Summer Reading List: Big Asses, The Tenth Circle, and a Little Bit of Sweet Valley

Before we begin with the books, I just hafta say one thing:

PRINCE HARRY NAKED?  IN VEGAS?

Harry, Harry, Harry!  While it still sort of pisses me off that you came out the hottie prince (I was totes #teamwills as a teenager back before hashtags were even a thing), you ARE in fact the hottie prince.  And if you're going to be stripping down in Vegas and being an embarrassment to the throne all the while endearing yourselves to everyone else in the world, you could have at least had the decency to strip down next month WHEN I AM THERE. 

Also, this little race you had with Ryan Lochte?  Totally could've waited another month.  Totally.  Seriously, why don't you guys rematch in September then we can all retire to your penthouse and play strip billiards while you charm us all with your accent.  Kthanksbye.

Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly, Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who Are These Idiots and Why do They Live Next Door to Me by Jen Lancaster - Okay, people, you know I totally have a girl crush on Ms. Lancaster.  I loved Such a Pretty Fat and Bitter is the New Black.  Loved them.  This one though?  Ya'll.  I couldn't even finish it.  Parts of it were funny but most of it was just . . . painful . . . to read.  Like, I feel like she should give me the WEEK I wasted just TRYING to navigate my way through this thing.

Normally, in a book review, I would reserve the second paragraph for telling you a synopsis of the book.  Here's the problem with Big Ass: I have NO IDEA WHAT IT WAS ABOUT.  Presumeably, according to the descriptions you see on Amazon and Good Reads, it's supposed to be about Ms. Lancaster's (she's totes Ms. Lancaster and not BFF Jen Jen after this book) life in the city.  Only.  It was just her . . . I don't even know . . . whining and complaining and carrying on and hating everyone.

Lancaster got off on the wrong foot with me in the very first chapter when she describes an interview for a temp job.  Her interviewer was very Texan and kept saying "y'all" when talking to Jen and only to Jenn.  Hi.  I'm from the south.  I have lived in Texas.  I'm 32 years old and have never EVER heard someone use "y'all" in the singular.  It just does not happen.  Nitpicky?  Yes.  But it bugged me.

As I got further in the book . . . oh, this is painful to write.  Not only does Lancaster ADMIT to reading Ann Coulter but she actually admits to wanting to have a sleepover with this horrible woman.  I'm not fickle enough to let something like that be the only reason I quit reading a book.  I "like" Lancaster's Facebook page so I arrrdy done knew she was pretty conservative.  I love a whole lot of conservative people -- I may not agree with their political views but that's okay.  We're still cool.  But when you openly admit - in a book, that gets published, read by thousands! - that you want to have a sleepover with Ann Coulter.  Bitch, please.  We gotta rethink this relationship.  The book as a whole - or at least what I read of it (a little more than half) comes across as so bitchy and snobby that it was impossible to read.  Do yourself a favor and skip this one.

The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult - This book received some pretty horrible reviews on Good Reads.    This was my first ever Jodi Picoult book and I'm thinking, if it received bad reviews, then her other books must be truly bad ass.  On a scale of five, I would give this one a three and a half.  It was dark and depressing and I wanted to stab someone with the way it ended.  But.  It caught and kept my attention.  I wanted to know what happened.  And that alone is the mark of a pretty darn good book.  In my opinion anyway.

The Tenth Circle tells us the story of the Stone family.  Dad Daniel grew up as the only white kid in a native Eskimo village in Alaska.  His rough childhood followed him into adulthood but remained something he kept hidden from his wife and daughter.  His wife, Laura, is a college professor participating in some, shall we say, extra cirricular activities with one of her students.  Daughter Trixie is 14, recently dumped by her first love, a cutter, and the book centers around the fact that she was raped at a party.  Yeah.  Not exactly a light little beach read, eh?

I could tick off a whole bunch of problems with the book.  Picoult doesn't delve deeply at all into Laura Stone's affair.  It's almost as if it shouldn't have even been included in the book.  Trixie Stone is very hard to feel sorry for as a victim and, as much as I didn't want to, there were times in the story where I almost sympathized with her rapist (a 16-year-old boy).  And maybe I'm just naive and things have changed a lot - a lot, a lot - in the decades since I was a 14-year-old girl - but the sexuality present in the book just seemed over the top.  I'm sure it's probably naitivite on my part but, as the mother of a baby girl and step mother of a girl not much younger that those in the book, I sincerely hope not.

All in all, this was a decent read.  I hated the ending but the story as a whole kept my attention and definitely made me want to pick up other Picoult novels.

 

The Sweet Life by Francine Pascal - Francine Pascal hates Elizabeth Wakefield.  And maybe Annie Whitman too.  I was always more of a Jessica fan (seriously, could Elizabeth have BEEN more of a goody-goody [I said that in my best Chandl-ah Bing voice]) but even I was totally put off with how old Francine just took a great big shit on Elizabeth's life.

