Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot

Cute! Cute! CUTE!

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That just about sums up this book. It took me about three nights to finish and I was soo dissapointed when I got to the last page. But not because the ending sucked; because I couldn't read anymore! Lucky for me, the next book comes out this summer. I really can't wait... But wait! Don't look up the next book yet, because the title will definitely RUIN the ending to this one, and no one likes a spoiler.

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I read the first book from this series last summer over a a good tanning session in my backyard. It was such a fun piece of chic-lit (a.k.a. chic literature); I knew I had to get the next one when it came out. So I put it on my Christmas list and my sister tried to find it for me, but none of the local bookshops had any copies. So I ended up looking it up on our campus library system once I got back to North Carolina in January, and low and behold: they had a copy.

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QB in the Big City begins with the lovable 23-year-old heroine, Lizzie. And seriously, you can't help but simply adore her to pieces. She's young and naive and has such a good heart, but somehow always opens her big mouth at the wrong times and gets herself into trouble. I mean it's all classic silly stuff, but makes the book oh so hard to put down.

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I'll try not to give too much of the plot away, but in the first 10 or so pages, Lizzie moves in with her boyfriend who has an apartment in NYC. At the same time she's freaked out about finding a job (she's a recent college graduate with a B.A. in the history of fashion, go figure) and her best friend seems to be having some sort of crisis with her long time boyfriend Chaz, which she refuses to talk about. But this is all just the basic premise here. There's actually so much more going on within each plot level, but saying more would give too much away.

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To put it frank: If you're like me, someone who can't help but eat up these girly little beach reads in one or two sittings, the Queen of Babble series is a MUST for you. But obviously read this book after Queen of Babble, since this is Cabot's sophmore release of the series. And while these books aren't going to stay with you for 50 years, or maybe even five, they're definitely worth it for the present-moment satisfaction they will bring -- But, (to quote a certain Reading Rainbow host) don't take my word for it.

Ray in Reverse by Daniel Wallace

I have to start off first by admitting that this review is going to be fairly biased. You might be interested to know that I am currently taking a creative writing course with Daniel Wallace at UNC-CH. For those of you who don't know, Wallace is the author of Big Fish, which was made into a movie by Tim Burton a few years back. I happen to think he's an awesome guy, fun teacher, and great writer. So now that you are aware of my personal bias, I will continue on with the review...
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This book is more a collection of stories than it is the standard novel. However, each chapter (or story) reveals a different period in the main character, Ray's life. We start off in Heaven and end in Heaven, but the middle sections go from Ray's later days down to his early childhood. I felt that the latest chapters of his life (in the beginning of the book) were the most emotional and touching. They provide a glimpse of the relationship Ray has with his wife after years of struggle. Even though we don't know what's happened between them at this point, Wallace does a great job at evincing the strain and bittersweetness between the couple. From there the stories travel back in time revealing bits and pieces of the past to help the reader understand how Ray got to be the person he is at the end of his life.
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I found that I really loved most of the stories. Some of them were sad, others hilarious, and one or two of them were a little slow, but necessary to understand the rest of the book. By the end I felt a real sense of closure, a full circle of Ray's life, if you will. Daniel Wallace conveyed that very well. In all honesty, I was pretty surprised by how much I enjoyed this book; seeing as I wasn't extremely wild about Big Fish, which I read over this past Christmas break. Both books were fairly short reads, as are the rest of Wallace's publishings. Usually they round out to be no more than 230 pages or so. .
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Ray in Reverse was definitely a good find. It's rare to come across, though, due to its being published by a small company in Chapel Hill. I know copies can found used at Amazon.com, though, as well as at UNC's main library -- though that probably won't help most of you. But I've already checked out another one of Wallace's books and am looking forward to reading even more of them down the road - as well as telling him what I think about his work : )

I Just Want My Pants Back by David J. Rosen

Now that I'm done with this semester's two first midterms and its the weekend, I finally have the time to write the review of a book I finished about a week ago.

To say what this novel is about, is kind of hard. Mostly because it doesn't exactly have a real plot. The main character is a 20 something year old guy named Jason who lives in NY, and is kind of a loser (my idea of a loser, anyway). We get to see a few months of his life. Maybe a year, I'm not sure. But it's basically all the same: Get up. Get high. Go to work. Talk to sarcastic and witty friend Tina online. Go home. Get high. Go to bar. Get drunk. Hook up with super hot (and usually FREAKY) chic. Get high again. Repeat.

