I loved being single…but I don’t miss it. One good afternoon with Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding will tell you why.

Being a Singleton is so rough:there’s bad boyfriends, parents who insist on setting you up, and the Marrieds who pitifully look down on you. It’s a shark tank out there and a girl must watch her calorie and cigarette intake to wade through it without getting eaten alive – well, at least Bridget Jones does. Bridget Jones’s Diary is a comical tale of the trials and triumphs of being single told via the very detailed entries of Bridget’s diary. Her journey from Mr. Wrong to Mr. Right includes exaggerated, obsessive, and uproariously funny antics, but her character is earnest and endearing and makes you want to root for her in her quest for love until the end.

With love,
Tuesday

The moral of the story is: Drugs are bad. Or maybe it’s: All that glitters isn’t gold. Or…wait…nevermind. Forget the moral {if there even is one}, just read the book.

Valley of the Dolls could easily be labeled as chic lit, but don’t let the pink cover fool you. There is plenty of depth running through this classic novel. Like Candace Bushnell in Lipstick Jungle {see my post here}, author Jacqueline Susann invites us into the lives of three women who rise to the top. Anne, Jennifer, and Neely have found the ultimate success…but at ultimate prices. Where Lipstick Jungle focuses on the bonds of female friendship and the power of the modern woman, Valley of the Dolls focuses on the cracks that come with the pressure of being on top. Gritty issues punctuate the seemingly glamorous lives of the three main characters including drug abuse, mental disorders, depression, body and self  image issues, and even a solitary abortion debate. In its way, Valley of the Dolls is the tragic, alternate ending to Lipstick Jungle.

Valley of the Dolls makes it to my favorites list not only because of its addictive storyline and its melancholy – yet uncomfortably satisfying – ending, but because of its timelessness. The book spans 1945 through the 1960s, but it could have easily been a story based in 2013. The intuitiveness with which Susann writes will undoubtedly make this book relevant for generations.

With love,
Tuesday

I always kind of smile to myself when I notice Shopgirl on my bookshelf. I’m not sure why exactly. Perhaps because it surprised me with its depth. Maybe because of how tender the story is. Or perhaps it’s the way Mirabelle and Ray, the two primary characters, navigate their May-December relationship. Maybe it’s simply because it’s written by Steve Martin {yes, that Steve Martin}.

I picked this book up because I read a short review of it in a fashion magazine {you know how they always have those two pages of blurbs on new books, movies, and art exhibits so you can get your monthly dose of culture}. I remember not really expecting much from it, not only because I’d discovered it in a fashion mag, but also because of the author. Who would have thunk that the man could write? But, indeed, Steve Martin can write and this book is really a gem.

Shopgirl is a fairytale of sorts…odd…uncomfortable at times…but a fairytale. Of the modern type. And though it reads in a way that I am unaccustomed to, it is compelling. Mirabelle plays a Cinderella who needs to find herself and Ray plays her fairy godfather – although he thinks himself more her Prince Charming. Their tale is bumpy, sometimes amusing, but as with all fairytales, it comes to its perfect end.

Shopgirl is a short, sweet read, perfect for an afternoon by the pool or on the patio and much more deserving of a spot on your bookshelf than any fashion magazine blurb would suggest.

With love,
Tuesday

I am not about to abandon my life to take off on a world tour to “find myself,” but I can completely empathize with why Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, did. This book is on my favorites list because she did what I think many of us – myself included – wish we could. I understand this crisis that seems to occur in your thirties of who you are versus what everyone thinks you should be. Yes, you’re able to look back on your life thus far and be proud of what you’ve accomplished, but you still fill unfulfilled.

Most of us probably ride this crisis out. We somehow surf through the mental games we’re playing while still tending to our real lives. Elizabeth Gilbert chose another route. Fresh off a divorce and a deep depression, she took a time out to  re-evaluate…get close to…what she was feeling, and she did it unencumbered and in countries completely foreign to her. Eat, Pray, Love is her diary, of sorts, of that period in her life. It’s compelling and authentic and also quite amusing.

I actually saw the movie first and was so affected by her story that I purchased the book to get the whole tale. I was surprised to find the book to be so well-rounded and just as optimistic as the movie had been. At points I even wondered how the screenwriters were able to narrow the work down.

I think Eat, Pray, Love hits on a truth: we all need to spend some time within ourselves so that we can be our most authentic selves and not just some personality that everyone else thinks we should be. Elizabeth’s insightful and wonderfully personal story inspires me to be more introspective, even if I can’t travel the globe to do it.

With love,
Tuesday

When I grow up, I want to be Auntie Mame! No, seriously. I’ve always thought Auntie Mame was so cosmopolitan  – and way ahead of her time. She was open-minded and forward thinking – yet, completely conservative when she needed to be. Best of all, she stuck to her guns. Always.

Without a doubt, Auntie Mame is my favorite fictional character and the reason I love her namesake book so much. Patrick Dennis, the author of Auntie Mame, created such a memorable, loveable, and completely flawed character…she is etched in my heart forever. His portrayal of this crazy aunt and her outlandish lifestyle is both sympathetic and comical and should not be missed.

Should you ever see the movie adaptation of this book, I assure you that despite how wonderfully Rosalind Russell portrays Auntie Mame, it does not do the book justice. The best way to see Auntie Mame’s lavish, Oriental-themed party, her clanging stage performance, or her wild horseback ride that defies all odds is to read them for yourself. You simply must, dah-ling. You simply must. I promise it will be a treat you won’t want to end.

With love,
Tuesday