I tend to keep two running lists of books in my head: my favorite books of all time, and the books that I had the most fun reading. There are no crossovers between the two lists. My favorite books of all time tend to be dark and depressing, more literary in style, and by authors that most serious readers will recognize.
The books I had the most fun reading, on the other hand--well, anything goes. They are often the literary equivalent of songs you wouldn't be caught dead listening to in public, but when you're in the car alone and the windows are up and the song comes on the radio ... yeah, those are the kinds of books I'm talking about.
I've just learned that one of the books on that list is currently being made into a movie: Youth in Revolt: the Journals of Nick Twisp by C.D. Payne.
There, I've admitted it. I love this book. It made me laugh out loud almost the entire way through. I'm convinced that everyone, no matter their gender, has a 14-year-old boy inside of them, and this book appeals directly to that kid. Nick is fourteen, precocious, and obsessed with losing his virginity. He's also obsessed with Sheeni Saunders, and develops elaborate schemes to win the girl, most of which are both embarrassing and illegal. In the meantime, his parents are in the midst of a divorce and Nick must navigate the new family dynamics.
This is not a book to read if you are too sophisticated for bathroom humor, sexual entendres of the teenage sort, and an inconceivable, over-the-top plot and style. This is Ferris Bueller's Day Off in book form, only even more outrageous and with more sex, often of the "singular participant" type.
The book does have a few quirks. It's a bit long (it's actually three books in one volume), and the plot sometimes falls apart. Nick is such an engaging character, you don't really mind too much. Then there is the technology: Nick is obsessed with computers. But the book was originally published in 1993. Nick writes his journal in Word Perfect, on an "annoyingly obsolete AT clone." All he wants for his birthday is a 386 motherboard. Readers of a certain age will find this charming; others may find it baffling.
I suppose that is the danger of introducing technology in fiction; at some point, that technology is going to be laughable. I wonder how many authors today are tempted to name-drop MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. And I wonder how those books will read 15 years from now.
Oh, and speaking of Twitter... I am experimenting a bit with Twitter to see if it is of any use for me. I think it's one of those technologies that you just can't grasp until you sign on and start playing. If you're also curious, feel free to sign up and follow me. My username there is AnnKingman -- just click that link to follow me. I promise not to post what I have for lunch, and to keep my inner 14-year-old boy away from the keyboard.
(Michael is also on twitter as MKindness. I'm sure he'd be happy to have you follow him as well. However, I cannot guarantee the behavior of his inner 14-year-old.)
Do you have any books that you may not want to publicly admit to liking? Get over it -- tell us about it in the comments!
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