Here I sit, wearing a double-layered t-shirt look that can only be described as sexy (hehe) as I am trying on my clothes for tomorrow. This is apart of my nightly ritual, which includes putting on pajamas and a big, comfy tshirt, brushing my teeth and washing my face, and curling up into bed with a good book. I’m on the fourth book in the Jessica Darling series. And if you watch my sexymacaroni videos, you might remember one about a month or two back where I mentioned that I was reading this series. And yeah, I know, how am I not done yet? Well, I’ve read other books in between and misplaced the third book in the midst of my bedroom packing and then it got slow and blah blah blah. But the point is, I’m back to reading them and they are so-so-so good. But before I can curl up and read, I’ve gotta blog. Because it’s what I do, yo.

On that note, I’ll leave this entry here. Until next time, my friends.

PS. I still mourn for those old-new smileys.

I’ve just finished reading the first two installments of Megan McCafferty’s Jessica Darling series, Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings. I’d been anxious to read the stories all summer, after seeing her newest installment, Perfect Fifths, at the library. It took awhile, but I finally got the books in, and I’m completely addicted. It’s a great and realistic look at high school years from the point-of-view of a smart, sarcastic girl who feels like an outsider ever since her best friend moved away. She ends up having strange and memorable encounters with reformed bad-boy Marcus Flutie, who ends up effecting her life in more ways than one. Their relationship is highly intriguing and I found myself being as fascinated by Marcus as Jessica was. As much as I enjoyed the whole story, the Marcus/Jessica storyline was the strongest factor in my addiction to the books.

I’m about to start on the third installment, where Jessica is off to college. I’ve heard the last three books are a departure from the first two, so I’m really hoping I’ll enjoy them as much. Either way, I definitely at least recommend the first two novels  – some great, light reading that kept me turning page after page.

Twilight is like every other fad that has happened. It pulls people in, makes them act like they need to be locked up in a padded cell, and then goes away. It is important to remember that the entire series is FICTION. Edward Cullen is not a real character, and not one that will ever exist in real life. The entire Twilight series is like a guilty pleasure to me. At least, the first three books are. I don’t know what happened in Breaking Dawn. I knock it because I’ve been that crazed fan. When I was thirteen, Leonardo DiCaprio was the shit. I still have the Romeo & Juliet poster of him hanging on my bedroom wall (I’ve had this poster since 7th grade). It’s my reminder that yes, I was that crazy once.

Before the Thanksgiving festivities of the Bowles’ home got hub-bubbing with five grandchildren under the age of 10, 3 more Bowles sisters (LAB’s the youngest of 4), all of their hubbies, a redheaded mother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Bowles, a cat named Minka (that’s got a mean pyscho feline stare) and best friends visiting from other states (that includes me), I finished reading Megan McCafferty’s FOURTH COMINGS from my air mattress at the foot of Leigh Anne’s bed.  And I immediately want to get the next (and final) book in the Jessica Darling series, PERFECT FIFTHS.

The Marcus and Jessica love story is in my top ten of ficitional romances probably because it feels far from fictional.  My own experiences in love could be a novel, and Megan’s that good; she knows the power of forbidden love in teenagerdom.  See her recent dissection of TWILIGHT.

*** FOURTH COMINGS SPOILER ALERT ***

FOURTH COMINGS takes place over a week that starts with Marcus proposing to Jesica and ends with Jessica’s rejection of his hand. It’s final pages are a letter from Marcus to Jessica.  Megan has never done this before — the previous novels are written in Jessica’s first person, diary entry form.  But everything is different now.  Marcus and Jessica’s relationship has taken a hairpin turn in it’s destiny and for the first time since they unsuspectingly connected to each other they are separate.  Jessica is letting go of Marcus for the first time ever.  In response, Megan finally gives us Marcus’ voice, a glimpse into his perspective. It’s a brilliant cliffhanger and a genius transition into the 5^th book, which is written in third person.

His final words to Jessica are achingly beautiful because of their honesty and pain. After a story of how the Asian calligraphy tattoo he got when he was a druggie didn’t say ‘forever’ as he thought but translates to ‘whatever,’ Marcus says:

“My proposal to you could not have been more sincere. But it seems that my life is imitating badly executed skin art, turning my intentions for FOREVER into something else altogether. And so I’ll let you go, and let it be.

Whatever, Marcus”

From my air mattress, I saw Marcus and Jessica are grappling with the very un-Disney reality that sometimes just because you love someone and they love you, it’s not enough.  For all the unforgettable sparks Marcus and Jessica have provided us fans, this truth is just as worthy of our admiration.  It’s akin to Megan NOT letting them get together at the end of book one.  I love Marcus and Jessica so much because they are real.  And them parting is heartbreaking but it is real.

The next book takes place three years later for the duration of one day.  A meaningful day.  It’s the day Jessica and Marcus run into each other at an airport having not seen, heard from, or spoken to each other since Jessica’s answering of his proposal.

I want to read it immediately but I’m also scared to.  It’s a precious commodity: the last available NEW Jessica Darling material on the planet… for now.

Since discovering Megan McCafferty’s Jessica Darling series in the spring, I’ve made absolutely no secret of my complete obsession with the novels. There’s something so serious, tender, and honest about them — I connected with Jessica and Marcus’s love story so much more than any other I’ve ever read! And since it was carried out over the course of five (big) books, it’s a good thing I was totally digging it. (Oh, I so was.)

