99. Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

I first heard about the ABC Family show Pretty Little Liars a few months ago, and I eagerly looked forward to it. It's really good, too, you should watch it. I had one more my pick for the project, so naturally I decided to read the first book in the series that the show is based on. Yay! I love me some YA fiction.

In the exclusive Philadelphia suburb of Rosewood, Alison is the Queen Bee of her elite seventh grade hive. BFs Aria, Hanna, Spencer, and Emily vie for her attention, even as each of them hides a hideous secret only Alison knows. So when Alison goes missing after a slumber party, never to be seen again, each girl is heartbroken, but also a little relieved. Now it is three years later, and though the four girls have grown apart, they are each still hiding something. Artsy Aria is carrying on an affair with one of her teachers, fashionista Hanna shoplifts to accessorize her trendy outfits, blue-blood Spencer is sleeping with her older sister's boyfriend, while straight-A Emily is trying to ignore her attraction to a new female classmate. When the girls begin receiving threatening text messages and emails from someone known only as "A," they must confront the fact that against all odds, it appears Alison is back. Could Alison still be alive? And if so, why is she so determined to uncover all their dirty little secrets?

Plot summary taken from amazon.com.

And it did not disappoint! It was so good! Really, really good! I can see this series being completely addictive, I didn't want the first one to end. If I didn't have a million other books on my to read list, I might run out and get the rest of the series. Even though I don't think I had many (any?) of the experiences that the girls in the book did, it was still relatable. There were good characters, all with secrets and bad deeds but all ultimately likeable and sympathetic. I do love reading about female friendships -- always so complicated and messy! Especially at that age... drama drama drama. I like to live a little vicariously through books like this, too -- I get to find out what the cool kids are into. Paper Denim jeans are apparently a thing. :)

Like I said, the show is really good, too. It's a good adaptation and I will most definitely keep watching. And I'm not the only one who loves the show, by the way. Check out one of Eric Stonestreet's (you know, Cameron on Modern Family) recent tweets. 

94. The Irresistible Henry House by Lisa Grunwald

I read about this book in People magazine and thought the premise was intriguing. I immediately placed a hold at the library. And then had to wait weeks and weeks. I guess I wasn't the only one who thought it sounded interesting.

It is the middle of the twentieth century, and in a home economics program at a prominent university, real babies are being used to teach mothering skills to young women. For a young man raised in these unlikely circumstances, finding real love and learning to trust will prove to be the work of a lifetime. In this captivating novel, Lisa Grunwald gives us the sweeping tale of an irresistible hero and the many women who love him.

From his earliest days as a "practice baby" through his adult adventures in 1960s New York City, Disney's Burbank studios, and the delirious world of Beatles' London, Henry remains handsome, charming, universally adored -- and never entirely accessible to the many women he conquers but can never entirely trust.

Filled with unforgettable characters, settings, and action, The Irresistible Henry House portrays the cultural tumult of the mid-twentieth century even as it explores the the inner tumult of a young man trying to transcend a damaged childhood. For it is not until Henry House comes face-to-face with the truths of his past that he finds a chance for real love. 

Plot summary taken from the book jacket. I also suggest reading the Author's Note, which can be found on lisagrunwald.net.

Like Grunwald, this topic piques my interest. I would love to read some non-fiction or see a documentary about the practice of borrowing babies from orphanages to use as "practice" in university home ec departments. It sounds kind of barbaric, doesn't it? And yet, Grunwald writes sensitively from both perspectives, pro and con. Theories on child rearing have evolved and changed dramatically in the last hundred years, and it is the greatest fear of Martha, the head of the Practice House in the novel, that she and her colleagues were wrong all along. Even Henry, who grows to resent his upbringing and all it represents, finds it difficult to unlearn the teachings of the Practice House. Henry is a dynamic and conflicted character, and the reader is taken in by his charms as much as his conquests are. Grunwald's imaginings of Henry's reactions to his circumstances ring true, which I think is a great accomplishment.

I enjoyed reading this novel in part because Grunwald paid such careful attention to the settings -- the East Coast college campus, the wholesome Disney studios, swinging 60s London. You really get a feel for the times and places that Henry existed in. It was a quick read, which I wasn't really expecting, but I think that it's because you become so immersed in the story. I found myself looking up from reading and feeling somewhat disoriented, because my head was still in Henry's world. That's not to say that it's the easiest read. There is a lot deep sadness experienced by most, if not all, of the characters: Martha, desperate for Henry to need her as much as she needs him; Betty, who's made a complete mess of her life and can't completely ignore the fact; Mary Jane, aware of just how hard it will be for Henry to become the man she needs him to be; and even Henry, who does a good job of covering it up anger and feelings of betrayal. Their stories stay with you for long after you've finished reading. 

This novel is beautifully and lovingly written. I highly recommend it.

89. Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain

I went to the library a few weeks ago with a list in hand. I was on a mission. As I walked down the C aisle of the Fiction section, looking for Capote  and Chandler, Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain caught my eye and I stopped. I read Cain's first two novels, Heartsick and Sweetheart, a couple of years ago and really enjoyed them.

Fun fact: I noticed that Nathan Fillion's character was reading one of them on an episode of Castle, although I can't remember which one. Probably Sweetheart.

So even though I had already somewhat decided that I had read enough mysteries this year, I decided to check it out. I was really excited to see there was another book in this series -- the second book was good in part because of a twist from the first one that must have been part of the plan all along. I really appreciate when authors have a grand plan, rather than continuing on for continuing on's sake or in an obvious bid for another payday. 

Please note: The review below does contain spoilers. Stop here if you want to read this series (and it's a good one) without prior knowledge. 

Gretchen Lowell is still on the loose. These days, she's more of a cause celebre than a feared killer, thanks to sensationalist news coverage that has made her a star. Her face graces magazine covers weekly and there have been sightings of her around the world. Most shocking of all, Portland Herald reporter Susan Ward has uncovered a bizarre kind of fan club, which celebrates the numbers of days she's been free. Archie Sheridan hunted her for a decade, and after his last ploy to catch her went spectacularly wrong, remains hospitalized months later. When they last spoke, they entered a detente of sorts -- Archie agreed not to kill himself if she agreed not to kill anyone else. But when a new body is found accompanied by Gretchen's trademark heart, all bets are off and Archie is forced back into action. Has the Beauty Killer returned to her gruesome ways, or has the cult surrounding her created a whole new evil? 

