Chick Lit

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kore said:

sarcasticcheese said:

Aww, see I read Queen of Babble today and enjoyed it.

I read it when I came out in hardcover awhile ago, and liked it. I do however like her Heather Wells stories more (Probably because I live in the area that these stories take place and can visualize a lot of it more so).

I agree with that. I also enjoyed the Boy Meets Girl and Boy Next Door books more than QOB.

[kore]

sarcasticcheese said:

I agree with that. I also enjoyed the Boy Meets Girl and Boy Next Door books more than QOB.

I like these too!

BTW, I love your new avatar!

[Deleted]

I also read Queen of Babble this weekend. Must have just hit paperback . . .

I certainly liked the mystery books and the e-mail books better but this was OK. I agree with stargirl that it had some really strong similarities to Can You Keep A Secret which I felt did a lot of the tricks better than this one. Plus, the heroine wasn't the most likeable of all of Meg Cabot's heroines. She was a little too naive and goody-goody for me--there were many points where I wanted to shake her really really hard. But it was mindless fun and I loved all the clothing descriptions. I'm easy.

I know that this isn't chick lit per say but if anyone is interested in reading something silly and feminine but different and not as vapid I really recommend A Time to Be Born by Dawn Powell. I read it for book club last summer and my uneducated non-researched opinion is that the book is the mother of modern day "Gal in NYC" chick lit.

The book was written in 1942 and it focuses on a small town woman who comes to NYC to cheer up after a bad love experience and stays with an old schoolmate who has since become quite rich and well-known. It's very fun in that chick lit sort of way (mistaken identities, love triangles, clothes and jobs, etc) but due to the time it was set in (the 1940s WWII) it's very interesting to read. Plus, I can kind of picture it having been a Doris Day movie.

That's my recommendation if anyone is looking for a vacation book that's different from the traditional chick lit.

[Maddiemoo]

I just started reading Baby Proof by Emily Giffin. It's pretty good, but thus far I think I liked Something Borrowed and Something Blue better. If anyone else has read it -- does it pick up? Because I don't know how much longer I can take this gal bitching about babies.

[dnt]

I like the Dawn Wells mysteries because Cabot is clearly talking about the Hayden dorm at NYU, where I lived for a couple of years. The cafeteria worker (I forget her pseudonym) who refers to the students as “movie stars” is a woman named Sylvie. My freshman year, some students made and sold T-shirts with her picture and her infamous quote, “The most bee-yoo-ti-full students on the whole campus!” It’s also very funny to bear in mind that Britney Spears was the inspiration for Dawn’s character, especially as her real life continues to implode.

I recently re-read some of Marian Keyes’ books. I liked her series about the one family (Watermelon, Angels, etc.), but I forgot how much I hated Lucy Sullivan Gets Married. Maybe it’s because I was the complete opposite of her as the daughter of an alcoholic; whereas she totally denied her father had a drinking problem and saw her mother as being cold and unsupportive, I saw my mother as a martyr and my father as inexcusably selfish. But she’s just so damn stupid, I had to stop reading the book because it’s annoying to spend every page wanting to bitchslap the main character. The overused plot point of a (incredibly hot, but she just doesn’t see it!) male best friend who is the main character’s soul mate, only she doesn’t realize it, bugs, too.

[freelancergirl]

Maddiemoo - IMO, Something Borrowed was the best of the series.

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I just finished Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes and really enjoyed it. While I've liked all of her books, the ones that focus on the Walsh sisters are my favorite. This one focuses on Anna, and I love reading each sister's different perspective. I still like Rachel's Holiday the best, but this is in a close second.

[oxygen1234]

freelancergirl, my copy of The Department of Lost and Found just arrived yesterday. I'm looking forward to reading it!

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bluewine said:

I just finished Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes and really enjoyed it. While I've liked all of her books, the ones that focus on the Walsh sisters are my favorite. This one focuses on Anna, and I love reading each sister's different perspective. I still like Rachel's Holiday the best, but this is in a close second.

I read that one a few weeks ago and I really enjoyed it. I LOATHED Rachel's Holiday, and in fact, I didn't finish it. She just annoyed the ever living piss out of me.

[gemstone]

I recently read Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson and really liked it. I think it's definitely chicklit, but not the obnoxious kind. Of course, the main character has man problems and instead of the overbearing mother, it's an aunt. But I didn't think it was quite as fluffy as others of the genre. It's the author's second novel, her first being God's in Alabama. I looked for God's.. at the library when returning Between... but it was out and on hold so I'll have to look again some other time.