Withering Tights (Misadventures of Tallulah Casey, #1)
Author: Louise Rennison
Publication Date: 6/28/11
Publisher: Harper Teen

Blurb: Wow. This is it. This is me growing up. On my own, going to Performing Arts College. This is good-bye, Tallulah, you long, gangly thing, and hellooooo, Lullah, star of stage.

Tallulah Casey is ready to find her inner artist. And some new mates. And maybe a boy or two or three.

The ticket to achieving these lofty goals? Enrolling in a summer performing arts program, of course. She's bound for the wilds of Yorkshire Dales—eerily similar to the windswept moors of Wuthering Heights. Tallulah expects new friends, less parental interference, and lots of drama. Acting? Tights? Moors? Check, check, check.

What she doesn't expect is feeling like a tiny bat's barging around in her mouth when she has her first snog.

Bestselling author Louise Rennison returns with her trademark wit, a hilarious new cast, and a brand-new cheeky heroine who is poised to discover plenty of opportunities for (mis)adventure!

Review:

A new series from Louise Rennison and, thank vati, it does not disappoint.

Talullah Casey is Georgia Nicolson's 14.5-year old cousin and an aspiring performer. She is lucky to have been accepted to a performing arts college Dother Hall for for the summer semester. Here she acquires new (mad) mates and surrenders herself to the wonders of theatre. What is disappointing though is that it turns out, Dother Hall is an all-girl school. How are girls supposed to enhance their love lives if there are no lads around? Will their sexual experiences remain limited to: getting her bottom felt at a bus stop (Tallulah); having her bra undone through a T-shirt by an unknown guy who ran right away on a bike (Jo); having her cousin put an ice cube down the front of her T-shirt and then offer to get it out for her (Vaisey); watching a boy wear her freshly-washed pants on his head (Flossie)? Luckily, some boy-toys emerge - there are Phil and Charlie shipped to the nearby Woolfe Academy to be taught how to become decent citizens, a local emo boy-band headed by a very-very bad cad appropriately named Cain, then there is an "older man" Alex, the list goes on... Let the summer of theatre and love begin!

I thoroughly enjoyed this romp. It might not be quite as hilarious as Georgia's books, but it still gave me a lot of laughs. Tallulah is much less flamboyant than her cousin, shier and more subdued, but has her moments. The mates are weird and funny, the lads are vair attractive but hard to understand, as usual.

On the negative side, the ending is very open. There is hardly any resolution to any love drama. And secondly, Withering Tights is pretty much the same thing as Georgia's diaries. The setting and the players are different, but the plot is the same - boy troubles, lippies, body insecurities (non-existent corkers a.k.a nungas and knobbly knees - compare to Georgia's nose misfortunes), mad mates, and snogging experiences. But I won't complain, I love this stuff and I am ready to read about these adventures once again. And the theatre bits are a hoot too. I've always known artistic people were crazy, here is another confirmation.

Withering Tights is a great, very light, funny read. I am looking forward to the next book in this series. Have one request for Rennison though - can we get an update on Georgia/Dave relationship? After all, Lullah is G's cousin, she should know what's what, right?

4/5 stars

On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, #2)
Author: Louise Rennison
Publication Date: Harper Teen
Publisher: 5/28/02

Blurb: Georgia Nicolson has started dating the Sex God (aka Robbie). So life should be perfect . . . except in Georgia's life, nothing is ever perfect. Her cat, Angus (the size of a small Labrador), is terrorizing the neighborhood. Her sister, Libby (who is slightly mad), hides her pooey knickers at the bottom of Georgia's bed. Then the Sex God breaks it off because she's too young. It's time for a plan. It's time for a Red Herring. It's time for Georgia to become a "heartless boy magnet!"

Review:

The only thing I am going to say here is that Dave the Laugh is the best boyfriend ever. I have no idea why, for so long, I thought the Sex God Robbie was a good choice for Georgia. Dave is a total dream boat...

...and yes, I know I am twice his age.

This snippet is for my present and future entertainment:

8:35 pm
You can make a sort of nose sling out of pair of knickers [panties:]! Like a sort of antigravity device. You put a leg hole over each ear and the middley bit supports your nose. It's quite comfy. I'm not saying that it looks very glamorous. I'm just saying it's comfy.

8:40 pm
It's not something I would wear outside of the privacy of my own bedroom.

8:45 pm
It's a good view from my windowsill. I can see Mr. Next Door with his stupid poodles. He's all happy now that Angus has gone off poodle baiting in favor of the Burmese sex kitten.