Plot summary taken from the book jacket.

As far as mystery premises go, this is a pretty good one. Gretchen, a notorious female serial killer, posed as a psychologist consulting with the very task force working to track her down. She and Archie, the lead detective, had an affair. And then she kidnapped and tortured him because, well... that's what she does. Now the task force knows who they're hunting, but their lead detective is in bad shape. That's some good stuff, right?

This was a good installment in the series; it held up well against the the first two. Some effed up things happen, but it is a thriller about a serial killer, so that's to be expected and it wasn't too over the top. I did pick up on a clue, so I felt pretty good about that. I liked the ending because Cain could return with another book but if she doesn't, it's still a satisfying ending to series.

I read up on Cain on Wikipedia and was interested to learn that she's from Portland, Oregon. I love my Portland-raised authors! Apparently she described the Green River Killer as the "boogeyman" of her youth. I do have a bone to pick with her, though. I didn't realize that she is also the author of Confessions of a Teen Sleuth: A Parody. I read that book awhile ago -- I was intrigued because I have a lot of nostalgia for my days of reading Nancy Drew. This "parody" was more like a mockery, though. I thought it would be written kindly, but I was really off-put by the condescending tone. I do not recommend it even one little bit. I hope Cain sticks to thrillers in the future.  

84. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

If you read this and this, you already know how much I was looking forward to reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. Please note that this post has to be spoiler-free because Colin just started reading the second book in the trilogy.

Lisbeth Salander -- the heart of Larsson's two previous novels -- lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish hospital. She's fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she'll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot revenge -- against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life. One upon a time, she was a victim. Now Salander is fighting back.

Plot summary taken from the book jacket. 

I read this book on the way home from North Carolina; I started it at around 7:00 a.m. and finished it as we drove into Delaware, Ohio (my college town!). Those nine or so hours went by really quickly.

Sigh. I am so sad this series is over! It's satisfying at the end, but I can see threads and characters that I know would be revisited and expanded upon later. I like the evolution of Blomkvist and Salander's friendship and would have liked to see where it progressed further. I just want to keep visiting this world, you know?

There's not much else I can write about and remain spoiler-free... Oh, Colin and I watched the Swedish film adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo the other night, and it was pretty good. I hear Daniel Craig is going to play Blomkvist in the American version, which would be fine. I think George Clooney could handle it, though. Just sayin.'  

80. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson

Not to sound too much like a twittering tween or anything, but here is what I wrote in my notes about why I wanted to read The Girl Who Played With Fire:

l-o-v-e The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, totes excited to read the next two!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(I'm funny.)

Mikael Blomkvist, crusading journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business, and government. But he has no idea just how explosive the story will be until, on the eve of publication, the two investigating reporters are murdered. And even more shocking for Blomkvist: the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to Lisbeth Salander -- the troubled, wise-beyond-her-years genius hacker who came to his aid in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and who now becomes the focus and fierce heart of The Girl Who Played With Fire. As Blomkvist, alone in his belief of Salander's innocence, plunges into an investigation of the slayings, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous hunt in which she is the prey, and which compels her to visit her dark past in an effort to settle with it once and for all. 

Plot summary lifted from the book jacket.

This book is similar to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but definitely set apart enough so it's not a retread. I can't even explain how masterfully Larsson interweaves the subplots and drops clues and hints. I caught on to a couple of things, but didn't figure anything out (which I didn't mind). I was extremely interested to delve more into Salander's past, and the book does not disappoint. I've read that the character Salander is somewhat inspired by Pippi Longstocking, but I was a little surprised to see the reference made in the book. Completely works, though. Honestly, I'm not going to wax too poetic about this one, even though I could go on for days. I'm too behind in my posting and too close to the deadline to spend hours and paragraphs saying what basically boils down to this one thing: this is a great f#@*ing read and you should definitely check out this trilogy. 

74. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

I heard about this series of books, but ruled it out for some reason for that I can't recall. Colin checked out The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo from the library and hadn't started it yet (and I was avoiding the other books I had lined up), so one night I decided to start it to see if it was interesting.

Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into a complex and atmospheric novel. Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families, disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hired Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of iniquity and corruption.

Summary lifted from the book jacket.

The first couple of chapters, with Blomkvist's backstory about the libel trial, are kind of boring and hard to get into. After that, it draws you in pretty rapidly, but that beginning pays off -- you're given lots and lots of info and it all pays off in one way or another; in this book, take nothing for granted. The mystery was completely engrossing and I liked all of the subplots as well because they added to story rather than diluting or detracting from it. I didn't solve the mystery myself, I was as in the dark as the characters were and that was fine with me. But when Colin read it, he kept theorizing aloud to me and I had to keep the best poker face possible because he kept picking up on all the right clues! He was reading in the bedroom one night while I was watching The Real Housewives of New York (Team Bethenny!) in the living room, and he came out to tell me what he thought happened to Harriet and he was right, and I just had to freeze my face so as not to give anything away. I don't know how he did it. He's so savvy. 

The original Swedish title translates to "Men Who Hate Women" and that should give you an idea of what to expect. I didn't know going in that there would be such graphic scenes of violence against women, but it's necessary for the story that Larsson is telling and it's not gratuitous. These scenes are so well-written that I felt ill reading one. But Larsson is writing about things he is passionate about -- the devastating effects of such attitudes and violence (as well as integrity in journalism and the dangers of the right-wing Nazi movement). I read about Larsson on Wikipedia, and noted the many similarities between him and Blomkvist. I came away with a lot respect for him, and genuine sadness that his life ended so early. 

72. The Wedding Girl by Madeleine Wickham

Madeleine Wickham is also known as Sophie Kinsella and as I said in my Twenties Girl post, "Sophie Kinsella knows from chick lit, and I will give anything she writes a chance. Although her characters can be a little zany and hijinks usually ensue (hello, Shopaholic series), her books are still well-constructed and just plain fun. I may roll my eyes a few times, but I like being along for the ride." I've been involved in wedding planning for almost two years now, because of my sisters' weddings spaced a year apart, so I was especially interested to read a chick lit book entitled The Wedding Girl. Please note: Some spoilers are included below but I don't think they would affect your enjoyment of the book, should you read it.

