welcome to elaney!

Okay, here it is.  Everyone’s favorite post of the month (and the last one for awhile, because after we finish The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing, we are going to tackle Anna Karenina with Reader Betsy).  (And yes, we realize that we’re about 7 years late on The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing.  Might as well read Into the Wild and The Year of Magical Thinking while we’re at it).

The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance, Edna Baker
Memoir of a standup comedian’s experience of dating in NYC as a Mormon.  It’s pretty hilarious, and this Southern Christian girl could relate to her efforts of reconciling religion with dating.  The story about how she tells a guy that she’s never seen snow so she can spend three hours in the car made us laugh so hard it hurt.  It’s smart and funny, but the end is weak and shows her inexperience as a writer.  Bottom Line:  Worth the Wait, er Read

The Sixes, Kate White
You girls know that Kate White, Editor-in-Chief of Cosmo, is our favorite mystery writer.  We’ve read everyone of them, and her latest, The Sixes, did not disappoint.  Set at a college where the protagonist is a disgraced famous writer doing a guest stint, it’s probably not going to win a Pulitzer but it kept us up until 3am one night.  Bottom Line: Better than Cosmo.

Heaven Is for Real, Todd Burpo
Sure, you have to give into the fact that they sell it at Publix and every Southern Baptist in America is doing it for their book club this fall, but it’s a sweet story.  Bottom Line: It will make you cry (probably not as hysterically as Same Kind of Different as Me), and long for the days that childlike faith was easy.

The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing, Melissa Bank
Not quite finished, so can’t speak to every bit of it, but it’s delightful.  Written as a collection of short stories, it’s a coming of age story of book editor Jane living in NYC.  A touch dark, quite witty, Jane will capture the heart of any girl that has ever wondered…”what does it all mean?”  Bottom Line: A great catch!

And we’re off to finally earn the right to have Anna Karenina on our coffee table.  Wish us luck.

Those of you that read regularly know that we love ourselves our little brothers (X and Y Woolfolk – they have adamantly demanded that they no longer be named on the blog).  And when we took off to the beach with them a couple of weeks ago, with a bit of an “I am more cultured than you” air, we had decided to expose them to some of our more “I am really smart and can be serious and melancholy, and I get a lot of stuff you don’t” new music tastes.  The effort lasted about 30 minutes before South Georgia sucked us right back in, and we came home with a talkin-to about how all our music is weird and a bunch of new Zac Brown on iTunes.

That said, our reading efforts were not a fail.  It’s a rare month that we go three for three on books we liked, so we thought we’d update you with what’s been on our Kindle this summer.

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BossyPants, Tina Fey

Hilarious.  Laugh out loud funny.  Loved reading about her time in Chicago and UVA before she was famous.  Plus, it was really interesting to hear her inter-monologue as she was playing Sarah Palin.  Bottom Line:  You’ll laugh your pants off.

The Social Animal, David Brooks

Not going to lie, it’s heady and kind of long for the beach.  However, we couldn’t put it down.  Written as both a narrative and social commentary, it was amazing over and over again how much we are shaped by the world around us.  A story about what makes us successful, but more the science of it and less the Joel Osteen how to.  Bottom Line:  If you think people are interesting (and love random stats about them), you will like this.

Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand

Everyone said we’d like it, but we got off to a slow start.  Loved the beginning about his running in the Olympics, but the Air Force training wasn’t doing it for us.  However.  You. Must. Push. Through.  It may be the most incredible story of faith and perseverance we can remember reading.  It’s a good book but an incredible story.  Bottom Line:  This book will Unbreak your heart.

Love the Book Lists?  Here are some recent ones:

March 2011
Sabbatical 2011

Spring break is here, and you need some reading recos.  This March, we split our time with 2 parts chick lit and 1 part heady.

Orange is the New Black
Piper Kerman

This is the story of a woman’s year in Danbury, a minimum security federal prison, after her college girl crimes caught up to her a year later.  This was a reco from Reader Betsy, and truth be told, the only reason I started reading it was because it was on my bedside table, and I left my other book in the car.  However, it’s absolutely fascinating.  Such an honest look at a subculture that we think we have a perception of but we really don’t.  Plus, Piper is relatable and insightful.  Final Verdict:  ”Slam”mer Dunk.

There’s Cake In My Future
Kim Gruenfelder

By the author who wrote my two all time fav beach reads, Misery Loves Cabernet and Total Waste of Makeup, we were excited to give this one a try.  Set in LA (always fun), it has the same witty fast paced tone as her other two, but the plot is just too unbelieveable.  A bunch of bridesmaids pull charms from a cake and their future changes forever?  Please.  Final Verdict:  Pass…and not the fork.

The Perfect Manhattan
Tracey Toomey and Leanne Sheer

Story of a cash challenged Columbia grad who gets swept away by bartending at the hottest club in the Hamptons.  Parts of it were really entertaining, but let’s just say, the authors do nooooooot have much respect for the patrons of the Hamptons, and sometimes they went on some soapbox rants that were not very beachread friendly!  Who wants to talk about Bosnia at a birthday party?  Final Verdict:  On the Rocks.

