Bonnet Rippers

Welcome to my ramblings. This is a place for a transplanted Canuck to share her observations on life in the USA, on friendship, on knitting, on pottery and food... really, on anything that I do in a day. Stick around. Some of it's funny.

So, I have been waking up at about 5 am every morning for the past week. month. months. year. Okay, I've been sleeping terribly for about a year. I wake up at 5 a lot lately, and that's on a good day. Some days I fall asleep again. Some days, I just look like crap.

I've been keeping books beside my bed to read. I don't want anything too interesting or engaging. I don't want anything that makes me want to keep reading one more chapter. It has to be simple enough for a sleepy brain to follow, but engaging enough that the same brain doesn't start to wander to the things that are keeping me awake. Sometimes I read non-fiction that I've already read.

One day, a few weeks back, I heard a radio story on CBC to which I was only paying slight attention. The radio happened to be on, and I didn't turn it off. It was a panel discussion on literature, specifically romance literature. At one point, they were talking about the death of great romance novels. One of the authors quipped something to the effect of "Well, in order to have a great love story, you need some social adversity, I think. And 'I deleted your e-mail' doesn't really cut it."

That night over dinner, I was reading the Wall Street Journal, and there was an article on the hottest new genre of fiction - romances set in Amish communities. Immediately, I thought of Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis! I was intrigued and the comment that I'd heard on CBC that day clicked and I thought: I've gotta get one! I don't know why, because romance novels aren't my thing at all. Then I realized that the only thing I don't like about them is the self-conscious descriptions of sex. (Ew.)

I have read three Amish romance novels, now, and I can tell you that they're exactly what I want in a bedside novel: predictable, formulaic and not to be confused with serious literature. Each cover features bucolic scene and a squeaky clean young woman in a bonnet and a plain, modest dress. These are no bodice rippers. They're all of the flirtation, the anticipation, the delicious desire... without the overwrought descriptions of sexual activity!

The Bonnet Ripper! Because seriously, how many times can we watch Witness for the dance scene in the barn?