Are the straights okay?

The copy of this book that I read includes an interview with the author (RIP!), and in the first question she reveals that tons of girls have told her that they want to marry Howl.

Howl.

The guy who throws tantrums, slimes everywhere, insults the main character, shirks responsibility, has a messy disgusting bedroom, and is cavalier with women's feelings.

That guy. Teenage girls want to marry that guy.

And just to be clear, I'm not blaming the girls themselves. I remember being a teen. I had my moments of terrible taste, too.

I blame the adults. I blame the authors who write characters like Howl and Edward Cullen and whoever is the love interest in today's books.

What especially bothers me is that the general consensus is that this is a middle grade book, which is currently seen as being for kids 8-12. Obviously teens were reading this too, there wasn't as much of a "YA" category in the 80s. But adults were handing pre-teens a book where a young woman (not even sure if she was fully 18 yet) is paired with a guy who is a college graduate. At least give these kids age-appropriate crushes!

Anyway. Howl is trash. The romance here is completely underbaked. My girl Sophie deserved better. I could have read an entire book about her making magic hats. In fact, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go write notes for a queer cozy fantasy about a milliner. If anyone has any recommendations for non-fiction about hats, hit me up.

This was basically the book of things my spouse, and sometimes I, already knew, but it was a lot of fun anyway. What makes this book really work is the fact that the author herself is a scientist who had the validity of her work questioned. She's not a journalist poking fun at silly science; she's a curious mind highlighting other curious minds.

Here's my theory of silly science: we should actually be proud of funding research into things like duck penises. Funding research that doesn't have an obvious and immediate clear benefit to us is a flex. It shows that our society has enough resources to do things just because we have a question we want answered.

I hope that by reading this book, more people will be inspired to indulge in their curiosity. You don't have to be a grant-funded research scientist! You can simply have a question and read a book, or watch a YouTube video, or find an expert to follow on social media. We live in a time where it is easier than ever to indulge our curiosity. Ask questions! Find answers! Run silly experiments at home.

By the way, I also added recommendations to this book's page for a couple of books I had read which talked more about some of these experiments, scientists, or topics. Enjoy!