Some Book Comparisons

I've been meaning to post about this for a while, but was so busy finishing up work in the city. I'm finally home for a bit now before heading back down to school, so I'm finally able to get around to some more blogging!

About a month ago, I read these two books in a row:

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

I picked up Firefly Lane earlier in the spring on a whim and had been meaning to read it all summer. I am a big Jennifer Weiner fan (she's part of my upper-echelon of chic-lit, natch) and bought her new book the day it came out.

First of all, I did NOT like Firefly Lane. I thought it read like a romance novel; loosely defined characters, cheesey love affairs and relationships, and a soap-opera ending. I guess I should have known by the cover, but the description initially drew me in; I love stories about female relationships overtime. To me it sounded like one of my favorite novels, Martha Moody's Best Friends, which I posted about here, but it came nowhere close. I guess this would be fine if you're looking for something that doesn't make you think, but for me it was too unrealistic and melodramatic.

On to the next.

Best Friends Forever is also about a lifelong friendship between two women. But it involves a Thelma and Louise style trip and a mystery plot. Some of Weiner's other novels have touched on the mystery genre as well, and I think she does a good job keeping you reading while still delivering on the books characters and their interests.

The reason I'm writing about these two novels together is that they contain some uncanny

parallels. I'll list a few off the top of my head.

1. Both are stories about a misfit-type girl whose self-esteem is elevated by a "cool girl" who moves in across the street.

2. Both of the "cool girls" in each story grow up to become famous newscasters.

3. Both have plots involving cancer and the heartache surrounding coping with such a disease.

And those are just what I can remember. Still, I think those are pretty major plot and character points. That being said, Best Friends Forever is by far the superior novel. While its not any harder to read and still wholly delivers on the chick-lit beach book front, its characters are real, nuanced and relatable. Weiner is a terrific writer, one who is recognized for her literary talent beyond chick-lit circles. I recommend all of her books, which you can find here. I've read them all and the only one that disappointed was Certain Girls, her most recent before Best Friends Forever, but I think I just wasn't in the right frame of mind when I picked it up. It's now available in paperback.

The other book comparison that I just want to briefly mention are the similarities between J. Courtney Sullivan's Commencement, which I posted about earlier in the summer here, and Meg Wolizter's The Wife. I picked up The Wife because I'd heard really good things about the author and because I'm a sucker for books about books. The premise of the story involves a young woman at Smith College in the late 1950s who has an affair with her married professor and eventually ends up marrying; the book illustrates vingettes of their life together as he becomes a famous author and she supports him along the way. The book is satirical in many ways, and Wolitzer's commentary is cheeky and humorous; she even throws in

a surprise ending. The similarity between

these two books is pretty obvious, but being that both authors are graduates of Smith College and write about undergraduates having affairs with their professors (both girls are blonde and

relatively naive, trying to impress their professors with their writerly chops before falling in love) while the professors are

young-ish, dashing, and the seductor in

each situation. Perhaps this commonality exists because Smith is a women's college so there are few other choices of men on campus, but I can't help feeling that Sullivan read Wolitzer. I hope she has. Wolitzer is a formidable writer worth paying attention to... just like Joan from The Wife.

Phew, long post from me! Back to more leisurely Saturday reading :)

Cheers,

ACL

How many have you read?

http://www.newsweek.com/id/204478/?q=/name:0/type:0/range:0/page:1

I'm at 27... good thing I have one more year of English-majoring to get that number up!

Beach Reads!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106650177

Go vote! I had SUCH a hard time deciding... only ten?

I've done it

I've MadMen'ed myself. Thank you to the Lipp sisters at Basket of Kisses for tipping me off to this! Go here to do it to yourself... I'm still not done playing ;0

Oh, Sylvia

http://jwes.tumblr.com/post/137507085/haleywordeater-maidmarian-highcontrast

Revolutionary Road

I picked up a copy of this earlier in the year when the film first came out in theaters. I'm a big believer in reading the book before seeing the movie... I know I'll want to read the book eventually, and I don't want the plot to be spoiled!

