4.25.2010

NY Challenge

The Spare Wife: A NovelI finished my book for the New York Challenge!  I read The Spare Wife by Alex Witchel.  I bought the book for $1 at the Penguin-Putnam warehouse sale. **If you have never been to one of their sales, you are missing out!  You can walk in with $100 and walk out with 95+ books!... almost my entire classroom library is built once a year at the Kirkwood branch sale!** 
The Spare Wife is about a rich widow living in New York and enjoying a fast life.  She is best friends with all the wives- helping them plan parties, having lunch, and shopping.  On the flip side, she is also best friends with all the husbands- going to sporting events, talking politics, and playing golf.  Ponce Morris is stunning- yet no one sees her as a threat.  She doesn't want children, she hates marriage, and no one seems good enough for her.  But as everyone lets their guard down around her, one girl becomes obsessed.
Babette Steele is an assistant at one of Ponce's best friends place of work.  Babette meets Ponce at a fabulous dinner party and falls in love with her- she wants to be Ponce.  However, Ponce doesn't have the time of day to show some young girl the ropes of the City.  Unfortunately for Ponce, Babette quickly turns her love of Ponce into an obsessive cut throat hatred.  Babette is out for blood.
Ponce has something to hide.  Her perfect life has one really big lie, and Babette is about to leak it to the world.  Everyone let their guard down and befriended Ponce.  Wives let their husbands go out for drinks with Ponce.  Did they all lead their husbands down a path of temptation?  Only Babette knows the truth, and she is about to throw a wrench in this tight circle of friends.

Overall, I enjoyed this book.  I found it to be a brainless read (and I mean that in a positive light!).  The Spare Wife was interesting and fast paced - just like life in the City.  It also threw me for a loop- I really wasn't too quick to figure all the pieces out.  The novel showed both the lavish side of New York and the dark side.  Life in the fast lane is scary- money cannot buy happiness.  New York has always been a great backdrop for fun reading... but Witchel didn't hesitate to show the reality of New York too.
I would suggest this book to anyone looking for a light read that isn't all fluff!


Now... on to the next one..
As some of you may know, April is National Poetry Month!  In honor of poetry, Jill at FizzyThoughts has made the New York April Mini-Challenge quite challenging!  She pushed us to write a poem about New York!  I love love love cinquains, so here goes:

City
Dangerous, Glamourous
Living, Loving, Learning
This is New York
Metro


Hope you have a splendid night!... I will be back soon with more reviews (and updates- I'm moving!)

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

5 comments:

  1. The book sounds good, but the warehouse sale sounds even better!

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  2. There's definitely something to be said for brainless reads!

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  3. Ack! And I forgot to applaud your poem!

    *applause*

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  4. LIKE the poem. Congrats on winning!

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  5. Thanks for your review - I have this book on the shelf to read.

    I think that warehouse sale would be dangerous for me!

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