I crave books

Ah Jennifer Weiner . . . another one of my favorite authors. I was excited and nervous to read Certain Girls, which picks up the story of Cammie Shapiro, 12 years after we last saw her in Good in Bed. Cannie is now married and dealing with a 12 (almost 13)-year-old daughter, Joy. The family is preparing for Joy’s bat mitzvah. Cannie is now married to Peter (Dr. K from Good in Bed) although we find it wasn’t the smoothest path to marriage.

I was excited because Good in Bed is one of my favorite books, and nervous because lately the sequels I’ve been reading haven’t measured up to the original. This book allayed my fears and is definitely a worthy sequel.

Basically this is the story behind the happy ending we think Cannie is heading towards at the end of Good In Bed.  In the past 12 years, Cannie has written a bestselling book, and dropped out of the public eye to pen sci-fi books under a pseudonym. However, once Joy discovers her mom’s book she has to deal with what’s real and what’s fiction.

Interestingly, the story alternates perspectives from Cannie to Joy. This keeps the story fresh and allows us to see Cannie from a different perspective. All in all it’s a great, fresh read.

Mary DiNuzio is back! It’s been four years since Lisa Scottoline wrote a book featuring Rosato & Associates. I’ve been a fan of these books for years and I was looking forward to another great mystery (even though we shelve them in Fiction, and they’re probably more thriller, than mystery - although Mary did more independent sleuthing than I remember, maybe a new twist Lisa’s going to take her on?), and Lady Killerdid not disappoint.

Trish Gambone, her high school rival, comes to Mary for help as her boyfriend is abusing her and she’s afraid for her life. Mary can’t do much to help her legally but when Trish disappears, the neighborhood holds her responsible, so Mary goes searching for Trish. There’s also a lovely little romantic subplot as well as the main storyline.

The pacing of the novel is great, and there are plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing. Also the title is perfect. At first I was put off by the title, but (not wanting to do a spoiler I’m not going to say much) it makes perfect sense when all is revealed at the end. Great (and plausible) ending.

Not sure if I should but this in the sequel category as Lisa says on her web site www.scottoline.com that she doesn’t think of her books as a series, but I do so I think I will categorize it that way (but not in mystery series, out of respect).

I have enjoyed reading the last two Little Lady Agency books (The Little Lady Agency and Little Lady, Big Apple) and this delightful novel lived up to all my expectations. Sometimes after two or three novels the author has worn out the original concept (sort of how I feel about Shopaholic series by Kinsella), but kudos to Hester Browne for coming up with more fun and problems for Melissa Romney-Jones.

In this ‘episode’ Melissa is preparing to move to Paris with fiancé Jonathon, while sorting out a Prince who’s behaving badly, and helping her sister, new mom Emery, deal with an overzealous nanny.

As Library Journal reviewer Stacey Hayman said, “Reading Browne’s books is like watching a Doris Day romantic comedy.”

I will generally post the day after or the day I finish reading something; however, I am playing January catch up. I read this on 1/21/08