Chick Lit

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Aww, I really really loved Rachel's Holiday though I think Marian Keyes meant to write a bit of an autobiography with that. I liked how she portrayed Rachel doing horrible things out of her insecurity. She's not all that likeable all the time and I guess that's why...I like it? Doesn't make sense, sorry.

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OK, I needed another mental vacation so I picked up The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner. It's dreck. I'm only about 4 stories into it but damn, these are not good at all.

The first one was so bad I was like "What the hell?" and I paged to the pack to find out that she wrote it in college. Oh, so THAT is why it sounds like it was written by a 19 year old. It was!

Also, they sort of illustrate how much of a one trick pony she is. They could all be summed up with: Overweight jewish girl has issues with men due to her divorced parents. Her sister is much prettier and has naturally curly hair.

We get it. Your parents are divorced and you have some issues about your weight. We got the point now.

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I just plowed through Lean Mean Thirteen (I can finish these books in a couple hours) and found myself laughing through most of it. I just love this series - the shit Stephanie gets herself into.....and good old Lula.

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jensational said:

OK, I needed another mental vacation so I picked up The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner. It's dreck. I'm only about 4 stories into it but damn, these are not good at all.

The first one was so bad I was like "What the hell?" and I paged to the pack to find out that she wrote it in college. Oh, so THAT is why it sounds like it was written by a 19 year old. It was!

Also, they sort of illustrate how much of a one trick pony she is. They could all be summed up with: Overweight jewish girl has issues with men due to her divorced parents. Her sister is much prettier and has naturally curly hair.

We get it. Your parents are divorced and you have some issues about your weight. We got the point now.

I read Good in Bed some years ago and couldn't understand what all the squee was about. I felt like I was reading the author's thinly-disguised fantasies about becoming BFF with celebrities and getting back at her evil ex. Also, I hated how nasty the heroine and her siblings were to their mom's lesbian partner.

[tinyshoes]

I think Jennifer Weiner has a nice way with her prose, and she puts her words together in a way that is quite mature for Chick Lit, which is why I love her books. Her plots, though, leave a lot to be desired, especially the whole LA scene in Good in Bed. If she cut that whole chunk out, I'd like the book a lot better.

[freelancergirl]

I think that Weiner's best book is Little Earthquakes. At least, I should say, it was my favorite among them.

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I agree with Jensational about The Guy Not Taken. None of the stories grabbed me either and I thought they were boring. I think I tried to start reading Good In Bed, but I just could not get into it. I just finished Jane Green's new one, Second Chances, and really like it.

[tiggertoo]

Has anyone read The Thin Pink Line? The authori is Lauren Baratz-Logsted. I just started reading it and I really don't like it. I usually finish a book once I start it - even if I just skim it - but this book may be one of my rare exceptions. It's about a woman who thinks she's pregnant because her period is late. Then she gets her period but decides to pretend she's pregnant to get her boyfriend - who she doesn't even seem to like very much - to marry her. He says he'll marry her once the baby is born and she's like 'yeah, that's fine', even though she's not pregnant and that means he won't ever marry her. It is such a stupid premise. Maybe we are supposed to enjoy how horrible and shallow a person she is, but it just is falling flat to me so far.

[tinyshoes]

Has anyone read The Thin Pink Line?

I haven't read it, but I've heard enough bad reviews to get scared away. I'd have to agree that it's a pretty rotten premise for a book. It's stuff like that that gives chick lit a bad name.

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I just finished Baby Proof. Oy - that was a piece of shite.