Skunk Cat Book Reviews closing

I've been considering this for months, and finally decided today to close Skunk Cat Book Reviews. I've enjoyed reviewing books, but it has become more of a chore than a pleasure lately. We've lost one reviewer (Jackie, my mother, who died last month) and the other two aren't blogging the way they used to. I find myself blogging less frequently these days too.

So rather than draw it out any longer, here's a clean stop. I'll definitely keep the blog open for those who want to read old reviews. Thanks to those of you who've supported us over the last two and a half years!

Keep reading!

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison

I've been hearing about this book for years and finally picked up a copy. And it's just as good as I'd been told. There's a long series, of which this is the first.

It's told through diary entries by fourteen-year-old Georgia Nicholson, and it's very, very funny. Georgia goes to a girls' school where they have to wear berets as part of their uniform, she has a huge cat named Angus who keeps trying to eat the neighbors' poodle, and she's crazy about a boy whose name she will eventually find out.

The story consists of small events, nothing earth-shaking, but they add up to a hilarious, surprisingly realistic account of a few months of Georgia's life. Her attitude is mostly what makes the book so funny. She's horrible in a relentlessly self-absorbed, can't-be-bothered way, but she never comes across (too much) as a jerk. That's a neat trick for the author to pull. It's a fast read, too; in fact, I read most of the book in the bath while I was getting over a cough, and I laughed so hard I coughed myself into a headache. But it was worth it.

B&N link