Being Mary Bennet by J.C. Peterson

Being Mary Bennet by J.C. Peterson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publication Date: March 15, 2022

Source: Edelweiss ARC

It is a truth universally acknowledged that every bookworm secretly wishes to be Lizzie Bennet.

A less acknowledged truth is that Mary Bennet might be a better fit.

For seventeen-year-old Marnie Barnes, who’s convinced she is the long-suffering protagonist of her life, this revelation comes at the end of a series of self-induced disasters that force her to confront a devastating truth: Marnie has more in common with Mary Bennet—the utterly forgettable middle sister—than the effervescent Lizzie.

Determined to reinvent herself, she enlists the help of her bubbly roommate and opens herself up to the world—leading lady style. And between new friends, a very cute boy, and a rescue pup named Sir Pat, Marnie realizes that being the main character doesn’t mean rewriting your life entirely. It’s about finding the right cast of characters, the love interest of your dreams, and, most important, embracing your story, flaws and all.

I ADORED this. It was seriously so much fun to read. The humor in this was just so spot on, with such a fantastic story about finding out who you really are. And if that’s not enough, there was a sweet love story too.

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Book Review: Love by the Book

Love by the Book: A Novel by Melissa Pimentel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Publication date: February 2015 by Penguin Books
Source: Netgalley review copy

This book is about a woman who decides to follow a different dating guide every month as a kind of experiment. It was a fun premise, but I feel it could have been a lot better than it was.

Lauren was not at all likable for me. I couldn't relate to her at all. I thought she was also quite dumb. It was really hard to care about her when all we really get is that she works at a museum, wants a meaningless relationship, and smokes all the dang time. I didn't get much more about her personality and thoughts and even why she feels certain ways.

But overall it was an enjoyable enough read. I try to rate books based on their genre and what they're meant to be. This book is supposed to be fluff. And it did its job. I have read much better chick-lit though.

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Book Review: The Coincidence of Coconut Cake

The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publication Date: July 21, 2015
Source: Netgalley review copy

In downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Lou works tirelessly to build her beloved yet struggling French restaurant, Luella’s, into a success. She cheerfully balances her demanding business and even more demanding fiancé…until the morning she discovers him in the buff—with an intern.

Witty yet gruff British transplant Al is keeping himself employed and entertained by writing scathing reviews of local restaurants in the Milwaukee newspaper under a pseudonym. When an anonymous tip sends him to Luella’s, little does he know he’s arrived on the worst day of the chef’s life. The review practically writes itself: underdone fish, scorched sauce, distracted service—he unleashes his worst.

The day that Al’s mean-spirited review of Luella’s runs, the two cross paths in a pub: Lou drowning her sorrows, and Al celebrating his latest publication. As they chat, Al playfully challenges Lou to show him the best of Milwaukee and she’s game—but only if they never discuss work, which Al readily agrees to. As they explore the city’s local delicacies and their mutual attraction, Lou’s restaurant faces closure, while Al’s column gains popularity. It’s only a matter of time before the two fall in love…but when the truth comes out, can Lou overlook the past to chase her future?

I'm kind of surprised how much I liked this one. It was pretty much the typical romance formula, and of course you could see what was going to happen a mile away, but it was still good. The story itself was just really sweet, and I liked both of the main characters, as well as the side characters.

I love food, so the fact that so much of this book centers around food was a plus, and we also really got to know the city of Milwaukee. I would love to read more story set in this world, maybe focusing on some of the side characters (although as far as I know, the author has no plans for that).

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Book Review: Life is Sweet

Life is Sweet by Elizabeth Bass
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Publication Date: September 2014
Source: Netgalley review copy

Becca Hudson has come a long way since she was a tween starring in the sitcom Me Minus You, but as far as she’s concerned, she finally has her act together. She’s relocated to Leesburg, Virginia, owns a successful bakery, and has a great set of friends—even a friendly ex-husband. She ignores “Whatever Happened To?” speculation and the occasional overly obsessed fan, and flatly turns down a lucrative offer to appear on a reality show called Celebrities in Peril: Child Star Edition. She has an uncomfortable relationship with her Hollywood past, preferring to think of herself as more than a 1990s trivia question. Then one day a mysterious man appears and stirs up her past—all of it—in ways she never imagined...

