Thursday, February 14, 2008

Similar books with younger protagonists (like memoirs, not young-adult books); Heather O'Neill's "Lullabies for Little Criminals", and Lynda Barry's "Cruddy" (again, some title).
Janet Fitch authored two well-known and excellent books, "Paint It Black", and "White Oleander", which they made a movie of. You should know that before there was Janet Fitch there was Kate Braverman, author of "Wonders of the West", "Lithium for Medea" (some title!), and "Frantic Transmissions To and From Los Angeles" (semi-autobiographical).
Another Fitch/Braverman read-alike; Laura Hendrie, "Remember Me".
Also, for short stories; Jean Thompson, "Throw Like a Girl".

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Outstanding first effort; "Kept" by Y. Euny Hong. Masquerades as chick lit, but is actually much, much smarter than that. (Reviewed in BookPage).