Dedication by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

The hilarious pair of authors that brought you The Nanny Diaries score again with this laugh-out-loud tale about finally moving on from the one that broke your heart. Kate Hollis, affectionately known as Katie in high school, moves to the small town of Croton Falls, Vermont in sixth grade. She befriends Laura, and the two are quickly inseparable. Part of small town middle school life is "claiming" which boy you like. Katie randomly picks a cute boy, Jake Sharpe, and to prove herself to her mean-girl classmates, stands up on a desk and admits her crush in front of everyone.
Flash forward eighteen years and you learn that Jake and Katie finally did get together, he left the night before prom, became a mega-star, and wrote all of his songs about Katie . . . yet they haven't spoken since senior year. The novel goes back and forth in time, putting the pieces together for the reader as Kate makes the journey back to Croton Falls when learning that Jake has returned to film a holiday special for MTV. All through the novel, you will be torn between falling in love with Jake right alongside to high-school Katie, and hating his modern-day guts with grown-up Kate. The book has a great ending - definitely unexpected - and McLaughlin and Kraus have done an impeccable job recreating the different time periods. A must read this winter if one of your New Years resolutions is to finally get over that ex . . . or if you just want a compelling story with a lot of laughs.

[Photo: www.curledup.com]

The Shoes are Back Off!

The Barefoot Bookworm has returned!

Look for new posts starting next week!

[www.madhousemama.wordpress.com]

In Honor of Veteran's Day: America's White Table by Margot Theis Raven

I had to share this with all of you in honor of Veteran's Day. America's White Table by Margot Theis Raven is a wonderfully written and illustrated children's book about the tradition of setting a white table for POWs and MIAs on Veteran's Day. Using different items to symbolize everything from a soldier's bravery to the tears of the soldier's family, this book is a great way to tell children about veterans, and then have them set their own white table in honor and remembrance. Especially if your children have family members who are in the armed forces or are veterans!

Order your copy at The Barefoot Bookworm's Amazon Store!

[Photo: www.miss-ladybug.blogspot.com]

On Hiatus . . .

In case you haven't noticed, the Barefoot Bookworm is on temporary hiatus . . . I've had to put shoes on for a bit.

I should be back mid-December, although I may post here and there, and I'll try to keep the "What I'm Reading Now" section updated.

Email me if you need suggestions for books as gifts for the upcoming holidays! thebarefootbookworm@gmail.com

[Photo: www.shoes.about.com]

The Wedding Girl by Madeleine Wickham

Milly Havill has a big problem . . . and only a few days until her wedding to Simon Pinnacle to sort it all out. When Milly was eighteen, she married a gay American professor named Allan who wanted to stay in England with his one true love, Rupert. She thought the divorce was eventually taken care of - but when her wedding photographer shows up and recognizes Milly from her first wedding so long ago she realizes she has to do something fast! Her mother Olivia is planning the wedding of the century, all because Milly is marrying a billionaire's son.

Like all of Wickham's (and pseudonym Kinsella) work, The Wedding Girl creates "memorable characters, who are unpredictable and multifaceted as they are stylish." (Publishers Weekly). I love the Shopaholic series and you may have seen my review on The Gatecrasher, so you already know I'm a Madeleine Wickham fan. Her latest novel follows in the same funny, exciting fashion as all the others.

[Photo: www.staffpicks.icpl.org]

New Audrey Niffenegger

Audrey Niffenegger Fans - Her new novel comes out today! Her Fearful Symmetry is Niffenegger's second novel (the first being The Time Traveler's Wife), and involves a ghost story that takes place in and around London's Highgate Cemetery. It's creepy cover suggests its perfect timing for the upcoming Halloween holiday!

Order your copy at The Barefoot Bookworm's Amazon Store!

[Photo: www.bestsellers.about.com]

The National Book Festival

My husband and I made the trek downtown for the Library of Congress' National Book Festival yesterday. Despite the constant rain, we were impressed by the show. There were huge tents set up on the National Mall, each one devoted to a genre. There was great concessions and a place to buy books from Barnes & Noble. We got to see Nicholas Sparks, David Baldacci and Judy Blume, to name a few. Judy Blume was one of our favorite speakers, as she opened the floor to questions after only ten minutes and devoted the rest of her speaking time to fans' queries. They had book signings by all 70 authors, though my husband and I agreed that a rainy day could be the worst day to get a book signed! We also picked up a lot of freebies like reusable bags and posters that I'll be able to use in my classroom. When we didn't have any authors that we were dying to see, we walked right across the street to the Museum of Natural History and saw the Hope Diamond (currently not in its setting and very impressive!) and a couple of other exhibits.

We are definitely planning on making this a yearly event - and hoping for better weather next year!

[Photo: www.loc.gov/bookfest]

Awesome Audiobooks - Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy

It is no surprise that Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy is award winning. Starting with The Golden Compass, followed by The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, the series follows the heroine, a young girl named Lyra, who lives in Oxford. The reader soon realizes that Lyra's Oxford is a bit different than they one they know. For starters, humans have a daemon, which is a part of their soul that manifests itself into animal form, and can changes these forms often. When Lyra realizes that some of the adults are trying to separate children from their daemons, she embarks on an unbelievable adventure. Pullman creates this amazing fantasy world, and listening to the audio books makes it come alive. Pullman narrates the story, but also has a full cast for all of the characters. (In case you were wondering, audio books are often only narrated by one person, who does many different voices themselves). If you have a long trip planned or a long daily commute, pick this series up!

