Review: Revenge of the Kudzu Debutantes

Revenge of the Kudzu Debutantes by Cathy Holton
3.5 stars

Reasons for reading: the title caught my eye; Southern book for Triple 8 Challenge; Plant title for What's in a Name? Challenge

Book description (edited): Eadie Boone is no shrinking violet. An artist and former beauty queen who married into one of the first families of Ithaca, Georgia, she tackles everything with gusto and flair. But tailing her wayward husband proves to be, well, an exasperating chore. If only Trevor would just see the light, dump his twenty-two-year-old hussy, and return home, Eadie’s creative energy could be put to better use. Now all she has to do is convince him.

Nita Broadwell, a good Southern girl from a good Southern family, is jolted out of complacency when she discovers condoms in her husband’s shirt pocket...Between clinging to denial and dodging her overbearing mother-in-law, Nita is also trying to break her addiction to steamy bodice-ripper novels. Only now it appears she’s authoring her own real-life romance tale with a hunky handyman thirteen years her junior.

Lavonne Zibolsky–a transplanted Yankee, bless her heart–is saddled with planning the annual Broadwell & Boone law firm party. That and her lackluster marriage have her seeking solace in the contents of her refrigerator. If she could just put down the Rocky Road ice cream and peach pie, she might get around to finding a caterer, dropping sixty pounds, and figuring out how to fall in love with her husband again. Not necessarily in that order.

Bonded by years of friendship, these three women discover what else they have in common: lying, cheating spouses. So they heed their collective betrayals as a wake-up call and band together to exact sweet revenge.

First line: "One week before the dinner party where she found out the truth about her cheating husband, Eadie Boone sat in her car outside the offices of Boone & Broadwell waiting for Trevor and his new girlfriend to appear."

My thoughts: I used to read a lot of wrong-wife revenge novels when I was younger. It's amazing I ever got married, really! :-) I hardly ever read them any more, they all got too predictable and poor-poor-pitiful-me/I-am-woman-hear-me-roar-ish. But I liked the title of this one and am always on the lookout for Southern lit, so I gave it a try. I was a bit concerned that this one was going to be more of the same, but Holton managed to rise above the usual elements by having 3 great characters, a very funny revenge plan, and having the Kudzu Ball.

I want to be a Kudzu Debutante!! The festival had a recliner race (NASCHAIR), a Betty Cracker cook-off, and culminates in a parody of the time-honoured debutante ball where any woman (or anyone who looks like a woman) can "come out" by parading across the stage in a thrift store bridesmaid dress with a name like Miss Ima Badass, jacked up on corn liquor/cough syrup-infused Kudzu Koolaid.

This book did have the totally stereotypically asshole husbands wanting to control their wives/divorce them and leave them with nothing, which is one of the things I started to find irritating about revenge novels, but it was tempered a bit by Trevor Boone being not all bad in the end. And I guess you need the villains to make the revenge sweet (and, in this case, hilarious).

Pick this one up if you're in the mood for Southern snap, feisty friends, and jerks getting what they deserve.

Celebrate the Author Challenge

Becky is hosting the Celebrate the Author Challenge again. I didn't do it in 2008 but noticed lots of people were doing it, so I'm going to be sure I get on the bandwagon this time! Visit the challenge blog for more info and to sign up, but here it is in a nutshell:

It is a twelve month challenge. January - December 2009.

The challenge is designed to “celebrate” author birthdays. Choose one author for each month of the year. Read at least one book a month. 12 authors. 12 birthdays.

Here's my starter list, I'm trying to focus on my fave authors, since they deserve celebrating for all the reading pleasure they've given me over the years!

January

February 1, 1967 - Meg Cabot, Pants on Fire

March 28, 1970 - Jennifer Weiner, Certain Girls

April 17, 1957 - Nick Hornby, Slam

May 28, 1940 - Maeve Binchy, Tara Road

June 28, 1971 - Maurice Sendak, Brundibar

July 3, 1947 - Dave Barry, Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs

August 20, 1975 - Melanie Watt, Scaredy Squirrel at Night

September 10, 1963 - Marian Keyes, This Charming Man

October 15, 1881 - PG Wodehouse, Love Among the Chickens

November 30, 1874 - LM Montgomery, Rilla of Ingleside

December 6, 1965 - Wendy Holden, Filthy Rich or School for Husbands

Review: Over Her Dead Body

Over Her Dead Body by Kate White
3 stars

Reasons for reading: I'd enjoyed other books in the series; Mystery for Triple 8 Challenge

Book description: "Talk about rapid turnover! In a matter of days Bailey Weggins has been axed from one New York magazine and hired by another. Her new job at Buzz, a weekly filled with sizzling gossip, has Bailey covering celebrity crime. Bailey doesn't have to look far for her first big story when she finds her boss, Mona Hodges, gasping her last breath after being bludgeoned with a blunt object. A raging tyrant, Mona made Buzz a top magazine but racked up an impressive list of enemies. Now it's up to Bailey to get the scoop on whodunit--even though one of her closest friends is at the top of the suspects list."

