Robin reads: Pompeii, The Nanny Diaries, Trading up

Robin reads: Pompeii, The Nanny Diaries, Trading up
well, I am slowly getting better and I thought I would update my reading list. To be honest, I haven’t read anything of much quality, but some of it was fun!

Pompeii by Robert Harris
An interesting premise. What happened the few days before Mount Vesuvius erupted? Did anyone know what was happening? What did people do? An engineer with the Aquaduct discovers something amiss and travels to Pompeii to find the source of the problem. Along the way he meets an aristocratic girl and solves the mystery of what happened to the water as well as his predecessor (who mysteriously vanished). For those who like historical fiction or mysteries or are interested in ancient Roman culture. An interesting and smooth read of historical fiction which gives just enough detail to provide a sense of place and time without becoming just a bunch of boring details.

The Nanny Diaries: A Novel by Emma McLaughlin, Nicola Kraus:
The tale of a young women who works as a Nanny for a wealthy couple. The husband is kind of sleezy, the wife is a tyrant who enjoys having someone at her beck and call. The child is kind of charming and a little sad (in that he seems to be more of a fashion/social accessory to his mother, than an actual child). In spite of all of that, the story is told with charm and is kind of funny. I enjoyed this one much more than I thought I would due to the light handed writing and the likable heroine.

Trading Up by Candace Bushnell
Candace Bushnell is also responsible for the Sex and the City stuff. This book is about a model (think Victoria’s secret) who seems to always make the wrong decisions, but somehow everything works out in the end. I’m not a big fan of the sex and the city stuff, I think it’s highly unrealistic (maybe in Manhatten, but certainly not in the South). I don’t know anyone who lives like that, including women who superficially would seem to fit in the mold. If you like the sex and city stuff, then you will probably like this; if you hate sex and the city, well, skip this one.
+And finally, I’m about