Title of Book: Shopaholic and Baby
Author: Sophie Kinsella
Pages: About 350
Grade: A-
Buyability: 6/10
Status: Bought & owned
Hmm so I'll probably have another book review by tonight the way I'm ploughing through. This is also probably my last bit of pleasure reading for awhile. And pleasurable it was indeed! This is the latest (and quite delayed imo) installment of the shopaholic series, starring the plucky Becky Bloomwood as she prepares for motherhood. For those of you not familiar with the series, I believe this is the 5th book, which features Becky, a woman with a bit of a shopping problem and a lot of imagination. Each book usually features a bit of financial mayhem, shopping glory, and relationship problems between her and her family, friends, and now husband, Luke Brandon.
The focus here is not as obvious as one might think - of course Becky goes haywire shopping for baby stuff here and there, but the bigger issue is Luke's suddenly mysterious behaviour once they go to a new celebrity obstetrician, Venetia Carter...who happens to be Luke's gorgeous ex! Of course many other issues swim about throughout the book, including Becky's failing career destination, Suze's war with her so-called friend Lulu, Jess' new love interests etc.
I liked this book because I had forgotten a fair bit about the shopaholic series. I mean I remembered the characters, the motifs, how the plot would break down, but I remembered Becky being out of control and insane, and after a discussion with friends about who was the more annoying character - Becky Bloomwood or Bridget Jones, I faithfully stood by Becky and was well rewarded. Perhaps she has been toned down a bit in this book but I found her behaviour to be slightly less flightly, although still quite humorous, ridiculous, and unfounded at times.
What I didn't like so much, was how much the book's formats have changed for this one and the previous one. Call me a fellow shopaholic but I wanted more drama with the shopping! Then again. I probably would have bitched had they included another book on Becky's overspending woes. I guess the twist in this book was just relatively predictable, so the big dramatic scenes were kind of like...it's about time. The ending was interesting though, if they were to create another shopaholic book, my money is on it being about moving into a new house and living on a budget. A binary opposition for most - the move in means a move out of cash from your pockets.
We'll see if I'm right! In the meantime, pick up a copy of S & Baby - you won't be disappointed (I wasn't) if you are looking for a breezy, fun read that isn't annoyingly flightly, and manages to keep you on the edge of your seat (well sort of) throughout. A fun read that I couldn't put down for school books! Shocker...haha.
Showing posts with label A-. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A-. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Book #11: The Perfect Manhattan
Book #11: The Perfect Manhattan
Authors: Leanne Shear and Tracey Toomey
Pages: About 445
Final Grade: A-
Buyability: 5/10
Status: Borrowed
First I'd like to preface this by saying this book earned its grade because I was surprised at how good it was. I'm using good as a relative term - no this was not Chaucer or Proust, hell it wasn't even Sophie Kinsella (whose writing style incidentally drives some people batty) but what it was an excellent, light, but gritty and fascinating portrayal of the under belly of the 'good' life and the 'night' life.
The story follows a recent college grad of Columbia who is saddled with debt and a slightly useless creative writing degree (perhaps why I relate?) named Cassie, who decides to enroll in bartending school, ultimately fails, but manages to lie and smile her way to the 'top' of the bartending scene, and indirectly, the social scene of Hampton's once she lands a gig at a hot club. Of course she deals with a romantic relationship with an extremely well-to-do Hamptonite, and it's quite obvious throughout the book how things will turn out in Cassie's love life...but I have to give the writers credit for the romantic conclusions they draw between Cassie and her boy James' love lives....they handled the relationship between them in a fairly realistic manner throughout, not the least of which was found in the end of the book.
