Meg Cabot Books

When I first started to listen to book, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to take it for the whole duration. However, after the first two cds I was completely hooked, and fell in love with the lead character, who had initially grated on my nerves to say the least. I highly recommend this audiobook, and encourage listeners to stick out the beginning, and they will be pleasantly surprised.

Why I hate abridged audiobooks"
When I get a chance to buy audiobooks, I always buy them unabridged. Many good things were left out of the Queen of Babble in the abridged copy. The abridged was a disappointed I just loved the unabridged.

Lizzie Nichols has just (almost) graduated from college, and is now traveling to England to be with the man she is sure is her sole mate. Sure, they only spent one evening together at the end of the semester, but it was enough to make her very confident that this man is the absolute one for her (and the accent doesn't hurt, either). It may shock you, as it did her, to learn that this man was not quite who she expected him to be. And she is not what he expected either, since he was previously unaware of the fact that she has a complete inability to keep her mouth shut. Which gets her into trouble. A lot.

Quote: "You're just not the person I though you were. And you know what? It turns out I'm not the person I thought I was, either."

Although it took me a while to get into it, I ultimately enjoyed this book very much. Light and fluffy, of course, but lots of fun. I disliked the beginning mostly because I very much wanted to throw the boyfriend (and sometimes Lizzie) through a window. After the first hundred pages or so, however, the characters get less annoying and more likeable, which makes the novel much more enjoyable.

This series of books, of which these are the first four, is entertaining and addictive. I found the character of Mia delightful in a neurotic-teenage-girl kind of way. (Please forgive my redundancy.) From the first I realized that my children were too young yet to enjoy this series - it is inappropriate for anyone pre-teen or younger - but after reading the entire series so far, I've decided that I don't want my children reading it even when they are older.

As the series progresses it deals with more and more serious issues in ways that I'm finding less and less responsible and moral. I can overlook the heavy-handed political bias but the moral prejudices worry me. The idea of virginity as anything worthy of saving is laughed at and the concept of waiting until marriage is considered ludicrous even by "silly," romantically deluded Mia. Worse, Mia's desire to keep sex as something special is shown as possibly destroying what is supposedly a healthy, potentially life-long, true-love relationship (even though at the point where she is considering having sex she is still under legal age).

For any parent who does NOT share the author's values, I would strongly recommend keeping your children and teens as far away from these books as possible. They are too engaging and enjoyable. With all the references to pop culture the world of these books feels like the "real" world, only lacking in any sort of common sense or traditional values as far as sexual and personal relationships are concerned. If you do not want your children confused by the supposedly "modern," hedonistic and self-centered attitudes these books take for granted as normal and proper, it is better not even to let them start reading the series. Once begun, it will be difficult to stop.