Books & Reading
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What to Read Next |
Fielding, Helen -- Bridget
Jones: The Edge of Reason
The sequel, of course! And of course life with Mark Darcy is not as
perfect as Bridget had hoped..and there are more problems for Jude,
Shazzer, et al. Verdict: v.g.
Austen, Jane -- Pride
and Prejudice
The last word--still--in wit, insight, and style. ".eighteenth-century
comic romance of such psychological depth and literary beauty that many
consider it the finest novel by the greatest female novelist."
(Invitation to the Classics, p. 203) Helen Fielding, author of Bridget
Jones, acknowledges her debt to Austen by naming Bridget's boyfriend
"Mr. Darcy." Subtle, ascerbic, slyly witty. Sense
and Sensibility is just as good.
Banks, Melissa -- The
Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing
Inter-connected stories about Jane and the men in her life. Charming;
witty, especially, the chapter in which she lampoons The Rules.
Bird, Sarah -- The
Boyfriend School
The narrator decides to write a romance (because anyone can do
that) and goes to a convention for romance writers. The characters are
American, fun, quirky. This is one of those books that is a great
romance--but not the escapist formula you think of when you hear
"romance." This book attracts a lot of readers by word-of-mouth
recommendation--the best kind.
Browne, Jill Conner -- The
Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love
British and twenty-something this is not! The Queens are Southern and
40-ish, but they offer advice--naughty, funny--that would interest Bridget
and friends. "Irreverent, shamelessly funny" describes it
perfectly.
Finnamore, Suzanne -- Otherwise
Engaged
Eve and Michael get along great until they become engaged. Now
everything he does drives her crazy, because she knows "it's not just
a sock on the floor, but a sock on the floor forever." Will they make
it to the altar? Will he pick up the sock?
Johnson, Diane -- Le
Divorce
Isabel, a film school dropout, goes to Paris to help her sister
survive a divorce. There are echoes of the novelist Henry James here.
Called "a wonderful and important novel." You and that
interesting new guy can discuss those Jamesian echoes over a latte.
Keyes, Marian -- Lucy
Sullivan is Getting Married
Or so the fortune-teller said.even though Lucy doesn't have a
boyfriend. We learn about the vicissitudes of singlehood in London from
Lucy, her co-workers, roommates and friends, all heavy party-ers, all
looking for love, often in the wrong places. The usual suspects: sometimes
insightful, always fun.
Lloyd, Josie and Emlyn Rees -- Come
Together
The ultimate in he said/she said, this is a collaboration by a man and
woman who, themselves, became a couple in the process of writing this
book. A big hit in London.
Maupin, Armistead -- Tales
of the City
This book started as a newspaper serial, became a novel, and
eventually a television series. The Tales center around Mary Ann
Singleton (a good name for a predecessor of Bridget Jones!) and the
occupants of the apartment house where she lives in San Francisco. The
inter-connected vignettes of life and love, gay and straight, involve
twenty- and thirty-somethings in the Seventies. There are lots of sequels.
Townsend, Sue -- Adrian
Mole: The Cappucino Years
We first met Adrian when he was 13-3/4 years old. Now he's turning 30, has
thinning hair and a son, and is the star of his own cooking show on the
telly, Offally Good, which specializes in recipes using, well,
offal. Adrian's still funny after all these years.
Zigman, Laura -- Animal
Husbandry
Jane Goodall (yes, that's the narrator's name!) has a philosophy about
men and dating, which she calls "the New-Cow, Old Cow theory."
Humorously insightful, with lots of allusions to the animal kingdom, and
prescribed as good for anyone who's been dumped.
