First, a few links:

I have a new guilty pleasure, and it is called the Buffy Fashion Roulette. What is this, you may ask? Witty blog posts that each feature an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The clothes of all essential characters are considered, cheered, and winced at, with the ultimate goal of giving blog readers a chance to vote on Best Dressed and Worst Dressed. Great fun. The ep “Buffy v. Dracula” is up. I voted for Joyce as Best Dressed just because her clothes hit the right note, as the blogger notes, of Everymom. I gave Riley Worst Dressed (I’d give Riley Worst Everything). But don’t let my votes influence you! Check it out for yourself.

Though, p.s., I kind of like the Elmo shirt Willow wears in “After Life.” I wouldn’t wear it myself, but it’s great entertainment to see it on Will.

More links!

Curious to know what’s on my MG-YA reading list these days? La Lucha Libro Library has put together a blog post of what various authors are reading. Here it is.

Lastly, here is a link to an interview Elise Broach (author of Shakespeare’s Secret and Masterpiece) and I did with Sheela Chari of the blog From the Mixed-up Files…The blog is dedicated to all things Middle Grade Lit, and Sheela is herself a writer of the upcoming Vanished (July 2011). The interview is about writing mysteries, weaving in historical elements, and what it means to be a good reader.

So, back to what I’ve been reading lately:

It’s about pretty, popular, and not particularly nice Samantha, who dies in a car crash. Or, at least, she thinks she does. Because even after her death, she goes on living—the same day, over and over. A reviewer wisely said that this book is almost a hybrid of Mean Girls and Groundhog Day (one of my favorites), but it’s also more thoughtful than either one, and has a poignancy that’s one of its main strengths.

Lauren Oliver takes on—and succeeds at—the difficult task of making a reader like a narrator who comes off as very unlikeable. When Sam is at her most selfish, she still has a dry humor that makes it hard not to laugh along with her, even if its at another character’s expense (which is rather the point, since the book is a great deal about how and why we are led to ridicule others). Sam’s voice is very appealing (it almost reminds me of Daisy from How I Live Now). A typical line:

“To be honest, the only sporting event I ever go to is homecoming, and after hour years I still don’t understand any of the rules.”

The characters are all really well drawn (Kent is particularly endearing, and an unusual male lead), and I think one of the things that makes the project of the book so successful is its awareness of the fact that we like to see variations on a theme. I found myself really looking forward to the parts of Sam’s day. I wanted to see what she would do to make each day different, and how certain scenes would replay themselves.

Also, Lauren Oliver has a good sense for special moments. There are times in life when you already feel nostalgic in a beautiful moment, because it will slip away. Oliver gets that, and offers some hope that those moments can’t be lost.