But forget the love story or the 'thrill' of getting an insiders guide to Hampton's bar life - the thing I found most interesting about this book was the extremely graphic and somewhat digusting description of what it means to be a bartender. From the opposite side of the counter, suddenly all of the things Cassie internally dwells on rung true, whether exploring misogyny, sex, or wealth I always found Cassie to be exceptionally insightful - which gave this book the depth it needed to earn it an A- grade! I recognized the trappings of what I've heard from bartending (and waitressing) friends, and it also reminded me of an IPP presentation for the girls in the year above me in cre com who did a documentary on how working at a restaurant such as Earls encourages alcoholism. I found the lifestyles of the main characters in this book so insanely bizarre (getting home at 7 am and being up and at em a few hours later? hungover? ICK!) that it just drew me in regardless of the somewhat 'flat' characters throughout. As I said, the insights of Cassie probably came more from the two girls who wrote this book, former bartenders and likely aspiring writers at the time, and as such I found this a very valuable book in learning to tip and be a bit more polite at bars! A good read for anyone interested in a fun story that more than makes up for its lack of concrete plot in its insider look at the service industry.
Authors: Leanne Shear and Tracey Toomey
Pages: About 445
Final Grade: A-
Buyability: 5/10
Status: Borrowed
First I'd like to preface this by saying this book earned its grade because I was surprised at how good it was. I'm using good as a relative term - no this was not Chaucer or Proust, hell it wasn't even Sophie Kinsella (whose writing style incidentally drives some people batty) but what it was an excellent, light, but gritty and fascinating portrayal of the under belly of the 'good' life and the 'night' life.
The story follows a recent college grad of Columbia who is saddled with debt and a slightly useless creative writing degree (perhaps why I relate?) named Cassie, who decides to enroll in bartending school, ultimately fails, but manages to lie and smile her way to the 'top' of the bartending scene, and indirectly, the social scene of Hampton's once she lands a gig at a hot club. Of course she deals with a romantic relationship with an extremely well-to-do Hamptonite, and it's quite obvious throughout the book how things will turn out in Cassie's love life...but I have to give the writers credit for the romantic conclusions they draw between Cassie and her boy James' love lives....they handled the relationship between them in a fairly realistic manner throughout, not the least of which was found in the end of the book.
But forget the love story or the 'thrill' of getting an insiders guide to Hampton's bar life - the thing I found most interesting about this book was the extremely graphic and somewhat digusting description of what it means to be a bartender. From the opposite side of the counter, suddenly all of the things Cassie internally dwells on rung true, whether exploring misogyny, sex, or wealth I always found Cassie to be exceptionally insightful - which gave this book the depth it needed to earn it an A- grade! I recognized the trappings of what I've heard from bartending (and waitressing) friends, and it also reminded me of an IPP presentation for the girls in the year above me in cre com who did a documentary on how working at a restaurant such as Earls encourages alcoholism. I found the lifestyles of the main characters in this book so insanely bizarre (getting home at 7 am and being up and at em a few hours later? hungover? ICK!) that it just drew me in regardless of the somewhat 'flat' characters throughout. As I said, the insights of Cassie probably came more from the two girls who wrote this book, former bartenders and likely aspiring writers at the time, and as such I found this a very valuable book in learning to tip and be a bit more polite at bars! A good read for anyone interested in a fun story that more than makes up for its lack of concrete plot in its insider look at the service industry.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Book #8: Forever In Blue
Book #8
Title: Forever In Blue
Author: Ann Brashares
Pages: 260
Grade: A-
Buyability: 8/10
Status: Owned (bought)
There isn't too much to say about this book, in part because if you haven't read the series this review'll mean nothing to you! This is the fourth and (supposedly) final chapter of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants series - which detail the summers four best friends spend, sometimes apart, sometimes together. They are of course, as per the legend, bonded together by a pair of 'magical' pants that give them the strength of the love they feel as friends even when they aren't together.
In all fairness I read the third book quite some time ago so reading the new fourth one was a bit of a cognitive leap - I could barely remember a lot of what happened in the past! Anyway in this one the girls are bridging the gap between their first and second year of university. They've actually shared the pants year-round this time because they have spent the year at different colleges etc. That should be your first clue something is up - the girls are very very much so a lot more individual characters this time around, which was both refreshing and problematic. Of the latter, it was good because I was sick and tired of how cheesy and overemphasized their relationship was - although some sappy moments still exist towards the end, they are certainly toned down. But in the abscence of their friendship it almost defeated the purpose of the book, and the pants of course.