 

The Sweet Life catches up with the Wakefields and an assortment of other Sweet Valley-ins three years after Sweet Valley Confidential.  Jessica and Todd, the parents of a toddler, are on the verge of divorce.  A rape scandal has Bruce Patman's career - and relationship with Elizabeth - in tatters.  Lila and Ken and Steven and Aaron have approxomately four chapters each devoted to them in the entire serial -- seemingly to give us a tiny glimpse of what's going on with them but not enough to develop a real storyline.  Oh, and Annie Whitman?  She's still Easy Annie.

 

There's not much to say without giving away the story and, if you're a Sweet Valley fan, then you're not going want me to do that.  It's cheesy.  It's campy.  You'll want to call Francine Pascal all kinds of colorful names once you reach the final chapter.  Pascal has said there won't be a continuation of the story but she definitely leaves room - and a lot of it - for a follow-up.  I'm not sure if I love Pascal for bringing the characters I loved so much back to me or if I hate her for what she did to them. 

Summer Reading List: Baseball and Cheatin' Hearts

Alternately titled: I hate Emily Griffin.

Before we get into THAT, though, can we talk about the Olympics for a quick minute?  I know the fact that they only happen every four years (the good stuff only happens every four years.  If we could figure out a way to include figure skating in the summer games we wouldn't even NEED a winter Olympics) is what makes them special.  But, still, I love them and wish they came around more often.

Tell me you weren't grinning like the biggest idiot on the planet last night when the gymnastics scores were announced and Gabby Douglas broke out in her Mary Lou Retton smile.  Tell me you didn't get all teary-eyed when the cameras broke to her mom in the audience.  Tell me you didn't mutter something about long-legged, skinny, mosquito-looking Russian crybaby when Victoria Komova burst into body-racking sobs.  TELL ME.

I think one of the greatest thing about the Olympics is, save for the basketball team and possibly Michael Phelps, these are basically just normal people with grueling workout schedules.  Then, all the sudden, Ryan Lochte is the newest hottie and Missy Franklin and Gabby Douglas are in a head-to-head competiton for America's Sweetheart.  I love it!

Now.  My summer reading list.  And a little bit of why I hate Emily Griffin.

A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand - Okay, peeps, if you've ready any of my summer reading list reviews to this point then you know I totes have a girl crush on Ms. Hilderbrand at the moment.  I adore her books.  Absolutely adore them.  This one, though, as much as I hate to admit it, I was not in love with it. 

A Summer Affair introduces us to Claire Crispin, wife to Jason and mother of four young children. Years prior to the time frame in which the book is set, she goes for a GNO with several friends.  One of those, Daphne, drives home drunk and ends up in an accident.  Claire blames herself and carries the guilt around with her.  When Daphne's husband, Lock, askes her to chair Nantucket's annual summer gala to benefit a children's organization, she feels as though she can't say no..  She's just months removed from the traumatic birth of her fourth child and from giving up (temporarily to her, permanently to her husband) a career in glass blowing to embrace full time motherhood.  Just weeks into her charimenship, she and Lock begin having an affair.  The ensuing drama is centered around Claire and Lock falling in love, fear of discovery, and wondering if she can actually leave her husband and her life.

My main problem with this book is that, unlike so many of Hilderbrand's characters, Claire Crispin isn't all that likeable.  She's whiney and a pushover and more than once I found myself rolling my eyes at something she said or did.  I would've much rather read a book about Siobhan, Claire's saucy sister-in-law.  The best thing about the book is that karma does it's job though not in the way you would expect.  There is no happily ever after -- and I tend to think that's how it generally tends to go when it comes to cheatin' hearts.

Calico Joe by John Grisham - Love baseball.  Love John Grisham.  Picking up this book was a no brainer.

The story takes us from current times to the summer of 1973 when baseball was still America's game and Joe Castle, up from the farm leagues to play for the Cubs, took the game by storm with his record shattering hits.  Paul Tracey was an 11-year-old kid in '73 and, like any other boy at that time, worshipped Joe Castle -- soon coined "Calico Joe" thanks to his Calico Rock, Arkansas, roots.  Paul also happened to be the son of Warren Tracey, the New York Mets pitcher with a chip on his shoulder.  In present times, Warren is dying of pancreatic cancer and Paul thinks it's time he made ammends with Calico Joe. 

This was a short book. I was able to read it in just over a day.  It's an interesting story line and, even though there's a lot of baseball in it, the storyline is good enough that I think even nonfans would enjoy it.  It's a story that tends to pull at the heartstrings and, honestly, it's 100% predictable.  The character of Warren has absolutely nothing - nothing! - about him that's likeable but that's pretty standard of most of the villians in Grisham's books.  It's a good summer read but not anything that you're going to move to the "best book evah!!!11!" shelf.



Heart of the Matter by Emily Griffin - I'm to the point that I believe "Emily Griffin" is a pseudonym and "her" books are actually written by a man.  It blows my mind that a woman could continually write books to where a - for lack of better expression - cheating bastard comes out on top.  I have one more of her books downloaded so I'll certainly read it but then I think I'm done with her books.  They're entertaining enough, for the most part, but the message they send makes me all stabby.