[Photo: www.sarah-storms.blogspot.com]

Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot

This was another random pick up at the library . . . the premise was just too good to pass up. Heather Wells is a former teen pop star (think Tiffany mixed with Britney with a dash of J. Simpson) who just recently caught her boy band fiancee Jordan Cartwright in an uncompromising position with another pop star, Tania Trace. Her mother has also taken off to Argentina with Heather's life savings, leaving her with nada. She's also gone from a size 8 to a size 12, but doesn't seem to mind that much since it's the "average size of the American woman." Instead of wallowing in her messy life, she's moved in with her fiancee's brother Cooper and taken a job as an assistant director at a dorm for New York College. After six months of employment there, Heather can start taking college classes for free. Sounds like she's got a plan, right?
When two freshman girls end up dead at the bottom of the dorm's elevator, Heather gets suspicious. Both ruled as accidental from elevator surfing, Heather is convinced a murderer lives in the building. While she tries to get to the bottom of this mystery, she's also dealing with her laughable ex Jordan constantly popping up with his "gold highlights in his blond hair, and I can't help noticing that in spite of the Indian summer heat, the lines pressed into his white shirt and--yes, I'm sorry to have to say it--matching white pants look perfectly crisp. With the white outfit, and the gold chain around his neck, he looks like he's AWOL from a really bad boy band. Which, sadly, is exactly what he is."

You'll laugh out loud as Heather tries to sleuth around and avoid Jordan, but Cabot also does a great job keeping the reader on their toes all throughout Size 12 is Not Fat. If you like it, there are two more books in the series: Size 14 is Not Fat Either and Big-Boned.

[Photo: www.megcabot.com]

DC Area Readers - "Fall For The Book" Festival

Links for the area's "Fall for the Book" Festival - going on until Saturday, September 26!

Fairfax County Public Library & Fall for the Book

Fall for the Book Official Site

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Markus Zusak's The Book Thief was easily one of the best books I read all summer. I originally heard about it during one of my Mason classes, and then when I spotted it on sale at Borders I had to pick it up. I wasn't sure what to expect, I only knew that it took place during the Holocaust.
I was surprised to find out that the book is narrated by Death, who is quite eloquent: "I could introduce myself properly, but it's not really necessary. You will know me well enough and soon enough, depending on a diverse range of variables. It suffices to say that at some point in time, I will be standing over you, as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms." After his own introduction, Death presents the story as "just a small story really, about, among other things: *a girl *some words *an accordionist *some fanatical Germans *a Jewish fist fighter *and quite a lot of thievery."
Death takes us from the beginning, where he first met the protagonist, Liesel Meminger, on her way to meet her new parents. The couple that has adopted her, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, eventually become Liesel's true family. She also becomes best friends with Rudy Steiner, who finds fame when he paints himself with coal and runs around the town track, pretending to be the Olympian runner Jesse Owens. In the height of Nazi Germany regime, this was not the smartest thing for Rudy to do. Liesel also makes some unexpected friends along the way, including the governor's wife and the Jewish fist fighter previously alluded to. I don't want to give too much away, and just say that you must must must read this book! It's an instant classic and for good reason, a #1 New York Times Bestseller.

[Photo: www.coverbrowser.com]

DC Area Readers!

For those of you in the D.C. area, the Library of Congress' National Book Festival is next Saturday, September 26. It's free on the National Mall, and will have over 70 authors.

The Barefoot Bookworm will definitely be there!

Check out the website for more information!

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

What would it be like to live on Alcatraz Island and not be a criminal? Our narrator, Moose Flannagan has just moved to Alcatraz with his family, after his father obtained a job as the prison's electrician. He's not crazy about living on the island, even if there are other kids whose families live there too. Choldenko has succeeded in writing a great historical fiction novel for the younger set. If you think adolescence is bad, imagine if you were going through it while living there! Moose navigates through his new life with a good sense of humor, despite getting in trouble a couple times and having to miss out on weekly baseball games. He wins instant popularity by feeding fellow students stories of the convicts - most significantly, Al Capone. Moose is given the charge of taking care of Natalie every day after school. His older "little" sister is mentally retarded and his family is trying to get her into a prestigious school that should help her assimilate into the real world. As Moose spends more and more time with Natalie, he realizes what's best for her and has to stand up to his parents and tell him what he really feels. Not easy when his mother is in denial and his father is working all the time. When it seems like nothing is going to go their way, Moose sees one person as the only one who can help him . . . and he takes a big chance in finding out. At a little over two hundred pages, you can fly through this delightful novel and enjoy a different take on history.

[Photo: www.vla.org]

Beach reads are synonymous with this series . . . Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels

Looking to get lost into a fun and delicious beach read even though its no longer beach season? Check out Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels. Starting with One for the Money, the series has nineteen books, so you are guaranteed never to get bored! Stephanie Plum is a lingerie buyer living in Trenton, New Jersey, her hometown. When she is laid off, she asks her cousin Vinnie for a job as a bounty hunter for his bail bonds business. It starts out harmless enough, but Stephanie gets herself into one sticky situation after another. Luckily, she has her on and off again cop boyfriend Joe Morelli, and the mysterious, and more professional, bounty hunger who goes by the name of Ranger to help Stephanie out of her jams. Not only does Evanovich keep readers' suspense, she also makes them laugh out loud. Stephanie has a well-meaning, gun toting Grandma, and a loud-mouth ex-hooker and sometimes partner in action, Lula. The twentieth book in the series, Between the Plums, comes out on September 29. If it's entertainment that you're looking for, Evanovich and Stephanie Plum fit the bill perfectly!