8:46 pm
Oh hello, here comes Mark, my ex, the breast fondler. At this rate he will be the one and only fondler. I will die unfondled. He must be coming home from footie practice. I don't know how I could ever have thought about snogging him; he wears extremely tragic trousers. He is looking up at my window. He has seen me. He's stopped walking and is looking up at my window. Staring at me. Well, you know what they say - once a boy magnet always a boy magnet. I'm just going to stare back in a really cool way. All right, Mr. Big Gob, Mr. Dumper. I might be the dumpee but you still can't take your eyes away from me though, can you??? I still fascinate him. He's just looking up at me. Just staring and staring.
Mesmerized by me.

8:50 pm
Oh my god! I am still wearing my nose hammock made out of knickers.

8:56 pm
Mark will tell all his mates.

8:57 pm
He will now call me a knicker-sniffer as well as a lesbian...

4/5 stars

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, #1)
Author: Louise Rennison
Publication Date: Harper Teen
Publisher: 4/10/01

Blurb: 

Angus:
My mixed-breed cat, half domestic tabby, half Scottish wildcat. The size of a small Labrador, only mad.

Thongs:
Stupid underwear. What's the point of them, anyway? They just go up your bum, as far as I can tell.

Full-Frontal Snogging:
Kissing with all the trimmings, lip to lip, open mouth, tongues ... everything.

Her dad's got the mentality of a Teletubby (only not so developed). Her cat, Angus, is trying to eat the poodle next door. And her best friend thinks she looks like an alien -- just because she accidentally shaved off her eyebrows. Ergghhhlack. Still, add a little boy-stalking, teacher-baiting, and full-frontal snogging with a Sex God, and Georgia's year just might turn out to be the most fabbitty fab fab ever!


Review:

There are times when I just HAVE to read something to perk me up, something light and silly and mindless. Louise Rennison's books always do the trick. It doesn't hurt either that this first book in Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series is a winner of Printz Honor, proving that even the silliest story about make-up, boys, and snogging can be written brilliantly. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging never takes itself seriously or tries to teach some kind of moral lesson. Instead, its only aim is to provide tons of fun; and the book succeeds at it every time I read it. I do not think there is any point for me to sing this novel any more praise to convince you to give it a try, rather, I will list some quotes here for you to see if Louise Rennison's humor is your cup of tea.

Thursday, October 15th

my bedroom
midnight

I wish I'd never started this snogging business. I feel like I've been attacked by whelks. I can't see Peter anymore. Why is he so keen on seeing me, anyway? I haven't had a chance to say more than two words before I am attacked by the whelks again. I can't go out with him anymore. How can I tell him though?

1 a.m.
I'll make Jas do it.

Friday, October 16th

9 p.m.
I just got Jas to dump Peter for me. I said for her to let him down gently, so she told him that I had a personal problem. He asked what, and she said that I thought I was a lesbian. Cheers, Jas.

Monday, October 19th

4:00 p.m.
It's all around school that I am a lesbian...

* * *

Wednesday, December 2nd.

8:30 a.m.
Dashing out of the house, Jas and I almost fell into Mark, waiting by the corner. Jas (big pal) said she had to run to her house first and she would see me at school. I went a bit red and walked on with him walking beside me. He said, "Have you got a boyfriend?"
I was speechless. What is the right answer to that question? I tell you what the right answer is... a lie, that's the right answer. So I said, "I've just come out of a heavy thing and I'm giving myself a bit of space."
He looked at me. He really did have the biggest gob [mouth:] I have ever seen. "So is that no?"
And I just stood there and then this really weird thing happened... he touched my breast!!! I don't mean he ripped my blouse off, he just rested his hand on the front of my breast. Just for a second, before he turned and went off to school.

12:30 p.m.
What does it mean when a boy rests his hand on your breast? Does it mean he has a megahorn? Or was his hand just tired?

4:30 p.m.
Why am I even thinking about this? No sign of Mark (the breast molester) when I got home, thank goodness.

4:45 p.m.
Still, you would think if a boy rests his hand on your breast he might bother to see you sometime.

* * *

Sunday, February 7th

11:00 a.m.

Got dressed in short skirt, then me and Jas walked up and down to the main road. We wanted to see how many cars with boys in them hooted at us. Ten!! (We had to walk up and down for four hours... still, ten is ten!!!)

Oh, how I wish I could tell I never participated in this last activity!

4/5 stars