Chick Literate » Chick lit – books

Sex and the City

lklawless — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:08:55 +0000

Though I love the TV show, Candace Bushnell’s book Sex and the City is very dull. I actually read it long before I ever started watching the show – in fact, that’s why I held out for so long. You know how you read a fantastic book and then are often disappointed by the book? This was just the opposite – hated the book, loved the program.

Everything that is wonderful about HBO’s Sex and the City – humor, sweetness, romance, sexiness – is missing in the book. In fact, I’m amazed the show was ever made, because the raw material of the book is utterly uninspiring.

Rachel’s Holiday

lklawless — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:38:18 +0000

Marian Keyes, the queen of Irish chick lit, delved into the serious subject of drug addiction in her third book, Rachel’s Holiday, but managed an amazing job of mixing those horror stories with romance and humor. The end result is a wonderful book about another of the Walsh sisters – it’s funny and sad, serious and playful, and I’ve read it half a dozen times.

Out of the Blue – Isabel Wolff

lklawless — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:34:08 +0000

Isabel Wolff will always remain one of my favorite chick lit authors, even though I was incredibly disappointed by her third book, Out of the Blue. It’s the story of a woman whose husband has an affair and leaves her, sort of, but never manages to completely make the break – and she doesn’t really help him much either. The reason I was so disappointed was that SPOILERS her husband never, not once, regretted the long-term affair, and yet in the end she took him back in what was supposed to be a romantic finish but I just found ridiculous. I kept thinking “any minute now, she’ll realize what a loser he is,” but it never happened.

Nerd in Shining Armor

lklawless — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 07:30:43 +0000

It’s fun to imagine that incredibly smart guys, called “nerds” in high school, will grow up to be rich and successful while the jocks and other popular kids will end working at a gas station. Vicki Lewis Thompson’s Nerd in Shining Armor takes this fantasy a few steps further. The nerd in question is not only brilliant, but also extremely good looking and a great lover to boot. When he and Genevieve end up on a deserted island, it doesn’t take her long to succumb. This is the chickiest of chick lit, but if you’re after escapism, you’ll enjoy being marooned with beauty and the geek.

Bridget Jones\'s Diary Returns

lklawless — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 06:00:16 +0000

If The Edge of Reason, the sequel to Bridget Jones’s Diary, left you wanting more, then you’re in luck: Helen Fielding did another series of columns which are available online. (Or maybe you’re not as lame as I am and already read them when they were published 3 years ago.) Anyway, it’s a little bit of a drag to have to read Bridget’s third and almost certainly final volume on the computer, but I couldn’t bring myself to print out all those pages. Regardless, the year of weekly diary entries brings things to a much more satisfactory conclusion: Bridget Jones’s Diary Returns. (Note that the site also includes links to articles about the columns – the actual diary entries have bolded dates.)

Last Chance Saloon, by Marian Keyes

lklawless — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 06:11:49 +0000

Last Chance Saloon is Marian Keyes’s first novel told from multiple third-person points of view. It’s the story of old friends and new loves, growing up and seeing people for who they really are. Between the hair-obsessed actor and the woman who learns that it’s ok to need someone, it will make you laugh and cry.

The Spare Wife, by Alex Witchel

lklawless — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 06:00:01 +0000

It’s funny how people can see things so differently. A friend of mine asked a chick-lit-loving friend of his to recommend a book for me, and she came up with Alex Witchel’s The Spare Wife, which she described as “fun, sexy and an insider view of New York City’s upper crust.” I tried really hard to like it, but I found it boring, mean, and basically horrible – affairs with best friends’ spouses, rape fantasies, things that some people apparently find sexy and others – or at least I – find offensive and not at all fun. I literally hated this book. To each his or her own.

Cereal Lover, by Joan Conway

lklawless — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 06:00:40 +0000

Joan Conway’s Cereal Lover is probably one of the least-known great chick lit novels. The writing style is very similar to Marian Keyes’s* and the story is a little nutty, but that just makes it more fun. This is one of my favorite books – it’s a quick, funny read.

*So much so that for a while I thought Joan Conway might be a pen name. Then Ms. Keyes came out with her 6th or 7th novel and it was clear she just couldn’t possibly have enough time to write under multiple names.

Bet Me, by Jennifer Crusie

lklawless — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 06:00:30 +0000

A misunderstanding over an offensive bet leads to good food and great sex in Jennifer Crusie’s Bet Me. The characters are well-defined and the story is fast-paced, making for a fun and sexy novel.

Welcome to My Planet (Where English Is Sometimes Spoken), by Shannon Olson

lklawless — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:00:46 +0000

Shannon Olson, the eponymous heroine of Shannon Olson’s Welcome to My Planet (Where English Is Sometimes Spoken) is a mess: bad job, worse credit, crazy family, and terrible taste in men. There are a few funny moments, and the writing is pretty good, but it’s just too far out there – what kind of self-respecting woman would allow such a loser boyfriend into her life, let alone let him to treat her like that, repeatedly? And I know this is picky, but I was very distracted by the fact that the author named her allegedy fictional character after herself. I sure hope everything else was made up, because it’s a pretty sad story.