[Photo: fantasticfiction.co.uk]

Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Patillo Beals

We all learned about integration in Little Rock's Central High School at some point in our history classes. The facts that we learned were probably: nine Black teenagers were chosen to integrate Central High in 1957, following the infamous 1954 case of Brown vs. The Board of Education. We also learned that Arkansas' governor, Orval Faubus, did everything in his power to stop the Little Rock Nine. And while we know that these nine students had a tough job to do, we definitely didn't know how tough when we sat in class talking about the minute details we did know. Everyone should read Melba Pattillo Beals' Warriors Don't Cry for the sole reason that it is such an important part of American history. Taken from her own diary, Beals tells the story of how she became chosen to integrate Central High and the aftermath of that decision. All of the harrowing details make it hard to believe we didn't spend more time in class discussing it. Against the backdrop of violence and hatred, Beals shows typical teenage activities: going to dances and parties, listening to music, shopping for new clothes, which makes her story all the more poignant. It also makes you grateful that we live in such a wonderful country . . . that even though a whole community was against integration, there were still a small number, at great personal risk, willing to help the Little Rock Nine succeed in their endeavor.

[Photo: www.betterworldbooks.com]

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

For some odd reason, when I started reading this book I thought it was about modeling. The tag line on the cover is, "In a world of extreme beauty, anyone normal is ugly." Hence, modeling. I was pleased to find that Scott Westerfeld's Uglies is a new take on Brave New World, in a teenager's perspective. It asks some deeper questions than most young adult literature and introduces a heroine worth admiring. Tally Youngblood is three months away from turning sixteen, which in her world, means a series of intense operations that make an adolescent "pretty." The newly changed pretties get to live in New Pretty Town, across the river, and go to great parties, wear beautiful clothes, and bask in their new gorgeousness. Tally is still an "ugly" when the novel begins, which is basically what this society calls an adolescent. Before becoming an ugly, one is just a littlie. The society has placed everyone in categories based on looks. They claims that by making everyone pretty, everyone is on a level playing field, therefore solving all of the world's problems in one fell swoop (wars, violence, waste, unemployment, etc). The thought of becoming pretty consumes Tally's every waking moment until she makes a new friend, Shay. Shay is unsure about turning pretty, and has heard about people who run away and just stay "ugly" their whole lives. Right before their sixteenth birthdays, Shay decides to run away to "The Smoke." The authorities force Tally to make an extremely hard decision: tell on Shay or not get the "pretty operations." The path Tally goes down will change her life irrevocably. You'll have to read to find out what she ultimately decides! This is the first of the dystopian series by Scott Westerfeld, so I will definitely pick up Pretties, Specials and Extras soon!

[Photo: www.jacketsandcovers.com]

Tuesday - Great Books = Great Gifts

Emily Post's Wedding Etiquette

Have a friend or family member who recently got engaged? Looking for a great engagement or shower gift? Emily Post's Wedding Etiquette: The Definitive Guide to Your Wedding Experience does not disappoint. Being a bride can carry huge responsibility, and this book will help brides remember to be gracious and kind . . . and not a bridezilla! Not only does it have every section imaginable, but she also answers some tricky questions like how best to deal with uncooperative in-laws or lazy wedding party members with nothing but tact. It's also updated to help out trickier situations like destination weddings or reception only affairs. It answers what role each person plays: bride, groom, maid of honor/best man, wedding party, family of the bride, family of the groom . . . and gives gentle reminders like when to send thank you notes and tip vendors. I bought quite a few wedding books when I was planning our wedding, and this one by far is the best.

[Photo: www.bestcelebrant.com]

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

I'm sure some of you have already seen the movie Coraline, based on Neil Gaiman's book of the same name. If you haven't, you need to! It's a beautifully creepy film with an interesting moral dilemma.
The Graveyard Book is Gaiman's latest "children's novel," although adults will enjoy it just as much as their younger counterparts. It centers around a young boy named Nobody Owens, or "Bod" for short. Bod's entire family is grisly murdered at the start of the book, when Bod is only a baby. Bod crawls to the graveyard, and its inhabitants become his protectors. He has ghost parents, Mr. and Mrs. Owens, and a mysterious but loving guardian named Silas. Both Bod and the reader are unsure as to which world Silas belongs to - the living or the dead.
The "man named Jack" (think Jack the Ripper, Jack of all Trades, Jack be Nimble) is after Bod, the same man who murdered his family so many years ago. Bod is given some amazing gifts from the graveyards residents in order to protect himself when he leaves to attend school. He can disappear, enter other people's dreams . . . and these gifts will come in handy when the man named Jack returns. It's a delightful and spooky tale, and anyone who ponders what life is like on the other side will enjoy Gaiman's ideas on the subject.

[Photo: www.neilgaiman.com]

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

You all know how excited I was to read Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife. Being number 88 in the holds queue was no picnic, so I was even more ecstatic when I got the email notifying that it was available to pick up and I had time to read it before classes started up again. When I arrived to pick it up, I was even more delighted that it was a brand new copy. A brand new book is bliss for all bookworms, barefoot or not. How about that alliteration?

So when I settled into see what this book was really all about, I was immediately hooked into the amazing love story between Henry DeTamble, a time traveler, and Clare Abshire, a normal girl whose childhood is marked by several visits from Henry. Their love is unconventional to say the least, but very powerfully rooted in destiny. Of course, my job is not to tell you what happens. I will tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed the first 3/4 of the book, but when I was approaching the end, my opinion started to change. I felt like the end of the book was extremely anti-climatic and kind of left a sour taste in my mouth.
For those of you that have already read it, I would love for you to post your opinions! When I talked to a friend about it last night, she stated that she was "probably the only person she knows that liked it." It's a beautifully written book, and Niffenegger connects the different time travels masterfully, but after reading I felt just as jaded as Clare when she realizes her life will never be what she thought it would be.

