Book Review: The Rock Star in Seat 3A by Jill Kargman

Rating: 2.5/5
Number of pages: 200
First published: 2012
Genre: contemporary fiction, chick-lit
I got this book: for review from William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins

A light read about a fantasy coming true, that sounded great! However, this book was rather too light for me, and I could not see anything great about the protagonist’s fantasy in the first place. In hindsight, this was probably not a book for me.

The Rock Star in Seat 3A: What it is about

From the publisher’s website: “Just turned thirty, Hazel has everything she could wish for—great guy, great job, great New York life. But great just got even better when a boring business flight becomes a trip to heaven thanks to a surprise upgrade to first class—to the seat next to rock god Finn Schiller.

At her birthday party the night before, Hazel’s amazing and generous boyfriend gave her a free pass if she ever met the rock star. After all, what were the odds of that ever happening, right? But here she is and so is Finn. It must be fate. Even more unbelievably, Hazel and Finn genuinely connect, despite that minor vomiting incident. (It was the turbulence!) Finn likes her potty mouth, her wicked humor, and he appreciates her refreshingly anti-groupie attitude. Hazel adores his killer looks, ripped physique, and soulful music.

When fantasy becomes real attraction, a dream date, and taste of L.A. rock-star life, Hazel must decide what she wants. Indulging in a passionate affair with a rock star seems crazy, and she’s got a life she loves back in NYC. But could she ever forgive herself if she walked away from her wildest dream coming true?”

The Rock Star in Seat 3A: What I thought

Doubt creeps in straight away when a book starts with “I’ve never done heroin”. It got the benefit of the doubt, and I’m happy to say, there is no drug taking or other underworld activity in this book (you see, I was expecting chick-lit, not crime). Then I got more uncomfortable: the writing was so  loud. So terribly loud, that I almost could not follow along with the roller-coaster language assaulting my brain. Written in a language that is not mine (I mean, culturally), I had a hard time getting into this story. I have the feeling the writing relaxed later on, or maybe I got used to it by then.

Then the profanities. First things first: I’m not against profanities for any religious reasons, more out of principle: I find them agressive and unpleasant, even when used in a positive sense “This is f*cking great!!!”. I just don’t like it. My luck, there is an abundance of them in this book, especially at the beginning. To be fair, I’m pretty strict: I even have problems with the word @ss, since there are nicer words for the particular body part.

Then it turned out I’d chosen the wrong book to read with regards the story line: I mean, do I care about music? Not much. Do I care about celebrities? Even less. Do I fantasize about meeting rock stars or other celebrities? Never. So, why did I pick up this book? I’m not sure. It seemed like a nice and light read, is all I can say.

When Hazel wasn’t cursing away with her friends, she was a nice person. Nothing like the brain-dead women you may encounter in some chick-lits and she was reasonably normal about meeting and dating a rock star. Of course, initially, she was all “Wow, it’s him! {profanities} I want to kiss him!!” but she settled down soon enough and didn’t let her star-struck brain take over. She treated him almost like she would any other person, which I liked about her. I could also understand why she might jeopardise her relationship with the dependable Wylie: sometimes you have to go beyond what you know to find out what you really want.

All fine so far. But some of the story was plain boring and 20 pages from the end, I was wondering whether this was it, when there suddenly was a twist to the story that I hadn’t seen coming and that hadn’t been sufficiently hinted at earlier on in the story. It was too sudden and that didn’t feel right.

The rock star was a rather card board cut-out type of guy, I never really got to understand what Hazel liked about him other than his music (is that enough to be infatuated with someone?). I could take him or leave him, he was nothing special in my eyes.

So, altogether not a fantastic reading experience for me. If you love the idea of living out a fantasy with your favorite celebrity you’re starting off with an advantage. You may like this way more than I did.

Book Review: Arranged by Catherine McKenzie

Rating: 4.5/5
Number of pages: 416
First published: 2011 (Canada), this USA edition 2012 (May 15th)
Genre: contemporary fiction, chick-lit
I got this book: for review from William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins

I read the first book by Catherine McKenzie, Spin, a few months ago and enjoyed it a lot, so I was keen to read her next book. Arranged is chick-lit of the kind where the main character is not a complete brain-dead girl who can’t do anything right (the kind of chick-lit that gives chick-lit a bad name). Instead, Anne is a normal person who is looking for a man after being disappointed in her relationships several times. I was very curious about this book, given that the main character uses an arranged marriage service to find her a husband. Could that really work?

