We’ve all been there. One of our friends thrusts a hardcover into our hands and says, “You have to read this.” And you’re thinking, “Hmm, yeah, maybe.” I try not to be that friend, insisting that people read things just because I liked them. I’m very careful never to say, “Omigod, you’ve never seen [insert name of awesome movie here]?!” Like it’s a personal failing not to have seen that movie.

I don’t do that.

All that being said, I very strongly urge to read My Invented Life by Lauren Bjorkman. Note, I didn’t say you have to. I won’t be that pushy. But let’s say that by not reading it, you are seriously missing out.

Ah, how I loved this book. It’s the story of Roz and her sister, Eva, two very different girls trying to figure out who they are in a small California town. But it’s more than that. There’s Shakespeare, in the form of a school production of As You Like It and Bjorkman’s highly clever interpretations of many of the Bard’s best quotes. There are secrets. Who is gay? Who is straight? Who gets the guy? Who gets the girl? Bjorkman left me guessing right up to the end.

My Invented Life is written in such a fresh, funny voice that I often found myself envying Bjorkman’s talent and wit. It was a good kind of envy, though. The kind that inspires me to be a better writer. I could go on and on (and I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if I did, right, Lauren?), but the book really speaks for itself, so do yourself a huge favor today and pick up a copy.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 at 8:30 am and is filed under authors, good books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can trackback from your own site.