This time around the girls spend most of their summer apart. Tibby is still in New York working and taking a summer class and wondering whether she has made the right choices when it comes to her relationship with Brian. Bee (my fave as always) is in Turkey getting back to basics on an archeological dig site and wondering whether the best alternative to missing her boyfriend is not missing a single thing her hot professor does. Carmen has surprisingly shrunk into her shell over the last year, and fallen under the wing of a supposedly protective, glorious friend, who turns out to be anything but as their summer continues. Lena is at art school and enraptured with a guy, shockingly this time, not the love of her life, Kostos.
This book definitely took on a more mature tone than the others - most of it dealt with sex and relationships and very little of it focused on friendship and personal self-growth - although most of the storylines evolve to give the girls those moments of epiphany. Although I enjoyed the storylines a lot more this time it almost felt like the characters were under-used and less developed because there was far less crossover opportunities given their summer was spent so far apart emotionally and physically. Brashares does a good job wrapping up the series though - I realized why she decided to do a fourth (i completely assumed the third would be the last) as each book is kind of meant to represent each of the four girls.
All in all a fitting conclusion to the series that represented, quite honestly, the realities of growing up and moving away when it comes to those true blue friends you thought you'd never forget, and those true blue jeans you thought you'd never lose.
Title: Forever In Blue
Author: Ann Brashares
Pages: 260
Grade: A-
Buyability: 8/10
Status: Owned (bought)
There isn't too much to say about this book, in part because if you haven't read the series this review'll mean nothing to you! This is the fourth and (supposedly) final chapter of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants series - which detail the summers four best friends spend, sometimes apart, sometimes together. They are of course, as per the legend, bonded together by a pair of 'magical' pants that give them the strength of the love they feel as friends even when they aren't together.
In all fairness I read the third book quite some time ago so reading the new fourth one was a bit of a cognitive leap - I could barely remember a lot of what happened in the past! Anyway in this one the girls are bridging the gap between their first and second year of university. They've actually shared the pants year-round this time because they have spent the year at different colleges etc. That should be your first clue something is up - the girls are very very much so a lot more individual characters this time around, which was both refreshing and problematic. Of the latter, it was good because I was sick and tired of how cheesy and overemphasized their relationship was - although some sappy moments still exist towards the end, they are certainly toned down. But in the abscence of their friendship it almost defeated the purpose of the book, and the pants of course.
This time around the girls spend most of their summer apart. Tibby is still in New York working and taking a summer class and wondering whether she has made the right choices when it comes to her relationship with Brian. Bee (my fave as always) is in Turkey getting back to basics on an archeological dig site and wondering whether the best alternative to missing her boyfriend is not missing a single thing her hot professor does. Carmen has surprisingly shrunk into her shell over the last year, and fallen under the wing of a supposedly protective, glorious friend, who turns out to be anything but as their summer continues. Lena is at art school and enraptured with a guy, shockingly this time, not the love of her life, Kostos.
This book definitely took on a more mature tone than the others - most of it dealt with sex and relationships and very little of it focused on friendship and personal self-growth - although most of the storylines evolve to give the girls those moments of epiphany. Although I enjoyed the storylines a lot more this time it almost felt like the characters were under-used and less developed because there was far less crossover opportunities given their summer was spent so far apart emotionally and physically. Brashares does a good job wrapping up the series though - I realized why she decided to do a fourth (i completely assumed the third would be the last) as each book is kind of meant to represent each of the four girls.
All in all a fitting conclusion to the series that represented, quite honestly, the realities of growing up and moving away when it comes to those true blue friends you thought you'd never forget, and those true blue jeans you thought you'd never lose.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Book #4: The Bitch Posse by Martha O'Connor
Book #4
Title: The Bitch Posse
Author: Martha O'Connor
Pages: 341
Grade: A-
Buyability: 5/10
Status: Owned (gift)
This book made my skin crawl, my spine tingle, and most importantly - my heart break. Marth O'Connors debut into the literary world is a well-paced, interwoven story of three young women at two points in their life, shortly before graduating high school, and some tweleve years later as adults, no longer friends, but bound and tormented by a secret held between them all.
