Book Blogger Holiday Swap

This year I participated in the Book Blogger Holiday Swap. In my infinite wisdom, I signed up with my apartment address instead of my permanent address. So this is a note to my Secret Santa: my roommate is watching the mail and opening my packages for me. I'll know what you got me and hey, it's only a three hour drive. Thank you!

(I'm still waiting for my santee to get his or her gift. I really hope he or she likes it! I am a bad gift buyer. I like to just take people shopping and buy the gift there. No muss no fuss.)

*Button by Daniel

Since I was talking about gifts, a friend gave me a new winter art to use:



I <3 it.

Lotus Lowenstein's My-Life-Is-Merde-but-Have a Bonnes-Fêtes-Anyway Blog Tourapalooza

Welcome to Lotus Lowenstein's My-Life-Is-Merde-but-Have a Bonnes-Fêtes-Anyway Blog Tourapalooza! My review looks pretty boring next to this interview with author Libby Schmais and protagonist Lotus Lowenstein. Not to mention if you collect all of the words du jour you can win a pretty fabuleux prize.

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Interview with Libby Schmais, author

1. You've previously written two adult titles, THE PERFECT ELIZABETH and THE ESSENTIAL CHARLOTTE. Do you think there was a difference between writing for an adult audience and a young adult audience? Did you know THE PILLOW BOOK OF LOTUS LOWENSTEIN would be YA when you began writing it?



No, I didn’t know that THE PILLOW BOOK OF LOTUS LOWENSTEIN was a YA book when wrote it, and I think that was a good thing, because I didn’t have a lot of preconceptions of what a YA novel should be like. So, I wasn’t trying to use any different kind of writing style, just to be true to the character.

2. Lotus's diary follows her English assignments on THE PILLOW BOOK OF SEI SHONAGAN, perhaps the most badass of Heian era court-style poets. (Murasaki Shikibu would beg to disagree, I'm sure.) How did you come to intwine your story with this somewhat obscure classic?

I agree with you about Sei Shonagon, although I’m going to have to go back and do some research on Murasaki Shikubi. When I read The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagan, I was just so impressed with the beauty of the language and how modern it was that I wanted to introduce people to it in a fun, non-academic way.

[IBWB Note: Murasaki wrote THE TALE OF GENJI, and her diary is available in English translation.]

3. Lotus is a devoted Francophile. What about you? If you could live in one country, aside from the US, which would you choose and why?

I’m not quite as much of a Francophile as Lotus, but I would love to live in another country. I think I could be quite happy in some little town in the South of France. I love the food, it’s beautiful there and the health care system isn’t bad, either.



4. Both you and Lotus are Brooklynites. What is different between setting a novel somewhere you're very familiar with and somewhere that you aren't (such as Montreal, where the French Club visits)?

I think it’s definitely easier to set a novel in a place you are very familiar with, since you already have the sounds and the smells locked into your memory. But the advantage of using an unfamiliar setting is that you are looking at it through a fresh perspective. Also, in my case, I used it as an excuse to take a trip to Montreal.

5. One of the major conflicts in the book is the fight between Lotus and best friend Joni over Sean, whom they both consider the perfect guy. What is your own perfect man like? Would you even consider a non-exclusive relationship?

I think the perfect guy is one who you feel perfectly comfortable with, which is how I feel about my husband Sam. I’ve been with other guys who tried to change me, and that only leads to unhappiness. And I definitely couldn’t deal with being in a non-exclusive relationship – I don’t like to share.

Interview with Lotus Lowenstein, protagonist



1. Hello Lotus! Most of my readers haven't read your diary, so why don't you say something about what it's about.

Bonjour blog readers! Je suis thrilled to be here! My diary tells the story of a few months in my life when everything was coming together and falling apart at the same time. I fell in love, lost my best friend, began to understand the meaning of life and learned a few makeup tricks.