I don't really know quite how to review this, because there was just nothing in this book that excited me. The bakery aspect was what made me request the book, but that was just thrown in there I think to give the main character something to do. It seems like it could have been anything. I never felt anything for any of the characters or their situations. It all just seemed to happen and then the next thing happened, and the next, with very little emotion felt (at least by me).

Book Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, I pretty much loved this. It reminded me of those 80's teen movies, and that's definitely not a bad thing. At first I was thinking I didn't like it as well as Anna and the French Kiss. It was missing that whole lovely Paris thing. This one was just such a sweet story, though, that I fell in love with it more and more, and by the end I wasn't ready for it to be over. I hadn't forgotten how comforting chick lit could be to read sometimes, and this was the perfect story to remind me of that. I will definitely be reading whatever Stephanie Perkins writes.

What Alice Forgot

Alice is twenty-nine. She is whimsical, optimistic and adores sleep, chocolate, her ramshackle new house and her wonderful husband Nick. What's more, she's looking forward to the birth of the 'Sultana' - her first baby.
But now Alice has slipped and hit her head in her step-aerobics class and everyone's telling her she's misplaced the last ten years of her life.  In fact, it would seem that Alice is actually thirty-nine and now she loves schedules, expensive lingerie, caffeine and manicures. She has three children and the honeymoon is well and truly over for her and Nick. In fact, he looks at her like she's his worst enemy. What's more, her beloved sister Elisabeth isn't speaking to her either. And who is this 'Gina' everyone is so carefully trying not to mention?
Alice isn't sure that she likes life ten years on. Every photo is another memory she doesn't have and nothing makes sense. Just how much can happen in a decade? Has she really lost her lovely husband for ever?

I absolutely loved this book. It was very well-written, the kind that you don't want to put down and could read for hours. But beyond that, and what always makes a book extra good for me, is that it really made me think. What would it be like to lose 10 years of your life? To all of a sudden have three kids that you didn't know at all. To have all your relationships changed, and you didn't know how or why. It definitely gives the reader a lot of food for thought.

At first I didn't really care for Alice--either her 10 years ago personality or her current (the one she's trying to remember) personality. She seemed a little too childish. I can't say I ever really came to love her character, but she definitely grew on me. But it wasn't really even that the characters were likable that made the story good. They were flawed, silly, mean . . . just like almost every person you know. I felt their heartbreaks right along with them.

And I cried. I can't remember the last time a book made me cry. I can't even remember the last time I really loved a non-genre book, for that matter. Mostly I tolerate books that aren't speculative fiction, but really this one was just fantastic. There was something about it that sucked me in right from the start and didn't let go until I finished it around midnight. I would definitely recommend this one!

Book Details

Title: What Alice Forgot

Author: Liane Moriarty

Genre: Chick lit

Page Count: 432

Publishing Info: Penguin, June 2011

Why I Read It: ARC

Grade: A+ (favorite)

 

Georgia's Kitchen

Book Details:
Genre: Chicklit/women's fiction
Page Count: 336
Publication Date: August 3, 2010
Why I read it: received review copy
Grade: B+

Cover thoughts:
Too much red. I would so much rather the red shading be over just the silverware so we could see the beautiful scenery in the background.

About the author:
Jenny Nelson is a former web editor for sites like ivillage, vogue.com, and style.com. Georgia's Kitchen is her first novel.

The plot:
Georgia is the head chef at one of the top restaurants in Manhattan, but a bad review gets her fired. Then her fiance breaks up with her, so needless to say, things aren't going very well for her. So she heads to Italy to work for her former mentor who is opening up another restaurant. She loves it there, but when she is offered a wonderful restaurant job in Italy, she realizes her heart is longing for something more. The plot moves at a great pace until the end, where I feel like it just started to lose steam and drag a bit, which was sad because I otherwise adored the book.

Characters:
Georgia is a wonderful character. She is understandably a bit whiny and down, but I really liked her. She's someone I would be friends with in real life. There are a lot of secondary characters, and for the most part, they're great and likable, but this story mostly focuses on Georgia.

