Something Borrowed by Catherine Hapka

Several weeks ago I was bored on a Friday morning during Sadie's nap. I was just in one of those extremely lazy moods when just the thought of doing something productive seems overwhelming. I had just checked out this book, Something Borrowed by Catherine Hapka, from the library, per my sister's recommendation. I should note that this is not the same "Something Borrowed" as the recent movie that came out with Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin.

The story revolves around a girl (I can't actually remember her name...like I said, it's been a few weeks since I read this) who breaks up with her boyfriend just a couple weeks before her sister's wedding. Horrified at the thought of going to the wedding without a date, she is determined to find someone to accompany her. She scores multiple dates, but one by one something happens that prevents them from being her wedding date. She eventually asks her best friend Teresa if she can borrow her boyfriend for the event. (Teresa was spending the summer in Europe on an internship.) She goes to the wedding with her friend's boyfriend and *surprise* finds herself falling for him.

I can't say this was a great book, but I really did enjoy it. It was very silly, very easy, and a very quick read---just what I wanted on a lazy Friday! I was able to finish it during Sadie's 3 naps that day. I would definitely recommend this one if you need something not too serious, maybe a break from other serious literature. Overall silly and fun and an indulgent read!

3 out of 5 stars

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

I saw this movie a few years ago when it came out and I remember liking it but not enough to buy or even really watch again. A few weeks ago I was wandering the aisles of my library without any idea of what to read next. I stumbled upon "The Nanny Diaries" and thought it could be a fun read. I must say I really enjoyed this book. It was funny, real, and definitely made me grateful to have never been a nanny before (though I'm sure not all nanny gigs are like those portrayed in the book). I love kids and have had many jobs working with them, but have never been in any working situation even remotely related to what Nanny (oddly enough the name of the nanny in the story) had to put up with.

Nanny is a graduate student at NYU who seeks a part-time nanny position and finds the X family, a very rich and dysfunctional family with a cheating dad who works too much and a non-working mom who somehow doesn't have enough time in the day to pay any attention to her 4-year old son. Nanny puts up with being treated like scum and works way more hours than originally agreed to and takes amazingly good care of Grayer, despite the stressful working environment and mistreatment by her employers.

I think I liked this book because the heroine was a girl I could relate to: someone who was working to put herself through school, loved working with kids, had a great, supportive family, had a life outside of work but genuinely cared about her job, even when she probably shouldn't. Nanny's narrative of her life was very funny and so enjoyable to read. Since I had seen the movie I knew the ending wasn't good, meaning the X's don't suddenly become wonderful and apologize for being losers and give her a huge bonus, but I wanted to keep reading anyway. [Side note: when I know a story is stressful or has a bad ending, I usually can't stand watching/reading it. For example, the movie Mrs. Doubtfire is one of my least favorite of all time because the whole thing is stressful. I refuse to watch it because I can't stand watching all these bad things happen.] Despite my aversion to "bad endings" I really was ok with the Nanny Diaries ending, even though it doesn't all get wrapped up in a beautiful fairytale package. It was real, and I liked that.

Overall I definitely would recommend The Nanny Diaries to anyone. Fun read!

4 out of 5 stars

The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern

I read this book last month and decided I needed to blog about it before I forgot what it was about and whether or not I even liked it.

The Book of Tomorrow, yet another book by Cecelia Ahern, is about a very wealthy girl whose dad commits suicide and has to move to the country with her mom to live with her eccentric aunt and uncle. She discovers a journal in which she finds entries dated from the next day. As she learns the events for the following day, she tries to see if she can change the future, and if she can, see if she should.

I think I would have enjoyed the story more if I had read it more quickly. I read the first half over a few weeks, only picking it up sporadically; but the second half I read in about 2-3 days. I kind of felt the story took an odd turn toward the end, straying from the general feel of the book. At any rate, I did enjoy the read and I would recommend this to others. Not my favorite Cecelia Ahern book, but not my least favorite either. As always, she has the cleverest ideas for her stories. Not always the best execution (in my opinion) but always interesting and entertaining.

3 out of 5 stars

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (books 1-5) by Rick Riordan

I borrowed these books from my husband's younger brother. I saw the movie of the first book awhile ago when it came out and I thought it was decent. My brother-in-law, however, HATED it. Now, after reading the books, I completely understand why he hated it. I hate it now too. These books are a whole lot of fun. I think they are comparable to Harry Potter or Fablehaven. Fun fantasy books that can be enjoyed by both kids and adults. I read the 5-book series in 2 weeks (not reading on weekends) and was thoroughly engaged the whole time.

