At least I can count on someone

After being recently disappointed by an author I thought I liked, I was very glad to be able to enjoy Jane Green's The Beach House. I have liked all of her other books, and this one is no exception.

It takes place at the beach, which I always love since it makes me feel all vacation-y and adds to the escapist summer reading feel.

It's one of those character driven, follow various people and their stories as they intersect and are eventually resolved books that are so often found in women's literature, but you generally like everyone in it and want to see things work out well for them.

The characters are great, and it has just the right amount of intrigue, romance, and gossip-y-ness. Plus I promise a happy ending for pretty much everyone involved.

Amnesia is fun

I can only assume that there are zillions of people who have had amnesia wandering around and I, through some fluke, have yet to meet one. That is the only way I can explain the fact that it is such a prevalent problem in books and movies.

Questionable premise aside, Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella is a great read.

I have consistently loved her other books, especially her Shopoholic series (despite its occasional cringe-y-ness) and was so pleased to find this book was no exception.

The main character wakes up with no memory of the last three years. She has to figure out her new life and the person she is and decide where she wants to go from there.

Enjoyable and recommended.

Vacation movie watching

Never one to be without a DVD player, Leisure Girl found time while in the DR to watch two movies.

Penelope was lovely. It has that fairy tale-esque quality that I love in any kind of entertainment. The people were all cute and it had the happy ending I require from everything in my life.

Jumper, on the other hand? Not so much. For a movie about people who can jump anywhere in the world, it was surprisingly dull. Hayden Christensen reminds me so much of Ryan Phillipe that I was surprised in each scene it wasn't him. His character is smug and self satisfied and quite unlikeable. And, two hours later, nothing had really happened and he movie was over. Definitely not recommended.

A new series - with magic, even

During my vacation reading, I stumbled along a fun new book. I was even happier to discover that it was part of a series. (A discovery that takes away that "I don't want to finish the book because then it will just be OVER" feeling).

Enchanted, Inc. is written by Shanna Swendson and is about Katie Chandler, a woman living in New York. In this book, magic is going on all around us (as I have long suspected) but most of us are completely fooled by it. Katie, however, has absolutely no magic and so can see what is really happening (frog princes, talking gargoyles, etc.)

She ends up teaming up with a magic business. Highjinks ensue, plus a crush.

Okay, it's not War and Peace, but it's a lot of fun.

Is it a cliche to like Project Runway?

In the cycle of returning cable shows, I have been once again delighted by the return of Project Runway.

I know, who's surprised? Doesn't everyone already love this show? But it is so good, in a way that so many other competition reality shows are not.

In general, I am not of the "do something and then be judged for it" genre of shows, and completely avoid American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, etc.

And yet, Project Runway manages to totally rock.

I am so not a fashion person. If it were possible, I would wear pajamas all the time. And I am invariable wrong when I try to predict what the judges will like. But it's so fun to see what they create and the judges aren't mean and creepy and it's just a good time for everyone.

I can't recommend this show enough. It's super addictive.

Didn't I used to love Marian Keyes?

Okay, so I would swear that there was a time I was a huge Marian Keyes fan, and that I had really liked a bunch of her books. So I was excited to get her newest one, This Charming Man, out of the library.

And yet, it was really not good.

I was quite disappointed. Did I only imagine I liked her books before?

She tries so hard to make the language sound authentic that it ends up reading like it was written from someone really unfamiliar with the English language. The speakers seem to lack any understanding of articles or transition words and say things like "Food delicious" which is very distracting.

Plus the book is about a horrible, horrible man who does awful things and then pretty much just gets away with it.

I don't know how to explain. Perhaps my standards were too high?

Leisure Girl in paradise?

Sometimes vacation is not all it's cracked up to be.

Okay, I generally speaking had a very nice time in the Dominican Republic. The resort was lovely and the beach was everything you could ask for - turquoise water, soft which sand, and gentle ocean breezes.

Plus I had plenty of downtime to read and luxuriate.

So where did the Dominican Republic and I go wrong? That would be the morning of my return trip.

I woke up feeling not so good. Three hours later I was collapsing in the airport. The next twelve or so hours were filled with wheel chairs, vomiting, and more vomiting. You've never had food poisoning until you've thrown up wedged between a Southern Living saleswoman and a flight attendant continuing to shill snacks.

One of my worst days ever, and, like all bad break ups, it has soured my vacation memories.

Leisure Girl is off to the tropics

I am headed for eight days in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I look forward to plenty of leisure time and will return the 28th.

How is USA so good?

I swear that until a few years ago I never watched the USA network, except for a few late night and over-run movies.

But in the last couple of years, they have come up with some great original series.

My personal favorite (also loved by my husband) is Psych. In it, two friends pretend to be psychics and solve mysteries. It's so funny and different.

They also have the (slightly less) great Monk, Burn Notice, and In Plain Sight. All of them are enjoyable, plus they're all new in the summer when not too much else is.

My only complaint is their bizarrely short seasons. I am always thrilled when I see new shows are going to be coming on, but they often show about six episodes and then disappear for another four months.

Still, try them and I promise you will not be disappointed.

Fun girly goodness

Great summer reading is hard to come by. It's got to be escapist and a good read and just a little trashy. Chasing Harry Winston , by Lauren Weisberger, falls into all of those categories.

It's the story of three friends trying to make changes in their personal and professional lives all the while flitting around with boys and travel and jewelry.

These are all good things. My only complaint is that none of the girls are particularly likeable. I generally wanted things to turn out well, but I wasn't really invested in any of the characters. Perhaps I am just too far removed from fabulous women in New York.

