Finished

• The Paid Companion by Amanda Quick

  Rating: ****
  
  This was a typical Quick novel, I'm learning. Strong, linguistically-blessed heroine meets domineering alpha male. Then they have adventures fixing some problem with a bad guy. The plots are interchangeable and fairly predictable, although she does hold out on identifying the villain until the latter half. What makes AQ a real standout is her writing and her heroines. They rock, and they rock all the more because she creates an authentic world with her writing. AQ has mastered the Regency historical's language and style, without sacrificing wit or believability.
  
  

• Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong by Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow

  Rating: ****
  
  You know, I really want to like the French. I learned the language and still retain more than I have any right to considering I prefer German and only fudged French in high school. Still, the country, the history, the language - they're all so romantic and inspiring. So why do the people and their way of doing things rub others the wrong way? This book, which is deeper than a travelogue but not really an academic text, is a crash course in all things francais.
  
  I think I respect the French more having read Sixty Million Frenchmen, although I'm not one iota closer to liking them. It is extremely difficult to empathize with the French side because there is no compromise in their stance. This was not helped by the authors' nearly belligerent tone towards the US in any comparison with the French. Perhaps they were writing for their audience with a view they can relate to, but I got the impression that they used the US as a model when it showed France to an advantage and the former in a negative light. I understood and even admired the French ways, but rarely agreed with them. At any rate, Nadeau and Barlow embrace the idea of French superiority, but are mostly objective because they are bound by historical facts to prove their points.
  
  The development of the French national personality is a product of many tumultuous years, from the amalgamation of tiny ethnic groups to the Revolution to WWII and to the colonial conflict in Algeria. Their obsession with federalism, linguistic purity, and Paris is explained in a cohesive way. The political and educational aspects of French society are explored in great detail, but was a bit tedious. I've been reading this intermittently since May, but found the subject fascinating enough to keep at it, even through the dry patches. All in all, the theories they put forth about understanding the French character and spirit are built on sound logic and offer an illuminating, if smug, read. I can honestly say, Vive la France!

In Progress

• The Paid Companion by Amanda Quick
  
• The Pecking Order: Which Siblings Succeed and Why by Dalton Conley

Finished

• Save Karyn by Karyn Bosnak

  Rating: ****
  
  Very readable. Also very scary in a way. Every girl has probably done the whole shopping rationalization hurdling: "Ooh, I'll own it longer if I buy it now at retail and from a daily cost point of view, that's really saving money!" KB took it to an absurd level, but I felt her pain. Well, when I wasn't being turned off by her utter lack of self control. The excessiveness didn't totally work against her, though. She gets points for being honest...and funny! Her writing is a little unpolished and valley-girl-ish, but it improves as the book goes on (and the bills start piling up). I identified with her on shopping on a basic level, but the second half is what earned this little memoir its stars. She struggled through joblessness, depression, 9/11, massive criticism, but came out of it all a better person for it. The old Karyn was cute, fun chick like any number I have known, but it's the new one that is worth knowing.
  

• Splendid by Julia Quinn

  Rating: ***
  
  This is JQ's first novel. The infamous one she started a month after graduating from Hahvaaahd. And it shows. Though it's fairly good for a debut, her grasp of the Regency era's language and customs is a bit shaky. Actually, the dialogue is terrible. It kept throwing me off to hear/read, too often, contemporary expressions. The story arc (damsel in distress interlude) isn't my favorite either, although the author definitely kept it plausible, for which I thank her. What saves this book is its foundations. The plot is pretty good and there are some very memorable characters - ones I would look forward to seeing/reading about again. Stay tuned for more retro JQ.

In Progress

• Splendid by Julia Quinn
  
• The Anxiety of Everyday Objects by Aurelie Sheehan
  
• Save Karyn by Karyn Bosnak
  
• Wicked by Gregory Maguire

Finished

• In Full Bloom by Caroline Hwang

  Rating: ****
  
  Engaging and surprisingly wise. I would like to think that chicklit is slowly headed toward something like this, somewhere between literary and fluff. It was doubly interesting to me because many of the characters, including the protag Ginger, are Korean Americans. The struggles of Ginger felt very familiar. I loved that while she lives through all the normal issues of twenty-somethings, she also comes to an evolving understanding of her identity and ethnicity. It's a bittersweet hand that the second generation gets dealt. What makes this great reading is how well Hwang combines this with the lighter elements of finding love and friends and living in the City. Stereotypes and stock characters are well avoided in most cases, with the presence of complex and unexpected personalities. In an Amy Tan vein, the interactions with Ginger's mom are sweet and funny and poignant. Hwang is also a better writer than most novices out there, so while the topics could be weighty, the overall tone of the book is bright and hopeful.

In Progress

• In Full Bloom by Caroline Hwang

Finished

• Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella

  Rating: ****½
  
  Okay, I remember that I once said I'd never read another Kinsella after those car-crash Shopaholic books (horrid protag, but perversely readable), but like that (now regrettable) instinct that told me that I should get Olivia Joules while it was available on the library shelf, I just did. Fortunately, this is a vast improvement over Becky Bloomwood and her entirely self-absorbed delusions of grandeur. And it goes almost without saying that it's light years from Helen Fielding's last offering. Can You Keep a Secret? seems like what Fielding wanted to do with Olivia Joules. It's fairly typical chick lit and has a romance-novel arc (boy meets girl, conflict, happily ever after), but all the characters were original and fun, which is really pretty rare these days.

