Feeling Good and Misérables

Books

• Les Misérables by Victor Hugo – The unread and not-recently-read classics on my bookshelves are beginning to mock me. Also, my own personal dramas of the past week are making me want to read about people who have it worse. So, Jean Valjean, Fantine, Eponine—bring it on. Full disclosure for the literary set: I'm reading an abridged version. While the unabridged tome is more than 1,400 pages long (1,900 pages in French, according to Wikipedia), my version, abridged by Laurence M. Porter, is roughly 800 pages. I hope I don't miss anything important.

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling – I had thought the daughter was cranky and unwilling to read because of pre-teen moodiness and allergies, but it turns out it was because of pre-teen moodiness, allergies, and an ear infection. Now that the ear infection is being treated, we're back to reading. We've just finished the chapter about the Quidditch World Cup and are about to learn about the Dark Mark.

TV

In honor of the long weekend for Patriot's Day and the Boston Marathon, I enjoyed some marathon TV viewing. Yes, I also made it outside. Don't judge.

• The Good Wife – I watched four episodes. All were excellent. At the end of "The Blue Ribbon Panel," when Alicia approaches Jackie, her conniving mother-in-law, at a hair salon, and Jackie gives a look of evil smugness just before the screen goes black, I got chills. Also, I think I was wrong when I said that too much negative drama is not to my liking. With the right approach, the constant pressures on Alicia create the opportunity to show her strength, and that makes for superb moments. I was even disappointed that the Caitlin storyline, which I had disliked, suddenly went away with a fizzle. Sure, I was frustrated that Caitlin was being set up as Alicia's rival at her law firm and, possibly, with her one-time love interest, Will. But when it turns out that Caitlin is happily leaving the firm to get married and have a baby, it seemed like her entire tension-filled storyline was wasted.

• VH1 Couples Therapy – I was all set to make fun of Vienna and Angelina, who sorely deserve it, but then Kasey had a breakthrough about childhood abuse that he suffered at the hands of his mom's boyfriend, and then DMX talked about his abusive mother, so everything got serious. I hate it when reality creeps into my reality shows.

• Mob Wives – Renee's ex-husband, Junior, goes to jail to serve a sentence that has been known to be coming all season. What hasn't been known, however, is that during the time Junior was supposedly trying to reconcile with Renee, he was actually making a deal with the Feds against Renee's mobster daddy. When it's discovered that Junior has cooperated and thus "ratted out" Renee's father, Renee is distraught for both herself and her teenage son. In this community, being a rat is worse than being a murderer. And being the family of a rat isn't much easier. Thankfully for Renee, her friends rally around her. And only a few of them mention behind her back that if it had been one of them, Renee would have been the first to treat them terribly. They are so good to her, I tell you. Martyrs!

• Blue-Eyed Butcher – Hello, my name is Anna, and I'm a recovering Lifetime made-for-TV movie addict. It's true. I went through a dark period in my life where I became hooked on woman-in-danger and woman-as-killer movie fare. This week, I had a relapse and watched a movie based on the true story (of course) of Susan Wright, a young mother in Houston who stabbed her husband nearly 200 times to stop his alleged abuse. And I'll admit it. I watched the whole thing. I'm so ashamed. So deeply, deeply ashamed. I need to cleanse my palate. When is Jersey Shore coming back?!