Monday, January 3, 2011

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding

Synopsis in a Sentence: In Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, the sequel to the first the first Bridget Jones book, Bridget is as crazy and misadventure prone as ever while she tries to figure out her relationship with Mark Darcy!

My Thoughts: I absolutely love Bridget Jones! I loved both movies, but for some reason, I never read the books until recently. It's probably because I only used to read Christian genre books, and have since decided to widely broaden my reading selections! This book was laugh out loud FUNNY!! I did notice, however, that it was fairly different from the movie...not that there's anything wrong with that, but I love the movie so much, that I was hoping for more similarities. For example, Daniel Cleaver (her loser ex-boyfriend) is a lot more involved in the movie than he is in the book. This is an excellent book to read at the beginning of the new year, as Bridget is always trying to live out her resolutions and using self help books to try to stop her bad habits! It will make you feel better about yourself as you witness how badly she fails at her attempts! Read or revisit this book if you are in need of a good laugh, or a reminder of not taking yourself or life too seriously. Love British authors. They just really know how to word and put things in such a quirky, witty and cozy way.

Favorite part: While reading the last few pages of this book, I was trying so hard to stifle laughter so as not to wake up my husband! Bridget drunkenly decides to write her Christmas cards and trim her huge tree. It's hysterical when Mark Darcy comes over and reads a crazy card that she sent to one of his colleagues, and after seeing the tree, says “What the arse is that?” So funny.








A Prairie Christmas Collection by Various

Synopsis in a Sentence: This collection of historical Christmas romance stories give us a heartwarming glimpse into old fashioned pioneer Christmases.

My Thoughts: I really adored most of the stories in this collection, but a few of them were a little too cheesy even for me (the Queen of cheesy romance!). Every year, I read a Christmas themed book during the season to get even more into the holiday spirit. I was in the mood for reading a really cozy, historical book for Christmas this year, and this book fit that criteria perfectly. It is a curl up beside the fire with a cup of cocoa while lights from the Christmas tree glimmer in the corner of your eye kind of book! I didn't do this, but it might be fun for those of you who will read this book next year, to read one story each night (there are 9 stories in all) leading up to Christmas.

My two favorite stories: Circle of Blessings by Deborah Raney, about a girl who falls in love with her English professor just as Christmas approaches. Image of Love by JoAnn A. Grote which is about a girl whose fiance died in the Civil War. It's so cute and endearing how she lets her heart open up to another guy. Think old fashioned sleigh rides and old fashioned courtship!

Least favorite (but still cute) stories: Take Me Home by Tracey Bateman is a little bit boring and didn't have too much of a plot. We don't really get to know the guy in the story. One Wintry Night by Pamela Griffin was once again, a little boring and had cookie cutter characters. Might have been nice to have a little more originality!