It's been awhile since I've immersed myself in some fun and frivolous chick-lit. And that's exactly what these books were. I had a long drive for a work trip, and these were perfect to listen to while I drove; not too serious and not too boring.
In Goodnight Nobody, one housewife discovers another housewife murdered in her kitchen. I was NOT expecting that from Jennifer Weiner, author of In Her Shoes (which moved a little too slowly for me.) This book was a pleasant mix of feminine self-realization and cliche suburban murder mystery, a la Desperate Housewives. I use the word cliche, but it's not such a bad thing in this instance. Kate Klein finds herself a mother of three children under the age of five and living in a sickeningly idyllic Connecticut suburb. While she tries to rediscover her 30-something identity ("how did I get to this place?" etc, etc.), she happens upon an unprecedented murder in her otherwise sleepy neighborhood. She thrives in the opportunity to do some investigating on her own to see if she can come to the bottom of this mystery.
The story was face paced and exciting while still remaining true to the genre of chick-lit. However, as soon as the audio book ended, I realized it was abridged and that really annoyed me! I can't stop thinking about what I missed by not getting an unabridged version! Ugh.
Anyway.
The next book was Promises to Keep by Jane Green. Again, we find ourselves in an idyllic suburb of New York City. For awhile, I kept getting the story mixed up with Goodnight Nobody because the characters and family profiles were so similar. However, there was no murder to solve in Promises. Instead, it was a heartwarming, tear-jerker of a family drama. I usually hate family dramas, but I actually really enjoyed this one! The characters were beautifully developed and wound together to form a wonderful tale of the importance of family and friends. First we have sisters Callie and Steffi and Callie's best friend Lila. Then there is Callie's adoring husband Reese, and her two children Jake and Eliza. Finally there are Callie and Steffi's parents who have been divorced for 30 years and don't even speak to each other. When one of them ends up with a terminal illness, the entire group comes together where they all discover something about themselves and how they relate to each other.
Now that I write it down, it kinda sounds like a pretty common storyline. The whole time I was listening to it, I kept imagining some kind of movie starring Claire Danes, Anne Hathaway and Ryan Gosling or some other dramatic Hollywood cast. My favorite part of the book was the vegan recipes at the end of each chapter! (Although some of the recipes weren't totally vegan.) Hello, how awesome is it to find a book that features a vegan chef as one of the main characters?!
I would recommend both for a fun, easy read.
I haven't ventured into the arena of chick-lit, but I think I'll have to give it a try one of these days. I did like Desperate Housewives when it first came on.
ReplyDeleteAbridged books are annoying! I read an abridged version of Les Miserables in high school and for the longest time I thought I had actually read the whole novel. One day I was walking through Barnes and Noble and saw the behemoth volume of Les Mis. on the shelf and I was horror struck! You mean, I haven't actually read the whole novel??? Horrible.