Each character is written with a lot of heart and empathy from O'Connor - there is a reason why the girls get into the trouble that they do. Rennie (Wren) Taylor is an honour student wanting to break out of her shell, and later on, a single teacher caught up in a dangerous pattern of sexual depravity. Cherry lives with her drug-addled mom and is forced to be both the adult and the best friend, and eventually she ends up in a mental institution, unsure of whether she belongs there. Amy Linnet is Little Miss Popular who breaks free from her life as a cheerleader to escape from the facade her alcoholic parents put on, ironically later on she is the one putting on the same facade in her troubled marriage.
The book follows an interesting pattern of narrative that rotates between the characters, the time period, and the point of view. Rennie might kick off the book in the present tense using third-person narrative, but the next section Cherry might jump in as a troubled high school senior writing in first person, followed by Amy as an adult in third person and so on...instead of creating a jarring effect, the swapping narratives helps contextualize the two periods of time in the girls lives. There is a certain amount of naivete that comes through in the first-person teenage viewpoint, and a certain amount of wiseness in the third person.
I can't reveal too much about the plot other than to say these girls are hitting hard stages in their lives at both ends of the spectrum - as teenagers and as adults. Each section offers a delicious climax that invites you to read on, to find out what will happen to each girl within each time period in their lives, but also to fill in the puzzle pieces about their deep, dark shared secret.
That's not to say the book is perfect. Quite frankly I'm afraid of Martha O'Connor. I felt like the prose and the characters were directly derived from her own opinions, that she felt as though everyone that reads the book would judge it like the characters in the book are judged. I also didn't care much for the character of Cherry - until the big secret is revealed. She is underwritten emotionally and there is a few disconnects in her plot line, again until you find out what the big secret is - however by the time you find out what the secret is, the book abruptly (and understandably) ends, leaving the reading to fill in the pieces.
Overall I enjoyed this book. I was a bit put off by the first couple of chapters, and I'd definitely say heed the opening warnings about how dark the story is - but if you're willing to keep an open mind and just enjoy some excellent, heartfelt, entrancing writing then you'll like this book.
Title: The Bitch Posse
Author: Martha O'Connor
Pages: 341
Grade: A-
Buyability: 5/10
Status: Owned (gift)
This book made my skin crawl, my spine tingle, and most importantly - my heart break. Marth O'Connors debut into the literary world is a well-paced, interwoven story of three young women at two points in their life, shortly before graduating high school, and some tweleve years later as adults, no longer friends, but bound and tormented by a secret held between them all.
Each character is written with a lot of heart and empathy from O'Connor - there is a reason why the girls get into the trouble that they do. Rennie (Wren) Taylor is an honour student wanting to break out of her shell, and later on, a single teacher caught up in a dangerous pattern of sexual depravity. Cherry lives with her drug-addled mom and is forced to be both the adult and the best friend, and eventually she ends up in a mental institution, unsure of whether she belongs there. Amy Linnet is Little Miss Popular who breaks free from her life as a cheerleader to escape from the facade her alcoholic parents put on, ironically later on she is the one putting on the same facade in her troubled marriage.
The book follows an interesting pattern of narrative that rotates between the characters, the time period, and the point of view. Rennie might kick off the book in the present tense using third-person narrative, but the next section Cherry might jump in as a troubled high school senior writing in first person, followed by Amy as an adult in third person and so on...instead of creating a jarring effect, the swapping narratives helps contextualize the two periods of time in the girls lives. There is a certain amount of naivete that comes through in the first-person teenage viewpoint, and a certain amount of wiseness in the third person.
