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September 1 2008: Reviews In Ten Words: August 2008

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Non-Fiction

  1. Charlotte Chandler - Not The Girl Next Door (Joan Crawford, A Personal Biography): Complete opposite of “Mommie Dearest”, read both for full portrait.
  2. David Mendell - Obama: From Promise To Power: Definitely a pro biography, with not much balance in cons.
  3. Sean Smith - Jennifer, the Unauthorised Biography: Light and inconsequential, most details taken from tabloids and Wikipedia.
  4. Xinran - What The Chinese Don’t Eat: Collection of Guardian articles exploring the modern Chinese female identity.

Fiction

  1. Cecelia Ahern - Thanks For The Memories: Like all subsequent novels, not quite “P.S. I Love You”.
  2. Elizabeth Aston - The True Darcy Spirit: Barely related to canon, portrait of an independent Regency heroine.
  3. Louise Candlish - Since I Don’t Have You: From ink on pages, loss and grief enters your soul.
  4. Leslie Carroll - Choosing Sophie: Questions of genetic connections and environment, amongst burlesque and baseball.
  5. Georgette Heyer - Pistols For Two: Short stories give quick soundbites of happily cliched Regency romance.
  6. Nicola Kraus & Emma McLaughlin - Citizen Girl: Sacrifice your morals in the big city and corporate world.
  7. Paul Magrs - Never The Bride: Bemusing combination of supernatural elements and lively senior citizen frolics.
  8. Christine Matthews (editor) - Deadly Housewives: It’s true: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
  9. Fidelis Morgan - The Rival Queens: Excellently discreet tongue-in-cheek references for the modern reader.

Movies

  1. 12 Monkeys (1995): Mind-bending plot twists, straight from the dark imagination of Gilliam.
  2. Baby Mama (2008): Suck shit Christopher Hitchens, who says female comedians aren’t funny?
  3. Employee of the Month (2006): Mindless entertainment of the physical comedy variety. B-list Frat Pack.
  4. John Tucker Must Die (2006): Coterie of B-list actresses star in a B-list teen comedy.
  5. Just Like Heaven (2005): Much better than the short chick lit novel, believably sweet.

2 Responses to “Reviews In Ten Words: August 2008”

  1. Thanks for the list :)

    monkee on September 1 2008 #

  2. I’ll have to find Pistols for Two, it sounds exactly like something I’d love.

    Reply: You’ll have to find all of Georgette Heyer’s novels - she specialises in corny Regency romances. I love them!

    Carmen on September 1 2008 #

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