No glory holes in this book. 

Alice Clayton wrote one of the best-worst chic lit books that I've read in a long time.

And by worst I mean there is stuff in there that made me blush in a way that I hadn't since the 50 Shades series.

I feel like this book is The Bachelor meets San Francisco meets delusion. I don't know. I've lived in an apartment complex for a while now, and I haven't heard any wall banging (unless someone is literally drilling a hole to hang up a picture) and I haven't seen any hotties roaming the halls.

Maybe I should move.

Back to the book. There's the main character, Caroline, who moves into this amazing apartment courtesy of her boss. She's in the midst of getting unpacked and settled and ready for bed on her first night there, when she finds herself in an impromptu late night fight with her neighbour, who is a little busy and therefore blissfully unaware that an altercation is taking place at all. Of course there's moaning. Of course there's a wall involved. And banging. Hence the name of the book.

She realizes that the culprit is a hottie mctottie who is wall-banging not one, but three different women folk, all of different shapes and sizes (well done, Alice).

Of course they meet and of course they have a Harry Met Sally Met Ross and Rachel type of introduction. They are oh so witty and oh so hot for eachother. So, naturally, they remain friends, but there's lots of slipping of the Freud. Through this friendship courting, they learn a lot about each other and realize there are things that they like (i.e. she bakes him bread and he protects her after a night of watching scary movies). They end up falling in love and decide to try and make the jump from neighbour to friends to more than friends. He decides he doesn't want to have sister wives anymore (okay, he never did) and she decides that she can tame this bad boy. And of course, as is the case in real life (insert eye roll here), she totally changes his need to be with multiple women.

Despite all the cliches ... in all honesty, I was jealous of this made up story with this made up friendship turned hot and heavy romance. I was 50 Shades of green with envy. If you have a weekend to spare, read the book. It's quite cute and the banter in it is actually very easy to read and very witty.

And, Caroline's cat is named Clive, for God's sake. Also, did you check out that cover? Not that one should EVER judge a book by it's cover, but, um ... damn.

Everyone Is Beautiful

Back in December, I was contacted by Laura Ford, who is an editor at Random House Publishing. She must have come across my review of Katherine Center's first novel, because in her email, she asked if I would like to receive an early edition of Katherine's second novel. Her exact words were, "May I send you a galley?" My words back to her (although not exact) were "Hell yeah!"

So, I had the honour of having a reader's edition of this book. I would be lying if I said that I didn't excitedly wait for this book to arrive on my doorstep. The book itself didn't officially come out in bookstores until February 17th. And of course I urge you all to go to your nearest book store and purchase the book if you haven't already done so.

Without giving too much away, this book is about Lanie Coates who is a young wife and mother to three children. Her life is uprooted across the country when her husband gets accepted to a grad program for music (his dream).

Ever the supportive wife, she willingly packs up her life's belongings into a U-Haul to make the big move. Things are changing and it's never more apparent when she finds out that her parents have not only sold her childhood home, but are moving to a different country/time zone.

In an effort to make sense of her life (and find herself while she's at it), she decides to make some changes, including joining a gym and signing up for a photography class. While she is snapping photos of the world around her, her own little world is beginning to slowly come back into focus.

Of course this doesn't come easily. There are a few obstacles that she'll have to overcome ...

This was a great read and yet another winner by Katherine Center.

Radio On

Once upon a time, radio was a sound salvation. It played all the time, in the kitchen, in the bedroom, on the pool deck, in the car. The tinny pop chug-a-lug wired the air around it with bright-minded echoes of retro romance and fakey fun, filling up the empty blue space that envelops all suburbia with the simplest of all possible remedies for boredom: a beat. - Gina Arnold, Route 666

Sarah Vowell's first book, Radio On is a diary of sorts that documents her experiment: listening to the radio every day for a full year. To some, this may sound simple, but she doesn't simply listen, she engulfs it, understands it, and somehow becomes the radio. Listening to everything from the top ten hits to obscure Native American chants on AM stations, she documents every song and every commercial listened to. An interesting anthropological study of her, if nothing else.

The book was written in 1995, a year after Kurt Cobain passed away and that's what sets the the book on the first page. Being a long time fan of the band Nivana, Vowell discusses how the band didn't just play music, they influenced it, along with a generation of followers. Throughout the book she touches on other musicians she likes (Courtney Love, Smashing Pumpkins) and abhors (Alanis Morissette, Hootie and the Blowfish). She addresses the idea of selling out and how most bands are completely overplayed, leaving the radio full of repetition and nothing new.

As stated, she doesn't just listen to music. Being a great hater of Rush Limbaugh, she frequently tunes into his program to see what he's ranting about. It's an interesting social commentary, listening to her opinions of him, juxtaposed by her vision of Clinton and the time, a president who she didn't always agree with, but ultimately supported. Along the way, she tuned into NPR frequently, namechecking greats such as David Sedaris and Ira Glass (individuals who she later in her life became friends with and works with currently on the program This American LIfe).

What was most interesting to me wasn't just her analysis of the radio (which she, ultimately, gets sick of half way through, yet trudges through like any good writer would), but how the book is very dated. Taking place in 1995, she addresses radio and CDs as the only medium of music. In one scene, during an early recording of This American Life, she notes a new, unfamiliar piece of equipment, a minidisc. Ultimately, I'd love to know what Vowell thinks of the radio today. Although, mostly, it hasn't changed, we still have Rush, we still have repetative top ten hits, but it's not nearly as influential as it was back then. In days of sirius radio where you can listen to whatever you want whenever you want, ordinary channels seem out of date. And regarding politics, I wonder what she thinks of the situation nowadays, or what she thinks of Mrs. Clinton running (and losing) for the democratic candidate. 

As a long time Vowell fan, I will admit this was my least favorite of her few, however I did enjoy it. It was an interesting journey through the world of this medium, something that, admittedly, I rarely listen to. If nothing else, it inspired me. Inspired me to put down the itunes and ipod and turn on the radio for at least right now. Who knows what I'll find on it.