Setting:
We start off in New York, but it's when the story moves to Italy that it gets really enjoyable. The author paints a lively picture of the Italian countryside, and I would LOVE to go there. There's something about these stories where women head off to Europe that I just love. Maybe it's that I can't do it myself, and so have to live vicariously through them.

Notable quotes:
"I'm not telling you this to burden you, but so you can see that you're not the only one with--how do you Americans call it? Issues. You lost your job, your fiance, but here you have another chance. Stop looking for what you don't have, and start seeing what you do."

Read this if you're in the mood for: a story that includes Italy and food. I'll tell you, I don't like to cook at all, but for some reason I like reading about people who cook, especially in this type of story.

Continue or part ways? I will definitely read more by this author. Her writing style is easy to read and very entertaining.

The Bachelorette Party

Title: The Bachelorette Party
Author: Karen McCullah Lutz
Genre: Chick Lit
Page Count: 256
Why I read it: chick lit group on goodreads
Grade: D+

Synopsis:
After being left at the altar by her soap star fiancé, L.A. high school teacher Zadie Roberts wants nothing to do with love and romance. Still, with the help of her best buddy, Grey, she may somehow overcome the wedding that wasn’t. That is, until Grey gets engaged to Zadie’s prim and proper cousin Helen, and Zadie is dragged back into wedding festivity hell. The coup de grâce is Helen’s bachelorette party, thrown by her clique of prissy friends and certain to be a day of torture. But when the Pinor Grigio goes down and the sweater sets come off, things get out of control. Helen turns into a girl gone wild and manages to get herself into a sticky situation that just might sink the happy couple for good. And meanwhile, Zadie’s own love life takes a most unexpected turn. Karen Lutz throws one bachelorette party you won’t soon forget.

My review:
There were some interesting things about this book, but overall, I just didn't think the story was great. There wasn't a whole lot to it, and even though it kept my interest enough to keep me reading, it certainly wasn't memorable.

I had a hard time really caring about the characters. Some of the women were just silly, and I found their actions a bit unrealistic at times. The book was also extremely crude and had quite a bit of language, which isn't really my thing either. I don't think I'd recommend this one, as I've read a lot of better chick lit.

Play it Again, SAHM

Title: Play it Again, SAHM
Author: Meredith Efken
Genre: Christian Chicklit
Page Count: 388
Why I read it: third in a series
Grade: A

Synopsis:
After years of friendship, the women of the SAHM I Am e-mail loop are finally meeting in person. But with two new moms trying to blend in with Dulcie and the gang, there's bound to be trouble!
Earth-mother Iona and young mom Hannah are thrilled to join the weekend getaway sans hubbies and kids. But sparks fly when Hannah's know-it-all attitude clashes with the Queen of Ego, Rosalyn. When things go from bad to worse, one mom must step in to save the weekend from total disaster!


My review:
This book is told entirely in e-mails, IM's, and texts.  For that reason, you don't always get all the details or the full story.  It's hard to really know how anyone is feeling or what they are thinking, unless they write it in the e-mail.  That being said, it's a wonderful story.  It was fun, and sweet, and if you're a stay at home mom like me, you can definitely relate.

In fact, there was one e-mail in the book that I wanted to show my husband, because it was exactly how I'd been feeling, and what I had tried to tell him previously, but I don't think he understood.  It was nice to know it isn't just me who feels that way.  I know these are fictional characters, but obviously the author wrote from some level of experience.

The characters feel real, with real life situations and problems that, even if us moms haven't been in the situation, we know someone who has.  I would highly recommend this to stay at home moms, especially Christian ones, as it is fairly heavy on the religion stuff.  But first I'd recommend going back and reading the first two books, SAHM I Am and @ Home for the Holidays.

