Regular CMCentral readers may recognize the name of Christa Banister, a regular contributor to CCM Magazine, and the kick-starter of the Christian music blog on MTV’s Urge.com. She’s written the semi-autobiographical Around the World in 80 Dates, a sure hit for lovers of chick lit. This is the epitome of the genre, full of descriptive passages about the shopping excursions and outfits of the protagonist, travel writer Sidney Alexander. Sidney’s dilemma is that, despite a successful and pleasant career as a globe-trotting journalist, numerous healthy friendships with family and girlfriends, and a committed relationship with the Lord, she has yet to find equally healthy patterns in her dating life.

Around the World in 80 Dates details some of the relationship adventures of Sidney and her closest friends, who do a lot more dating than I remember from my single days, even to the point of Sidney and her best friend unknowingly going out with the same guy. As I said, it’s chick lit of the highest order, and I’m not a fan of the genre, but I did find much to enjoy in Around the World. Among those: first, opening each chapter is a movie quote related to relationships, some of which are both funny and evocative, and secondly, Around the World gives you a compelling look into the world of the successful freelance writer. Maybe it’s just the writer in me, but I do think any reader could enjoy this facet of Banister’s lively book. Readers will also enjoy Sidney’s effervescent voice, and as I said, shoppers will love the fashion details. Around the World in 80 Dates may just make Christa Banister the new Queen of Chicks.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 at 8:47 am and is filed under Staff Blogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.