Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
Series: Bridget Jones, #1
Source: Bought
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: June 1, 1999

Meet Bridget Jones—a 30-something Singleton who is certain she would have all the answers if she could:
a. lose 7 pounds
b. stop smoking
c. develop Inner Poise

"123 lbs. (how is it possible to put on 4 pounds in the middle of the night? Could flesh have somehow solidified becoming denser and heavier? Repulsive, horrifying notion), alcohol units 4 (excellent), cigarettes 21 (poor but will give up totally tomorrow), number of correct lottery numbers 2 (better, but nevertheless useless)..."

Bridget Jones' Diary is the devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out-loud daily chronicle of Bridget's permanent, doomed quest for self-improvement — a year in which she resolves to: reduce the circumference of each thigh by 1.5 inches, visit the gym three times a week not just to buy a sandwich, form a functional relationship with a responsible adult, and learn to program the VCR.

Over the course of the year, Bridget loses a total of 72 pounds but gains a total of 74. She remains, however, optimistic. Through it all, Bridget will have you helpless with laughter, and — like millions of readers the world round — you'll find yourself shouting, "Bridget Jones is me!"

This may come as a huge surprise to all of you, but Bridget Jones is not me. I do not count my calories as if all of my self worth depends on how much I eat, and I sure don't check to see how much I've gained/lost in the last day or so. I don't drink and I don't smoke, and I can't say that I would've had anything to do with the guy she was dating - he was a douche.

Personality-wise, we are nothing alike. She's British, I'm not. So we don't even have a similar nationality! So it's no wonder that we didn't connect at all. I actually really thought that Bridget was annoying. She's too altogether concerned with herself and things that have to do with her - while having no concern over anyone else. She's self-absorbed.

And her diary? It reads a bit like a text message - there were several abbreviations that I just ended up guessing at, and hoping I was right! She worried about trivial things all throughout the book, and then, towards the end... it appears that someone has fallen in love with her! AFTER they have a COUPLE conversations, of course. Because she's just that lovable and wonderful. Gag.

All in all, I can't say that Bridget Jones's Diary was a book for me. I didn't particularly care for it.