09 Mar It’s All About the Shoes
“Hey, I’ve got my new shoes on and everything’s alright…”
Certainly one of my mottos in life and clearly one of my dear friend’s and this month’s LOL hostess, Vikki! Would you look at this girl in her new shoes? Obviously this stunner doesn’t need new shoes to shine, but oh, they are something else. Maybe even the only accessory special enough to compete with Vikki’s lovely, free-flowing, spirally locks.
And so what does Ms. Vikki’s new pair of Pradas have to do with literature, specifically, Will Ferguson’s Spanish Fly? No, Vikki did not dupe anyone to get ahold of these beauties, but she did get a steal of a deal. I won’t divulge exactly what this satiny pair set her back, but let’s just say about 1/5 what that designer label would demand…had she not waited patiently to pay a reasonable price for pretty feet by finding them on ebay!
I myself have never made a clothing or accessory purchase on ebay. Victoria Secret, yes, but if you read an early blog post, you’ll know how that turned out for me (not very fittingly). Vikki, on the other hand, has much luck finding, not only affordable gems, but good fits by shopping on-line. Having a serious shoe fetish myself, I may have to rethink this.
And so, yes, we did talk about Spanish Fly and yes, we did rate the book (stay tuned for me to finally get those Cheers! ratings up and running) but you’ve all been fairly warned. The LOL talk so much more than books…food, shoes, and sex being highly ranked up there too.
And this meeting, we got a little of it all! Vikki had prepared a delicious spread. Behold as she places a portion of what was served. Recipes coming soon! 
As we have established, Vikki is gal with good taste and and thus her home is bright, welcoming, and as stylish as she–the walls serving as backdrop for her wonderfully whimsical paintings. With her permission, I will feature a few for an upcoming blog! Meanwhile, as we sipped and savored and laughed out loud (all night), the talk turned to sex. Once again I felt compelled to compliment Mr. Ferguson on his steamy scene near the beginning of the novel, in which Jack gets into some pretty heavy petting with Rebecca out by the church, on the way home from the movie. Personally I was disappointed the author didn’t employ that prowess for romantic but saucy sex scenes more often in the book. And Laura, whose husband has been away for two months cycling from Argentina to Chile, well, let’s just say she was searching for some juicy reading too!
I will note here and now, only a handful of LOL’ers finished this book for various reasons. Many were traveling during this particular reading and just didn’t have time, a few found it a bit dragged out. Still some had trouble getting a copy! Our local bookstore would’ve brought it in, but it was going to take some time and some of us shared copies….quite literally. I’m gonna’ save this for Monday, but let’s just say Gail and Laura found a unique way to split their copy (shocking).
In the end, all agreed: strong beginning, weaker middle with a tiring repetition of what seemed an endless stream of cons, but fantastic climax and strong ending. So…worth powering through some of the longer stretches. Don’t get me wrong, this author weaved a wonderful tale (actually, all the cons are true) and his writing is witty and solid, but I think a little more steam might have made the middle move.
Check in on Monday for final words on this book and a look at how good friends play nice by sharing a book. I leave you with warm wishes for a wonderful weekend and one more peek at those Prada’s. 
Cheers!
Shannon