[Photo: www.jacketsandcovers.com]

The Last Summer (of You & Me) by Ann Brashares

Squeaky swings and tall grass
The longest shadows ever cast
The water's warm and children swim
And we frolicked about in our summer skin

I don't recall a single care
Just greenery and humid air
Then Labor Day came and went
And we shed what was left of our summer skin

On the night you left I came over
And we peeled the freckles from our shoulders
Our brand new coats so flushed and pink
And I knew your heart I couldn't win
Cause the season change was a conduit
And we left our love in our summer skin

"Summer Skin" -- Death Cab for Cutie

If you read only ONE book that I have reviewed . . . let it be this one. It's rare that I listen to music while I read . . . it's even rarer that while I read a book a specific song comes to mind. Anyone ever experience this? It seems to make the words on the page that much stronger. Ann Brashares, of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series fame, has written an amazing debut adult novel. The Last Summer (of You & Me) immediately made me think of Death Cab for Cutie's "Summer Skin." If you aren't familiar with the sound of the song, listen to it here at Amazon.

Last Summer is the perfect novel to read after Labor Day when we seem to miss summer already. It's a powerful story of two sisters, Riley and Alice, and their summers spent on Fire Island with their next door neighbor Paul. Riley and Paul are best friends; Alice and Paul are secretly, violently in love with each other. They all struggle with these changing feelings . . . and Alice has to make a staggering decision right as the summer ends. Brashares explores these different relationships with raw emotion but gorgeous words. You'll devour each chapter, each turn in plot so masterfully crafted that you will be unable to do anything but read on. I'll warn you, you'll stay up all night to find out what happens to Riley, Alice and Paul when their summer skins fade into the rest of the year.

[Photo: www.amazon.com]

Tuesday - Great Books = Great Gifts

Force of Nature: Mind, Body, Soul, and of course, Surfing by Laird Hamilton

A perfect gift not just for surfers, but for anyone in your life that is into being one with the world. Laird Hamilton is exactly what his title suggests: a Force of Nature. He's been called the world's greatest big wave surfer, and he just happens to be married to Gabrielle Reese. This gorgeous hard bound book is 250 pages of beautiful photographs and everything that Laird believes life is all about. Broken into the four sections: Mind, Body, Soul and Surfing, Laird waxes poetic on goal setting, his grocery list, his heroes, his physical training . . . and my favorite, going barefoot.

I bought this book for my husband and while he was reading parts aloud, we both marveled at Laird's dedication. My husband, after getting halfway through, stopped and asked, "But who has the time?" We both were in laughing fits when he turned to the very next page and the header was: "There's no such thing as not enough time."

Laird has thought of everything, and the end result is a refreshing way to look at life. And some lofty goals that lead you contemplating their attainment long after you are done reading.

[Photo: gearpatrol.com]

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Remember when I was raving about The Time Traveler's Wife movie trailer and how I would love if books had trailers? Well, the geniuses at Quirk Classics read my mind. Check out this hilarious trailer for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies!

When I first heard about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, I knew I would buy it. I'm a huge fan of all things gothic and grotesque (examples: Dracula, True Blood, Night of the Living Dead) and I'm an even bigger fan of Jane Austen. I've read all of her works, and I must say, Seth Grahame-Smith does her writing justice in this ingenious farce of the classic story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy.

You're probably wondering just how zombies get written into such a tale. The Bennet sisters, led by their father, are highly skilled in martial arts and zombie killing, having trained in Asia. The reason for their training? The plague upon England (and all the world) of the undead. If one of the zombies bites a human, they become ill and die. Once buried, they rise again to eat upon the flesh of the living.

When Darcy first insults Elizabeth Bennett, her reaction is decidedly different than the one know so well. "As Mr. Darcy walked off, Elizabeth felt her blood turn cold. She had never in her life been so insulted. The warrior code demanded she avenge her honor. Elizabeth reached down to her ankle, taking care not to draw attention. There, her hand met the dagger concealed beneath her dress. She meant to follow this proud Mr. Darcy outside and open his throat." Thankfully, Elizabeth is distracted by a zombie attack at the ball, and Grahame-Smith continues to weave his tale of love and death.

Definitely worth the read - and look for the next Austen spoof coming soon: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters coming out September 15! This trailer is even better!

[Photo: www.eeriebooks.com /www.uncrate.com]

Home to Italy by Peter Pezzelli

Of course I have a soft spot for all things Italian -- so when I saw this on the library shelf I immediately picked it up. Peter Pezzelli's Home to Italy is like a male centered Under the Tuscan Sun. In the great tradition of "starting over," our protagonist, Peppi, is returning to his hometown of Villa San Giuseppe, after the death of his wife, Anna. Peppi has been in America for over thirty years, but he owns a mill in his hometown and his plan is to fix it up and retire there. He is also counting on his best friend Luca to still be there, and Peppi immediately finds him on the town square Sunday morning, when all of the cyclists gather for a weekly ride. The cycling aspect of the novel is interesting to both readers who know very little, and readers who are avid cyclists themselves. Pezzelli also demonstrates his great knowledge of the Italian way of life, and transports readers to this wonderful country.
Peppi quickly acclimates to the slow and quaint life he knew as a boy. Although he still has some serious grieving to do, he learns to find joy in simple things, like growing tomatoes and fixing windows. The best part of the novel is the evidence that your life doesn't always end when you think it does . . . and that no matter how old you are, it's never too late to start the circle over again.

[Photo: www.fantasticfiction.co.uk]

Awesome Audiobooks - Standing in the Rainbow by Fannie Flagg

Those of you who live in the D.C. metro area can relate to bad commutes. Mine improved exponentially when I started listening to audio books on my way to work. One of my favorites was Fannie Flagg's Standing in the Rainbow. Flagg is the genius behind Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe, better known to the masses as the movie version, Fried Green Tomatoes.
Flagg reads the novel herself and does a superb job. All of the characters have different voices and you are immediately transported to the town of Elmwood Springs, Missouri, starting in 1946 and going right through to the millennium. Before Flagg became a bestselling novelist, she was a morning radio host, and then an actress and a regular on popular television shows. You may remember her as Nurse Wilkins in Grease. Obviously she's got the credentials to make an excellent audio reader, especially for her own novel, because her love for it really comes through.
The story revolves around Neighbor Dorothy, a local radio personality who broadcasts right from her living room, her pharmacist husband, Doc, and their two children, Bobby and Anna Lee. Along with this dynamic family, the novel hosts a realm of characters you can't help but love. The more you listen, the more you become involved and really don't want the story to end. Add in Flagg's amazing take on modern American history, and you have the recipe for some of the most enjoyable hours you'll ever spend.

