Introduction

Okay, so... I have decided to write my own blog, focussing mainly on kids books, because that's what I'm into. And also, frankly, I have found a few great sites, and a few not so great ones, but there is just not enough out there for me! The added bonus is I can practice up my reviewing skills.

Speaking of which, here is what I read today:

First off, Anna Quindlen's Imagined London, which is not a kid's book, I know, but I *did* read it, and its my blog, so there you go. Mostly I enjoyed this one, as her feelings are similar to mine. The book talks about how Quindlen had read so many books set in London over her lifetime, that the city felt like a place she had been, even though she didn't travel there until she was in her forties. She's a wonderful writer (she has several novels under her belt, none of which I have read), and really evokes the London of so many of her favourite novels. That was my big problem with this book. It seemed to me that she only referred to about four novels, plus all of Dickens. She briefly mentioned Brick Lane by Monica Ali, and White Teeth by Zadie Smith, but most of her material came from 19th century books. Which is fine, but my impression was that this was going to be a complete picture. Which I know would be a lot of work, but Peter Ackroyd did it!

Anyways, despite a few reservations, I definitely enjoyed it. I loved reading about how on her first trip she spent the whole time wandering around, basically with her mouth open. Because that's exactly how I felt when I was there. All in all, a decent book, and I will definitely try and find the time to pick up one of her novels.

The other book I read today is part of a series called S.A.S.S. I can't remember exactly what it stands for something about students studying abroad. The premise for this series is there is this program for American high school students to go abroad to study for a few months. So far in the series, they have only gone to Europe, but the beauty for the publisher is that they can keep churning them out for just about every country on earth. And churning is the key word. Today I read the German one, called The Sound of Munich. Yeah, they all have titles like that.

Our protaganist is a ridiculously stereotypical girl named Siena from Southern California. She can't move without checking her horoscope, and one of the first things she does upon arriving in Munich is rearrange her furniture for better chi flow. Anyways, the books all follow an exceedingly predictable plot that I won't bore you with. She writes, despite the fact that this is I think the fifth of these that I have read! What can I say, I am a sucker for a bad teen novel. However, I will say that The Sound of Munich was the best in the series so far. And that is because all the other books have featured heroines who are so utterly ignorant of the world outside of their hometowns that I have been wanting to slap them upside the head. At least Siena is open to new experiences, and also not obsessed with finding a new boyfriend. Basically I would recommend these books only to a certain kind of teenage girl, and gluttons for punishment in the form of bad teen novels, like myself.

So, there it is, my first post!

Imagined London by Anna Quindlen
ISBN 0792242076
192 pages

S.A.S.S. Sound of Munich by Suzanne Nelson
ISBN 0142405760
224 pages