I'm So Sure

Title: I'm So Sure
Author: Jenny B. Jones
Genre: YA Christian chicklit
Got it from: Library
Why I read it: Second in a series
Grade: A-

Synopsis:
Bella Kirkwood is finally situated in her new hometown, but she's not ready for the whirlwind of randomness that takes place next. When her stepdad enters a new wrestling reality show, Bella is pulled along for the ride as her life goes on display for all the world to see. When the cameras roll, Bella must solve a prom-queen mystery, deal with her returning ex-boyfriend, and keep her cool as she works alongside the hot but irritating newspaper editor Luke Sullivan.



My review:
I've been waiting for this one to come out for awhile, after really liking the first book in the series.  These books are perfect when you just want some nice, light, fun reading.  This one was a little predictable--okay, maybe a lot, but it was fun to read, and I love the writing.  I would recommend this to fans of YA or chicklit.

REVIEW - The Fruit of My Lipstick

Title: The Fruit of My Lipstick
Author: Shelley Adina
Genre: Christian YA
Got it from: Library
Why I read it: Second in a series
Grade: B

Synopsis:

New Yorker Gillian Chang starts her second term at posh Spencer Academy boarding school in San Francisco prepared to focus on her studies, her faith, and her friends. She plays a dozen musical instruments and can recite the periodic table of the elements backward. She's totally prepared for everything--except love! She's falling hard for Lucas Hayes, who isn't even a senior yet and is already aiming at a Ph.D. in physics from Stanford. The problem is, she never seems to be able to measure up and be the girlfriend he wants. He's under a lot of pressure from his parents to achieve--maybe that's why he's short-tempered sometimes. But even a thick-skinned girl like Gillian can only take so much. With her heart on the line, Gillian conceals more and more from her friends. So when she's accused of selling exam answer sheets, even her girlfriends, Lissa Mansfield and Carly Aragon, wonder if it can be true. Can Gillian hang onto her integrity--and her faith--when she loses her heart to Lucas?

My Review:

I'm still not liking the "it's all about us" premise, which is repeated throughout the book, using those exact words.  I get it--that's what the series is called.  Move on.  Now that I've got my obligatory complaining about YA novels out of the way (I don't know why I do it), I will say that I thought this was a well written book.

The main character was a little hard to like at times, and I kept wondering why these teens in these novels are always so stupid.  Why can't they see what everybody else sees?  Why do they keep making stupid mistakes?  And then I remembered the huge mistakes I made as a teen.  Looking back with an adult perspective, I can see how dumb I was, but during that time I sure didn't think that.  So I'm trying to have a little more grace when it comes to YA novels.  The characters are true to how teens act, for the most part.

The mystery of who is selling exam answer sheets adds to the story, although I figured out pretty early on who it was.  It was nice having a little extra in there, even though at the same time, the jumping to conclusions done by the characters was a bit too much.  Maybe even a bit unbelievable.  But the story was good, and I like the message that I'm starting to see in this series--that girls don't need to change who they are or go against their beliefs to get a boy.  At least, I hope that's the message teen girls get out of this series, because it's definitely there.  I would recommend this one.

REVIEW - Viva Vermont

Title: Viva Vermont
Author: Melody Carlson
Genre: Christian YA chicklit
Got it from: Library
Why I read it: It's the 4th book in a series
Grade: C

Synopsis:
Something about a bunch of teenage girls, they like boys, some like fashion way too much, some don't.  They fight, they do stupid things, they start getting along, they fight some more.  More stupid things.  Some teenage angst thrown in.  Breaking up with boyfriends, getting back together.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

My review:
I finished this one a couple of days ago, and haven't been able to bring myself to review it.  There's just nothing to review.  It's the same as the other books.  I'm going to finish the series for some inexplicable reason.  I honestly do think that young teenage girls would probably really enjoy these books, and since that's the target audience, I really can't complain about it.  It's my own fault for reading them and expecting something better.  Although, there are a lot of YA books that are entertaining for those who aren't teens.  Some that are really well written, so the fact that it's a YA book isn't an excuse.  This is just really light, easy reading that requires very little though, I guess.

REVIEW - Homecoming Queen

Title: Homecoming Queen
Author: Melody Carlson
Genre: Christian YA chicklit
Grade: C

From the back cover:
The Carter House experiences a shake-up as one of its own returns home after an unnerving disappearing act.  Then, friction grows as a school homecoming queen race heats up, turning friends and housemates against one another.  DJ, Eliza, Taylor, Kriti, and Casey show they have plenty of lessons to learn as the votes roll in.  Some grow smarter and closer to God, while others seem to make the same mistakes over again. 