This Griffin tale is about . . . what else?  Infidelity!  Tessa Russo recently quit her job in order to stay at home with her two small children.  Her husband, Nick, is the best pediatric surgeon in the area (a fact he's quick to rattle off to a patient's mother . . . asshole).  Valerie Anderson is a high-powered attorney and the single mother to a six-year-old little boy.  Tessa and Valerie's lives intermingle when Valerie's son is burned and Dr. Nick Russo is the surgeon who cares for him.  Over the course of the book, Nick and Valerie delve into an inappropriate relationship (won't spoil for you, however, if it's actually consummated) and Tessa finds herself handed an unraveling marriage.

Interestingly enough, the characters Dex and Rachel from Something Borrowed find their way into Heart of the Matter.  Dex just so happens to be Tessa's brother and, hey, wouldn't you  know -- Tessa actually ran out on a fiancee right before a wedding too.  It's a family thing! 

This book sucks.  The character of Tessa is likeable enough -- but maybe that's because we're supposed to root for the wife.  Nick Russo is sleazy and please don't get me started on a renowned (best in the area!) surgeon risking his career for an inappropriate relationship with a character that is sullen, whiney, and rude.  Emily Griffin doesn't set us up to hate Valerie Anderson the way she did with Darcy Rone in Borrowed.  Valerie isn't that bitchy girl who always got her way; the girl we all love to eat.  But there is also not one single thing about her that's so much as remotely likeable.  My real problem with the book is what we end up taking away from it: that if your husband cultivates another relationship outside of your marriage, some of the fault is on your shoulders.  Griffin seems to insinuate that Nick took up with Valerie because of Tessa's unhappiness.  Because of Tessa - stressed out with a 2-year-old and 4-year-old - no longer being the woman Nick married.  Really?  It couldn't be because, I don't know, NICK IS AN ASSHOLE?  Or, you know, Nick couldn't have discussed the problems in their relationship with Tessa before jumping into the arms of another woman?  Please. Another problem I had with the book is the disdain Griffin seems to convey for stay-at-home mothers.  Seems as though staying at home with your children makes one boring and gossip-mongering in Griffin's opinion. 

I was seriously so disappointed with this book.  Emily Griffin?  You're an asshole.

Ahhhh, The Sweet Life

I grew up in the 80's and 90's and I loved to read. So, OF COURSE, I was all about some Sweet Valley.  The Sweet Valley Kids series didn't come around until I was past that stage but, man, I loved some Sweet Valley Twins. And, naturally, I graduated onto Sweet Valley High.

Ahhh. SVH. I can remember standing in line to go into class when I was in the fifth grade the girl in front of me said, in her most scandalized voice, "Did you know there's a Sweet Valley High book in the library called All Night Long?". Oh reeeeally? Of course, I had to pick it up. It was my beloved Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield, still glorious and beautiful but now 16 and in high school, and staying out all night with older guys with 70's porn mustaches. I was hooked!
Over the years, I graduated from SVH to grown folks literature (such masterpieces as Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic Series). But I've always had a fondness for the Wakefield twins. They WERE my formative years. I was excited when Francine Pascal published Sweet Valley Confidential last year and brought us up to date on Jessica, Elizabeth, Todd, Enid and the rest of the crew. (I'll refrain, at this point, from posting a laundry list of errors from that particular book. But, Francine, it was Ricky Capaldo! Ricky that "saved" Easy Annie back in high school! Ricky Capaldo!!!!!!)

A few weeks ago, the first installment in the e-serial "The Sweet Life" was released and my Sundays haven't been the same since. The installments are released weekly and they're short enough they can easily be read in an hour or less. I wasn't going to write anything about The Sweet Life until I finished all six e-serials. But after finishing the fourth yesterday morning ... must.talk.about.it.

Here's the deal:

1) I want to find Sweet Valley, California and RAISE MY CHILDREN THERE. The crazy drama aside, everyone who graduated from SVH is crazy successful! Annie Whitman is only 29, making her just four years out of law school, but she's already achieved everything an attorney can possibly achieve in San Diego and headed back to provide her law prowess to her hometown. Ken Matthews plays in the NFL. Todd and Elizabeth both write for the LA Times ... a pretty major paper for being not even a decade removed from their days at SVU! And how crazy that it's the biggest paper so close to their hometown? Enid Rollins is the best gynecologist in Sweet Valley, despite being a scant 30-years-old, an age at which everyone but Enid and Doogie Howser is still in their residency. Even Caroline Pearce, that crazy gossip that everybody loves to hate, runs a successful blog.

2) Let's talk age. Y'all. There must be a fountain of youth in Sweet Valley! The first book was published in 1983. Yet in 2012 Jessica and Elizabeth - age16 in '83 - are only 30. I was 13 years younger than them all those years ago and now THEY are younger than me? Remember the fits that Claire Pike used to throw in the Babysitters Club series? No feeeeeee-air! (Yeah, thought I'd pull another 90's reference on you!) Although, I'll be honest.  I'm not sure I want to live in a world where the Wakefield twins would be celebrating their 45th birthday this year. 

