Review: Airhead by Meg Cabot & Library Loot

Newsflash: Only 27 more AP essays to grade!!! :)

Late last night, after grading for many hours, I put everything away and read myself into a nice slumber. I had taken a nice walk during our beautiful, Sunday afternoon sunshine, and actually read while I walked, so it didn't take me long to wrap this one up once I sat down and really got lost in it. Yes, I've been on a bit of a Meg Cabot kick lately, and having received the ARC for Being Nikki, I now had the push to read the first book in that series, Airhead.

Summary: If you've ever considered what it would be like to actually BE a supermodel, or at least gorgeous and sexy, then Airhead gives you the opportunity to put it into action. In this new novel by Meg Cabot, Em Watts goes from being the smart-girl-who-hates-flaky-pretty girls, to being forced into the life of famous teen model, Nikki. This transformation isn't an easy one, in fact, how she becomes Nikki is quite startling, but Em really and truly becomes Nikki, with her perfect body, hair, teeth, and skin. Em goes from a school schedule full of AP classes, to a schedule full of modeling and grooming appointments. Not only must Em become someone she would normally scoff at, but she must do so in a way that convinces everyone that she really has become the famous super model. So now what does she do about her semi-nerdy friend who sits around playing video games, but who she knows despises vapid behavior as much as she does, who she secretly has a crush on? How will he react to her being gone, and will he recognize her inside this new Nikki character she's been forced to become?

Review: I actually didn't read anything about the book before I bought it. Honestly, I purchased the novel simply because Meg Cabot wrote it, so now that I'm getting ready to read the next book (out May 5th), I pushed to read them both back to back. I'm glad that I knew very little about what was happening to Em (sorry, but every other plot summary pretty much says more than I give away above!), as it made me feel more for Em. There's always this side to most women, where we wonder what it would be like to look like Giselle Bundchen or Heidi Klum. Would it change your personality? Would men flock to you? Would life just come easier?

Most of the book spends time setting up the situation for us. It takes almost 3/4 of the book before we see Em step back into parts of her old life so that we can see how she resolves the two sides of herself. In fact, very little is resolved, but all is set in motion in this first Airhead installment, which makes me very happy I waited to read these books back to back! Now that I see what's going on, and have been left with many things I want to see Em confront, I'm eager to jump into Being Nikki (which I've already done) to see how things are handled. Overall, a fun little escapist read, as are all of Meg's novels. Now off to the second!

As for Library Loot (brought to you by Eva and Alessandra), this is actually a little overdue. Last Friday I ran into the library to pick up a stack of things, and return an even larger stack of books and DVDs. I actually only had on hold Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy, which I had heard some buzz about, yet later found out was just a re-release to a previously published novel. People are either really hating it, or really loving it, so we'll see!

So, on my way to check out, I felt almost sad that I only had one book in my hands to check out, so I grabbed a couple of books on interior decorating (since I'm buying a new townhouse and will be picking everything out...and feel I have no talent for, nor know what I really want), along with two other Pride and Prejudice departure novels that caught my attention on the way out. The first that I noticed in the lobby was Impulse and Initiative by Abigail Reynolds. Now I've read one of hers before, and wasn't too thrilled, but thought this one sounded interesting and thought I'd give it a try. I love the cover, so I'm hoping I enjoy her take on this famous couple! Last, I picked up The Darcy's and the Bingley's: Pride and Prejudice Continues, by Marsha Altman. Doc actually saw this on my shelves once I got home, and stole it from me (momentarily), and really loved it. As with the others, it gets a mixed bag of reviews, so we'll see!

All in all, a very Pride and Prejudice sort of haul for my library loot! Now I'll hope to get my grading out of the way so I can read for a bit. End of level testing is coming up, so I'm going to make the big push to finish all my grading so I can read a little while I proctor tests! Having said that, I better get back to the grading. :) Chow!