Here’s the full title – Angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging – confessions of Georgia Nicolson by Louise Rennison. (Yeah – a tad too long for a post title!) My last trip to my local library had my very wonderful librarian, Jennifer, suggest a book to me in addition to my list of MG and YA titles. So far her suggestions have been great, and this book is no exception. I am writing this very short post to recommend this book to you if you read/enjoy YA. Written in diary format, Georgia, who is British, writes about her life and its typical teenage issues, which are not nearly so racy as the title would suggest. But funny. Very funny.
The author has a great sense of humor and a witty, sarcastic style – I had not expected that I would be laughing out loud by page 7! And it’s only gotten funnier. So if, in all your readings, you could use a change of pace and a little laughter, do pick up snogging – couldn’t we all use a laugh?
p.s. Hmmm – something else I did not expect – it’s 5 days since I started this book, and as cute and funny as it is, it’s not holding my attention halfway through. There’s nothing getting me terribly curious about what’s going to happen, and sadly, I’m not now convinced I’m going to care all that much. I’m thinking this is one of those YA books that really may have much more appeal to its intended age group. So I’ve put snogging aside, and have picked up Newbery winner, A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park, which sounds much more engaging.

By the time I’d come back out, Pumpkin, the orange cat next door, was coming over to say hello and see what was happening, and was now right next to the praying mantis. I figured the mantis was a goner, but Pumpkin was totally oblivious to her presence. What was more amazing was that the mantis, while watching Pumpkin’s every move, (she’s actually looking right at him in this photo), only made one tiny move herself. It was quite easy to catch a couple photos after which I quickly lured Pumpkin to my back door and away from the mantis.
She appeared out of nowhere. She was clearly hungry and looking for food. She was also, as best I could tell, feral, although immaculately clean, as even the wildest of cats can be.
Work is love made visible.
This movie, released in 2003, is one of the most spectacular I have seen. There is almost no narration, there are occasional notes on the bottom of the screen indicating the type of bird and the location and distance it flies during migration, and the most incredible music created just for the film. Not to mention breathtaking landscapes from one end of the world to the other. What is even more extraordinary, is how the birds were filmed – the view is most often from the bird’s perspective. For bird/wild bird lovers or just nature lovers, this is one to see. Available on Netflix.