59. The Bright Side of Disaster

This one was predictable but still a cute, quick and good read. I recommend it. :)

Here's a review from B&N:

Ditched by her partner right before she gives birth, a young mother must decide whether to take him back or give a new love interest. In the realm of adult responsibilities, Houstonian Jenny Harris knows her fiance, Dean Murphy, comes up short. A retirement-benefits analyst who performs in a half-baked cover band, Dean still receives monthly checks from his well-heeled parents, smokes more than he should and moons over other women. He meets Jenny, in fact, while chasing a friend of hers, but when that doesn't pan out, they settle into a live-in relationship, and he proposes marriage. Getting pregnant before the wedding, Jenny frets about Dean's ambivalence toward impending fatherhood, especially after his peculiar response to a pretty coworker's death. While Jenny quits her job at an antiques store and organizes a garage sale to prepare for their child, Dean clings to band practice and gigs at local dives. One night he walks out, leaving her with a breakup note and a baby due any minute. Daughter Maxie brings unexpected joys and burdens, which newly single Jenny shoulders with the support of her divorced parents, best friend Meredith, other mothers from her childbirth class and an attractive neighbor named John Gardner. A pediatric nephrologist who has taken up renovating and selling houses, John has an uncanny knack for appearing when Jenny needs him most. Nurturing, attentive and good with Maxie, he keeps Jenny company in a blackout and paints her garage when she decides to start an antiques business. His unobtrusive courtship culminates in an evening of margaritas and salsa dancing. But then Dean returns, seeking reconciliation. Jenny's decision will come as no surprise, but this debutnovel offers credible descriptions of first-time motherhood, affecting characters and situations and low-key charm.

58. Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl Learned from Judy Blume

I've read novels by more then half of the authors that contributed essays to this book and after reading the essays I can see where a lot of the ideas for the novels came from. This was a good read, although I do think it had a few too many essays... by the end everyones story seemed a bit the same and I feel like I skimmed through the latter ones and didn't enjoy them nearly as much as the first few essays. Overall though, a good read and a must for anyone who was a Judy Blume fan!

Here's a review from B&N:

For millions of American girls growing up, Judy Blume's awkward, self-conscious characters became surrogates, allies, and comforters in their silent struggles. The 24 essays of Everything I Needed to Know about Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume honor an unconventional mentor who has entertained readers even as she teaches them. The topics touched here are as wide and deep as Blume's fiction: divorce, bullying, peer pressure, menstruation, weight issues, sibling rivalry, and racism. The contributors include Meg Cabot, Beth Kendrick, Julie Kenner, and Cara Lockwood.

57. Queen of Babble in the Big City

This is the sequel to the Queen of Babble, and another cute, fun and smart book by Meg Cabot. It's a fast read full of current references and real life dilemas punched up a notch to make them the stuff of chick lit. This one ended with a cliff hanger which means a third Queen of Babble book is sure to follow!

Here's a description from B&N.com:

Lizzie Nichols is back, pounding the New York City pavement and looking for a job, a place to live, and her proper place in the universe (not necessarily in that order).

When "Summer Fling" Luke uses the L word (Living Together), Lizzie is only too happy to give up her plan of being postgrad roomies with best friend, Shari, in a one-room walk-up in exchange for cohabitation with the love of her life in his mother's Fifth Avenue pied-à-terre, complete with doorman and resident Renoir.

But Lizzie's not as lucky in her employment search. As Shari finds the perfect job, Lizzie struggles through one humiliating interview after another, being judged overqualified for the jobs in her chosen field—vintage-gown rehab—and underqualified for everything else. It's Shari's boyfriend Chaz to the rescue when he recommends Lizzie for a receptionist's position at his father's posh law firm. The nonpaying gig at a local wedding-gown shop Lizzie manages to land all on her own.

But Lizzie's notoriously big mouth begins to get her into trouble at work and at home almost at once—first at the law firm, where she becomes too chummy with Jill Higgins, a New York society bride with a troublesome future mother-in-law, and then back on Fifth Avenue, when she makes the mistake of bringing up the M word (Marriage) with commitment-shy Luke.
Soon Lizzie finds herself jobless as well as homeless all over again. Can Lizzie save herself—and the hapless Jill—and find career security (not to mention a mutually satisfying committed relationship) at last?

56. The Good Neighbor

This was another really good find at the bargain bookstore. A mix of history and the present and the story told from both the husband and wife's very varied perspectives. I really liked this one a lot and definitely recommend it.

