One Day by David Nicholls

I really liked this book! Em and Dexter meet on the last day of college, spending a day together and forming a relationship. Each chapter of the book provides a glimpse at where they are - together or apart - on the same day each year. Although that sounds like a chick flick love story, the book has much more depth and deals with some tough topics. The narrative structure is unique and I liked how the author developed the characters and wove their story together. Definitely read this book - but hurry because they are making it into a movie with Anne Hathaway that comes out later this month!

Read: October(ish) 2010 (I'm a little behind on my reviews)

Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares

Did you read Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants? What about the other three Traveling Pants books? Did you at least see the movie? Even though I was too old for them, I loved the Traveling Pants books and movies about four girls, their friendship and their crazy traveling pants.

Sisterhood Everlasting picks up with Carmen, Tibby, Lena and Bee 10 years later, as they are approaching 30. Each of the original books had a few heavy topics woven through the plot - heartbreak, death, divorce - so I shouldn't have been surprised that Sisterhood Everlasting had that too. It was pretty heavy, particularly since I thought it would be summer fluff. I don't want to give anything away, but it was good to see where the girls ended up. Mistakes they made, how they grew apart and how they came back together. In the end, it is a touching re-affirmation of friendship and what it really means. Oh, and it makes you want to call your BFFs for coffee asap.

Read: July 2011 in Israel
Next up: Divergent

Black Heels to Tractor Wheels (Pioneer Woman)

I love, love, loved this book! If you drool over PW's food blog on a weekly basis, then you will love her account of how she met and married Marlboro Man. How she gave up plans for a big city life when a cowboy swept her off her feet. Such a sweet love story and a good romantic read. Almost made me want to live on a ranch. Almost. Definitely made me grateful for my own love story.

Read: March 2011

Bonus: I got an autographed copy at Border's during their store closing sale!

Happy Ever After (Nora Roberts)

This is the fourth book in the Bride Quartet series by Nora Roberts and it was as cheesy and good as the others. In this one, Parker Brown falls in love with the car mechanic, who turns out to be perfect for her. Everyone finds their guy and will live happily ever after. Sappy, predictable chick lit at its best.

Read: February 2011

Mini Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)

Oh, I just love Becky Brandon nee Bloomwood. I know she's ditzy. I know she does dumb things. But I just love her. I love her antics and schemes and crazy solutions. Although I was annoyed with her out-of-control daughter, I really loved this sixth installment in the Shopaholic series. It was a fun read as Becky plans an over the top surprise party for Luke. It was classic Becky.

I hope there will be another Shopaholic book someday!

Read: January 2010

Heart of the Matter (Emily Giffin)

Its hard to say exactly how I feel about this book. Its about infidelity from the perspective of the wife and the other woman. The chapters alternate between the two women so that you see both sides. Guilt, insecurity, worry, suspicion. Lots of emotions in this one! I wanted to know what happened - whether the wife found out, how she handled it, what the other woman did, etc. And it was very quick to read. But at the same time, reading about infidelity is hard because I just don't want to think about it. So read at your own risk! Emily Giffin's first two books were her best (Something Borrowed and Something Blue). I haven't loved any of the others. Not sure I'll try again.

Read: December 2010

Prep (Curtis Sittenfeld)

I listened to Prep last fall after reading American Wife, a novel loosely base on Laura Bush by the same author. Reading a novel about prep school was the perfect back-to-school book for fall. Here's the summary from Amazon:

A self-conscious outsider navigates the choppy waters of adolescence and a posh boarding school's social politics in Sittenfeld's A-grade coming-of-age debut. The strong narrative voice belongs to Lee Fiora, who leaves South Bend, Ind., for Boston's prestigious Ault School and finds her sense of identity supremely challenged. Now, at 24, she recounts her years learning "everything I needed to know about attracting and alienating people." Her reminiscences, still youthful but more wise, allow her to validate her feelings of loneliness and misery while forgiving herself for her lack of experience and knowledge. The book meanders on its way, light on plot but saturated with heartbreaking humor and written in clean prose.

Read/Listened: September 2010

The Carrie Diaries (Candace Bushnell)

Carrie Diaries is the story of Carrie Bradshaw as a senior in high school. It is full of high school drama - boys, mean girls, college applications, family drama, etc. Carrie and her best friends are not the popular girls, but they have a lot of fun. Carrie ends up dating the popular new guy, leading to lots of jealousy and cat fights. It made me feel really glad not to be in high school anymore! I liked the book overall and it was fun to see where Carrie got her start. The end of the book makes it clear that there will be a few more books covering Carrie's college years!

Read: July 2010 (from the library!)

Up Next: Camel Bookmobile

Savor the Moment (Nora Roberts)

This is the third book in the Bride Quartet and, as you can tell from the title, focuses on the pastry chef and her search for true love. Could he be her best friend's older brother?? Oh the drama. Just as predictable and girly as the first two, but I still loved it and can't wait to read the last one. Perfect for reading by the pool on a lazy Saturday.

Read: July 2010

Flabbergasted & Delerious Summer (Ray Blackstone)

After spending WAY too much time reading the Left Behind series in high school, I have tended to stay far far away from religious fiction. It tends to be too cheesey for my taste. And do not even get me started on religious romance novels (except for Francine Rivers, obvi).

But Ray Blackston hits the right balance. Entertaining without being cheesey or preachy. Flabbergasted tells the story of a guy who moves to South Carolina and winds up meeting some church-hopping single girls. And falling in love.

A Delerious Summer is about another guy, a missionary, who ends up in South Carolina on furlough and meets the same group of church-hopping single girls. And falls in love. Admittedly, the descriptions sounds cheesey, but I enjoyed both books. Both are told from the male perspective, which I think takes out some of the cheesiness. Plus Blackston's depiction of the singles department in many churches is dead on. And don't blame me if you are dying to go to the beach or the rain forest after reading these!

Flabbergasted: listened to it sometime in 2006? Or 2007?
Delerious Summer: listened to it in March or April 2010?

The Help (Kathryn Stockett)

I. Loved. This. Book. It was so good! I listened to it on CD from the library, which really helped bring the characters to life. Either way, this is a must read. The story is told through the perspective of three women in Mississippi in the 1960s - two black maids and one young white woman. They weave together stories of what its like to be a maid in a white household in the Sixties. The characters really grip you. I didn't want it to end! Sometimes I would sit in the parking garage for an extra few minutes because I couldn't turn it off. I highly recommend.

Love The One You're With

I listened to this book a few months ago, but forgot to post about it. Here is the summary from Emily Giffin's website:

This is a story for everyone who has ever wondered: How can I truly love the one I'm with, when I can't forget the one who got away? Ellen and Andy's marriage doesn't just seem perfect, it is perfect. There is no question how deep their devotion is, and how naturally they bring out the best in each other. But one fateful afternoon, Ellen runs into Leo for the first time in eight years. Leo, the one who brought out the worst in her. Leo, the one who left her heartbroken with no explanation. Leo, the one she could never quite forget. When his reappearance ignites long-dormant emotions, Ellen begins to question whether the life she’s living is the one she's meant to live.

I really enjoyed this one and honestly couldn't decide how I wanted it to turn out. I don't want to give anything away, but the ending was good!

PS - I just found out Emily Giffin is publishing a new book this Spring! Can't wait!

Twenties Girl

I always enjoy Sophie Kinsella's novels because they are entertaining and fun. Twenties Girl was no exception. I really enjoyed reading it.

Here's the synopsis from Barnes & Noble:

When the spirit of Lara’s great-aunt Sadie–a feisty, demanding girl with firm ideas about fashion, love, and the right way to dance–mysteriously appears, she has one last request: Lara must find a missing necklace that had been in Sadie’s possession for more than seventy-five years, and Sadie cannot rest without it. Lara, on the other hand, has a number of ongoing distractions. Her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, her start-up company is floundering, and she’s just been dumped by the “perfect” man.

Lara and Sadie make a hilarious sparring duo, and at first it seems as though they have nothing in common. But as the mission to find Sadie’s necklace leads to intrigue and a new romance for Lara, these very different “twenties” girls learn some surprising truths from each other along the way. Written with all the irrepressible charm and humor that have made Sophie Kinsella’s books beloved by millions, Twenties Girl is also a deeply moving testament to the transcendent bonds of friendship and family.

Read: September 2009

Pages: 448 (hardcover)

Julie & Julia

I read this book in a few days on our vacation to Ireland. I actually finished it too fast and ran out of things to read for the last two hours of the flight home (Brian let me read one of his Economist magazines, which is NOT the same as chick lit). I loved the book! Its so quick and fun. A little heavy on language, but really, it just made Julie more real. As you probably know unless you have been under a rock, Julie Powell cooked her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year and blogged about it all. And the movie version comes out today. As a blogger myself, I love the story of a regular girl turned blogger turned writer turned subject of a movie with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams! I loved the book so much that I couldn't wait to get on the computer and do a little googling to investigate about Julie Powell. You can go back and read her blog about the Project (as she calls it) and you can catch up on her current blog about the movie, her new book, etc. Fun!

