Colorful Chick Lit Challenge discussion

Cafe au Lait by Lianne Spicer

Feministaby Erica Kennedy

Dirty Girls on Top by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez

Sensing Passion: Travels of a Fifty-Five Year Old Divorcee by Christy Cumberlander Walker

I just finished Substitute Me by Lori Tharps. What a great book. I'm still shocked it is Chick Lit but I'm definitely learning what all the genre entails.

I finished and it was a really quick read. I wasn't disappointed in the book, it was just a little unbelievable. But the premise behind it was pretty good. I would have like to see more from the book though. It seemed to end or wind down pretty quickly. So it really could have been a short story and it might have served a better purpose.

Book #7 goes to Kathy Cano-Murillo's Waking up in the Land of Glitter.
It took me a while to actually get into the book but the easy writing helped as the book picked up speed. What I did think though was that the book could have been shortened. It seemed to drag in some instances even though it was a quick read. She had some funny and moving parts and it was good to see some development in the characters. We could see them actually become "real" people. And while some characters were developed, others were left kind of stifled. Like how does a woman get married and she knows nothing about him and neither does anyone else. And I know it happens but really????? All in all a good summer read, a great chick lit read and ready for some more.

Hmmm it seems My Best Friend's Girl by Dorothy Koomson is Chick Lit but I definitely wasn't thinking about it in that way especially since the story didn't solely revolve around romance. I thought how she coped with the situation and how learning about herself was the ultimate center of the book. But it seems I was wrong. With that said, I've finished another book for this challenge.

I read another one. I finally finished The Accidental Diva by Tia Williams. It was a quick and easy read, but definitely nothing to write home about. It gave us an inside look at the beauty editing world from the lens of a black woman but nothing new. Being the only black person in any field while there is no monolithic experience there are some commonalities and well this book just explored those commonalities. And the relationship with the "love interest" was cute if not sickening. You give your entire life to someone you met 15 mins ago? While it wasn't entirely horrible, you would be okay if you didn't read it.

Book # 10 is Kate Jacobs'The Friday Night Knitting Club...I guess I can't say what I really need to say about the book without giving away the ending. But glad I stuck through reading it. Some of it was the same ole story but written in a sort of refreshing way. Yes the knitting connections to life were cliche but aren't most parts of our lives cliche especially if we are trying to get them right? In the end what's wrong with being cliche? Unexpected book but good reading. I need 3 more to make it to the Queen of Chick Lit Level

Book # 11 is Girls of Riyadh I wanted to give between two and three stars but went with the higher star. It definitely wasn't the worst thing I've listened to but it wasn't the best either. The narrative was an open invitation to look into the Saudi Arabia as one woman envisions the society. We like to think we are so different from other nationalities but we are all the same, looking for love, dealing with relationships and heartbreak and trying to figure out the opposite sex. I'm slowly making my way to Queen level, need 2 more books. Anyone have a great recommendation?

I finally reached #12, which completes this challenge with one day to spare. Well I picked Poonam Sharma's Girl Most Likely To to read as my 12th Chick Lit book and because I realized I hadn't read an Indian author and I wish I had picked another book. Hmmm I'm trying to wonder if there was ever a reason to dislike a main character as much as I disliked the main character in this and the writing is the reason I disliked her so much. The author did not do a good job of drawing out and developing the character. The author glosses over character development, plot development so that she is able to go on and on about the cliches of romance and how a woman determines if she can give a man the time of day to be romanced. Through in the typical nervous breakdown, except in this case we don't know why she has a nervous breakdown, and cue the "typical" resolution and you have book that couldn't even distract you with humor.