Of all the wonderful passages and quotable quotes in the books, one really stood out to me above all others: “My thoughts create my world.” The saying first appears — and becomes important — in Charmed Thirds, the third book in the series, when Marcus Flutie gives Jessica her Christmas present.

We made gifts for each other. … Marcus is friends with a silversmith — yes, a silversmith — who taught him how to make a ring out of a quarter. He somehow soldered a message for me in teeny script: ‘My thoughts create my world.’

Jess takes the message to be some sort of commentary on Marcus’s burgeoning Buddhist ideals and lifestyle, and she can’t help but toss the phrase back at him when, shortly thereafter, they get into a huge argument about Marcus leaving town (again) and embarking on a journey of “silent meditation” — meaning no talking to Jess, or anyone. Bewildered and crushed that she’s going to lose him all over again, Jessica says:

I am so sick of your Buddhist wisdom! It’s bumper-sticker wisdom! T-shirt wisdom! My thoughts create my world. I’m so tired of being scrutinized through your goddamn third eye!

The ring is unceremoniously flung back at him, where Marcus safely tucks it away in a pocket. Time passes with Jessica still thinking about that tiny silver ring . . . and Marcus’s message (and desire to be devoted) to her. Memories flood back as she speaks with a mentor several years later.

“You have the eye of a reporter and the heart of a novelist,” he [Mac] said. “But you have much to learn, Ms. Darling. I’ll make sure you don’t throw away your gifts.”

For someone like Mac to believe so deeply in my potential, well, it nearly made me weep with gratitude. Even now, I don’t think he has a clue just how much his words have done for me. …

“What are your thoughts?”

“My thoughts?” I replied, before I even realized what I was saying. “My thoughts create my world.”

Mac sat up in his seat. He scrunched his curls with his hands, perplexed. “Who said that?”

I told him the truth.

“Oh, just someone I used to know,” I said, stroking the naked skin on my middle finger.

And even more time goes by before our heroine and hero are reunited — and the ring is returned to her, kept safely by Marcus the entire time they were apart. When he returns it to Jessica in Fourth Comings, it accompanies something enormous: a proposal.

You chewed on the leather to undo the knot that usually rested on the nape of your neck. You removed the ring from the necklace, took my hand, and put it on the fourth finger of my left hand.

“This always belonged to you.”

. . . All that time, you wore the ring, my ring, around your neck. You wore it in my absence, and then after our reunion. You wore it knowing that it would one day return to its intended, when the moment was just right.

Lately, I’ve been looking for my own “right moment” — a sign that great things are just around the corner and, as John Mayer croons, that “good love is on the way.” A friend recently showed me a gorgeous ring she bought for herself after parting ways with her longtime boyfriend, and I was touched at what it obviously meant to her. It was a sign of strength, a sign that she’s holding her heart close in preparation for giving it to the right person . . . at the right moment.

And I knew I needed my own reminder that I’m doing the same — and that I’m the one controlling my happiness, and the one responsible for my joy.

So I knew just what I needed.

My ring is silver, like Jessica’s, and also bears Marcus Flutie’s immortal words: “My thoughts create my world.” It arrived this morning, custom made by Samantha Bird of Nest In Bloom Design, and I couldn’t possibly love it more! I’ve slipped it onto my own ring finger, where I imagine it will stay for quite some time.

After all, it’s just the sort of mantra I’ve been looking for! Because I’m writing a powerful, moving, life-altering and emotional “coming of age” story, too — my own.

El pasado jueves 13 de agosto tuvo lugar en la Plaza Mayor en Gijón la actuación de “The Herbaliser” coincidiendo con la semana grande de las fiestas de Nuestra Señora de Begoña.
Solo pude disfrutar de los últimos minutos de este directo, pero suficiente para contemplar por fin en vivo a una de mis formaciones favoritas desde hace muchos años.
The Herbaliser son Ollie Teeba y Jake Wherry y en su directo se hacen acompañar de músicos y de la cantante Jessica Darling, que destaca por su voz negra aunque su piel es blanca como la leche.
Han presentado las canciones de su último album, “Same as it never was” publicado en 2008, y que por primera vez no han publicado en Ninja Tune. Se han cambiado a otra gran “escudería” como es !K7.
Plaza Mayor de Gijón a rebosar y con un público entregadísimo. Lo poco que ví me convenció y tengo que recomendar su directo. Sobre todo si os gusta la mezcla de Jazz, Funky, Soul.
Grandes.
Aquí os dejo varios videos de The Herbaliser.

Así comenzó el concierto:

“Clap your hands” video en “directo casero” promocional del canal de Youtube de !K7, impresionante!!!

“Can’t help this feeling” Video oficial

Please note: Perfect Fifths is the final book in a five-book series. Spoilers will follow!

I know I’ve stumbled across a winning series when I fall just as in love with someone as another character does.

And in the final book of a decade’s worth of pushing, pulling, love and lust, I’m absolutely as in love with Marcus Flutie as Jessica Darling, our winning and caustic protagonist. Perfect Fifths didn’t disappoint me, the oh-so-desperately in love, and though I’m sad to say goodbye to one of my favorite series ever, everything I wanted to be resolved . . . was. Happily.

