New Releases

I love the idea of "summer reading" or "beach books", but since I'm a grown-up with a 9-5 and 10 days off per year and several extra-curriculars demanding my attention... well, it doesn't really feel like summer affords me any extra reading time than any other time of year.  That being said, it's still summer, right?  And that's the time when the new chick lit and thrillers make their appearances.  I have read a few such new releases over the past couple of weeks:

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson (Book No. 23).  Of course I read this one!  I have been waiting for it for months!   So good.  I am just sorry it was the final book in the trilogy and that there won't be any more Lisbeth Salander to look forward to.

Heart of the Matter, by Emily Giffin (Book No. 24).  I have read all of Ms. Giffin's books, but I find them less and less satisfying as I go through each new one.  This plot is based on infidelity.  Now, I am really sensitive to this subject.  I don't know.  I am just really touchy about it.   That being said, I was almost bored during the first part of the book, and as it went on, I just didn't feel for any one of the characters.  The wife was a little bland, but fine, and I was just not relating to the single mom/other woman AT ALL.  She was such a sad sack.  I know - she was going through a crisis, etc., but does she smile?  What did the husband find attractive about her? Beats me.  Then I just wanted the self-centered husband to go away and let all of the women in the book bond and be friends.  I don't know.  I liked it well enough, but for my buck, Ms. Giffin's earlier books were much more gripping.  At least she didn't mention how great Wake Forest is in this one...

Sizzling Sixteen, Janet Evanovich (Book No. 25).  Cute, silly, same as all the other Stephanie Plum books.  Fits my definition of a fun summer read, for sure.

Uncharted Territori, by Tori Spelling (Book No. 26). I don't know what it is, but I just love reading Tori Spelling's books.  I just find her very endearing, and I think she's a lot more self-aware than people give her credit for.  She's funny and ambitious and insecure and a cute, hands-on mom. 

I do want to know more about why everyone in the cast of 90210 (with the possible exception of the gorgeous Jennie Garth) hates her, though.  Tori claims not to understand it, and vaguely attributes their public bad-mouthing of her or their blatant snubbing of her to her break-up with her first husband, but... what did she do, really?  So Luke, Tiffani:  Call me.  Need to know more.  Other than that unsolved mystery, I like her and liked this book.  Plus she is wearing an adorable outfit on the cover.

Finally, I also read The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella, by Stephenie Meyers.  Because I'm a sucker.  However, I refuse to go see "Eclipse".  I do have a few standards, bish, please.  (Book No. 27).

My Top Nine Chick Lit Novels

All right, then. Since we’ve established that I cannot resist the siren call of the girly novel, no matter how much I pretend to disdain them, then I might as well face up to facts and just sing their praises already. (More analysis/defense after the list.) Here, then, are my ten favorite chick lit novels (not including books by Jane Austen, George Eliot or the Brontes, which are, when you get down to it, entertaining books about single women and social mores …). In no particular order:

1. Bridget Jones’s Diary, by Helen Fielding. This isn’t necessarily my favorite on this list, but I liked it, and as it is widely (though, some will argue, erroneously) considered to be the seminal work of the chick lit genre as it exists today, it stands to reason that it should occupy #1 on this list.
   


2. Watermelon, by Marian Keyes. Watermelon actually came out a year before Bridget, so maybe this should be tied for #1, actually... This is, I believe, the first chick lit book to which I succumbed. Claire, our heroine, gets dumped by her husband as she lies in the hospital, giving birth to their first daughter.
   
   
   
3. 3. Something Borrowed, by Emily Giffin. Despite the author's tendency to malign Blue Devils and pump it up for Wake Forest... ad nauseum... in every book she writes... she gets my vote. I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing, really.
   



4. Good In Bed, by Jennifer Weiner. I already wrote about this book... just this week. But this one makes the list because it made me cry.
   
   
5. Welcome to My Planet: Where English is Sometimes Spoken, by Shannon Olson. I already wrote about this one, too, about a hundred years ago.
   


6. The entire Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. Evanovich has scads of dedicated fans. Our girl Stephanie is an unlikely bounty hunter with big hair and a pet hamster. She juggles a couple of hot men while conducting her bounty-hunting activities, which are more often than not slapsticky antics involving a host of goofball characters. These books are actually really fun. Light, funny, silly. Ms. Evanovich is perhaps the godmother of what has come to be known as the “tart noir” genre (chick lit mysteries). Start with One for the Money.
   


7. As long as we’re including entire series, then let’s add the Gossip Girl series by Cecily Von Ziegesar. I know these are ostensibly for teenagers, but they are hard to put down. I have only read a couple of them, and I might just have Gossip Girl on the brain due to my love for the TV show (the pretty, pretty people! the bright and shiny clothes!), but I think these books are fun and pop-culturally significant, so they make my list.



8. The Nanny Diaries, by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. This book was so commercially successful that the first-time authors were given a heady $3 million advance for their second book, Citizen Girl. Which they reportedly had to return, when Citizen Girl turned out to be a dud.
   


9. The Devil Wears Prada, by Lauren Weisberger. Being an assistant is hard.

Coming up with a Top Ten list is also hard (which is why I stopped at nine.)

So, I’ve been thinking. What I like about these books, I think, is that the authors put their characters through (mostly) realistic situations, situations that a lot of women can relate to. I think this is what draws women in. Stories about dating, weight loss/gain, pregnancy issues, family pressures, embarrassing moments, laughing with friends – these are all things I easily identify with. And these are not necessarily frivolous things: Many traumatic issues (infidelity, family, anxiety, loss of jobs/boyfriends/family members) are handled in the stories, but handled with some humor. They are, in general, upbeat – not altogether emotionally draining. It’s not that the characters are silly, really. Just because there’s a hole in the ozone layer, doesn’t mean a woman can’t also be sad about - say - breaking off her engagement, you know? I can be excited about a new president and new shoes.

Let’s consider the demographic. The past decade or so has shown that there are more single women, making more money, living on their own, than ever before. So it stands to reason that there would be a genre of literature reflecting that trend. Look at Friends, Seinfeld, Sex and The City (the latter of which, of course, was a book to begin with). All wildly popular during this era, and all exhibit chick lit characteristics: Single people in urban settings, often relying on a tribe of friends rather than family members, dealing with real life issues with humor.

So I have decided I stand in defense of the genre. Books don’t have to be depressing to be good. Why am I being so defensive?

Any other candidates?