Arranged: What it is about

Anne Blythe is in her early thirties and has just dumped her live-in boyfriend because he was cheating on her. When she finds a business card from what she thinks is a dating agency she decides to keep it for later, you never know.

After a few failed dates, Anne believes she will never find someone to share her life with. When her best friend Sarah announces her engagement, Anne decides to try the dating agency. But this turns out to be a arranged marriage agency. They are very expensive, but guarantee they will find her a partner who is a good match, with whom she will have a great marriage.

Half a year later, Anne is in Mexico, and meets her prospective husband Jack on the night before the wedding. It seems all will end well.

Arranged: What I thought

I loved premise of the book and was curious to find out how this would work for Anne. Would she really find a husband this way? Someone who she could actually imagine living with?

What I really liked (but I’m not sure whether that was the book or just suspicious-me) was that during most of the book I kept thinking Anne would be tricked in some way: for instance, maybe the agency was no good and only after her money or the husband she’d get would turn out to be awful after the wedding, etc. That gave a certain suspense to the book which I really enjoyed.

The ending of the book was satisfactory (the sort of ending you’d like to have in a book like this), but it was also rather predictable. It made the story a little cheap, while the beginning of the book was so much more original.

I was doubtful about anyone just taking a business card and trust that the company involved is genuine. Especially given the amount of money she had to pay, I’d think Anne should have researched the company more.

The book is a quick and easy read. I liked Anne, although I didn’t feel much attached to her. Most of the book felt very believable, including the relationship with her friend Sarah, with whom she has a fall-out at some point.

A fun book for chick-lit lovers.

Book Review: More Like Her by Liza Palmer

Rating: 4/5
Number of pages: 310
First published: 2012 (April)
Genre: contemporary fiction
I got this book: for review from William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins

Don’t we always think other people are more beautiful, richer and have a better life than us? Well, I sometimes do. Then I console myself by thinking that this lady’s husband might be a soccer fan (shudder!) or that nice-looking lady would probably look awful without all that make-up.

Anyway, that’s what this book is about: what you see is not always the reality.

More Like Her: What it is about

From the publisher’s website: “To Francis the height of female perfection is Emma Dunham. She’s beautiful, successful, and has the most thoughtful and handsome husband on the planet. Emma is everything that Francis, recently dumped with spectacular drama by her boyfriend, wants to be. Her fellow teachers—Lisa, a professional so career focused she doesn’t have time for a family, and Jill, whose unexpected pregnancy may hold devastating consequences for her marriage—think so too.

But what Francis, Lisa, and Jill don’t know is that Emma has a secret. Her home life is nothing like the suburban postcard it seems. [I've taken out the spoiler part - this bit occurs about half-way the book]

In the aftermath, the trio of friends realizes they must come to terms with the secrets of their own lives. Yet how can they pick up the pieces and move forward when they know that everything they’ve counted on and believed in is nothing like what it seems?”

More Like Her: What I thought

This was an enjoyable, quick read. Frances is a believable single, whose live-in boyfriend left the relationship not so long ago and she is wondering with every man she encounters whether this will be the new ‘him’. If you think “how silly!”, I can tell you “been there, done it”. She comes across a builder, Sam, who is working on an extension of the school that she works at. She likes him (a lot) but is she just an interlude for him? Now, I agree (with what I think some people might say) that a woman shouldn’t (and isn’t) always be on the look-out for a husband, but at some point, dating this and that person can be a bit tedious and you want to have some idea of your chances before committing to more dates.

Anyway, the main story is probably not that, but the story of Emma, the headmistress. She’s new and Frances at first thinks she’s too cool and impersonal, but later warms to her and they start to become friends. But not for long, because it seems Emma’s life isn’t quite so perfect.

Frances, Jill, and Lisa have to try and come to terms with a terrible ordeal, to say nothing of Sam, who was even more directly involved. Frances changes for the better, though, and shows another side of herself.