At the age of eighteen, in that first golden Oxford summer, Milly was up for anything. Now, ten years later, she is a very different person. Engaged to a man who is wealthy, serious, and believes her to be perfect, she is facing the biggest and most elaborate wedding imaginable. But one small episode from the past has the power to completely derail her her carefully planned nuptials. Milly has locked away this history so securely that she has almost persuaded herself it doesn't exist -- until, with only four days to go, her secret catches up with her... And when "I do" gives you deja vu, it could be a problem.

Summary lifted from the book jacket.

Let's start with good news. Wickham is growing as an author and trying new things, which I admire. This is the first of her books that I can recall using different points of view, and it worked very well. Instead of staying inside Milly's head the whole time, we experience events with her family members, fiance, etc., and most of the characters are pretty well-developed. I enjoyed that aspect very much. Also, like Twenties Girl, it was a bit weightier than expected. I wouldn't have been disappointed with a frothy, bubbly, unsubstantial chick lit book, but there are some more serious issues lying beneath the surface. I admire Wickham's ability to combine the froth with the substantial. 

Okay, onto the not-so-good news. Milly is not as well-developed a character as I would hope for. She's your standard zany heroine, which is fine, but I don't understand her motivations. As a teenager, she marries an American gay friend so he can stay in England to be with his boyfriend. That I actually understand, her feelings are explained pretty well. But after she loses touch with them, she starts practicing denial to an insane degree. How does it not occur to her until the week of her wedding ten years later that this -- you know, ALREADY BEING MARRIED -- might be a problem? And she starts to hope that her husband of convenience has filed for divorce and somehow she wasn't notified. What? Also, her relationship with her fiance is never explained to my satisfaction. When she meets him, she speaks intelligently about a subject that she knows about basically by chance. So he gets an impression of her as more intellectual and upper-crust than she really is. And Milly just goes with it. And she's planning on just being someone she's not, you know, forever. Why? Why does she even love the guy? I don't know. There were a few other loose ends; the villain of the story is kind of cartoonish and I don't understand the motivations there either, and I was expecting more of a resolution between the fiance and his father, who have a troubled relationship but end the story on good terms somewhat suddenly. 

And of course there had to be a simple solution to the main conflict because life always works out that way. Actually, that didn't bother me too much. It worked for the story, I guess. All in all, it's a fun read and I like seeing how Wickham develops as an author from one book to the next. But this isn't her best work, and there are better chick lit reads out there. 

69. Sugarless by James Magruder

I found Sugarless on the new fiction shelf at my library and I'm not going to lie -- I checked it out partly because I like the cover. But I also thought it sounded interesting and a little different from the other books I've read in the my pick category, so I added it to my pile. 

Things look bad for Rick Lahrem, a high school sophomore in a cookie-cutter Chicago suburb in 1976. His mother's second husband is a licensed psychologist who eats like an ape, his stepsister is a stoner slut, and his father is engaged to a Southern belle. Rick's only solace is his growing collection of original Broadway-cast LPs, bought on the sly at Wax Trax. After he brings two girls in speech class to tears by reading a story aloud, Rick is coaxed onto the interscholastic forensics team to perform an eight-minute dramatic interpretation of The Boys in the Band, the controversial sixties play about homosexuality. Unexpectedly successful at this oddball event, Rick begins winnings tournaments and making friends with his teammates. Rick also discovers the joys of sex -- with a speech coach from a rival school -- just as his mother, reacting to a deteriorating home environment, makes an unnerving commitment to Christ. The newly confident Rick assumes this too shall pass -- until the combined forces of family, sex, and faith threaten to undo him at the state meet in Peoria.

Summary taken from the Google Books overview of Sugarless. 

I usually copy down the book jacket summary before I return library books but sometimes I forget, as was the case with Sugarless. The above summary is pretty close to what I remember reading on the book jacket with one key difference: the book jacket did not mention that this story takes place in the 70s. Or if it did, I skipped right over that part. So I started reading, expecting the story to take place in present day and it took a couple of chapters to figure out the actual setting. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have checked the book out if I had known -- in general, I don't find the 70s that interesting. Some time periods appeal to me more than others, and the 70s decade just isn't one of them. But I'm really glad that I didn't know about the setting beforehand, because I really enjoyed this book. I wasn't sure if I would at first but I found myself hesitant to put it down, and ended up finishing it in one night.

There is just something about coming of age stories. They just get me right there (imagine me pointing to my heart). And this is a fantastic one. I genuinely loved the arc of Rick's interpretation of the scene from The Boys in the Band; it was pretty effing incredible how his experiences and his performance of the scene were linked and over the course of the story, his understanding of both the material and his own sexuality evolved. This is Magruder's first novel, and you can't tell at all while reading; he's a skillful author and I'm interesting in hearing more of what he has to say.

I don't want to get too into gender stereotypes here, but I don't think many girl coming of age stories are physically graphic like boys' stories are. Or maybe they're physically graphic in other ways? Anyway, there were times when I felt a little squeamish because, well, boys are gross. They talk about masturbation and semen and all kinds of things that girls really aren't up-front about. Other than that somewhat unexpected aspect of the novel, I truly loved this one.

68. 212 by Alafair Burke

I went to the library one day armed with a list of books to check out with the thought in mind that I should also choose something off the new fiction shelf as a my pick. I read the first few sentences of the 212 book jacket copy and was hooked, I thought it sounded sort of Gossip Girl-related and that was intriguing. The clincher for me was Alafair Burke is a former deputy district attorney from Portland, OR. I'll give any Portland author a try.

When New York University sophomore Megan Gunther finds personal threats posted to a Web site specializing in campus gossip, she's taken aback by their menacing tone. Someone knows her daily routine down to the minute and is watching her -- but thanks to the anonymity provided by the Internet, the police tell her there's nothing they can do. Her friends are sure it's someone's idea of a joke, but when Megan is murdered in a vicious attack, NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher is convinced that the online threats are more than just empty words.

With smooth, straight-talking partner J.J. Rogan at her side, Ellie tries to identify Megan's enemies, but she begins to wonder if the coed's murder was more than just a culmination of a cyber obsession. Phone records reveal a link between Megan and a murdered real estate agent who was living a dangerous double life. The detectives also learn that the dead real estate agent shared a secret connection to a celebrity mogul whose bodyguard was mysteriously killed a few months earlier.

Exposing the darkness that lurks beneath the glamorous surface of New York City, 212 delivers yet another "knuckle-biting journey that'll keep you turning pages until the very end" (Faye Kellerman).