In the three years since Jess turned down Marcus’s proposal, the two have gone on to live very different lives — apart. Jess travels around the country with a non-profit program she helped develop and implement, and Marcus is set to graduate from Princeton before he goes on to graduate school. As Jess is barreling through Newark Liberty International Airport on her way to a wedding, she has a run-in — literally — with Marcus, her first and only love, and what follows are their conversations, recollections and reconnections over the span of just eighteen hours.

The most obvious twist in Megan McCafferty’s final book in the Jessica Darling series is that Jess is no longer our narrator. Now told in third person, we can get inside the heads of everyone — even Marcus, the eternally confusing, elusive and irresistable “hero” of the series. Getting a glimpse at what he’s been experiencing was really interesting, and I absolutely loved learning about his sweaty-palmed nervousness — even at 26 — around Jessica. Learning what he’s been up to the past three years, particularly concerning his half-hearted attempts at romance, was great. And made me heart him all the more.

Basically, I really felt something while reading this — and that doesn’t happen as often as I wish it would. Every emotion that I imagine I would feel running into my first love was right there, laid bare on the pages — which I turned as quickly as I could, desperate to make sure everything was going to turn out all right. References to early parts of the relationship and inside jokes were so fun to see, and I smiled as much as Jess probably would realizing Marcus remembered. I was also stoked to see one of my favorite lines from the series reappear in the final book, followed by the closure I’d been hoping for:

. . . I might never be able to forgive you for all the girls who came before me, nor myself for all the men who would come after you.

Though I know many in the reading community had decidedly mixed — or negative — takes on this one, I can’t honestly say I was disappointed in any sense. Anyone could see Jessica and Marcus belonged together, and it was all a matter of timing and patience. Marcus’s ability to wait for Jess, even when he wasn’t entirely sure she would come back, was a serious testament to his love for her. And the electricity crackling between the two of them was palpable, making even my heart beat a little faster!

And as I was finishing Perfect Fifths around 2 a.m., we suddenly lost electricity at my house. When my overhead reading lamp clicked off, plunging me into darkness, I barely hesitated before fumbling around to find and turn on my cell phone — and then proceeded to hold the eery blue light up to the pages as I turned them frantically. I had to hit the keypad every thirty seconds or so to keep my only light from being extinguished again, but it didn’t matter. That’s how addictive these books were for me — like the best kind of literary drug. After finishing Fourth Comings, it took my superhuman restraint not to devour this one whole — but I saved it, wanting to savor every moment.

And savor I did. If “my thoughts create my world” (another of my absolute favorite quotes from the series), I’ll continue to think about this one for a long, long time!

4.5 out of 5!

ISBN: 0307346528 ♥ Purchase from Amazon ♥ Author Website

Sloppy Firsts is the first book (get it?) in a series about pornaliciously named Jersey high schooler Jessica Darling, told through a series of letters and diary entries.  The book is pretty much what you’d expect with architypical bimbos, jocks, stoners, self-proclaimed cool kids, and peer-proclaimed cool kids (aka: “cool kids”).

Jessica, despite being one of the smartest kids in her school and a top athelete, is, as expected, angsty.  Partly because the book opens with her best friend moving to Tennessee, and partly because she’s a teenaged girl and you just can’t write a book about a teenaged girl without her being angsty.  Guess what she’s angsty about.

If you picked her lame friends, lamer parents, school of people who don’t get her, and sexual frustration, you’re right (and you’ve been a kid before).

While the characters aren’t particularly unique and the conflicts have been done before (Catcher in the Rye comes to mind), the writing is delightfully fresh and witty, and some of the characters’ problems are dealt with in interesting, thoughtful ways.  Reading about a teenaged girl’s sexual frustration is a little weird though, and a bit close to the child-pornography line.  Seriously, there’s some stuff about a young girl’s masturbatory tendencies that I really don’t need to read about.

…Without pictures.

At least she’s of legal age in the later books, so it’s a bit less creepy.  And, if you pick up the first book, keep in mind that it was intended to be a series from the start.  Most of the conflicts are left unresolved and are picked up later on.

This is so far the best written chick lit I’ve read, but it’s still not quite a literary masterpiece.  I’m only on the third book of the series (Charmed Thirds, after Second Helpings), and will revisit the series once I’ve completed it (there are currently five books out), but for now: Three stars.

P.S.: McCafferty has a young son.  I wonder how many hours of therapy he’ll need if he reads the series.

I am reading Perfect Fifths. 

Do not be fooled by the pink cover. I would like to take this opportunity to say that I am against Chick Lit. It is fluff, and it doesn’t stick with you, in much the same way as you are hungry within 5 minutes of eating cotton candy.  Which might be your snap judgement of this book — cotton candy — except that it is the fifth (and final) installment in a series that I have been reading since the 10th grade, and they have stuck with me so incredibly powerfully.