While I enjoyed the book (and read it in one weekend), I did find fault with the book: for a better effect, Frances should have looked up more to Emma. As it was, this was left between the lines too much. Also, Lisa, who was new at the school, made best friends with Frances and Jill at break-neck speed. How does that work?

One more complaint is that I didn’t find the characters 100% convincing in the aftermath of the ordeal they went through. Sam didn’t talk about it, full-stop, that was fine, but the others seem to play their role only when it suited the particular storyline that was focused on at any time.

Having said that, I did enjoy reading this book (4 stars!). It has some life lessons for us all – in an non-obtrusive way – and for that, I like it a lot.

Extra: Have you come across romantic interests called Sam? It happened in I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella as well as in this book (which I both read within the space of the same week).

Book Review: Spin by Catherine McKenzie

Genre: contemporary fiction, chick-lit
First Published: 2009 (this edition 2012)
I read this in: English, the original language
I got this book: for review from the publishers, William Morrow (an imprint of HarperCollins)
Number of pages: 440
Rating: 4.5/5

Since Mari of Bookworm with a View was also reading this book at the same time, we decided to post our reviews on the same day as well as ask each other some questions about the book. You can read my answers to Mari’s questions below, and her answers to my questions are on her blog, here.

Spin: What it is about

Kate Sandford is invited to a job interview at her favorite music magazine and this happens to be on her birthday. She goes out and celebrates both her birthday and the interview the night before, arriving at the interview still rather drunk. She doesn’t get the job.

A few weeks later, she gets a call from the magazine, who also run a gossip magazine. They want to make a deal: if she goes undercover to a rehab facility to follow a famous “It” girl around, they will give her a job at the music magazine afterwards.

Kate accepts and enrols in the rehab programme. She meet It-girl Amber and befriends her, covertly sending back gossip to her new boss.

But Kate gets more and more involved in the rehab programme and it seems that she could do with a 12-step programme herself. She also starts to feel guilty about writing a gossip story about her new friend. Some serious issues need to be resolved before she leaves the programme.

Spin: What I thought

4.5 out of 5 stars I enjoyed this book a lot. The cover looked like chick-lit and I’d say that is what this is. Just like in some of Sophie Kinsella’s books (the Shopaholic girl in particular), the main character, Kate, was a little silly, not really in control of her own life. She wasn’t happy to grow up, so she lived a student life and told everyone she was 25 (rather than 30) and that she was still studying.

I found a lot of elements of the book very unlikely (like a filmstar bringing his personal assistant to rehab, Kate’s parents never wondering where she got the money for the expensive ($1,000 a day) rehab, and many more). That was a pity as it did lower my enjoyment of reading the book. But not much, because it was a fun story.

I would never want to befriend a celebrity because of their status but in Kate’s case, she had to do so for her job (and she seemed pretty obsessed by Amber in the first place). I thought she did it very unobtrusively, which was good. However, I did think the story was too much about her friendship with Amber and not enough about the reason she was there. Her boss seemed to be pretty relaxed and didn’t ask for much. I would have expected him to be more pushy especially because she was not a very experienced journalist yet (and not a reliable person – hadn’t she shown up drunk at her job interview?).

There is also a love story in the book, which is pretty standard in chick-lit. Kate’s love interest was a nice, unassuming person with some good looks as well as a brain, so what else can a girl ask for?

This was a light read in some sense, but it also addressed deeper subjects, such as, what is Kate doing with her life, when are you an alcoholic, do you forsake a friendship only to get a job?

Questions asked by Mari of A Bookworm with a View

Mari- Kate doesn’t believe she has a drinking issue throughout most of the book and self-admits herself into rehab for a story.  How did your opinion of Kate, and her eagerness to get a story, change from the first to last chapter of this book?

Judith- I thought Kate grew up a bit. Not a lot, but enough to be a stronger person. She also started to realise that maybe she did have a drinking problem. I especially liked it when she revealed the age at which she first started drinking and didn’t think anything of it until the therapist told her that wasn’t normal. She became more focused on her own rehabilitation and almost coincidentally became Amber’s friend. After she had already jeopardized one friendship for the magazine job, she was more careful in her friendship with Amber.

