English as a Second Language

Rating:
Summary: Taking a Chance
Review: English as a Second Language is the perfect example of how a young person's life can change if they take a chance. The story focuses on Alex Brennan, a 26-year-old New York girl, who is sick of her dead-end job. This all changes when she decides to apply for a Master's degree program in England, mainly to prove to an ex-boyfriend that she can do it. When she is accepted, she realizes that this is her chance to get out of the rut she is stuck in and find her place in life.
The novel is a light read filled with witty and hilarious dialogue. Since the author, Megan Crane, spent five years in Britain studying at a university, her experiences portray British life and the challenges and stresses of being a student in a foreign country. "The day outside was rainy and cold. Welcome to England I thought. I was still exhausted and stranded in a foreign country, away from everyone I had ever known."(Pg3) The novel's British phrases and diverse characters keep the reader laughing out loud as well as intrigued.
Life can be confusing in your twenties and many people can relate to this. I loved this book because I could identify with Alex. We are both struggling to find our place in life and I have always wanted to study in England. Alex's journey is difficult. "But I didn't know where I wanted to go, or what I wanted to do when I got there. I had dreams, but they were vague things with no real substance. My whole life was fill-in-the-blank."(Pg8) Never the less she learned that when she took a chance, her life did change and she found a place where she belonged. "I shoved my hands into my pockets and watched them-the fools and the drunks that God was supposed to watch over with special interest, the ones I knew so well in so many surprising ways. I was one of them, I thought, and grinned."(Pg277)
English as a Second Language is perfect for anyone in their twenties confused about where they belong in life. It is also a good book for those who are thinking about studying abroad. When looking for something new and exciting in life, or a change of routine, I recommend reading this book. With the realistic characters and the great sense of humor this book provides, you'll never want to put it down.


Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the problem is just misrepresentation...
Review: As soon as I read the summary of this back, I grabbed it and headed for the checkout. I love books about England, and a book about going to school in England (a dream of mine!)seemed too good to be true. Unfortunately, this book is not about going to school in England, it is about drinking in England. Someone once told me that talking about drinking is the most boring thing in the world, and reading about it is close second. Not only did I find the constant boozing boring, I thought it was sad that a women in her mid-20s could waste an entire year of her life being hungover and experiencing teenage drama. I didn't like any of the characters, and there was no feeling of what studying abroad might be like. I think the problem is that this book presents itself as a student's experiences in a different educational system, but it is just about drinking and smoking--two of the most uninteresting things imaginable.

Rating:
Summary: Brain Candy...and Delicious!
Review: Chick lit is meant to be brain candy...a break from the tedium of historical novels or classics, and this one is yummy! I love the story of going to do something because your ex-boyfriend says you can't. A fun read to remind each of us not to take ourselves so seriously.

Rating:
Summary: A Smart, Wickedly Fun Read
Review: Ever wonder what it's like to go to grad school in the UK? Are you endlessly fascinated with the British and/or the UK in general? Whether you answered yes or no to either question, you will still enjoy this book.

Alexandra Brennan is the main heroine in the novel. She is living in New York City and generally bored in life. When her ex-boyfriend tells her she wouldn't be able to get into Grad School in the UK, she takes that as a challenge - and gets in. With a full-on caffeine addiction and a penchance for alcohol, Alexandra wastes no time in throwing herself into the British Grad-school life.

Things are interesting at the school, to say the least. A fellow student named Suzanne seems determined to make Alexandra miserable, as well as show her up in everything. Alexandra also develops a crush on her gorgeous, intelligent teacher and develops a hobby of peeking in his windows at night. Meanwhile there are her good friends Toby - a handsome playboy type that Alexandra tries to stay friends-only with, and the hilarious Jason. Not to mention a bevy of other interesting characters.

Megan Crane blends together a perfect mix of intriguing, intelligent characters, the ups and downs of grad school life, drunken nights out and a wickedly humorous plot. There are also some interesting cultural differences between the UK and America that she points out. The book is basically impossible to put down once you get into the third chapter or so.

Overall I found this book to be an awesome read, and recommend it highly to people who like an intelligent, hilarious, delightfully fun book.

Rating:
Summary: What a disappointment
Review: I admit I thought the preppy Lilly Pulitzer-esque cover was adorable. I read the negative reviews, but loved the description and bought it to read over the weekend. I am sorry I didn't listen to other readers!

First of all Alex is supposedly so smart, but she sounds like an 8th grader or a Sweet Valley High character. It annoyed me that she is earning an MA in Literature, yet you never know a single thing she reads or the topic of her disseration. Such details would have made her a more real character. I don't know why Crane avoided ANY specifics including the "good" school Alex went to.