I truly enjoyed the book. I think Richard Yates was a gifted writer with a keen eye for the often tragically beautiful American psychological landscape. The book had overtones of Mad Men, which is one of my favorite shows (this blog, entirely devoted to the AMC golden child, is a daily read). However, it seems that Matt Weiner, Mad Men's creator had never heard of the book.

Unfortuneately, the movie just didn't do it for me. I loved the actors (how could anyone not adore seeing Kate and Leo reunited in a cute white clapboard house in the NYC suburbs?) but it didn't capture the spirit of the book. Also, I think the producers of Mad Men are correct in playing up the glamour of the era as they focus on the serious issues. A lot of that mystique went by the wayside in the film. Not much to say other than that if you didn't enjoy the movie or haven't seen it, I encourage you to turn to the book instead!

(fairly) recent reads

Finished Jen Lancaster's Pretty in Plaid. Did not fail to please... but I think I've read too many Jen books because her humor didn't seem as outrageous to me in this book... maybe because it focused on a younger and less snappy period of her life and temperment, but I fear that I'm becoming used to her attitude. No worries because today she requested to FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER. I think I've arrived ;)

Finished Lydia Peelle's Reasons For and Advantages of

Breathing. This was a pre-release read, but I encourage you all to take a look when it comes out on the 21st. She's a beautiful new writer from Nashville who has a way of capturing both the

spirit of nature and humanity. These are

short stories, which I don't normally turn to, but I promise this are easily-digested and not at all prosaic-- will not dissapoint.

It's not as silly as it sounds, but I also finished Phyllis Reynold's Naylor's Intensely Alice. I've been reading this series since childhood and feel like Alice is part friend, part sister, and part me. I don't expect many of you will pick up this book, just being

honest in my sharing :)

Bon reading :)

-ACL

Another Lovely Weekend on the Cape

A little sunburned from boat-cruising and the 80 degree temps in Boston on Sunday during the Sail Boston exhibit of "the tall ships," I've returned from quite a nice weekend.

In between changing a tire outside the Vineyard Vines store on Saturday night, glasses of wine in the hottub on Friday and a late lunch at the lovely Miel Brasserie on the water at the Boston Intercontinental Hotel on Sunday, I concentraed on magazine reading this weekend, zipping through New York magazine's Summer issue and the August issues of Vogue and Vanity Fair. My favorite Vanity Fair item in its partial form here... I'll admit to being choosey about my subway reading in fear of the judgmental eyes of other passengers!

Listening to...

Regina Spektor. She's been a favorite of mine since I became obsessed with 2007's Fidelty and Samson, from her debut album. Her new one, Far, is a must-listen. And equally brilliant.

A Meditative Post

CAUTION LONG AND SLIGHTLY SELF-INVOLVED, PONDERING POST AHEAD

When I first started my blog, I had very little idea of what I actually wanted it to be. Primarily, I knew I wanted a place from which I would conduct a dialogue with the other blog writers who I began to follow last summer.

I also was ready for my own outlet; I've never been a committed journaler or diarist, but while doing some soul-searching last summer/fall, I kept a beautiful Cath Kidston notebook turned planner turned thougt collector until it was full of notes, quotes, musings and information from my life that I had deemed important enough to write down at some point. Essentially, it was an inspiration notebook; I guess it loosely fits into the "journal" category. Maybe more of the "disorganized scrapbook" one.

I think this notebook was the genesis of this blog. Except that the notebook was private. This endeavor, inherently, is not. However, my blog is anonymous to my readers and a complete secret to my friends and damily, and true to my borderline-perfectionist nature, I believe it will reamin this way until I have it just the way I want it. Now, I realize a blog is an ever-evolving thing, and I don't know if the kind of stasis I desire can be found with this sort of an outlet.

Either way, this blog will continue to evolve and change as I want it to-- because it's my digital version of that gorgeous notebook. So I ask you to bear with me; hang in there as the image and content of this blog change to become what they are meant to be.

I hope to be more candid, straight-forward, and focused (in my own way) with this project in the upcoming months *when I have the time!*

PS The name of my domain and the bloggy-provider I user are subject to change as well. I am not satisfied with either at the moment, but I'm brainstorming.