Mari- Faithfulness, Addiction and Trust are three important themes in the novel.  Pick one and explore how this impacted Amber and Kate’s friendship.

Judith- Addiction: Kate’s addiction to alcohol was really an addiction to having a good time with friends but alcohol also helped her to get to sleep. Only when she didn’t get the job she really wanted, she realised that there was a (small) problem. Amber and Kate meet because of Amber’s addiction and Kate’s supposed addiction. This is one of the very few things they have in common. It wasn’t very handy that Amber invited Kate to a bar to meet her other friends after they got out of rehab. They should have spent some quiet time at each other’s houses rather than base the future of their friendship meeting in places where people are supposed to drink alcohol.

Mari- Kate was a horrible friend, sister, person at the beginning of the novel.  At one point in the novel she says ‘she was going to write a book about a woman struggling to stay faithful.. after 30 pages she realized that she knew nothing about faithful love’. Do you think Kate is a better person at the end of the novel?

Judith- I think she’s a little bit better, but still has a lot to learn. She has realised the value of friendship, she’s a bit better at keeping a relationship (I think!) and if she can keep off the drink, she’ll have a much improved life, too. But if this was a real-life story, I don’t know how long the realisation would last that it was time to put her life in a different direction. She may try to better her life, find it difficult, and end up the same (or worse off) than before. I’m hopeful but not too hopeful.

Check out Mari’s review and her answers to my questions to her, here.

Book Review: Life’s a Beach by Claire Cook

Genre: contemporary fiction, chick-lit
First Published: 2007
I read this in: English, the original language
Number of pages: 288
Rating: 3.5/5

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Life’s a Beach: What it is About

From amazon.com: “Life’s a bit of a beach these days for Ginger Walsh, who’s single at forty-one and living back home in the family FROG (Finished Room Over Garage). She’s hoping for a more fulfilling life as a sea glass artist, but instead is babysitting her sister’s kids and sharing overnights with Noah, her sexy artist boyfriend with commitment issues and a dog Ginger’s cat isn’t too crazy about.

Geri, her BlackBerry-obsessed sister, is also nearly over the deep end about her pending fiftieth birthday (and might just drag Ginger with her). Toss in a dumpster-picking father, a Kama Sutra T-shirt-wearing mother, a movie crew come to town with a very cute gaffer, an on-again-off-again glassblower boyfriend, plus a couple of Red Hat realtors, and hilarity ensues. The perfect summer read, Life’s a Beach is a warm, witty, and wise look at what it takes to move forward at any stage in life.”

Life’s a Beach: What I thought

3.5 stars (out of 5) 

This is a light read, more or less chick-lit, except the protagonist is more or less middle-aged. Ginger has been having boyfriends but has never had a more serious relationship. Her sister Geri is soon turning 50 and she has been with her child-hood sweetheart for years and they have 3 children. The sisters live quite different lives.

Ginger is living in the room above her parent’s garage and isn’t doing much with her life. She has a sort-of boyfriend, Noah, a glass blower, that no one in her family approves of.

When Geri’s son Riley is chosen to be “Boy 4″ in a movie, Ginger goes with him to the movie location (Geri has a steady job and can’t take the time off), where she meets a nice man, Tim Kelly, who is rather persistently following her around. Will he be a better choice than Noah?

I was a bit ambivalent about this book. The beginning wasn’t very interesting but when Ginger and Riley get onto the movie set it becomes more exciting. It was an OK book to read. The relationship parts weren’t that great, Ginger didn’t seem particularly bothered about either men. It was strange how she didn’t know which man she preferred and she left it almost to fate.

The way the sisters deal with each other was convincing, however. I’m sure many people will recognise the sister conflicts.

Book Review: The Rise and Fall of a Domestic Diva by Sarah May

Rating: 4/5
I got this book: from the library
I read this in: Dutch (The Prendergast Road Kronieken), the original language is English
Number of pages: 304
First published: 2009
Genre: contemporary fiction, chick-lit

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This book looks like a chick-lit pur-sang when you see the English cover. I read the Dutch translation and the cover was much more serious (see below). The book is mostly about Kate and Robert Hunter (no. 22), although single mother Jessica, a widow (no. 283), plays a large part as well.

