{Book Review} Pursuing the Times by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Posted January 13, 2013 by Michelle @ Book Briefs in Reviews / 1 Comment

Pursuing the Times by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Kindle Edition, 257 pages

Published August 24th 2012 by TKA Distribution

Age Group: Adult Contemporary Romance

Source: ecopy from Author

Series: N/A

Summary:

All that popular Chick-Lit author Mercury Lauren wants is to have one of her books reviewed by the New York Times Book Review – just one – and she’ll do almost anything to get it. In this contemporary romantic comedy, with a nod toward Pride and Prejudice she crosses swords and hearts with the Editor-in-Chief of the NYTBR in a madcap adventure that takes her from her home in Westport to a yoga retreat to a golf course in Florida. Will she get what she wants and will she finally be happy if she does? Only one thing’s for certain: nothing will stop her from Pursuing the Times.

Pursuing the Times was a funny read. The main character Mercury is quirky and super strong willed. I enjoyed the subject of the book. It felt familiar to me because of blogging. Pursuing the Times is about a published author that really wants her books to be reviewed by the New York Times. She also hates that her books are dubbed “chick Lit” and some people immediately write them off just for that fact. This is actually a real problem in the book industry and it drives me crazy. I can’t stand when people think that YA or chick lit books are not “real literature”. I felt indignant on behalf of Mercury.

Mercury is just the kind of person that you can’t help but like. She is rash and impulsive, which are two things that I am not, but she is like a whirlwind and you can’t help but get sucked in too. I thought it was a little sad that she couldn’t just take a break and enjoy what she had accomplished. Her agent, Angel hit the nail on the head when she said that Mercury wasn’t happy with anything she had. But she figured it all out eventually, and it made it even more satisfying. At one point in the book, she was talking about positive reviews being too “glittery”. It made me a little nervous. I feel like Mercury would think of some of my reviews as glittery. Oops.

Pursuing the Times is full of a cast of intellectual characters. Almost all of them went to Yale, in fact. Except for Mercury and Angel. I liked reading about some smarter people, they actually had interesting things to say and the conversations in Pursuing the Times seemed important and worth while. There wasn’t a whole lot of fluff and I really loved that. There was however, plenty of humorous one liners and chuckle worthy remarks. I also really loved that.

The one thing that kept nagging me after I was done reading. What happened with the bell boys and the gold pro’s books?? I want to know what Angel thought of them! The titles were hilarious!

I think Pursuing the Times is a great book for bloggers and reviewers to read because it is all about crazy antics someone will go to, to get their book reviewed. I thought it was a fun and feisty read! I would read another book featuring Mercury Lauren OR Lauren Baratz-Logsted book in a second.