May 7th, 2008
1. Mergers and Acquisitions, Dana Vachon. Vachon, a 2002 Duke grad and former employee of JP Morgan, writes an account of a male protagonist’s first year out in the world of NYC investment banking. What the novel lacks in plot (the story doesn’t develop with the appropriate robust), it almost makes up with vivid scenes into a greedy subculture. The dinners at Cipriani, the galas at Moma, and the summers on the shore vividly offer hilarious, poignant, and often sad insights. Bottomline: A mediocre version ofThe Bonfire of the Vanities with a cup of The Devil Wears Prada.
2. Remember Me? Sophie Kinsella. This book makes the official decrowing of the former Queen of the Beach Read. After Shopaholic and Sister, we didn’t think things could get much worse. And they don’t. But they don’t get any better with this strange tale of a 28 year old city savvy exec that got amnesia and can’t remember getting her teeth done. It is painfully predictable, and we suggest rather than reading the book, just read the back cover. Nothing much else interesting happens.
April 7th, 2008
We have a choice to make: we have to suspend the monthly book list, or we have to start reading books with some more depth. Obviously we are not stopping with the chick lit (bikinis and beach read season!), but we can at least read something that suggests we went to college. However, we didn’t get there this month, so check out the trash we did read:
1. Queen of Babble in the Big City, Meg Cabot: We’ve only read some of Cabot’s work and we were sort-of ambivalent about it, but the Lizzy Nichols series is v. cute. It takes place in Manhattan, and Lizzy has a Becky Bloomwood obliviousness that is mostly charming. We decided to read the rest of the series!
2. Size 14 is Not Fat Either, Meg Cabot: Of the two Meg Cabot books we read, the Heather Wells series is our favorite. Heather is a 29 year old has been pop star who wants to be a criminal investigator and is an assistant dorm director at New York College. The mystery part is a little predictable, but Heather’s cynical, yet hopeful personality kept us giggling throughout. Plus, each chapter begins with the lyrics of her pop songs that are so bad they’re good.
3. Trading Up, Candace Bushnell: Candace Bushnell could be a Jane Austen of our time, because her characters are dark, complex, and driven to succeed in the societies in which they belong. Janey Wilcox, the protagonist, is no exception and is ruthless, ambitious, and completely unlikable. While part of us finds Bushnells novels offensive, we’ve read them all. Bottom line: it’s like a car wreck. You feel like you should look away, but you can’t stop yourself.