In Progress

• Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella

Finished

• Olivia Joules and Her Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding

  Rating: *
  
  Good God, where to start. A massive disappointment? That might be strong enough. Or let me put it this way, I only got through a third of it before I just flipped/skimmed through it for the mediocre bits - and I obsessive-compulsively read everything to the bitter end! The premise was bizarre and illogical (which I could deal with, having read her Bridget Jones books after all), but the writing was very self-conscious, uneven, and unsophisticated. Her stereotypes were also bordering on the racist. It read like a hackneyed romance novel and also like how a middle-aged woman imagines cool, single people live (lots of cloying and annoying clothes/setting descriptions). What a gulf from her wonderful debut (Cause Celeb), and even the last BJD, which was borderline schizo, but still amusing. Oh sadness.

Finished

• Spotted in France by Gregory Edmont

  Rating: *****
  
  I've never been one for Dalmatians, but this made me want to go out and get one. Or at least a dog as brilliant and blessed as JP. I loved how Edmont and his dog traveled through France (no small patch of land) on a Vespa. Besides the fact that I love those weird little mopeds, I think the image of JP riding on the footrest with goggles on is too adorable. Edmont's methods are odd - top notch restaurants and cheap lodging - but their adventures, such as being arrested, aided by a coven, and sent to a doggie bordello, really take the cake. Rationally, I know that no one has as many coincidences as the pair seem to have, but part of me knows it can happen. It made the whole book a surreal pleasure from the moment I got hooked by the precocious and, at times, prescient JP's adoption by the financially strapped Edmont, to the utterly perfect ending, complete with wedding.

In Progress

• Spotted in France by Gregory Edmont
  
• Ambulance Girl by Jane Stern

In Progress

• Olivia Joules and Her Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding

Finished

• Once Upon a Town by Bob Greene

  Rating: ***
  
  I had high hopes for this one. One of my favorite reading interests is WWII testimonials (not about military history though) and there isn't much about the home front. The relevant content of this book could have been condensed into a magazine or even newspaper article. When Greene found an original player, he basically wrote a transcript of his/her speech. It made some sense, since they are a dying generation, but it doesn't make for enthralling reading. The North Platte Canteen is an amazing piece of disappearing history and tells a beautiful story about the kind of Americans we should all be. The best part of the book highlights the pure patriotism and compassion of a seemingly average town.

In Progress

• Kissing Kin by Elswyth Thane

Finished

• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

  Rating: ****
  
  Very interesting novel. Parts of it are beautifully written, but remarkably free of pretension. It falls into that category of passionate (not necessarily romantic) novels for women that have a bittersweet, if not outright tragic, ending. Think Anita Shreve or Alice Sebold. I don't know that I like those as a genre. You can't really enjoy them unless you're in a dark mood. The unusual thing about this novel is the time travel element. Towards the middle of the book, Niffenegger made good use of the advantages by foreshadowing the climax and denouement of the novel. In this case, I'm grateful because it would have been too much to take all at once in the end. It was rather artfully done. Generally, the action was all over (between the 1960's to the 1990's), but her gradual intentions were pretty easy to follow. I think that that is why I liked this book much more than I thought I would - the author isn't trying to play games with you. Unfortunately, the characters were not that appealing. I think they were too human, too much like people you'd meet at school or at work. Bleh. I like my realism to stay where it is and out of my books, thank you. What's the point of reading for pleasure if the people you meet on paper aren't any better than the people that depress you in the news? They'd make for an interesting movie, though. This book was made to be a movie. I can imagine Jude Law or Robert Sean Leonard playing Henry and Jennifer Connelly or Naomi Watts as Clare.

In Progress

• The BFG by Roald Dahl
  
• Once Upon a Town by Bob Greene
  
• Bob Hope: My Life in Jokes by Bob Hope

Finished

• The Borrowers Afield by Mary Norton

  Rating: ****
  
  I think I've always had a fascination for miniature life in a big world. I loved how the Borrowers used doll furniture and adapted human size objects into usable things for their lives. This second book was set outdoors, which was more confusing to picture, but fairly creative too. The characters inhabit familiar roles, which is not to say that I liked them in the first place, but there is something to say for consistency. Like a lot of other children's books from the past, this is wholesome and calming in a way recent writing has abandoned. Sometimes it good to mix it up a little.

In Progress

• The Borrowers Afield by Mary Norton

Finished

• Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie

  Rating: ****
  
  I loved this one! It's so much better than the only other Crusie I read. Okay, the prerequisite girlfriends and villains were like caricatures instead of characters, but it didn't really detract from the light, fun tone of the book. The heroine, Minerva, is a gal I wouldn't mind having as a buddy. It's not too often you find a strong, sensible, and sexy protag (in reality, it's always two out of three: the Jane theory, which I personally think should be a postulate) that you can like. The hero was definitely acceptable. A sensitive, hot, modern man, of course. The premise is what hooked me into getting this one. Crusie sets it up well, too, since it could have easily degenerated into something corny and contrived. An excellent beach read.

In Progress

• Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie