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Bridget Jones’s Baby

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Bridget Jones’s Baby
by Helen Fielding

Unlike many of my other book posts on here, which are children’s books or young adult, this one is definitely rated R.  There’s language and adult topics, so just be forewarned.

Bridget Jones’s Baby follows the story of Bridget ending up pregnant at an “older,” although undisclosed, age.  The main trouble is that she doesn’t know who the father is.  If you’ve seen the movie version, the main difference is that Daniel Cleaver is one of the potential fathers in the book.

One of my favorite themes of this book is the line that keeps popping up from both Bridget and her mother, but which is probably felt all around–“This isn’t how it was supposed to be.”  I think one of the biggest lessons of motherhood, for me, is that we can’t plan how it’s going to turn out.  I try my best sometimes, I really do, but as I learned very early on in the journey, there’s no way to make it be what I planned, for better or worse.  And I really love that Bridget learns to embrace that.  She accepts the situation and keeps loving her baby and moving forward.  I love the hilarity of it all, but the scenes with Bridget and her dad are my favorites.

I’ve read the first two Bridget Jones books, and I was so upset at Mark’s death in the third (which takes place after this 4th one) that I couldn’t bring myself to read it.  After some poking around, I’m still a little unclear as to whether this book of Bridget Jones’s Baby was written before or after the movie.  During my research, I became side-tracked reading reviews, which I normally don’t let myself do, but the general consensus of this book seemed to be that people felt it was not up to par with the first three, nor with the movie version of it.  People brought up good points, and etc. etc.  But my personal take here is that these books are just fun.  And, I am not trying to downplay them at all by saying that.  I love the books AND, rare as it is for me to like movie versions, the movies too.  But I read and watch them as an escape and an opportunity to laugh out loud.  And that is what this one has been for me.  A quick, fun and funny read about the lovable and very human Bridget Jones.  So, if you’d like to examine the book and find faulty plot points or whatnot, don’t read it.  If you want a good laugh with your old friend Bridget, then I think you’ll really enjoy it.

Ever After: Book of Legends

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Ever After: Book of Legends
by Shannon Hale

At Ever After High, the students are all descendants of fairy tale characters.  In their 2nd year of school, they will sign the Book of Legends.  This book binds them to carry out their roles in the stories we know so well, as their parents did before them and so on and so on back in time. But Raven, daughter of the Evil queen from the “Snow White” tale, doesn’t like the idea of being stuck as the evil character of this story.  As Raven questions whether to “be good” by signing the book and agreeing to her fate of being bad or being rebellious so she can be good, her new friend, and potential future target, Apple White, tries her best to convince Raven to go ahead and sign on to the agreed-upon story.  Apple wants her happy ending, even if it means a poisoned apple along the way. 

I was initially drawn to Shannon Hale many years ago by judging one of her books by its cover.  With Ever After, however, I avoided it because of its cover.  But since we’ve been all things Shannon Hale in our house of late (and I love her work), I gave it a try.  It wasn’t until after reading it, I learned the backstory of how this book came about.  It was a concept created by Mattel to pair with its Monsters High line.  But, regardless of origin, and my aversion to the Bratz-style art, I always enjoy Ms. Hale’s books, and this was no exception.   The book is definitely geared towards teens, and perhaps reluctant readers, but the story was good.  I really enjoyed the age-old idea of deciding whether to embrace the familiarity and comfort of the life you’re expected to live vs. choosing to “write your own story,” even if it means you don’t know where it will lead.  (I’m also a complete sucker for puns, and this book is full of them.)

This book is a series, and I haven’t read the others yet.  And while it may not be for everyone, I thought it was an enjoyable read.

Anne of Windy Poplars

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Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery

The Anne books are among my favorites ever!  I’ve reread Anne of Green Gables and Anne of the Island too many times to count.  But some of the books in the series, I’m less familiar with.  I’ve only read Anne of Windy Poplars maybe three times now. 

In this fourth book of the series, Anne and Gilbert are already officially engaged, but Anne is away in Summerside working for three years as a high school principal and Gilbert is a medical student in Kingsport.  Although we are only hearing from Anne, much of the book is written as letters from her to Gilbert.  Anne is older now, in her twenties, and so while she remains the same lovable Anne who is so genuinely and deeply alive in this world and is able to warm the hearts of even the sourest of folks, she also has the beginnings of a calmness and wisdom that isn’t present in the earlier books.  I love that this book basically consists of many mini stories within Anne’s years in Summerside.  It’s a wonderful part of this most magnificent series and, as with all the Anne books, has about a zillion quotes, I simply must pull from the book.

Journey

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Journey (2013) by Aaron Becker

This wordless picture book tells the story of a young girl who, feeling ignored by her busy family, draws a door in her bedroom to escape into new lands.  Using her red crayon to save herself from dead ends and near disasters, she finds adventures and even a new friend.

This beautifully illustrated book won a 2014 Caldecott Honor.  Quest and Return are the other two books in this trilogy.