I identified with Jessica Darling, the snarky, then-16-year-old protagonist, from the get-go. Sloppy Firsts, the first book, consists of her sharply observed, sometimes breathtakingly accurate ruminations/journal entries on high school, teenagerhood, American culture, and her recently departed best friend, whose family has just packed it up to move to Alabama because their oldest son died from an overdose the summer before. Which is why things become complicated when Jessica, ranked number one in her class, discovers an unlikely connection with said deceased best-friend’s-brother’s drug buddy, the legendarily fucked up, gorgeous, promiscuous, fascinating, completely unforgettable Marcus Flutie, causing all kinds of conflicting interests, internal conflicts, and sexual tension. The whole drama plays out over the next 10 years and five books, but it isn’t just about Jessica’s complicated relationship with the eventually-rehabbed, reformed, always completely wonderful and compelling Marcus. It is also about her and her college struggles, friend struggles, job struggles. Jessica has goals. Her sense of self develops over these six books – there are other boys, ups and downs, disasters, mishaps, births, deaths, and this one man that she can’t seem to stop going back to. 

There is always that awkward moment when you realize that you have become hopelessly emotionally invested in fictional characters. I have shed multiple tears over these books, and they are not even tragic or epic — just outrageously real. I love Jessica Darling, and not just because she is a cooler, more articulate, potentially more cynical version of myself. She is flawed, but she is a character worth loving. 

And then comes the point where I realize that Megan McCafferty will probably never be as rich as Stephenie Meyer, and I kind of want to throw up. If you are female, I would encourage you to do all you can to find your Marcus Flutie, and not your Edward Cullen. Probably don’t worry about it too much, though, because Jessica Darling would tell you that there are more important things in life than cultural constructs of idealized romantic love.

click here to jump to this week’s chapter

Juanita’s feeling a little camera-shy this week, so I sent Kevin to search for a cute, small, black-and-white animal for this week’s photo. (Judging from Kevin’s age in the photo, he evidently had to travel back in time to find one. Way to go the extra mile, Wilder!)

No worries … Juanita might not be feeling photo shoots, but she remains generous with the book giveaways. Just comment on this post and let us know what you think of Some New Trend (or the situation in Iran, or whatever), and we’ll put your name in the Dog Bowl of Magic and Literature. Juanita picks a new name each week, so you’ll have a new chance to win every Friday.

This week’s giveaway is Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty. It’s the conclusion of the five-year glimpse we’ve had into the life of  the smart and hilarious Jessica Darling. Here’s a review Carrie wrote of the book for BookPage, if you want to learn more.

The winner of last week’s giveaway, Crash Into Me by Albert Borris, is Alexa! Send an email to info@somenewtrend with your mailing address, and we’ll get your book in the mail soon.

If you’ve won a book but haven’t received it yet, be sure to let us know. Resend your address and we’ll double check the outgoing mail.

This week is just extremely, extremely long.  Long long long.  Long long long long long.

Two nights ago I was up well past my bedtime (figuratively, of course…I don’t really have a bedtime).  I just don’t usually stay up until 1:00!  I was engrossed in a wonderful book (Second Helpings – the sequel to Megan McCafferty’s Sloppy Firsts – check it out – it’s totally angsty!) and I just couldn’t get to sleep.  M was fast asleep since he has a 7:30AM class and we’ve been having to get up at 6 so he can make it on time (I prompty fall back asleep until about 10).

I have always totally hated the dark, so I debated shutting lamp off or just trying to sleep with it on like the good ole days of singledom and living at home.  I was afraid the light would end up waking M up, so I went ahead and shut it off and prepared to stare wide-eyedly into the dark until I barely drifted off into sleep (I might have contracted sympathy insomnia for poor Jessica Darling!).

Now, M and I have a pretty good pattern of snuggling before bed.  In fact, I can’t remember the last time I feel asleep without my head on his chest or his arm around me.  I wasn’t sure I could start that night.  So I carefully tried to snuggle into him without waking him up.

And, without missing a single, lovey-dovey, ooey-gooey beat, M twisted and wrapped his arm around me and held me tight, even though he was snoozing pretty heavily.  I feel asleep smiling, and, even though I woke up WAY too early, it wasn’t at all that bad.

After finishing Megan McCafferty’s Charmed Thirds, the third installment in the Jessica Darling series, I had a dream that Marcus Flutie and I were traveling on a fast, red train across Europe. Marcus had just gotten into some crazy altercation resulting in a busted lip and black eye — oh, that guy! — and I was tending to his wounds on our way to Germany, or Switzerland, or somewhere mountainous and cold. He wrapped his arms around me, moved his lips close to mine and –

Ahem.

True story.

Yes, I’ve definitely found myself a new literary crush — and these books have definitely gotten into my brain. They’re swiftly moving up to almost-favorite-book-series-ever territory (behind Harry Potter, natch).

From the back cover:

 Jessica Darling’s in college!

Things are looking up for Jessica Darling. She has finally left her New Jersey hometown/hellhole for Columbia University in New York City; she’s more into her boyfriend, Marcus Flutie, than ever (so what if he’s at a Buddhist college in California?); and she’s making new friends who just might qualify as stand-ins for her beloved best friend, Hope.

But Jessica soon realizes that her bliss might not last. She lands an internship at a snarky Brooklyn-based magazine, but will she fit in with the überhip staff (and will she even want to)? As she and Marcus hit the rocks, will she end up falling for her GOPunk, neoconservative RA … or the hot (and married!) Spanish grad student she’s assisting on a summer project … or the oh-so-sensitive emo boy down the hall? Will she even make it through college now that her parents have cut her off financially? And what do the cryptic one-word postcards from Marcus really mean?