Despite all their differences and disagreements, the Carter House girls continue to grow together, forging a bond that strengthens through hardship.  Hearts can change, and friendship paves the way for at least one girl to move closer to God.


My review:
I feel like the back cover description is kind of deceiving.  Sure, there was the homecoming queen thing, but I think the real focus of the story isn't even mentioned on the back cover.  I also don't see the girls growing much closer, and I definitely don't remember anything paving the way for one girl to move closer to God.

I'm so annoyed with this series.  I don't really like it very much, I'm annoyed with the characters, annoyed with the writing, but I'm interested enough to want to see where it all goes.  Which makes me want to read more.  But I don't want to want to read more!  Why must authors torment me so?  I'm tired of all the manufactured drama, but somehow I find myself still caring about what happens.   

I do understand now how Melody Carlson can put out so many books so fast.  The books aren't long, and there's not a lot to them.  I'm not sure if I would recommend this series.  On the one hand, I think teens and pre-teens might like the writing a lot, and be able to relate more to the characters, but on the other hand, I just don't think it's great writing.  I'm torn!

REVIEW - Stealing Bradford

Title: Stealing Bradford
Author: Melody Carlson
Genre: Christian YA chicklit
Grade: C-

From the back cover:
The Carter House girls are just getting to know one another when the subject of boys comes up.  Rhiannon's dating Bradford, a fellow Christian and the most popular jock in school; Eliza's seeing Harry; and DJ was dating Conner, although now he acts as if he doesn't like her.
Boys aren't always easy to understand, but many girls in the house want a boyfriend--and will do just about anything to get one.  So when Taylor decides to put the moves on Bradford, Rhiannon is shocked and hurt.  Mistakes are made and feelings battered . . . there is forgiveness for some and bitterness for others . . . but at the end of the day, the girls learn a valuable lesson about what it means to be a family. 

My review:
I was really liking this YA christian stuff, but this one might have been too much for me.  It felt very young adult.  To the point where I feel like only a teenager might be able to relate to it.  The writing felt amateur, the storyline was kind of silly.  I just couldn't really get into it.  Also, there was too much talk of people being gay.  Not that any of the characters actually were gay, that we know of, anyway.  But too much of the girls speculating about teachers being gay or other girls being gay, and it felt over the top.

Maybe kids these days really do think about this all the time.  I don't remember thinking along these lines when I was in high school.  It didn't matter to me, and it was none of my business, but I feel like it's half the focus for this novel.  Granted, it's been over ten years since I was in high school, and I know things have changed, but that doesn't mean it's not annoying.  I don't really think I'd recommend this series.  The first one was okay, but this second novel wasn't great.  I'll try one more, and if it doesn't get better, that's it for this series for me.  Too many other excellent books out there.

REVIEW - Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Down

Title: Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Down
Author: Neta Jackson
Genre: Christian chicklit
Grade: C+

Synopsis:
This is the second book in the Yada Yada Prayer Group series.  In this book, the group deals with racial tensions all over the place, which has caused problems within the group.  They also get robbed in Jodi's (the main character) home during a prayer meeting by a woman with a knife, and that's hard for them to overcome as well.

My review:
If it sounds like I gave a lackluster synopsis of the book, it's probably because that's how I felt about this book.  I feel like the first person narrative REALLY hurts this book.  I want to know what the other women are thinking and feeling.  I want to follow their lives every once in awhile.  To be honest, I'm sick of Jodi.   She seems judgemental, she almost always jumps to the worst conclusion first, and I want to get out of her head!

Other problems I had were: the character Ruth talks like Yoda.  Says her sentences in the wrong order, she does.  Every time she says anything in the book I hear Yoda's voice for her.  I don't think that's what the author has in mind.  Also, Jodi's whole family shares an e-mail address.  That includes her, her husband, their 18 year old son, and 15 year old daughter.  Come on, you can't tell me those kids haven't gotten their own e-mail address by now.  These people aren't computer illiterate either.

