September 2006 Books

Bergdoff Blondes
Plum Sykes

So this book is actually too New York for me. It's all about the highest echelon of NY socialites and their daily lives. Too much money, to many inane worries (highlight touch ups every 13 days indeed!) and the narrator of the story makes some really dumb choices. I was actually getting as frustrated with her as I was with the girl in the shopaholic series for spending so needlessly. There are other, better books about the NY scene.

Rexy (a play)
Allan Stratton

Set in the years just before and during the second world war this play treats Mackenzie King's conscription decision. It's fast paced and an easy read, but if you don't know your Canadian history, a bit confusing. I laughed at the bits with King talking to his dead mother and dog, as it is often brought up in history books. Again, would love to see it in production.

The Undomestic Goddess
Sophie Kinsella

Ok, I'll admit, I'm a big fan of Kinsella's other novels so I was pretty sure I would like this one. Samantha, a lawyer at a pressure cooker firm in London, seemingly makes a mistake and runs away. She ends up at a house in the country and is mistaken for a housekeeper applicant. Of course she can't cook, clean or do any housekeeping type duties, hence the title. A nice frothy story that keeps you reading and even has a nice love story thrown in, like all Kinsella novels. I enjoyed it and was sorry when it ended.


The 101 Miracles of Hope Chance
Allan Stratton

This play is a little more time specific as it addresses the TV evangelist scams which were very prevalant in the 80's and early 90's. Ellen, a nurse, performs a miracle, and is scooped up by a tele-evangelist racket. I enjoyed the pace and thought the love story with the investigator (trying to bring down the crooks) an interesting twist. I also liked some of the subtle references to one of the evangelists being gay and so opposite to the fundamentlist point of view. Production please?

Everyone Worth Knowing
Lauren Weisberger

This is the Devil Wears Prada author's second outing. She definitely took this heroine in another direction and fleshing out her relationship with her parents and herself a lot more. Bette is stuck in a dead end job in a bank and up and quits. She finds work at a PR firm, where it quickly becomes her job to party and get her name in the papers whenever possible. Not as much NY stuff as I would like (fashion and place references) but still a good read. Not as good as Devil, but we'll see if they decide to make a movie out of it.

Citizen Girl
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Second outing from the Nanny Diaries authors. Although the book was slow to start and I thoroughly dislike the way they name their main characters (Nanny in the Nanny Diaries and Girl in Citizen Girl) after a while the book grew on me. Girl is a 24 year old Feminine Studies Major trying to make it in NYC and having a really difficult time pitted against mysogynist bosses and inconsistant boyfriend behaviour. I don't believe the authors set out to write a feminist novel but it is definitely one. I was really surprised I like this one in the end, because I was ready to throw in the towel after a chapter. It's definitely worth a look.