Reading is by far my favorite

If you don't know by now, I really admire the Irish writer Cecelia Ahern. Not only is she writing a hit tv show, but she also has four published novels, a few short stories found in various collections, and two films based on her novels (one out now and the other out later this year, possibly staring Wolverine.) Did I mention that she's not even two years older than me?

I just finished her third novel, If You Could See Me Now and was completely thrown off by her slight change in genre. The thing I like about Ahern is that she writes chick lit well. I'm not a huge chick lit fan, it's very hard for me to find one that's actually...good. Mindy Kaling says it best in her blog:

For every one "Bridget Jones' Diary" there are 100 terrible, terrible books, like "Babysitting for the Barney's Blonde" or "Thirty-Nine, Single, and Manolo" or whatever.

With that, i'm usually very skeptical about reading chick lit. But not with Ahern. Her books are fun, interesting, and lively. She lets you love the characters and grow with them as the story progresses. And you always feel something, which I like best. Her new book, though, takes the romance theme and adds magic. The book is about a middle aged woman who lives with her adopted nephew. She is strict and unyielding--she does not let people in. When her nephew starts talking about an imaginary friend, she gets irritated. Yet, when she starts seeing this imaginary friend, well, things get interesting.

At first, I was disappointed that she veered into the fantasy genre, but as I read the book, I almost understood it. Whether it's her way of sticking out in the sea of similar chick novels, or just her writing what she enjoys, it works. And although it was hard to get into at first, ultimately I enjoyed the novel. The imaginary aspect of it made you remember what it was like to feel invincible and live without fear nor limits. It made me want to run through a field and pick flowers.

And all good novels should make you want to do that, right?

Guess i'm off to get her newest novel now!