[Photo: www.barnesandnoble.com]

A Revised Review on The A-List Series

I've continued reading the A-List series by Zoey Dean and I have to admit that the last two I've read, Back in Black and Some Like It Hot have made me rethink my review. These are the fifth and sixth books in the series, and it seems as though Dean has gotten something kind of Francine Pascal-like ghostwriter (see: Sweet Valley High). Which would have been fine if she had started the series that way, atleast readers would know what to expect. Instead, almost the entire first half of each book is spent catching the reader up on the previous happenings in the series. When Dean (or Dean-like writer) finally gets to the plot, I almost don't care. Keyword: almost. I am one of those readers who like to know what happens to characters, and I particularly like the protagonist, Anna. Unfortunately, Anna is starting to take the back seat to her Beverly Hills companions Sam, Cammie and Dee. Dean tries to make these characters more likeable, but they still come up short.

In Back in Black, the A-List heads to Las Vegas, skipping their senior trip to Washington, D.C. The most scandalous event is the crew going to a hypnotist. Snore. Some Like It Hot centers around the senior prom, and Sam making a film about the B-List at Beverly Hills High. Laughably, the most annoying thing about this book was that I couldn't get that awful 80's song by the same name out of my head.
Listen to it here at Amazon if you dare.

Dean has also omitted several characters introduced in the first four without an explanation, which is also annoying. And makes me believe there is definitely a ghost writer who didn't even read the first four thoroughly! I'm going to read the rest of the series, since at this point I only have four more left . . . I'll let you know if the A-List series makes an upward climb back into my favor or not!

[Photos: amazon.com & fantasticfiction.uk]

Golf Without Tears by P.G. Wodehouse

P.G. Wodehouse's Golf Without Tears was first published in 1924 - with a "Dedication to the immortal memory of John Henrie and Pat Rogie, who at Edinburgh, in the year 1593 A.D. were imprisoned for "playing of the gowf on the links of Leith every Sabbath the time of the sermonses."

This charming, and still very relevant book contains ten hilarious stories about golf and love. Each story is narrated by the "Oldest Member" of the golf club, and involves him explaining a story to a younger member that will help him get the girl he loves. One of my favorite stories was Sundered Hearts -- the story of Mortimer Sturgis, who falls in love with a young lady he believes to be the golf champion, and finds out after they marry that she is instead the croquet champion, and has never picked up a club in her life. Wodehouse writes with such wit that the reader agrees that this is an awful stroke of luck for Mortimer.

Wodehouse's "stories for golfers and lovers" prove that both are eternal, as each one of the stories could likely be told in 2009. This book is a must for any golfers out there - or the people who love them!

[Photo: www.wodehouse.ru]

Seaside by Scarlett Thomas

I picked up Seaside by Scarlett Thomas at the library before my vacation since I would be at that location . . . although I don't normally read murder mystery books, this one was intringuing because a twin was murdered but they didn't know which one.

Seaside is part of a Lily Pascale series, the novel's heroine and private investigator. The other books in the Lily Pascale series are Dead Clever and In Your Face, Seaside is actually the most recent of the trio.

Lily is living in the English seaside town of Torquay when she is approached with the strange case of the Laura and Alex Carter. Because they share DNA, the police are unable to determine which twin is actually dead. It doesn't help that the twin who's still alive is pretending to be both Laura and Alex.

The gloomy atmosphere of this town in winter adds an intriguing backdrop to the case. This is the perfect book to curl up with on a rainy day when you have nothing else to do, which is exactly what I did our first day of vacation! I guarantee you won't be able to put it down.

[Photo: www.amazon.com]

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

So I haven't been posting much because I was on vacation! (Reading tons of course, but also playing golf, taking an art class, and soaking up the rays).

I read Flipped by Wendeline Van Draanen one morning and I absolutely adored it. This young adult novel focuses around two narrators: Bryce and Julianna (Juli), who switch narration each chapter, hence the title, Flipped. We meet our narrators in the second grade, when Bryce moves across the street from Juli. Juli is psyched to finally have a neighbor the same age as her, but Bryce wants nothing to do with this girl who "didn't just barge into my life. She barged and shoved and wedged her way into my life."

Juli is immediately taken with Bryce and his big blue eyes and dark eyelashes. Juli is the opposite of Bryce - fearless and strong willed, a free spirit who does whatever she feels like. Bryce is shy and keeps to himself, often going along with the crowd just so he doesn't stand out. In eight grade, things start to change for Bryce when his grandfather comes to live with his family. His grandfather is immediately taken by Juli, and helps Bryce to see another side to her when he compares Juli to paint finishes: "Some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in gloss . . . But every once in a while you find someone who's iridescent, and when you do, nothing will ever compare."

Both Bryce and Juli learn some hard lessons about their own families throughout the novel, which ultimately leads both of them to understand each other better. While reading this book, you can't help but time travel back to when you were that age, and the smallest thing could seem like the whole entire world. Van Draanen takes all of the great romantic comedy cues from Austen and Shakespeare and transforms them to fit within this extremely enjoyable adolescent novel.

[Photo: www.barnesandnoble.com]

Tuesday: Great Books = Great Gifts Day

This book is a great gift for everyone. But especially for people who want to be a little more informed - and who have forgotten some of the stuff they learned in school so long ago. The Intellectual Devotional: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class, features seven categories for each day of the week: history, literature, philosophy, mathematics and science, religion, fine arts and music. Each day is only one page long, and gives you the background and details one needs to converse about the subject.