Summary lifted from the book jacket. Do you see what I mean about it sounding a little Gossip Girl-y at the beginning?

I read this book in two days, I could not put it down. This is a perfectly constructed, intricate mystery and a great effing read. The hook that made me check out 212 in the first place wasn't really a big part of the story; it turned out to be something completely different but AMAZING. This post is going to be pretty short, because I don't want to give anything away! I want you to go read it for yourself.

I do have one minor complaint: I didn't think that Burke described the physical appearance of her main characters promptly enough. When I read something, I immediately start visualizing the characters in my mind either based on the author's description or on their actions if no description is included right away. I pictured Ellie's partner one way, only to find out a couple of chapters later that he was supposed to look and dress completely differently. And by this time, it's too late. I'm pretty stubborn and I want to keep picturing characters the way that I already have. But compared to my overall enjoyment of the story, I can let this one go. I will definitely be reading more of Burke's books, especially the second one featuring Ellie Hatcher. 

63. Sweet Little Lies by Lauren Conrad

You can refer to this post and this post to understand why I picked Sweet Little Lies as book number 63. On to the plot summary!

Jane Roberts was the average girl next door until she and her best friend, Scarlett Harp, landed their own reality show, L.A. Candy. Now the girls have an all-access pass to Hollywood's hottest everything. But there's more to life on camera than just parties and shopping... When racy photos of Jane are leaked to the press, she finds herself at the center of a tabloid scandal. She turn to co-star Madison Parker for help, unaware that Madison is scheming behind the scenes. She might be Jane's shoulder to cry on, but does Madison really have Jane's back? Scarlett's working on a scandal of her own. She's fallen for someone who is strictly off-limits -- which means Scarlett has a big secret to keep... from the L.A. Candy cameras, the paparazzi staking out her apartment, even from her best friend. Of course, nothing stays secret for long for the stars of the newest hit TV series, and all this drama couldn't be better for ratings. But can Jane survive another season in the spotlight?

Lifted from the Harper Collins website.

While Sweet Little Lies was total cotton candy fun, it's still solidly written, well paced and by no means a vanity project. I'm biased because I have loved Lauren on her reality shows, but I really think she's a good writer and she definitely knows her source material and target audience to a tee.

As I mentioned in my post about L.A. Candy, the events are more "inspired by" Lauren's experiences than a behind-the-scenes tell-all but you still get tons of insidery details on the production of this kind of show. Lauren delves a little deeper into this world, revealing how the stars of reality shows court the tabloid press instead of the other way around. Jane discovers that her sympathetic co-worker was hired by the show producers to encourage her to date someone and talk about it on camera. And at one point, Jane finds herself confused over whether her ideas were her own or driven by producers' suggestions. And I wonder how long it took Lauren to break this code that's explained in the book:

BFF = best friend forever

BFFN = best friend for now

BFFC = best friend for cameras

    

It's always fun for me to try and figure out who inspired the different characters, and what that might mean about Lauren's relationship with them. For example, I don't think she and Audrina are too close these days; the character of Gaby is clearly based on her and there are some choice words about Miss Gaby:

At one party, Gaby was "wasting her time with some emo loser. That girl had such foul taste in men." Yeah, that's definitely payback for Audrina accusing Lauren slept with Justin Bobby on The Hills.

            

Ooh, and at a different party "Gaby wasn't very good at about checking her cell or following Dana's directions, not because she was stubborn and rebellious (like Scarlett), but because her tiny brain really couldn't process too many thoughts at the same time." That comes from the Heidi Montag-inspired character's point of view, but STILL! The gloves are off now!

There's some mystery surrounding that Heidi-inspired character, Madison, and I love it. The clues are blended into the storyline with skill, and not all is revealed by the end -- so I'll just have to read the next one, too. (Yay!) And I have to mention the female friendship aspect of the story. Jane and Scarlett are fighting and growing apart for the first time in their life-long friendship, and neither are handling it very well. This comes across very genuinely, for Lauren knows that which of she speaks, and I think a lot of women will find this to be relatable. At one point, Scarlett thinks to herself that "It was like she was watching their relationship change and she couldn't do anything about it." and guess what? Been there, done that. It's sad. And Lauren writes about it really well.

If this is your type of thing, please read Sweet Little Lies. It's so good! You won't be sorry.

59. If You Have To Cry, Go Outside by Kelly Cutrone

If you watch as much reality TV as I do, chances are you know who Kelly Cutrone is by now. She terrorized the girls on The Hills (and, to a lesser extent, The City), popped up in Project Runway season one winner Jay McCarroll's documentary Eleven Minutes, and now has her own show on Bravo chronicling the ups and downs at her fashion PR firm, People's Revolution. (That last one is Kell on Earth, it's strangely addictive.) She makes for good TV, so I knew that I had to try out her book. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it wasn't too long and I figured this would be probably be a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Kelly Cutrone has long been mentoring women on how to make it in one of the most competitive industries in the world. She has kicked people out of fashion shows, forced some of reality television's shiny stars to fire their friends, and built her own company -- one of the most powerful PR firms in the fashion business -- from the ground up. Through it all, she has refused to be anything but herself. Kelly writes in her trademark, no-bullshit style, combining personal and professional stories to share her secrets for success without selling out. Let's face it: this is a different world than the one in which our mothers grew up, and Kelly has created a real girl's guide to making it in today's world. Offering a wake-up call to women everywhere, she challenges us to stop the dogged pursuit of the "perfect life" and discover who we are and what we really want. The she shows us how to go out there and get it. Much of our culture teaches us to muzzle our inner voice and follow the crowd; Kelly enables us to stop pretending and start truly living. With chapters on how to find your tribe (those like-minded souls who make your heart sing), how sometimes a breakdown is really a breakthrough, and how there is no such thing as perfection, Kelly also shares practical advice, such as how to create a personal brand and how sometimes you have to fake it to make it.

Summary lifted from amazon.com. 

If You Have To Cry, Go Outside is part autobiography and part how-to. Kelly uses stories from her life to illustrate points she's making, and shares how she has learned from various mistakes. I found it to be a very effective writing style; I was engaged with the personal stories and that made me pay attention when she described her methods for succeeding. I have to say, though, reading this book made one thing abundantly clear to me:

I AM A TOTAL SQUARE.