First lines: "What you see isn't always what you get. The trouble with cliches is that they're so downright tedious, you fail to pay any attention to the message they're meant to convey."

My thoughts: This is the fourth book in the Bailey Weggins series by Cosmopolitan editor Kate White. Crime reporter Bailey has been let go from the Cosmo-esque Gloss and hired by USWeekly-alike Buzz. While I can see why White thought the series needed a change, I have to say I preferred the previous Cosmo-licious settings. The reason I started reading the series was because I read Cosmo (to my shame!) and the poisoned truffles, deadly spa treatments, and dying bridesmaids of the other books mixed chick lit with murder mystery really well.

Bailey is still a great character - curious, brave, a good friend, and dedicated to finding the truth, along with a bit of cattiness when provoked and the usual single-girl-in-the-city troubles. But for me this one lacked the elements that made the other books unique. White still gets her magazine editor experience in with a peek behind the scenes at a near-tabloid (complete with some very juicy fictional-celebrity scandals) and a particularly bitchy co-worker worried that Bailey's getting too cozy with their new male editor, but I just didn't find it is as interesting or as tension-filled as the other books where Bailey was more personally involved with the crimes.

I may read the next book, Lethally Blonde, but it's not at the top of my list. But mystery/chick lit fans should definitely check out If Looks Could Kill and A Body to Die For, in particular.

I'm back!

I know, you didn't even know I was gone. :) But we were on vacation all last week. Sadly, I didn't finish either of the two books I took with me! Too much shopping, eating and visiting. I can't believe it got to be October while I was away...hope everyone's enjoying these first days of fall.

Review: 10 Things to do Before I Die

10 Things to do Before I Die by Daniel Ehrenhaft
3 stars

Reasons for reading: I've been wanting to read one of Ehrenhaft's books; New York setting for Triple 8 Challenge; Young Adult Challenge

Book description (from Booklist): "It's the first day of spring break, and bright, nerdy 16-year-old Ted Burger is hanging out with his best friends [Mark and his girlfriend Nikki] at a New York City diner. Ted's friends are constructing a "to do" list for him, the first item of which is "lose virginity." Then Ted discovers a disgruntled employee has poisoned the fries he has just eaten, and he'll be dead in 24 hours. Suddenly the "to do" list takes on new meaning."

First line: "My name is Ted Burger."

My thoughts: Daniel Ehrenhaft is funny! I'd heard he was, which is why I wanted to read the book. So that was good. He has some very funny turns of phrase and a few hilarious scenes. The origin of Ted's favourite band, Shakes the Clown, is particularly stellar. The ad they placed seeking a drummer included the following requirement: "must be an older chick or have punched a cop in the groin."

It's a quick read and an interesting idea. It gets a bit rushed, with Ted's attempts to complete the list squeezed into about 8 hours. The things he discovers while trying to do the 10 things are fairly cliched - his old middle-school bully is now a saint, the members of Shakes the Clown are asshats, and, of course, he's in love with his best friend's girl.

The end of the book felt a bit like an after school special - "You know, I learned something today..." While I suppose it could happen with a near-death experience, Ted very quickly realizes a great deal about himself, his parents, Mark, Nikki, and his nice but not-Nikki girlfriend Rachel.

But I would definitely recommend this to teens. I don't often read books about boys, so I was glad to read it for that reason, too. It reminded me a little bit of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Not the story, but some elements - rushing around New York at night, the quirky humour, Ted being a music geek, and the cool girl friend who becomes more.

I'd be up for reading more Ehrenhaft in the future. I think a longer book would serve him better. His Drawing a Blank sounds interesting.

Review: Rat Pack Confidential

Rat Pack Confidential by Shawn Levy
3 stars

Reasons for reading: I've always been quite interested in learning more about the Rat Pack and reading Cease to Blush earlier this year made me even more intrigued; Nonfiction for the Triple 8 Challenge

Book description: "January 1960. Las Vegas is at its smooth, cool peak. The Strip is a jet-age theme park, and the greatest singer in the history of American popular music summons a group of friends there to make a movie. One is an insouciant singer of Italian songs, ex-partner to the most popular film comedian of the day. One is a short, black, Jewish, one-eyed, singing, dancing wonder. One is an upper-crust British pretty boy turned degenerate B-movie actor, brother-in-law to an ascendant politician. And one is a stiff-shouldered comic with the quintessential Borscht Belt emcee's knack for needling one-liners...

