18. Summer And The City

Book #18: Summer And The City
Author: Candace Bushnell
Published: April 26, 2011
409 pages
4 gold stars

(summary from Goodreads)

Summer is a magical time in New York City and Carrie is in love with all of it—the crazy characters in her neighborhood, the vintage-clothing boutiques, the wild parties, and the glamorous man who has swept her off her feet. Best of all, she's finally in a real writing class, taking her first steps toward fulfilling her dream. 

This sequel to The Carrie Diaries brings surprising revelations as Carrie learns to navigate her way around the Big Apple, going from being a country "sparrow"—as Samantha Jones dubs her—to the person she always wanted to be. But as it becomes increasingly difficult to reconcile her past with her future, Carrie realizes that making it in New York is much more complicated than she ever imagined. 


The moment Carrie Bradshaw steps foot into New York, everything changes. This is the moment she starts to become who we know her as today. And of course, because it's New York, she's robbed within minutes. This sends her straight into the arms of Samantha Jones, and we all know what happens next.


The big city could eat Carrie up, but with the help of Samantha, she gets invited to the best parties, gets to live in a swanky apartment and starts a relationship with a famous playwright. Bushnell captures the sparrow qualities of Carrie perfectly. She is desperate to make it in New York, but she doesn't understand that it's not as easy as she thinks it will be. She gets involved with the wrong people, compares herself to the more privileged in her writing class, and gets her heart broken all over again.


The point is she doesn't give up. Carrie is a strong character and she knows how to chase her dreams. Even when she thinks there is no hope of becoming a successful writing, she doesn't quit. New York tries to beat her but she fights against it, and that's what every good heroine needs to do. 


Once again Bushnell has impressed with her writing. I've fallen in love with this series, and the young lives of some of my most beloved characters. We meet Miranda in New York, the strong headed woman we know her as today, and we see hers and Carrie's relationship build from the beginning. Soon it's the three of them, Carrie, Samantha and Miranda, and we see the group slowly forming into what it will become in their 30s. I'm eager to read the next instalment, to see young naive Charlotte enter the world of New York and see it not break her either. The characters are just as loveable in their teens as they are later in life, and these books have become a welcome addition to my collection. Now excuse me while I re-watch the series over and over again.


“Like me, he has a searing belief that books are sacred. They might not be to other people, but when you have a passion, you hold on to it. You defend it. You dont pretend it isn't important at the risk of offending others." 

17. The Carrie Diaries

Book #17: The Carrie Diaries
Author: Candace Bushnell
Published: April 27, 2010
389 pages
4 gold stars

(summary from Goodreads)

Before Carrie Bradshaw hit the big time in the City, she was a regular girl growing up in the suburbs of Connecticut. How did she turn into one of the most-read social observers of our generation? 

The Carrie Diaries opens up in Carrie's senior year of high school. She and her best friends -- Walt, Lali, Maggie, and the Mouse -- are inseparable, amid the sea of Jens, Jocks and Jets. And then Sebastian Kydd comes into the picture. Sebastian is a bad boy-older, intriguing, and unpredictable. Carrie falls into the relationship that she was always supposed to have in high school-until a friend's betrayal makes her question everything. With her high school days coming to a close, Carrie will realize it's finally time to go after everything she ever wanted. 


I love Carrie. I love her quirky style, her smoking while writing her article and the fact that she owns more shoes than books. I avidly watched Sex and the City over the years just for Carrie. She was me, I was her, we were soulmates. So when I found The Carrie Diaries, I knew I had to read it. It took me quite awhile to finally pick it up, since I've always been sort of disappointed with Bushnell's writing, but once I did, I had to read it right away. The first time I picked it up, I only got through two chapters. It hadn't captured me yet. I couldn't see the Carrie that I knew and loved, but once I picked it up again, I found her.


Carrie's your average small town girl. She has big dreams of getting out of there and moving to the big city to follow them. Her dream is to write a novel. Her dream is to get into a summer writing program in New York and become a successful author. Carrie and I have a lot in common. After getting a rejection letter, she's not so sure she'll be able to keep chasing this dream. But as she paves her way through her senior year of high school, falls in love for the first time, gets betrayed for the first time, and really discovers who she is, she knows she still has to follow this dream.


Carrie's teenage years are real, heartbreaking, and shape who she will become in Sex and the City. She is the same Carrie we know and love today with her crazy fashion sense and her recklessness love for her friends and those she loves. She is stubborn and fierce and she makes mistakes and I love her for all of it. Bushnell did a wonderful job creating young Carrie and preparing her for her life in New York. There are a few details that don't quite match the show, but it works well with the story line. I tried not to think too much about comparing the two, since to me they are both completely differnt. Carrie is a different girl growing up, we all are, so you can't expect her to be the same woman she is now. 


Bushnell's adult novels haven't quite reached me. I read Sex and the City after watching the show, but it disappointed me. I tried again with a few of her other ones, but I just couldn't relate to them. She's redeemed herself in my eyes with her new young adult series, creating a new Carrie for me to root for. And I will always root for Carrie. 


“Whoever we are here, we might be princesses somewhere else. Or writers. Or scientists. Or presidents. Or whatever the hell we want to be that everyone else says we can't.”