So for anyone who doesn't know anything about these stories, the premise is a boy named Percy, who is a demigod (half human, half god). Percy's father is Poseidon, god of the sea. The first story starts off with someone stealing Zeus's lightning bolt and framing Percy. Percy then must recover the bolt and figure out the true thief. He gets help from other demigod friends at Camp Half-Blood, a training camp for demigods. The next stories involve more complex dilemmas and you get to know kids of other gods and their cool powers.

The thing I loved most about these stories was learning about Greek mythology through a fun and memorable story. Now I could tell you all the major gods and what they are gods of, along with many minor gods and demons. I've always been fascinated with mythology so I found Percy Jackson to be particularly enjoyable. Definitely would recommend to everyone!

4.5 out of 5 stars

Austenland by Shannon Hale

This was first fiction I've read in a couple months, at least since Sadie was born, and I finished it in about 2 days. I adore Shannon Hale's books and have now (I think) read all of them. My favorite is still The Goose Girl but they're all worth reading. I heard about Austenland from my old book club; initially I wasn't really interested in reading it, but when I learned who the author was I checked it out asap.

True to form, Austenland is a fun, easy read about a girl in her thirties who is obsessed with Pride and Prejudice and finding her own Mr. Darcy. She inherits a 3-week trip to Austenland, a theme park type place where women can live out their fantasies by immersing themselves in Jane Austen times. She wears empire waist gowns and tries to master the Regency era etiquette as she flirts with the other gentlemen, or rather, actors pretending to be gentlemen. She knows it's all a game but finds herself losing her grip on what is real and wonders if she'll be able to find a Mr. Darcy of her own.

Perhaps it's been too long since I've read a silly book, but I really enjoyed Austenland. It was entertaining and fun; just what I've been in the mood for. Not a whole lot of depth to the story, but sometimes you need to take a lighthearted stroll in fantasy-land.

4 out of 5 stars

On Becoming Babywise

So it's been months since I've posted any book reviews, primarily because I haven't read anything. This is due to the recent addition to my little family of a beautiful baby girl named Sadie. She is my pride and joy. Chris and I have been adjusting to becoming parents; the hardest part has been the lack of sleep and trying to figure out what her cries mean and how to stop them. After the first few weeks we were exhausted and my sister-in-law Allison recommended we read this book, On Becoming Babywise. I devoured the whole book in 2 days. What I got out of the book was that I should implement a 3-hour schedule consisting of sleep, eat, and play. Many people get the order wrong and do eat, sleep, play, which eventually creates a dependence to eat before falling asleep. So we have been doing this 3 hour schedule for 6 or 7 weeks now and it has really helped organize our lives. Sadie knows what to expect of her day and that has helped transition to sleeping longer at night. She is 11 weeks old and last night slept for 7 hours! The night before she did 6, before that did 4 then 3, before that another 6... so she has been doing FANTASTIC this last week or so. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this pattern will continue because I cannot say how much better I feel after 7 straight hours than 3+2+2. I definitely would recommend this book. I don't think any method can be a cure-all for sleep problems but Babywise really helped add some predictability to our lives which made everyone happier.

5 out of 5 stars

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

This was a story we read in my book club last month. I'm a little unsure how to blog about it so here goes...

This is a story that takes place in 19th century China during a time where girls bound their feet to achieve "golden lilies" (3-3.5 inches from toe to heel) and had arranged marriages. Girls were confined to the upstairs room of the home until they were married. During this time a secret writing called nu shu was created as a way for women to communicate with each other without the men knowing. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is told from the perspective of Lily as an old woman who is reflecting on her life experiences with foot binding, her special laotong relationship with Snow Flower, and her arranged marriage.

I liked the story and found it interesting to learn about a different culture during a different time. I can't believe the whole foot binding process and the amount of pain these women suffered for the sake of beauty. I suppose we have our own painful and seemingly ridiculous rituals that we undertake for beauty, like diets, plucking eyebrows, shaving/waxing, body piercings, corsets, high-heeled shoes...but in my opinion they're not nearly as extreme as foot binding.

I also frequently became frustrated with the way women were viewed in the story, especially baby girls. It was repeatedly stated that it is better to miscarry than give birth to a baby girl, which I find particularly offensive as I am about to have my own baby girl in about a week and I can't imagine anything more exciting and joyful than the prospect of having a daughter. And then of course the fact that I am female puts me on the defensive and makes me irritated at the general societal attitude toward women, that we are useless, weak, unintelligent, and just another mouth to feed. And of course it was worse if you were a poor woman. I am so happy that this is no longer the attitude toward women, especially in the United States.

Overall this was a very interesting story. It was difficult to read at times because it didn't follow the usual plot development of typical Western writing, but I still enjoyed the flowy, less plot driven Eastern style. It's always fun to learn something new about another culture.

4 out of 5 stars