So, today is the first day of book reviews for my blog, and I had a really hard time deciding what book to choose for the inagurual post. Which is part of the reason why this post is up so late in the day, compared to my earlier attempts this week. I thought about writing about the first book that made me love reading (Little House In The Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder) or my go-to book when asked for recommendations (God-Shaped Hole, Tiffanie deBartolo, thanks to Lisa Petak) or my favorite book that makes me look like an English nerd (The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway). But instead, I want to (maybe) introduce you to the author that I've been talking about lately and whose books I've been devouring—Sarah Strohmeyer—and also talk about why I like reading chick lit. Because honestly, at this point in my life, it's what I read a LOT.
I'm not actually sure how I came across Sarah Strohmeyer's books initally, but I know they were recommended on Facebook by one of my favorite authors—Emily Giffin—so I requested them from the library. I started with The Sleeping Beauty Proposal and found that in addition to being funny and intelligent, it had some interesting thoughts on the role of marriage in a woman's life, especially fitting for me as a newlywed. Then I read The Cinderella Pact, which dealt with weight, body image issues, dieting, and friendship in addition to appearances. The Secret Lives Of Fortunate Wives was a little less serious in terms of "issues" but it was interesting to read about the roles that women (and men) played in this more upperclass society and how everyday things such as marriage and working fit in. And the one I just finished, Sweet Love, addressed divorce single parenthood, old loves, and breast cancer. Also, in some way, most of them had a character that was some kind of writer, mostly journalists, which I'm guessing comes from Sarah Strohmeyer's personal experience.
I think there is this a stigma that goes with reading, or even writing, chick lit that it's silly and stupid and full of fluff. And some of the really good stuff is silly and full of fluff. But what I liked about all of these books is that they tackled serious issues in a way that was relateable in some way, if not directly. And yes, they generally have happy endings, and yes, a lot of these women do spend a lot of their time chasing men, and sometimes, the situations they end up in can be kind of silly. But aren't these aspects of real life? In these books, no on is saying you need a man to be happy, or you need to be model skinny to be happy; instead, they tackle these, in my opinion, everyday issues, in a way that makes them relateable and enjoyable to read, no matter how big they are, without presenting negative stereotypes of women.
And that's why I like chick lit, aside from having some fluff to read after a day at work. Because if you look hard enough, you can find the big issues and think about them and how they relate to you, or how they don't relate to you, and take away more than just a fluff story.
I'm not actually sure how I came across Sarah Strohmeyer's books initally, but I know they were recommended on Facebook by one of my favorite authors—Emily Giffin—so I requested them from the library. I started with The Sleeping Beauty Proposal and found that in addition to being funny and intelligent, it had some interesting thoughts on the role of marriage in a woman's life, especially fitting for me as a newlywed. Then I read The Cinderella Pact, which dealt with weight, body image issues, dieting, and friendship in addition to appearances. The Secret Lives Of Fortunate Wives was a little less serious in terms of "issues" but it was interesting to read about the roles that women (and men) played in this more upperclass society and how everyday things such as marriage and working fit in. And the one I just finished, Sweet Love, addressed divorce single parenthood, old loves, and breast cancer. Also, in some way, most of them had a character that was some kind of writer, mostly journalists, which I'm guessing comes from Sarah Strohmeyer's personal experience.
I think there is this a stigma that goes with reading, or even writing, chick lit that it's silly and stupid and full of fluff. And some of the really good stuff is silly and full of fluff. But what I liked about all of these books is that they tackled serious issues in a way that was relateable in some way, if not directly. And yes, they generally have happy endings, and yes, a lot of these women do spend a lot of their time chasing men, and sometimes, the situations they end up in can be kind of silly. But aren't these aspects of real life? In these books, no on is saying you need a man to be happy, or you need to be model skinny to be happy; instead, they tackle these, in my opinion, everyday issues, in a way that makes them relateable and enjoyable to read, no matter how big they are, without presenting negative stereotypes of women.
And that's why I like chick lit, aside from having some fluff to read after a day at work. Because if you look hard enough, you can find the big issues and think about them and how they relate to you, or how they don't relate to you, and take away more than just a fluff story.
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