Books I Have Loved

On the heels of a massive weeding-out that took place in the garage of my childhood home (one of them, I should say) came a veritable flood of books I loved as a kid. I was an early reader, a voracious reader, and–I’m only lately realizing–books really helped form a lot of my ideas and preferences.

That said, it turns out that a lot of what I preferred was utter crap. Amazing, hilarious crap. Having not seen these books since the last time I read them, sans irony, I’ve been enjoying the hell out of some of these. Please partake along with me.

#1: I’ll Take Manhattan

High fashion, a cute boy and the big city. Obviously,  I’ll Take Manhattan was written with the me of 1985 in mind. The protagonist, Amanda, is a sweet, smart, spunky and self-possessed 17-year-old (apologies for any spit you may be wiping away due to all that unnecessary sibilance) with big plans: she’s going to interview at FIT and be just like her world-famous designer aunt Roz.

You can read this cover to cover in about 20 minutes, and I don’t want to rob you of that. Instead, please enjoy these, my top three favorite tidbits from the book that made me even more excited about fifth-grade fashion than I already was.

Today was such a special day–both the shoot and the interview… She selected her black jeans and pulled on layers of sweat shirts in hot pink, yellow, and lime green. She cinched the waist with a wide black leather belt studded with shiny metal.

“On to the next problem: Are you all set for tonight? Which dress are you wearing?”

“I thought I’d wear the ankle-length cream organza with the puffed sleeves and the red sash. I love it so–I can’t believe you’re letting me have it!”

As Rachel handed up leg warmers of various colors, Amanda stood in stocking feet on the counter and placed them on the metal tree branches. “This will look terrific.” Rachel said enthusiastically. “Where do the gold lurex ones go?”

“No problem. We’ll put them at the top. They’ll look like the star on the tree,” Amanda answered.

Oh, my friend. You’re welcome. You’re welcome.