Latest book: Jemima J by Jane Green

Lately I have found it necessary to get my hands on all sorts of mainstream books, just to compare writing and storytelling styles. Last night I finished reading Jemima J by Jane Green (http://www.janegreen.com/) -- my first by that author. I like Cinderella stories and this one starred a fat girl on her journey to find true happiness, which she, of course, believes she will find once a size eight dress can be slipped over her rump. It is mostly lovely story, told in a conversational tone with a unique voice (or voices since it uses two points-of-view throughout). I, being a fat girl myself at this stage in my life, could identify with Jemima quite often -- even laughed out loud several times. I was thrown out of the story twice, however, and I am not sure if that is because of my tired brain or writer/editor mishaps.

The first time I was jolted out of the story happened in chapter 8 when the Jemima does something she has supposedly never done before ... except she did do it in chapter 4, and I even went back to check on it. Then on page 124, Brad calls her by her name -- something she never told him. She only referred to herself as JJ when dealing with Brad! Well, despite these hiccups, I really did enjoy the book. I think I will try another Jane Green one just to see how her writing has changed over the years since she wrote Jemima J.

Meanwhile, I am pretty deep in some other books, such as My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki (http://www.ruthozeki.com/), Milk Glass Moon by Adriana Trigiani (http://www.adrianatrigiani.com/welcome.html), and another one that I can't recall off the top of my head because I just started it today and plan on it being my "read-while-I-wait-for-the-kids'-bus" book. That's it for now--more later.