Coco Chanel

I do like living in the town/city where I live - it has many things going for it and many things that I enjoy about it. But there are also many things that frustrate me about it. In particular being able to see movies that I want to see without having to travel to Sydney! I have so been looking forward to seeing the Coco Chanel movie that comes out in Australia this week but of course - it is not showing in my home town. I am so disappointed. So, in order to see the movie I would need to travel to Sydney - which is ordinarily not a problem but our weekends are full for the next month at least so there will be no opportunities to travel there.

So I am going to have to live vicariously - have any of you seen this movie or heard anything about it?

Everything Austen Challenge

I had promised myself not to commit to any more reading challenges for the rest of the year - but promises are made to be broken - especially where Jane Austen is concerned!

Stephanie at Stephanie's Written Word is hosting the Everything Austen Challenge which is just way too tempting for me - so I'm in!

The challenge runs for 6 months from the 1st July 2009 - 1st January 2010 and involves reading or watching any book, movie, series etc... that relates to Jane Austen.

My 6 items at this stage will be:

1. Prada and Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard

2. Austenland by Shannon Hale

3. Intimations of Austen by Jane Greensmith

4. Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo

5. Becoming Jane Austen by Jon Spence

6. Not quite sure just yet...

Envy - Anna Godbersen

Envy is the third book in The Luxe series by Anna Godbersen and after devouring the first two books fairly quickly it was inevitable that I was going to move on to this one too.

Envy continues the story of the wealthy socialite families the Hollands, Schoonmakers, Hayes etc... etc... The girls are still seeking that ultimate love affair - and ultimate prize that goes along with that affair - a rich, influential, and hopefully attractive, husband. Some win the prize and others - well, they don't do so well.

The author has moved much of this book from the familiar setting of New York to Florida as the group goes on holiday. I'm not sure this change of scenery did that much for me - I couldn't really see the purpose in it apart from change for changes sake (and to show the fact that these people have so much money they can do what they like when they like) and I would have preferred the comfortable, well established New York setting to continue.

But having said that, I'm well and truly hooked into this gossipy story now and I will be joining in to read the fourth book in the series when it arrives.

Brooklyn - Colm Toibin

Brooklyn is the latest book from Irish author Colm Toibin - and the first book of his that I have read.

Brooklyn is the story of a young Irish woman, Eilis Lacey, who migrates from her small Irish town to Brooklyn in the 1950's in search of employment and opportunity. This decision is in some ways forced upon Eilis by her older sister, Rose and her mother who clearly want her to achieve but are desperate for her to stay at home with them at the same time. There are hints and glimpses into the life of Eilis's family - her 3 older brothers have all moved to England for work and her father died in the not too distant past - but despite these glimpses we don't really learn all that much about the extended family.

When Eilis arrives in Brooklyn she is struck by culture shock and homesickness and the narrative of this section of the book is all about her attempts to fit in and make a life for herself in America.

This book is so simple in many ways - the story of a girl who moves away, she goes to work, goes home to the boarding house she resides in with other young women, she goes to night classes and she goes to the parish dance on a Friday night. All things that I imagine would have been quite common place for young, single women living in Brooklyn in the 1950's. When I write this description here I think how boring it all sounds - but I did not find this book boring at all. Eilis has to make many choices over the course of the novel and it is these decisions and the ultimate choices that connect the reader to Eilis and her story - I wanted to know what she was going to do - and I also thought about the roads not taken - how the story could have been so different. The writing flowed beautifully - I really felt as though I was sitting down with a good friend listening to the story of their life. I will definitely be looking out for more of Toibin's work.

Rumours - Anna Godbersen

I couldn't help myself - as soon as I finished The Luxe by Anna Godbersen I had to go out and get the sequel - Rumours. Another gorgeously tantalising cover - and it promised to answer some of the questions left hanging over at the end of The Luxe - how could I resist really?

This author has me so hooked that even when Rumours started off a little disappointingly I still kept reading on - and I was glad that I did. Rumours doesn't quite have the pizazz that The Luxe delivered - the premise and the characters weren't as new and interesting anymore - but I was still enjoying the ride.

Needless to say I am going to keep reading this series - the books aren't going to win any Pulitzer prizes but they sure are entertaining me so that's all I can ask for. I would call it a guilty pleasure but the fact is, I don't feel at all guilty - I'm loving it!

The Luxe - Anna Godbersen

Keeping in the spirit of my light and easy reading of late I picked up my copy of The Luxe which I have had on my shelf for a while now. I do enjoy reading young adult fiction and the gorgeous cover of this one had me interested right away. I must admit I didn't really have very high hopes for this book - I just thought it would be a nice gossipy, easy read for a cold, dismal weekend. It was a nice gossipy read but I also thought it was quite a good book overall (I've already picked up the second book in the series so it must have hooked me in).

The Luxe is set in New York in 1899 and starts with the funeral of high society girl, Elizabeth Holland who has died suddenly and mysteriously just days before her wedding to fellow high society member - Henry Schoonmaker. The rest of the novel takes us through the days leading up to this event - filling us in on other members of New York society and their secrets and relationships. I found the writing tight and well structured - even though the focus is on the relationships and crushes of 18 year olds I didn't think the writing became overly soppy (something that would have made me stop reading right away!). The writing and dialogue is by no means appropriate to the era in which the book is set but the author talks about her intentions behind steering away from this style in a special section at the end of the book.

Some reviews have talked about this book as being a cross between Jane Austen and Gossip Girl - it is definitely more Gossip Girl than Austen for me but I still really enjoyed this book - much more than I thought I would.

Lucia, Lucia - Adriana Trigiani

I am on a bit of a roll with this author! After reading and loving her latest book, Very Valentine, I went out searching for her earlier books. Don't you just love it when you discover a new great author and they have plenty of books waiting for you to pick up??

I went straight for a book from her collection that is again set in Italy and New York (how could I resist?), is again set in an area of the fashion world (a New York department store) and is set in the time of the 1950's - a favourite era of mine for fiction and movies.

Lucia, Lucia is the story of Italian American girl Lucia Sartori - the youngest child and only girl in a big family. Lucia is rare for her day and age in that she has a career as a seamstress in a New York department store and she is keen to hold on to this no matter what - marriage is not such a high priority for her, until she meets the charming John Talbot. Things start to go a little topsy turvy from here.

Trigiani's writing is not perfect - there are some forced metaphors in places and the plot devices can feel a little controlled at times - but I really didn't care. I was hooked into Lucia's story and I wanted to see where things went in her life. I have also loved the endings in both of her books that I have read so far - a little bit of romance and completion but the endings have felt "real" and possible in a non -Hollywood, happily ever after way.

I will try and move on from Trigiani books now but have loved reading these two!