Okay, not really. But I am mildly horrified by Kelly's life story. By my count, Kelly has: had problems with addiction, been married and divorced twice, been totally impractical in countless ways, and taken this absolutely crazy path to enlightenment. I am at my core a very practical person, and some of Kelly's "adventures" had me cringing and shaking my head. She also talks a lot about creating your own religion that honors you; she believes you should study many religions and practice the parts that make sense to you. Now, in theory this makes a lot of sense. But I couldn't help thinking that a lot of it sounded like hippie crap. So I won't be taking all of Kelly's advice but I enjoyed reading it and I did find the experience valuable. Although Kelly came off as kind of out there to me, I think reading what she has to say opened me up to some new ideas. And I appreciate that she seemingly genuinely wants to share what she knows to help the next generation of young women.  

One last thing. The full book title is If You Have To Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You. I would just like to go on record that my mother did tell me that. (And it has come in handy a few times.) Thank you, Mom!

58. Cage of Stars by Jaquelyn Mitchard

At some point I added Cage of Stars to my master spreadsheet that tracks what books I have read for this project and what books I might want to read for it. For the life of me I can't remember when I heard about it or where, but I have a vague memory of thinking the plot sounded interesting. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any articles or reviews about this book on my usual sites, so I can't recall exactly why it sounded interesting. 

Ronnie Swan is a sheltered young girl from a deeply religious family whose childhood abruptly ends when she witnesses the murder of her two younger sisters. At not quite 13 years old, Ronnie is baby-sitting on a bright fall day, hiding in the shed as she waits for her sisters to find her. Instead of their excited laughter, there is only silence. When Ronnie opens the door, it is to a sight that will crack her life in two. The murderer, Scott Early, is a young graduate student suffering from schizophrenia who is given treatment, rather than punishment. Upon his release from the mental health facility a few years later, Ronnie's parents meet with Scott and his wife and find relief in forgiveness. Ronnie, who went from a carefree girl to an overburdened adult in a child's body in a matter in minutes, cannot. As she enters adulthood, she carefully plans out her revenge and sets out to hand Scott the punishment she feels he never received.

I drew from the (really long) plot summary on jackiemitchard.com while composing the above overview.

I really can't remember why I wanted to read this book, but I have a feeling that I thought it was more suspenseful. You know, will Ronnie be able to carry about her plan? That kind of thing. This book is really more about the process of grieving and ultimately very sad. I think you're supposed to find it uplifting at the end, but I didn't. I generally take away the sad instead of the uplifting, though.

I would advise you to steer clear of this book if you have no interest in the Mormon faith. Ronnie's family is Mormon, and there is a great deal of information about the religion and day-to-day life of a practicing Mormon family. It's as though Ronnie, our narrator, is telling this story to someone unfamiliar with the subject and has to take frequent tangents to put everything into context. I happen to have known most of the information already, so I got bored a lot. (Side note: I have a weird fascination with the FLDS cult and learned more about the LDS than I expected to when reading up on the fundamentalist off-shoot.) I don't know, maybe it was just that Ronnie's faith was such a big part of her life, motivations, world view that all of the background information simply couldn't be avoided. For whatever the reason, it didn't appeal to me.  

There were bits of foreshadowing that I liked, as always, but they fell a little flat at the end. Overall, the pace was kind of slow and I felt bored most of the time. It became a book that I just had to get through, which is never good. I don't necessarily think this is a bad book, it's just not what I expected and not really what I'm interested in. 

54. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

I subscribe to NPR and New York Times book reviews through Google Reader, and that's how I learned about Sarah's Key. I know that I've mentioned this before, but I am endlessly fascinated by this period in history. It seems like each time I read about this era, I learn something new. I had never heard of the Vel d'Hiv' Roundup -- have you?

Here's the brief summary included in most reviews of the book online:

Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten-year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.

Paris, May 2002: On the Vel' d'Hiv's 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel' d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.

Let me start by saying that this review is going to be fairly glowing. I fell in love with this book (although it does have some flaws, which I'll get into). De Rosnay starts out by alternating the points of view of Sarah and Julia in each chapter, and at first I found that Sarah's chapters were much more compelling. But by the time that Sarah's chapters end and Julia narrates to the book's conclusion, we're in the same boat as Julia -- desperate to know more. I would definitely describe this book as a page-turner; I read it one night while Colin was at work, I couldn't put it down. And not only does this book grab you while you're reading, but it stays with you, under your skin, for a few days. 

De Rosnay doesn't shy away from describing what Sarah goes through when her family is arrested and detained, then sent to a concentration camp. Horrible events are relayed in detail, but not gratuitously so. I felt that the overall message of the book is that we should, no we need to remember what happened. So it made sense to me that de Rosnay would want her readers to truly understand the unbelievable anguish that people were subjected to. I thought it was very smart to show the horrors of this time through the eyes of a child; it seemed like everything took on more significance, and it was a good way to demonstrate what de Rosnay wanted to. For many chapters, Sarah was referred to only as "the girl" which I didn't fully understand -- it's no secret that the girl in those chapters and the girl that Julia is trying to track down are one and the same, so why bother not identifying Sarah from the start? The only explanation that I could come up with was that de Rosnay wanted to make Sarah's experiences universal, as it could have been anyone going through the same things. That's valid, but it irritated me a little bit because it wasn't readily apparent. It almost seemed like de Rosnay was trying to stave off a reveal in a mystery, which wasn't necessary. Also, I thought some of the writing from Sarah's point of view was a little heavy-handed, although I could understand that de Rosnay was trying to clearly express her message. Those are fairly minor complaints, though, considering how much I enjoyed reading this book.

I didn't really like Julia at the beginning and there were times when I didn't understand her motivations. But I grew to like her as the book went on, and I can completely relate to her fascination with the roundup. When I become interested in a subject, I react the same way; reading up on it as much as I can, almost to the point of obsession. (Needless to say, I've never had this kind of experience, though.) I was put off by Julia's relationship with her husband -- he was so insufferable -- but de Rosnay slowly and subtly showed that they were both at fault for the problems in the marriage, and I really appreciated that. It would have been much easier to make Bertrand the villain. The progression of Julia's relationship with Bertrand's family was one of the many elements of the book that really worked. It felt very natural and real to me.

