SUGGESTION SATURDAY
Today kicks off Suggestion Saturday. Every Saturday I'm going to read one of the books that was suggested in the comments section. Today I've chosen a book that was suggested by Belvia because her suggestion was the first one I received. I'm going to read one of the books suggested by each person from the comments section, and I'm going in the order I received the suggestions. I run my blog like a preschool classroom - everyone gets a turn you just have to wait in line patiently. So, if you have any suggestions feel free to leave them in the comments section - and if you have more than one book to suggest go ahead and list those too. It's always nice to have several to choose from in case I have trouble finding one of the books. If you're one of the people who is having trouble leaving comments, e-mail me at abookaday09@gmail.com and I'll try to help get the problem sorted out.
I'm also answering questions today. My sister wanted me to put up a FAQ section, but that seemed too melodramatic at this stage in the blog. I tried to explain to her that it doesn't count as frequently asked if I've only been asked the question one time. But she persisted. So, to appease her in the meantime:
Questions I've been asked once -
1. What is your criteria for choosing books? - I try to pick books that are between 200 and 450 pages. Anything less than 200 feels like cheating and 450 seems to be the limit of what I can read in one day. No coffee table books, or any other kind of book that has more pictures than words. And, of course, no scary books. Beyond that, I don't have any rules about subject or genre.
2. Are you feeling overwhelmed yet? - A little bit. But, I think that's only because I'm doing all the extra work for my job. I think this will get easier in February.
3. Do you think you'll actually make it through the whole year? - Yes. But I don't think that far ahead because it's kind of a daunting thought.
Now on to today's book. Here's the description:
"Meet Rachel White, a young attorney living and working in Manhattan. Rachel has always been the consummate good girl - until her thirtieth birthday, when her best friend Darcy throws her a party. That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up in bed with Darcy's fiance. Although she wakes up determined to put her one-night fling behind her, Rachel is horrified to discover that she has genuine feelings for the one guy she should run from."
My thoughts:
- The main character Rachel referred to herself as middle aged because she had just turned 30 - the age that I will be in September. After reading that line I spent a few minutes (or maybe 20) trying to convince myself that middle aged is a term that should be taken literally and, since the average life expectancy for women is 79.5 (up 0.1 from last year), I don't even have to entertain the idea that I'm middle aged until I'm at least 39 1/2. And even then, I will just be entertaining the idea, it won't be official for another 3 months.
- After reading about someone who celebrates their 30th birthday by having a party in a bar, getting drunk, and then betraying her best friend, all I can think is, "My 30th is going to be boring in comparison." I was thinking of having a theme party in which everyone has to dress up like it's the 1930's. It's not exactly a wild and crazy way to spend a birthday, but I've never been a wild and crazy kind of person so it works. But now I'm starting to wonder how I'm even going to have time for a party like that since I'll still be writing the blog then. An image just flashed through my mind of someone handing me a present and me saying, "Yeah thanks, I'll open it as soon as I'm done with this chapter."
- I was really glad that I didn't have to hear the life story of every character in the book. There was still a bit more back story than I prefer for a book that isn't non-fiction - but it was a definite improvement over last weeks fluffy book. I really appreciated not having to read about the life story of the waitress who only appears once or the random girl on the subway.
- The author has discreetly skipped over what I'm going to call (for the sake of keeping this blog wholesome) the love scenes. Most chick-lit books aren't that discreet, which always leaves me wondering: are authors like that embarrassed to face their grandmothers after writing that stuff. Or do they hand the book to Grandma and say, "You can only read this if you promise to skip over pages 223-225." But, who are we kidding, Grandma's going to read pages 223-225 either way. Maybe their family members all just sit around the Thanksgiving table pretending they didn't read those pages, while Aunt Helen looks over and thinks, "I bet I know what's going on in her filthy mind right now." and Grandpa shakes his head in disgust and thinks, "Why in my day people had tasteful thoughts." The author has wisely decided to avoid this quagmire of embarrassment by skipping over those kind of scenes.
Overall, I liked the book. It was a nice fluffy read. Thanks for suggesting it Belvia.
P.S. - I tried the ginger water, using a recipe that was left in the comments section yesterday. When it's made with the right measurements ginger water tastes like Gatorade but more pungent.
