I loved this novel from the surface for its Austenian feel---six 20-30-40 somethings being clever and finding love in their Dublin apartment building. It kept pulling me deeper as the chapters counted down (countdown to what?!?!), the plot delved into the tragic with great poignancy, and the narr...
This was a strange book from the get-go. There is an ambiguous "omnipotent narrator" that adds odd comments throughout the book. Perhaps I am slow, but it took me until the last 7/8 of the book to figure out how this narrator fit into the story. Consequently it seemed like random vignettes of ...
I've given this book 3 stars because I love Marian Keyes, but this was, in my opinion, her weakest novel yet. I probably would rate this lower if this had been the first book of hers that I read. It was entertaining, and I didn't stop wanting to find out what happened, but it just didn't have the...
Last Chance Saloon continues to speak to me and it has been almost six years since I have read it for the first time. I don't know why I re-read this constantly. Maybe it's because I keep thinking that the ending of the book will unexpectedly change. I fell in love with the main characters in thi...
Anybody Out There was a book that started out really great. However, after a while, not only did it start to drag on, it also started to resemble a mess...a mildly intriguing mess, but a mess none the less. Now, I don't need much from a chick-lit to be happy, but in Anybody Out There, I just ne...
I never thought I’d meet a nice man who wanted to marry me. Plenty of lunatics, undoubtedly.- ClaireThere’s a time and a place for spontaneity.- ClaireI loved books. And I loved reading. And I loved men who read. I loved a man who knew his existentialism from his magic-realism.- ClaireI knew i wa...
(From my book blog) I really hate the term “chick lit,” don’t you? It is utterly dismissive and totally misleading. Take a look at this book cover. It looks like chick lit. It was written by a woman. IT MUST BE FLUFFY AND RIDICULOUS, RIGHT?No. No it is not. This book is devastating. I know she wa...
Firstly, I would just like to boast that I read this 600+ page book in ONE DAY. Completely, started it in the morning, finished in the evening. And so if I managed to do that, it must have caught my interest. And, well, yes it did. I was never bored, I just kept reading and reading, sucked into t...
So this ended up being one of the very first books that I bought on my Amazon Kindle when I was overseas. I don't know why but I manage to always read this book when I am feeling blue. Maybe it's because right now I am being hit over the head with the fact that my happily ever after may look tota...
Lizzie is dead. She just doesn’t realize it yet. She goes on about her life like she normally would but people are ignoring her and it is ticking her off. Why would they do that? She was not a wallflower when. Lizzie thought herself rather popular. Lizzie has a great boyfriend even if they ...
(Disclaimer: I read this while recuperating in hospital and so some of my reflections might be affected by medications and the need for something low key to entertain my eyes.)'Sushi for Beginners' has a similar set up to many chick litty novels - centering on three women; one who seems to "have ...
Just discovered my review for this book. (It seems to me it is more of a letter than a review lol)On Friday, June 01, 2007 I wrote about this book on bookcrossingThis book has not been rated.Karine!!!!!!!!!! OMG. Ask gizzy but this is so wonderful.Vaguely in my mind I thought that someone owed me...
Further Under the Duvet is the second volume of Marian Keyes journalism, and this time also some short stories are included. I didn't enjoy the book as much as the first one (Under the Duvet). The first three sections of the book (which were about shopping, traveling and beauty) were actually qui...