3) Enid Rollins. Best OBGYN in all if Sweet Valley -- everybody goes to her!  She turned into some sort of evil horsebeast in the years since high school and now everybody hates her.  But they let her get elbow deep in their lady parts? Ex-squeeze me very much? Do me a favor. Think of the person you hated the most in high school. Now. Imagine yourself carrying on a conversation with her while your feet are in stirrups and she is SWABBING YOUR VAGINA. Yeah, not gonna happen. It was bad enough when somebody I knew from high school had to give me a sponge bath in the hospital. And she was somebody I liked! 

You better believe there'll be more about the series to come.  Now while I wait for the last two installments to be released, Imma go in search of Sweet Valley and their fountain of youth . . .

Summer Reading List: Legal Thrillers, Suspence, Memoirs, Chick Lit, and More!

I am so behind on writing about the books I've read!  I was actually able to read more on our California vacation (48 hours on the road with a husband and children to ignore) but haven't read much since being home.  Things like laundry and vacuuming always seem to get in the way.  :/

The Litigators by John Grisham  - I've never been shy about professing my love for Grisham.  He's one of the first "grown" authors I read and I still, to this day, absolutely devour his books.  (Exceptions being The Brethern and The Broker, both books he should've written under a psuedonym because . . . DAMN).  The Litigators is the story of David Zinc, a young Chicago attorney working his ass off in the salt mine known as a Big Law Firm.  He's on the fast track to a partnership and gobs of money when he, tired of the pressure, throws it all away.  He finds his way to a "boutique firm" that is more or less managed by a couple of ambulance chasers.  One of the partners has the inside track on a huge class action suit against a pharamceutical company.  What follows is a series of blunders, all in the pursuit of the "big one" and big bucks.

The Litigators is by no means another The Firm or The Partner or The Rainmaker.  It's not a legend and it's doubtful there will ever be a movie made of it.  But it IS a fun book, an enjoyable book.  The characters are classic Grisham-ish in that they're easy to like even with their goofiness and obvious character flaws.  There is not a lot of action in the book.  It's hardly what anyone would call a "legal thriller."  But it is a good, fun read.

Summer People by Elin Hilderbrand - I read this entire book in the stretch between Odessa, Texas, and Deming, New Mexico.  I was so completely captivated by it that I found myself getting irritated when we had to stop for potty breaks or what not because I DID NOT WANT TO STOP READING.  In the interest of full disclosure, Hilderbrand is probably my favorite author -- particuarly when it comes to a good beach read, but still . . . this book was just captivating.

Summer People is the story of the Newton family.  The mother, Beth, and teenage twins, Winnie and Garrett, are spending the summer in Nantucket, the first since the loss of family patriarch Arch.  Along for the ride is Marcus, the son of Arch's final client in his law practice.  The summer sees the family through their pain, Marcus deals with his own pain, and all three of the teenagers fall in love for the first time.  Meanwhile, Beth is dealing with a secret that she kept from her husband and children, a secret that comes back to haunt her as the summer wears on.

The book is good.  It's really good.  It's relateable and realistic in a lot of ways.  The "secret" that Beth carries is both obvious and pretty damn lame but, other than that, it's a total page turner. 

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg - Okay, we all know that Fried Green Tomatoes starring Kathy Bates and Jessica Tandy is, like, one of the Best Movies Ever.  It's chick flickish and funny and pulls at your heart strings and, ohmygosh, don't you just love it?  I absolutely adore when I can catch it on one of the movie channels!  Since I enjoyed the movie so much, I knew I had to - had to! - read the book.

The book/ movie is the story of Evelyn, a middle-aged woman, who befriends Mrs. Threadgoode, an elderly woman at the local nursing home.  Over the course of their visits, Mrs. Threadgoode shares the stories of the Threadgood family, the cafe (Whistle Stop) ran by Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Bennett, and the time Idgie stood trial for the murder of Ruth's former husband.  Mrs. Threadgoode and Evelyn form a lasting bond and share a friendship that bridges the gap in their ages.  Evelyn begins to question her own life and choices and her penchant for always following the status quo in life.

The book is good.  It's very good.  But.  I think that MAYBE I liked the movie better.  It's not really something I can explain.  Perhaps I appreciate the movie more because I've been watching it every time it came on TBS for the past 20 years.  Maybe I like it more because the book skipped around too much (and skip around it did!  One chapter you're in the 1980's, next you're in the 50's, back to the 80's, then into the 20's).  The book does, however, delve into much  more detail than we ever see in the movie.  We learn more about Buddy Jr. as the book sees him past the age of eight or so where the movie left off.  We see much - much! - more of Big George and his family.  The book has an overall lesbian theme between Idgie and Ruth, something that seems to be missing from the movie.  Fannie Flagg never comes right out and says that they are in a lesbian relationship but it's much more than implied.

All in all, the book was good.  It was very enjoyable.  But the movie is the real masterpiece. "Face it girls.  I'm older and I have more insurance."



The Gap Year by Sarah Bird - If you have a daughter, this book will make you think.  When I finished it, I couldn't stop thinking about the hopes and wishes I have for my daughter -- and how they will collide with the hopes and wishes she has for herself.

