Recently Reread: Bridget Jones' Diary

Author: Helen Fielding
Status: First in series of three
Genre: Adult Fiction
Publication Date: 1999
Page Count: 271
Rating: 5/5

My first review

Penguin Ink Edition 

Bridget is thirty-something and single, living in London. She chronicles her year in the form of a diary in order to keep track of her progress on her New Year's Resolutions, which include: quit smoking, diet, and of course, get a mature boyfriend so the smug marrieds around her will quit reminding her of her ticking biological clock. 

I recently rewatched both Bridget Jones movies on Netflix in one afternoon so I couldn't resist a reread of this book afterwards. The movies are quite funny, and have great eye-candy (Hello! Colin Firth and Hugh Grant!) but they are quite different from the books, so they can be enjoyed together and separately.    

This book is so funny! I laughed when I read it the first time, and I laughed when I read it the second time. The first time I read this book, the ending made me laugh so hard when I read it, and for days afterwards every time I thought about it. The second time around I laughed out loud at small parts I had forgotten. 

Bridget is so easy to relate to and real. If you are a single woman living on your own, you MUST read this book, as you will connect with it on a spiritual level. Bridger is one of the realest characters I have ever read. Oh, and did I mention it is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice? I will say that this book is very British, I had to look up a few of the British terms the first time I read the novel, but that just added to the enjoyment for me, since I love all things Britannia. I love Bridget's voice and the diary style of this novel, because it allows you access to Bridget's thoughts when she is over-thinking something or having crazy paranoid thoughts that we can all relate too. 

I would recommend picking up these books (though I have only read the first two, because I refuse to believe that a certain event that happens before the third book takes place actually happens), even if you have seen the movies because both are so enjoyable. Bridget is so good-hearted and easy to love because you will see a little bit of yourself in her.