Thursday, February 04, 2010

Book #19 of 2010 or "Look Katie, I am showing off now!"

"Stupid and Contagious" by Caprice Crane

The story is told in alternating chapters by 29-year-old indie record producer Brady, who could have stepped right out of a Nick Hornby novel, and 26-year-old PR maven turned surly waitress Heaven, a veritable modern-day Lucille Ball. The two meet when they become neighbors, and Heaven keeps receiving Brady's mail, which she promptly opens and reads. But irritation soon turns into attraction as the two eventually take a wacky road trip to Seattle, where Brady waxes enthusiastic about signing a young band and attempts to land a meeting with the founder of Starbucks about his idea for a new drink.

At first, I found Heather to be annoyingly daft and Brady to be self-absorbed - which usually means I will disinterested in the fate of the characters by chapter five (like "Family Affair" also written by Crane). But I have to admit she created them in a way that you grow to like them in spite on their flaws. I found myself thinking I'd like to meet them for drinks one night. The humor was perfect throughout the book - touching the boundary of silliness that can turn a good book into a bad piece of fluff but never going past it.

On a side note, Crane is the daughter of Tina Louise who played Ginger on Gilligan's Island. Some how that just made the book all the more interesting even though it has nothing to do with it.


Next up: "The Last Days of Dogtown" by Anita Diamant. (Thanks for the recommendation, Demetria!)

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're basically reading a half a book a day. How is that possible? Are you speed reading? Do you even get dressed in the mornings? Do you have an open book laying next to the sink as you brush your teeth? Is there driving and reading involved?

I'm overwhelmed with jealousy. This is a talent. It should go on your resume: Reads 120 words a minute.

PS - When I leave you a comment - a little handicapped sybmol pops up. What's it trying to say?!?

I'm Jen. said...

I have no idea about the handicapped sign. To me it looks like a pregnancy test.

I do read while I brush my teeth which Jake thinks is hilarious.

I have two talents in this world: I can speed read AND I can make cornbread.

Anonymous said...

Cornbread! hahahahahaha Killing me. It's way too early to be laughing that hard. In the South, we would say "Build a bridge...so you can get over it". But, I would NEVER tell you that. Because if someone insinuated that I couldn't cook and that cornbread was my lone talent, I'd still be harboring resentment. And I'd probably publish a cook book just to throw it in their face.

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