The Gap Year is told from two different points of view: that of mother Cam after daughter Aubrey has graduated from high school and in Aubrey's voice throught out her senior year.  Cam is a single mother and gave up a life she loved in the city for the superb school districts of the suburbs.  When Aubrey begins her final year of high school, the mother/ daughter relationship turns more tumultuous.  Aubrey falls in love with a young man Cam doesn't approve of.  And all Cam really wants is Aubrey to keep her eyes on the prize: college.

It was hard for me to know which "side" I was supposed to stand on with this book.  I'm a mother - a mother of a daughter at that - but it doesn't feel like it was that long ago that *I* was a senior in high school and the entire world was my oyster.  I can understand Cam wanting Aubrey to pursue higher education but, at the same time, I could understand everything that Aubrey was going through as well.

There are several different elements of the book that I won't give away and they serve to make the book more interesting.  And at least one of them makes it slightly squicky.  Aubrey's father left when she was just two-years-old to join a Scientology-type cult.  The whole cult angle is both weird and kind of necessary to the storyline.  Both main characters, Cam and Aubrey, made me want to scream from time to time and there is a certain disdain/ stereotyping of the suburbs.  In the end, I think the book was pretty true-to-life of the mother/ daughter relationship.  And, mannnnn, did it make me THINK!



The Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark - Ya'll.  I think maybe it's time for Mary Higgins Clark to put away the pen and paper.  Her books.  They ain't what they used to be.

The Lost Years tells us of biblical scholar Jonathan Lyons who is murdered after he reveals to his priest and a handfull of friends that he thinks he has found a sacred parchment.  His wife, suffering from alzhiemers, is found in the closet clutching the gun.  Their daughter, Mariah, is left to pick up the pieces of their life and try to figure out what happened to her father.

This book was just . . . I don't know how to describe it but I think "meh" is probably the beset adjective.  It was better than Shadow of your Smile but it was nothing - nothing! - like the earlier works of Clark that I fell in love with so many years ago.  I didn't care WHO committed the murder.  The main character lacked the charisma of the heroines of other MHC novels.  It was just a boring novel that I only barrelled my way through because I make it a point to always at least try to finish a book. This is also yet another novel where Alvirah Meehan makes an appearance.  I understand that she's a loveable character and many of Clark's fans are also fans of Alvirah. However, I think it's time to retire Alvirah's sunburst pin . . .

Interestingly: When I googled this book, I found a discussion wherein several people seem to think that her last few novels haven't been written by Mary Higgins Clark but, rather, her daughter Carol.  Veddy interesting.  Veddy interesting.



Bossypants by Tina Fey - Man.  I love Tina Fey.  She's hillarious (hello!  Bitch is the new black??  Comedic genius) and she's also one of those people, along with Amy Poeler, that you like to think you'd be BFF'd up with if, you know, your paths ever happened to cross.

This book starts off great.  It's funny and - even better - you find yourself reading it in her voice.  She tosses in sarcasm and every chance she gets and I love her even more for it.  Once she gets to the middle of the book, and begins discussing the SNL years and then 30 Rock, it was a little harder for me to read.  It wasn't as interesting and it seemed like she went on and on (and on!) way after all the "good" jokes about those times in her life were out of the way.  She picked up steam again when discussing her portrayal of Sarah Palin and her chapter on motherhood was downright hilarity.  She touches on the whole mommywars and everything she said about breastfeeding had me saying, "yes!' and "preach it, sista!"

The book is good.  It's one that you'll want to read -- but I won't be mad atcha if you skip over the SNL and 30 Rock parts.

It Happened This Week x 3

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR.  Guess what is being released today?  The first two installments of The Sweet Life e-serial.  If you grew up in the 80's or 90's then you done know that any book with "Sweet" in the title is about our favorite identical twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield.  I am ridiculously excited to read this series.  Ridiculously, embarrassingly excited.  Now, can someone please tell Ann M. Martin to update us on Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, and the rest of the Baby-sitter's Club?  Kthanks.

Here's a little look at our past three weeks:

Sunday 6/24:

This particular Sunday Fun Day was quite possibly the HOTTEST AND MOST CROWDED DAY EVER at the Spray Park.  Oh.My.Gosh.  It was SO hot and I had never seen SO many people out there.

Monday 6/25:

Tuesday 6/26:

Wednesday 6/27:

Date on the picture is wrong.

Too lazy to change it.

Thursday 6/28:

Friday 6/29:

So, when we left on Thursday we headed to Dallas (our friends we were travelling with live in Dallas).  Friday was sort of a free day so we took the kids to the Parks Mall in Arlington where Jaidan ice skating for the first time!  Unfortch, the kid is a lot like his Mama.  :/  Coordination = 0.

Saturday 6/30:

We drove a little past the halfway point between Dallas and LA to spend a night in Deming, New Mexico.  We left early enough to get there in time for the kids to get out as much energy as possible in the pool.

