So.  I went over to my grandparents' for dinner tonight, along with an off-kilter combination of cousins and relatives, and got into my grandma's basement library in search of books.  Later, after engaging her in a dialogue about The Pillars of the Earth, and then reminding her that I'd read her copy of Gone with the Wind, she invited me to borrow/take some more of her books for reading. 

When she told me that there was a group of books she was planning to throw away - not donate, not sell, but toss out - I had a mild panic attack.  Unfortunately, I couldn't save all of them, but at least the ones I did take are now mine.  Sweet.

Little Women
Made in the U.S.A.
Can't Wait to Get to Heaven
Eleven on Top - A Stephanie Plum Novel
Motor Mouth - A Stephanie Plum Novel
East of Eden

I like to think that such a list is more impressive in its range than perhaps its total (that is, if a list of books can have a value).  I'm happy to get my hands on a couple of classics, along with a couple of feel-good, Midwest-speed style of books.  Grandma didn't like the Stephanie Plum books at all, which is why they were on her "take out the trash" list.  But I think I remember seeing a few blurbs about them, good things, and decided to give them a try.  I'm excited to read Little Women and East of Eden first; however, for now this list is secondary to the couple of books from the library I have yet to read.

Review for Ugly Stepsister should be up soon.

Back from another library outing, not quite as successful as the last.  Not only was Rumors not there, I spotted two other books I'd recently purchased on the shelves.  Aarrgh!  So I felt kind of silly.  This time around I noticed just how many fantasy series there are, not to mention how unappealing they looked to me.  I explained it to my mother thusly: "It's either books about rich people fucking each other [i.e., Gossip Girl et all] or vampires not fucking each other." I guess I'm applying a kind of if-you've-read-one-you've-read-them-all mentality here, but isn't there a bit of truth to that?

Get ready for another list:

Secrets of My Hollywood Life
Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty
How Not to be Popular
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

Ironically, Hollywood Life is part of a Gossip Girl-esque series, replacing Manhattan socialites with a teen actress as a protaganist.  I'd seen it on Amazon.com a little while ago, so it intrigued me then: the teen actress wants to lead a more normal life, which is something that does appeal to me.  Triple Shot Betty looked different and fun, about a group of girls who work at a coffeehouse.  Popular sounds to me like the best of the bunch, with its protaganist eschewing her popularity.  Ugly Stepsister has been on my radar for the past couple years (I saw a rather well-done TV movie based on it); hopefully it'll renew my faith in Gregory Maguire, whose Wicked was only so-so.

The Johnson County library system has again made it possible for me to enjoy a nice selection of YA lit without having to part with my money - and threw in a couple treats for me, as well.  Get ready for a doozy of a reading list:


Boy Girl Boy
If I Stay*
Guyaholic
Shrimp
Princess Ben
The Luxe

How great is that?  No less than three books I've had my eye on every time I went into Borders, and here they are, sitting in my room.  Hell, I was so excited for Luxe that I'm already at chapter 7!  I'm going to have to slow down, though, because I've just began The Season which has many similar themes.  I think I've also noted Stay is something that I've been eager to try; Shrimp is the second book in Rachel Cohn's Gingerbread series.  Guyaholic was written by Carolyn Mackler, the wonderful author of The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, and itself was featured on Pop Culture Junkie.    I honestly can't wait to read it.  Princess Ben looks like a clever book about a strong feminist princess, as well as quite a popular fantasy novel (judging by the number of copies there).  And Boy Girl Boy looks like a quirky read, and its third-wheel narrator - or so I gleaned from the summary - appeals to me.  This list does mean that I'll have to put a hold on the few books I've just bought (plus one or two on their way to me from amazon.com).

And - you won't believe this - I found the craziest thing.  Someone made a Clique movie!  The horror!  I had had HAD to pick it up, if only to see how bad it is, of course.  Apparently, it actually came out in theaters  (sorry, I was mistaken) in 2008 and was produced by Tyra Banks.  Good (terrible) news - they've stayed true to the weird spelling, as one of the special features is entitled Ehmagawd!  We're Rolling: Stars on the Set.  (Do me a favor: try to sound that out.  What does it sound like?  Is it a word?  What accent is that?  Doesn't it sound like how the South Park characters talk?)

I am sure I will have a review of The Pillars of the Earth up in a few days.  Until then, :)

Quote from "Reason Why" by Rachael Yamagata.  She is singing about a break-up, whereas I am only referring to my week-long absense from Haven.  I don't like going so long without having something to post about, but the problem right now is that I don't have any reviews to put up.  I'm too busy reading to spend a lot of time even reviewing books I've read years ago.  But in order to give comfort to the two, possibly three loyal readers I have (and also to reassure myself), I offer this list of books I'm currently reading/planning to read.

