English Compliment

An English friend just emailed to ask me what I meant in my previous post by, "It is very English and I mean that as a compliment under these circumstances". He wanted to know when being very English wasn't a compliment. Good question and here is my reply.

How's the food?

Very English.

Are These My Basoomas I see Before Me?

I find Louise Rennison's series Confessions of Georgia Nicolson a guilty pleasure. So silly and fabulous. They always make me feel a little wistful that I wasn't more carefree and whatnot as a teen. I stumbled across Knocked Out By My Nunga Nungas by accident, but I think it was a good way to enter the series. Here's how I rate the whole thing.

Book #1 - Good, but Rennison is just warming up.
Books #2 - #5 Increasing in hilarity and madness.
Books #6-#9 The plot moves slower than you'd like and by book 8 you keep reading, but it isn't as fresh as before
Book #10 Good finish. Nice resolution.

And, full confession here, I have a bit of a crush on Dave the Laugh. I do hope they make this series into a movie and don't do anything dreadful to it like basing it in America. It is very English and I mean that as a compliment under these circumstances.

What I Learned From Being a Cheerleader on Kindle!

What I Learned From Being a Cheerleader is now available on Kindle! Check it out here.

When You Reach Me - Rebecca Stead

This book has a remarkably complex plot for a middle grade novel. It's set in 1978 New York and the author manages to explain the complexities of time travel without talking down to the reader. I was constantly thinking about time travel when I was a kid (and still do think about it quite a bit) so I'm sure I would have loved this book. A definite read for anyone age 9-12 and a darn good read for anyone older.

Interview on Leigh Dragoon's site

Leigh Dragoon was kind enough to interview me on her website for the launch of Fraggle Rock #3. And don't you just love this girl and bird painting? She's got talent, baby! To read the interview, go here.

Fraggle Rock #3 is out! Apparently

Well, I haven't seen it yet. Or any art, pages or anything from it, to be honest, but Fraggle Rock #3 is out! Here is the review from Tough Pigs.

Uglies - Scott Westerfeld

I'm all about dystopian YA right now and I highly recommend Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. It really forces you think about how appearance effects behavior and perception. The fact that this novel is YA is particularly good because when you're a teen, it can be challenging to feel confident about your appearance. But there's more to to the story than that. It's all about perception, the value of friendship, how our appreciation of beauty has changed over the centuries and there's a darn good adventure wrapped up in there too.