Sunday 7/1:

Monday 7/2:

Tuesday 7/3:

Wednesday 7/4:

Thursday 7/5:

Friday 7/6:

Saturday 7/7:

Sunday 7/8:

Monday 7/9:

We got home from our trip late the night of the 9th.  Waiting for me when I got home was . . . a new camera!  It's a point-and-shoot (it's also Eddie's anniversary gift for putting in 15 years with his company.  Meaning IT WAS FREE) but it's a top of the line point-and-shoot.  I haven't even come close to beginning to figure this thing out yet but even shooting in automatic mode, I've managed to get some amazingly crisp pictures.  I'm kindasorta totallyandcompletely in l-o-v-e with this camera.

Aaaaand I gave you that whole paragraph because the rest of these pictures were taken with my new Lover.  Hoping you'll see a difference in their vibrance/ quality.

Monday 7/10:

Wednesday 7/11:

Notice that tatoo on his head?  Yeah.  He put that one there - and a whole bunch up and down his arms - because he was, and I quote, "trying to look like a basketball player."  Sigh.

Thursday 7/12:

Friday 7/13:

Saturday 7/14:



Summer Reading List: Green and Sparks

I thought I would do a lot of reading on our East Coast vacation.  Ha.  Hahahahahaha.  Yeah.Right.  I think I read, maybe, a chapter of possibly one book.  I doubt I'll do much reading when we're in California either.  But who knows!  Maybe with the husband along for the ride I won't be yelling into the backseat as often and can enjoy myself a little bit. 

I finished one book and started and read another in the time I was home before leaving again.  Lemme tell you about those two!

Second Chance by Jane Green - This book has a great plot line.  Tom is killed in a terroristic attack and this brings together his old schoolmates -- now approaching their 40's and all with some sort of well, that's life type of problems -- problems almost anyone can relate to.  Saffron is carrying on an affair with a married man.  Holly is desparately unhappy in her marriage.  Paul and his wife are struggling with infertility and Olivia is lonely.  Tom's death brings them  back together and forces them to be introspective about their own lives. 

The book had the potential to be great.  There's something about a life being snuffed away too quickly that makes us all examine our own lives, where we are, our happiness or unhappiness.  And the book is okay but it's not what it could have, should have been.  Holly is the character that is the most hashed out but we're all left feeling like we don't know the other characters as well as we know her.  In addition, the book lacked a lot of the humor you find in Jane Green books.  Like I said, it was okay but it's honestly probably not something I'd ever read again.  (The mark of a great book for me is that I can read it over and over.  And over.  And over). 



The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks - Do you ever wonder if Nicholas Sparks is as romantic as the men he writes about in his books?  I'm not gonna lie, every time I read one of his novels I can't help but think "yeah, nuh-uh, no way, notta gonna happena" because really?  I mean REALLY?  And when women tell me that THEIR man is like one of the leads in a Nick Sparks book I automatically assume she's just lying and an asshole.  I'm just sayin'.

The Best of Me is the story of Dawson Cole, the cliched Boy from the Wrong Side of the Tracks, and Amanda Collier, the Cheerleader and Everything Girl.  They fall in deep love in high school but, of course, her parents interfere and break up their relationship.  They both leave the small North Carolina town where they were raised, but find themselves back 25 years later following the death of an old friend.  You don't even have to read the book to know where the story goes from there.  It's Nichoals Sparks after all!  They rediscover their love but Amanda is faced with choosing between Dawson and her own troubled marriage.  Not only that, but there is the (kinda weird, honestly) angle of a couple of Dawson's cousins who are hell bent on revenge for something-or-nother that happened 20 years in the past.

Thing is -- the book is good.  It's Nicholas Sparks and he is absolutely amazing and character development.  Seriously.  This guy could write about a serial killer and make you feel like he has some sort of redeeming characters.  You find yourself liking both Dawson and Amanda and, as the book goes on, pulling for them.  The book is predictable (especially if you've read any other Sparks books).  It's supposed to be a tear jerker.  Maybe it would be for some people but the predictability sort of took out the "boo hoo" factor for me.  It's a good enough book, an easy read but it's also most definitely not one of his best.

Summer Reading List: Groove and Bitter

It's Friiiiiiiiiday!

I'm spending the day doing laundry (yay!) so that I can pack tomorrow.  My original plan as to do a majority of the packing today but you know what?  Don't see that happening.  We're leaving on Sunday morning.  This morning Kyan, who is easily the most excited of all my kids, did his "two day dance."  He can't wait to go see his Uncle Booger, Aunt Jessica, Baby B, and, of course, Barack Obama and Abraham Lincoln . . .

A couple books from this past week:

How Stella Got Her Groove Back by Terry McMillan - I have read several Terry McMillan books and really enjoyed them (favorite: A Day Late and a Dollar Short).  My only real complaint with her is that she tends to talk down on white people on ocassion and, well, WHITE PERSON.  I understand that I'm not her target audience though.  Anyway.  Stella is one of the few McMillan books I'd yet to read so I gave it a go this week. 