I don't want to give away too much, because I want you to read this book if it sounds interesting to you, but I will say that the ending is very satisfying, and everyone ended up where they were supposed to. The question that de Rosnay wants us to ask, and that various characters in the book do ask, is whether or not Julia was right to try to track down Sarah and apologize for benefiting from her misfortune. I think many readers will come to the conclusion that you just know de Rosnay wants us to: Yes, Julia was right to pursue this because in the end it is better to know and remember the past.

Oh, and by the way -- apparently there's a movie adaptation in the works, with Kristin Scott Thomas playing Julia. I don't know if it's going to be released in the U.S. though. Details on the internets are sketchy. Boo.

46. Heat Wave by Richard Castle

I really like the show Castle. Colin and I watch and enjoy it every week. Nathan Fillion is at his charming and ruggedly handsome best, and the supporting cast has had a great rhythm down from the first episode. It resists traditional labels; it's a procedural, but infused with wit, romance, friendships, and family. A smart and funny show with an incredibly likable cast? Count me in. In case you're not watching, the basic premise is this: Richard Castle is a best-selling mystery writer. Feeling somewhat uninspired and having killed off his most popular character, he's looking for something new and exciting to write about. He meets Detective Kate Beckett when she's investigating a series of murders that are eerily similar to those in one of Castle's books. He acts as a consultant on the case and decides to write a series of books about female detective based on Beckett. After pulling some strings, he arranges to shadow her on the job as research. Heat Wave is the first book penned by Castle about Detective Nikki Heat, aka Kate Beckett.

A New York real estate tycoon plunges to his death on a Manhattan sidewalk. A trophy wife with a past survives a narrow escape from a brazen attack. Mobsters and moguls with no shortage of reasons to kill trot out their alibis. And then, in the suffocating grip of a record heat wave, comes another shocking murder and a sharp turn in a tense journey into the dirty little secrets of the wealthy. Secrets that prove to be fatal. Secrets that lay hidden in the dark until one NYPD detective shines a light.

Mystery sensation Richard Castle, blockbuster author of the wildly best-selling Derek Storm novels, introduces his newest character, NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat. Tough, sexy, professional, Nikki Heat carries a passion for justice as she leads one of New York City's top homicide squads. She's hit with an unexpected challenge when the commissioner assigns superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook to ride along with her to research an article on New York's finest. Pulitzer Prize-winning Rook is as much a handful as he is handsome. His wise-cracking and meddling aren't her only problems. As she works to unravel the secrets of the murdered real estate tycoon, she must also confront the spark between them. The one called heat.

Plot summary courtesy of the book jacket.

This book is a great complement to the show, but I don't think it could stand on its own independently of it. Maybe it could, but I think the fun is in knowing that "Castle" wrote it. There's no mention anywhere in the book or on the book jacket of another author, even the acknowledgments are written in his voice (the cast members do get a shout-out there, Castle thanks a list of friends whose first names match up with the main cast members' first names). I liked the way the story was adapted from the real life portrayed in the show to characters and events in the book -- the changes, including Castle's profession and the facts of Kate's mother's murder, work well and are entirely believable as how Castle would change events as he writes. I didn't realize there would be an actual heat wave going on, I thought that was just a play on Nikki Heat's last name.

I only have a couple of complaints. Nikki is attacked in her home late one night by a suspect, who had already made threatening comments of a sexual nature toward her earlier in the day. She had just finished a bath and hadn't dressed yet when she discovered that he was in the apartment, and had to fight him off while naked and hearing more sexual taunts. Castle airs on ABC and is a fairly family-friendly show, so this felt like too drastic a shift in tone to me. As a woman, I found it to be way too creepy, especially because I wasn't expecting it. Also, I lost track of the mystery a tiny bit toward the end. This happens to me sometimes, especially when the mystery revolves around art theft, so I don't think it was necessarily the fault of the author but it still made me feel a bit dumb.

Aside from those complaints, I thought it was a good, fun read for fans of the show. Not an essential read, but a good, fun one. I want to close with a couple of quotes from the book which may explain in part why I liked it:

The neighborhood lunch rush was over, and tourists were either across the street cooling in the American Museum of Natural History or seeking refuge in Starbucks over iced coffees ending in vowels. Her disdain for the coffee drinkers dissolved into a mental note to get one herself on the way back to the precinct.

Rook brought a Dean & DeLuca cup to Heat's desk. "Here, I got you your usual. A nonfat, no-foam, double-pump vanilla latte."
"You know how I feel about frou-frou coffee drinks."
"And yet you have one every morning. Such a complex woman."
She took it from him and sipped. "Thanks. Very thoughtful." Her phone rang. "And next time remember the chocolate shavings."

I love that! See, the humor from the show is intact in the book and they poke fun at fancy coffee drinks. It's like they're writing this for me, you know?

44. Holly's Inbox by Holly Denham

I think I read about this book in an issue of People magazine. Apparently someone ran a website as if it were a receptionist named Holly's e-mail inbox, and it was hugely popular. I'm not sure if this book is mainly a compilation of entries posted there or original writing. I tried going to hollysinbox.com (as I was directed by a note from "Holly" in the book) but the link doesn't appear to be active anymore.

Holly's Inbox starts on Holly's first day as a receptionist at a major bank in London. It's readily apparent that she's total crap at the job, and struggling to keep her head above water. Holly's story unfolds through her To: and From: e-mails over the next four months, as she improves at work, begins a new relationship, deals with an impossible washing machine repair company, and keeps tabs on her friends and family.

(I think I'm going to leave the plot summary at that, as it would be really easy to include major spoilers.)

I read this book on New Year's Day while Colin watched three (four?) college bowl games. (He really loves college football.) The e-mail format was easy to fall into, I think because the e-mails are pretty short and the story is fairly fast-paced. Definitely a page-turner, which is good considering it's 600+ pages long! The stories are really entertaining, and Holly is a sympathetic main character. Her supporting characters fulfill the usual cliches (gay best friend, meddling mom, scoundrel boyfriend) but still feel fresh and original as you're reading. You're not privy to all of Holly's past from the beginning, and the author (whoever it actually is) does a great job of gradually giving the reader bits of information to piece together. I have a feeling that a sequel is on the way; there was at least one plot point left unresolved.

If you're looking for a good chick lit book, you should give this one a try! It's entertaining and at times silly, but weighty enough that you won't feel silly for having invested time in it.

41. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

I know that I read about this book somewhere and noted the title, but I can't for the life of me remember where. It took awhile to get to the top of the requests list at library, which I think is a good sign. I have found that if a book is in demand at my library, there's a chance that it'll be pretty good. This one was no exception.

