Monday, March 28, 2011

Book Review: Why I Love Singlehood

By Melissa Amster

I have not been single in almost 10 years, but I do recall enjoying my single days, which is why the title of Elisa Lorello and Sarah Girrell's book spoke to me right away. While I love being married and wouldn't trade it for the world, I also respect women who enjoy being single, even when they are still hoping to meet Mr. Right. Likewise, I respect women who, like myself, still find ways to be individuals while in a committed relationship. This is the philosophy at the core of "Why I Love Singlehood."

After a long relationship comes to an end, Eva (pronounced as Ava) writes a blog about why she enjoys being single. And she has a lot to enjoy, being the owner of a coffee shop and having a fun-loving circle of friends who visit her shop every day. However, seeing her ex-boyfriend in a new relationship sets her into a tailspin and she starts to evaluate whether or not she really wants to be single after all.

I really enjoyed reading this novel. Eva has a strong voice throughout and is easy to relate to, whether or not the reader is single. I liked seeing the different dynamics played out between Eva and her friends, family members, love interests, etc. The use of description made it easy to visualize people, places and events. There were a lot of pop culture references, which I always enjoy seeing in a novel. It was written in a humorous way but still had a lot of heart and left the reader with something to think about in the long run.

The one criticism I had was really minor, but something that annoys me in any book. The authors chose to wait several chapters before sharing the pronunciation of Eva's name. I was thinking that she went by Eva, as the way it was spelled. However, she reveals during a date that it is pronounced "Ava" instead. That threw me off because I kept flipping back and forth with how I said her name in my mind afterward. I wish they had spelled it the way it sounded or shared the pronunciation in the beginning of the novel. It didn't affect how much I enjoyed the novel overall, but it was something that could have been easily taken care of right away. (It's like letting me think a character is blond based on the cover art and then telling me she's a brunette halfway through the story, altering my mental picture of her.)

Overall, it was a great story that anyone can appreciate, regardless of their dating or marital status. It was extremely well-written and easy to follow along. Given that I am not as good with staying on top of e-books as I am hand-held books, and the fact that my household just increased by one member over the last month, it took me a lot longer to read this novel than I had hoped. However, I was able to easily pick up where I left off, even if I went days or weeks between chapters. I hope Ms. Lorello and Ms. Girrell will team up on more books in the future. I really liked their writing style and I highly recommend "Why I Love Singlehood."

2 comments:

Louise said...

This sounds like my kind of book. I have been single, for what seems like forever. I'm happy with my singledom, but obviously if Mr Right came along I wouldn't shun him (I don't like being single that much). I do wonder though, if I did meet Prince Charming, what would I blog about? Hmmmmm....
Someone once commented on one of my posts, 'I'm not ready for you to meet Mr Right, I enjoy reading about your adventures.' I guess that's that then-give the people what they want :)

Brasil said...

A wonderful bright and easy chick lit read. I completely consumed this book in two sittings each by the pool! The book centers around a women in her early thirties who owns a coffee shop in a small college town. Within her coffee shop are regular customers who had some spice to the story, each of them have their own plotline that adds to the overall story. Eva is stuck in a relationship rut when she finds out that her ex is now engaged.