Taking Over the World, One Reality at a Time

First of all, let me say that after checking my Facebook 8 times before lunch, I gave up on my count.

My name is Megan and I'm a Facebook addict.

Hi, Megan.

The first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem.

Heading in a whole new direction...

I was reading for leisure today (yes I read for leisure. all the time) and realized that not only has reality television taken over television, but it is also now all over books. I'm reading Lost and Found by Carolyn Parkhurst, a book about a group of people on an Amazing Race-type show. It's written from multiple perspectives (love that) and is a novel. That means it's fiction. Fiction about a reality TV show. Kinda sounds like an oxymoron: fictional reality.

Yeah, yeah I know that reality TV isn't even usually much of a reality thanks to skilled editing and strategic placement of alcohol (hello Real World), but we're talking fiction authors writing novels about fake reality TV shows.

And. I. Love. Them.

Your Big Break was another great novel about a reality TV show. I practically devoured that one, reading it in just a few hours, and I couldn't get enough. It's like they took some of the crack that gets broadcast through the airwaves with American Idol and wove it into the paper used for these books. Reality TV is everywhere: every network has some kind of reality show, movies are made about fake (and real) reality shows, and now even people trying to escape TV by reading for pleasure are bombarded by reality TV.

Now, with this writer's strike, things don't seem like they'll be getting any better (or worse?) anytime soon. Get ready for America's Next Top Secretary... and then, a few months later, the same idea in novel form: You're Not My Type.