A New Favorite Book And Acknowledgements

Right now I'm reading Airhead by Meg Cabot (which I'll probably give my thoughts on later), but just before that, I read I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. This book is one of my new favorites, even if it happens to be a lot older than me. I figured I might as well take this opportunity to rave about it!

In the book, seventeen-year-old Cassandra Thompson lives with her family--a once renowned writer father who hasn't worked for years, an over-the-top, wannabe artsy but nonetheless kind stepmother, and a discontent older sister named Rose--in a run-down English castle. While her sister may be more focused on their horrible poverty, Cassandra is focused on improving her writing skills. She seeks to capture her family and their castle in her journals. The plot picks up when two young American men arrive in town. Rose sees one of them as her chance to get married and help the family out of poverty. At first, Cassandra is fine leaving the romance to her sister, but soon enough, Cassandra is finding love hard to resist--and much more complicated than she ever could've dreamed.

I don't know how to quite describe the writing, other than superb. Even when not much seemed to be happening plot-wise, I had to keep turning the pages. The characters were interesting and well-developed, especially Cassandra, whose journal entries were insightful and emotionally powerful. Normally I'm bored by lots of description, but Cassandra's vivid descriptions were beautiful and pulled me into her life.

Overall, this book just felt warm and fuzzy and fascinating. I loved it! Oh, and so did J.K. Rowling. If a book has a blurb by J.K. Rowling, it has to be good.

In other news, I wrote an acknowledgments page today. And no, I haven't even sold my book yet. I couldn't help it, though. Something perfect for an acknowledgments page randomly popped into my head, so I had to write it down....and of course, I couldn't just stop there, could I? Has anyone else indulged in such embarrassing behavior? Please tell me I'm not alone!

Edited To Add: Check out Reviewer X this week for a lot of cool posts and contests. It's one of my favorite YA review blogs out there...plus, you know, free books are awesome. I'm definitely going to try and win me some!