If you're not aware - and I think most people are since it was made it a movie and all - the book is the story of Stella, a 40-something from San Francisco who goes to Jamaica to have fun and "do her" for a few days. While there, she meets and falls in love with a 20-year-old Jamaican man named Winston. Half the book is her whining about how young he is and the other half is her rambling about something that makes absolutely zero sense to the plot.

Ya'll.  This book is a total snoozer.  The only way I was even able to finish it is because we took a Tennessee River Run on Sunday and, being in the car for about five round-trip hours, meant I had tons of time to read.  (Sidenote: does anyone else find that ereaders, iBooks, and Kindles make it so much easier to read in the car?  I get queasy if I read a regular book in the car but it doesn't bother me to read an iBook  Weird).  It also helped that I could visualize Winston and Taye Diggs.  I'm not sure if I found the book so boring because it actually IS boring or if it's because we know the outcome.  It was partly based on McMillan's own romance and, well, said romance went up in flames.  Not only did it go up in flames but the man Winston was based upon turned out to be gay and McMillan claimed he used her to gain citizenship.  Ai yi yi.  So much for a great story.

The thing is, though, the character of Stella rambles on too much and about things that have nothing to do with the story, nor do they help to develop her character any further.  I skimmed over entire pages because it was, like, seriously? She's rambling AGAIN?  It was just a boring book.  I can understand why they made it into a movie because the basic plot is great.  It just could've - and should've - been hashed out so much better.

Bitter is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass, Or, Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag go the Unemployment Office by Jen Lancaster - I LOVE Jen Lancaster.  I love her.  I kinda want to BE her. (Or at least have her shoe collection).  She is funny and sarcastic and irreverant.  And - best of all - she owns who she is (just look at the title of this book!).  She also reminds me - a lot - of my friend Jenn B.  An annony noter left me the recommendation a couple weeks ago to read her books in order.  In my head, I know this is a good idea but I tend to get caught up in covers and descriptions sometimes.  I read Such a Pretty Fat a few weeks ago and absolutely adored it but, now I'm going in order.  Believe it or not, Bitter is even BETTER than Pretty Fat!  To say it's a good read would be an understatment.
It's the (true!) story of Jen Lancaster's own journey through unemployment.  She begins the book with an infactuation with all things Dior and Prada and, even if you can't relate (Hi!  I own exactly two designer items: a Louis Vuitton that I bought in Belize and is probably a knock off because the chain on it broke after a few months.  And a Coach wristlet that came (new, with tags!) from Goodwill) you still love her for it.  She is admitedly bitchy and narcisstic but you can't help but like her -- and root for her.

Through out the course of the book she learns a lot of important lessons.  And, really, I think part of what makes the book enjoyable is that we've all been there.  If you're anywhere close to your 30's then you know there's been a time in your life when you had an "OMG, how am I going to pay my bills" moment while simutaneously kicking yourself for wasting (former) paychecks at the shoe department of your favorite department store.  (Which totes reminds me of the Carrie Bradshaw quote: "I like my money right where I can see it.  Hanging in my closet").

I don't think I can write enough good things about this book.  Just.  Start reading Jen Lancaster books.  And start with this one.  Thank me later.

P.S. Lancaster got her start by BLOGGING.  Awesome, huh?  She's kinda my hero.

Summer Reading List: Nannies, Cheaters, and Castaways

Let's talk some Book Nerd News for a minute here.

First off, I read an article yesterday that said Lauren Weisberger is writing a sequal to The Devil Wears Prada and it will be released next April.  Pardon me for a moment: SQUEEEEEE!  I love The Devil Wears Prada and it's one case where the movie based on the book did not completely suck.  I'm totally ready for more Andy and more Miranda.

Also, Jennifer Weiner's (she's my favorite!) newest is due out July 3rd.  It's called The Next Best Thing and, in reading the description, it sounds like it's the prequel to a short story she wrote in The Guy Not Taken.  I can't wait for it to come out!  I know a lot of people have been disillusioned by her last few books but guess what?  I'm NOT one of them.  I love her books!

Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus - I read The Nanny Diaries a good decade ago and absolutely DEVOURED the book.  I loved it!  And, even though it more or less dealt with all the shitty things related to being a nanny, it made me want to pack my bags, move to New York City, and find a family to nanny for.  Maybe even a family that consisted of a couple of angelic children and a single dad.  A single dad that I would fall in love with and live happily ever after with.  Ahhhh.  Anyway.  I loved the book then they went and butchered it by turning it into a movie starring Scarlett Johansson. 

Obviously, since I really enjoyed the book, I was excited to get my hands on a copy of the sequel.  I sort of expected Nanny Returns to pick up where Diaries left off -- maybe Nan finds another family to provide childcare for, more adventures in nannying.  Yeah.  Not quite.  Nanny Returns picks up 12 years later.  Nan is married, newly moved back to NYC, working as a consultant, and hesitant about adding children to her family.  The X family comes back into her life and, just like in Diaries, she finds herself unable to say "no" to even the craziest of demands.  The book has a lot of twists and turns and, I suppose, a look into the lives of the New York City elite.  It was decent.  An easy enough read with a somewhat enjoyable plot line.  It just wasn't anywhere near as enjoyable as it's original.  And I definitely don't see this one being made into a movie.



