Do you love "chick lit"?

librarianinheels@evpl — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:46:00 GMT

...Never fear - we have a support group for you!!!

If you're a fan of chick lit, and you're looking for a book discussion, why not try the Oaklyn Chick Lit book discussion? The group meets monthly in the Oaklyn Cafe. We've discussed books by Emily Giffin, Jennifer Weiner, Meg Cabot, Marian Keyes, Jane Austen, Helen Fielding, and Elizabeth Gilbert. Each month this fall, our group will be reading a book selected by a member of the group. The schedule for the remainder of the fall is as follows -

September 17 Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
October 15   Heartbreaker by Julie Garwood
November 19   This Charming Man by Marian Keyes
December 17   The Beach House by Jane Green

The Chick Lit Discussion Group meets at 3 pm on the given dates - copies of the discussion books can be picked up at the Oaklyn Information desk.

Weiner-fest (it's pronounced WY-ner!)

librarianinheels@evpl — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:42:00 GMT

Jennifer Weiner is arguably the queen of American chick-yet. Good in Bed, her first novel, was almost an instant best seller and is a perennial favorite here at EVPL (i.e. it almost always has a waiting list). Her novels are eagerly anticipated by her Gen-X followers, myself included, and her most recent, Certain Girls, is no exception. I've been waiting for this book for three years. Seriously, I have.

To say that Certain Girls is a disappointment may be a little harsh. That being said, it is certainly not what I expected from the plucky, plus-sized heroine of Good in Bed. Gone is the Cannie Shapiro of yore - the woman who plodded through the remainer of her twenties finding disappointment and pain at virtually every angle - only to finish them with an unexpected upswing and blessing - her daughter, Joy, a movie-star friend, and burgeoning career as a "serious" writer. Flash forward - Joy is twelve as Certain Girls begins, and Cannie has become a neurotic clone of c. 1984 Tipper Gore...ashamed of who she used to be (a best-selling author!) and refusing to allow her daughter to do things like use a Grease theme for her bat mitzvah - because it promotes smoking and promiscuity? OK - I'm not Jewish, but even MY mom, born in the pre-war Midwest and coming of age in the 50s - wouldn't have been that careful about party themes - and for years I was not allowed to wear jeans in front of my grandparents.

I'm not finished with Certain Girls yet, so it may surprise me, and I may end up loving it as much as I did its predecessor. But so far, I get the feeling that Jennifer Weiner, like her heroine Cannie Shapiro, was pressured into a follow-up of her successful first novel - and it shows. Her characters so far resemble nothing of their former incarnations. I'm just not feeling the love for Cannie yet. I'll be sure to report back, though.

Books Blog : Jennifer Weiner

Do you love "chick lit"?

Weiner-fest (it's pronounced WY-ner!)