That's the basic formula. But I'll admit, I was entertained the entire way through. And actually, there is a slight plot that really has nothing to do with Jason's pants at all (well, a girl does "borrow" his favorite Dickies, and then never returns his calls when Jason wants them back, but tha'ts not important). It's basically that his life revolves around the things I've mentioned above, plus he's supposed to be the rabbi (everyone's Jewish in this novel... what's up with Jews always making everyone else Jewish in there books and movies?) of his best friend's wedding. Oh, and a few crappy things happen along the way, of course. Without a few bumps in the road there would be no story.

But let me assure you, the things this kid gets into are very... interesting. And Rosen is absolutely hilarious. Every other sentence almost makes me want to laugh out loud (I never laugh out loud unless I'm watching a movie and someone else laughs first). Just flip through to a random page, read a couple sentences and they will probably make you smirk. Watch, I'll do it right now...

"He resembled Jeff Foxworthy. I felt like saying to him, "If two girls are ignoring you for this long and you're still harassing them, you might be a redneck. Or, possibly... an asshole."

Makes you chuckle a little, no? Or how about:

"You have to be seriously committed to be goth in the summer."

Because it's so true, right? Well I thought it was funny. Anyway, this book was a quick, fun, sometimes strange little ride. Probably more of a guy's book though, despite me (a girl, as you all know) having a vast appreciation for his humor.

Bottom line: I Just Want My Pants Back is hilarious and orginal. You could read it in one sitting. I don't think I'd tell anyone no, it totally blowed, but it also was no Hemingway.

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb

At first I had a lot of mixed feelings about this book. In fact, I think that by the end of the novel I was more unsure of what I felt about it than I initially was in the beginning. But after letting it set in for a few days, I decided that I really did enjoy it as a whole. This book, quite frankly, is a giant roller coaster for the main character, that has way more 100 foot, 180 degree drops than slow yet sure trudges upward.

The main character, Dolores, is born in the 60's, her parents are messed up and she also hates her grandmother. As she gets older, kids make fun of her for no apparent reason, her parents drag her through a real tough time, and a man does something not-so-nice against her will. Slowly she begins to search out comfort in food, which quickly becomes apparent on her body. The back of the book says:

"When she finally orbits into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder."

This sort of leads you to believe that this book is all about a young woman who is over weight and dealing with the trials it comes with. In reality, this is only one smallish portion of the book. The rest goes on to cover a rather huge chunk of her life where things "get better" in about 2 second intervals due to both Dolore's ignorance and a few things beyond her control. But I mostly belive she puts a lot of the things she goes through on herself. That is, only once she's out of her teens does she seem to refuse any responsibility for herself and claim the "woe is me" title.

Something that really irked me about this novel was the fact that everyone and their mom seemed to have a personal vendetta against overweight people. Now, I see this happening a lot with younger children, especially in elementary and middle schools (as the saying goes, kids can be cruel), but not really beyond that. By late high school I think more people choose not to even mention the fact that someone is overweight, much less look at them with disgust. Two-hundred and and fifty-seven pounds is big for someone who is 5'6", but not exactly that uncommon. Maybe it was in the 60's, I don't know. Or maybe because I've never weighed that much, I don't know. I could be the ignorant fool. But in any case, I felt that the discrimination was a little much, just about to the point of being unrealistic.

Besides those minor discrepencies, I did enjoy this book. It took me about a week and a half to read the 464 pages, but I had fun with it. Well, not so much fun (as it could be very depressing), but I was thoroughly engaged throughout its entirety. Though I couldn't really relate to the character, I did like watching her crazy (and there is some weird stuff in this book) life unfold, as well as see her self-growth. There was a lot of humor I enjoyed as well. While Dolores can be a brat and down right bitchy at times, it's also amusing. Her early snarkiness also allows us to see her in a more refreshing light as she gets older and has unconciously changed.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an intensely deep coming of age story. It definitely pulls you into a lot different heavy emotions.

If on the other hand you want something more fresh, fun, and fast, I'd say head in another direction. Or just wait for my next post.