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)

Sarah's Key

My friend Sara gave me this book for my birthday. It is about a Jewish girl whose family was part of a round up of Jews in Paris in WWII. She locks her little brother in a cupboard in their apartment so that he will be safe, but her family is sent to the camps and she has to escape to try to find him. The story goes back and forth between Sarah, the girl, and a journalist in current time who is doing a story on the anniversary of this little-known round up in Paris (called the Vel d'Hiv). The journalist, Julia, uncovers Sarah's secret and how it links to her family. I learned a lot about WWII and how Jews were treated in France, which is not something you usually hear about. The story was sad and heavy, but I'm very glad I read it. It is not one I will forget anytime soon.

Length: 330 pages
Time: August 5-15
Up Next: Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

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

Secret Life of Bees

Another great book! I listened to this one over the last two weeks and sometimes it was hard to turn the car off because I wanted to know what happened next. This is about 14-year-old Lily, a girl from South Carolina who runs away from home in search of love and information about her mother. She finds acceptance with 3 black sisters, where she learns about bees and life. Sounds kind of crazy, but I loved it! Funny, heartwarming and so good. Read it.

Read/Listened: July 7 - 21

Next Up for the Car: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (I read it when it came out in 2007 but I'm dying to re-read, especially after I see the 6th movie)

Devil in the Junior League

Emily let me borrow this book several months ago and I finally got around to reading it. I loved it!! Devil in the Junior League is one of those quick-witted chick lit novels that manages to make you laugh and surprise you. The plot is this: The fabulous Frede Ware, Junior Leaguer extraordinaire, is shocked when her husband leaves her and takes her money. To get back at her ex and recover her money, Frede hires her uncouth neighbor, lawyer Howard Grout. In exchange, she has to get his leopard-print wearing wife Nikki into the Junior League. The book is set in a small town in Texas and captures Texas high society perfectly. Think a cross between Highland Park in Dallas and Bellaire in Houston. Its fun and witty and I couldn't put it down. Perfect for laying by the pool!

Read: July 11-18

Up Next: American Wife

Reading Lolita in Tehran

Amazon Book Review: An inspired blend of memoir and literary criticism, Reading Lolita in Tehran is a moving testament to the power of art and its ability to change and improve people's lives. In 1995, after resigning from her job as a professor at a university in Tehran due to repressive policies, Azar Nafisi invited seven of her best female students to attend a weekly study of great Western literature in her home. Since the books they read were officially banned by the government, the women were forced to meet in secret, often sharing photocopied pages of the illegal novels. For two years they met to talk, share, and "shed their mandatory veils and robes and burst into color." Though most of the women were shy and intimidated at first, they soon became emboldened by the forum and used the meetings as a springboard for debating the social, cultural, and political realities of living under strict Islamic rule. They discussed their harassment at the hands of "morality guards," the daily indignities of living under the Ayatollah Khomeini's regime, the effects of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, love, marriage, and life in general, giving readers a rare inside look at revolutionary Iran. Threaded into the memoir are trenchant discussions of the work of Vladimir Nabokov, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austen, and other authors who provided the women with examples of those who successfully asserted their autonomy despite great odds.

My Review: I'm not quite sure what I thought about this book. I was intrigued about the idea of a memoir about a women's book club, classic English novels and Iran. I liked the general idea and story, but got lost a bit lost when the author discussed books I have never read...like Lolita and anything by Henry James. At times it read more like a lecture than a memoir and, to be honest, I had to force myself to keep reading. I really liked the parts of the book that focused on the girls in the book club and their struggles to find freedom and identity in Iran...but I had to skim to get to those parts. So, I do recommend the book sort-of, but only if you've read the books she discusses.

Read: June 15-July 10

Author: Azar Nafisi

Pages: 340