In My Mailbox: Week of March 14, 2010
Title: The Dirty Girls Social Club
Author: Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez
Received: Public Library
Synopsis: A vibrant and absorbing novel of six friends–each an unforgettable Latina in her late twenties–and the complications and triumphs in their lives As soon as it was written, The Dirty Girls Social Club began turning heads. The Chicago Tribune reported that the book “set off a bidding frenzy” among publishers. The Associated Press reported that “even people running the copy machines at major publishing houses just had to read The Dirty Girls Social Club.” It’s no wonder the media is all in a whirl. In this heartfelt and absorbing novel, Valdes-Rodriguez opens up the lives of six upwardly mobile Latina friends in their late 20’s. These women, who come from widely varied backgrounds, meet at Boston University and, after graduating, reunite every six months to share their stories. Facing the complications and pressures of everyday lives, the Social Club offers a chance to meet regularly, dish, dine, and help each other over the bumpy course of life and love. Filled with humor, drama, and the redemptive power of friendship, The Dirty Girls Social Club promises to be one of the most talked-about books of the year.
Title: Necklace of Kisses
Author: Francesca Lia Block
Received: Public Library
Synopsis: Where were the kisses? Weetzie Bat wondered. And so begins a magical journey of discovery. As she turns forty and the relationship with her secret-agent lover-man Max falls apart, Weetzie packs up her lime green and bright orange bikini, orange suede sneakers, and Pucci tunic, jumps in her ’65 mint green Thunderbird, and leaves. Weetzie finds herself at the enchanted pink hotel in sparkling Los Angeles, where she once shied away from a kiss that may have led her to the love of her life. Now she returns, perhaps in search of her lost passion, and meets an otherworldy cast of characters, among them a blue-skinned receptionist, an invisible cleaning lady, a seductive fawn, and a sushi-eating mermaid who gives her a kiss that sets the wheel of self-discovery in motion. Block invests every scene with equal shots of magic and realism, rendering her heroine and supporting players in vivid, poetic detail. In Necklace of Kisses the fans that have grown up with Weetzie Bat will be able to meet her in adulthood and find that life is still no less trying and no less full of wonder.
Title: Fat Chance
Author: Deborah Blumenthal
Received: Public Library
Synopsis: Maggie O’Leary, America’s Anti-Diet sweetheart, plays Dear Abby to the overweight in her newspaper column, “Fat Chance.” But all that changes when she receives a call from one of Hollywood’s sexiest actors, Mike Taylor, asking her to serve as a consultant on a film in which he’ll play a diet doctor in a weight-loss clinic. Maggie realizes this is a golden opportunity and goes on a clandestine weight-loss campaign to impress this heartthrob. Her culinary skills and newly svelte figure instantly win the affection of Mike. It seems as if Maggie has it all now. But she finds that she misses her good friend Tex and the life she had in New York. And while Maggie chooses between good ol’ boy Tex and Hollywood Mike, she must also come to terms with her weight loss and what it means for her perception of herself.
Title: The Bachelor and Spinster Ball
Author: Janet Gover
Received: From Janet Gover for review
Synopsis: Another gripping romance set against the fabulous backdrop of the Australian outback, from one of LBD’s fastest rising stars Sexy Nick, feisty Bec and dreamy Hailey all grew up together in the tiny, one-horse town of Farwell Creek. In fact, Nick and Bec were the town’s teen-dream couple, until Bec made a break for it and shook the small-town dust off her heels for the big-city lights. Now she’s back – but Nick doesn’t have romantic feelings for her any more … does he? Sweet, idealistic Hailey is caught between her old friends, but has too many problems of her own to be able to worry about theirs. Devastated at the loss of her parents, who died in a crash a year earlier, she’s too wrapped up in her own thoughts to even think about leaving town or finding love. It will take a devastating bush-fire, a black-tie ball under the stars, and a road-trip to help all three friends work out who and what they want – and what they need.