I'm interested in the Modern Culture one as well (literature, music, film, personalities, trends, sports and pop references), and they also have American History and Health versions.

And at around $16, this is an affordable gift that your recipient will enjoy the whole year!

Pick up the version you want at The Barefoot Bookworm's Amazon Store!

[Photo: http://www.coverbrowser.com/]

The Gatecrasher by Madeleine Wickham

Many of you may only know the name Sophie Kinsella because of the recent movie version of Confessions of a Shopaholic, based on a series of Shopaholic books that include NYC, marriage, sister and baby. Kinsella has also penned a number of novels under the name Madeleine Wickham as well. Having read Cocktails for Three, I gravitated towards The Gatecrasher and it did not dissapoint. The protagonist, Fleur Daxeny, is a man-eater. She picks up rich widows at their funerals and gives them the promise of a new life . . . until she takes them for whatever they're worth and skedaddles. Wickham has succeeded where many authors fail - you want to think the worst of Fleur, but she charms the reader just as much as her wealthy men. She's daring, she's funny, she's glamorous . . . she knows exactly how to LIVE life.
Richard Favour seems like just another face on Fleur's totem pole until she goes to stay with him and his family for the summer and some very unexpected happenings occur. Fleur has a big decision to make - is it finally time to settle down and quit her gold-digging ways? Of course, it helps that Richard turns out to be worth much more than Fleur bargained for!

[Photo: www.z.about.com]

Spotted in Glamour Magazine . . .

"Not your Mother's Bronte" is the tagline of Glamour's blurb on reissues of the classics Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, and The Scarlet Letter from artist Ruben Toledo. These Tim Burton-esque covers are a great bonus to titles you should definitely add to your library . . . and as Glamour justifies, "these gorgeous books can be had for only $11 - definitely cheaper than this season's It bag!"


















Pick up yours at The Barefoot Bookworm's Amazon Store!

[Photos:www.amazon.com]

Townhouse by Tish Cohen

Tish Cohen's Townhouse presents the story of Jack Madigan, a good-looking, son of a famous now-deceased rock star, agoraphobe. You read that right. Jack is unable to leave his house, even to fetch the daily paper. His Boston townhouse is crumbling around him, but his easy-going, vintage clothes loving son Harlan doesn't seemt to mind. Jack gets a wake-up call when the money from his father's royalties runs out and he has to sell his home. Hope is not all lost when he meets his adorable, but hapless, realtor, Dorrie. Jack manages to stall potential buyers at first . . . and find unexpected help for his condition in the form of an ice skating dynamo of a little girl, Lucinda, his neighbor that crawls through the hole between the townhouses. A hole that Jack often steals heat from! You can't help but root for Jack while reading this fresh, funny novel where even the townhouse itself is a character.

I'm going to check out Cohen's Little Black Lies and Inside Out Girl next!

[Photo: www.thestrand.ca]

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

We all grew up with this person . . . the one who refused to conform, who wore "weird" clothes and did "strange" things. Chances are though that your entire school never got caught up in a hero worship of that person like they do in Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl. Stargirl Caraway wears prairie skirts, plays the ukulele and sings on everyone's birthday, and carries her pet rat Cinnamon in her backpack.
The whole school falls in love with her after she joins the marching band for an impromptu performance at the football game . . . and she begins to inspire the students at Mica High to be "individuals." Stargirl decides she'll fall in love with Leo Borlock, our narrator, and it seems like he never had a chance not to feel the same way. Unfortunately, the fascination with Stargirl is just a fad and the students turn on her just as fast as they turned to her. Leo gets caught in the middle of the people he grew up with and his first love, trying his best to do the right thing.
A New York Times Bestseller and Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year, I agree with the Kirkus Review that Jerry Spinelli has created "a magical and heartbreaking tale."

Look for a copy at The Barefoot Bookworm's Amazon Store!

[Photo: www.chms.k12.vt.us]

Exciting News - The Barefoot Bookworm's Amazon Store

Hi everyone,

I hope you have all been enjoying The Barefoot Bookworm so far. I've just opened my own Amazon store - you'll be able to get all of the books that I've reviewed with just a couple of clicks! I always buy my books at Amazon - they have the best prices, and $25 free super saver shipping. Just click on the link below to visit my store. There will also always be a link for it at the top of the blog homepage.

Thank you again for your support! Happy reading!

Welcome to The Barefoot Bookworm's Amazon Store!

Tuesday is officially Great Books = Great Gifts Day

Books are my favorite gifts to receive (hint, hint), especially when you know that the giver put a lot of thought into what kind of book you would like.

Do you have a friend or family member going abroad soon? M. Sasek, who created beautiful travel books for children in the 1960's, has a whole line of reissues available at Amazon.com. They are about $13 dollars and really a fun gift for a new traveler. I know I would have loved to have This is Venice and This is Rome when we went to Italy!

Check out the author's website below for his interesting biography and to see all of the places he's covered. They even have U.S. cities, which would make great Christmas gifts for loved ones, especially if they have just moved to that city!