This book is by the author of The Devil Wears Prada, which totally rocks, in both book and movie form. If you've somehow missed that one, read it first.

Japanese game shows rock!

So I may be one of the two people in the world who has been enjoying "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" this summer.

The show itself is kind of lame, but I do so love the parts when they compete in Japanese game show competitions. I have loved Japanese game shows ever since watching them in a hotel room in Hawaii.

So the show is worth watching especially if you can fast forward to just the game show parts. The rest of it is your typical reality show fare of stupid people arguing.

Look! They often dress up in costumes. Who doesn't enjoy that?

My all time favorite young adult books

When I was young, I completely fell in love with Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness Quartet . It's made up of Alanna: The First Adventure, In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, and Lioness Rampant.

It's a kind of fantasy-ish series about a girl who disguises herself as a boy so she can become a knight. There's magic and kissing, which is, of course, the perfect combination.

I have found this series to hold up well. I not only read it a million times as a kid but have reread it several times as an adult. So enjoyable.

Christy is a little like 7th Heaven...

Leisure Girl has been alone for the last week or so while her husband has been traipsing around the country.

I have spent these nights curled up in bed by eight watching Christy: The Complete Series. This is one of those shows (think 7th Heaven, Doctor Quinn) that I usually find a little too wholesome/slow. But I wanted to try it because I like Kellie Martin, the main actress.

All in all, it was quite fun. At times a little slow or preachy, but the characters are relatively enjoyable and it has the two guys fight over one girl aspect that I love (and is so often found in Korean TV).

The series is based on a book by Catherine Marshall, which I have now added to my library queue.

Unfortunately, the series ended with a cliff hanger, but they they made a mini-series to follow it up. I've heard the mini-series is awful (and has different actors) but I must have closure, so watch it I shall.

I thought The Manny would be juicer..

So when I first saw The Manny by Holly Peterson I thought it looked too frivolous. A shocking admission, given some of the things I've admitted to reading, I know.

But I finally got it from the library, and got past my prejudice enough to read it.

The result? Mixed.

It's fairly well written, but none of the characters are quite well developed enough that you really care what happens to them. The main character stays with a lousy husband for pages and pages and pages. Why? Clearly, life's too short.

There's a romance, but even that is a fair amount of build up for not much action.

Plus there's an endless in-depth (one of the few things that is) work sub-plot. Please, if that's what I was interested in I would be actually working, not reading a book called "The Manny."

All in all? Not too frivolous for me, maybe just not frivolous enough.

Sometimes I cheat on my couch

It's no secret that Leisure Girl enjoys her couch.

But, I must admit, my heart also belongs to another.

I love my bed .

One of my favorite things in the world is to wake up (late, obviously), make some breakfast, and bring it back to bed where I curl up with a good book.

I also love movie watching in bed. If it weren't for the Tivo only being hooked up downstairs, I might never get up. Also the couch also has the close to the kitchen benefit.

What makes my bed so wonderful?

- I bought my mattress from Angel Beds, which sells tempurpedic knock offs. So unbelievably comfortable.

- Lots and lots and lots of pillows.

- Lovely sheets. I am especially fond of the Martha Stewart line at Macy's.


Not my bed...but it looks comfy.

It's an ex-pat theme

I must want to flee the country, because I can not get enough of these "girl reinvents herself by moving abroad" books. I just finished English as a Second Language by Megan Crane.

This one lacks Paris (sigh) but instead has Alexandra heading off to a Master's program in England.

The characters are fun, and do a realistic amount of partying, drinking, hooking up, and other recognizable, if questionable, decision making.

The love story is good, although a little unresolved for me (who would happily see every story ended with "and they lived happily ever after.")

Although these books send me into a little "it's looking less and less likely that I will move into a flat in Vienna" tailspin, it's nice to know that I can at least read about other girls doing just that.

TV Guide - It's a magazine now

I am a magazine junkie. And I love TV. So it's probably no surprise that these two obsessions have to together with my subscription to TV Guide.

No more the tiny Reader's Digest guide of old, today's TV Guide it a glossy weekly magazine.

With it, I am up to date on what's happening with my shows and I know what to program into my Tivo.

Am I embarrassed that I subscribe to TV Guide. A little, but knowing I'm not missing anything more than makes up for it.

I love France

What is there not to love about France?

French men, French food, French cheese, French clothes...these things are all magical. So who doesn't like a chick lit book set in Paris? It's the best of all possible worlds, really.

One such book? The Art of French Kissing by Kristin Harmel.

It's one of those "girl changes her life dramatically and pretty much all goes well" but with Paris and lots of sexual tension.

An enjoyable, escapist read.

Random cable TV

Everyone says there's no good TV on in summer, but I have to disagree. Okay, I'll admit that my standards are low, but I think there are quite a few legitimately enjoyable cable series that come on when the network shows are off.

One of my current favorites is My Boys on TBS.

It is a half hour comedy about P.J. and her group of male friends. It's funny and light and I enjoy it despite the lack of any good romantic progress.

The first season is for sale now, and the current one is on TBS and can be watched online.

Enjoy My Boys, the perfect summer show.

Debs are always fun

Leisure Girl is back from vacation where she had a string of less than enjoyable books. These were actually bad enough to put down after fifty pages or so with the realization that life was too short to read boring things.

One exception to this streak was The Ex-Debutante by Linda Francis Lee. This was an enjoyable story about a Texas debutante who has escaped to Boston, only to be dragged back into her family and their society life.

The characters and Texas society-ness were fun

She also has a book out called The Devil in the Junior League, which had to be added to my libary list just based on the title. I've been in the Junior League, after all.