Chick Lit

Life From Scratch (by Melissa Ford)

2010, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Favorites, Fiction, Women /

Last spring, when Melissa Ford told me in a “cone of silence” kind of way that she had a novel coming out later in the year I was thrilled for her and then I sort of forgot about it. When she emailed me last week and told me that her book… it was really coming out, like this month. What?! Already?! Awesome!

I headed over to Amazon and discovered I could pre-order the book which should ship in a couple of weeks… or I could get it now for Kindle. I obviously could not wait so onto my Kindle app it went. I said I was going to start reading it over the weekend, after I finished the other books I had to finish over the weekend but the reality was, I couldn’t wait to start – so I started on Friday and got through chapter 2 before I reluctantly went back to the other two books that I HAD TO FINISH…

Melissa opens with a great quote (and don’t take my word for it, Julie Godar Yammered exactly the same thing when she started reading it on Friday).

“June Cleaver beat the crap out of me with her rolling pin.”

Heh.

Life From Scratch is about Rachel… a graphic designer living in NYC who has pretty recently divorced from her trying-to-make-partner lawyer husband. She read blogs and relationship blogs helped her get through those early divorce days. One of those blogs spurred her to start a blog of her own – a food blog/life blog sort of thing.

Rachel is like a lot of bloggers – she finds it very hard to believe people actually read her blog. It isn’t until her best friend introduces her to a stats program that she realizes just how many people read her blog. After her best friend nominates her for a “Bloscar” — well, she really begins to understand that not only do people read her blog, they like it – and she’s (gasp!) a writer!

Rachel struggles through dating and family relationships and trying to figure out what to do with her life and in the end… you’ll just have to read it to find out what happens to Rachel. And then sit here and wait with me while Melissa writes the second installment in the series. Because there must be a second installment… the book ends with Rachel not quite where I expected her to be (or if I’m honest, where I wanted her to be) and now I need to know how she’s going to manage…. Everything.

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She’s Gone Country

2010, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Fiction, Queer, Women /

She’s Gone Country is the other book that was due back to the library because it had holds – but I was a bad library patron and kept it out for three extra days so that I could read it. TW said it was good – she said she kept thinking about it. So – I figured I should read it.

And it was good, but I’m not sure why TW kept thinking about it after she finished. She said she wanted to know more – but the epilogue told us more, what more did she want? I guess a sequel would be nice enough but I’m not left dying to know what happened to the lives of Shey or Dane or the boys or… or anyone else. It was good but not good enough to leave me wanting more.

I still am not quite sure why it has holds – the books I reserve at the library, even the big sellers, rarely do…

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Mischief of the Mistletoe

1 Comment / 2010, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Favorites, Fiction /

Damn I love Lauren Willig. And I love Turnip most of all, though Arabella is probably high on my love list too. Brilliant use of Jane Austen (and The Watsons) as the foundation for Mischief of the Mistletoe. Brilliant. I couldn’t put it down and didn’t want it to end – and I laughed out loud, over and over again.

I can hardly wait for The Orchid Affair.

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The Creation of Eve

2010, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Fiction, Women /

When I finished my last book, late in the evening, I had no idea what I should read next or what I even wanted to read next. So I fumbled in the dark office for a book that looked interesting and I came up with The Creation of Eve. I had no idea what it was about but I like Eve and I like creation stories and I figured I’d like it enough to stick with it.

I did.

I might not have picked it up if I’d known right away that it was going to focus quite so much on the Spanish royal family in the early 1500s. I’m kind of glad I didn’t know because it’s really about Renaissance painter Sofonisba Anguissola – one of the few successful female painters of that time. Interesting story – some fact swirled in with the fiction (similar to The Stolen One that I’d just finished reading before I picked this up.)  I think it could have happened this way – it makes sense. Nothing rang untrue. I like that in a historical fiction.

This one is labeled as adult fiction but Cullen is a children/YA author and I suspect the with a little cajoling I could convince the almost 15 year old YA reader in the house to give this one a read.

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Maybe This Time

2010, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Favorites, Fiction, Women /

I stayed up way too late reading Maybe This Time. I could not put it down – this might just be my favorite Jennifer Crusie book…. It’s certainly my favorite solo book. Agnes and the Hitman is probably still my favorite… Crusie fans have to read this one immediately. Non-Crusie fans, what are you waiting for? Read this one and then go back and read everything else she’s written – you’re in for a lot of fun. A wee bit longer post here.

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Bravo Valentine

2010, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Fiction, Women /

You’d think I’d have read Brava Valentine a long time ago – all of those ads for Adriana Trigiani that were on BlogHer should have reminded me to reserve the darn thing, right? Well no. I was so busy clicking on the ad every time I saw it that I must have just thought I had reserved it. If I hadn’t seen it just sitting on the shelf during our last trip the library, I might not have read this for ages. Or at least until her next book came out and I was reminded that I’d missed one.

Anyway. This one picks up where Very Valentine left off. And I liked it but I was really getting tired of Valentine’s self  deprecating remarks.  I love the Angelini family (especially the new relatives in Buenos Ares) but Valentine might actually be my least favorite member of the family  – which is saying something since I don’t really love Alfred.  I liked Valentine more in the last book – in this one, while I liked the story and finding out what happened next… the first 100 pages or so almost killed me. I just wanted to shake her and tell her to cut it the hell out.

If there’s another book, she’s not going to do that – right???

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Going in Circles

2010, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Favorites, Fiction, Women /

I am a Pamie fan girl. A big Pamie fan girl. So it’s no surprise that I really loved Going in Circles. (Why Girls are Weird is still my favorite, though.) I loved that Charlotte made miniatures. I loved that she joined Roller Derby. I loved the whole darn thing. (though honestly, I could have done without the John Goodman narrative – but it did feel very Pamie so I get it.)

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Homicide in Hardcover

2010, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Mystery, Women /

I read the second book in the Bibliophile Mystery series before I read the first. I hate it when that happens so I reserved the first one, Homicide in Hardcover, to get the back story. It was an ok book but the second one was much better, I think. (And how often does that happen?)

Fun chick-litty mystery series that involves food but only because Brooklyn really likes to eat. I’m looking forward to the next book.

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If Books Could Kill

2010, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Favorites, Fiction, Mystery /

I snagged If Books Could Kill for RJ – I am always on the lookout for something (anything) she might read that isn’t paranormal romance because lord, I’m sick of vampires and stuff – aren’t you? I have no idea if RJ read it – it’s been in her room for at least a month and it’s due back to the library in a few days (and can’t be renewed because… it’s already been renewed.)  I hope she read it because I laughed my ass off all of the way through it and I think she’d find it incredibly amusing. Even if there are no damn vampires.  Hell, I’m laughing again now just thinking about it. Seriously.

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Bibliotherapy

2010, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Non-Fiction, Reading Lists /

I wrote briefly about Bibliotherapy in BlogHer’s Book Club – go over there and read the post (and tell me about your favorite bad girls.) But more importantly, think about books that have become like a kind of therapy to you, even if you didn’t read them with that intention. And then go leave a comment on this post: Books Make a Difference – each comment means a free book for Head Start!

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