Review: A Total Waste of Makeup by Kim Gruenenfelder

A Total Waste of Makeup by Kim Gruenenfelder
Chick-lit

St. Martin's Griffin (December 27th, 2005)

384 pages

From Amazon:

Charlize "Charlie" Edwards certainly knows, in theory, what it takes to lead a successful and happy life. She owns a nice house in Silverlake, LA's trendiest neighborhood. She has glamorous and loyal friends who accompany her to the hottest clubs in town. And she works as the personal assistant to Drew Stanton, Hollywood's sexiest movie star. But she's also turning 30, chronically single, and faced with serving as maid of honor at her younger sister's wedding. Charlie finds herself struggling to juggle the chaos of wedding planning (while wondering if she'll ever wear the white dress herself), her all-consuming job for lunatic boss Stanton, and a serious crush on Jordan, a photographer on the set of Drew's latest feature--a man who might actually return her feelings.

I can't rave enough about this novel! Yes, it falls into the chick-lit genre, but it's completely devoid of the vapid, two-dimensional characters and highly unlikely escapades that are all too common in women's fiction. And, If that wasn't enough of a reason to pick it up, it's hilarious too.

Charlie is a perfect heroine - smart, funny and flawed, she will remind you of, well, you. What pushes this novel to the top are the great secondary characters. Her friends and family were all pretty realistic and well drawn out. Each brought their own brand of humor to the story as well as added to it's depth. Not only was I able to see bits of my family and friends amongst them, but I also found myself identifying with Charlie's utter embarassment at their hands.

Gruenenfelder is going right up there next to Sophie Kinsella for me (which is saying a lot).

Grade: A

Review: Literacy and Longing in L.A. by Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack

Literacy and Longing in L.A. by Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack

General Fiction

Delta (May 29, 2007)

352 pages

From Amazon:

Some women shop. Some eat. Dora cures the blues by bingeing on books—reading one after another, from Flaubert to bodice rippers, for hours and days on end. In this wickedly funny and sexy literary debut, we meet the beguiling, beautiful Dora, whose unique voice combines a wry wit and vulnerability as she navigates the road between reality and fiction.Dora, named after Eudora Welty, is an indiscriminate book junkie whose life has fallen apart—her career, her marriage, and finally her self-esteem. All she has left is her love of literature, and the book benders she relied on as a child. Ever since her larger-than-life father wandered away and her book-loving, alcoholic mother was left with two young daughters, Dora and her sister, Virginia, have clung to each other, enduring a childhood filled with literary pilgrimages instead of summer vacations. Somewhere along the way Virginia made the leap into the real world. But Dora isn’t quite there yet. Now she’s coping with a painful separation from her husband, scraping the bottom of a dwindling inheritance, and attracted to a seductive book-seller who seems to embody all that literature has to offer—intelligent ideas, romance, and an escape from her problems.

Joining Dora in her odyssey is an elderly society hair-brusher, a heartbroken young girl, a hilarious off-the-wall female teamster, and Dora’s mother, now on the wagon, trying to make amends. Along the way Dora faces some powerful choices. Between two irresistible men. Between idleness and work. And most of all between the joy of well-chosen words and the untidiness of real people and real life.

I'll admit it - the cover is what drew me to this book. Something about that red lipstick and the books; what more could a girl want? Fortunately for me, there is more to this novel than its cute cover.

Despite the fact that Dora obviously has family and friends who love her, she's utterly lonely when the novel starts - and it's all her fault. She sequesters herself up with piles of books for long stretches of time, unsure about what she wants out of life yet unwilling to examine the issue any further. So she settles for a sort of half-life of her own making.

Kaufman and Mack do a great job of flushing out Dora and making her seem real. Being a book lover myself, it was easy to identify with her. In fact, I think I know all too well how easy it is to hide between pages when life gets rough.

Smart, witty and touching - this is chick lit with a brain and heart. With all of the literary quotes and elements in the story, one would think that reading this could easily turn into a serious undertaking. However, the authors wrote with an effortless flow that made Dora's journey enjoyable, heartfelt and even a touch educational.

Grade: A-

Reading Challenges

This one is hosted by Victoria at Read Your Name Challenge

Guidelines:

1. Using your first name, or blogger name, or your pets name, or even your favorite literary character's name; whichever you like, choose books with first title letters that spell out your name. (Audio books and eBooks are also okay.) Such as her name: Victoria. the first book's title would start with the letter V, then the next book title begins with I, etc.

2. Bloggers and non-bloggers alike are free to join. If you do not have a blog and would like to post your reviews/titles that spelled your name somewhere, you may do so here at the group blog. Just send her an e-mail (phantombibliophile [at] gmail [dot] com), or leave a comment letting her know you'd like to use the blog.

3. If you have your own blog, go back there every month and leave a comment containing the link to your challenge page containing the books you've read or each review you've written for books that count for this challenge. (Crossovers with other challenges are okay.) There is a new post for this on the first of every month.

4. The challenge runs from Jan. 1st 2009, to Dec. 31st 2009. You may join at any time.


J -

A - A Total Waste of Makeup by Kim Gruenenfelder

C - College Girl by Patricia Weitz

Q -

U -

E -

L - Literacy and Longing in L.A. by Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack

I -

N -

E -

The New Author Challenge hosted by Literary Escapism

1. The challenge will run from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009.

2. Since this is an author challenge, there is no restriction on choosing your novels. They can definitely be from other challenges. However, the authors must be new to you and, preferably from novels, but anthologies are also a great way to try someone new.

3. State how many new authors you want to try this year and then that’s your challenge. If you want a number given to you, try for either 25 or 50.

4. Add your name to the Mr. Linky at Literary Escapism. If you do not have your own blog, you can join the group blog here.

5. Bloggers or Non-Bloggers alike are welcome.

6. When you read a new author, write your review (either at your site or the group blog) and then come back here and post a link to your review.

I choose to try for 50 new authors (again, these are only for books that I've read since late-May) - 25 for this blog and 25 for my other blog, Undercover Book Lover.

1. Kim Gruenenfelder

2. Patricia Weitz

3. Jennifer Kaufman

4. Karen Mack

5. Jennifer Belle

Check out the three other challenges that I'm participating in at my other blog Undercover Book Lover!!!