The fact that the novel centers on pubs and consuming alcohol would not bother me if ANYTHING actually happened. Alex wines to her annoying friends and drinks. That's it. For over 200 pages.

I really wanted to like this, but it was just tedious to get through. If you want to read a well written novel about an academics self discovery read Gloria by Keith Maillard. It is wonderful and has actual depth!

Rating:
Summary: It describes perfectly what life in another country is like
Review: I am a college student and am currently living in the US in what is my third time studying abroad. I felt this book describes to perfection what it is to be in a strange place where alcohol is your consolation, smoking is an escape, love is necessary and friends become family.
Just last semester I "stalked" an English guy who I was totally in love with, by going outside the dorm to smoke and look up at his window.
The book might not be a great piece of literature but it is really accurate in what it describes. I loved when she went back home for the holidays and came back and said something about "the unsettling realization that lives I used to star in ran with perfect smoothness without me". That simple sentence brought me to tears and on the next page I was laughing again reading about how she could care less about school. That is what an International experience is all about. And this is what chick-lit is too.

Rating:
Summary: Goes round and round...
Review: I hadn't heard of Megan Crane or her novel before I recieved it as a gift, but being a fan of the genre that Crane's book falls into (chick lit if you will), I was looking forward to reading it.

While the book has well-developed characters that keep you glued to the pages, there are a number of flaws with this novel, the first of which - nothing really happens...

The story follows a woman named Alex in her mid-20's who sets off for a literary masters degree in Britain after her ex implies she probably wouldn't be able to get into any graduate programs. After that its a circular story where you watch Alex go through a loop of drinking/slacking off from school/calling home/getting stuck in her friends romantic lives/crushing on her instructor/making steps towards what Alex deems 'growing up' before correcting herself and saying she has so much more to do.

Through the repetition in the book however, Crane manages to create characters that are real and leap off the page, its almost as if you are reading a bit of a documentary/autobiographical story, which given Crane's history as an American who went over to Britain to also complete her masters degree in literature, could be quite true.

The other reason why I gave this book three stars is beside the fact that the story is simply a repetitious loop, by the end not too much is accomplished. Throughout the book the story is mainly told through first-person narration with little or no dialogue on most pages, and by the end, there is a solid chunk of about 4 or 5 pages where Alex suddenly goes into Carrie Bradshaw-mode and theorizes and hypothesizes everything about her life to the point where you feel like her so-called 'growth'is just thrown in there to make the novel have a point.

This book is a solid effort by Crane however, I feel like perhaps she realized her subject matter is a bit dull - the ins and outs of a student trying to complete a masters degree in literature at an isolated british campus with little to no love prospects? Thus Crane packs the book with petty controversy and pointless alcoholic endeavours (neverending ones I might add) to 'spice' up the storyline. In the future I'd suggest she might want to look at not sticking to a personal experience and dramatizing it, but just writing about something a touch more interesting!



Rating:
Summary: Not your best example of chick lit
Review: I've never written a negative review, and I don't want to be too horrible to this book. There were parts I enjoyed, and I finished the book. But overall, I was disappointed. Partly, I think, because the concept of the story appealed to me. Smart girl in a dead-end job goes to grad school in England. Sounds great, right?

Unfortunately, the book never took off. I didn't really click with the characters, the plot wasn't compelling, the love story was half-hearted at best, and what the book mostly seemed about was drinking, getting drunk (very drunk), and recovering from the hangover in time to do it again. I'm no Puritan - I drink, sometimes a little too much - but this was rather appalling.

I think that anybody who reads this book and thinks it strikes a chord should probably get themselves to an AA meeting.

Rating:
Summary: For Those Who Find Life Is A Second Language
Review: The people who gave this book negative reviews must not have read the same book as I did. More likely, they didn't get it. It is NOT a book about going to school in England. It is NOT a book about being a graduate English major. It is NOT a book about boozing. It IS a book about how confusing life can be in your 20's.

I'm an early twenty-something who's just graduated college and found myself more confused than ever about life and where I belong. As soon as I read the back cover of this book I snapped it up. And you know what, I LOVED it. I totally identified with the main character and got the underlying meaning of what on the surface looks like chick-lit. It is chick-lit, but the kind with meaning, like Bridget Jones. The book's description is a bit misleading, but for those who don't judge a book by the cover, it's not a disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: Drivel
Review: This was one of the worst 'chick lit' books I've ever read. Here is the plot: drink, drink drink, whine, whine, whine, drink, drink, drink. And in the end, suddenly learn a little something about yourself.