Four Books and a Movie

As summer draws to a close, I've been catching up on some YA reading: one series by an author new to me but recommended by some of you, Justine Larbalestier, and one huge novel by Aidan Chambers, an author known to me more from his contributions to the Horn Book but also from one of his earlier books.

I'll start with the Aidan Chambers: This Is All. The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn. This is an absolutely wonderful book, the best YA novel I've read since Melina Marchetta's Saving Francesca, and one of the best ever.

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I've been reading the Magic or Madness trilogy by Justine Larbalestier intermittently over the summer, having bought the first one in paperback and then looked for the other two from the library. Justine Larbalestier is a new young writer from Australia, and these books, though rather evidently novice offerings, show a fair bit of promise.

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Finally, the movie. This was Friends With Money, which I'd been wanting to see for some time, but have only just got round to. Written and directed by Nicole Holofcener, this portrays a group of wealthy married women and their one single friend, who works as a housemaid. The cast includes Jennifer Aniston, in one of her bids to be a "serious actor", Catherine Keener, Frances McDormand and Joan Cusack.

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