The Kari AnnAlysis

Posts Tagged ‘Janice Kaplan’

I got this book at a 10 for $30 sale a few months ago. And the more I read through those books, the more I realize how similar they are.

The Botox Diariesis about Jess and Lucy, both 40 something best friends. Jess is simple. She doesn’t like to spend a lot on clothes, is single and fighting the urge to get back with her ex and won’t touch the botox. Lucy, on the other hand, is a network tv producer who gets caught up in an affair with one of televisions most popular tv show hosts. Jess tries to help Lucy get back on the right track and away from her lustrous affair while trying to find a good man for herself.

The reason I say this is so much like a lot of the books I’ve read lately is because much like One Fifth Avenue, we’re dealing with wealthy people who live in NY and have affairs. And they’re in their 40s. I don’t know why I’m attracted to these books, well, yes I do: They have pretty colors and titles. I absolutely hate infidelity but I’m draw to the drama of them in books.

I wrote down a lot of things while reading this book, including what I used Tuesday as my teaser.

Pg 1: “Champagne corks are popping and it’s only five a.m.”

That line just struck a cord with me. Who wouldn’t love to live this life? I mean, I don’t like 5 a.m. at all and recently that what time I’ve been getting up even though my alarm is set for 9:30. Maybe my mind keeps thinking about this and hoping I’ll wake up to champagne – good luck with that.

As I get older, I realize that no matter how old you are, there will always be cliques. And this book proved it with the “Alpha Moms” and the line that reads:

Pg 26: “Cliquey girls don’t go away — they just get older.”

This is so true. I don’t notice it is as much as I did in school, but they’re still there. I see it on Facebook and when we go out.

I have never really thought much of Botox. 1. I am 23. 2. I can’t imagine spending money on something like yet. Yes, I already am noticing wrinkles, but I’m stingy with money. Maybe if I look like an English Bulldog in a few years, I’ll change my mind. But until then I’ll laugh at quotes like this:

Pg 184: “‘A little Botox on the forehead. Some Cymetra under the cheekbone. A couple of shots of Restylane around the lips. And CosmoDerm to fill in the laugh lines around your eyes. You’re  lucky, not too much damage yet. Two, three dozen injections tops and we’re done.’”

Cracks me up. That is  A LOT of injections. I guess for a Botox doctor though, the more you pump into a face, the more you get to add to your fund for a new “weekend” house.

I love, love, loved that there was a parent sex-ed class in this book. There is nothing like that at the school where I went. We barely had sex ed, let alone did our parents attend a class and learn how to properly condom a banana.

This book was pretty cute and had a lot of great characters from Boulder, the want to be famous surfer, to Jaques, the French ex who is always will be a tool.

I have read a couple of Janice Kaplan books before, and I really like her style. She’s fun, hip and I love that she uses real things. She uses real stores, real cars, and real people. It’s fiction that I can relate to.

I didn’t however crave this book. Yes, I know I just told you some amazing things that would make you think I absolutely loved it, but I didn’t. It may be once again that I am in wedding-mode and am not really focusing. But this book was just ok. I give it 3 bookmarks.

So yes, I realize I am doing a meme almost every day of the week. But I absolutely love them. I saw this one recently, but not until today did I feel like I had one good enough to take part. Buckle your seat belt, I think the upcoming line is one of the best for the start of a book.

“Champagne corks are popping and it’s only five a.m.”

I mean who doesn’t want to live a life where champagne is the drink of choice no matter what time the clock says?

This is from The Botox Diaries by Janice Kaplan and Lynn Schnurnberger. I’ve read a couple of Kaplan books and really like them. I am definitely excited about this one!

A Job to Kill For is the second book in the Lacy Fields Mystery series. I got the first book by being cheap (it was in a buy 3 for $5 bin) and I’m very glad for my cheapness because these are good books.

Lacy Fields is an interior decorator in Cali, her husband, a plastic surgeon. But she keeps getting involved in murders, good thing she has an eye for detecting.

I like these books because they are smooth, easy reads, but they also keep me turning the pages.

I like a mystery that I can figure out, but what’s the point of reading on? In the first Lacy Fields book, Looks to Die For, I had a hunch and was right, but in A Job to Kill For, no clue until the end. Kaplan does a good job of throwing out curve balls to keep you on your toes.

And much like Janet Evanovich with her Stephanie Plum series, what woman doesn’t want to read about a woman who straight up kicks butt and cracks the case? Its empowering, although I wouldn’t last a minute.

I mentioned these are easy reads, I started this book Sunday evening, immediately after I finished Son of a Witch (yes I know I am a chain reader). I read it Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday morning before work and both of those days before bed. Didn’t take me much time to get through it, but that doesn’t mean it was a good book.

I’m kind of torn about how to rate this book. If I gave half book marks, it’d be easy, a 3.5. But since I don’t, I think I’m going to go with a 3. If it would have made me laugh out loud, I’d give it a 4. Also, its not necessarily a book I think I’d read again, I don’t think there was much I missed, so, 3 it is.