Something Blue by Emily Griffin - We all know how much I just LOVED Something Borrowed (totes sarcasm, FYI) so I had to pick up the sequel to see if Emily Griffin could redeem herself any at all.  And, you guys, she TOTALLY did.  This book was so so so so so so much better than Something Borrowed.  Blue is told from the voice of Darcy and, from the offset, she's just as manipulative, spoiled, selfish, and bitchy as in he first book.  As the book goes, though, she does become slightly more likeable (let me be real here for a minute, though, this was both predictable and unrealistic.  Predictable in that we know the character had to go through some sort of change of heart so that people will relate to her, actually like her, and be more into the book.  Unrealistic in that we ALL know people like Darcy Rhone and we all also know that they very rarely change).  I think Emily Griffin tried to set us up with a "twist" in Darcy's love interest but, seriously, I had it figured out by just a few pages into the book.

To give you a bit of a summary, Something Blue picks up right where Borrowed lets off.  Darcy is pregnant, "in love" with Marcus (we get a little more detail on the how and why they hooked up in the first place), and absolutely irate about Rachel and Dex and their deception.  Not too far into the book, she finds herself friendless, Marcus-less (totally not a spoiler, by the way, because - really - we all knew that wasn't going to last), and very much alone.  She takes off for London and, well, that's as much of a summary as Imma give ya!

Slight spoiler alert: I have a really, REALLY hard time believing that a woman would invite her former best friend that was sleeping with her finacee while he was still engaged to her to her wedding to another man.  I have an even harder time believing that said former best friend would travel overseas with an infant in order to attend the nuptuals.  Let's be real.  Notgonnahappen. End slight spoiler alert.

All in all, the book was much more enjoyable than the first -- not so one sided in the "she's a mean bitch and that makes it okay for me to steal her fiancee" type of way.



The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand - I totally have a girl crush on Elin Hilderbrand.  Or, at the very least, on the books she writes.  This woman has SUCH a talent for being able to create likeable characters -- characters that, even though they do deplorable things, you find yourself rooting for and actually caring about.

The Castaways is the story of four couples who happen to be best friends.  One of the couples is killed while sailing and the remainder of the book deals with the grief the other couples experience -- as well as trying to discern what exactly happened as far as the accident.  The grief is real and tangible and, I garuntee you, you will find yourself totally and completely relating to at least one character in the book.

This isn't exactly what I'd call a beach read.  It takes place in Nantucket and all but it's way too heavy to be considered beach trash.  Also, one of the characters lost her brother in the 9/11 Attacks.  The chapter in which this was hashed out had me in tears -- and I was a 21-year-old college student in Texas, thousands of miles away from where the Attacks occured.  I would imagine it would be extremely hard for anyone personally touched by the Attacks to read.

Summer Reading List: Jane Green and Jenny Lawson

So this has nothing to do with either Jane Green or Jenny Lawson or anything either of them have written but . . . this morning Yahoo had an article about the ring Mark Zuckerberg bought for his blushing bride.  Apparently there are people who have their drawers twisted because it's just a simple ruby ring (that, FYI, could've cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000) and not some huge, blinging diamond.  People!  Hello!  First off, um, this dude wears hoodies.  It's not like he's into the flashy flashy, ya know?  And, second, for once can we be GLAD that someone who is worth a bazillion dollars isn't blowing it on overpriced jewelry?  I mean, really?

I'll step off my soapbox and get on with my summer reading . . .

The Beach House by Jane Green - I've read a few Jane Green books and while I tend to find her plot lines not-all-that-believeable, her books are at least enjoyable.  This one was no exception.  I didn't love the book, but I liked it.  Short plot summary:  A 60+-year-old Nantucket widow realizes she stands to lose her home so she turns it into a boarding house.  Her guests are her own son, a recently separated father of two, and a divorced mother with an angry teenage daughter.  The book needed more meat, to be a little longer, to really develop any connection to the characters.  For the most part, they fall flat and you don't find yourself missing them once you turn the final page of the book. There was a big plot twist that I didn't see coming but, then, maybe I'm just a little naive.  ;)  All in all, it was a decent beach read.  But definitely not Jane Green's best.



Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson - The following is written in the epilogue of this book:

Because I can finally see that all the terrible parts of my life, the embarrassing parts, the incidents I wanted to pretend never happened, and the things that made me "weird" or "different," were actually the most important parts of my life.  They were the parts that made me me. 

Don't you just love that?  Don't you wish more people thought like that? 

Here's the deal: if you don't enjoy The Bloggess, then you're not going to like this book.  If you do enjoy The Bloggess, then odds are good that you're going to love the book.  You'll read this book and cringe with embarrassment in parts -- and also be thankful that it didn't happen to you (though, I'm sure, we all have something just as equally embarrassing somnewhere in our past!)  You will quite literally LOL and there are some parts where you'll even shed a tear.  Or two.  If you're a fan of The Bloggess, then this book is a MUST.