The Pillars of the Earth
Wicked Lovely
And Then Everything Unraveled
The Season
You Are So Undead to Me
The Giver
A Wrinkle in Time
Are We There Yet?
Lemonade Mouth

Pillars is currently taking up most of my reading time, and since I'm halfway through, it'll take another 3 weeks to finish.  More likely I'll have the review to Wicked Lovely up sooner.  I'm v. happy to have found Everything and Season, both in lovely hardback editions (keep dishing out those online coupons, Borders!).  Undead sounds like a fun treat, and I truly can't wait to get through Giver and Wrinkle - two amazing classics.

The last two books I just found today at the Reading Reptile, a KC area children's bookstore that has unparalleled taste in books.  Are We There Yet? is a David Levithan book I can't wait to read, and Lemonade sounds like a funny combo of King Dork and Stargirl.  There were, in fact, two other Levithan books there (one being The Realm of Possibility), making for the largest collection of Levithan books I've ever seen in a bookstore.  I think I might've mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to read more books written by male authors, and Lemonade (and, indeed, Are We There Yet? and Pillars) definitely makes the cut.  I like to find books that I imagine no one else looking for, if that makes sense, and that was another way Lemonade appealed to me.

This buying of books will have to cease for a while, because I need to reign it in on my spending in general, but for now I have enough books to last until, possibly, the end of the year.  Also, I will have to concentrate more on applying for grad school, so there's a good chance that I won't be posting as frequently as I have - at least not on books.  Perhaps another Freaks and Geeks post, or something on Undeclared or even a current TV show?  I'm a big fan of How I Met Your Mother (go, Neil!), and just watched Parks & Recreation (go, Amy!). We'll see.

Oh, and I have a friend who has finally talked me into reading and reviewing Twilight.  Pray for me.

I just got back from an unexpected trip to Border's with my mother - who, even though she's the biggest reader in the family, rarely goes to brand-name bookstores.  I got two books I just found out about a week or so ago: Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and The Market.  Once again, I was tempted to purchase The Luxe, and once again couldn't bring myself to do it.  I saw most of the same books I saw on my last trip, so I decided to stop by the Popular Fiction section for some more grown-up selections.  Should I have picked up Jane Eyre?  War and Peace?  1984?  I've been thinking lately that I should read up on more of the classics.

Right now, though, my booklist is expanding rapidly.  On the advice of a dear friend, I got A Wrinkle in Time and its first sequel at Half-Price Books - as well as The Giver, Sweet 16 (already reviewed!), and You Are So Undead to Me (just when I thought I wouldn't be using my "zombies" tag anymore).  She also urged me to buy Twilight - at around $3, a great deal - but I wasn't feeling it. (I've heard too much about it, reading it now would be overkill - no pun intended.)  Plus I've already started on The Pillars of the Earth, a daunting but engrossing read, and I still have to finish Secret Society Girl.

I've been thinking a lot about what makes a good book ... good.  I have always thought a huge indicator is that you keep wanting to come back to it throughout the months and years.  For instance, just about every book in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series has this quality, because his writing is so sly and full of layers that even observant readers will discover something different on rereadings.  The same goes for my Harry Potter books, especially the thicker ones.  Jane Austen's novels also have this quality.  I will also reread books that are funny, smart, or have memorable characters: Naomi and Ely's No-Kiss List, A Year at the Movies by Tom Servo Kevin Murphy, my collection of Fables comics, Fun Home, Scott Pilgrim's earlier volumes, and The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen.  These books make me laugh, make me think, and bring me comfort (a couple of these books are non-fiction, which strikes me as intriguing).

I offer this up because today I saw a book by Frank Portman and was close to picking it up.  I finished his debut novel, King Dork, which is a great read - but I don't want to read it again.  Would that mean I'd regret picking up this second book, especially if I happened to feel the same about it?  There are some books that I haven't bothered to reread yet.  I have no desire to pick up Kiss & Blog, The Juliet Club, Wicked (review not up), or Audrey, Wait!  And you might notice that I gave Audrey a really good review.  I have never reread the last two books of the His Dark Materials trilogy, as the ending left a bad feeling in my stomach.  However, this is not the fault of Philip Pullman, who I know is a great writer.  I suppose if the stories don't strike me as intriguing, original - or never go anywhere - it's a turn-off.  Another reason could be that I'm once again buying books faster than I'm reading them, and so have less time for older books.  Certainly a break from book-buying would be good news for my checking account. 

Hopefully, I will start posting reviews of the non-fiction books I have, including a couple of biographies, a book on philosophy, and a much beloved collection of articles by a feminist writer.

