Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams

After reading several teen books in a row, I needed some semi-legit reading to satisfy my brain. I dug around my bookshelf and found Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which I had ordered after reading (and falling in love with) Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire.

Tennessee Williams is so fantastic. He aptly brings his audience into the lives of his characters; lives that so often are filled with pain and secrets and booze. His characters are very real, but at the same time really seem iconic of the time. They are sad, and absolutely honest.

When I finished reading this play, I told my friend Tonia that I wanted to marry Tennessee Williams. She politely reminded me that he is gay, and dead. Regardless, I realized that (a) I need to add the corresponding films to my Netflix queue and (b) I'd like to seek out live versions of his plays to see in Los Angeles.

Gossip Girl by Cecily Von Ziegesar

When I bought the first season of Gossip Girl on DVD (on sale at Target!) after Christmas, it came with a free download of the first audiobook. Yes, please! I was pumped. I finally uploaded it to my iPod and decided that it would be a great way to jazz up a ride on the treadmill at the gym. I was right...

The audiobook is read by Christina Ricci (weird, right?) and she does a surprisingly great job. Nowadays I think of her as a pretty edgy, hardcore actress, but she can definitely still pull off the snotty, rich teenager thing.

It's weird listening to the book because I can't help but think of Blake Lively and Leighton Meester. If I were reading the book, however, without ever having seen the show (impossible, I know), I certainly might have imagined the girls a little differently. Serena is definitely more of a bitch, Blair seems less feisty, Jenny has giant boobs, Vanessa is bald and Dan is a smoker. These are small differences, but it's definitely interesting to see the interpretation for the small screen. My friend Katie described the books as "an parallel universe" to the television show. The characters are (sort of) the same and the plot is similar, but there are a ton of differences. The problem is: I can't decide which one I love more. I mean, I have a certain fondness for Lively's Serena and Meester's Blair and (definitely) Ed Westwick's Chuck, but the book is pretty great, too. Like most book/film comparisons, the book is naughtier -- more sex and more drinking (if you can believe it).

I have every intention of hitting up the library and grabbing the next book in the series, You Know You Love Me. And, I'll be sure to keep you posted...

xoxo,
Ingrid

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

Cammie Morgan is a student at an elite prep school that happens to be an undercover, super-secret spy school for girls. Like any other private school girls, they wear plaid skirts and talk about make-up, but they're enrolled in courses like Covert Operations and write notes to each other on self-dissolving paper. Each day as they walk into the dining hall, they take note of the sign hung above the entrance way that reminds them which language they should be conversing in during that meal. These are not your average boarding school students. Cammie soon realizes that she speaks every language except "boy." She has to figure out how to balance her serious, secret, spy life with a normal, and totally cute, Townie boy.

This book makes me happy. It's like D.E.B.S for high schoolers. The girls are ambitious and smart and pretty bad-ass. But, they're also normal teen girls, dealing with normal teen issues -- boys, parents, school, friends. And, Cammie sounds like a teenage girl. She references things that teenage girls reference. And, it lacks the sleaze that I've seen in so many other teen books geared towards girls. Sure, real high school girls talk about sex, but it seems to me that it's possible to talk about real issues and continue to highlight strong, smart, successful girls. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You may not be the most realistic book I've read recently, but it's absolutely fun and charming. And, it's a smart and different angle for young girls that is, I think, completely strong and positive.

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

Whew, I finished this book a while ago. For some reason it's been a beast forcing myself to write an entry about it. Conclusion: I hated it?

Curtis Sittenfeld's* Prep follows the high school life of Lee Fiora, a middle class girl from Indiana who pushes through life at a ritzy prep school on the East Coast. Lee is perhaps the most self-absorbed, insecure, and unlikeable character I have ever encountered. Surely the reasoning behind Sittenfeld's book was to display high school insecurities and inner thoughts in a way that was completely honest. But, if I was ever as judgmental and whiny as Lee, I would hope that I would at least be self-aware enough to censor my thoughts a little.

Lee's inner monologue reveals her true personality which, frankly, if I had ever contemplated, I would keep to myself. She's cruel to her parents who just want the best for her, because they are embarrassing and drive a funky car. She's disgusted by fat people. She drops her first friend at school for another girl in order to work her way up the social ladder.