Around them an entire cast gathers: actors, comics, singers, songwriters, gangsters, politicians, and women, as well as thousands of starstruck everyday folks who fork over pocketfuls of money for the privilege of basking in their presence. They call themselves The Clan. But to an awed world, they are known as The Rat Pack.They had it all. Fame. Gorgeous women. A fabulous playground of a city and all the money in the world. The backing of fearsome crime lords and the blessing of the President of the United States. But the dark side--over the thin line between pleasure and debauchery, between swinging self-confidence and brutal arrogance--took its toll. In four years, their great ride was over, and showbiz was never the same."

My thoughts: This definitely satisfied my Rat Pack curiosity. I don't think I'd have been interested enough to read a separate biography of each man, but I liked Levy's approach of viewing "the Rat Pack as a kind of organic phenomenon, a being that lived for a few years around the turn of the sixties with roots stretching back into its principals' childhoods and effects haunting them until their deaths."

While parts of their lives were very exciting and glamorous, my main feelings about the various members were mostly pity or disgust. Frank Sinatra appears to have had three main modes - baby, bully, or coward. His loyalty is often touted, yet he cut many of his so-called friends dead for months or years at a time over any slight, real or imagined. Peter Lawford wasn't really liked by anyone in the Rat Pack or his Kennedy in-laws and is mostly a laughable figure who ended his days as a truly sick individual. Dean Martin seems to have been the most normal and likeable of all, probably because he managed to stay the most detached, but even he seems to have had his moments of being a real asshole. Sammy Davis Jr. is presented as having extreme self-loathing issues, despite being probably the most talented of them all. Failed marriages, drug and alcohol problems, estrangement from their children...doesn't sound like it was quite the swingin' life it appeared to be.

I did enjoy reading about the heyday, Summit years and reading about the fiascos involved in filming it made me want to see the original Ocean's 11 even more. Even after reading about all of the negative things they did and that happened to them later, it's really hard not to view it all in nostalgia-tinted glasses - the oh-so-modern, cool Sands, the jokes, the songs, the glamour. There really hadn't been anything like them before. And it was quite astonishing to realize how truly on top Sinatra managed to be for so long (despite a few slumps). Levy also repeatedly points out the true gift he had for singing, which was like nothing seen before it (or presumably since). I've always liked his music (mainly because I love Cole Porter and the other standards he's known for), but the book made me interested to hear some of his earlier work, I think I've only really ever heard the middle-aged Frank with all of his "Pow! Zoom!" type stuff. And I have to say, I've simply got to listen to an album called Ring-a-ding-ding! just for the title. :-)

The part I liked the least was all the mob stuff. I know they were connected to the Rat Pack, especially Frank, but the lists of Italian guys with dumb nicknames got a bit old, as did reading about how many points various mobsters had in various casinos. The history of Las Vegas is pretty interesting, especially when you consider how immense and family vacation-oriented it is now, but there was still just a bit too much of that, too.

This was definitely an interesting book and it was a fairly quick read. For a biography, I felt it read well, almost like a novel. And it made me interested to hear and see more Sinatra and perhaps learn more about that swingin' era itself.

Review: Among Other Things, I've Taken Up Smoking

Among Other Things, I've Taken Up Smoking by Aoibheann Sweeney
2.5 stars

Reasons for reading: Sam Houston's review; New-to-Me Author for Triple 8 Challenge

First line (unsurpisingly): "Among other things, I've taken up smoking."

My thoughts: This wasn't a bad book, it was just a bit dull. It was my pick for book club and I'm afraid I disappointed everyone (I usually pick funny books). But, as my friend Vidalia pointed out, it was "quick dull" rather than 700-pages dull. So that was something.

My favourite part were the descriptions of their tiny Maine island. Ana the coffee cart girl and Mr. Blackwell were interesting characters, although they remained fairly shadowy, particularly Mr. Blackwell. The inclusion of the myths from Ovid's Metamorphoses added another layer. But overall it was fairly predictable - the big "secret" of her father being gay wasn't much of a surprise nor was it a suprise that Miranda would be a lesbian when she finally allowed herself to interact with people.

I wanted to know how her father had supported them for 15 years while working on the same translation. Perhaps he inherited a lot of money along with the house. I did find it very sad that he seemed to have never really loved Miranda's mother nor helped Miranda to feel anything for her memory. I also found it very sad that for most of the book it seems as though he's content to let Mr. Blackwell raise her, barely noticing her existence except when he needs her to cook or type.

Again, it wasn't a bad story or even an unenjoyable read, it was just kind of blah. The main reason the book caught my eye was the title and that was the most novel thing about it.

BUT, Sam Houston wrote a great review of it here, so do take his much better-considered and better-written opinion under advisement.