Oh, Jessica — it’s a whole new world! Columbia is certainly a far cry from life in Pineville, New Jersey — and what we have on our hands now is an older, more jaded heroine. I know lots of readers have been up in arms about all the changes in Jessica, and I definitely see where they’re coming from. As Jessica leaves high school behind (or does she?), her entire viewpoint shifts.

Charmed Thirds chronicles Jess’s entire college experience — from the early days of freshman year through her anticlimatic December graduation. That’s a pretty serious chunk of time to cover in one novel as McCafferty basically skips from semester break to semester break. But I felt the pacing was appropriate, and I’m not sure I would have wanted to really dwell on all those long academic days in between summer vacations and winter breaks . . . it probably would have ground everything down to a screeching halt.

Jess’s trademark observations in Charmed Thirds lacked much of the spot-on snark of the first two novels, but I can’t say I found her to be a terribly jaded or bitter narrator. I guess at this point, I’ve really gotten to know her — and I don’t hold these “faults” against her. The voice in the novel was just as strong as ever, and I’m more than happy to listen. McCafferty’s writing style is so distinct and commanding — I have no choice but to listen.

I really loved seeing deeper, more meaningful connections between Jessica and her family in this one, and the introduction of niece Marin was really great and adorable. Many of the characters I’ve really liked seemed more fleshed out, too, like Len Levy. His emergence in the story really took me by surprise.

And the drama with Marcus! Oh, there was drama. In a new place with new expectations and really different people, Jessica finds herself inexplicably drawn to a guy who is, basically, her polar opposite — and doesn’t quite know why. She created a mess where there didn’t need to be one, and that was frustrating to watch. But on the same token, I understood her insecurities . . . and could definitely relate to her desire to know if what she had with Marcus was really real, or just “high school” real.

I think it’s really real.

And I have two more books to tear through to find out the answer! But I’m going to pace myself . . . in the fourth book, Jess is starting her first post-college job and battling all of that anxiety. Worried it’ll hit a little too close to home, I’m taking a break from the series and will savor Fourth Comings when the time is right . . . if I can keep myself from reading frantically before then.

4.5 out of 5!

ISBN: 1400080436 ♥ Purchase from Amazon ♥ Author Website

I. Am. Addicted. To. These. Books.

I’m serious. It’s bad. It’s Twilight-level bad — to the point that I’m stopping friends at the bookstore where I worked and shoving a copy into their hands. It’s… embarrassing. And taking over my life.

But I just can’t quit it.

Here’s the nice, tidy description from Amazon — a synopsis much more succinct than anything I could come up with:

Jessica Darling is up in arms again in this much-anticipated, hilarious sequel to Sloppy Firsts. This time, the hyperobservant, angst-ridden teenager is going through the social and emotional ordeal of her senior year at Pineville High. Not only does the mysterious and oh-so-compelling Marcus Flutie continue to distract Jessica, but her best friend, Hope, still lives in another state, and she can’t seem to escape the clutches of the Clueless Crew, her annoying so-called friends. To top it off, Jessica’s parents won’t get off her butt about choosing a college, and her sister Bethany’s pregnancy is causing a big stir in the Darling household.

With keen intelligence, sardonic wit, and ingenious comedic timing, Megan McCafferty again re-creates the tumultuous world of today’s fast-moving and sophisticated teens. Fans of Sloppy Firsts will be reunited with their favorite characters and also introduced to the fresh new faces that have entered Jess’s life, including the hot creative writing teacher at her summer college prep program and her feisty, tell-it-like-it-is grandmother Gladdie. But most of all, readers will finally have the answers to all of their burgeoning questions, and then some: Will Jessica crack under the pressure of senioritis? Will her unresolved feelings for Marcus wreak havoc on her love life? Will Hope ever come back to Pineville? Fall in love with saucy, irreverent Jessica all over again in this wonderful sequel to a book that critics and readers alike hailed as the best high school novel in years.

We open Second Helpings to discover that in a fit of self-loathing, high school senior Jessica has destroyed the diary which stood as a shrine to her obsession with one Marcus Flutie — the text of Sloppy Firsts. After their non-relationship came to a very abrupt end on New Year’s Eve at the end of the first novel, I wasn’t quite sure where we would find Jess and Marcus at the onset of this installment . . . and we found them nowhere, really. As Jess is away for the summer at a creative writing camp and ardently refusing to think and/or talk about Marcus as anyone other than He Who Shall Not Be Named (whoa, Lord Voldemort?), we run through the summer with Jessica and Call Me Chantelle, Jess’s promiscuous and vapid bunkmate.

Then school starts up again. Jessica is grappling with her classmates taking the SATs, applying to colleges and worrying about AP tests — but she stands apart from all of that, so secure in her own intelligence and abilities that school just seems to be . . . whatever. In any other character, this would really irk me — but we know, as readers, that Jessica isn’t like all the other seniors. So I was willing to accept that fact that we wouldn’t be reading about her studying long hours or panicking about biology tests. She’s the certified Class Braniac, right?

And she’s also the Class Loudmouth — known for her scathing editorials and loud opinions regarding the dense, clueless people with whom she shares a class. When an e-mail begins popping up in the inboxes of Pineville High’s seniors — aptly called Pinevile Low – everyone assumes she’s behind the embarrassing, supposedly secret gossip that’s now become fodder for everyone around her. But she isn’t. Isn’t she?

