Great Grads Gift?
2007-03-20 / 11:58 p.m.
Some gift suggestions for graduating girls, apart from the typical and non-gender-specific Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss:
- College -
Right after Blue Bloods, was craving something insubstantial and yet well-written. Meg Cabot's Queen of Babble hit the spot. Lizzie Nichols traipses off to England the summer after graduating (well, almost) from college to live with her heroic boyfriend Andrew, only to find out he is more of a waiter and wastrel than a hero. She meets up with her best friend Shari and Shari's fiance Chaz at the French chateau where they are summering and helping out with a friend's family wedding, to find that the chateau and attached vineyard are just as gorgeous as the owner's investment banker son. Lizzie tries to keep her mouth shut long enough to wait out her extremely restrictive plane ticket home, but she's not known as the Lizzie Broadcasting System for nothing...
This book was definitely fun to read, and perhaps it won't satisfy a deep-seated emotional need (well, aside from the need to laugh your ass off while sitting up in bed at 2 a.m.) but it'll definitely keep you hooked and rooting for Cabot's fashion-forward heroine straight to the end, and quite possibly into the sequel which is due out in July.
- High School -
Bass Ackwards and Belly Up was hard for me to start at first, college (or lack thereof) being a sore spot in my own life story. The four "Sister"-like heroines hitch a ride on the Dream Train (not literally) by taking some untraditional steps the year they graduate from high school. At turns hilarious and at others, heartbreakingly sad, this isn't just a Sisterhood knockoff, but a stirring story of four friends on their way to womanhood. Yes, some of the events are pretty out there, and too-good-to-be-true runs rampant in Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain's collaborative effort, but it's a satisfying read nonetheless. Not recommended for younger Young Adults (there is some underage drinking and sex, and some non-descriptive violence... no drug use, however). Definitely cool for those 17 and up.
- - -
Not necessarily a graduation gift, I just found out that one of my favorite bands, The Pierces, has released a new album called Thirteen Tales of Love & Revenge. I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy yet, but if it's anywhere as good as their self-titled album from 2000, then it's sure to have the Pierce sisters' crystal-clear voices intertwining on excellent harmonies. (Yeah, get their older albums while you're at it.)