I can't reveal too much about the plot other than to say these girls are hitting hard stages in their lives at both ends of the spectrum - as teenagers and as adults. Each section offers a delicious climax that invites you to read on, to find out what will happen to each girl within each time period in their lives, but also to fill in the puzzle pieces about their deep, dark shared secret.
That's not to say the book is perfect. Quite frankly I'm afraid of Martha O'Connor. I felt like the prose and the characters were directly derived from her own opinions, that she felt as though everyone that reads the book would judge it like the characters in the book are judged. I also didn't care much for the character of Cherry - until the big secret is revealed. She is underwritten emotionally and there is a few disconnects in her plot line, again until you find out what the big secret is - however by the time you find out what the secret is, the book abruptly (and understandably) ends, leaving the reading to fill in the pieces.
Overall I enjoyed this book. I was a bit put off by the first couple of chapters, and I'd definitely say heed the opening warnings about how dark the story is - but if you're willing to keep an open mind and just enjoy some excellent, heartfelt, entrancing writing then you'll like this book.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Book #1: Sixteen - Edited by Megan McCafferty
Book #1
Title: Sixteen
Author: Edited by Megan McCafferty (et al)
Pages: 300-ish
Grade: A-
Buyability: 6.5/10
Status: Owned (gift)
Megan McCafferty's edited collection of short stories entitled "Sixteen" (A Bday Gift) is quite aptly, sixteen stories about being or turning sixteen.
If you aren't familiar with Megan McCafferty - she is the author of the wildly popular 'Jessica Darling' series, if you can call it that. Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings, and Charmed Thirds (a fourth is on its way) are three books that cover a young woman's journey through most of high school and college. There is in fact a short story on Jessica Darling about the last 15 minutes she spends before her best friend Hope leaves town (which is in fact where the series picks up from).
The other fifteen stories in the book are all extremely varied, but the majority of them are quite good. I'm not a short story fan by any means, but unfortunately have to tackle the task of writing one this term - and this book was so well-compiled and written it inspired me quite a bit. Some of my fave stories were probably "Infinity", "The Many Lives of Emily Milty", and "The Perfect Kiss" - most of them were really good, a couple were not my fave as they seemed to really stray from the subject and style of the book, but it's hard to judge what makes a good short story to everyone.
The one critique I do give to the authors of these short stories is there was a consistent theme of either - kissing (specifically first kisses or momentous kisses) or discovering/experimenting with being gay. Not all sixteen year olds are that confused about their sexuality - yet at least half of the stories in the book dealt with that topic, I guess to provoke some more intense emotions or meaning.
Title: Sixteen
Author: Edited by Megan McCafferty (et al)
Pages: 300-ish
Grade: A-
Buyability: 6.5/10
Status: Owned (gift)
Megan McCafferty's edited collection of short stories entitled "Sixteen" (A Bday Gift) is quite aptly, sixteen stories about being or turning sixteen.
If you aren't familiar with Megan McCafferty - she is the author of the wildly popular 'Jessica Darling' series, if you can call it that. Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings, and Charmed Thirds (a fourth is on its way) are three books that cover a young woman's journey through most of high school and college. There is in fact a short story on Jessica Darling about the last 15 minutes she spends before her best friend Hope leaves town (which is in fact where the series picks up from).
The other fifteen stories in the book are all extremely varied, but the majority of them are quite good. I'm not a short story fan by any means, but unfortunately have to tackle the task of writing one this term - and this book was so well-compiled and written it inspired me quite a bit. Some of my fave stories were probably "Infinity", "The Many Lives of Emily Milty", and "The Perfect Kiss" - most of them were really good, a couple were not my fave as they seemed to really stray from the subject and style of the book, but it's hard to judge what makes a good short story to everyone.
The one critique I do give to the authors of these short stories is there was a consistent theme of either - kissing (specifically first kisses or momentous kisses) or discovering/experimenting with being gay. Not all sixteen year olds are that confused about their sexuality - yet at least half of the stories in the book dealt with that topic, I guess to provoke some more intense emotions or meaning.
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