Three other families on Prendergast Road are highlighted. Besides that they form the Prendergast Road Committee, they share a lifestyle and aspirations. Their most immediate concern is to get their children into the most prestigious primary school in the neighbourhood. Most of them are willing to go to great lengths in order to secure a place for their son or daughter.

Kate Hunter has a crazy life. She’s got a part-time job, a mother-in-law who is temporarily living with them, a 6-month old baby girl that she forgets quite often to bring along with her and a son (almost of primary school age) who needs ferrying about. Her husband Robert is having problems at the school were he is a teacher.

Most of the men in Prendergast Road are more interested in Jessica, the single mum, than in their own wives. None of them seem to have a good marriage and they are all portrayed as a bit silly and not quite part of the household.

At a street party (organised by the Committee) a number of crises come to a head, involving mainly the Hunter family and Jessica and her children.

The book was fun to read although the circumstances were vastly overdone. Would a mother really forget her baby daughter three times on a day (her 5-year old son feels he’s responsible for making sure his mother doesn’t forget to take his sister along when they are going somewhere, or when they are going home)? The mother-in-law, who possibly has the first stage of Alzheimer, is way too dominant in her son’s household and I can’t imagine this would ever really happen.

But sometimes it’s fun to read about other people’s struggles, especially when they are recognisable. I think anyone who was thinking about having children but wasn’t quite sure would not want children after reading this book!

The book’s story lines weren’t very balanced out, I thought, but it still was a fun read that took me about 2 days to read.

Book Review: The Ugly Sister by Jane Fallon

I read a previous book by this writer a few years ago and enjoyed it a lot. That was Getting Rid of Matthew in which an adulterous man moves in with his lover who then decides she prefers to live on her own after all. Great read, so I was looking forward to reading this book, The Ugly Sister.

It was a fun read and has a really good sense of place, the place being the wealthier part of London.

The Ugly Sister: What it is about

Single Mum Abi starts a new phase in her life: her daughter Phoebe is taking a year out, travelling around the world before starting her university degree. Abi takes the opportunity to buy a smaller house and she can move in after the summer. But her old house is already sold and Cleo, her sister in London, suggests she come and stay with her and her family over the summer.

It is a great opportunity to connect with her sister again as they haven’t seen much of each other for many years. Cleo (whose real name is Caroline) has been a model since she was 16 years old and has been much too busy to involve herself with her parents and sister. Now, Cleo is almost 40, she has a husband and two daughters, and her career is on the way down.

But will Cleo spend time with Abi this summer? Abi likes the beautiful London house her sister and her husband own, but it seems she is an honorary nanny. The au pair has left and Cleo really does not have the time to deal with her children herself. She’s too busy going to vague appointments and beauty treatments. Abi feels let down by her sister.

Abi notices that she still isn’t getting any closer to her sister, but in the mean time, she starts getting feelings for her brother in law Jon. And that wasn’t quite as planned. She has a hard time of it, living in the same house as a man she has feelings for but can’t get too close to.

The Ugly Sister: What I thought

This is an easy read and I felt “at home” in the story from the start. I think I could be Abi. She has similar ideas and behavior as I think I would have in her situation. She is not at all stupid and her choices are usually well-founded. Still, the book is sometimes very funny.

I thought the description of London was very clear, especially the area where Cleo lives with its exclusive shops and rich housewives. It felt almost as if I was there myself.

Her boss (she takes a part-time job in a book shop near Cleo’s house) pretends to be Abi’s boyfriend at some point (to cover up for something) and goes rather far in this. I thought that was unlikely to happen in reality.

The book is not just about love and relationships between men and women. In fact, it was more about the relationship between the sisters, with Cleo always having been more successful than her sister and seemingly more appreciated by their parents. Is it possible to develop a good relationship with your sister after such a long time? And who, in the end, is the ugliest sister?

Rating: 4.5/5

I got this book: from PenguinBenelux in return for a review

I read this in: English, the original language

Number of pages: 464

First published: 2011 (September)

Genre: contemporary fiction, chick-lit