Light reading with substance

The Man of My Dreams

I first picked up this book because I read Curtis Sittenfeld's book "Prep" and really enjoyed it. Overall, I think I liked "Prep" better than this one, but this was still a good read. I know that from the title, it sounds all, "OMG I had a turbulent romantic history but true love will prevail!" but it's not really like that. I thought the characters came across as very real, complex, and relatable. What I really like about Sittenfeld's books is that they're really addicting and easy to read, but at the end I still feel like she has something of substance to say, which I really appreciate.

This is a book about a girl named Hannah and her ideas about love. It follows her from her junior high days up through her late twenties. I don't know how to easily sum up the plot, but I guess I'll just say it's about broken families, feeling abnormal, waiting, loneliness, and things not going according to plan. In the beginning, I thought I wasn't going to like it, because the junior high part feels a little... well, distant, I suppose, but after that it really picks up. Also, I thought the ending could have been stretched out a bit more. Everything was just wrapped up in letter form, which I didn't really like. But! These are just minor complaints. 7.5 pretzel bites.

KAY