"Mating Rituals of The North American WASP" by Lauren LiptonPublisher: 5 Spot/Hachette
ISBN: 978-0-446-19797-7
Pages: 302 Trade Paperback
Release: May 29, 2009
Welcome to the Blog Tour for "Mating Rituals of The North American WASP" by Lauren Lipton.
The Blogs that have signed up to participate in the tour are all listed at Drey's Library.
Some of my favorite haunts who are participating are (in no particular order):
S. Krishna's Books
Morbid Romantic
Pudgy Penguin Perusals
The Tome Traveler's Weblog
My Friend Amy
Peeking Between the Pages
Diary of an Eccentric
Savvy Verse & Wit
The author Lauren Lipton has kindly accepted my offer to compose a little something for my blog in honor of the virtual tour, which is just below. After her post, you can find my own review of the book and the special something for lucky readers at the end of the post.. so be sure to read all! :)
The Burton Review left a wide berth for Lauren, and she answers the question:
What intrigues you?
--People intrigue me. People and their stories, whether outrageous or commonplace. I will inevitably sit on a bus or subway and by journey's end know at least one interesting fact about the former stranger next to me. This happens to me two or three times a week. I don't know if I begin these conversations or if they do, but over the years I have met a psychic, a government special agent, an emergency medical technician, a homeless musician. One time, on a flight from New York to San Diego, I ended up next to a former military pilot who for six hours told me stories about the Iraq War I've never seen printed anywhere.
I am writing this guest post on Memorial Day, returning home from Connecticut on a train to New York City. It's hot and crowded, and the man across the aisle has kept up a running commentary to his traveling companions about every last celebrity in the People magazine he is reading. After an hour (it's hard not to listen in), I now know Lionel Richie was raised in Joliet, Illinois, and that Ralph Macchio was actually in his twenties when he played the teen lead in The Karate Kid. It's a pity. I'm wholly uninterested in celebrities. I wish I knew, though, what this man across the aisle will be doing in Manhattan, what he did for Memorial Day, and whether the large entourage he's traveling with is his family or his friends.
I'm an inveterate eavesdropper, an anthropological observer of peoples' outfits, haircuts, reading material and grocery-store shopping-cart contents. At parties, I'm the one "interviewing" other guests about their jobs, under the guise of making polite small talk. I've learned some interesting tidbits about things like zoology and organic farming.
I often worry about coming off as prying or nosy. I hope people don't see it that way. I'm just fascinated by them. And I guess, in a way, it's my job. --Lauren Lipton www.laurenlipton.com
Lauren Lipton is a freelance journalist and author of two novels who lives in Connecticut. Visit her website to read more about her and author news.
Now to prove you are reading, you need to answer this question in your comments, along with following the directions at the end in order to enter the book giveaway. :) I'm mean.
The question you must answer in your comment is "If you met Lauren on a subway, what do you think you would talk about, and WHY? Or, if you were sitting near her on a subway, what would she be hearing from you if she were eavesdropping?"
And now onwards to my book review (I normally separate these things our but I wanted to just see how this worked, so what do you think?):
Book Review: "Mating Rituals of The North American WASP" by Lauren Lipton
The Burton Review Rating: 3.5 stars
Read an Excerpt here of Chapter One.
The synopsis:
“After arguing with her live-in boyfriend about his inability to commit, Peggy Adams flies to a friend’s bachelorette party in Las Vegas, and wakes up next to a man she can’t remember. Hung over and miserable, she sneaks out of the sleeping man’s hotel room and returns home to New York, where her boyfriend apologizes for the fight and gives her a Tiffany box containing a pre-engagement ring. Not what she expected, but close enough.
But the next day she receives a phone call from the Las Vegas one-night stand, Luke Sedgwick, who claims she’s already married - to him! Both Peggy and Luke are ready for an annulment, until Peggy arrives in quaint New Nineveh, Connecticut, where Luke cares for his great aunt, and the old woman makes Peggy an offer she can’t refuse.”
So here's the Peggy gets married novel. Poor Peggy is feeling the sands of time and wants to get married, yet she did not expect to wake up married to a stranger after a drunk night in Vegas. They don't even know if they consummated their marriage, that's how drunk they were. OK so you don't really sympathize with Poor Peggy right off the bat. Then Peggy goes home to her knuckle-head-jock-not-ready-to-settle-down-boyfriend Brock and she pretends nothing happens. Nope, she doesn't tell her boyfriend what she's done; instead she decides to spend weekends with her new husband the WASP Luke in Connecticut and still run her soap shop in NYC, Jock-Brock has no idea for a year. Silly Silly Peggy.
With all these and more goofy events, we get sucked into Silly Peggy's story, and we want to yell at her to WAKE UP!! and be a little more realistic but the millions of dollars that could be at stake if she stays married to Luke is just too much of a draw for Poor Peggy; and her best friend supports her in this Silly decision... OK OK enough of the Silly Peggy and Poor Peggy. But that is what you feel as the reader feels as you skim through the book as she is such a nit-wit, yet it is a fun read despite Silly Peggy. The storyline I enjoyed the most was when we get to the history of Luke's WASP family. Luke of course doesn't want to actually be a WASP but he is the last of the Sedgewick line and therefore has a duty to its honor. Which of course he doesn't honor, but that's a whole other ball of wax.
This novel was a good read for those ready to get involved in a story where you sort of know what's going to happen, and you just have to sit through the main character making one foolish decision after the other. The shenanigans of this romantic comedy that Peggy gets herself into are laugh out loud funny. Although she is not someone you can really relate to, the story was overall an enjoyable and quick read for which I would recommend it for the women's general fiction and chick-lit readers. Lauren Lipton's writing was fast paced and I eagerly turned the pages to see what Silly and Poor Peggy (couldn't resist) would do next.
So how about it, are you ready to read all about Silly Peggy's Shenanigans? Miriam has graciously agreed to allow me to giveaway 3 of the Mating Rituals of The North American WASP to my lucky readers. Here are the rules:
1. For your First entry, Follow this blog Publicly, and leave a comment with your email address. If you are already a follower, let me know that too.
2. For Two Extra Entries, Blog This Contest. Leave me the link to your Blog post.
3. For One Extra Entry, Twitter about this Contest. Leave me your Twitter name so I can check up. (I am BurtonReview on Twitter)
4. Don't forget the special question!
You do not need to leave separate comments, all in one comment is fine. I will use Randomizer to select the winners, as long as you have completed the above requirements. You must be 18 years of age or older to enter. The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only. NO P.O. Boxes. One winner per household/IP address. I will email the winners and they must respond within 72 hours.
This giveaway will end on Thursday June 18th, Midnight E.S.T.
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