With no elaney to write, and no interns pestering me for recommendations, there was a lot of time for reading during Sabbatical 2K’11.  You know I wouldn’t leave you hanging with summer approaching and no beach reads to review.  Some good, some bad, some happy, some trash.  Go crazy.

South of Broad, Pat Conroy.

Maybe we’re unamerican, maybe we don’t get it, but we honestly didn’t like it at all.  Rarely do we abandon a book in the middle, but this one, we had to.  Can’t even tell you what it was about it was so unmemorable.   Final verdict:  Pat Conroy may be one of the greatest authors of our time, but he’s going to have to work a little harder to win over elaney.

Last Night at the Chateau Marmont, Lauren Weisberger.

Was it as good as Chasing Harry Winston?  No, but it was fun and harmless and took about 6 hours to read.  About a NYC couple who is suddenly thrown into the limelight when the musician husband suddenly makes it big.  Final Verdict:  Kinda like a peach bellini at the Chateau, don’t mind if I do.

An Object of Beauty, Steve Martin

Story of a young, ruthless, up and coming girl in the art world.  From her starting job at Sotheby’s to her opening of her own gallery.  Most of the book is really more about art and the art world, but Lacey is truly a captivating character.  Final verdict:  Part twisted, part educational, it’s very good.

Insatiable, Meg Cabot.

Don’t even ask why this was read.  Listened to it on tape, and it was all they had at the Cracker Barrell roadtrip audio DVD rental.  It’s so stupid, and Meg Cabot (who has written quite a few good beach reads like the Queen of Babble series) did not do her best work here.  Final verdict:  Leave it to the biscuits, Cracker Barrell.

The Overnight Socialite, Birdie Clark

It’s not horrible, but it’s not the best chick lit we’ve ever read.  About this country girl (Lucy) who is plucked from obscurity after two dapper UES gentlemen make a bet on whether or not she can be turned into a socialite.  A rich man’s She’s All That.  Final Verdict:  Parts of it were really good, but Lucy is wayyy too much of a Pollyanna to be relatable.

It’s your favorite post of the month!  What did we read in October that we loved?  This month there were many late nights engrossed in the book everyone is talking about…the story of the Vangers, told through the eyes of Mikeal Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander.  Ooooh it’s so good.  And we can pretty much tell you that November’s book list will be the next two in the trilogy.

All three of Stieg Larsson’s books were published posthumously.  Set in Sweden, the story is just gripping.  You will be endeared to scruffally Mikeal, and you just want to take little Lisbeth in your arms and tell her you love her.  Not only are the characters fascinating, but the plot is so captivating.  Es goo!

Busy month!  Only read one book in September:  Tender at the Bone, by Ruth Reichl.  Have always been a fan of Ruth Reichl’s memoirs.  After acting as the NY Times food critic and later, the Editor-In-Chief of Gourmet, Reichl has had an interesting life.  And, as part of her previous job descriptions, the woman can write about food.  Tender at the Bone tells the story of her youth and early career.  After reading her three memoirs in reverse order, we’d have to say that this was our least favorite…but it is still very good.  It’s just a little more interesting to read about her taking away Le Cirque’s fifth star than her grandmother’s cooked catfish.  But if you like food and like to cook, you will enjoy.

Time for the monthly roundup.

DISCLAIMER:  Remember, this is just an opinion on the books we read inthe previous month.  We cannot be held responsible for our undying love for the beach read.

Twenties Girl, Sophie Kinsella.

UGH.  It is so, so, so bad.  Like all of her books since Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, Sophie has truly lost her spark.  We don’t know why we continue to read them all.  This is the story of a floundering head hunter who starts hanging around with the ghost of her dead aunt.  Yes, it’s as ridic as it sounds.  Final Verdict:  AVOID.

One Day, David Nicholls.

The story of two people who connect the night of college graduation at the University of Edinburgh and then stay friends for the next 20 years.  Ohhhh it’s so delightful.  Nicholls is a brilliant writer!  Capturing so well the evolution of relationships, as well as the maturation of two characters.  We had a little bit of a slow start with it, and then we could not put it down.  Smart and thoughtful.  Anne Hathaway is currently filming the movie, and we cannot wait!  Final Verdict:  We envy those who haven’t read it.  Wish we could do it all again!

Short Straw, Stuart Woods.

Your typical Stuart Woods (although, there is only one Stone Barrington).  Listened to it on tape.  Feel like a good story that you may or may not remember two days later?  Stuart Woods is your man.  Final Verdict:  Nothing to write home about.

Heart of the Matter, Emily Giffin

Like her cover art, Emily Giffin novels are all very similar.  Sort of sad, very real, more narrative than action.  Every time we finish one of her books, we are left sort of disappointed and feeling like the outlook for the world is sort of bleak, yet there is something honest about them.  Final Verdict: Like.