Introducing Mitchell

 Apparently, I'm the newest addition to Novel Attraction. My name is Mitchell Barker. I'm Kirsten's brother. 

Kirsten messaged me about three months ago asking if I would like to write blog posts on here once a month, and I, of course, said "Why not?" So it goes. Though I know you haven't been expecting me, I still apologize for the delay (if to no one else, then at least to my sister). Part of the reason it took me so long to start was that I have been unsure of what to write, but that can only account for about a week of my tardiness. Mostly, I have just been lazy, but now I'm here and I'm determined to spout my ideas to you at least once a month. 

My job on Novel Attraction is to write reviews of books and the movies created from them. I want to give a fair review of each by themselves, then give my opinion of how good the adaptation is. Hopefully, this will be helpful and entertaining. 

Another idea was for me to write my reviews of books that some deem "chick-lit". My sister thought it would be interesting for a guy to give his unbiased review of books that publishers aim to sell to women. Many people put down reading such books just because they are about something as feminine as romance (heavy sarcasm there). Sometimes they are disregarded just because they're written by a woman. I have enjoyed many a book from this pseudo-genre and wouldn't mind sharing my reviews of them. 

From now on, I will be alternating between the two topics: one month I will write about a book-to-movie adaptation and the next month I would write about a "chick-lit" novel. 

Let us know what you think and if you have any other ideas. I'm looking forward to writing some reviews on my sister's lovely site and I hope you continue to read her reviews after trudging through mine each month. 

So there y'all have it: Mitchell, my baby brother, will be writing on the blog once a month. These posts will go up on the last Friday of each month and will alternate between movie adaptations and "chick-lit" reviews.

I can't help but comment on the fact that I am especially excited about working with Mitchell on the "chick-lit" articles. We discussed it in length while trying to figure out what he would want to write on this blog and it was almost scrapped. After all, he pointed out, wouldn't that be drawing attention to the fact that people still think there is such a thing as "chick-lit?" 

However, sometimes we need to draw awareness to this sort of thing. The fact that men and women dismiss literary masterpieces like Jane Austen or the Brontë sisters based on the fact that they have strong romantic themes and are written by women is revolting. It's yet another sad sign of the outdated gender stereotypes that plague our society and keep us hiding behind our ignorance.

That's a post for another day, I suppose. The point is that I'm deeply excited that my wonderful brother is joining me in writing about the books we both cherish. It promises to be a fun and slightly chaotic journey.

Welcome to Novel Attraction, Mitchell!