad boy, I guess. And then I softened him a bit as I went back and wrote more.
A few days after Emerald Fennell's film adaptation of "Wuthering Heights" came out, a friend sent me an Onion headline about a bookseller frantically pulling classics off the shelf before Fennell enters the store. No beloved novel could be safe from the dangers of the director introducing anachronistic costumes, original songs by Charli XCX, selectively color-blind casting, and explicit B.D.S.M. scenes for its Byronic hero.
Enrigue's 'penchant for shooting the facts of history through the prism of the absurd' makes him singular-but it also puts him firmly in a long literary tradition. The book 'distills a byzantine swirl of historical events through the lives of a handful of very colorful characters,' intertwining several real and invented incidents with major moments in the Apache Wars, a series of skirmishes involving Native Americans, the U.S., and Mexico across the Southwest borderlands.
The short answer is yes, unless you take fiction for what it is-fiction. When you long for something you don't have, it can lead to dissatisfaction with what you DO have. Romantic fiction has witty, heartfelt dialogue, buckets of romantic gestures, and protagonists who have a preternatural ability to read each other's minds. It's easy to forget it is not real. This can set up unrealistic expectations both conscious and unconscious.
Everything, no matter how broken or aged, is precious because of the people who touched it, used it, abandoned it. When the new owners plan to replace the carpet with an exact replica, Maximus laughs: the original, he tells us, is fifty per cent Gilbert DNA—and the scurf of fifteen beloved Labradors and one Miniature Schnauzer with dermatitis.
The important thing about adaptations isn't what's taken out but what's put in. Emerald Fennell's "Wuthering Heights"-or, as she'd have it, " 'Wuthering Heights,' " complete with scare quotes-is the season's second Frankenstein movie, because Fennell takes bits and pieces from Emily Brontë's novel and, adding much of her own imagining, reassembles them into a misbegotten thing that wants only to be loved. And paying audiences seem to love it, even if many critics don't.
The Truth About Cats & Dogs A somewhat forgotten 90s romcom which is Cyrano retold in 90s LA. Brit Ben Chaplin is a delightfully incompetent owner of a large dog who mistakes Uma Thurman's producer for Janeane Garofalo's radio presenter of a pet advice radio phone-in. Garofalo and Chaplin completely steal the film I do wish people had given her more roles after it and it's touching, silly and (I've discovered over the years) a film for people like me who don't really like romcoms or romantic films in particular.
Henry's summer romance books often approach love with a sense of honesty and fun that the genre needs to thrive. Her characters may be enemies who find themselves living next door to each other or best friends who are scared to risk it all for something more, as is the case in "People We Meet on Vacation," which has been turned into a film set to debut on Netflix on January 9.
Reid, who lives in Nova Scotia, published her first Game Changer book in 2018. It followed a romance between fictional professional hockey player Scott Hunter and barista Kip Grady. A sequel, Heated Rivalry, which centered on hockey rivals Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, followed in 2018. Further novels have appeared since. In a new Instagram post, Reid posted her initial exchange with the TV producer and director.
True love is not transactional. If we only love on the expectation of being loved back, then it is not love, it is bartering. Love is unconditional. I love you, and that is all and everything. You do not need to do anything. You do not need to reciprocate. You do not even need to know.
Profound love is about the desire to live with a partner who can thrive in a mutual relationship. Sometimes, life wins out over love, and one partner may say, "I will always love you, but we cannot flourish together." Profound love isn't always synonymous with long-term love; some couples divorce despite deep affection. The heart of enduring love is the capacity to bring out the best in each other.
"Hurlevent": Is that like when you watch 28 Years Later? Is it some kind of French adjective that's like, "This movie is so emotional you'll cry until you yak"? Even so, why would the cast and crew of the film take photos in front of a random word and not, say, the title of the film? These questions, while well-intentioned, proved very stupid:
When people bemoan the state of the 21st Century rom-com, they usually haven't seen this gem starring Jack Quaid and Maya Erskine as college buddies who decide to be each other's dates for multiple weddings over the course of one summer. Sure, the ending is basically predetermined, but the execution is pure joy, with a snappy script and lead performances that make you wish these two actors had made five more movies like this.
As the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan approach, a strange rumor about cardboard beds in the Olympic Village has started to circulate online once again. While the "sex-proof" bed rumors have been debunked time and time again with vigorous jumping videos and official statements, the close proximity of young athletes in top fighting form continues to attract steamy speculation. Some locals and spectators have even changed their locations in dating apps in hopes of a chance encounter with an Olympian.
Each week we cut through the noise to bring you smart, practical recommendations on how to live better from what is worth buying to the tools, habits and ideas that actually last. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. When it comes to Valentine's Day, I'm nostalgic for candy hearts and childhood crushes.
Out today, Woman Down centers on writer Petra Rose, an author who has writer's block and checks into a remote cabin to finish her next book. Petra, who took a hiatus after fans blamed her for a producer's decision to cut a fan-favorite character out of the film adaptation of her book A Terrible Thing, has "learned the hard way what happens when the internet turns on you," a synopsis states.
If you're hunkering down ahead of the big winter storm this weekend, we want to make sure you're well prepared. Yes, with batteries, flashlights, toilet paper, and food but perhaps most importantly with good reading material. We looked back through some recent interviews and Books We Love, our annual year-end reading guide, to find snowy suggestions to get you through the storm.
You may know the story by now: Rachel Reid began posting what would become Heated Rivalryon the fan-fiction site Archive of Our Own, one chapter at a time. Eventually, the Halifax-based author reportedly removed the posts, reworked the book, submitted it to publishers, and sold it in 2019 to Carina Press, a digital-first imprint at Harlequin. While the first book in her "Game Changers" series found a solid fan base among romance readers, no one expected just how many more would join them.