Chick Lit

[tinyshoes]

I just finished reading I Do, But I Don't by Cara Lockwood because of my bridezilla fascination (I don't do wedding lit otherwise), and I liked her other book Pink Slip Party better. Anyone read Dixieland Sushi? I like the premise, but I don't want to get disappointed.

This genre is why I like Half-Price books.

In other news, it looks like Red Dress Ink is getting a little more readable. Usually their books leave much to be desired. Couch World was pretty good, and so was Carrie Pilby.

[chonies]

More on the Viswanathan sitch[/color]. May require a log-in, but perhaps not. Also, as usual, the Amazon reviews are amusing and serve an off-label purpose.

Also, I am so sick of "getting a life" being defined by a Fekkai haircut. Where's all the ChickLit for girls who wished they hadn't failed biology so they could have joined up with Medecins sans Frontieres, or something? And I don't mean Cause Celeb? Romance as a genre shows better career diversity than chick-lit, although it's usually chucked for a soul-rending shag.

Grr. Rant over.

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I just read "That Thing About Jane Spring" by Sharon Krum, which I guess would qualify as chicklit. It was amusing, in a tongue in cheek sort of way. At the very least, it'll make you want to go out and rent old Doris Day movies.
Also, (as I'm sure I mentioned previously) I really liked "Just Friends" by Robyn Sisman. The last few chapters were unrealistic and contrived, but the book has held up through several rereadings (which most chicklit doesn't), so I do recommend it.

[franticjoy]

I really enjoyed both of those books, stargirl. I liked that Jack was the romantic one while Freya was cynical in Just Friends, and that she didn't look like every other girl in Chick Lit. I read Weekend in Paris, also by Robyn Sisman, and didn't enjoy it quite as much- the characterization didn't seem as thorough. Although I did like the little bits of French slang that didn't know before, like the scene where the main character is with her arsehole boyfriend in the cafe and she says something that makes all his friends laugh because it's slang for something sexual.

Has anybody else read Something Borrowed and Something Blue, by Emily Giffin? I started on Something Borrowed out of boredom, because I was sick of Chick Lit and it sounded a little different, and I loved it. Something Blue was the perfect follow-up. I think in the bookstore I worked at we had it under both Chick Lit and regular fiction, which I agreed with. It sort of rode the line. Wonder of wonders, Rachel doesn't have a makeover, isn't really very pretty, isn't exciting, never loses weight. In fact, her best friend Darcy, who is gorgeous and has an exciting career and is shallow as all get-out, would normally be the protagonist of any other Chick Lit writer's novel, but she's the one who has to undergo a change to be considered "worthy" of someone (because she's a total bitch). It's really refreshing. Normally stories about infidelity make me sick to my stomach, but I really loved these two.

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Yes, I've read both of those. I prefered Something Blue to Something Borrowed but i'm not sure why. Maybe because Darcy is so clearly flawed, but is able to redeem herself; she admits to being selfish and self centered and spoiled, but you somehow end up rooting for her in a way I never did for Rachel--which I thought I would, because who doesn't like the plot of the plain Jane getting the gorgeous guy? Plus, I didn't like the way Something Borrowed ended.
Has anybody read the newest Marian Keyes book yet? It's not coming out in the U.S. for another week, I think, but it's probably out in the U.K.

[chonies]

Hee hee! My bookstore boyfriend just called to ask if I had heard about Kaavya--he works in a jumbo chain shop and they're sending all the copies of Opal Mehta back. I knew her contract had been terminated but I wasn't sure how fast they would act on the stock. The highlight of this is that he borrowed a copy, I'm going to read it and report back!

[spinsterliz]

jennipoo said:

Am I a dope for believing Kaavya Viswanathan, author of Opal Mehta??

I just think that the genre is so overdone that one could find plagiarism in any of these books.

That's what I thought too, at first, but this morning, in the newspaper, I read some passages from Kaavya's book and some from Sophie Kinsella's book (yeah, she's now accused of copying Kinsella as well as that other author) and they were exactly. the. same. Some ridiculous line about, "Fur isn't bad, foxes like being made into scarves!" versus "Fur isn't bad, minks like being made into coats!" So now I think Kaavya was definately copying. Which is especially dumb because that "fur" line about the lamest line I've ever read anyway. (I mean jeez, if you're going to copy someone's work, at least pick something clever, Kaavya.)

[chonies]

One thing that stands out from reading the Amazon reviews is that Viswanathan panders the immigrant Indian identity to the lowest common denominator. I'm not big on rigidly so-called cultural appropriateness but a lot of the comments reflect that Viswanathan attempted to write about a south Indian girl and instead came up with a piecemeal, homogenized stereotype.

But we'll see.

SpinsterLiz, I hadn't heard about Sophie Kinsella. The last I read in the Harvard Crimson was that the copying had been done from two McCafferty books. This is looking progressively stinky.

[BinkyBetsy]

chonies said:

SpinsterLiz, I hadn't heard about Sophie Kinsella. The last I read in the Harvard Crimson was that the copying had been done from two McCafferty books. This is looking progressively stinky.

And The Princess Diaries. And something by Salman Rushdie(!). And a book called Born Confused, which is also by and about an Indian-American girl in New Jersey.

[chonies]

binkybetsy said:

chonies said:

SpinsterLiz, I hadn't heard about Sophie Kinsella. The last I read in the Harvard Crimson was that the copying had been done from two McCafferty books. This is looking progressively stinky.

And The Princess Diaries. And something by Salman Rushdie(!). And a book called Born Confused, which is also by and about an Indian-American girl in New Jersey.

Holy Crap! Born Confused by Tanuja Desai is a very good YA novel. I cannot wait to read this!