M. Sasek's website

[Photos: www.miroslavsasek.com]

Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore

Christopher Moore has developed a reputation for being outrageous, after all, this is the guy who wrote Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, a hilarious "other side of the story" novel narrated by a fictional best friend who is Jesus' opposite in every way.
Moore creates another whopper of a tale with Island of the Sequined Love Nun, featuring Tucker Case, a pilot who has just about the worst luck ever. His father dies suddenly, his mother marries his uncle, and Tucker, in a fit of grief over it, accidentally runs over and kills his one true love's father. His unlucky streak continues when he crashes his employer Mary Jean's (with a strong likeness to Mary Kay of the cosmetics fortune) plane when he takes a hooker for a flight after he's had a number of gin and tonics. This is all in the first few pages! Tucker thinks his luck has changed when he gets a sudden offer from a doctor with a missionary practice on a remote Micronesian island. So remote, in fact, that it didn't get included in the Micronesian government.
Tucker worries that the offer is too good to be true . . . you'll have to read to decide for yourself. You'll encounter a cargo cult who worships a now deceased pilot named Vincent, an old blind cannibal in serious denial, and the psychopathic wife of the doctor who changes personalities like underwear. Island of the Sequined Love Nun is a fast-paced, extremely funny, and extremely unbelievable story that you won't want to end!

[Photo: www.wikipedia.com]

Life's a Beach by Claire Cook

With a title like Life's a Beach, what else would one expect but a great beach read from author Claire Cook? The protagonist, Ginger Walsh, is 41, living in the small apartment over her parent's garage, making sea glass earrings and dating a glass blower named Noah who throws pebbles at her window instead of calling. To top it off, Ginger's adopted a cat whose name was already "Boyfriend."
Ginger's life gets turned upside down when her nephew Riley, son of her perfectionist, Blackberry addicted sister Geri, gets a role in a shark movie being filmed in their town of Marshbury, Connecticut. Then Ginger's parents decide to sell their house. Ginger meets a sexy electrician on set that makes her rethink how her life is going so far. Claire Cook has created a hilarious and touching story as Ginger finally comes-of-age at 41 years old.

[Photo: BarnesandNoble.com]

The Broker by John Grisham

I read this book after my husband spent all his free time reading it until he was finished and then raved about it. I have to agree that John Grisham scores again with his political thriller, The Broker. You will be unable to put this book down once you start. Joel Backman was once the most powerful broker in D.C., who has been spending life in prison after trying to sell security secrets to the highest bidder . . . of any other country except the U.S. He receives a last minute pardon from the outgoing president that leads him to a new identity in Bologna, Italy. Grisham has been spending a lot of time in Italy himself and the research shows. He recreates Bologna, home of the oldest university in Europe, with beautiful detail. I've been there and reading the book made me feel like I was right back in those crowded streets!
Joel Backman is not an idiot, obviously, if he was once one of the most influential men in our nation's capital. He soon figures out why he's in Italy . . . the CIA wants any other country but the U.S. to assassinate Backman. There's also two very mysterious Italian tutors, including one that is an impeccably dressed, gorgeous Italian brunette. As Backman tries out his new Italian identity, Marco, he soon realizes the error of his ways and tries his best to survive, but also clear his tainted name. Will he succeed?

[Photo: www.coverbrowser.com]

A Great Movie Trailer . . .

Made me really want to read The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I have almost bought this book several times when I see at the store but for some reason held back. After I saw the trailer, I went to the library and put it on hold . . . I am number 88 in the holds queue! I wouldn't be surprised if other people really wanted to read it after seeing this great trailer!

The Time Traveler's Wife Trailer

How cool would it be if they made trailers for books instead of blurbs on the back? Maybe it will happen for the Amazon Kindle!

[Photo: www.dist113.org]
[Trailer: www.youtube.com]

Easier to Read "Classics"

They do exist! Maybe you are trying to avoid James Joyce's Ulysses or William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury (both written in stream of consciousness). Maybe you're not in the mood to translate Shakespeare into our modern language. There are plenty of other great options to sample . . .

My favorites:
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Heminway
Animal Farm by George Orwell

So if you're in the mood to feel worldly under the beach umbrella, check out the titles above. The best part is you'll be able to find them easily!

If you are feeling up to the challenge though, check out James Joyce's Dubliners, a series of short stories that are easier to swallow. If you are interested in Faulkner, start with The Unvanquished, a good introduction to the fictional Sartoris family and Faulkner's writing style. As for Shakespeare, you can never go wrong with A Midsummer Night's Dream or Othello. You can also look for Sparknotes No Fear Shakespeare, that gives you the original play side by side with a modern translation. But that's no fun, right?

Any other suggestions? Comment below!

The A-List Series by Zoey Dean

I first discovered Zoey Dean with How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls, a delightful novel that the CW show Privileged was based on. I'm still mourning the loss of that show! Anyway, for those of you who have fond memories of the Sweet Valley High or Sunset Island series, you will certainly enjoy this modern version. The first in The A-List series is appropriately titled The A-List. The protagonist, Anna Percy, is an old money rich girl from NYC with impeccable looks, taste, charm and intelligence. She moves to L.A. to live with her father for a change of scenery . . . but also a lifestyle change. Anna is sick of living her mother's life by way of "this is how we do things big book, east coast wasp edition." She meets gorgeous Ben Birnbaum on the flight to L.A., and immediately gets thrown into the A-List world of Beverly Hills High after she attends the wedding of Jackson Sharpe, an actor akin to Brad Pitt in star status, whose daughter Sam just happens to be at the top of said A-List. And in love with Ben Birnbaum. Add in her best friends Cammie, a saucy knockout once scorned by Ben vowing revenge, and Dee, a new-age Kabbalah yogi who thinks she's pregnant by Ben, and you can see why these books are hard to put down. The best part is you finish them in no time laying by the pool . . . the worst part is you might not have the next one on hand. After reading the first four in the series, The A-List, Girls on Film, Blonde Ambition and Tall Cool One, I'm officially hooked. Dean has created a great series of beach reads that anyone who loves great soaps will absolutely adore.