2. You've got a great french vocabulary, but your grammar is somewhat lacking. What's the hardest part about learning the language for you? Will you still love the culture even if you never learn to speak the language?

It’s true my grammaire is often a probleme, as my French teacher Mme LeFevre would be happy to tell you, but I think the most important thing is to have a real feel for the language, and a good accent, which I definitely have. So, I don’t worry too much about details of grammaire. I’m sure once I move to France, I’ll pick it up anyway, n’est ce pas?

3. How did you and Joni first become friends? Have ya'll ever exhibited the same taste in guys before?

Joni and I have been friends forever, but Sean is the first mec (guy) we’ve ever both liked and it almost ruined our friendship, which was très traumatique for both of us. But merci dieu, we are best friends again and both single, for the moment, although there are a few mecs I have my eye on.

4. You kept a diary before, but the real impetus for your pillow book was Mrs. G's assignment. How does your public diary differ from your personal one? What is your favorite line by Sei Shonagan?

I have no private diary anymore. I believe in sharing everything with the public. All my thoughts, sans censoring. Since we were talking about guys, here’s a good quote from Sei Shonagon on the subject “Men really have strange emotions and behave in the most bizarre ways.” So vrai!

5. You've been trying to lose weight with the help of FRENCH WOMEN DON'T GET FAT. What's your favorite part of the French diet? What dissatisfies you about your body?

I am actually very satisfied with my body. I am perfectly in proportion, and have a kind of Rubenesque charm. The only raison I was trying to lose weight was so I could fit better into couture and the antique clothes of my grandmère.

Thanks for visiting IBWB, Libby and Lotus!

Merci for having us!!!

Now, what you're really waiting for:

Today’s French Word du Jour is mec (which means "guy"). If you collect all the French words du jour on the Blog Tourapalooza, you can enter a contest to win fabulous prizes (a $25 Sephora gift card and a personally autographed Pillow Book!). Once you’ve visited all the blog tour stops and collected all the words, email the complete list of words to lotuslowenstein@gmail.com with the subject line “French Word du Jour Contest.” All e-mail entries must be received by midnight (EST) on December 21, 2009. The winner will be selected at random on December 22, 2009. Be sure to include your name, e-mail address, and daytime phone number with your entry (If you're under age 13, give your parent's contact info). The complete My-Life-Is-Merde-but-Have-a-Bonnes-Fêtes-Anyway Blog Tourapalooza schedule can be found at lotuslowenstein.com. Our next tour stop is Book, Line, and Sinker on December 11. See you on the road, mes amis!

Review: The Pillow Book of Lotus Lowenstein

By Libby Schmais
Released Dec 9; Review copy provided by publicist
This is part of the Lotus Lowenstein's My-Life-Is-Merde-but-Have a Bonnes-Fêtes-Anyway Blog Tourapalooza - stay tuned for my interview!



THE PILLOW BOOK OF LOTUS LOWENSTEIN is exactly what it says: the diary of young francophile. Though the book is short there's a lot going on. Lotus starts a club, falls in love, fights with her best friend, gets a job, raises the money to go to Montreal, and sides with her brother against her parents. (I love the scene where she keeps calling paradiddles something ridiculous. And for those who are curious, a paradiddle is a four stroke pattern, alternating then doubling, ie RLRR LRLL RLRR LRLL. It's used both to show you're cool, or on tenors and a set in order to move from drum to drum without crossing your arms. That's your percussion lesson of the day.)

At first, I found Lotus's personality somewhat grating. Her habit of tossing French words into statements brought back visceral memories of fangirl Japanese. (I wondered if Libby Schmais was doing in on purpose the first time I saw a mention of THE PILLOW BOOK OF SEI SHONAGAN.) The first thing that really made me laugh was Lotus's desire to walk on cobblestones in heels; I've done it, it's not that exciting.

