Book Blurb: The Mermaid Chair

Title: The Mermaid Chair


Author: Sue Monk Kidd (who also wrote The Secret Life of Bees)


Genre: Romantic Fiction


Synopsis: A married middle aged woman goes home to take care of her depressed mother and has a mid-life crisis.


Stars: 0/5


Lauren's Review: Do not read this book. It sucks.

Why does it suck? Because the plot is boring and the main character is selfish. I understand that women are complex, emotional beings. But I also understand that when you have a nice husband who works full time so that you can pretend to be an artist in your cushy Victorian mansion, you really don't have that much to whine about. But Jessie whines and whines for a full novel. All the while ignoring the fact that her mother is DANGEROUSLY depressed and hurting herself. She is a terrible person. And I don't enjoy books about terrible people, unless they're interesting. And this one isn't.

That's why it sucks.

I hear The Secret Life of Bees is good, but I doubt I'll ever read it.

Book Review: Bridget Jones' Diary

Title: Bridget Jones' Diary


Author: Helen Fielding


Genre: Chick Lit


Synopsis: Kinda like the movie, but not.


Stars: 5/5


Lauren's Review: The two 'grown up' books I'm reading right now were stressing me out/getting dull so I had to take a chick lit break. I decided to read this book because it's one of my favorite movies and it reminds me of Christmas time, which I am so excited for!

The book is a lot like the movie, but there are a few subtle differences that made reading it exciting. For one, Bridget is a little smarter....which I totally enjoyed. I love Renee's Bridget, but you have to admit she brought a lot of misery on herself. The book Bridget is a little more relatable.

Also, the plot is different, so it wasn't just like reading the screen play.

And Daniel was nicer...he was half nice half asshole...so more like a real world guy.

Anyway, while I enjoyed the movie's ending more, I liked the books characters more. I would recommend the book to all movie fans. It was a light-hearted, easy read. Now back to the hard stuff.

Book Review: Mini Shopaholic

Title: Mini Shopaholic


Author: Sophie Kinsella


Genre: Chick Lit


Synopsis: The sixth book in the Shopaholic series (will it ever end?). Becky lies to everyone, drama ensues. The standard Shopaholic fare.


Stars: 2/5


Lauren's Review: Unfortunately, Sophie Kinsella has proven that there really is too much of a good thing. When I first started the Shopaholic series, Becky Bloomwood was like your lovable, albeit clumsy and bumbling, younger sister that you just wanted to look after and protect from the evils of the world (and maybe you should take all her credit cards away too, just to be safe). But by the end of this novel, I really started to question Becky's mental capacity as she seemed to think on about the same level as an 8 year old. Adults just do not act like that.

I love Kinsella's work and I've read everything she's written (under this name, I haven't touched the Madeline Wickham stuff yet) and I have to say this was the worst. Finishing this book was a chore that I only completed out of love and devotion to the writer. I was incredibly sad when she finished the book by setting it up for the next sequel. I think it may be time to put Becky B. to rest and focus on some other works. Preferably ones with more intelligent characters, like Remember Me? or The Undomestic Goddess (both of which I loved and recommend).