Sweet to the Taste

I'm currently reading The Sweetest Thing by Christina Mandelski. And my friend K of Vitchen Cooking is busily making strawberry muffins while I'm alternately reading and napping on her couch.

The Sweetest Thing (May 10, 2011) is about the life of Sheridan Wells, teenage cake decorator, and how it seems to be imploding around her: her dad just got offered his own cooking show on TV, the most popular guy at school starts paying attention to her while her best friend, Jack, starts growing angry and distant, and she still hasn't found her mom, who ran away years ago.

I'm about halfway through it, and it's weird because I'm rarely so torn over a character. I find myself trying to justify Sheridan's behavior and actions and trying to determine how "realistic"/plausible it is. Which has got me thinking about YA books, and the different dosages of fantasy and relatability in a character. No conclusions drawn about this yet, just musing.

In other news, I recently reviewed Sweet Valley Confidential by Francine Pascal. I am keeping this book because it is the Bible of drinking games. Even just playing by one rule (drink every time Jess says some variation of "I so ____" as in "I so don't need this" or "It so wasn't my fault that the captain was gorgeous and happened to be steering the boat with nothing in front of him but empty sea and my topless body. For hours.") would lay us all out on the floor.