Tag Archives: Sex & The City

My 200th Post!!!

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Just after I completely re-designed my blog, I’ve hit another major milestone: my 200th post! Granted, it’s almost been two years since launching Book Club Babe, and I could have achieved this months ago, but meet my excuses: Moving Out, Full-Time Job, and Who-Am-I-Kidding-I’ve-Been-On-A-Game-Of-Thrones-Bender-Because-Brace-Yourselves-Winter-Is-Coming-In-Only-6-More-Days!!!

Damn right LotR cross-over meme! Tyrion Lannister FTW!

Can you tell I’m excited for Sunday?! (Seriously, though, I haven’t read the books–yet, but the HBO series is freaking fantastic! Jump onto the bandwagon!)

Anywho, I’d like to celebrate my 200th post with a haphazard list of links to literary stuff I’ve been interested in. Don’t think I haven’t been keeping up with the news–it’s just that “keeping up” and “blogging about” are more like long-lost cousins than identical twins.

First off, here’s a reminder of the book adaptation blockbusters, coming to a theater near you this year:

  1. May 10 – The Great Gatsby
  2. June 21 – World War Z
  3. Aug 10 – Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
  4. Oct 18 – Carrie
  5. Nov 1 – Ender’s Game
  6. Nov 22 – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
  7. Dec 13 – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Also, in non-Game-of-Thrones related TV news, I’ve given up on “The Carrie Diaries.” I was really excited before it premiered, because I’m obsessed with watching re-runs of “Sex and the City,” but now? Meh. Stopped watching after five or six episodes. Wide-eyed, innocent teenage Carrie is not nearly as much fun as sexy, confident 30-something Carrie, especially when her equally awesome friends aren’t in the picture yet.

Raise your hand if you’d rather be watching “Game of Thrones!”

Not to mention, the dialogue is stale, the plots are cliche, and the ‘bad boy’ is not hot enough to keep me interested, a la Chuck Bass in “Gossip Girl.” Granted, two of the executive producers of “The Carrie Diaries,” Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz, were also behind the making of “Gossip Girl,” but in that show of NYC’s elite, they didn’t even attempt to follow the books, which sucked. “The Carrie Diaries” also kinda sucked, so tell me again why these two are attempting to adhere to it this time?

You know what would make this teeny-bopper show better? DRAGONS.

Now that’s what I’m talking about!

Ok, ok, I’ll stop. Last two links:

Here’s a lovely post from Qwiklit on “50 Reasons You Should be a Bookworm.”

And here’s “A Brief History of Book Vending Machines” over at HuffPo. Seriously?! Book vending machines? Awesome!

Any other literary news you’d like to add? Just stopped by to reveal your GoT addiction? Anything goes today!

Weekend Goodies: “Carrie Diaries” Trailer and some book snob memes!

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It’s my first day as an alumna from Fresno State, and I feel fantastic! My friends and family have been so supportive, and even though I’m nervous about taking steps into the ‘real world,’ I’ve never felt happier, and I can’t wait to conquer life my way! I’m so excited to see what the future has in store for me!

One thing I’m looking forward to, as you all know, is the premiere of “The Carrie Diaries” on the CW. The trailer debuted yesterday, so take a peek:

My first impressions are that this show will be a total teenage guilty pleasure, full of naivete about the big, bad world out there. It actually combines both book prequels The Carrie Diaries and Summer and the City, but I already know that the CW won’t follow the plot-lines exactly.

And that’s not a bad thing, given that the show “Gossip Girl” completely kicked the book series in the behind. Plus, it looks like the show offers more diversity, since there weren’t any Asians or African-Americans in the novels. Yay for multi-culturalism!

So overall, it will be complete fluff, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be entertaining!

Now for a shout-to another book blog. I noticed that Insatiable Booksluts had tweeted about Snobbery’s post “What It Means to be a Book Snob.” I hope they don’t mind me sharing these hilarious Condescending Wonka memes, because I think you guys will totally relate!

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Please support this wonderful blog Snobbery and check out the rest of the memes! And share any book-related funnies you find on the interwebz! Spread the LOLs!!!

Book Review: Summer and the City

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Image via HarperTeen

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Hello readers! I’m officially writing my first book review post-LASIK! For those who care, my surgery went well and although my vision’s slightly blurry, that should pass. I have to wear eye shields at night and take a ton of drops during the day for a while, but I’m healing fast and loving life without glasses! It will take some getting used to, but I’m looking forward to starting 2012 with a brand new perspective (literally)!

