The inner teenage in us jumps with joy for good YA. Especially Liz-she's the biggest YA whore this side of the Mississippi. Maybe it's all those Sweet Valley High's she devoured in middle school or all the Judy Blume novels she read over and over. Either way, she's a sucker for YA!
So we're excited to have the lovely Lauren Baratz-Logsted sharing her 5 Loves and a Dud. And don't worry, if YA isn't your bag, she writes adult fiction too! In fact, her latest, The Bro-Magnet sounds really fabulous! But today we're highlighting Little Women And Me.
Here's the dealio on Little Women and Me: Emily is sick and tired of being a middle sister. So when she gets an assignment to describe what she'd change about a classic novel, Emily pounces on Little Women. After all, if she can't change things in her own family, maybe she can bring a little justice to the March sisters. (Kill off Beth? Have cute Laurie wind up with Amy instead of Jo? What was Louisa May Alcott thinking?!) But when Emily gets mysteriously transported into the 1860s world of the book, she discovers that righting fictional wrongs won't be easy. And after being immersed in a time and place so different from her own, it may be Emily-not the four March sisters-who undergoes the most surprising change of all.
Sound good? Then leave a comment yo! We have FIVE copies to give away. We'll choose the winners on February 19th after 6pm PST. Good luck!
CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...LAUREN BARATZ-LOGSTED'S 5 LOVES AND A DUD
5 LOVES
1. General Hospital. I've watched on and off for 33 years. It's my daily break from writing and I still get caught up in the storylines, no matter how insane. It was just revealed that Johnny's dead sister Claudia was really his mother...even though the actress who played Claudia is only four years older than the actor who plays Johnny - how crazy is that???
2. Adele. As I'm writing this, the Grammy Awards were just given out the night before with Adele winning all six awards she was nominated for. Not only is she an amazing singer, but her very existence and success are proof positive that a woman doesn't have to diet her way down to waif status or do anything but just sing brilliantly to succeed.
3. Toenail polish. Yes, to some that might sound like a minor thing. But for someone like me who wears almost no makeup - except for eyebrow pencil so I'll actually have eyebrows and lipstick in winter so I don't look like the possessed girl from The Exorcist - having pretty toenails is a very big deal. Right now they're sparkly.
4. My cat, Yoyo. I've had seven other cats before Yoyo over the course of my life, and I've never seen a cat do the things he does. Just to give two examples out of many, one time, when he couldn't get to his litter box because someone had closed the door to that room, we caught him straddling the toilet because he didn't want to leave a mess on the floor. The other thing is that no matter how long my daughter might hold on to him and no matter how awkward the position, he never bites or scratches or tries to get away from her, even when the expression on his face is one of "Seriously? Oh, the indignities!"
5. Reading. Need I tell you why?
DUD
Elitists. Just because something is popular doesn't mean it's good. But by the same token, just because something is popular it doesn't mean it's automatically bad either. And it just makes me crazy when I come across someone who is across-the-board against everything - be it books, TV, film, or music - that's popular. It always seems to me like people like that doth protest too much. And then it makes me want to say, "Insecure much?" And then that makes me want to say, "Fine. You just sit there with your Dom Perignon and your sushi and your PBS documentary on the history of the doorknob. I'll just stay right here with Yoyo on my lap, eating Cheetos and watching GH."
Thanks Lauren! xoxo, L&L
To learn more about Lauren, head on over to her website or find her on Twitter.