Bridal Lit

Here comes the bride, all stressed inside. If you enjoy reading about weddings, then you will love this sub-genre of Chick Lit. Bridal Lit are books that disclose the humor and anxiety of planing a wedding or have characters trying to stop or sabotage the "big day".  You never know if the bride will turn into Bridezilla or if the interfering relatives or friends will ruin the big day.  Here's your invitation to some fun bridal lit books.

Amanda's Wedding: a novel by Jenny Colgan
Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger by Elizabeth M. Harbison
Diary of a Mad Bride by Laura Wolf
Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close
Here Comes the Bride by Whitney Lyles
I Do (But I Don't): a novel by Cara Lockwood
Queen of Babble Gets Hitched by Meg Cabot
Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Sophie Kinsella
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
Wedding Season by Katie Fforde

Offical Book Club Selection

Official Book Club Selection

by Kathy Griffin



“Are you there, Oprah? It’s me, Kathy”. She has made it no secret that she wants to be on the Oprah show and have her book become an official Oprah book club selection. This is her big chance to score that coveted book club endorsement that she has always wanted.

A funny honest look at Kathy Griffin, she writes like she talks and I found it entertaining and a great read, but being a fan I’m probably biased. Whether you’re a fan, you’ll respect her tenacity, work ethic and loyalty to her parents. It’s an honest intimate look at her life before and after she made it big, living in a dysfunctional family in suburban Illinois, her plastic surgery disasters to her highly publicized divorce.

Along the way, she shares her celebrity encounters on the red carpet and stories about her early years with Lisa Kudrow, Julia Sweeney, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz and Margret Cho just to name a few.

Check out the nifty reader’s guide provided at the end as a clue that there’s intellect, wit, politics, religion, romance, tragedy and plenty of gossip at work on these pages, which merit careful reading and reading between the lines.

The Time of My Life

The Time of My Life
By Patrick Swayze

I have always been a big fan of Patrick Swayze. Who doesn’t remember Dirty Dancing and Ghost? In his career spanning over 30 years he shows us his versatility from the stage to the screen and onto television, he has become one of our most beloved actors.

I found the book simple and honest and his relationship with his wife Lisa Niemi shows great insight to how much he truly loved her, which is reflected throughout the book. Their simple principles, their love for each other and their bond together throughout there years in Hollywood is an inspiration for every married couple.

Patrick describes his early years with his Texas upbringing, his relationship with his mother, a choreographer, and very critical of Patrick and his siblings. He felt he could never measure up to her expectations and he also talks about how he use to get beat up because he wanted to become a ballet dancer, his breakthrough in North and South and also his acting experiences with Dirty Dancing and Ghost. He talks about his father’s death at 57 from a heart attack and his sister’s suicide which started his struggles with alcohol.

In February of 2008, Patrick was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer. He refused to let the disease bring him to his knees. Instead he chose to be a fighter where we saw his bravery which has inspired fans and cancer patients everywhere.

Although written in the final months of his life, the book does not concentrate on his illness, but portrays a man who looks back on his life with appreciation, admiration for his loving wife and the legacy he had become and soon left behind.

That Old Cape Magic

In Richard Russo's new novel called That Old Cape Magic, he uses two weddings and a couple funerals as plot points to tell his story of an autobiographical sounding character Jack Griffin.

As this book begins, Jack is making the same trip once again to the cape that he use to make with his parents. Jack's parents singing their own version and calling it "That Old Cape Magic" as they drove across the Sagamore Bridge and began the summer of a disappointing family vacations. Jack is second guessing some of the decisions he has made in his life, and he is no longer sure where his talents lie.

I found this novel to have deep introspection and every family feeling imaginable, with a middle age man confronting his parents and their failed marriage, his own troubled marriage, his daughters new life and finally , what it was he thought he wanted and what in fact he has.

The storytelling is flawless throughout with moments of great comedy and also others of rueful understanding and heart stopping sadness. Richard Russo goes on to say....The family is where the best ...and worst things happen to us . Whether we embrace it or try and escape it , the family is at the center of our lives.


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