Add in the fact that Jessica now has her heart set on attending Columbia in New York City – recent site of the 9/11 terrorist attack — and the knowledge that her parents will never, ever want her to attend, especially when she’s been offered scholarships to a bevy of other schools, and Jess is ready to panic.

Oh, yeah. And Marcus Flutie, the semi-reformed (but still nonconformist) bad boy she was thisclose to just flat-out falling into crazed love with is now trying to hook her up with his best friend (and fellow Class Brainiac) Len Levy.

I know, it’s a lot going on. Definitely a lot. But I can tell you that I tore through this book as though I had seconds to live — and I had to make peace with the Marcus-and-Jess situation before it was too late. I was far from disappointed! Megan McCafferty’s books are funny, poignant, realistic and just . . . good. Really, really good. I wasn’t psyched about the conclusion of Sloppy Firsts but I didn’t mention it, knowing that I had Second Helpings right behind it. You could probably end the series right after this novel and feel satisfied, but I love knowing that the saga continues as Jessica goes off to college. Which one, you ask? Well, if you haphazardly check out the synopsises like I did, all will be revealed quite quickly. So don’t do that. I say run to the store, grab books one and two, devour them in a day or two — and shoot back over to tell me what you think.

And then you’ll be like me — running to Borders at 9:30 p.m. on a Tuesday, sweaty coupon in hand, looking around like a crazed beast for Charmed Thirds, the next installment in this addictive series. I’ll probably just go ahead and get the fourth one the next time I’m out, too. If I’m stuck on a plane next week — and hanging in the balance between Marcus and Jess’s complicated, exhilarating relationship – I’ll be one unhappy Meg.

5 out of 5!

ISBN: 0609807900 ♥ Purchase from Amazon ♥ Author Website

Jen Lancaster will be in NYC tonight and I had grand plans to attend but just learned my presence is required elsewhere (per my boss).  Suffice to say I’m none too happy about this last minute turn of events. 

Though an avid reader, I’ve only ever gone to three book readings and/or signings.  Maybe I’m afraid that my inner-nutcase will shine through and I’ll get wild-eyed and start fawning in the presence of literary greatness.

As a child, I think I met Judy Blume at a “Young Writers” conference.  I have a hazy memory of this and Blume is from New Jersey, which strengthens my case. 

A few summers ago, before her meteoric rise to stardom, Jodi Picoult came to my local library and though I hadn’t read any of her novels, I went to check her out.  She was a charismatic speaker, erudite and self-deprecating, and made writing seem like something any of us could do.  I didn’t own any of her books but ended up buying Plain Truth and having her sign it.

The other reading I went to was at my local Barnes & Noble.  Megan McCafferty, author of the Jessica Darling series, paid homage to her old stomping grounds at my B&N.  Megan was so entertaining and thankfully I didn’t make a fool of myself when speaking with her.  In my book, that counts as a success.  I was sorry to miss Megan’s most recent book tour for the final Jessica Darling book–I was driving home from Florida when she had a signing in Princeton.

Do you go to many readings or signings?  Who were some of the most memorable authors you’ve seen or heard?  Have you ever made a fool of yourself while chatting with an author (or is that just my own special talent)?

“Long before Stephenie Meyer dreamed up her vampire heart-throb, Edward Cullen, there was Megan McCafferty’s tempting-yet-forbidden Marcus Flutie.” (Nat)

Say no more, Natalie . . . say no more. That’s about all the introduction I needed to grab Megan McCafferty’s Sloppy Firsts, a chronicle of New Jersey high schooler Jessica Darling’s attempts to make sense of her best friend’s move, back-stabbing and “poseur” friends at Pineville High, finding a way to live up to her parents’ expectations for her life, track & field career and . . .

Yeah. I’m not going to try and oversimplify this one. I’m actually going to cheat and toss you over to the back cover:

When her best friend, Hope Weaver, moves away from Pineville, New Jersey, hyperobservant 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?

A fresh, funny, utterly compelling fiction debut by first-time novelist Megan McCafferty, Sloppy Firsts is an insightful, true-to-life look at Jessica’s predicament as she embarks on another year of teenage torment–from the dark days of Hope’s departure through her months as a type-A personality turned insomniac to her completely mixed-up feelings about Marcus Flutie, the intelligent and mysterious “Dreg” who works his way into her heart. Like a John Hughes for the twenty-first century, Megan McCafferty taps into the inherent humor and drama of the teen experience. This poignant, hilarious novel is sure to appeal to readers who are still going through it, as well as those who are grateful that they don’t have to go back and grow up all over again.

What to say about this one? I’m still buzzing about it . . . mostly because I absolutely loved it. First, Jessica is one seriously awesome female narrator. Twilight’s Bella be damned — we have one outspoken, empowered and marvelously entertaining chick to walk us through life as a “social iconoclast.” And Marcus — or “Krispy Kreme,” as his classmates tag him — is one majorly complicated and mesmorizing character. As Jess becomes more and more obsessed with finding out the motives behind his seemingly drug-induced actions, I found myself gripping onto her elbow, desperately trying to figure out what could have been written in that origami-mouth note Marcus slips her before school lets out.

And when we finally did read the note? Le sigh.

