26. True Blue

True Blue, by Luanne Rice 2002)

Another pick from Mom's guest room, True Blue seems like a typical romance novel. The story is about Rumer, a vet who lives in a tiny Connecticut town. Her one true love Zeb, dropped her for her older sister Elizabeth. Years later, Zeb returns, divorced and trying to connect with his son and, not coincidentally, his son's aunt Rumer. You all know what happpens next.

Thanks for the Memories

Thanks for the Memories, by Cecilia Ahern

Sometimes I pick up really interesting stuff at conferences. This one is a bittersweet story about two people who start to share each others' memories. I thought it was going to be kind of lightweight, but it really stuck with me and wasn't as chicklit-ish as the pink cover led me to believe--not that I have a problem with chicklit if it's good. Anyway, I remember not being able to put this down until I finished it.

The story is set in Ireland. There are two main characters, Joyce, who has recently had a miscarriage and had to have a blood transfusion, and Justin, who donated the blood Joyce received. It doesn't take long before they start running into each other all over town and taking one each others' thoughts and some characteristics. It's not realistic, but it's believable in the universe of the story. I can't ask more than to be completely entertained by a book, and this one did that for me.

7. Along for the Ride

Along for the Ride, by Sarah Dessen (2009).

How have I not discovered Sarah Dessen before? Probably because she writes for teens, though I assumed from the cover that this was adult chick lit and nothing inside the book made think otherwise until I was halfway though it. I remember thinking that more writers should try out protagonists Auden's age, because the summer after high school/before college is such an interesting time.

After her parents' divorce, Auden lives with her college professor mother, who treats her like an adult. She decides to get away from her mom and go stay with her dad, new stepmother, and new baby sister. Her dad is just as absentee as her mom, but Auden starts to develop a relationship with her young stepmother, who she previously though was a dumb blonde. I really liked how Auden begins to see her parents as people with flaws, rather than just parents who don't live up to her expectations.

I'm wishing I posted about this when I first read the book, because some of the details are getting fuzzy. The romance between Auden and Eli is really nice, and starts out so realistically for the age of the characters. The beach town setting also helps show how much waiting around and hanging out teenagers do in real life, which is so different from the urban jet-setting teens in a lot of books.

2. The Break-up Diet

The Break-up Diet, by Annette Fix (August, 2008)

I finally got my first Early Reviewers book a few days ago, and decided to read a few chapters last night. Well, just over two hours passed by and I was finished with the whole thing.

I don't really think of my posts here as reviews, but that's what I signed up to do on LibraryThing. My reviews are pretty brief, but probably a little more meaty than the two sentences you often get from Publisher's Weekly.

This memoir reads like chick lit, the good kind. I kept forgetting it wasn't a novel as I read it. Every "character" feels real and Annette's voice is really authentic. It's a quick read and fun, even when working through some really tough, emotional stuff. It's not the kind of thing I usually read, but enjoyed it. If you like Jennifer Weiner's work (and I definitely do), you'll probably like this.

51. Which Brings Me to You

Which Brings Me to You: A Novel in Confessions (Steve Almond & Julianna Baggott, 2006)

More Steve Almond. I tend to request several things from one writer at the same time, so my holds often come in as themed batches. I liked this a ton, and think the collaboration worked wonderfully. The story opens on a failed wedding reception hookup between Jane and John. The two, who live in different states, decide to get to know one another through confessions they'll send back and forth through the mail. Except for the first and last chapters, the entire novel is made up of this correspondence. The premise sounds too cute, but the execution was really interesting and unexpected.

This book was devastating. That's overly dramatic, I know. But several passages, especially from Jane's letters, could have been ripped from my head, word for word. It's hard to see thoughts and feelings exactly like my own, laid bare on the page. The confessions are wonderful and terrible, and I believed in these two broken, sad people trying to make a connection. The final chapter let me down just a tiny bit, but don't let that stop you from trying this one out.

16. Everyone Worth Knowing

Everyone Worth Knowing (Lauren Weisberger, 2005)

Thinking I needed an airplane book, I picked this up at the grocery store when I was visiting my parents over Christmas/New Year. I ended up sleeping and listening to music on the plane and kind of forgot about it. It turned up again when I was trying to consolidate the piles of unread books I have scattered around the house, and I read it last night in an insomnia-plagued fit. While Weisberger kind of follows the same formula she laid out in The Devil Wears Prada, I actually liked this one better. TDWP seemed to drag and was pretty repetitive, but this book had a snappier pace and more interesting characters. It helped that Bette, the heroine of the piece, was much more likable than whatever-her-name-was in TDWP and that the love interest was a great guy. All in all, this is a fun book.