The titular character of The Uncommon Reader is Queen Elizabeth II, who stumbles upon a mobile library van outside the palace while in pursuit of her runaway corgis. Trying to be polite, she checks out a book and, with a weighty sense of duty to follow through on her folly, reads it from start to finish. In her continuing attempts to be polite, she checks out another book and another. She takes a liking to Norman, a kitchen worker who also frequents the mobile library, and promotes him to be one of her assistants. The Queen and Norman begin a "to be read" list and set out on a journey of discovery. This ruffles the feathers of many higher-ups at the palace and in government, who are confounded by the Queen's new passion and suspect senility.

This is a very clever novella that I got quite the kick out of. Bennett pokes fun at the proper behavior and protocol at the palace, and the results are subversively funny. But I sense a fondness for the Queen in his writing, and it stops short of being unkind. I think I would have appreciated some of the humor more if I had read more of the books that the Queen was reading, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment. The message that reading opens one up to new worlds in a delightful way is expressed loudly and clearly, but Bennett wasn't superior or pedantic about it. I highly recommend this one; it's short, clever and fun, even if you're already aware of the many benefits of reading for pleasure.

38. L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad

I've been on Team Lauren since the first season of the now-defunct Laguna Beach (which I loved). Lauren Conrad seems like the kind of girl you want as a best friend -- she comes across as loyal and kind, fun and fashionable. (And yes, I realize that writing those two sentences makes me a complete dork. I've accepted it.) So when I heard that she was writing a trilogy of YA novels about a girl who moves to L.A. and gets a reality show, I was pretty excited -- and skeptical. Every famous-for-doing-nothing celebutante thinks she can write, but that doesn't mean that she can. I checked my library's website and they didn't have a copy, so I kept checking back periodically for the next few months. (I may be a dork, but I'm a cheap dork. No way was I buying it without having read it first.) It finally came in, and then I had to wait for the six people who managed to request it before me to finish. At this point, I really don't even remember when the book came out.

The heroine of L.A. Candy is Jane Roberts, a 19-year old who moves to Los Angeles with her BFF Scarlett. Jane has scored an internship with event planner to the stars Fiona Chen while Scarlett enrolls at USC. The girls are approached by a reality TV producer one night at a club and (once that they've determined that he's legit) they decide to interview for his next project, a Sex and the City-type show about young women in L.A. They get the show, and their world is turned upside down. The show moves them into a new apartment; Fiona promotes Jane -- on-camera, of course; and it readily becomes apparent that this is going to be a lot more work than either of them expected.

All in all, this was a pretty good book. (Yay!) The fact that Lauren Conrad wrote it isn't distracting at all. And while the events are more "inspired by" her experiences than a behind-the-scenes tell-all, you still get tons of insidery details on the production of this kind of show. Jane's producer sent her text messages while filming with prompts to speak up or be nicer to her date. I wonder what kind of texts Lauren received from her producers... I was definitely trying to read between the lines for veiled references to actual people, but I don't think any of the characters are carbon copies of her former cast mates (although the repeated references to one of the characters' stupidity makes me wonder how close Lauren and Audrina Patridge really are). The writing stands up to scrutiny, although it's not so good that you wonder if she had a ghostwriter. I think that Lauren showed a lot of self-awareness and an awareness of how people see her when she created Jane. And the use of other characters' first-person points of view was very effective. As this was the first book in a series of (at least) three, it ended on a bit of a cliff-hanger. I will definitely have to keep a better eye on my library so I don't have to wait as long to read the second one!

31. Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson and Richard Dilallo

I placed a request for this book at my library after coming across the title somewhere. As previously mentioned, I enjoy James Patterson and his Alex Cross series especially. There were a lot of people in line ahead of me, so I didn't think I would be able to read this one for a couple of months. But I got the call, and so here I am with another James Patterson response.

Alex Cross tells the incredible story -- passed down through the generations -- of an ancestor's courageous fight for freedom.

Separated by time.

From his grandmother, Alex Cross heard the story of his great-uncle Abraham and his struggles for survival in the era of the Ku Klux Klan. Now Alex passes the family tale along to his own children in a book he's written -- a novel called Trial.

Connected by blood.

A lawyer in early-1900s Washington, D.C., Ben Corbett fights against oppression and racism -- and risks his family and his life in the process. When President Theodore Roosevelt asks Ben to return to his hometown to investigate rumors of the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan there, he cannot refuse.

United by bravery.

In Eudora, Mississippi, Ben meets the wise Abraham Cross and his beautiful daughter, Moody. With their help, Ben discovers that lynchings have become commonplace. Ben vows to break the reign of terror -- but the truth of who is really behind it may break his heart. Written in the fearless voice of Detective Alex Cross, Alex Cross's Trial is a gripping story of murder, love, and unparalleled bravery.

Plot summary courtesy of jamespatterson.com.

I didn't know anything about the plot before I picked up the book and read the book jacket. Based on the title alone, I thought Alex Cross's Trial would be about Alex Cross being put on trial (right? and that sounded good to me). But no, this is really a book called Trial by Alex Cross. Okay, got it. My first reaction? Alex Cross and James Patterson have remarkably similar writing styles. I have a feeling that Patterson had this story in mind and the use of the Alex Cross name was just a way to guarantee book sales. He certainly got me, although I almost always go to the library first and bookstore second. There really wasn't any other good reason for the Alex Cross angle. Patterson could have cut back and forth between scenes of Alex writing and his chapters or included a chapter at the beginning and end showing Alex decide to write and finish up. Instead, there was a short introduction from Alex explaining why he wanted to write the story. Take that page out, and the book can stand by itself. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't take away from the book. It's just funny to me that Patterson even bothered with the pretense of Alex Cross as the author.

I highly recommend this book. It was a good read with a good message, although it's not a mystery per se (as I was expecting). However, you might want to skip this one if you're squeamish. Patterson really didn't shy away from the grotesque in this book. There are graphic descriptions of lynchings and corpses, as well as ugly instances of discrimination. It serves its purpose of awareness, but is fairly disturbing. The only complaint that I have is pretty minor -- I thought that Patterson/Cross didn't really follow through on the problems that Ben was having with his wife; after setting up a marital crossroads of sorts, the book ended as soon as Ben returned home from his trip south to his wife's apparently waiting arms. I would have liked to see them begin to address their differences.

