1. Love The One You Are With by Emily Giffin

This is the story of Ellen, whom is a 30ish year old photographer living in NYC with her loving, smart, handsome, and wealthy husband.   One day she runs into her most significant ex boyfriend on the street and begins to wonder about him, their breakup, etc.  Her and her ex start communicating again and she finds herself falling for him, despite the fact that she is married.  After Ellen moves to Atlanta to be with her husband and her family she misses NY and her ex and takes a trip back there to figure out her true feelings about everything.  She finally decides she is happy with her husband and decides not to stay with her ex.

I honestly didn't like this book very much.  It was well written and interesting, and relatable on some level, since most people have an ex (or two) that they wonder "what if" about, but I was very uncomfortable with the general story.  The main character, Ellen, spends a good part of the book talking with, flirting with, and walking the very fine line of what is considered cheating with her ex behind her husbands back.  At the end, she decides she does want the life she has with her husband after all and she goes back to him, seemingly with no questions asked on her husband's part.   The whole concept of its okay to cheat or kind of cheat to fufill or figure out your own happiness without regards to anyone else is very immature and selfish and I don't think it is the type of behavior that should be rewarded in the way it was in the book.  I know its just a fictional story, but it rubbed me the wrong way. 

2. Girl's Guide To Kicking Your Career Into Gear by Caitlin Friedman and Kimberly Yorio

This book gives advice on the different steps a woman can take to further her career.  I liked it a lot, even though a lot of the advice didn't apply to someone working at a city job with very little room for advancement and no room for requesting raises.  It gave a lot of good advice on networking, including using tools not normally considered traditional networking, like book clubs, to meet people who may help booster your career.  It also gives plenty of real life examples of successful buissness woman and their advice.  I found the book very easy to read and follow and reviewing it now reminds me that I should update my resume because you never know when an opportunity can become available.

3. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

I picked up this book because I've been reading that this man who wrote it, who has become an internet/oprah sensation, is dying of pancreatic cancer, which is the same disease I lost my father to earlier this year.  I was expecting a very sad memoir, and although parts did make me cry, it was a very uplifting book.  Randy is a computer science professor and a total dork.  He is also very optomistic and leads his life with a glass half full outlook.  Reading his stories about his life and his family was very inspriring and it was just a good read. 

4. Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger

This is another chick lit selection.  It tells the story of three best friends who all make a pact to chance their lives over the course of the year.  The conservative one pledges to sleep with lots of random men, the wild one says she'll find a serious boyfriend and get engaged, and the one with the outwardly perfect life tries to fix what is making her unhappy.  I found that the story dragged and I just wanted it to end after awhile.  The characters themselves didn't have very much depth and I found their lives to be a bit repetative, hence the dragging of the story.  This would have been a decently enjoyable read if it was more concise.