On a Lighter Note

My posts so far have been a little too nerd filled even for me, so here are some reviews of what I read on my recent Caribbean cruise. We were at sea for three entire days, and I loved sitting on my balcony reading, being able to just look out at the ocean and relax. But I promise this isn't all I did! We still fit in time to play putt-putt and ping-pong and go ice skating and enjoy other activities on the boat. Plus we had three days of excursions. Anyway, here are the books I enjoyed on my cruise.

Chasing Harry Winston Lauren Weisberger – This one's about three almost 30 year-old friends in NYC. Two of the girls make a pact to change their lives within a year - monogamous Emmy must date around and commitment-phobe Adriana must commit to one man. The third friend, Leigh, has a seemingly perfect life and can't think of anything to change, but she ends up realizing that her life just seems perfect - but it's not perfect for her. Leigh was my favorite character, probably in large part due to her love of books and her career in publishing, not to mention her "no-contact Mondays" where everyone knows not to contact her because that's her alone time where she doesn't have to talk to other people. That cracked me up because it sounds like my Saturdays (with the exception of Ryan of course, although he's at work most of the day). Weisberger also wrote The Devil Wears Prada (excellent) and Everyone Worth Knowing (good, but not nearly as good as the other two).

The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner - I don't normally go for short story collections, but I love Jennifer Weiner and the title so I got it anyway. I'm very glad I did. Short stories were great on the cruise on the excursion days because I could just read a story while sitting on the beach and not have to remember what happened by the time I got back to that room that evening to read that evening. The stories are very well developed and you still fall for the characters even though the stories are short, which is takes away my usual complaint with short stories. And even if she's sharing something sad, like a father walking away from his family, she still manages to be really funny. And apparently the title story is being made into a movie.

Size 12 Is Not Fat by Meg Cabot – This was hilarious. It featured a former teen pop star who lost her career when she tried to buck the cheesy pop system, then caught her boyfriend cheating on her and her mom ran off with all her savings. She takes a job as an assistant director in a dorm, where girls start dying. The deaths are ruled accidents, but Heather believes differently and digs around until she finds the killer. This is the first in a series and I will definately pick up the others in the future. (FYI - Cabot wrote The Princess Diaries as well.)

The Botox Diaries – This is about two friends, one who decides to age gracefully and naturally, while the other obsesses over diet, exercise, plastic surgery, and of course, Botox. She also starts an affair despite having the world's perfect husband. It's a great book on how not to handle a mid-life crisis. Although it's funny, it reminded me of why it's stupid to get so caught up on appearances.

Every Boy’s Got One by Meg Cabot – Written through a travel journal/e-mail format, this makes for a really fast, fun read. It must be difficult to write like that though, limited to what can be conveyed in a series of e-mails or what the main character would write in her travel journal. It’s a little easier since everyone has a Blackberry. The story centers around the two best friends of an eloping couple. The main character is the bride’s best friend and the story is about her instant dislike for the best man, which of course evolves into love. Yes, it’s obviously predictable in that sense, but who wants to read something depressing on vacation? Plus, the bride and groom are eloping in Italy, so most of the story takes place there, and the main character is a cartoonist and there are drawings scattered throughout the book. And Cabot is just great at creating fun characters. This was a wonderful distraction the last full day of the cruise when it was storming some and we were getting a little seasick.