No one in this book is perfect . . . even the seemingly “perfect” bubblegum bimbo friends Bridget, Manda and Sara that Jessica is forced to associate with after Hope leaves town. Jess certainly has her issues — Marcus being one of them, arguably. I just found the progression of their friendship to be very natural, amusing and . . . exciting. I actually felt excited while reading this book. So excited, in fact, that I finished it in two days. I really loved seeing Jessica interact with her mom and dad, and hoped against hope that she would step up to be a good “friend” to her mother after older sister Bethany marries and moves to California. Though Jess doesn’t think she has much in common with the Darlings, readers definitely get a sense that they share more than just their cutesy last name. I like when I realize something about a character even before they seem to . . . and this was true quite a bit.

While some of the cursing got a little out of control and the dialogue felt a bit dated (Sloppy Firsts was published in 2001), I was so thoroughly engrossed in this story that I didn’t even realize it was ending until I went to a turn the page and was greeted with the . . . author’s acknowledgements. What a let down! As I know four books follow McCafferty’s debut novel, I’m not too concerned with how things were left between Marcus and our heroine. I have a feeling life will work in mysterious ways. McCafferty is an outstanding writer who definitely captured all the joy, indecision, anger and heart-pounding fun of high school . . . even if my own experiences weren’t quite so, ah, complicated.

And I know it’s a great book if by that fated final page, I have a massive new literary crush. Step aside, Edward!

5 out of 5!

ISBN: 0609807900 ♥ Purchase from Amazon ♥ Author Website

Thanks to everyone who entered to win the Jessica Darling series.  As a last minute bonus, I was also able to give away two copies of the first book in the series–Sloppy Firsts–as 2nd and 3rd prizes!  Random.com selected the following winners:

Congratulations BOOKISH PATTY for winning the entire series!  You’ll really enjoy these books.

Congratulations are also in order for Debbie of Suburb Sanity and Heather of Book Addiction who each won a copy of the novel that started it all–Sloppy Firsts. 

Thank you to everyone who participated!  Let’s do this again soon!

In 1981, Santa brought me a Hello Kitty diary; I was 7 and totally smitten with Hello Kitty (as evidenced by the infamous Hello Kitty Heist of ‘81).  This diary began my 25+ year love affair with writing longhand.  Don’t get me wrong, we had a Commodore 128 and were hip to technology, but I loved to write by hand.  I used this diary (albeit sporadically) until 1988, recording all my pre-teen drama and foibles for my future self to look back on with mirth. 

When I went to high school, I stopped keeping a daily diary and graduated to the marble composition notebooks for vacation journals–notice the personalized one with the collage of pictures on the cover!  Our family vacations are chronicled from 1989 straight through to 2008 (though now I vacation with my husband).  I started using other types of journals because the composition notebooks didn’t weather all that well. 

I love looking back on old vacations–especially with my family–because I wrote down the most august things that would have long since faded from memory.  A family vacation to Long Beach Island, NJ in 1991…I was a chronic overpacker even at the tender age of 16!

Or how about a page (and doodle) from 2007’s road trip that took us to Livingston, Montana?

My point is that even though I love to blog, nothing compares to keeping a longhand journal of my travels.  But I wonder if anyone else out there does the same?  Is writing by hand a dying hobby? 

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for the complete Jessica Darling series HERE.  Contest ends Monday, 4/20 at 10pm EST.

Title: Perfect Fifths (Jessica Darling Series)

Author: Megan McCafferty

Genre: Fiction*; 304 pages

Publication date: April 14, 2009

Publisher: Crown Publishing

Rating: 4 Bookmarks**

Perfect Fifths is the final book in the Jessica Darling series.  It picks up three years after Fourth Comings; Jessica (now 26) and Marcus are reunited in a chance encounter at Newark Liberty International Airport.

After buying the first book on a whim a few years ago, I was lured in by the protagonist, Jessica Darling, a then-teenager from New Jersey.  Her acerbic wit had me laughing from page one.  She finds temptation in a boy named Marcus Flutie and their on-again, off-again relationship spans the series.    The good girl/bad boy conundrum spoke to me on a personal level and I was eager to find out how things would play out.

McCafferty tells her story using dynamic and credible characters who grow and change as the series progresses. The dialogue is realistic and the storyline is believable.  Sexual tension between Jessica and Marcus runs high, creating suspense and frustration for the characters and readers alike.

The first four books are written journal and letter-style from Jessica’s point of view.  As readers, we’re limited to seeing plot events and characters as she does, which colors them significantly.  I found myself wanting to kick Jessica in the shins on several occasions because she didn’t make the decisions I would have.

In Perfect Fifths, McCafferty switches to third-person omniscient point of view and we finally(!!!) get to see into the mind of enigmatic Marcus Flutie!  Marcus dispels some of the myths that have been perpetuated in the previous books and we learn the motivations behind some of his past actions.

A new character is introduced and is reminiscent of young Jessica.  Minor characters from the other books resurface and play bigger roles.  McCafferty brings the story full-circle, tying up all of the loose ends.  We get resolution with Jessica’s friends and, of course, with Marcus…though it may not be what readers were hoping for.

I couldn’t put the fifth book down and stayed up reading it until 2:30 in the morning.  Then I re-read it twice more, savoring the story and interaction between the couple.  It was such a pleasure to take this literary journey with Jessica, Marcus, and the whole cast of characters that Megan McCafferty crafted.  This series belongs in your TBR pile.

