Misc. Monday: Merry...Whatever

Firstly, I hope everyone is having a good holiday season. I know I've had an extremely busy one. I work in a photo lab, and I'm pretty sure I've seen enough greeting cards to last nine life times.

Anyway, when I hand the cards or the photos over to my ever lovable customers, I find myself alternating between "Happy Holidays," and "Merry Christmas" with zero rhyme or reason. Now, I've gotten some non-responses and blank looks from "Merry Christmas!", but I've gotten outright chastised for "Happy Holidays!" As in, "It's Christmas! You're supposed to say 'Merry Christmas!'"

Oooo-kay.

Now, I grew up Catholic and endured 10 very long years of Catholic school, and even now that I've moved on from that mindset, Christmas is still deeply ingrained in my soul. I still really love it, because it's by far the most cheerful and welcoming of Christian holidays. I'm no scrooge.

When I say "Happy Holidays," I'm not trying to be politically correct, or anti-Christmas, or anti-Jesus. I say it reflexively, as a sort of general salutation that encompasses Christmas and New Years and Life Day, or whatever happens to be your thing. I don't really think about it, and I don't feel I should have to. 

 Some of my coworkers talk of jobs, past and present, where they were specifically told not to say "Merry Christmas," for fear of offending non-Christian folks. Seriously?

What's the deal with this? Are people's lives really so shallow that they have to take issue with the things that random store clerks say to them? I can't honestly say I even pay attention to what people say to me.

"Happy Arbor Day!"

"Shut up, I hate trees!"

The thing is, no one that says any of these things to you wishes you harm. "Happy Holidays!" Is not equivalent to "Screw you, Christian scum!" and "Merry Christmas!" does not mean "Conform to my religion or die!" Or at least, not when I say it. I just mean have a nice day, and please leave my counter now. I'm very busy.

So Merry Whatever, everyone! Celebrate whatever you celebrate, hug your family, and don't sweat the small stuff. And, as always, happy reading!

A Very Abbreviated Review of The Mane Event by Shelly Laurenston

My primary motivation for reading this book was that the first of the two stories is a Christmas story. And I thought, okay, I'm finally going to read a holiday book around the appropriate holiday. I get a big gold star on my forehead for that.

Sadly, neither story really rang my jingle bells, and I ended up skimming for the most part.

The first story is called Christmas Pride, and it tells the tale of Dez and Mace, long ago childhood friends who now want to mate like bunnies. Or lions. Or whatever. One of the things that was initially intriguing about the story is that we're told about these lion Prides, which are run by females. Unfortunately, said females come across as monstrous bitches, and Dez (a human and a cop), is kind of out to get them--not unjustly. Then there's Mace, who feels obligated to his Pride but refuses to be subservient to it, and as he would rather have one mate then serve as a master stud for all of the females. The whole structure, as I learned more about it, struck me as viscerally unappealing.

Another strike against it was that I didn't really care for the heroine (and yes, I know, I'm picky with heroines). She seemed crass and a bit flat in development, and I just couldn't get a handle on her. I did like the idea of Mace remembering her from high school, twenty years later, and actively seeking her out as a mate...but I guess I don't see what he sees.

On a positive note, Laurenston seems to be good at writing sexiness and sex. The men are hot, the chemistry is hot, and the sex is hot. No complaints there.

As to the second story, I skimmed to an even greater degree. While I liked the heroine more, I still didn't really care for the setting or world building. So overall, I think we have to call that a DNF.

So would I recommend this book? I don't know that I have the authority to, since I read it so very incompletely. What I will say is that, again, the sex is hot and the concepts are at least somewhat interesting, and if you're into shifter romance you could do a lot worse than that.