I finally finished this book after weeks of reading it in 15-minute intervals.


This is one book where it might be more worthwhile to purchasse it, rather than use your mother's library card to check it out.  But either way, you need to check it out.

( If you can make it to puberty without already having become a Catcher in the Rye casualty you're a better man than I, and I'd love to know your secret. It's too late for me, but the Future Children of America will thank you. )

This isn't going to be anything special, but I just got an urge to write about my experience at Border's a few minutes ago.  First, I'll tell you what I bought: Scott Pilgrim vol. 4 and vol. 5 (oh happy day!) and a nonfiction book called Full-Frontal Feminism.  I had a little trouble finding them because the Border's my father and I frequent just switched its sections around, so that the graphic novel section was all the way at the back, next to the newer and possibly larger YA section.  Also, for some reason, Feminism was a bitch to find.

Ahem.  Anyway, I wanted to limit my book intake this time, since I just made a major purchase in the way of a new lap top (still trying to get used to the keyboard, but overall a major improvement).  Of course, once I got there, at first I was all, Oh, what's the harm in getting more than a few?  I've got cash, I've got a job.  So there I was, carrying the two S.P. books, staring up and down the YA shelves.  I felt totally confident that I would find one other new book to enjoy, and then head on over to the gender studies section for some Feminism.  I was on top of the world.

Then I looked more closely.  There were the Twilights, the Cliques, various Gossip Girl knock-offs, Meg Cabot's bright pink Princess books, and a lot of Sarah Dessen books (she's got a new one out, Along For the Ride, which was everywhere).  I saw a sequel to ttyl, but I'm not interested in collecting the entire trilogy.  Largely, I was disappointed that there weren't ANY David Levithan books, save for 21 Proms, which isn't high on my list right now.  I spotted Boy vs. Girl and Geek High, but their quick summaries didn't intrigue me enough to purchase either of them.  I saw The Luxe in paperback and for a second really wanted to get it, but I'd heard so many mixed reviews of it that I couldn't bring myself to buy it.  I did see some Kate Brian novels, including The V Club (which is now called The Virginity Club for some odd reason - did the earlier title sound too much like The V.D. Club?)

There are many specific books I'm looking for, but they're either too old or have yet to be released.  How about a little variety, Borders?  Why don't you have Read My Lips in stock?  Why do you make me turn to Amazon every time I can't find David Levithan?  Of course, there are books that I see nearly every time I go there - for example, If I Stay, whose cover is enough to make me want to buy it, but right now I'm staying away from depression.  Actually, I'm looking for more mysteries and such, in the vein of King Dork (almost halfway through!) and Kiss Me Kill Me.  But I've decided to wait until I've read Secret Society Girl to see how much I'd like the rest.  Another book I keep seeing is Uglies, which I've heard is excellent, but I don't want to get sucked into a book series just yet.  But all the books I've mentioned above are on my list. 

On a slightly unrelated note, I have a small list of grown-up books I wish to embark on:
The Secret Life of Bees
The Pillars of the Earth (about as long as Gone With the Wind)
Main Street

For some unexplicable reason, Prep seems to have been put on hiatus.  I hope to remedy that soon.

Good news!  I have just made an order for two new books, Love, Lies, and Lizzie and the first Ivy League Novel.  Right now, I am struggling through Bergdorf Blondes (boring ... sorry for the alliteration) and Prep, not to mention Gone With The Wind (yikes, it's a brick!).  I still have Wicked Lovely to read and review, and some non-fiction books to post on. 

Here is a list of other books I hope to read soon, hopefully in the next year or so:

Getting the Girl: A Guide to Private Investigation, Surveillance, and Cookery
The Writing Class
King Dork
Scott Pilgrim, Volume 4
A  Match Made in High School
And Then Everything Unraveled
The Season
Read My Lips
Kiss Me Kill Me
The Girls

Here it is, people - the home stretch.  And just in time for Halloween.  Cool. (And just in time for me to return it to the library).  If by some odd coincidence this is being read, I hope you've enjoyed this epic recap (epic as in long, not awesome - I can't judge that, after all).  Luckily I have come out of this still liking Abby, but I'm willing to admit that I don't have the highest of standards.

( Lest my pert patter make you think I wasn't scared, I was. )
Happy Halloween, kids. 

 </div>I’m going to bed. More later.

I took a Graphic Novel course last semester (yeah, my school's pretty cool) and now I'm interested in a lot of new books. Here are some series(s) I'm on the lookout for:

Fables
Scott Pilgrim
Will Eisener's The Spirit
Bone
Persepolis 

( An explanation )