[Photo: www.treebeardbooks.com]

The Downhill Lie by Carl Hiaasen

While it's true that you may need to be a golfer to know what Carl Hiaasen is driving at, (pun intended), anyone can appreciate the humor behind The Downhill Lie: A Hacker's Return to a Ruinous Sport. Hiaasen's account of his midlife crisis return to golf is truly hilarious, but also touching. Carl's father loved the game of golf, and lucky for him, the game loved him back. When his father passes, Carl decides at age 50 plus to become a golfer. When he was in high school and college he played a few fateful rounds that led him to abandon the sport all together . . . or so he thought. He takes lessons, he buys the best equipment, he buys every little golf gimmick advertised (my favorite: the special stone that is supposed to bring you swing alignment and you wear it as a pendant around your neck). He buys it all . . . and none of it helps. He will always be a hacker, but he writes with such enthusiasm and truthfulness you can't help but love this book.

[Photo: www.tower.com]

Jamestown by Matthew Sharpe

I picked up Jamestown at a trip to Barnes & Noble with gift cards in hand. Growing up in Virginia, you get your share of Virginia state history, especially the first successful colony in Jamestown. It caught my eye for that reason alone, and once I read the blurb on the back I was intrigued. It did not disappoint. Matthew Sharpe has taken the colonization of the new world into a whole different stratosphere -- in his version, colonists come down in an armored vehicle from Manhattan (which happens to be at war with Brooklyn) in search of some friendly natives with food and fuel supply.

The whole cast of characters are represented: John Smith, John Ratcliffe, Christopher Newport, and Powhatan . . . and Sharpe presents John Rolfe's love affair with Pocahontas (that's right, Disney got it wrong. Those who know their history will attest that Pocahontas married John Rolfe, affectionately called Johnny in the story). In this almost apoplectic world Sharpe creates, Johnny and Pocahontas correspond via email and text messaging, until both lose their electronic devices and have to resort to telepathy. It all sounds strange because it is. But Sharpe makes some important points about the damaging effects of colonization to a generation who only knows it historically and writes with such wit to make this particular history relevant again.

[Photo: www.portlandmercury.com]

Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye

Fans of other great coming of age writers like Judy Blume and Jerry Spinelli will likely become admirers of Naomi Shihab Nye’s Habibi and the main character Liyana. Habibi, a Palestinian term of endearment, is exactly how you’ll feel about Liyana and all of the other characters Nye creates in the novel.

Liyana, spending the first fourteen years of her life living in the suburbs of St. Louis, finds her world turned upside down when her father, “Poppy,” announces their move to his birthplace Jerusalem. Moving for any adolescent is hard, and Liyana has to deal with larger issues like not being able to bring her “short-shorts” and whether her new home will be “safe.” She’s rebellious like any girl at her age, but soon learns it may have more serious consequences in her new environment.

Liyana particularly laments her loss of identity due to moving. In St. Louis, Liyana felt like everyone knew her, her teachers, classmates, even the grocer down the street. A strong sense of identity is so important during those coming of age years, and Liyana grieves the loss of her perceived identity but learns an important lesson about who she is and who defines that by the end.

Much like the metaphor of a flower blooming, Liyana grows and blossoms during her journey. She quickly learns there is no black and white, but there is right and wrong. She realizes the importance of family, but also that love can conquer even the longest of feuds. Liyana faces the challenges before her with grace and thoughtfulness. She is a delight to spend two hundred and sixty pages with, and readers will want to know the rest of Liyana’s story after finishing this beautiful novel.

[Photo: www.ncdsnet.net]

Doing It by Melvin Burgess

It would seem like all cult favorite teen shows, like My So-Called Life and Freaks and Geeks, kick the bucket after their first season. ABC’s Life as We Know It succumbed to the same fate, but fans of the series will always have the book the show was based on to enjoy. Doing It by Melvin Burgess follows the lives of three teenage boys who happen to be focused on one thing: sex. British author Burgess creates likeable characters in pretty boy Dino, serious and shy Ben, and neurotic Jonathan. It would seem like sex is the only thing on their minds, but readers soon learn that these young men have much more than that to worry about.

Adolescent male readers will rejoice in characters they can relate to and will enjoy reading about; adolescent female readers will love delving into the male psyche to find out what they are really like on the inside. Dino is a good-looking lothario who seems like he is only trying to get his girlfriend Jackie to sleep with him, Jackie being the only girl at their school that is his equal, and therefore who he wants to lose his virginity to. He comes off shallow, but his true colors appear once his parents begin divorce proceedings and he really just needs good friends. Enter Ben and Jonathan, what the British would call his true mates, who have their own problems that they aren’t as willing to talk about. Ben thinks he is living every schoolboy’s fantasy with his affair with a teacher, but discovers the reality of the situation is scary, and ultimately sad. Jonathan is terrified of what people will say if he starts dating the school’s “fat girl” Deborah, but happens to be completely enamored by her. While Jonathan and Deborah’s relationship progresses, so does Jonathan’s neurosis that there might be something wrong with him down below.

While the novel tends to focus mostly on Dino, Ben & Jonathan, Burgess also presents the point of view of the women in their lives: indecisive Jackie, warm-hearted Deborah, intolerant Sue and disingenuous Zoë. The girls’ outlook on the boys only enforces how spectacularly off base both sexes are about each other. Burgess creates a fresh, funny and sometimes raunchy outlook on the adolescent world. Teens will not only enjoy following the lives of these young men, but also relish in the aspects of British culture that permeate the novel. To an American teen, Burgess’ Britain would seem like a different world at first, but they will soon find out they have more in common with these teens across the ocean than they originally may have thought.

Regarded as the “Godfather of young adult fiction,” Burgess has won several awards: Junk was awarded a Carnegie Medal, Bloodtide won The Lancashire Children’s Book Award, and Doing It received the LA Times Best Young Adult Book of the Year award. As Doing It proves, Burgess has created a reputation for writing quality young adult fiction that pushes boundaries and isn’t shy about presenting what teens are really going through.

[Photo: barnesandnoble.com]