Book Thoughts: Yes Man

Title: Yes Man
Author: Danny Wallace

I borrowed this book from my boyfriend a bit skeptically. I usually stick to YA and fiction. This is an adult book and a memoir.

I am glad that I decided to read it anyway.

Essentially, Danny decides to defeat his lethargy and depression by going a whole year saying only yes to every invitation, request, and opportunity. So, of course, he gets up to all sorts of wild and crazy shenanigans.

Yes Man is snarky and British and hilarious (seriously, the number of times I was in hysterics reading it is too high to count) and I absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a fun read. And not only is it fantastic, it's also true!

Read read read. What are you waiting for? (But don't see the movie. Every single person I've talked to said it was awful. The book is where it's at.)

Book Thoughts: Numbers

Title: Numbers
Author: Rachel Ward
Series: Numbers #1

The premise of this book is so cool. The idea just drew me in. It wasn't about exactly what I thought it would be about - the book jacket makes it sound like it's about the discovery of a terrorist plot or something, but that's only in the first quarter of the book. It's more about Jem and Spider on the run afterwards.

I love the Britishness of Numbers. I love the characters. I really love the story. Jem and Spider are so much fun to read about, and Jem is such a complex character - she's literally an outcast of society, and readers can relate to her. And she's got so many questions and problems, about letting people in and and trusting people and coming to terms with death. I wish Spider had been a bit more developed, and the other side characters. Britney, for example - I loved her. I wanted to know more about her.

I also loved the way Rachel Ward explored the idea of knowing when people will die. Is it better to know when you will die or to leave it a mystery? By coming into contact with someone, can you change their future? How much of life is predestined from birth and how much can be changed? So many interesting concepts. It's so cool.

I was not a fan of the ending. Because I am also not a fan of spoilers, I'm not about to tell you what that ending is, but I will say that it would have been a much better book (in my opinion) without the epilogue. If it had stopped before that, it would have been great. That aside, though, I will definitely be reading the sequel soon (I actually have an ARC in my possession, which is what prompted me to read Numbers in the first place).

Also, can I just take a moment to say that this cover is really awesome?

Series Thoughts: Georgia Nicolson

Title: Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging (book 1)
Author: Louise Rennison
Series: Georgia Nicolson
*Filed in archives under title of first book.*

[[Another very early one. Wasn't 15-year-old me cute?]]

Many thanks to my friend Sara, who lent me the first three books in this fabbity-fab-fab series. And for the record, I have (so far) read three and a quarter of the books. I think there are nine out thus far.

For those of you who are wondering, it's the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series. Book One is called Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging (the second one is On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God and the third is Knocked Out by My Nunga-Nungas). It's the diary of a British girl who gets into an awful lot of amusing trouble and is juggling her boyfriend (the "Sex God" Robbie) and the boy she might like ("Dave the Laugh"), plus her best friend Jas, who can be quite annoying and also happens to be dating Robbie's brother Tom.

I laughed out loud a LOT reading them. I plan to continue doing so. I have to finish #4 (Dancing in My Nuddy-Pants) and then the fifth one (Away Laughing on a Fast Camel, which I suspect may involve Dave because that's what he says instead of goodbye, but I'm not sure, as I haven't even finished the fourth book yet let alone the fifth). Anyway, they're completely amazing. Fabbity-fab-fab and double marvey with knobs. :)

The books are absolutely hilarious, chock full of British slang, and all around very entertaining. (Although my father has decided that they are probably morally questionable, based on the titles. The worst thing that's happened so far is a bit of snogging, which I shouldn't need to translate. I hope.)

Cheers from hamburger-a-gogo land -

Becky

Book Thoughts: Kiss Me Kill Me

Title: Kiss Me Kill Me
Author: Lauren Henderson

[[As you will notice, this is a fairly old review, one of the first I ever did. I stand by my love for the series, though!]]

My first book recommendation of the summer is Kiss Me Kill Me by Lauren Henderson. I picked this one because 1) I just finished reading the sequel, Kisses and Lies, and 2) it's a fairly quick but riveting read - something you don't have to spend hours poring over but can still enjoy.

Kiss Me Kill Me is about sixteen-year-old Scarlett Wakefield. She's a gymnast, and she's not exactly in with the popular crowd at her school. She dreams about kissing Dan McAndrew, her secret crush - which, as long as she's on the outside, will never happen. Naturally, Scarlett is excited when she suddenly gets invited to a party with the popular crowd. Especially because Dan is there. And then all of her daydreams come true - she and Dan are alone on the terrace, and they share a magical, wonderful, perfect kiss.

Until Dan suffocates in her arms.

Everyone assumes that Scarlett is somehow responisble for Dan's death. She transfers to Wakefield Hall Collegiate, a prep school run by her grandmother, to get away from the press and the hatred of the other girls at St. Tabby's - where she finds an anonymous note telling her that it wasn't her fault. And so, Scarlett sets out to clear her name and find out the truth behind Dan's demise.

Kiss Me Kill Me kept me turning pages until I finished and then longing for the sequel (which, as I mentioned, I just recently finished - it was just as amazing as the first). A wonderful combination of dark mystery and the drama of prep school life, and one I would definitely recommend.