And now on to the CONTEST!!  Simply leave a comment below and you will be entered to win the entire Jessica Darling series–all 5 books!  The deadline is 10pm EST on Monday, 4/20 and a winner will be chosen at random.  ONE entry per person and this contest is open to everyone–even international friends.  Good Luck!!!

Many thanks to Megan McCafferty and Crown Publishers.

* This series is sometimes classified as YA fiction but the books span 10 years of Jessica’s life, ending on her 26th birthday.  The series deals with sophisticated themes and the nature of the story lends the books to a wider audience.

**To fully appreciate this particular novel and all the references and entendres, the books should be read sequentially.

Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty. 

There are a whole host of must-read books that I feel like everyone else in the entire universe has read that I just… haven’t. The Jessica Darling series are some of those books and I’ve loved pretty much everything else I’ve read by Megan McCafferty (mostly short stories or essays), so I recently decided to embark on the Jessica Darling books. The first centers on the year when Jessica’s best friend moves away and she forms an odd almost-friendship with druggie (later reformed druggie) Marcus Flutie.

Here goes.

Premise - This is one of those teen-life books that I’m never quite sure what the premise is. It’s really just about Jessica’s day-to-day life dealing with her best friend moving away. Not exactly high concept, and really not even interesting on its own. 2.

Plot - You know how the things that happen to you when you’re sixteen aren’t really interesting to you at all when they happen, but are absolutely fascinating to anyone younger than you, and then become weirdly interesting as you look back on them when you get a bit older?* Jessica’s life is a little like that. It’s not that what happens to her is sooo interesting, but that, in an odd way, it is. Difficult to explain. 4.

Characters - Basically everyone in this story annoyed me except for Bridget. I don’t know why she didn’t annoy me, but I found myself liking her more than anyone else. Jessica’s so-called friends were whiny, Marcus was interesting but in a mysterious way that always puts me off a little bit. I can’t stand when people pretend to be someone else and that seemed to be what he was doing throughout the whole book – just changing his personality like a chameleon. Jessica herself was also slightly annoying, but I liked her. To a certain degree she reminded myself of me. It’s probably the thinking so much. I’m going to give this book a 4 for characters because even if they were annoying, they definitely had personality and really, there are actually people like that.

Voice - Hmm. Jessica’s voice is flat, almost blase. She exists in a state of complete angst throughout the whole book yet seems to be able to extract herself nicely from situations when she writes about them. It’s a good thing. It gives the book a surreal looking-through-the-glass-to-another-world feeling about it, which is either interesting or annoying. Or both. I haven’t decided yet. 3.

Interestingness - Here’s the thing guys, I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO EXPLAIN THIS BOOK OR WHAT TO SAY ABOUT IT. I finished it, and I’m going to read the next few also, and I’m pretty sure I liked it… but mostly it just intrigued and interested me. It wasn’t that I really loved it, but I felt like I had to keep reading. 4.

TOTAL SCORE = 17

Bottom line: Plenty of people loooove this novel. I don’t. I like it enough to read the next in the series, but not enough to really recommend it to you. However, there are 330 five-star reviews on Amazon to disagree with me.

*Oh, just to be clear. Everything that’s happened to be has been interesting. Really. Even when I was sixteen. It wasn’t enjoyable, but it was interesting. (I’m unique.)

It is hard to believe that it has been ten years since the release of “Sloppy Firsts” by Megan McCafferty. When we were first introduced to Jessica Darling, she was an acerbic-witted student of Pineville High suffering through the heartache of losing her best friend. Through the three subsequent books (Second Helpings, Charmed Thirds, Fourth Comings) we saw Darling morph from an acerbic-witted 16 year-old to a college graduate sharing a tiny bedroom (the Cupcake!) with her best friend Hope.
In Perfect Fifths, Darling is a full-fledged adult; as a 22 year-old who began reading the franchise upon its release, the idea of an adult Jessica is scary, because it means that I’m almost at that age, too. She does grown up things, like working a full time job and travelling for business- a pitstop of which has brought her to the setting of this story, Newark Liberty Internationl airport… where she just happens to stumble upon (and into) Marcus Flutie.
Perfect Fifths brings forth a lot of changes that fans may not expect; the most noticeable and immediate change is that the book is written in third person. While the reader is no longer given complete access to Jessica’s mind a la the first four books, we are granted insight into the mind of Marcus Flutie. It takes a little while to get used to, but McCafferty explains the shift halfway through the book:

“Research has shown that when you tell a story in the omnipotent third person, it creates a buffer between the narrator and the character in the story…”

Another huge change is the format of the story. Divided into four sections, McCafferty gives us the afforementioned third person viewpoint, a section of found poems, and a 74 page section of straight dialogue (not necessarily in that order… )
Perfect Fifths is not the book that fans are expecting; although all of the characters that we know and love from a decade of Darling are mentioned, Fifths is unfamiliar in its familiarity. The reader is given new insights to both Jessica and Marcus (including some that you might really, really want to know about Marcus….. SHOWER SCENE,) and it feels more like a reintroduction than a continuation of the previous books.
But not that that’s a negative thing: Perfect Fifths may not be the book you’re expecting, but it’s a satisfying and bittersweet end to the Jessica Darling series.

Buy the book! (Amazon link)
Megan’s website