For me, a good read will usually have a substance-abusing dark hero, a depressing tone, a really high body count, and maybe a zombie thrown in for good measure.
Small wonder that I don’t read much chick lit. All that fashion interferes with the police chase scenes.
(Okay, exception: Undead and Unwed has a really high body count and vampires.)
But I was forced to read Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging for a library school class. The narrator is a teenage girl, so there’s a lot of talk about clothing and boys and high school chums. Yeech! Not a single noir detective in the whole book!
Imagine my surprise when I started liking it anyway.
…and then imagine my embarassment when I began screeching like a hyena in a crowded coffee shop. This book goes beyond the realm of laugh-out-loud and into hyperventilate-till-they-call-for-an-ambulance.
Despite not caring for chick lit or teen girl stories, I couldn’t help liking the narrator. British (and therefore funny) teenager Georgia Nicolson records her life in diary form with a droll, dry sense of humor. For example:
“I wonder if I have got enough friends? I worry that if British Telecom asks me for ten friends and family for my list of cheap calls, I would have to count the astrological phone line for Librans, which I ring more often than not.”
Or:
“Overslept and had to race to get a life to Jas’s with my dad. No time for yoga or makeup. Oh well, I’ll start tomorrow. God alone knows how the Dalai Lama copes on a daily basis. He must get up at dawn. Actually, I read somewhere that he does get up at dawn.”
The diary entries move the book along at a good clip. It won a Printz Award, and if you like it, you can read the subsequent books in the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series.
Oh, I do so love Georgia Nicolson. Let’s face it, I want to BE Georgia Nicolson. Who doesn’t want to be part of an ace gang? Or fall in love with a Sex God?
Okay, I’ll stop. But I’m not ashamed to admit that the only book I desperately watched the catalog for this whole summer was the latest book in the series, Love is a Many Trousered Thing. Okay, I’m a little ashamed. But, if you have any BBC video watchers, particularly women, I’d recommend suggesting this series to them, particularly if they’re open to YA. They’re just too British, too funny, not to love. Great review!
[…] Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison […]
You are evil, Jess and your kittens dress you funny!
I just admitted to all five readers of my blog that I put this book on my to read list. Me. The horror-loving librarian. The Undead Rat. . . . thinking about reading chick lit . . .
The horror . . .
–Greg
OMG! These books are just AMAZING! I would reafd them OVER and OVER again if I had the time!
I would LOVE to be Georgia! It would be an amazing experience! I mean, come on, who wouldn’t like to be a member of the Ace Gang! And The Sex God! Yum =]
Anyway, just want to say these books are amazing!
Hayley xx
OMG DAVE THE LAUGH
READ THOSE BOOKS AND FALL IN LOVE WITH DAVE THE LAUGH
U GOT 2 READ THE WHOLE SERIES THOUGH BECAUSE U ONLY REALLY FALL IN LOVE IN LIKE THE 4TH BOOK
MUCH BETTER THAN THE SG OR THE LG
THE SEX GOD SUCKS COMPARED 2 DAVE
read these books. they r so gd and sooooo funny.
x
oh my gosh!!!! this book is so funny.i actually had to try my best not to read it in public,cause it was so funny.i read it in class and i got a detention for distrupting class with my laughter.its so funny and i really wish i had a cat like angus.
serioulsy i recommend this book to anyone who is sad and needs cheering up.
omg havnt read any of the books,
but the film is amasing :-|,
seen it 3 times & might go again :-d
cant wait till the dvds out :-) !
and robbie is HOT !
bbe
omg i love the book to robbie and dave are so hot in the movie