Saturday, December 02, 2006

Too Many Books.... Too Little time.



Just as every summer comes and goes, so does my book list. This year, I have not accomplished as much with getting through my reading as I would like to. Unlike last summer where I was going through one book a weekend, this year, that has been far from the case.

I have this thing where once I read a really good book, I become obsessed with the author and have to read everything they’ve ever written that’s out there… some of my victims include; Sidney Sheldon, Omar Tyree, Terry McMillan, Jane Green, Michael Moore, Toni Morrison, Marian Keyes, Lauren Weisberger, Eric Jerome Dickey to name a few.

I have just finished “Everyone worth knowing” by Lauren Weisberger and it took me almost 2 months to finish (gasp!) I know! The book really dragged and for the first time I have to agree with the amateur book reviews I read on Amazon. I was disappointed, this book was a bit like anti-climatic. It was a forced attempt at giving us an insider’s take on the New York social scene; a lot of name-dropping and she managed to wangle a love story in there. I hate to say it but this book didn’t do it for me… AT ALL.

I remember the fateful day I stumbled upon “The Devil Wears Prada”; it was Jan 2004 in Amsterdam and that book single-handedly changed my literary life! I couldn’t put it down for a second! I cannot wait to see the movie!
It opened me up to the world of “chick-lit” before that I was going through my African-American literature phase and had just finished reading all the books written by Omar Tyree and Eric Jerome Dickey After that, came “The Nanny Diaries” and others and I have not looked back ever since.

In my failed attempt to finish Anna Karenina, I have taken it upon myself to attempt another Oprah Book Club favorite. YES! The controversial “a million little pieces” by James Frey. I got it off a friend who was in the middle of reading it when the story broke out about it been a lie. So he dumped it.
So he lied! Boo-hoo! This book was obviously a good read before we all found out. Like I’m ever gonna deny myself the pleasure of a good read because some guy I don’t know from Adam decides to take liberties with his literary license.
I just don’t get why he couldn’t pass it off as fiction. The book has me hooked so far so good. Anyway the rest of my “to-read” list isn’t looking so bad. I’ve got:

1) Babyville- Jane Green
2) Dude Where’s My Country?- Michael Moore
3) Anybody Out There- Marian Keyes.
4) Lovers & Players - Jackie Collins
5) Bergdorf Blondes- Plum Sykes
6) The Interruption of Everything- Terry McMillan


**I wrote this in like July or something and since then I've read a few books! A Million Little Pieces was FANTASTIC! He has another one out called "My Friend Leonard". You gotta love creative people though, I walked into a Borders in August and the ad for the new book said "From the author of A Million Little Pieces, a creation of an over-active imagination!" I couldn't stop laughing. You gotta luv PR and how they put their twist on things! That's what a lie is called nowadays- a product of an over-active imagination... LUV IT!
(Now! If you're looking for a review of "War & Peace". this ain't the blog for u mon ami!)

Right now I am reading Bergdorf Blondes by the very 'chi-chi' Plum Sykes. I luv this book but I swear I've lost some IQ points in the process. I recommend it (lol)
A friend of mine said to me my choice of reading materials sometimes makes him think I need to move back to America, New York to be precise. Why should I? When I have my very own Lagos ( the most FABULOUS city in the world) minus the okadas, danfos, 'go-slow' for damn reason, beggars, LASTMA, and those annoying lil gits that come and try and clean ur window with dirty water/cheap soap (I know u're trying to make a buck but just ask first before u smear my windshield with eau de GUTTER!

2 comments:

Mgbeke said...

Oooh your 'to-read' list looks Good! I LOVE Jane Green and Marian Keyes..(British Authors are so funny)
I used to be a Jackie Collins fan but I lost interest.
You should definitely check out Sophie Kinsella..she wrote the shopaholic series.
Oh, and the Interruption of everything was really good.

MOT said...

Try JC on Lovers & Players, trust me she put her foot in this one! Love, love SK ( Do u know that's just a pen name?) Her real name is MADLEINE WICKHAM and she writes under that name too. So check out those books as well :-)