How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran

Everyone ought to do themselves a large favor and pick up How To Build A Girl by Caitlin Moran. I found this novel sitting on my ARC pile at work and immediately had to grab it, I finally got around to reading it in the beginning of October and it was such a great birthday gift to myself. This book took you on the roller coaster that is adolescence and reminded you of what a fuck up you were. However, it also held your hand and told you it was okay, your failures launched into being the magnificent shit you are today (there’s also a lot of swearing and as I am already prone to extreme expletives, I have really gone to a ridiculous place).

I think “How to be a Lady Sex Adventurer” should be a course available to young women so they can learn the do's and don'ts plus safety tips that takes some trial and error to figure out. It could teach tips to avoid awkward patting and peculiar arm placement, give blow-job legend tips and teach girls sex is not about pleasing a second party. Sex is not just for one person (unless done solo in which case disregard) but about two people making each other happy, if just for an hour. Self worth is easily lost by younger girls in these kinds of romps and this Caitlin really helped drive home that worth isn’t deemed with an erection or a good "review". You get to determine your own worth.

This book made me feel exponentially better about myself and helped me forgive the gangly little disaster that was 14 year old me. Your main character Johanna makes you experience her embarrassment, heartache and joy while bringing to light all the nights you’ve tried to forget. Riddled with relatable characters, this book has a little bit of something for everyone, embarrassing parents, loving little brother, loathing older brother and fair weather friends - this book will surely be popular for some time to come.

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Beautiful You by Chuck Palahniuk

I started Beautiful You by Chuck Palahniuk last night and finished it today at work, not surprisingly it was a book I could not put down. If you are easily embarrassed by things of sexual nature, read this alone in your room, under a blanket tent. I am a strikingly open minded human and my face was bright red during majority of this book, thankfully we have to remove the dust jacket to borrow at work so no one knew I was basically reading porn on my smoke break.

EXTREME TRIGGER WARNING FOR RAPE AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE

That being said, let's dive in, so right away our first page is you main character Penny (whom you will grow to like, then love, then be annoyed a bit by and then love again) being raped in a court room with tons of witnesses who do nothing to help. True to Chuck's usual form we start almost towards the end and then bounce to the beginning. Penny is a 25 year old woman working at a law firm in between intern and actual lawyer, not really sure what she wants with her life she's kind of drifting along a borrowed dream.  At this law firm she meets Cornelius Maxwell (better know as CliMaxwell chuckle chuckle) basically the world's richest man, who chooses the moment he witnesses her drop complex Starbucks drinks all over herself upon falling onto her face, out to dinner. She's skeptical but who turns down an attractive, older, rich man? Did I mention he's crazy rich? Their romance takes off...into the bedroom where he uses her as a guinea pig for a line of intense sexual products called Beautiful You, that will enable a woman to virtually never need a partner for sexual climax ever again. After 136 days of intense orgasm after orgasm he banishes her from his side. Penny decides she will not stand for watching women across the globe lose their entire lives due to achieving sexual nirvana repeatedly in their rooms. Max warns Penny from the start he has the power to kill not only her but every woman with his devices if she does not behave as a "good girl" and basically shush her mouth. Well points for Penny, she fights hard, and then loses. Finally to save countless lives she agrees to wed Maxwell whereupon she learns everything she believed his master plan to be was not at all the case and grows to replace him in her own role of villainy.

Just like pretty much all of Chuck's books, hints are placed through the entirety of this novel cluing you into the ending quickly in the beginning but still offers quite a few surprises along the way. This satirical novel about today's obsession with sex, gender inequality and the power of consumerism reveals a lot of skewed societal views with a lot of off the cuff humor to lighten up the intensely sexual scenes. Definitely an easy, fun read, but be careful not too take it too seriously and find yourself offended.

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In Real Life by Cory Doctorow

The other day I finally sat down to read In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and I can say I was not disappointed. A big perk of working as a Children's Lead Bookseller is getting to see some books arrive before hitting the floor and getting to sit and read them so I can recommend immediately. What first caught my eye was the amazing visuals on the front cover and after reading the description there was no chance I could walk away.

In this story we meet Anda, a cute chubby high school who seems a little lost and just floating through day by day.  When a guest speaker comes to her school and informs her class there's a gaming guild on a new MMORPG that is only avaialable to girls, Anda was immediately enraptured. She couldn't wait to begin and rushed home to plead with her mother to let her play, a situation I understand all to well having been obsessed with gaming from a young age myself.  Anda gets into the game and meets Sarge, a well versed player that is more than thrilled to take Anda under her wing. Sarge tells her they have an unofficial quest they can do for real life money, destroying the avatars of "gold farmers", players who hoard in game money and sell it for real life funds. During one of their raids Anda actually stops and speaks to one and finds out he's a teen boy from China working 12 hours straight farming for small pay that is desperately needed. Anda can't help but feel for his plight and vows to help him, they say the path to hell is paved with good intentions and Anda finds her plan to help, only spirals his life into worse circumstances. Heart broken, Anda and Sarge get into a fight leading to them both being suspended and Anda finds herself banned by her mother from the game. In the end truths come to light, friendships are repaired and in game good standings returned seemingly sending Anda into an amazing future career in the gaming world.

I like to omit pivotal moments in my reviews so you find yourself urged to read it yourself, that's the bookseller in me coming out I suppose. I loved this book, it was really great to see a female geared gaming book, without making her the helpless damsel or the girl showing off for the sake of boys. She loves gaming for herself and despite being in a group of gaming guys at school, she doesn't feel a need to come in and brag or show off. I highly recommend this read for something light and sweet with great visuals and colors and cute laughs.

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