One thing I have done this summer is read…I’ve been reading about two books a week, which has been like a mini-vacation in itself.
Little, Brown sent me copies of Easy on the Eyes by Jane Porter and I’m So Happy For You by Lucinda Rosenfeld to toss in my beach bag this summer. It’s been too cool to go to the pool, but I’ve bee reading during naptime.
Easy on the Eyes follows the life of a successful TV host, Tiana Tomlinson, who is haunted by a tragic past. She feels like she is on top of her game, but the network execs feel like she’s aging on screen, the ultimate no-no. In her personal life, she’ s beginning to see that she is missin something, but she is afraid to let her guard down. A handsome plastic surgeon, Michael O’Sullivan, keeps popping up in her life, and after a few chance encounters, she decides to give love a chance. As much as this book is a love story, it also shows on a personal level, the pressure women in the media and in Hollywood are under to not show their age, and how the double standard is still in practice today for men and women in media. After reading this book, I feel compelled to use more mosturizer.
I’m So Happy for You:A Novel About Best Friends, by Lucinda Rosenfeld is a look on the dirty underbelly of friendship. What, you ask, you didn’t know there was a dirty side to friendship? Neither did I. The book centers on two thirtysomething friends, in New York City. Wendy, who is married, ttc and gainfully employed, has a sense of superiority and mothers her jobless friend Daphne, who is involved in a nowhere affair. As the story moves along, Wendy’s life slowly unravels and Daphne’s starts to come together. As the tides change, envy rears it’s ugly, ugly head. The book gives a good portrayl of how all-consuming and depressing it can be to try to concieve a baby when the world around you is pregnant and you aren’t. The book gets depressing though, as Wendy spirals more and more out of control. A more cynical person may find it entertaining, I found it sad and dark.
Both books are available on Amazon–happy reading!
I’ve been reading like crazy too this summer. Nothing of substance though 😉
ICLW
Both those books sound good. You should come on over and join my 2009 Book Challenge http://thefertileinfertile.blogspot.com/2009/02/book-challenge-and-contest-announcement.html
~ICLW
The second book you highlighted reminds me of an interview I heard on public radio (our local station in Montgomery, AL) a few weeks ago. I’m linking to the audio here..the author is interviewed and describes her first novel about two female friends growing up in the 60’s. I haven’t read it, and I don’t know the author, though she is from my husband’s hometown. Sounded interesting, though. It’s under the July 6 link.
http://publicradio.troy.edu/wtsu-fm/Community%20Focus%20July%206%20to%2010%20%202009.htm
~ICLW
Those sound like some really good books: I’m going to have to add them to my TBR shelf. I’ve only just picked up my second book this summer…it’s been too crazy.
ICLW#117
Just what I need, more books for the “To read” pile. 😉
Thanks for the recommendations.
Stopping by for an ICLW visit…
No. 95: The Unfair Struggle (male-factor infertility, good friends, neighborhood rumblings)
Great reviews. I second Kristin’s suggestion of joining the 2009 reading challenge.
~iclw