Chick Lit

The Red Hat Club Rides Again

1 Comment / 2010, Audiobooks, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Women /

I was looking for something light, on audio, and when I stumbled into a sequel to Haywood Smith’s Red Hat Club, I thought that would be perfect. And it was. Sort of.

The Red Hat Club Rides Again made us laugh because of the southern-ness of it. It also made us cringe because of the… horribleness. Patriarchy. Body image bullshit. The body image BS was the hardest. All of the negative comments about their bodies. The month long cruise where they had every type of cosmetic surgery known to man. It was… troubling. I wouldn’t recommend it – unless you’re a Red Hat Club fan and you can forgive Smith for these sins.  I forgive her, mostly.

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The Missing Ink

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

I saw The Missing Ink on a blog (I don’t remember which one) – and Sassymonkey mentioned it that same day. I put it on my library reserve list because, it’s tattoos! And while I don’t have any, my kids do. It seemed fun.

The book was waiting for me at the library one Saturday. A Saturday that TW and killed time during Prince J’s flute lesson by going to the local independent bookstore. The Missing Ink was on the shelf. I bought it. I thought it would be a great book to take on our trip to Florida – we could both read it and leave it behind for Michelle. I don’t think either of us ended up reading it on the trip, but we did leave it behind. Instead, we both read the library copy that I’d picked up. And we both enjoyed the book quite a bit.

Brett is a great tattoo shop owner. The people who work in her shop are interesting. Las Vegas is always interesting and the perfect place for Tattoo Shop mysteries to take place, don’t you think? There’s a great character, Sylvia – older woman with maybe a wee bit of dementia. She owned a competing shop before passing it along to her son. I love Sylvia. She needs her own series of books.

Looking for a beach read – try this one. It’s light and amusing. Don’t take my word for it… Sassymonkey liked it too.

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The Firefighter’s Secret Baby

2010, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Fiction /

Yes, you read that right. I just finished The Firefighter’s Secret Baby. Why yes, it’s a Harlequin. And yes, it was exactly what you’d expect from a Harlequin about a firefighter and a secret baby. Amusing but fewer love scenes than I expected, not nearly as many romantic/love scene moments as the last firefighter book I read.

Thank you, Firemom, for bringing this little gem to the attention of the BlogHer Book Group. Now who wants to read it next? Go add your name to Mr Linky – we’re going to pass this (not so secret) baby around to everyone who wants to read it.

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The Girl Who Chased the Moon

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

I’m still a Sarah Addison Allen fan. I keep waiting for the shoe to drop, for her to write a book that makes me cringe or roll my eyes. The Girl Who Chased the Moon isn’t that book. It’s as good as any of the others and in some ways better. (Teen sex, teen pregnancy, abortion, cutting but none of it was preachy or shocking or anything other than straight storytelling.)  I’m not 100% sure I loved the ending but I sure didn’t hate it (which is saying something.)  And, this one made me crave North Carolina BBQ. And cole slaw. Mmmmm

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Best Friends Forever

3 Comments / 2010, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Favorites, Fiction /

I boycotted Jennifer Weiner for a couple of years. I thought I was going to stick with my boycott but TW said Best Friends Forever was good – really good. So I broke down and read it.

It was good. Jennifer Weiner chick litty – good. I liked Addie. I didn’t particularly like Val but I didn’t hate her either. I would like to know more about Merry…. Maybe she needs a book of her own?

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Wildwater Walking Club

2010, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Fiction /

I decided to read the The Wildwater Walking Club because a) it’s been on the shelf for weeks b) it looked like a quick and easy piece of chick lit c) the cover reminded me a little bit of Kris Radish’s books.

It was a quick read. It was a little Radish-like. It was a little bit too much of a mish-mash of chick lit topics. Did we really need the NOLA teacher with cancer storyline? I don’t think that we did.

I loved the clotheslines. Loved the lavender. Love the dozens of boxes of walking shoes. Just an all around fun book, nothing too horribly heart breaking (which maybe is why the NOLA teacher thing was tossed in – gotta have something heartbreaking or something?)

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The Fireman’s Christmas

1 Comment / 2009, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Fiction /

We were over on BlogHer talking about Christmas books and @firemom fessed up that she had picked up a cheesy Christmas romance – about a fireman.

We bugged her til she told us the title – The Fireman’s Christmas – and then I promptly ran over to my library website and reserved it. (Poor Sassymonkey couldn’t do the same, her library doesn’t have it.)

TW read it and liked it.
RJ read it and hated it – she hates firemen. They aren’t dark and brooding enough. Too cheesy, all-American-y for her. She likes REAL bad boys – like vampires. (Whatever.)
I read it and enjoyed it.

Yes, it’s a Harlequin which means it fits all of the typical Harlequin stereotypes. But there’s nothing wrong with a fun Harlequin every now and then.

Fireman.
Independent business owning woman.
Six kids (including a set of twins.)
A dog. A cat.

What’s not to enjoy?

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Lakeshore Christmas

1 Comment / 2009, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Don't Read This, Fiction /

I saw Lakeshore Christmas on a bunch of blogs and book lists so I figured… maybe it will be good? I reserved it. In large print.

TW read it and cursed me for getting it. And then she forced me to read it even though it took me six hours to get past page 2. It just wasn’t a compelling start.

What did I expect? More than I got, that is for sure.

The book did improve but not a whole lot. TW though, feels compelled to read the next one because she likes Daisy and she’s hoping there will be more Daisy storyline in the next book. I’m going to skip it.

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The Late, Lamented Molly Marx

2 Comments / 2009, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Favorites, Fiction /

I couldn’t decide whether to read The Late, Lamented Molly Marx or let it go back to the library. TW said it was good, sort of. Sassymonkey had read good things about it but sent her copy back to the library unread. I saw some reviews that seemed like I would like it. I saw some others that made it sound like just another bit of fluffy chick lit. My TBR list is feeling a little too long for just another fluffy chick lit.

But.

I took a chance. I think I was still recovering from Tathea and all of the kind of tough books I’ve been reading. I felt like I wanted just one more thing that I was SURE I would enjoy. Just one more thing that I could just relax and enjoy.

Molly Marx fit the bill. I did enjoy it. Every single one of the characters except for that bitch Stephanie. I did just sit back, relax, and enjoy it. It read quickly. The chapters were exactly the right length. The mix of “memory” and “real life” was excellent. I even liked the ending.

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