Can't wait to see the movie!

Read: July 29-August 2
Next Up: Sarah's Key

American Wife

I really enjoyed this book. It is (very) loosely based on the life of Laura Bush but definitely a fictionalized version. The book hits the some of the highlights of Laura's life - only child, marries late, husband drinks a lot then finds religion, ends up as president - but is otherwise fictional (different names, different places, etc). I liked it a lot and read it very quickly, covering Alice's life from childhood up to the presidency. Curtis Sittenfeld is the same author who wrote Prep, which is now on my list of books to read.



Read: July 19-28 (partly while on vacay)
Up Next: Julie & Julia

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict

I recently listened to this book during my commute and loved it! Perfect for anyone with a hint of a Jane Austen obsession. Courtney, a 21st century gal and avid Jane Austen fan, wakes up in the body and life of Jane Mansfield, circa 1814 (ie right after P&P was published). As Courtney adapts to life with corsets, men in tights, and no plumbing, she must discover as much as possible about Jane and how they traded lives. This book was very entertaining and fun. Sometimes it was hard to turn off the car when I got home because I wanted to find out what happened next.

Read (Listened): May 2009
Author: Laurie Viera Rigler
Related Books: Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict (a sequel about Jane Mansfield's experience waking up in Courtney's life in the 21st century!)
Just for Fun: check out the author's website! Lots of Jane Austen fun.

Sammy's Hill and Sammy's House

This is a two-for-one book review! I read Sammy's Hill sometime last year and just finished the sequel last week. The author is Kristin Gore, as in Al Gore's daughter. Given her upbringing, she has good insight on how things work "on the hill" and "in the house". Although her views tend to be a tad negative about the former president (who is clearly modeled after Bush) and a tad liberal, it wasn't prevelant enough to turn me off.

Sammy's Hill - Sammy is a staffer with a democratic Senator (or maybe he's a congressman, I can't remember). The book covers her adventures on the hill and eventually on the campaign trail. Sammy is a cute chick lit heroine - witty, a little clumsy, and insightful. This ranks high on my chick lit list!

Sammy's House - Sammy now works in the White House where she uncovers a few secrets about the administration and deals with a long distance relationship. Just as cute and entertaining as the first one!

Each book is about 300 pages and you should add them to your chick lit list!

Next Up: Water for Elephants (because all 3 of my readers voted for it)

Baby Proof

I just finished listening to this book on CD on my way to work. It was read by Cynthia Nixon (of Sex and the City) so that made it fun. Anyway, I really like Emily Giffin's style and the fact that she is a lawyer turned novelist. Its like she is living my dream. Anyway, I think I liked the other two books a little better, but this is still a fun read (or listen...anything to get your mind off traffic).

Plot: Claudia and her husband do not want to have children...and then he changes his mind!

Read: March 16-25

Also by Emily Giffin: Something Borrowed and Something Blue

Still Reading: Three Cups of Tea

Something Blue

Since this book is the sequel to Something Borrowed, I wasn't sure what to expect, especially because the main character switched. But I loved it! Maybe even more than the first one. I can't wait to get the other two that she wrote. Anyway, Something Blue has great character development: The author makes you hate Darcy in the first book but somehow I loved her in the second.

Plot: Darcy breaks off her engagement because she is prego with someone else's bebe and a little soul searching ensues.

Read: March 1-7, 2009

Related Books: Something Borrowed (book #1) and Baby Proof (same author, don't know if the characters overlap)

Next Up: Three Cups of Tea

Something Borrowed

My friends gave this to me right before my wedding and I finally got around to reading it. I was expecting a silly chick lit novel, but it had a lot more depth to it. Giffin really developed the characters and managed to have enough plot twists to surprise even me, a self-proclaimed end-of-the-book spoiler.

Plot: Young attorney accidently sleeps with best friend's fiance and falls in love.

Read: September 2008

Next Up: The Queen's Fool

Related Books: Something Blue (the sequel)

PS - these books are along the same lines as the Shopaholic books (smart & sassy) but no one can ever compare to Becky Bloomwood!