Saturday, April 9, 2011

Chick Lit: Not Chicklets, Which Is Gum..Something You Chew!

I have been reading, "Chick Lit", not so much as my favorite genre, rather as I won several titles in the various book swaps I participate in. 

The last one I read was gol-durn-awful.  I swear on....um, my Cat, this has to have been one of the WORST books I have ever read.  No matter how I tried I just could not like the book... I felt absolutely nothing about the characters, nor could I relate to them in any way. 

From what I read, some young dilettante was on her honeymoon in Mexico, at a uber-expensive & exclusive resort...however, her husband had left her at the airport to attend business.  She then meets up with a pair of filthy-rich cousins who are newly divorced.  They hang around the villa, swim, nosh, drink alcohol laced tropical libations, lounge around in high-end designer clothing....and talk about "me-me-me".....and from there, I have not a clue as to what happened, because I put the book down.   What I liked best about the book was one of its tags: "Waste of Time"! 

Another book I read was "Barefoot".  This was a tad bit better, but it went on & on & on with information about the characters (their guilty ruminations) that I didn't think was necessary.  Three women, two sisters & a friend, run away from their lives & family to Nantucket for the summer.  Each one has a secret which has turned their life upside down. 

The eldest sister has cancer, her friend finds herself pregnant while her husband is having an affair with a co-worker (he's a selfish piece of work), and the youngest sister has been fired from her job as a literature professor for falling in love with one of her students.....  This book was very similar to Jennifer Weiner's "Fly Away Home".

Another book I put down was Madelyn Alt's newest witchcraft mystery, "A Witch in Time".  This was so awful..... Her sister is having a baby and she gets stuck in an elevator & over hears a suspicious conversation.  This went on for over 50 pages.....there was nothing going on except the co-dependance dance she does with her mother.....  Another waste of time.

Currently I am reading, "A Cast-Off Coven".  This is set in San Francisco at a Art College.  The big donor has just been murdered and everyone wants to blame the resident ghosts.  The characters are predictable: Sexy Cop with ATTITUDE, Innocent Newbie Witch (vintage clothing shop owner), Nosy Geeky Investigative Male Journalist, & Mysterious Smouldering Warlock. 


I'm skimming this one...but so far, I'm so very Not Impressed.   I much prefer the Vintage Clothing/Paranormal series by, Annette Blair. 



There are chick-lit authors who stand out for me: Jennifer Weiner, Jennifer Crusie, Janet Evanovich's new not-Plum series, and Jill Connor Browne because they write well, they are entertaining, have interesting plots and are down-right funny.