More with Meg Cabot? Seriously? Do you owe her money?

I know. I’ve blogged about her before. Repeatedly.
But seriously. I love Meg Cabot.

She’s just so good. And her series are so fun. Plus I just love series. Cause you like them, and then there’s more of them. Ingenious.

The Kindle and I just finished reading her 1-800-Where-R-You series. Well, we read four out of five. Because for some reason the middle one is not available for the Kindle. Grrr…

And they were so good. I just love her writing and her characters. Always fun and fiesty, with just enough added romance. They're about a girl who gets hit by lightning and can then find people who are missing.  And she has various adventures.  And a cute boy.  A nice addition to her stable of good books.

Not all YA fiction is created equal

In the realm of young adult fiction, there are definitely different levels of goodness. I am a fan in general, but there are definitely some with writing that is less good or simpler plots.

I recently read Bras and Broomsticks by Sarah Mlynowski. I have read some of her adult books and liked them. Plus, I couldn't resist the plot about a teenager who develops magical powers.

It was a bit like a less interesting Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Plus, the main message of the book is that you can't use magic to fix or change anything in your life. I have to believe that's not true, otherwise, what's the point of having magical powers?

So it was only so-so. That said, I have already requested the next in the series. I have low standards.

The Twilight saga is a less good Harry Potter

So I have already blogged about my love for Stephenie Meyer and her Twilight series. I was, of course, thrilled, when the librarian put the fourth and final book into my hot little hands and ran home to read and read.

Breaking Dawn is good, which is no surprise, and definitely worth reading. After all, how could you skip it? It's the last book! Don't you want to see what happens? Of course.

But, of the four it was probably my least favorite, which was a little disappointing.

I felt like the author rushed to tie everything up neatly, and that there was a lot of build up that all really amounted to nothing.

Maybe she needed another book? I don't know, but I was bummed that it hadn't been as good as the others.

My all time favorite young adult books

When I was young, I completely fell in love with Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness Quartet . It's made up of Alanna: The First Adventure, In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, and Lioness Rampant.

It's a kind of fantasy-ish series about a girl who disguises herself as a boy so she can become a knight. There's magic and kissing, which is, of course, the perfect combination.

I have found this series to hold up well. I not only read it a million times as a kid but have reread it several times as an adult. So enjoyable.

Meg Cabot rocks, Part One

It is time to devote two whole blog entries to one of my very favorite authors, Meg Cabot.

There is literally nothing this woman has written that I have not enjoyed. Plus she does both young adult books and big people ones as well. She is clearly an author after my own heart.

Today I will focus on her YA contributions.

She is most well known for her Princess Diaries series. I have only recently started reading these, and I don't know how I missed them before. The character is great - and it's about a girl who becomes a princess. High points for being good fantasy fodder.

Some of her stand alond books I love include Jinx, which is about a girl with magic powers (one of my favorite plots, ever, since I am waiting patiently for my own magical powers to kick in any day now), How to Be Popular, and Pants on Fire. They are all so fun and well written. Totally not put downable.

She has a couple other supernaturally series which are all good. I especially liked the Mediator series which is about a girl who can talk to ghosts.

I have to hope, of course, that everyone is already reading her books, but if you've somehow been in a coma and missed them, please run out a get a bunch. You will be a happier person for it.

Gossip Girl - Guilty pleasure in any form

Gossip Girl is really everything you could ever want in terms of escapist teen themed entertainment. I was introduced first through the TV show and I must admit that it is my true love. I have since branched off into the books, however, and have found them to be also enjoyable.

Gossip Girl on TV is amazing. Fabulous characters wearing amazing clothes. It fills me with a longing to wear hair bows and plaid. Plus it is narrated by darling Kristen Bell of Veronica Mars fame. I have a special warm spot for Blair because she is so fabulous at being a bitch. So entertaining and angsty. I am planning on buying the first season when it comes out. Have you not seen this yet? Seriously? What's wrong with you?

After being obsessed with this show like I was still in high school, I of course, turned to the books. The characters are different from the show, but if you can get past that (and I can, barely) they are fun and gossipy and just generally enjoyable. Plus there's a bunch of them, so you don't have that "This was great but now there's no more!" feeling.

Both TV show and books are perfect for summer frivolity. What are you waiting for?

Fairytales for Grown-ups

I love discovering a new author who already has a number of books under her belt. What a nice surprise. You read something you like and then you can go back for more. Such has been my new love affair with Patricia Wrede.

I first met her when I stumbled across Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot: Being the Correspondence of Two Young Ladies of Quality Regarding Various Magical Scandals in London and the Country (Such a good title!) It was fabulous and entertaining. Her books are a mix of young adult and big people books, although for the life of me I can't tell the difference between the two. Her books are all fantasy-ish and have a fairy tale quality that I love. I have also read her Enchanted Forest Chronicles and yesterday finished my current favorite, The Raven Ring. They're all so fun and escapist. I will be returning for more this summer. You should all do the same.

Love it like a 13 year old goth girl

Although Leisure Girl is almost 30 (should I be thinking of changing my name to Leisure Woman? So not catchy) she has an undying love for young adult fiction. When it's well written it has interesting story lines, great romance, and is fast paced. Imagine how excited she was to discover that there is a whole subculture of vampire themed YA fiction. YA fiction? Awesome. Vampire stories? Also awesome. So imagine the possibilities when the two are combined.

The very best examples of this genre are by Stephenie Meyer. Have you not read her yet? Then please stop reading this blog and get to it. You'll thank me later.

She has written the Twilight series made up of Twilight /New Moon /Eclipse and the soon to be released Breaking Dawn. They are even making Twilight into a movie. The books are amazing and un-put-down-able.





I have just recently been dabbling with a new YA vampire series which is good, although nowhere near as enjoyable. Yesterday I finished the second of the Vampire Academy books by Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy/Frostbite and the upcoming Shadow Kiss). Good action, cute boys, all in all very fun.

So what are you waiting for? This could be your summer of teenage vampires? What on Earth could be more fun than that?