Here's a review from B&N.com:

In his fourth novel (after The Adventures of Flash Jackson), Kowalski tells the story of Francie and Coltrane Hart, who buy a large, 150-year-old house in rural Pennsylvania, initially as a retreat from their life in Manhattan. The new environment appeals greatly to Francie, an intelligent woman longing to revive a talent for poetry that's been dormant since she began taking psychotropic medication. For Colt, a successful stock trader whose main pleasure in life is work, the house is a way to impress his co-workers. The history of their new abode's original tenants is revealed in physical remnants and via nearby neighbor Randy Flebberman, who has looked after the place for the 25 years that it has been uninhabited. While Francie and Flebberman work to befriend each another, Colt remains difficult and insensitive. Ultimately, a clash of values occurs, with dramatic and enlightening results. Kowalski, a gifted storyteller, pulls the reader in, making this book hard to put down. His use of historical digressions also creates a compelling story-within-a-story. While the dialog at times seems mundane and clich d, the characters do rise above stereotypes, and Kowalski succeeds in creating a novel that flows effortlessly.

55. Around the Next Corner

This was a discount bookstore find and a great one at that. I really enjoyed it and thouroughly recommend it.

Here's the description from B&N -

For Deena Munger, the transformation to underappreciated housewife was subtle and gradual. Not that she didn't love her family dearly, but Deena was starting to wonder: When did I disappear? And how come I never even noticed? Then one day she stuns her family by volunteering to raise a puppy for K-9 Eyes for the Blind. Suddenly, Deena's once-stable life is turned upside down. And, it turns out, this rambunctious, impulsive ball of fur could actually be the damage control she needs to save her family, her marriage, and her self.

54. The Friends We Keep

The cover of this one and the description on the back were a bit deceptive, making it seem a bit more serious and a bit more like it was a life long friendship that the story was chronicling. That wasn't the case, and the resulting book was OK but nothing spectacular.

Here's a description from B&N -

Meet Sophie, Eva, and John. In college, they did everything together. Then they drifted apart.

Now, twenty years later, they're about to reunite to compare lives, talk about the past, and plan for the future. But will it bring them closer together or tear them apart?

Sophie was accustomed to living her life on the straight and narrow path. She married an MBA, morphing into the perfect wife and soccer mom. Now, with her son grown and her divorce final, she can finally become the woman she was meant to be—whoever she is.

Eva's passionate temperament was certain to lead her down the road to becoming a poet—not an aggressive, sophisticated advertising executive with a trail of lovers in her wake. Smart, powerful, and too busy for anything deeper than sex, Eva likes everything on a temporary basis, until she meets a hot, young thing who could destroy the only friendships she truly treasures.

As a selfless lawyer, John gives his all to pro bono work, never thinking about his own life. He'll get to marriage and kids later. Besides, there's only one woman he's ever been truly crazy about, and for twenty years, he's carried that torch painfully alone. Or has he?
What starts as a warm reunion soon gives way to old insecurities, hidden passions, romantic misadventures, new secrets, and shocking betrayal.

With The Friends We Keep, Holly Chamberlin introduces three friends who could be your own in a winning novel about growing up, moving on, and keeping close to those who remind us of where we've been and where we still hope to go.

53. Second Chance

While the online reviews aren't so great, I enjoyed this one. It is not like the chicklit of Jane Green's past and I think that's a good thing. I liked the mix of characters, the mix of voices and the real life story. Yes, it was a lot of drama impacting a lot of people all, but more and more I'm thinking that is real life too.

I couldn't find a description on B&N.com so here is a review from Amazon:

Tom Fitzgerald, a Brit living in the States, is only 39 when he kisses his wife and children good-bye and boards a doomed train. In the wake of his death, his friends, some of whom haven't seen in each other in nearly two decades, come together to remember him. Despite one night of passion, Holly and Tom remained best friends, and she thinks she is content with her picture-perfect life despite a lack of love for her husband until she reconnects with Tom's charismatic, introspective younger brother. Olivia takes a chance on a man Tom set her up with shortly before he died. An actress in L.A., Saffron has fallen in love with one of Hollywood's sexiest stars, but she is growing tired of waiting for him to leave his loveless marriage. Paul and Anna couldn't love each other more, but her inability to conceive a child mars their happy marriage. Peopled with her trademark likable, sympathetic characters, Green's latest is sure to have wide appeal.

52. I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell

You know how sometimes you start reading a book and you don't really like it, but you've invested the time to read 25, 50, 100 pages already so you feel like you need to just keep going. That was how I felt about this book. I wasn't offended as the sign at B&N predicited I might be, and I did think parts were funny, but overall, it was pretty much a waste of time.

Here's the description:

My name is Tucker Max, and I am an asshole. I get excessively drunk at inappropriate times, disregard social norms, indulge every whim, ignore the consequences of my actions, mock idiots and posers, sleep with more women than is safe or reasonable, and just generally act like a raging dickhead. But, I do contribute to humanity in one very important way: I share my adventures with the world.

