July Chick Lit Challenge #3: Point, Click, Love

There's a theme with this month's challenge reads. They all came from my local library! I went a bit nuts after I finally got a library card as it turns out my library has an awesome selection of new books. Also - all three July books have been debut novels! I was happy to see Point, Click, Love by Molly Shapiro on the shelf because I had heard some good things about this one. While it didn't blow me away, I still really enjoyed reading this one.

Here's the synopsis:

Best friends and fellow midwesterners Katie, Annie, Maxine, and Claudia are no strangers to dealing with love and relationships, but with online dating and social networking now in the mix, they all have the feeling they’re not in Kansas anymore. Katie, a divorced mother of two, secretly seeks companionship through the Internet only to discover that the rules of the dating game have drastically changed. Annie, a high-powered East Coast transplant, longs for a baby, yet her online search for a sperm donor is not as easy—or anonymous—as she anticipates. Maxine, a successful artist with a seemingly perfect husband, turns to celebrity gossip sites to distract herself from her less-than-ideal marriage. And Claudia, tired of her husband’s obsession with Facebook, finds herself irresistibly drawn to a handsome co-worker. As these women navigate the new highs and lows of the digital age, they each find that their wrong turns lead surprisingly to the right click and, ultimately, the connection they were seeking.

This book almost got a five star rating but I wasn't quite feeling it and I believe this was more a personal quirk than any real reflection on the book. I had just finished reading The Singles when I started Point, Click, Love. The two novels had a similar set up - several characters and flipping back and forth between their stories (read my review of The Singles here for more). I think the reason I didn't love this one was because the characters were at a very different stage in their lives than where I'm currently at.With the exception of Annie, the women in Point, Click, Love were already well into their marriages and had at least one kid. I'm nowhere near that point in my life so it was a bit harder for me to relate. Like I said, this won't mean much to some people but there might be a few readers out there who would rather stay away from novels that feature characters they won't be able to relate to. Make sense? Hopefully! :)

Even though I couldn't personally relate to what the women were going through, I still enjoyed reading about their lives. Each woman had something different going on in their lives and that made things fresh. They were all, for the most part, having marital trouble but the issues were diverse enough to keep me interested.

It was hard for me to decide how I wanted each woman's life to turn out. Situations kept evolving and revealing more information which changed my mind constantly. In the end, I was happy with how each character's story wrapped up. Some things may have been drastically different than what I predicted but that's what makes books fun - not knowing exactly what's going to happen!

Overall, I had fun reading Molly Shapiro's debut novel Point, Click, Love. I'd definitely recommend it to other chick lit lovers. I look forward to seeing what Molly comes out with next!

Happy reading :)

July Chick Lit Challenge Read #2: The Singles

I had heard lots of good things about The Singles by Meredith Goldstein and it had gone on my short list for books to purchase with a gift card I got for my birthday. Since there were about 5 others on that list and the gift card was not enough to cover two fully, let alone 5, I was very happy when I found this book at the library. I was even happier when I ended up really enjoying it!

Here's a short and sweet synopsis:

Beth “Bee” Evans’s first vow as a bride is that everyone on her list be invited to bring a guest to her lavish, Chesapeake Bay nuptials. When Hannah, Vicki, Rob, Joe, and Nancy one by one decline Bee’s generous offer, the frustrated bride dubs them the “Singles,” adrift on her seating chart as well as in life.

I love chick lit books that are centred around weddings but don't necessarily focus on the wedding itself. These (usually lavish) events provide such excellent self-made drama, which is probably why I like them so much. Weddings are one of the most emotional events that the general public attends regularly. In this book we don't really learn a whole lot about Bee, the bride, other than what's revealed in flashbacks. We know even less about the groom. I'm not even sure I could tell you his name! But that's what made this book interesting. The drama came from the guests and their relationships with each other instead of what's happening between Bee and her fiancé.

The only little teeny negative I have is that there were so many characters that I didn't feel like I learned enough about them. Joe and "Nancy" (who was actually her son Phil - she was unable to attend the wedding so he was filling in for her) weren't entirely necessary. I enjoyed learning about their back story and they each played a role in helping Vicki and Hannah, but when we flipped to their stories it took away from learning more about those ladies.

Speaking of Phil, he provided me with a chuckle early on in the book. We learn that he's high up in security at Camden Yards, the ball park where the Baltimore Orioles play. He runs through a few examples of disturbances he would normally have to deal with and during that he mentions all the other teams in the AL East - Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, and - drumroll please - the Toronto Blue Jays! As a Jays fan, I have to tell you that it's not often I get to read about my team in a novel. Yankees and Red Sox (ugh and ugh) get mentioned all the time but it's usually like the lone team up in Canada doesn't exist. So. I thank Meredith for being a fan of teams in the AL East and including my fave ball team in her novel :) (And for responding to me on Twitter about this same topic!)

