Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Read with me?

And the contenders are........

Mr. Maybe
by Jane Green
To Libby Mason, Mr. Right has always meant Mr. Rich. A twenty-seven-year-old publicist, she's barely able to afford her fashionable and fabulous lifestyle, and often has to foot the bill for dates with Struggling Writer Nick, a sexy but perpetually strapped-for-cash guy she's dating (no commitments -- really). So when Ed, Britain's wealthiest but stodgiest bachelor, enters the picture, her idea of the fairy-tale romance is turned on its head. Libby soon finds herself weighing the advantages of Nick's sexual prowess and tender heart against Ed's luxurious lifestyle and unlimited retail therapy. But when the diamond shopping commences, Libby is forced to realize that the time for "maybe" is up.

The Pact
by Jennifer Sturman

Rachel Benjamin and her four college girlfriends promise to keep each other from romancing unlikable men by whatever means necessary. A decade later, the still-close group reunites at a lavish Adirondack vacation home for the wedding of one member to the utterly despicable Richard. The rehearsal dinner finds the friends lamenting the senseless match and their inability to keep the pact, but their distress doesn't last long: on the morning of the wedding, Rachel discovers Richard dead in the pool. Suddenly, the house guests—including the girlfriends, the bride's parents and the groom's attractive best man, Peter—are all suspects. While policemen survey the scene, Rachel embarks on a well-intentioned, clumsy and often-misguided search for the murderer and an equally awkward romantic pursuit of Peter. Quirky Rachel aside, the characters are one-dimensional, and the dialogue is superficial; Sturman's writing is comic, but laden with clichés. So why is this debut so thoroughly enjoyable? Perhaps it's because Rachel is such a winning detective: she sifts through clues at the reader's pace and does so with wit and pluck. The novel's mise-en-scène—successful, attractive Ivy League graduates at a lakeside mansion—makes for escapist pleasure, and well-placed cliffhangers, a careful distribution of motives and unexpected twists promise readers light, satisfying suspense.

Waiting for Daisy
by Peggy Orenstein
Orenstein now offers a very personal account of her road to becoming a mother. Orenstein was a happily married 35-year-old when she decided she wanted to have a baby. While she knew it might not be easy (she had only one ovary and was heading into her late 30s), she had no idea of the troubles she'd face. First, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, fortunately treatable. After waiting the recommended recovery period, she miscarried with a dangerous "partial molar pregnancy," so she had to avoid becoming pregnant for at least six months. Soon she was riding the infertility roller coaster full-time, trying everything from acupuncture to IVF and egg donation. She endured depression and more miscarriages while spending untold thousands of dollars. Even her very understanding husband was beginning to lose patience, when, surprisingly, she got pregnant with her daughter, Daisy. While readers don't have to be fertility obsessed to enjoy this very witty memoir (with its ungainly subtitle), for the growing number of women struggling with infertility this book may become their new best friend. (Feb.)

The Girls' Almanac
by Emily Franklin

The Girls' Almanac chronicles the lives of Jenna and Lucy—two thirty-something women who desperately long for a true friend—as well as the lives of the women and men who have touched them: friends, lovers, parents, and neighbors. Set across the Northeast—through suburban neighborhoods, preppy camps, island resorts, and Ivy League colleges—as well as far flung locales like Ecuador and Iceland, The Girls' Almanac traces the friendships of women willing to risk both self-consciousness and intimacy, loss and betrayal, in pursuit of a proper best friend. Exploring the fascinating closeness and distance that female friendships encompass, The Girls' Almanac reveals the map of Jenna and Lucy's interconnected lives, and ultimately their pathways to each other.

Maneater
by Gigi Levangie Grazer
Gorgeous, funny, and wildly uninhibited, her exes are a veritable "Who's Who" of Hollywood power players. At 28 (31), she is blessed with a firm (if curvaceous) bod, a designer wardrobe, a Daddy-subsidized apartment, and an A-list speed-dial. But with her thirty-second birthday looming, our heroine is starting to panic. Who on earth (read: Hollywood) could possibly make Clarissa Alpert an honest woman? Enter Aaron Mason, the latest hottest new producer in town. From the moment Clarissa sees him, she sets her sights on making him the future "Mr. Alpert." With the eager help of her vivacious (if neurotic) friends, her aerobicized Latina mother, her philandering (but loving) ex-con father, and the most divine gay waiter in Hollywood, Clarissa finds herself phoning the florist to the stars (his private line) and planning the biggest wedding the town has seen in years -- before the couple's first date. Catching Aaron's eye is not a problem. But it seems her intended might have his own agenda. Could it be Clarissa has finally bitten off more than she can chew?

If anyone has any other suggestions let me know so they can be posted before we take a vote. We will vote on Thursday of this week and the book we will be reading will be announced on Friday. We will discuss our selection the week of March 26th . I figure that each one of us could come up with a topic from the book to be discussed during that week, but we will play it by ear. I am up for any and all suggestions!

5 comments:

Lisa said...

Wow. They all sound good. I remember way back when I had time to read. I may have to catch up next month after things settle down.

Baby Blues said...

I'll see what book I could get a hold of. Actually I'm looking forward to Tertia's So Close which Mands will be mailing soon. It'll be our own travelling book in our side of the globe. Just let me know what you'll recommend. :-)

Amanda said...

I would happuly read any of these!

Amanda said...

happily... sorry!

Keeping The Faith said...

Wanted to let you know that I would be more than happy to e-mail you about all the testing my current RE did and the protocol he used. Just give me a few days and I'll try to get it fown for you.

I'll be driving out of town for another IVIg today so I don't have time until this weekend or early next week.

Also- just to throw this out there for the heck of it. I was about to start the book "The Kate Runner", by Khalaed Hosseini. A close friend who's part of a book club w/ 9 ladies (lives in another state) mailed me this book b/c she said her book club voted and said it was the best book they read in 2006. They read one a month.

It's sounds a little heavier than my taste- and maybe yours. I like murder/mystery but I thought I'd give it a go and throw it out there as an option since it came so highly recommended. So that's my vote since I have it already and was going to read it anyway...

-Faith