After Anne Hathaway’s performance in Les Miserables, I had to read Victor Hugo’s novel. 700 pages in and an in-depth description of the battle of Waterloo later, I needed a break from the intensity of Hugo’s surprisingly showtune-free opus.
Sticking with the Anne Hathaway theme, I picked up The Princess Diaries: Mia Goes Fourth. Having thoroughly enjoyed the original trilogy of The Princess Diaries books by Meg Cabot, I felt that book number four could not fail me – I was absolutely right. Through Mia, the reader experiences the ups and downs of life with a mother married to Mia’s algebra teacher and a father of royalty.
Whilst I loved the challenge of Les Miserables, reading it wasn’t relaxing – it was more like falling out of a canoe in white water rapids.
Great literature can tug on your emotions, and that’s what I love about the written word. But sometimes our minds need a rest, like when we’ve spent ten weeks trying our very best to balance education with wine and the Bridget Jones drinking game.
At these times, I settle down with Meg Cabot and Mia Thermopolis and give my mind a break by musing over the pitfalls of being a royal teen on the New York scene. Meg Cabot, I thank you: your books are like a Viking River Cruise for my mind.