Title: Startled By His Furry Shorts (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson Book 7) – Rating 5

Author: Louise Rennison

Grades: 9-12 & Adult

Book Level: 5.0

Accelerated Reader Points: 7

Quiz Number: 106820 EN

Description: (From the Author’s Website)

Beautiful Creatures has been acquired by Warner Brothers. Richard LaGravenese is supposed to write and direct.  I totally have to read this because I’m fascinated by the cover and it’s always checked out at our library.

I was able to attend a private screening of New Moon last night and it blew Twilight out of the water. The cast look so much better the acting was better, you can really tell the budget made a huge difference in creating the world of New Moon. I am very please to say (as a Team Jacob fan) that the onscreen chemistry between Bella and Jake was so much steamier and intense…yummy, yummy, yummy! The fans are going to be thrilled…yeah there are difference from the book. There are WAY too many “almost” kiss scenes between Bella and Jacob but each time I got chills! Tell me what you all think!!!!

Yay! According to Variety, Lorenzo di Bonaventura has obtained the right to Michael Scott’s six-part fantasy series “The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel.” I haven’t read the series yet but have it on my to-be-read list. It sounds like they are really trying to get the franchise going soon! The series starts with The Alchemyst.

Read the full article from Variety by clicking the link below:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118011546.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

Just requested for us to buy Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.  I’m diggin’ the book trailer!

For more information on this visit http://books.simonandschuster.com/Hush-Hush/Becca-Fitzpatrick/9781416998204

Simple but Effective Book Trailer for Fire by Kristen Cashore

Hilarious Book Trailer for Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters

A “read alike” is a book that has the same feel, mood, subject, or tone of another book.  Although no two books are an exact match, read alikes may have one, some, or most, of the characteristics of another book you just couldn’t put down. If you have any suggestion to add, comment below! Enjoy!

Georgia Nicolson Series Order:

1. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging

2. It’s OK, I’m Wearing Really Big Knickers (UK title)

2. On the Bright Side, I’m Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God (US title)

3. Knocked Out by My Nunga-Nungas

4. Dancing in My Nuddy-Pants

5. …And That’s When It Fell Off in My Hand (UK title)

5.  …Away Laughing on a Fast Camel (US title)

6. …Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers

7. …Startled by His Furry Shorts

8. Luuurve is a Many Trousered Thing

9. Stop in the Name of Pants!

10. Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?

Louise Rennison’s Georgia Nicolson series is basically teenage British chick-lit, i.e. fun and fluffy. Reading this series is sort of like being in the middle of flock of 14 year old girls…they are mostly about boys, makeup, laughing, being silly, boys and, errrr, that’s about it.  There isn’t a lot of plot but you laugh so hard, you really don’t notice or care.

The series is full of over-the-top exaggerations and lots of hilarious British slang. Georgia, the main character is so self-obsessed, wacky and childish but at the same time so loveable and hilarious!

For more fun visit Georgia’s Website.

Read Alikes for Louise Rennison’s Georgia Nicolson Series

Girl 15, Series by Sue Limb

1. Girl 15, Charming But Insane
2. Girl, (Nearly) 16: Absolute Torture
3. Girl, Going on 17: Pants on Fire

Series Description (From Author’s Website)

Life can be trying when your best friend is a goddess, you are a woeful underachiever, and your love-life is as messy and as mucky as a sticky quagmire of mud. Painfully spot on, the Girl 15 series reveals with technicolor precision the agony and the ecstasy (and the embarrassment) of being a teenager. With razor-sharp observation and deadpan humor we are offered a privileged peek at the life of Jess, charming, but most definitely insane. This series has a unique voice and humor that will make you want to read it again and again, if you can bring yourself to put the books down in the first place.

Why You’ll Like: Jess and Georgia would be best friends if they knew each other. Jess lives with her mum and dreadfully embarrassing granny, who, by the way, would ADORE Georgia’s crazy granddad. Jess has an imagination that would rival Georgia’s. She is in luuurrrrve with Ben Jones who Jess describes as “a divine mixture of Leonardo DiCaprio, Prince William, and Brad Pitt who oozes mystery and charisma.” This series is a MUST READ for Georgia fans.

Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

Description:

“130 lbs. (how is it possible to put on 4 pounds overnight? Could flesh have somehow solidified becoming denser and heavier (repulsive, horrifying notion)); alcohol units 2 (excellent) cigarettes 21 (poor but will give up totally tomorrow); number of correct lottery numbers 2 (better, but nevertheless useless)”  This laugh-out-loud chronicle charts a year in the life of Bridget Jones, a single girl on a permanent, doomed quest for self-improvement.

Why You’ll Like: Since this book was written for adults it’s probably something older teens will enjoy more than the younger crowd but it is full of British slang and hilariousity. Bridget is very wacky and gets herself into all sort of trouble, much like Georgia. She is also obsessed with her looks and boys (in her case men).

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen by Dyan Sheldon

Excerpt:

“It is a sad and shocking fact of my young life that my parents named me Mary Elizabeth Cep by mistake. I’ve known since I was five that my true name is Lola. I don’t remember where I first heard it, but I loved it immediately. Lola. . . . Lola is romantic and mysterious. It’s evocative and resonant. It’s unusual-as I am. Mary Elizabeth sounds like the maid in an English drama. You know, “Mary Elizabeth,” smarms the Lady of the Manor, “please show Mr. Smudgins into the parlor.” Having a generous nature, I can forgive my parents this error, major though it is. I can see that it wasn’t really their fault. They both watch PBS a lot. But that doesn’t mean that I have to accept their mistake as final. “

Why You’ll Like: (Haven’t Read) I haven’t read this one yet but “Lola” seems very over-the-top and although this isn’t British, it seems like a very good fit for this list.

