books 28+

okay, let's chip away at a few more while i briefly have internet access:

book 28
i love you, beth cooper, larry doyle
rating:


i was sad to see that alicia hated this so vehemently, because i enjoyed it a good bit. the main character, class valedictorian, professes his love to head cheerleader beth cooper in his valedictory speech. many graduation night shenanigans ensue. sure, it was a little superficial, but i liked the limited time frame (maybe about 12 hours?), which reminded me of dazed and confused and other movies whose titles i can't think of now. the big difference was that this one focused on just one plot line. maybe adding in a few more would have given it more texture. but still, i thought it was light and fun, and i consider it the perfect book to read when you're sitting in a driveway on a saturday morning, trying to get people to buy many of your earthly possessions in your parents' neighborhood's annual yard sale. have you ever participated in a yard sale? it's like an anthropological study.

book 29
dedication, emma mclaughlin and nicola kraus
rating:


those nanny diaries authors are at it again. i liked the nanny diaries when it came out, though i found some of the conventions the authors used vaguely annoying. i never read their second one, citizen girl, which i've heard described as "a book that needs to make up its mind. is it chick lit, or is it a feminist manifesto?" i think this one made up its mind, b/c i read it as pretty much 100% chick lit, with a little confusion thrown in at the end. okay, kate goes back to her hometown in vermont (why do i read so many books that take place in vermont?) to confront her high school boyfriend, jake, who left town w/o a word right before prom, and has since become a huge rock star by exploiting their very personal relationship in his lyrics. i liked the structure, which pretty consistently alternated a past chapter with a present chapter, starting pretty early on in kate's life. but the story fell flat for me. i did laugh out loud, and loudly, once, so i'm adding a headless 'bot just for that.