Actually, I do have one more complaint. In the plot summary above, Moody is mistakenly identified as Abraham's daughter when in fact she is his granddaughter. Let's get some fact-checking on that website, Patterson!

30. Portland Noir edited by Kevin Sampsell

Portland Noir is part of a heralded series with a simple format: a short story collection by locally based authors, each set in a particular neighborhood or district of the titular city. The success of Brooklyn Noir, the series' inaugural edition published in 2004, led the way for future collections set in Boston, Detroit, D.C. -- the list goes on and on, with forthcoming editions planned for Barcelona, Copenhagen and numerous other exotic locales. I saw Portland Noir on the new fiction shelf at my library and instinctively grabbed it. My mom is from Portland and her family still lives there, so I've visited the city many times. I feel a little proprietary of Portland because of this personal connection, even though I haven't it explored it very much. And I don't know about you, but I find the word "noir" intriguing. If you label something as "noir" I want to know more about it. So I thought I would love this book; what could go wrong when you added Portland and noir together?

As it turns out, plenty. I hated it. This is just not the right book for me, for a few reasons:

First, I don't really like short stories. Never have. I didn't realize how little I enjoyed them until reading this collection. I want to spend more time with characters and experience more with them. In general, these stories centered around a specific event and its short-term consequences -- and the reader was usually thrown into the middle of the story, which was jarring for me. It shouldn't take three pages for me to figure out if the narrator is male or female when the whole story is only 20 pages long. The silver lining? When I didn't like a story, at least it was going to be over soon.

Second, I don't know Portland well enough to get a thrill out of the settings. I've never even been to Powell's Books (for shame!). I thought I would connect more to the locations in the stories, and I was disappointed when I didn't.

And finally, I just didn't like these specific stories. The noir aspect didn't work for me in the short story format. The tension would be building for 19 pages and then on the twentieth, the author would pull the rug out from under you with a twist ending that was supposed to be really clever but oftentimes was too abrupt and just plain stupid. Also, the dark and gritty subject material didn't appeal to me. One story in particular featured a drug kingpin assaulting a dealer with a pencil, and I just didn't need to read that (I'll spare you the details).

Of the 16 short stories in this volume, I only really enjoyed Coffee, Black by Bill Cameron. A retired detective working as a private investigator is working on a simple vandalism case that turns out to be more complicated. It wasn't too dark, it had a real mystery, and there was plenty of coffee. That works for me. There were a couple of other stories that were somewhat clever (Virgo by Jess Walter and The Red Room by Chris A. Bolton), but I didn't whole-heartedly enjoy.

This series wouldn't be so successful if people didn't enjoy the stories. As it happens, I'm just not one of them.

29. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

I saw Twenties Girl on the new fiction shelf at the library, grabbed it, and took it home without even reading the book jacket copy. Sophie Kinsella knows from chick lit, and I will give anything she writes a chance. Although her characters can be a little zany and and hijinks usually ensue (hello, Shopolic series), her books are still well-constructed and just plain fun. I may roll my eyes a few times, but I like being along for the ride.

Lara Lington has always had an overactive imagination, but suddenly that imagination seems to be in overdrive. Normal professional twenty-something young women don't get visited by ghosts. Or do they? When the spirit of Lara's great-aunt Sadie -- a feisty, demanding girl with firm ideas about fashion, love, and the right way to dance -- mysteriously appears, she has one last request: Lara must find a missing necklace that had been in Sadie's possession for more than seventy-five years, and Sadie cannot rest without it. Lara, on the other hand, has a number of ongoing distractions. Her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, her start-up company is floundering, and she's just been dumped by the "perfect" man. Sadie, however, could care less. Lara and Sadie make a hilarious sparring duo, and at first it seems as though they have nothing in common. But as the mission to find Sadie's necklace leads to intrigue and a new romance for Lara, these very different "twenties" girls learn some surprising truths along the way.

(That would be the book jacket copy that I finally read after getting home.)

Unsurprisingly, I really enjoyed this book. I read it in one sitting on a night when Colin had to work, and it was great company. I wasn't sure if I would enjoy the twenties theme, it's not an era that I'm especially interested in, but I really did. Kinsella's love for the subject shines through, and it was fun to read about this firmly twenties-era girl stuck in present day.

I liked that there was an actual mystery behind the disappearance of the necklace that Lara had to solve. I thought she would just be tracking it down and bantering with her ghost along the way, so I wasn't trying to keep track of clues and solve it for myself as I usually do when I read a mystery. When Lara figures out the who and the why and the how -- and how to give the culprit their comeuppance -- it's tremendously satisfying. Looking back, you had all the clues that you needed to piece it all together, but you don't feel silly for not knowing the end three hundred pages ago.

The book also had a bit more heft to it than I was expecting. Lara's story begins on the day of Sadie's funeral. Her great-aunt was 105 years old when she passed away, and no one in the family really knew anything about her. It was simple familial obligation that even got Lara and her parents to the funeral home. Sadie's ghost appears to Lara as her 23-year-old self, because that's who she always saw in the mirror. Lara realizes that most elderly people must feel the same way; instead of thinking of themselves as old, they probably still see themselves as young. When she visits Sadie's nursing home to collect her belongings, Lara sees the residents as forgotten. Over the course of the story, Lara and Sadie become good friends, and Lara feels ashamed that she knew next to nothing about her when she died. Lara makes Sadie tell her everything about her life, not wanting anything about Sadie to be forgotten. The message came through loud and clear, but I didn't feel beaten over the head with it.

One aspect of the story that I really enjoyed was the fact that Lara's Uncle Bill started a Starbucks-esque chain of coffee shops. Being a coffee aficionado, I thought it was a really cool choice for his business. Bill is a multi-millionaire, with a wife who ends up in rehab and a spoiled daughter who aspires to be a fashion designer. It was a great send-up of celebrity, and the fact that coffee made Bill rich -- I really liked it.

Of course, there was some zaniness and a few hijinks. Sadie appears to Lara during the funeral and demands that she find the necklace before they bury Sadie's body. So Lara accuses the nursing home employees of murdering her aunt to delay the burial. (Commence eye-rolling.) It works, and she is questioned by the police a few times throughout the story. It doesn't take too much away from the book, but it wasn't entirely necessary either. All in all, I still whole-heartedly recommend this book. It's thoroughly enjoyable, chick lit at its best.