They say the line between fact and fiction is sometimes a thin one. Well that is most certainly the case in Jen Lancaster's new novel, If You Were Here. Jen's new novel is her first attempt at fiction, but the characters and the general plot is a thinly veiled interpretation of her hilarious real life escapades.Mac & Mia McAllister are a couple living in Chicago and after finally getting tired of the local hipsters and gangsters, they decide to take their dogs Daisy & Duckie, and their troop of cats and head to the suburbs. Not just any suburb, but THE suburb. You know, the Chicago suburb made famous by John Hughes. In fact they decide to buy Jake Ryan's home. And it has not changed one bit since the days that Sixteen Candles were filmed there. Now take the house from Sixteen Candles, throw in the plot from The Money Pit, mix in Jen Lancaster's witty repertoire and you have If You Were Here.
It is my imaginary BFF, Jen Lancaster, so of course the book was entertaining and laugh out loud funny, but my friends, let this be a lesson to you. Jen Lancaster book do not translate well to nook color. You know how Jen writes those witty, entertaining footnotes? Well with the nook color you tap the footnote number & it takes you to the end of the book. Where you have .025 seconds to read the note & hit the back button before the back button disappears. In which case, you have to try and remember which page you were on and scroll backwards to find the page you were on. Entirely too much work for a Jen Lancaster novel. And frankly it ruined the whole reading experience for me. Lesson learned. Next years book I will purchase a hard copy.
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