—from the Introduction

Actual reader feedback:

"I am completely baffled as to how you can congratulate yourself for being a womanizer and a raging drunk, or think anyone cares about an idiot like you. Do you really think that exploiting the insecurities of others while getting wasted is a legitimate thing to offer?"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you-for sharing with us your wonderful tales of drunken revelry, for teaching me what it means to be a man, for just existing so I know that there is another option; I too can say `screw the system' and be myself and have fun. My life truly began when I finished reading your stories. Now, when faced with a quandary about what course of action I should take, I just ask myself, `What Would Tucker Do?'-and I do it, and I am a better man for it."

"I find it truly appalling that there are people in the world like you. You are a disgusting, vile, repulsive, repugnant, foul creature. Because of you, I don't believe in God anymore. No just God would allow someone like you to exist."

"I'll stay with God as my lord, but you are my savior. I just finished reading your brilliant stories, and I laughed so hard I almost vomited. I want to bring that kind of joy to people. You're an artist of the highest order and a true humanitarian to boot. I'm in bothshock and awe at how much I want to be you."

"You are the coolest person I can even imagine existing. If you slept with my girlfriend, it'd make me love her more."

Tucker Max received his B.A. from the University of Chicago, where he graduated in 1998. He attended Duke Law School on an academic scholarship, where he graduated with a J.D. in 2001 (despite the fact that he neglected to buy any of his textbooks for his final two years and spent part of one semester-while still enrolled in classes-living in Cancun). Tucker is purportedly the reason Duke dropped from 7 to 11 in the USN&WR rankings during his tenure.

51. Wine, Tarts & Sex

This was a so so romance novel. It had cute parts and the overall storyline was pretty good... it was quite graphic at times, I guess I should have expected it from the title, but somehow didn't being that it was on the "Paperback Favorites" table at B&N...

here's a review from B&N.com:

Successful west coast chef Jake Chambers needs a breather from the hectic Southern California cuisine scene so he buys Chaz Burnett’s Minnesota restaurant with plans of bringing a class establishment to an area where he spent summers visiting his aunt. He decides to give himself six months for this labor of love. Olivia “Liz” Bell quit modeling once she had enough money to live her life in comfort and to open up a local Minnesota winery. When she comes to deliver an order to Chaz, she meets Jake instead. They immediately are attracted to one another, which surprises both of them. Jake asks to stay for dinner and talk, but quickly realizes he cannot stop himself from kissing her. They rush upstairs to the apartment above the restaurant where they make love all night. Soap opera star Janie Tabor calls Liz to tell her she is coming from New York with her three years old son Matt as her wealthy husband Leo Rolf plans to file for divorce to include custody of their offspring. Jake used to live with Janie until she abruptly left for the soaps in New York. Leo orders private investigator Roman Novak to bring back his son. As Liz and Jake fall in love, she learns he looks down at her wine. --- This entertaining romantic suspense will have readers believe falling in lust at first sight by the likable lead couple is normal as the sex is well handled (no pun intended) and only graphically described whereas Roman and Janie have their trysts off-page. Although suspense is unneeded as the lead pair only become involved because they mutually know Janie and the focus of the danger and their relationship would have gone down the same course regardless, fans will toast Susan Johnson with wine served with tarts and sex.

50. Bed Rest

This was a quick, cute read today at B&N.

Here's a description:

In a charming and witty novel, Sarah Bilston tells the story of a busy career woman who finds her pregnancy a breeze -- until she's ordered off her feet for complete and total bed rest.
Quinn "Q" Boothroyd is a young British lawyer married to an American and living in New York City. She's checked off most of the boxes on her "Modern Woman's List of Things to Do Before Hitting 30," and her busy working life has been relatively painless. But when her doctor tells her she must spend the last three months of her pregnancy lying in bed, Q is thrown into a tailspin. Initially bored and frustrated, Q's days soon fill up as she tries to reconnect with her workaholic husband, provide legal advice for her sweet Greek neighbor, find romance for a loyal co-worker, forge new emotional bonds with her mother and sisters, and figure out who will keep her stocked up in cookies and sandwiches.

Q experiences adventures on the couch she never would have encountered in the law firm, and learns a lot about herself and what she wants out of life -- above all about the little one growing inside of her.

49. Eating Heaven

This was a really really good read. Pretty emotional, happy at times and really sad at others. I highly recommend it.

Here's the B&N description:

Nothing gets Eleanor Samuels's heart racing like a double scoop of mocha fudge chunk. Sure, the magazine writer may have some issues aside from food, but she isn't quite ready to face them. Then her beloved Uncle Benny falls ill, and what at first seems scary and daunting becomes a blessing in disguise. Because while she cooks and cares for him-and enjoys a delicious flirtation with a new chef in town-Eleanor begins to uncover some long-buried secrets about her emotionally frayed family and may finally get the chance to become the woman she's always wanted to be.