Recommendation for Jamie

I asked audience members from the GWU Women's Literature discussion to tell me the kinds of books they like to read, and I promised to give them personalized book recommendations on my blog.

This one is for Jamie. She said she likes women's literature & chick-lit (Time Traveler's Wife); some non-ficton (3 Cups of Tea). So...for you I'm recommending Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert. I read this book last year and enjoyed it. I typically go for fiction, and this is non-fiction. So it's a little out of my regular genre, but I found the story's abandon and adventure fascinating.

At the age of thirty-one, Gilbert moved with her husband to the suburbs of New York and began trying to get pregnant, only to realize that she wanted neither a child nor a husband. Three years later, after a protracted divorce, she embarked on a yearlong trip of recovery, with three main stops: Rome, for pleasure (mostly food-wise, with a special emphasis on gelato); an ashram outside of Mumbai, for spiritual searching; and Bali, for "balancing."

I also love traveling, so reading this book made me feel like I was in these three destinations.

Jamie, will you let me know what you think of this recommendation? Have you already read it? Did you like it? They're making a movie out of it, I hear, so I'm looking forward to that. I always like to read a book first and then watch the movie to see how other people portray the characters that I'd pictured in my imagination.

Please feel free to have your friends contact me for recommendations too. You can contact me through my website: www.girlclassified.com

Thanks for coming out on Monday!

Recommendation for Stephanie

I asked audience members from the GWU Women's Literature discussion to tell me the kinds of books they like to read, and I promised to give them personalized book recommendations on my blog.

This first one is for Stephanie. She said she likes chicklit but with more of an "edge"...funny, but also dealing with serious issues (family, depression, divorce), recognizable characters, even if a bit over the top.

Stephanie, I just started reading the book, Beach House, by Jane Green. I'm only in a few pages, but I thought this might be up your alley. It's about a sixty-five-year-old Nan Powell who has lived comfortably and happily in Nantucket since the suicide of her husband, Everett, so she is thrown for a loop when she learns that she is in danger of losing her beloved house. After weighing her options, Nan decides to turn her home into a bed-and-breakfast. The guests she gets for the summer are all at a crossroads in their lives in one way or another. Daniel has just separated from his wife and is facing something he has denied for years; Daff is recovering from the heartbreak of a divorce and getting a much-needed break from her anger-filled 13-year-old daughter; and Nan’s son Michael is on the run from a disastrous affair. Nan finds herself opening up to her guests and enjoying their company, but she is shocked when she discovers a person close to one of them has a startling connection to her.

Stephanie, will you let me know what you think? Also, feel free to have any of your friends tell me the kinds of books they like, and I'll do a recommendation for them too. You can contact me through my website www.girlclassified.com

There's No Place Like Here

I just finished reading a classic, great chic-lit. It's written by Cecilia Ahern, the author of P.S. I Love You. She's also the Irish Prime Minister's daughter. (I've always thought that was cool tidbit of her biography.)

There's No Place Like Here is classic chicklit because it's written in the first person by a female protagonist. The narrator is discovering something about herself in the book, and a background (yet important) plot element is the acknowledging of the main character's true love. It's about a thirty-something woman, Sandy Shortt, whose job it is to find missing people until she herself goes missing. What I like best about Cecilia Ahern's books is that most of them include an element of Irish folklore/magic. I know that sounds strange for chicklit, but it's what makes Ahern's books different and special.

Five stars for this novel, Ahern's latest, which was published in 2009.

The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett was discussed on NPR yesterday as I drove in to work. It's about the desegregation of America from a young caucasian girl's perspective as she talks to African-American maids. I had seen this book on the bestseller list and not thought much of it. It sounded an awful lot like the Secret Life of Bees. However, the NPR show made the book sound very thought-provoking. I'm looking forward to reading this novel now. Has anyone else read it yet?

True Blood

I'm currently reading the 4th book in the True Blood Sookie Stackhouse vampire series on which the HBO television show is based. The series is by Charlaine Harris who must be writing like mad because I believe her 10th book in the series just came out. I don't love these books, but right now it's what I wanted to read. I feel like the writing isn't very good, so I get tired of the book and put it down a lot. It's taking me awhile to go through this 4th book, which I started a couple of weeks ago.