Anyway. That's a bit off topic but I needed to discuss it :)

This novel was funny without being a comedy, and emotional without being too drama-filled. In the course of a weekend wedding, everyone seems to realize what has been wrong in their life and what they need to do to fix it. I liked that the characters all had their own unique quirks. It made for some interesting and amusing situations.

Overall, I highly recommend The Singles by Meredith Goldstein. It had just the right amount of humour and drama and I found it incredibly enjoyable.

Happy reading! :)

daily book pic - week one recap

I'm sure most of you have read of the photoaday things that people are doing these days - taking a particular photo (self portrait, sunset, pet, etc.) every day for a month. Cassandra Neace from Book Riot has decided to put a bookish spin on things and there are a ton of book worms (including myself) who have jumped at the chance to participate. If you want to get involved or just want to see the full list of photo prompts check out the original article here.

It's now the end of week one so I thought I'd share my pics from the week. I'm having a bit of photo envy as it seems many other people have artistic photos and mine now seem lacking. Perhaps I'll be a bit more creative as the month goes on :)

Day One - Favourite Reading Spot

I was already a few days behind when I decided to start this project and when I got around to taking the first two pictures it was approaching darkness. Why does this matter? It means that I wasn't able to get a good picture of me reading outside which is my favourite place to read in the summer. Reading on the couch (which you see here) comes in at a comfy second.

Though...now that I'm writing this I realize that my all time favourite spot was here:

This was on a cruise to the Bahamas in February. Not bad, eh? Sigh. Can I go back there?

Day Two - Current Read

I'm not one to normally read more than one book at once but because All Roads Lead to Austen (amazing, by the way) is a non-fiction, and I take much longer to read non-fiction books, I decided to start a fiction book as well, The Wedding Beat (also very good). I've since finished them both and recommend them! 

Day Three - Book Browsing

I've just recently made it to my new local library. I've been living in this city for just about four months and it wasn't until last week that I got around to getting a library card - shocking, I know! This photo was taken on my second visit. They have a fantastic seven day borrowing section full of new books so I knew to make a beeline for it as soon as I got there the other day. I ended up picking up Point, Click, Love (the one on the top shelf on the far right) and am excited to read it!

Day Four - Bookshelf

This picture shows the top two shelves on my bookshelf at my house here. I say that because I have another bookshelf back at my mom's house that is still full of books that I've already read. Yes, you are interpreting that correctly - I haven't read any of the books in the photo. And in the interest of full disclosure, those shelves are now a bit fuller (as well as the two shelves below it...) as I had other books to add. I know, I know...I have a problem :)

Day Five - Bookmark

As soon as I saw this prompt I knew exactly which bookmark I planned on taking a photo of. The one shown here is from Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. My best friend was down there last summer and picked one up for me. Why is this such an interesting thing? Because Flyleaf Books is Sarah Dessen's favourite local indie bookstore. I repeat, why is this such an interesting thing? Because Sarah Dessen is our favourite author. My friend thought I'd get a kick out of the bookmark and I did. Little did we know that that September we would get the chance to meet Dessen when she came to Toronto! I had her sign some of my books and this bookmark, which led to a discussion between her and my friend about when she was at the store. It turns out that the owner saw Dessen in another store shortly after my friend was there and the woman told Dessen that there had been a family from Canada who visited the store and the daughter was a huge fan of hers. And she remembered that! We thought it was the greatest thing. (And yes, that's a snitch pin. Got it when I went to Universal in February.)

Day Six - Book and Beverage

It has been an incredibly hot summer so far and, while I'm a new beer drinking, I equate hot weather with drinking beer. Therefore, day six led me to a Coors Light Iced Tea and looking at my next read (The Singles) and a book that arrived in the mail that day A Girl Like You). It was a good, but HOT, evening!

Day Seven - Book and Breakfast

This is what I normally have for breakfast. The Shreddies, not the book, of course. Juice and cereal at home and tea taken in a travel mug to work. Since I had actually gone out for breakfast the morning of day seven, I couldn't take a true breakfast photo. Well...I suppose I could have brought a book with me to the restaurant but I never would have heard the end of it from my boyfriend's ball team who we went out with. :) PS Have you heard of Seen Reading? I recommend you check out the website!

So, there you have it. Week one is complete! Stay tuned on (hopefully) Saturday when I will be recapping week two. Think about joining in - it's been a lot of fun!