Ok, for those who don’t care, on to the book review! I just finished Candace Bushnell’s Summer and the City, the sequel to her prequel The Carrie Diaries, which I received as a birthday present last year. This novel follows Carrie Bradshaw (protagonist of the oh-so-popular TV show “Sex and the City”) as she spends the summer in New York before her freshman year at Brown.

As Carrie attends a writing workshop, she lives in Samantha Jones’ apartment, since Samantha is too preoccupied with her fiance Charlie at his place (any SATC viewer knows this engagement won’t last a second). Soon she meets Miranda Hobbes, the romantically disillusioned pro-life activist/feminist. Carrie gets carried away (pun intended) by all that NYC has to offer: shopping, parties, men, and the promise of a brighter future.

Unfortunately, as much as I loved Carrie in the TV show, she’s a pretty obnoxious 17-year-old in this book. She was pretty immature and naive in The Carrie Diaries, but it’s obvious she hasn’t grown a bit. In fact, with a newly stroked ego when it comes to her writing abilities, she’s downright pompous.

She foolishly gets involved with a recently-divorced 30-something playwright named Bernard Singer. Bernard just wants a little sex pet, but Carrie believes he’s “The One” and proceeds to lie about her age, call him every 30 minutes, and make a complete joke out of herself.

There are blatant inconsistencies between the books and the show, mainly about Carrie’s de-virginization story. But when the climax of a novel coincides with a character’s first climax, you know there’s not much substance. Technically, this book’s considered young-adult, but I worry that teenage girls are going to get the wrong ideas about love and life.

Carrie and her friends were horrible role models when they were young (and many would argue, even in their 30′s), so read this story for entertainment, not instructional, purposes. Don’t believe everything people say, don’t have sex out of peer pressure, and DON’T drop out of school for a life in a big city thinking you can rely on sheer willpower. Trust me, get an education and a job–the big city will still be there when you’ve gained some experience.

So unless you’re a hardcore “Sex and the City” fan, pass this book up. Carrie’s just a self-centered, misguided twit, and there’s too many novels out there with more worthy female leads. I’m about to start Crossed, the sequel to Ally Condie’s Matched, so I hope main character Cassia proves stronger and smarter than miss Carrie Bradshaw.

Book Review: The Carrie Diaries

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Image via Wikipedia

Rating: 4 out of 5

This review is thanks to one of my best friends, who gave me this prequel to Sex and the City for my birthday. The book, written by Candace Bushnell and published April of last year, describes the teenage life of Carrie Bradshaw and her friends at Castlebury High in Connecticut.

I love the show “Sex and the City” and frequently get sucked into marathons on TV, so this was the perfect gift. I was a little disappointed that Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte don’t make appearances, but I knew that they didn’t know each other in high school (not to mention, Samantha is much older than the others). Thus, I jumped into the book to learn more about Carrie and her first steps to becoming the sassy sex-columnist in New York whom fans adore.

The story follows Carrie’s struggles with her friends, relatives, and–of course–boys. She falls head over heels for new guy Sebastian Kydd, but unfortunately so does every other girl, including queen bee Donna  LaDonna and bitchy frenemy Lali.

(Yes, one of the book’s weaknesses is its outrageous character names. One of Carrie’s friends is just referred to as ‘The Mouse’ with little explanation as to why. I just tried to ignore it.)

The plot was pretty predictable, but then again, most young adult novels are. But what I loved about this prequel was how realistic it was. Sure, all their smoking, underage drinking, and sleeping around was frustrating–and not reflective of my own high school experiences–but all their antics were believable. And the back-stabbing, rumor-milling, and clique-hopping was exactly how I remembered it when I was a senior myself five years ago.

The shining star, though, is Carrie’s witty insight. She’s actually quite smart and mature for her age, and although she gets fooled by the people around her, she reflects on her life with humor and charm. She still has a lot to learn about dating and making friends, but as the reader, you feel like she’ll catch on pretty quickly. Her determination to become a writer no matter what anyone says is something I can connect to, and I kept cheering her on the entire way because I know exactly where she’ll end up!

This book won’t be as appealing to people unfamiliar with “Sex and the City,” but if you’re a fanatic like me, this is a light-hearted, entertaining read. I’ll definitely buy its sequel Summer and the City soon!