The 900 Post - Two Books And A Bit More, As Usual...

In general I'm very much not a fan of so called chick lit, and I know, I have said it a few times before... The usual chick lit that's *slightly* obsessive about weight loss/gain and se* - and the reason I'm substituting the "x" for a "*" isn't me being Ms Prude or exceptionally fond of the * but the fact I really abhor idiots that surf the net for it and end up here -, and possibly some sort of addiction too. They're just so jam packed with lightweight stereotypes that will give me a headache after reading about five pages or so.

That said I have been known to enjoy a few books in the genre - that is before I realized what exactly it was that gave me a headache - Watermelon by Marian Keyes (and, admittedly, I have too many of her books in my bookshelf, for odd reasons it took quite a while before I realized this is rather annoying reading, the rancid humour, the sameness of stories...), the Bridget Jones's Diary books (though the movies so outperform the books of course, brilliant little things, not only due to Colin Firth...), some Shopaholic-books and some odd books here and there. Somewhere along the line of reading though, I realised I wasn't that easily amused and pleased anymore.

I have been known to say goodbye to authors in different genres, I have stubbornly read books *just because* - no more though! -, some hyped authors/books have completely capped my stubbornness by their tediousness and others I've sort of gotten used to and routine-like kept on reading. Although their style and stories rather annoy me, they're of course not mind evolving experiences but not even lightweight, relaxing reading. Just irritating.

Some books can take a while to really grab my attention, although when I know there are others I immediately cry, laugh and love over, books that give me a strange feeling of undeniable loss when I've reached the last sentence of the last page, it is kind of difficult to give books a chance when they don't meet those criterias...

Though in order to find those so-worth-while-amazingly-written-wonderful-to-read books there has to be a certain amount of trial and error in reading, since, honestly, there's a whole lot of rubbish published too, that one has to wade through in order to find the literary gems.

Having mused that, I'm going to write a few words about two books/authors in the chick lit - okay, even if I have been known to find the expression annoying, I've also come to realise it's also a rather befitting name. Alas - genre that have been quite pleasant to read, the rate of cognition (at least in those latest books of theirs) have been rather high, as far as I'm concerned.

First there's Swedish writer Kajsa Ingemarsson. Her first three books I quite enjoyed reading for her breezy style and rate of cognition. The fourth book "Den ryska vännen" (The Russian friend) was quite horrible, for different reasons, a story frame which was an apery, superficial and stupid character descriptions giving a whole new meaning to the expression "dumb blond" etc. But I gave her sixth book "Lyckans hjul" (The Wheel of fortune) a chance. And it was quite a nice read, nothing earth shattering, just an easy read about ordinary people having ordinary lives and then things happen that force them to change and look for solutions.

Second there is the latest book by British writer Lisa Jewell, "31 Dream Street". This is the fifth book by her I've read and I do think it's the one I've most enjoyed reading. Main characters in my own age group, struggling to find a way in life, a way to move forward, to try and make the pieces of the life puzzle fit together, in parts funny and always an easy read but also with a serious undertone and even quite sad in parts.

When we sometimes struggle, whine, cry and get angry about our current situation in life it can - it is! - both comforting as well as inspiring to know that there are (most always) people that are so much worse off, but they still, in amazing ways, managed to get those pieces together and make a good life for themselves.

Books are good that way, they don't have to be earthshaking, literary masterpieces that make you think, make a change, sort things out, move forward. You can at least change your way of thinking a bit, take a little step forward with something as simple as a reasonably well-written chick lit book too.

Btw, please note that this is the 900 post of this blog, oh my...