Bookshelf: The Matzo Ball Heiress
I continue to alternate Red Dress books with my other reading, and I finished Laurie Gwen Shapiro's THE MATZO BALL HEIRESS last night. Years ago, when I was dating the hypnotist (a relationship that totally, completely didn't work out, despite my greatest hopes that it would - but it gave me some great stories to fold into chicklit books), we went to see a movie at the trendy, hip, urban movie palace here in town - KEEP THE RIVER ON YOUR RIGHT, A MODERN CANNIBAL STORY. The movie is about a 78-year-old gay anthropologist who goes back to visit the people that he studied when he was a young man. The producers were at the movie, and one of them looked like Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Fast forward 6 years - "Jennifer Jason Leigh" is Laurie Gwen Shapiro, and she's written a chicklit novel about a woman who is part of the Greenblotz matzo family - a woman who has no ties to her religion (beyond showing up at the factory every spring to give tours to media), a woman who prefers crab roll to california roll on her sushi, a woman who celebrates passover with a ham and cheese panini... You get the picture.
I was especially intrigued by the book because![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
alg recently read and commented on it in her LJ. Now, unlike alg, I actually enjoy the voice of chicklit (at least, some of the voices - some of them are too young for me.) And unlike alg, I don't live in New York or work in publishing.
I have to say that I *loved* the climax of the book. Not loved it in a "it changed my life way" but loved it in a "made me smile on the Metro and actually laugh out loud once or twice" way. Shapiro set up her characters, defined their personalities, and then kept them true to form in a grand confrontation climactic scene.
So, for me, this was one of the relatively high-ranking Red Dress books. And for those keeping score - here's the bookshelf from this year:
Fast forward 6 years - "Jennifer Jason Leigh" is Laurie Gwen Shapiro, and she's written a chicklit novel about a woman who is part of the Greenblotz matzo family - a woman who has no ties to her religion (beyond showing up at the factory every spring to give tours to media), a woman who prefers crab roll to california roll on her sushi, a woman who celebrates passover with a ham and cheese panini... You get the picture.
I was especially intrigued by the book because
alg recently read and commented on it in her LJ. Now, unlike alg, I actually enjoy the voice of chicklit (at least, some of the voices - some of them are too young for me.) And unlike alg, I don't live in New York or work in publishing. I have to say that I *loved* the climax of the book. Not loved it in a "it changed my life way" but loved it in a "made me smile on the Metro and actually laugh out loud once or twice" way. Shapiro set up her characters, defined their personalities, and then kept them true to form in a grand confrontation climactic scene.
So, for me, this was one of the relatively high-ranking Red Dress books. And for those keeping score - here's the bookshelf from this year:
THE MATZO BALL HEIRESS, by Laurie Gwen Shapiro.
THE KITE RUNNER, by Khaled Hosseini.
WHAT MEN WANT, by Deborah Blumenthal.
THE DEVIL'S ARITHMETIC, by Jane Yolen.
WONDERBOY, by Fiona Gibson.
FREEDOMLAND, by Richard Price.
MEAN SEASON, by Heather Cochran.
THE LOST PAINTING, by Jonathan Harr.
HARDLY WORKING, Betsy Burke.
THE ART OF DECEPTION, by Ridley Pearson.
DO THEY WEAR HIGH HEELS IN HEAVEN, by Erica Orloff.
THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING, by Joan Didion.
LOVES ME, LOVES ME NOT, by Libby Malin.
ON THE VERGE, by Ariella Papa.
THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE, by C.S. Lewis.
A LITTLE CHANGE OF FACE, by Lauren Baratz-Logsted.
THE SEA, by John Banville.
THE KITE RUNNER, by Khaled Hosseini.
WHAT MEN WANT, by Deborah Blumenthal.
THE DEVIL'S ARITHMETIC, by Jane Yolen.
WONDERBOY, by Fiona Gibson.
FREEDOMLAND, by Richard Price.
MEAN SEASON, by Heather Cochran.
THE LOST PAINTING, by Jonathan Harr.
HARDLY WORKING, Betsy Burke.
THE ART OF DECEPTION, by Ridley Pearson.
DO THEY WEAR HIGH HEELS IN HEAVEN, by Erica Orloff.
THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING, by Joan Didion.
LOVES ME, LOVES ME NOT, by Libby Malin.
ON THE VERGE, by Ariella Papa.
THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE, by C.S. Lewis.
A LITTLE CHANGE OF FACE, by Lauren Baratz-Logsted.
THE SEA, by John Banville.
Of course, we're not going to mention the oddity of a dyke whose recent in store purchases consisted of a Harlequin romance (Doranna Durgin's new one SURVIVAL INSTINCT which I hightly recommend)and an apartment decor guide. I guess it says something when I follow good authors across genres.
I don't think your reading girl-on-guy romance is any different than my reading slasher suspense fic. I mean, I don't *think* I'm going to head out after anyone with a murderous implement any time soon... :-)
And I've got a question - why are Red Dress books "literature and fiction" and not "romance"?