Book Review: A Shore Thing by Snooki

Title: A Shore Thing
Author: Snooki
Publisher: Gallery
Release Date: 01/04/2011
ISBN: 1451623747







When I heard that Snooki wrote a book, I couldn't help but think "Gee, I didn't know they made enough crayons to write a book with." Of course I had to check it out, even though I got both horribly teased & lectured by various coworkers. (One actually gave me a half hour lecture on how Snooki shames the Italian-American population. She was very intense.)

The plotline? Well... with any other person I'd say that it was a parody of Jersey Shore expectations & old beach flicks. I mean, one of the characters *is* named Frankie, after all. Maybe the writing team (yes, this was ghostwritten) turned it into a parody? It's hard to take this book seriously with some of the stuff that goes on in it. Dry humping a guy after 1 drink? Mother/daughter urine bonding? Tripping over a shark? A date that ends with one person whizzing on the other's foot? (OK, so that was because of a jellyfish sting, but still...) It's really awful. Like "feel your IQ decrease about 20 points" awful. It's painfully obvious that the only reason this was published was due to Snooki's infamy. And no, Gia teaching everyone to do some weird dry humping tree hug dance movie doesn't really redeem the book much.

No seriously, the plot of this was bad. It was not only full of stereotypes & awkward scenes, but the plot was paper thin. It's like Crossroads, only Snooki doesn't sing. (Yet.) I can't fault the ghostwriter for this- you can only do so much with what you're given. (Maybe we should take up a collection to help with the mental breakdown she might've had while collaborating.) There isn't a lot of imagination here, what with the thinly veiled Snooki self-insert.

Yet somehow the book still has a large amount of entertainment value. True, it's not on purpose but it was honestly fun to regale my coworkers with the escapades of Gia (the thinly veiled Snooki self-insert) & her cousin Bella. That brings me to another thing that made the book so funny. Two of the characters are named Bella & Edward, making it near impossible to read the book without imagining the famous Twilight couple. There's also someone called Bender, which makes me think of the Futurama robot. It makes the scenes a little more tolerable & a lot funnier.

Is this a must buy? Nah. I'd recommend it as a library rental, though. In the end I can't really dislike this book enough to give it 1 star. I might not really watch Jersey Shore, but I know enough about it & Snooki to the point where I know not to have expected Tolstoy or even something on par with the Hillary Duff book.

Although if we're lucky, Snooki won't put out a new book. Unfortunately knowing MTV, we'll probably soon have to suffer through a movie adaptation of this book sometime in the future.

Book Review: Past Midnight by Mara Purnhagen

Title: Past Midnight
Author: Mara Purnhagen
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: 09/01/2010
ISBN: 0373210205







Unless you've been studiously avoiding noticing such titles, there's no mistaking that paranormal teen fiction has enjoyed an enormous raise in popularity in the past few years. As such, more & more authors are putting out their own stories to thrill & entertain readers both young & old. (Let's be honest- teen fiction rocks regardless of how old you are.) With large amounts of similarly themed books entering the market it's difficult to find something that puts a different spin on things. Purnhagen seems to have found a good way to put a spin on the typical "girl & ghosts" story.

Since the moment she was born, Charlotte has grown up in a family of ghost chasers. Not just any ghost chasers but famous ghost chasers with their own television show & bestselling books. While Charlotte will admit that some of the perks are awesome such as traveling all over the world, the rest of it isn't so glamorous. She'd give anything to be able to stay in one spot for a while so she can finally have a normal life with friends she didn't have to say goodbye to a few months after meeting them. When her older sister strongarms her parents into settling into one area for Charlotte using a recent ghost scare as incentive, Charlotte's sure that she'll finally be able to achieve normality. Unfortunately whatever seemed to have freaked her sister out has followed Charlotte. And it isn't leaving until it gets what it wants...

While there's been a lot- and I mean A LOT- of "girl & ghost" stories out there, there hasn't been too many that have a reality ghost hunt show theme or plot element to them. Readers will enjoy this unique idea because it not only helps to set the book apart from a lot of similarly themed books, but it also helps to explain how Charlotte is exposed to ghosts & will continue to be exposed to ghosts. (This is the first book in a series.) Many will be able to commiserate with Charlotte's non-ghostly woes, especially the frustration about having to move & leave friends behind. Others will enjoy that Purnhagen didn't go for the "cheerleader mean girl" stereotype that many other teen books often employ. Charlotte does have the beginnings of a nemesis, but it's not a cheerleader & this girl actually seems to have somewhat of a reason to dislike her.

However where the tale seems to lack is in speed. Things take a very long time to get started & for such a short book, that seemed to detract from the overall enjoyment. This wasn't a huge detractor, but enough of one that many readers will wish for things to happen a little more quickly.

Overall though, the characters are great, the plot is interesting, & Purnhagen really does seem to be on the right track here with this series. This book deserves at least one good read (or three) & I can really see this becoming a favorite with many readers.

(ARC provided by Netgalley)