Chicklish and Me!

Chicklish is a wonderful website that has long been linked in my sidebar. It’s a wonderful blog with interviews, reviews, giveaways, excerpts, and more. They talk about some wonderful books, but if you’re American (as I am)  you’ll sigh wistfully at their wonderful reviews, because many of the books are only available overseas (it is a UK site).

Anyway, I’m very happy to announce that I am now writing for Chicklish! I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with them, as I have long admired their site from afar. I am now the US correspondent,  and to start off with they’ve posted my review of E. Lockhart’s The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks, which is a truly wonderful novel and, certainly, if I dare say it so early in the year, a Printz contender. Check it out here, and make sure to add Chicklish to your reading list if it’s not there already! I’ll tell you all here when I have something new over there.

Also right now, they’re doing a contest for a copy of Tabitha Suzuma’s From Where I Stand, which sounds great, and they will ship internationally if you win, so go on over there and enter!

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Reading in February!

In February, I read twenty-four books. That’s five short of the twenty-nine required to average one a day for the month, and my total in 2008 for January and February is only thirty-nine of sixty books. I am going to have to do a lot of catching up on school breaks!

Anyway, that said, last month, I read some awesome books.

Only two were non-fiction: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and Not Quite What I Was Planning. The other twenty-two were fiction.

One was read for English class (The Great Gatsby) and one was research for a school project (Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera).

I was a contributor to one of them (Not Quite What I Was Planning).

One was an anthology of short stories (Shining On) and part of its profits go to charity.

A few that particularly stood out were A Little Friendly Advice; Audrey, Wait; Good Enough; Lock and Key; Song of the Sparrow; What Happens Here; Shining On; and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.

 

Review: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is the latest book by the fabulously talented and brilliant E. Lockhart. Frankie Landau-Banks is a sophomore at Alabaster, a prestigious boarding school. Previously, the institution was all-male, but it is now coeducational. Its infamous secret society, however, remains a boys-only club. The Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, to which Frankie’s father belonged, is still on campus (although in a rather weak form), and Frankie’s new boyfriend, the sought-after Matthew Livingston, is a part of it.

And he won’t even tell her. It’s only through her own intelligence and curiosity that she figures it out, despite giving Matthew numerous opportunities to tell her. And Frankie’s not the least bit happy with any of it–her boyfriend keeping secrets, or the society not allowing girls. And Frankie, being Frankie, isn’t going to stand for that.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is told in the third-person (which, you may know is not my preferred point of view), but I absolutely adored it and wasn’t even bothered by the narration, it was told so wonderfully. E. Lockhart is a truly brilliant writer, and her talent really shines in this fresh, witty new novel.

I think this may be E. Lockhart’s best novel yet, and, really, that’s saying something! She’s an amazing writer, and this smart, funny book is one that is already standing out as one of the best of 2008 (and it’s not officially released until March 25). Frankie is a wonderful character–intelligent, creative, and empowered. She’s always been “bunny rabbit” to her family, and most people see her that way even if they don’t use that nickname–they think she’s cute and charming and harmless. Frankie, however, is anything but! She’s a criminal mastermind.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is a funny, bold, and irreverent novel sure to find many fans who are themselves not content with the established social order or the way the world sees them.

Also posted at Chicklish!

 

Review: How To Be Bad by E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle

How To Be Bad is a novel written from the perspectives of three different girls, with each girl’s chapters written by one of the three authors (in the style of, and, in fact, inspired by, Rachel Cohn and David Levithan’s Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist). The three girls are Mel, the new girl in town who’s trying to make friends, Jesse, a very religious girl who’s trying to escape some bad news about her mother’s health, and Vicks, the rebellious, outspoken one, who just wants some answers from her boyfriend, Brady, who has only sent her one text message since going to the University of Miami. The three girls live in a Florida town in the middle of nowhere, and all work at the Waffle House. Over the course of their weekend road trip to Miami, they’ll find out new truths about themselves, their relationships (with each other and with other people), and life in general.

That’s really all I want to say about the plot, as I don’t want to give away too much about their adventures on the road, but, trust me, it’s awesome. This book has serious moments and hilarious moments and lots and lots of very true, honest moments. It’s told in three very distinct voices, but they blend together seamlessly to create on fun, fabulous novel! It’s over three hundred pages, but moves along very well, and felt like a very quick read. How To Be Bad is an absorbing, funny novel that I certainly recommend you read when it’s released in May!