But Lotus's voice grew on me. She's somewhat clueless about adult lives, leading her to be rude to a coworker and such. But she's more perceptive about people her own age than she realizes, as represented by her conversations with her chess prodigy younger brother. What really made me love her is how she handles the love triangle between herself, Sean, and Joni. There's nothing wrong with being honestly non-monogamous, but anyone still in high school is too young too pull it off. It usually takes extra work to make sure no one gets hurt in an open relationship.

I think many guys would find this book too girly, but that young girls will enjoy it immensely. Lotus has an irrepresible personality and an ultimately charming voice. Besides, you might learn something about French culture. Or at least get hungry from all the references to cheese. (Why oh why can I only afford cheddar, jack, and colby? I want that little bag of small cheeses that I could buy at Sainsbury's. So delish.)

"Waiting on" Wednesday: Dream Life

"Waiting On" Wednesday was started by Jill.

Don't you love second chances? I enjoyed the 10th Grade Social Climber books, but found Lauren Mechling's first solo effort DREAM GIRL somewhat disappointing. But a little good will goes a long way. DREAM LIFE comes out January 12, and I'm hoping for the best. Here's the just released trailer:

Dream Life by Lauren Mechling -- Trailer from Richie Williams on Vimeo.

Description from Amazon:

Claire Voyante's first semester at Henry Hudson High School was eventful, to say the least. As she heads into her second semester, things are calming down a bit. But Claire has a few secrets that are getting harder to keep. Her biggest secret of all? The onyx and ivory cameo necklace her grandmother gave her for her 15th birthday. Ever since she started wearing it, her dreams have been coming to her in black and white and turning out to be oddly prophetic.

Becca’s been hanging out with her old prep school friends and never seems to have time for Claire anymore. And soon, Claire discovers why—there’s a secret group of society girls with a mysterious identity. And, turns out, a mysterious enemy who’s out to get them. The second she sniffs out trouble, Claire jumps on the case. But is it someone close to Claire who’s in danger again—or could it be Claire herself whose life is at stake?

Review: what i wore to save the world

By Maryrose Wood
Read her guest blog and my review of HOW I FOUND THE PERFECT DRESS
Review copy provided by Penguin



This is the third in the series that began with WHY I LET MY HAIR GROW OUT. There may be spoilers for the first two books in this review, so be warned. The half-goddess Morganne, generally known as Morgan, needs to figure out what colleges she wants to apply to. It doesn't help that her grades and SAT score are mediocre, and her resume has a distinct lack of extracurriculars. But the thing to distract her from her search just came up - an e-mail from her boyfriend, desperate and needing her help in Wales.

I must admit, I enjoyed her prospective university being Oxford. It's really fun to see something about the Bodleian in writing and think, "I stayed next door." (I don't think it matters now to say that I was staying at Brasenose, if I haven't said it before. Not like anyone can track me down there now.) However, it really bothered me that people kept talking about her applying to Oxford. You don't apply to Oxford, you apply to one of the colleges that make up Oxford.

But the reason I can worry about little things like this is that the plot runs so smoothly. Morgan is worried for Colin, but at the same time worried he'll discover that faeries are real. He does remain amazingly oblivious despite being in the center of some majorly weird activity, including cheerleading unicorns. (Why would unicorns have a passion for pom poms? We do generally think of them as blonds.)

My only regret is that the end makes this Maryrose Wood's last novel about Morgan. (From her site, she is beginning both a new middle grade and YA series next year.) I suppose she could write more in the world, but she does tie everything up for now. I'll miss an enjoyable series, but be glad that Wood did not drag it out. And I must say, I think this series makes a good gift with the gorgeous covers. I know I gave a friend WHY I LET MY HAIR GROW OUT for Christmas since she's studying in Ireland this spring and summer. (I am both excited for her and jealous.)

If you liked the previous novels in this series, you'll like WHAT I WORE TO SAVE THE WORLD as well. If you haven't read the first two, it stands fine on its own but will probably have more emotional resonance if you know the characters already.