The last two books I read for my chick-lit reading plan were not really chick-lit. They had some similar appeal factors but were not mainstream chick-lit books, but were more like appendage's. The first was Bitter is the New Black: confessions of a condescending, egomaniacal, self-centered, smart-@$$ or, why you should never carry a Prada bag to the unemployment office: a memoir by Jen Lancaster. (Great title, eh?) The second was Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner.
Bitter is the new Black is non-fiction. A memoir to be precise, about a 30's something woman who is living the life. She's got a job that makes her oodles of money, a fabulous apartment, and has a committed boyfriend. There are things she would like to change, like she would like to move to New York, but otherwise, things are good. Until she looses her job. And then her boyfriend looses his job. And they have to move. And their car gets reposed. And you get the picture.
The author has a lot in common with many characters I see in, or associate with, chick-lit. She has the big-paying job, and all the latest fashions, the monthly hair appointment with the best stylist in the city. She is not currently looking for a man, because she already has one, but her mother does occasionally bug her about when she's going to marry the guy. The tone is light and snarky and fun, despite the huge life crisis she goes through. And it is a crisis. It takes two years before someone offers her a job. But despite the snarkiness, you can see how her attitude towards work and money and life change. She starts up as the stuck-up princess type and ends up as the funny, blunt, girl-to-hang-out with type.
I'm not sure which category to put Best Friends Forever. It could be women's fiction, or chick-lit, or mainstream fiction. Addie has always been shy, and lately, she's become something of a recluse. After high school, her father died suddenly from and aneurysm and it was left to her to care for her ill mother. Val is a mix of dare-devil and beauty queen. If you cross her, she'll get you back. Addie and Val have been best friends since they were nine. But an incident in high school caused a falling out between them. Now, the night of their high school reunion, Val is at Addie's door, asking for help. There is a little bit of mystery in what actually happened at the reunion and back in high school, but it is the relationship between Addie and Val that really drives the novel. The mystery is actual a bit anti-climatic, but it does allow Addie to get together with the cute local sheriff, so I suppose it serves its purpose.
So that's it. My 2010 reading plan is complete. And I still have a whole month left over.
