First of all, girls only. Boys gone? OK.
Cannie’s back! Fans of Jennifer Weiner’s awesome first novel, “Good in Bed,” will remember Cannie Shapiro well. “certain girls” picks up thirteen years later, with Cannie, her husband, and Cannie’s about-to-be-bat-mitzvahed daughter. (Atria Books, $26.95, 386 pages.) The chapters alternate in voice, first Cannie, then her girl, and Weiner digs right into the drama. I was lucky enough to score an advance reading copy and was thrilled because it gave me the best excuse to ignore my Psych 311 textbook.
Who needs Psych? I’ve got Cannie. What to know how it ends? Psych! Won’t tell you.
I was also happily distracted by Bridget Asher’s book, “my husband’s sweethearts.” (I kinda like writing out the titles very ee cummings exactly how they’re written on the covers.) “my husband’s sweethearts (Bantam Dell, $22, 271 pages) opens with a little “what would you do about this one?” scenario. What would you do if your adorable, sexy, estranged husband was dying, and you found his little black book? Would you drunk dial? Sober dial? Dial at all?
Lucy decides to call each and every one of them, and what she discovers isn’t exactly what she thought she would find. Great book, and hard to put down. (And speaking of chick lit, since we are — I love these books because they satisfy my need for a girly, drama-filled book that is down to earth, but at the same time, the writing in both of these novels is so good. The storylines go zipping along and you find yourself getting really attached to all the various characters, major and minor. Nicely played, you two.)
Did I have a date to go with my sister to see Sex and the City: The Movie? Yes, I did. Did dear, dear Felicia send me an advance copy of the sister book, so I could pair things up a little? Yes, she did. Did I do my reviews? NO. But I am right now.
I ordered the DVD on Netflix. It arrived. I shipped the kids off to Grandma’s. I fixed a quite lovely brunch for my sister and now, even though it was just a short week ago, I have no idea what we had. Oh, wait! Some kind of coffeecake? Fried eggs on toasted homemade cheddar biscuits, with butter and sweet-hot chili sauce. Fruit salad. And an entire pot of strong, good Stumptown coffee. Because watching those skinny girls brunch, brunch, brunch makes me want to devour a lot of food.
No Aidan, though, sorry. And the men were given pretty skimpy storylines. So were the women, come to think of it. But the movie was still pretty fun, although we found ourselves screaming, “Grow UP already!” at the TV several times.
“They’re still doing stuff we stopped doing in our early 30s,” my sister noted.
“Or late 20s,” I noted.
The book is shiny and perfect for the coffee table and looking through it is just like watching the movie all over again. (Amy Sohn and Melcher Media, Collins, 176 pages.)
Today’s books:
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