Wednesday, May 14, 2014

{Book Review} Queen of Babble Gets Hitched


Queen of Babble Gets Hitched

by Meg Cabot

First Published: 2009

Pages: 336 (I listened to audio version)

ISBN:  978-0060852030

Dates Read: May 7-14, 2014






Reading Challenges this book is part of: 

- 2014 Audiobook Challenge


- 2014 I Love Library Books Challenge

Synopsis (from Goodreads):


Big Mouth, Big Heart, Big City . . . Big Problems
Things are looking up at last for Lizzie Nichols. She has a career she loves in the field of her choice (wedding gown restoration), and the love of her life, Jean-Luc, has finally proposed. Life's become a dizzying whirl of wedding gown fittings—not necessarily her own—as Lizzie prepares for her dream wedding at her fiancé's château in the south of France.

But the dream soon becomes a nightmare when the best man—whom Lizzie might once have accidentally slept with...no, really, just slept—announces his total lack of support for the couple, a sentiment seconded by the maid of honor; Lizzie's Midwestern family can't understand why she doesn't want to have her wedding in the family backyard; her future French in-laws are trying to lure the groom back into investment banking; and Lizzie finds herself wondering if her Prince Charming really is as charming as she once believed..




Other works by this author:

  • The Princess Diaries
  • Size 12 is Not Fat
  • The Boy Next Door
  Further Information:

    My thoughts on the book:

    Oh boy where do I start on this one? While I certainly wouldn't say I hated it as I did finish it and it passed the time back and forth to work, there were several times I wondered why I was still hanging in there.

    The biggest pro for this book was I enjoyed the narrator so it was an easy audio book to listen to. That might actually be the only pro the more I think about it. There were, however, so many cons.
     

    I got annoyed fairly quickly with the main character, Lizzy,  especially whenever she talked about why she "loved" her fiancé Luke- it was all superficial things like his eyes or muscles and things like that. She did like that he was going to be a doctor and talked about his rich family which, to me, made her seem like a bit of a gold digger. I don't think I can remember one example of something her and Luke enjoyed doing together (out of bed) which doesn't bode well for an impeding marriage. And then she went and slept with his best friend (Chaz) to boot! The real kicker came when she accepted Luke's proposal while Chaz was STILL upstairs in her bed and then kicked the poor guy out because her (now) fiancé was going to be back shortly after making a Diet Coke run for her. Who does that???

    The rest of the story is pretty much just a repetitive loop of her friends telling her she really loves Chaz to which Lizzy denies, denies, denies and continually says "but I'm engaged!" (well you sure aren't acting like it Lizzy!) and then her NOT breaking up with her fiancé multiple times when she should have although always worrying she was going to get caught (I was almost hoping she would!).

    I probably could go on a while longer about her friends and both of these guys but I won't. They didn't have any more substance than Lizzy did really. My favorite character might have been her poor old grumpy French boss who insisted on playing pétanque (much to his wife's frustration) all day long after his surgery. At least he was somewhat amusing in his stubborn grouchiness.

    Oh well they can't all be great books. On to the next one! :-)
    Saturday, May 3, 2014

    {Book Review} The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

    source: Goodreads

    The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

    by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

    First Published: 2008

    Pages: 274 (I listened to audio version)

    ISBN:  978-0385340991

    Dates Read: April 28- May 3, 2014







    Reading Challenges this book is part of: 

    - 2014 Audiobook Challenge
    - 2014 British History Challenge
    - 2014 European Reading Challenge 
    - 2014 I Love Library Books Challenge

    Synopsis (from Goodreads):

    “ I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.” January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb….

    As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

    Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

    Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

    Other works by this author:

    This is Mary Ann Shaffer's first and only novel. She worked as an editor, librarian, and in bookshops and her dream was to write a book and publish it. Before she could finish this book she became very ill with cancer so she asked her niece, Annie Barrows, to help her finish it. She died just a few months before her book was published.
      Further Information:

    My thoughts on the book:

    The synopsis really tells all you need to know about the basic plot line of the book so I won't rewrite that, besides if I talk about it too much I'll only give away things that will spoil the book if you haven't read it yet. But I could, I could talk about this book all day long with anyone that would like to because I loved it that much. I could talk about it and read it all over again.

    I'm always hesitant with audiobooks but decided to give another one a try and I'm so glad I did. As it written in a series of letters between many different folks it was read by several different people and they did a fantastic job. I would even dare to say the book was made even better by listening to the letters being read to me than if I had read it myself (though I do want to go back and reread it myself too). The characters really came to life through the letters and I found myself wanting to go with Juliet to Guernsey to meet them myself.

    There was something almost soothing as I listened to this book each day on the way back and forth to work. I looked forward to it every day after work even though there were parts that made me cry (several parts in fact) but there were also many that made me burst out with laughter. And I found myself torn at times between wanting them to describe more of their life during the Occupation (even though those were many times the parts that made me cry) or having them describe the things going on in the present. It also made me wish for a simpler time when people really did write letters like that to each other.

    There were many passages I would have highlighted had I been reading this instead of listening to it so I'll finish off with a couple of those that I would have-

    “That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive—all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment.”

    This book itself sparked many 'tiny things' that I will now go on to explore in other books- forced slave workers during the Occupation, more about life during the Occupation for people in other countries, and Guernsey itself. I also have added Guernsey to my ever growing list of places to visit and I must arrive by the ferry from Weymouth. It's the best way to arrive in Guernsey as Juliet was told.

    “Think of it! We could have gone on longing for one another and pretending not to notice forever. This obsession with dignity can ruin your life if you let it.” 

    Oh so true and glad I finally decided to heck with dignity and took a chance just like Juliet did.