But there were good things about the story.  I like how the women turn to God when things get hard, and there is a nice variety of different characters.  The author writes well, so that even when I'm rolling my eyes, at least it's not about bad dialogue or a boring plot.  I'm interested enough in some of the characters that I'll keep reading the series, but will probably push it back and read other series first.

REVIEW - Pièce de Résistance

Title: Pièce de Résistance
Author: Sandra Byrd
Genre: Christian chicklit
Grade: A+

Synopsis:
This is the third in the French Twist series.  In this one, Lexi is back in Seattle as assistant manager of the new Delacroix family bakery, Bijoux.  This one is a more high end bakery, for wedding cakes and business catering.  Lexi finds that she's having a hard time being the manager, as she just wants to bake.

The job is harder than she thought it would be, and she's the one that has to make sure Bijoux succeeds, so she's under a lot of pressure.  She comes up with a lot of great marketing ideas, but she doesn't know if any of it will pan out.

She's also got two men in her life.  Dan, who we met in Let Them Eat Cake, and Philippe (with his daughter Celine), from Bon Appetit.  Both of whom are in Seattle, and she feels torn between them.

My review:
Oh, how I LOVED this book!  I got it in the mail yesterday, and decided to finish the other book I was reading first, since I had less than 100 pages to go.  But then I picked this up, and didn't stop reading except to sleep and go out to dinner with friends (and I would have rather been reading!).  It also took every ounce of strength I had not to flip to the back of the book to see how it ended.  I don't know why I feel such a connection to these characters and this story, but I do.

This is an example of first person narrative done right.  I love Lexi, and don't remember a time in all three books where I found her whiny or annoying.  I loved all the secondary characters, even the ornery ones who grew on Lexi and the reader throughout the book.  And I just adore little Celine!

At the beginning of the book, I started feeling a little let down.  I could see the story wasn't going how I wanted it to go.  But Sandra Byrd knows what she's doing, and soon I was swept away in the story, and it ended perfectly, and I cried, and I want to read ten more books of this series, but it's over.  This is my favorite series ever, and I would highly recommend it!  Let Them Eat Cake remains my favorite book of the series, but Pièce de Résistance was a beautiful ending to the story.  Très bien!

REVIEW - It's All About Us

Title: It's All About Us
Author: Shelley Adina
Genre: Christian Young Adult
Grade: B-

From the back cover:
Lissa Mansfield is used to being in the "in crowd"--but being accepted by the popular girls at posh Spencer Academy boarding school in San Francisco is a lot harder than she thought.  And then there's her New York-loudmouth roommate, Gillian Chang, who's not happy just to b e a Christian herself--she's determined to out Lissa, too.  If Lissa can just keep her faith under wraps long enough to hook Callum McCloud, the hottest guy in school, she'll be golden.

But when Callum pressures her to go all the way with him, Lissa has to decide how far is too far.  How can she see that line when he's so gorgeous and popular and God seems so far away?  Between that and shopping for a knockout dress and booking the hottest celeb for the Benefactors' Day Ball . . . who knew finding a place at Spencer Academy would be so complicated.

My review:
This book was well written, but right off the bat I have to say I don't like the premise of the book.  The title is "it's all about us", and that seems to be the theme as well.  The characters even say "it's all about us, and God", as if God is an afterthought.  Maybe I'm being silly, but in my mind, it's all about God, not me, and that's the message I'd want my teen daughter to get.

Having got that out of the way, it was a well written book.  It kept my attention, for sure.  I found the main character highly unlikeable, but again, as mentioned in a previous review, it could be the first person narrative.  The other characters didn't really seem fleshed out, so it's hard to say much about them.  I will continue to read the series, and I'm hoping for a little bit of growth and change.  It looks like the following books are told from the point of view of different girls, so maybe that will help.  Honestly, I'm not sure if I would recommend this to young teens, but I guess I would recommend it to YA lovers.