Interestingly, I was talking to my friend Allie about the book and she said that she read it, really loved it, and went out and bought other books by Sittenfeld. I was shocked. I'm not sure what it was about this book that made my skin crawl. I kept thinking to myself that I should like it because of its honesty. Sittenfeld goes out of her way to recreate an authentic boarding school experience, but perhaps that not what I wanted to read. If I can't get behind the main character, the book is lost on me forever.

*As a side note, Curtis Sittenfeld is a woman. When I was reading (or rather, listening) to this book at the beginning, I definitely had it in my mind that it was written by a man. At the start of the book, Lee is having feelings for an older female student who she has encountered. She wonders if she is gay, imagines kissing the older student. In my mind, assuming that Prep was penned by a man, I continued to roll my eyes thinking that this guy, Curtis, was indulgently fantasizing that every young girl at boarding school experiments with her girlfriends. Ha, ha, after looking at the back of the book, I realized that Curtis Sittenfeld is, in fact, a woman. Still, this certainly could have tainted my reactions to the book as a whole.

How to be Popular by Meg Cabot

How to be Popular by Meg Cabot tells the story of Steph, a nerdy high school Freshman who, with the help of an old-school how-to book that she finds in her step-grandmother's attic, embarks on the road to popularity. The guidebook she uses reads like a book of etiquette and reminded me of the fabulous Nancy Drew novels where girls are encouraged never to leave the house without their white kid gloves. Steph, however, manages to interpret and update this advice and even get in good with the cool kids. Of course, this journey is not without some outrage from her best friend, Jason, who has always loved Steph just the way she is, frizzy hair and all.

This book is the perfectly charming story of a girl who comes to discover herself and realizes what is really important. Steph is not unlike Princess Mia from Cabot's well-known series, The Princess Diaries. Still, both stories remind us that you shouldn't have to flat iron your hair just to fit in with some girls who aren't actually that nice to begin with.

I didn't spend a lot of time worrying about being popular when I was younger. I was always more worried about standing out from the crowd. I died my hair purple and wore my poodle skirt to school in eighth grade. It seems, though, that this strong urge to be unique is really no different from the need to be popular. That intense longing to fit in or stand out is what, in many ways, seems to define the life of a teenager. Whether it's The Catcher in the Rye or How to be Popular, it's great when a writer is able to capture such an intense feeling.

The Debutante Divorcee

The audiobook of The Debutante Divorcee by Plum Sykes is read by Sonya Walger who speaks in a lovely British accent. British people could talk to me all day and I would be a happy girl. Thus, just listening to The Debutante Divorcee made me smile.

This book is a fun, sexy, and sweet story about the young, newly married Sylvie who befriends the young, newly divorced Lauren. It's like Gossip Girl for grown-ups. Well, I'm a grown-up (sort-of) and I like Gossip Girl, so I guess it's more like Gossip Girl about grown-ups. The grown-ups in The Debutante Divorcee, however, don't always act like adults. Lauren is a regular Blair Waldorf. She's crafty, and popular, and flighty yet completely cunning. Sylvie, with the prodding of her new friend, comes to suspect that her husband is cheating on her. Together the girls have some fun, discover the truth, and even grow up a little.

The Debutante Divorcee is a really fun book. Listening to it during my commute made me want to (a) refrain from flipping off other drivers, (b) make some plans to giggle with my girlfriends, and (c) re-read Sykes' best-seller, The Bergdorf Blondes. I intend to do all three. Or, at least B and C.

Knitting Pretty by Kris Percival

I've been a terrible blogger. I've been on a knitting kick lately, which means that I haven't been reading as much. Unfortunately, it's impossible to knit and read at the same time.

I'm really pumped about my new knitting project. Until now, I've been a knit knit knitter. This means I do the same stitch over and over again. There are several projects that I've been able to complete this way (mostly scarves, and other rectangular items), but I've decided that I want to learn how to read knitting patterns and take my knitting skills to the next level.

So, my newest project is the "Super-Long Ribbed Scarf" from Kris Percival's Knitting Pretty. As far as patterns go, this one is SUPER simple. It's knit three, purl three. But, it's a definite step up for me from just plain knitting, so I'm pretty stinking proud of myself. I'm making the scarf in a really pretty light salmon color. It's made from a yarn called "Vanna's Choice," as in Vanna White, which is pretty awesome. (Side note: Once I went to a Harlem Globetrotters game with my friend Tonia at the Staples Center and Vanna White was totally there in the front row of the audience). So far, so good. When I finish it, I have every intention of posting a photo on here to show off my killer knitting skills.