Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
Something Blue by Emily Giffin
Book 21 of 2009- Baby Proof by Emily Giffin

I haven’t been reading as much chick lit as I used to, because in the past couple of years I’ve been pretty hard up in finding chick lit that’s worth reading.

Emily Giffin was a surprising discovery I made last year. It started when I found a hardbound bargain copy of Something Blue (I was amused at the title) for around 60 bucks at a roving booksale (Books and Mags).

I knew it was a sequel so I waited for a hardbound copy of Something Borrowed to come up on BookMooch. The US moocher had to delay my mooch for a couple months so I had to wait, but by sheer luck I found a copy — a hardbound library discard with a couple of breaks in the spine, sitting unnoticed on a bottom shelf at Book Sale, and it was only P10!

As soon as I got the book covered in plastic (call me weird, but I can never read a book that does not have a protective plastic cover), I started reading a few pages just to see if I would like it, and I was not able to put it down.

Something Borrowed is the story of Rachel and Darcy, who are best friends. Darcy is engaged to Rachel’s classmate from law school, Dexter. One night, on Rachel’s 30th birthday, the flighty Darcy is missing in action and Rachel is left to celebrate with Dex. After one drink too many, Rachel and Dex wind up in bed together, and Rachel realizes she’s been in love with Dex all along, and gasp! — Dex feels the same way about her.

You would think it’s pretty hard to feel sympathy for a girl who steals her best friend’s fiance and a guy who cheats on his fiancee with her best friend, but Giffin manages to pull it off. I knew they could have handled it better, and thinking about it makes me cringe a bit, but I was rooting for Rachel and Dex. (On a side note, I am glad my best friend and I have totally different tastes in men!)

Being privy to their secret was sinfully addictive, and I won’t say any more to keep from spoiling it, but I actually read Something Blue because I couldn’t get enough of Rachel and Dex, although the 2nd book is really about Darcy.

I can’t blog about Something Blue without any major spoilers, so let me just say that it’s from Darcy’s point of view this time around. I’m not Darcy’s biggest fan, and it was pretty hard to read a book from the point of view of a character I didn’t really like, but I was relieved that Darcy grew up a lot in this book, and by the end of the book I learned to appreciate her character.

Baby Proof is Giffin’s third novel, separate from the first two but towards the end of the book there is a remote link via one character (Ethan).

The book is about Claudia, a book editor, who appears to have the perfect (=child-free, in Claudia’s perspective) marriage until her husband Ben decides he wants them to have a baby.

Baby Proof tackles a more serious topic, raising questions that are often taken for granted: is a marriage necessarily lacking without kids? Is it okay for a person to not want to have children?

The book is a confirmation of all the things I love about Emily Giffin’s books: real people with flaws, relevant issues, female friendships, excellent introspection, and writing that just keeps you reading, and reading, and reading.

Chick lit authors are a dime a dozen these days, but Emily Giffin is one of the very few who can pull off substance with style.

Aargh. Now I want a copy of Love The One You’re With…

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(photos from emilygiffin.com)

My copy: hardcover copy of Something Borrowed (library discard), replaced with another hardcover in better condition; hardcover copy of Something Blue, missing its dustjacket; trade paperback of Baby Proof

My rating: Something Borrowed 5/5 stars; Something Blue 4/5 stars; Baby Proof 4/5 stars

Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus’ (of The Nanny Diaries) second novel, Citizen Girl, is about the struggles of a young professional trying to make a living in the city.

Girl (again, they use a generic name) is fired from her job at a women’s advocacy center for trying to assert herself and find some dignity at the job, which in essence has her making photocopies every single day.

She is in desperate need of a job, and My Company, a women’s online resource, offers her a job for a “new development.” Only, she has no idea what she’s supposed to do. No instructions, no one to talk to, no one to work with. And she must figure out what exactly the job requires from her.

I loved The Nanny Diaries so I got Citizen Girl. I wasn’t expecting a light read, because The Nanny Diaries was heavy on introspection and emotions. Although the style of writing is carried over in Citizen Girl, the story got out of hand.

I think it probably dealt with too many issues. It touches on the struggle with day-to-day work. It touches on feminism and its varied meanings to different people. It touches on materialism and how people can stand by watching things drift all for the money. Girl has to deal with all this, and despite her altruistic nature, doesn’t resolve anything.

There were also a lot of parts that I went on and on until it was tiresome to read, such as the work parts with her boss Guy, who kept giving out vague information and instructions, and who kept maligning her for her ideals. The trashy parts didn’t help either, with the pool parties, porn sites, and all that jazz.

Even the supposed light in her tunnel, Buster (the boyfriend), falls flat because they inject the feminism as a conflict between Girl and Buster because Buster keeps on going to parties with strippers and shows with hookers.

The book also depicts some disturbing pictures of women. Girl’s mother is naively optimistic, Girl’s mentor seems to be the most positive character in the book… until she sells out and is a hypocrite to her cause (uh, getting funding for her women’s org from a porn site that traffics women), and Girl’s other boss Manley who is pregnant with a girl baby but is more than willing to earn her living off a porn site.

I guess they were trying to paint an accurate picture, but it’s insulting to all the women who have made it in their fields while retaining their humanity and their feminist ideals.

I really was expecting a better read.

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My copy: I had it mooched last year, a mass market paperback

My rating: 2/5 stars

photo courtesy of http://www.aquabooks.ca/images/citizen.jpg