REVIEW - Undead and Unwelcome

Title: Undead and Unwelcome
Author: MaryJanice Davidson
Genre: Paranormal Chicklit
Grade: C-

From the back cover:
Fifty thousand angry werewolves.  That's what Betsy is facing when she takes her werewolf friend Antonia's body to Cape Cod, where the Pack resides at Wyndham Manor.  Because Antonia died in her service, Betsy is alive and well--and wracked with guilt.  She has no idea if the Wyndham werewolves will greet her with fangs or friendship.

While Betsy and her husband, Sinclair, try to make nice, their legal ward, BabyJon, freaks out ever werewolf he meets.  Meanwhile, Betsy's posse back at the St. Paul mansion is not LOLing.  Increasingly frantic e-mails alert Betsy to her half sister's increasingly erratic behavior.  Looks like the devil's daughter is coming into her own--and raising hell.  All in the name of making Betsy's life easier, of course.

My review:
I don't know if I can continue reading this series.  The author tries to be funny, and I guess it's just not my kind of humor, because it comes of more annoying than funny.  And the main character, Betsy, seems to get more clueless and self-centered by the book.  I don't really care about her as a character, and I find that I don't really care about any of the characters.  They're not written in a way that you can become attached to them.

A lot of it may have to do with the first person narrative.  I've never cared for it.  I almost always find the character whiny, selfish, and unlikeable.  It makes it hard for me to get into the story.  For about half of the book, I contemplated giving up or heavily skimming.  But then it got fairly interesting, and since it's a short book with big words, I just kept on reading and finished it.  I wouldn't recommend this unless you're hooked on this series, or unless you're a glutton for punishment.

REVIEW - Mixed Bags

Title: Mixed Bags
Author: Melody Carlson
Genre: Young Adult
Grade: B

From the back cover:
When her mom died, DJ had to move in with her grandmother, internationally famous '60s fashion model Katherine Carter.  Now Mrs. Carter's opened a boarding home for young ladies, and DJ--who would rather wear her basketball team uniform than haute couture--is just sure they'll all be unbearable fashion snobs.

One by one the girls arrive and begin to figure out how to fit into this new family, getting to know each other and forming friendships.  There's a few aspiring divas and even a closet Christian.  Before long, the Carter House girls are dating, fighting, laughing, shopping, sharing clothes, purses, shoes . . . and their deepest secrets.  DJ may not turn into the perfect little lady her grandmother has in mind, but one thing's for certain--with all these new "sisters," her life will never be the same!

My review:
I have come to the realization that Melody Carlson's books just don't have a whole lot to them.  They're fairly slow moving, and not a lot happens.  I have further realized it's because she writes series, and maybe doesn't have a whole lot of plot, and wants to stretch out the books.  At least each book is short, which is the way YA books should be, if you ask me.

I do enjoy her writing, though, and she has excellent character development.  The religion in her books is fairly mild, but it's definitely there.  I would recommend this book to readers who like young adult or chick lit.  Just don't expect anything profound.  It's light and easy reading, which is nice sometimes.

REVIEW - Let Them Eat Fruitcake

Let Them Eat Fruitcake is the second book in the 86 Bloomberg Place series.  I have come to the realization that these books move incredibly slow.  It could be because each chapter skips to a different character, but every time I try to think of what the book about, only about one sentence comes to mind, and I think, "Is that it?"  This one takes place just before Christmas, with the end of the book wrapping up on Christmas day.  The roommates plan a Christmas Even party, have man troubles, and . . . that's about it.  But I guess just about every chicklit could be described as "woman has man troubles, everything is solved in the end."

Only everything isn't solved in the end of this book since it's a series.  So we only get the first part of that sentence.  The characters are all pretty much the same.  Kendall is unlikeable, almost to the point of being an unbelievable character.  I mean, are there really people like that out there?  Ironically, her point of view is probably my favorite to read, just because it's the most interesting.  The other girls really aren't doing very interesting things.

All through this book I thought it was just so-so.  Nothing special, but not so bad that it was hard to get through.  I would have rated it a 3, but I really enjoyed the ending.  It was definitely a feel good, and I can see the series getting better type ending.  So I'd rate it a 4/5.  Recommended for chick-lit lovers and Christian fiction readers.  It was a little heavier on the religion than the first one, but still not overly so.