McSlumperson.

So, I'd like to confess that I'm in a bit of a reading slump. I'm fairly sure that the early onslaught of summer is to blame. It's really hard to totally get into a book when you're spending most evenings lounging around on your friend's front lawn, drinking wine and smoking too many cigarettes. We talk about books, sure, but not much reading gets done.

I don't know; I haven't been too impressed by anything I've read lately. I'm reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods again, hoping that re-reading a book I really liked will sort of jump start me again, you know?

What have YOU been reading? What was the last book you read that you really, really loved??

Mommywood-Tori Spelling

I was so excited when this book came out--I actually spent the $17 and bought it at Target (and for someone who frequents the library, $17 for a book is quite a splurge). Turns out, I should have just saved my money. The great thing about Spelling's first book was the candidness; she was so open about her experiences--good, bad, or completely ridiculous. I was looking forward to learning more about her life as a mother, but Mommywood ended up reading like a script from her upcoming season of Tori and Dean:Home Sweet Hollywood. While reading of her escapades, I thought to myself, "Hmm...this seems a bit staged and overdone." Lo-and-behold, I saw a commercial depicting Tori and her family in the same situations I had just read about. It just felt like a let down; it seemed as though she was pushed to write this book as a means of promoting her show. Though this book was a fast read and did provide some laughs, I was left wishing Spelling would have been more honest and, dare I say, understated?

Dead and Gone-Charlaine Harris

OK. I have a confession to make. I got really impatient to read this book; I knew I wouldn't be able to get it from the Library for like, MONTHS. So I, um, downloaded it online. I know! I'm a jerk! I've done a lot of questionable things in my time, but this is one that I actually feel pretty guilty about. So don't tell anyone, ok?

As I got through the first few chapters of my totally pirated copy, I started to think that maybe I'd been hoaxed. There was no way that this stuff had been written by Charlaine Harris. I made a quick trip to the bookstore and compared my copy against the book. Dude. My copy was not a hoax. The book just wasn't....well it wasn't any good.

Now, one of the best things about this series is Sookie's voice. It's really strong and you get a perfect sense of who this character is in like, a paragraph. Sadly, Sookie's voice was totally missing from Dead and Gone. Seriously, she didn't even sound southern in this one. Total dissapointment.

Also dissapointing was that none of the characters really breathed like they have in the previous books. They seemed sort of like cardboard cutouts of their former selves. Even the Eric/Sookie sex scenes were kind of...boring.

I'm going to chalk the epic fail of this book up to the fact that Ms. Harris has more than likely been totally consumed with work on the HBO series based on the Sookie books, True Blood. Maybe she just sort of rushed this one to press or something. Whatever the case, I'm not ready to give up on this series yet, and will totally read the next installment. Maybe next time, I'll even BUY it.

This Makes Me Want to Barf

We all have something that we love so much it eclipses fandom and moves into the realm of the sacred. For me, (and about a billion other people) that thing is Catcher in the Rye.

Catcher was the first book that I was forced to read in high school that I not only didn't hate with a fiery passion, but ended up loving. I've read it once a year every year since that first time. I fell in love with Holden. I consumed everything Salinger. You guys, I have a Salinger SHRINE on top of my bookcase. This is a true and undying love.

I have always loved and admired Salinger's decision to not sell the rights to any of his works to Hollywood. I don't want to see some bloated studio's interpretation of my beloved Catcher. I've always pictured it in the worst possible terms; Pheobe would be too precocious, Holden would be played by the current awkward hot thing, and all the beauty and nuance would be lost. There would be marketing and stupid movie tie in covers and...god. It would be terrible.

You know what else would be terrible? A SEQUEL.

I know. It's sort of shocking at first, right? If you're like me, you're wondering if this is some sort of effed up joke. I mean, really? Holden Caulfield, my beloved HOLDEN CAULFIELD, is now 76 years old and escaping from a RETIREMENT HOME? It's not a joke, dear readers. Go ahead and google it. I'll wait.

See? It's totally real and it's going to be AWFUL. Any lingering hopes I had for it being anything less than a stink bomb have been ripped away by my cursory search. Let's look at the first line, shall we?

"I open my eyes and, just like that, I'm awake. I suppose it's pretty damn early, but it must still be the middle of the night. It's so dark I can hardly see my god d*** hand in front of my face."

OMG are you SERIOUS? I know what you're thinking, and no, the author is not a sixteen year old uber fan. I checked. It's A FULL GROWN MAN who is to blame for this tragic literary crime. And his name? John David California. THERE IS NO WAY THAT'S YOUR REAL NAME, JERK!

OK. I need to take a deep breath. I didn't anticipate getting this worked up. But really, this is just so WRONG. Look, I understand the desire to emulate artists you love and admire. I once spent an entire summer writing a story about Green Day. You know, WHEN I WAS SIXTEEN YEAR OLD UBER FAN. This California jerkoff though was apparently inspired to write this "sequel" because he had "always wondered what happened." Christ on a Crutch. Should we, the reading public, be punished because you wondered what happened after this perfectly told story ended?

I shouldn't get too worried though. I mean, there ain't a chance in hell Salinger is going to let this piece of crap be released...right?

Stoked!

OMG. My copy of Pride and Prejudice arrived today! Seriously you guys, it's been a pain in the ass to get this book. I've ordered it THREE TIMES and it took like 2 weeks to get to me. But whatever, it's here now, and I so can't wait to read it. Oh, and review it of course, just for YOU.

Three Little Words- Ashley Rhodes-Courter

I loved this book so much, that I couldn't put it down and finished it in a day.

Ashley Rhodes-Courter was placed into foster care at the age of three, and her memoir documents the difficult life of foster youth everywhere. The endless placement changes (she had fourteen in about 7 years) the new schools, the sometimes brutal foster parents, and the never ending stream of social workers. Ashley ends up finding her forever family, but she also discusses how hard it was for her to really trust the people that eventually adopted her. We think of the adoption as a happy event for foster children, but it's important to realize that though they suffered at the hands of their birth parents, most children don't want to give up on them completely. Plus, after living in so many homes with no feeling of permanence, Ashley wasn't convinced that her adoptive family wouldn't send her back.

Ashley also relates how she ended up suing the foster parents who abused her, along with several other of their foster children. She also joined in a class action law suit against the State of Florida for their gross negligence of foster children. Though dependency cases are supposed to come up for review once every six months, her case was overlooked for more than 2 years.

Ashley was lucky enough to have a guardian ad litem, the Florida equivalent to a CASA. Though she didn't appreciate her at the time, she realizes now just how much her CASA did for her and how hard she pushed for Ashley to find a permanent home and correct the judicial oversights. The parts about the CASA made me tear up a little, I have to admit. I currently serve as a CASA volunteer, and it was amazing to see the difference one person can make on a child's life.

Ashley, now 22, has become a successful writer, college graduate, and speaks about her experiences all over the country. It was truly inspiring to see a foster child, the type of child that so often gets lost, become the person she is today.

I was going to say that I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in foster youth, but this really is a book I think everyone should read. The foster care system is broken, and though there are people who work tirelessly to fix it, more attention needs to be focused on this issue.

So, um, go buy it already.

P.S. You can check out Ashley's website here
And, if you're so inclined, you can learn more about the CASA program here