Still Life With Husband by Lauren Fox

I hated this book.  But not in a "It's so boring I can't read it" kind of way, but in a "This character is so dumb I want to smack her upside the head" kind of way.  In a "This is the end of the book?  Seriously? You're going to leave me hanging even though I don't even know why I care to know what happens to this stupid character" kind of way.

Emily Ross is married to Kevin- a sweet, really good guy.  Emily and Kevin have a pretty good, comfortable relationship except that Kevin is ready to move to the suburbs and have kids and Emily doesn't want to.  But Kevin is trying to be patient with her.

Then along comes David.  They meet in a coffee shop and flirt and he asks Emily if she would be interested in writing for the paper he works for.  This is about the time you start wanting to smack Emily.  She is 30 years old and acts like a dumb teenager.  She isn't wearing her ring when she meets David and goes out with him a second time without telling him she is married!  Then she finally tells him, but they decide to "just be friends" (yeah right!)

You'll have to read the book to find out the other ridiculous activities that go on.  Will she have an affair with David?  Will Kevin find out?  Will Emily and Kevin stay together?  Will you hate Emily by the end of the book?

It was another one of those cautionary tales that getting what you think you want doesn't always make you happy.  It was realistic, but ugh, Emily...I just did not like her very much.  But for me to have this much passion about a character in a book, you know it had to be pretty good.

I give this one 4 out of 5 stars.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

This is the follow up to one of my favorite books (and movies) of all time- The Time Traveler's Wife.  This book isn't so much a love story as it is a ghost story.  When Elspeth Noblin dies at the beginning of the book, she leaves her assets to the twin daughters of her long-estranged twin sister Edie with the condition that the twins must live in her London flat for one year before they can have any of the money or sell the flat.  The twins, Valentina and Julia, are confused because they can't remember ever having met their aunt and have no idea why their mother was estranged from her- so much so that the parents aren't allowed to set foot in the flat.  The twins are in their early twenties and decide to just do it.  They leave America and move in to their aunt's flat in London.


Living in the building with them in London is Elspeth's lover, Robert, and the upstairs neighbor Martin who has an extreme case of OCD and Elspeth's ghost who lives with them in the flat.  The girls have no purpose in London.  They don't go to school.  They don't work.  But they do get to know the neighbors and their aunt.  The book then takes an interesting turn when the characters in the book make their own way to get the things they think they want.  It is shocking and disturbing.  But it keeps you reading because you want to see how everyone turns out after the dust has settled.

The book was slow at times and the ending was just like "Really?"  I was disappointed how the characters turned out, but it was a good cautionary tale that not every story has a happy ending and I am liking that realistic view from the books and movies I watch right now which is probably why I didn't hate it.  But it was no where near the wonderful story of The Time Traveler's Wife.

I give this one 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Are You There Vodka? Its Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler

I finished this one a while ago, but never got around to blogging about it.  But I love Chelsea Handler.  I think she is hilarious.  I really enjoyed the first book of hers I read- "My Horizontal Life".  I also really enjoyed this one.  It is a collection of short stories that span elementary school to her late twenties.  In this one you get to hear some stories from her childhood and her crazy family.

The book kind of started off slow for me.  It was apparent Chelsea had a vivid imagination from a very young age as evidenced by her "movie star" story in elementary school. 

I loved her Mini-Me story when she got to hang out with a midget all day.  I think her obsession with them is hilarious.

But the best story by far is the last one where she takes her dad, best friend, and best friend's mom on vacation.  It is hilarious.

And I also found out the Chelsea has a thing for penguins just like I do which makes me love her even more.

I will warn you she is crass and disgusting and you could get easily offended reading this book, but for some reason I get her humor and I really enjoyed it.

I give this one 4 out of 5 stars.