Jessica Darling Series by Megan McCafferty

1. Sloppy Firsts
2. Second Helpings
3. Charmed Thirds
4. Fourth Comings
5. Perfect Fifths

Description (Book 1 – From Author’s Website)

When her best friend, Hope Weaver, moves away from Pineville, New Jersey, hyper observant sixteen-year-old Jessica Darling is devastated. A fish out of water at school and a stranger at home, Jessica feels more lost than ever now that the only person with whom she could really communicate has gone. How is she supposed to deal with the boy- and shopping-crazy girls at school, her dad’s obsession with her track meets, her mother salivating over big sister Bethany’s lavish wedding, and her nonexistent love life?

Why You’ll Like (Haven’t Read): This is a series that isn’t British so it is missing the fab British slang which I luurrrrrve about the Georgia Nicolson series BUT it’s heroine Jessica is very Georgia-ish, or maybe teenage-girl-ish, in that the problems in her life, which others may think are trivial, are her WORLD.  Other readers have commented that they are also very funny and over dramatic so these may be good read alike for the humor too.

Mates, Dates Series by Cathy Hopkins

1. Mates, Dates and Inflatable Bras (Lucy)
2. Mates, Dates and Cosmic Kisses (Izzie)
3. Mates, Dates and Portobello Princesses (Nesta) (UK Title)
3. Mates, Date and Designer Divas (Nesta) (US Title)
4. Mates, Dates and Sleepover Secrets (TJ)
5. Mates, Dates and Sole Survivors (Lucy)
6. Mates, Dates and Mad Mistakes (Izzie)
7. Mates, Dates and Pulling Power (Nesta) (UK Title)
7. Mates, Dates and Sequin Smiles) (Nesta) (US Title)
8. Mates, Dates and Tempting Trouble (TJ)
9. Mates, Dates and Great Escapes (Lucy)
10.Mates, Dates and Chocolate Cheats (Izzie)
11. Mates, Dates and Diamond Destiny (Nesta)
12. Mates Dates and Summer Sizzlers (TJ)

Description: The series is about four friends: Izzie, Lucy, Nesta, and TJ. Each book is told from the point of view of one of the girls. There are

Why You’ll Like (Haven’t Read): Well, for one the series is British, so it has that going for it. Also, it seems to have a lot of the drama and strong friendships similar to the Georgia Nicolson series.

The Life of Angelica Cookson Potts by Cherry Whytock

1. My Cup Runneth Over
2. My Scrumptious Scottish Dumplings
3. My Saucy Stuffed Ravioli

Excerpt (From Book 1)

I’m, um, LARGE. Yes, “large” just about covers it, although to be quite honest, not many things do — cover it,

I mean.

Description:

Angelica Cookson Potts, better known as Angel, loves food, both cooking it and eating it, and plans to be a famous chef someday. But she thinks she’s just too big — her mother is a skinny ex-model, her best friends are all smaller than she is, and she feels like a huge, wobbly whale in comparison. In addition to food, Angel also loves Jamie Oliver (the Naked Chef) and Adam (who doesn’t know she’s alive). In order to get Adam’s attention, she tries making major Life Changes, including a cabbage-only diet that has…well, explosive results. Through it all her best friends, Minnie, Portia, and Mercedes, are there with her, and when the school fashion show comes around, Angel discovers that her size might not be such a bad thing after all.

Everyone knows an Angel, and readers will laugh out loud at her take on life.

Angel’s own recipes are included so that other “foodies” can cook along with her.

Why You’ll Like (Haven’t Read): Well, just look at the description and you’ll know why you’ll like it!

Ruby Oliver Series by E. Lockhart

1. The Boyfriend List
2. The Boy Book
3. The Treasure Map of Boys
4. Real Live Boyfriends (Coming in 2010)

Excerpt (From Book 1 – The Boyfriend List):

Doctor Z is my shrink, and she says that for purposes of the list, the boyfriends don’t have to be official. Official, unofficial — she says it doesn’t matter, so long as I remember the boy and something about what happened.

The list was a homework assignment for my mental health. She told me to write down all the boyfriends, kind-of boyfriends, almost-boyfriends, rumored boyfriends and wished-he-were boyfriends I’ve ever had. Plus, she recommended I take up knitting.

I still have some doubts about Doctor Z, though by now I’ve been seeing her for almost four months. I mean, if I knew a 15 year-old who sat around knitting sweaters all day, I’d definitely think she had some mental health problems.

Why You’ll Like (Haven’t Read):

Well, the dialog is very Georgia-ish with lots of thinking and re-thinking. It’s told in first person. It’s not British but I’m dying to read this series after visiting the author’s website.

Emily Series by Katie Maxwell

1. The Year My Life Went Down the Loo
2. They Wear What Under Their Kilts
3. What’s French for “Ew”?
4. Taming of the Dru
5. Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Hotties

Description (From Book 1 – From the Author’s Website)

When 16-year-old Emily’s family uproots her from Seattle to England right before her junior year, she has to adjust to a whole new lingo, new friends, and worst of all, no malls. Luckily hunkalicious British boys do exist!

Why You’ll Like (Haven’t Read):

This series is a little different because it British AND American. Emily moves from Seattle to English so you have the experience of seeing England from the eyes of an American teen. I’ve read the descriptions and they sound hilarious.

It’s Trailer Tuesday again…not crazy about this one, what do you think?

The Van Alen Legacy, the fourth book in the New York Times best-selling series Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
Not so crazy about this particular trailer. I find it very busy, the overall idea is really cool but it was a LOT to look at a little too quickly!

According to Variety, Producers Nick Wechsler, Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz have bought the rights to The Host by Stephenie Meyer, which is her first adult novel. I’m very excited about this as I enjoyed The Host more than I did when I first read Twilight.