Tuesday, May 26, 2009

New York--In Real Life and Books!

So Noel (that's Mr. Reader) and I just returned from a trip to New York City, and boy was it wonderful.  I often feel like I read a lot of books set in the Big Apple, so it's good to get to see the places I've read so much about.  I'm working on putting together a little post on the reading related sites we saw in NYC, but for now I simply have a New York themed review for you!


I finished "The Late, Lamented Molly Marx" immediately before we left for New York, and I kept thinking I spotted characters from it as we tooled around the city.  It could just be that Koslow does a good job capturing the city, or that I really enjoyed the book, but it made the trip a little more fun imagining the characters in the city this past weekend.  And now for the actual review...

"The Late, Lamented Molly Marx" features the title character retelling portions of her life and observing the actions of the people she loved from the Duration--her version of the afterlife. Molly slowly unfolds the path that led her to be Mrs. Marx, a mother, and ultimately a woman involved with another man. As she, along with the people she is still following on earth, find out how she died Molly discovers who she really was in life, along with her strengths, weaknesses, and friendships. 

Although from the summary it sounds like "Molly Marx" might be totally depressing, this book is actually funny, warm, and at times touching. The emotion the author describes as Molly looks down on those she left on earth feels real, and the story offers an interesting technique for the author to use to allow a woman to consider her life as a whole, including her faults. The characters were not all likable, which made them all more realistic. I really enjoyed this book, and the way the author unfolded the story, even if I wish it had ended slightly differently. 

I would recommend this as a good summer beach read. It's a quick read and a great example of smart chick lit.




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