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Buzz Gift Guide: Best of 2008 For Gals

BuzzSugar — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:30:45 -0800

Welcome back to my Buzz Gift Guide series for all the entertainment lovers in your life. Yesterday I sifted through the stacks (er, Web pages) of music, DVDs, and books to find some of the best 2008 has to offer dudes. Today I will share with you some 2008 entertainment gift ideas for the ladies.

It's no secret how much I love Jenny Lewis and I will be spreading the gospel this year by handing out her newest album Acid Tongue to my girlfriends (or at least including her songs on the mix CDs I'll make this holiday season). I'll also be giving out Aimee Mann's newest album, as I think it's pretty awesome.

It was a good year for books: I read both The Opposite of Love by Julie Buxbaum and Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner and would definitely recommend them. In the movies department, might I suggest the hilarious Baby Mama or Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day on DVD?

Since I watch more TV than most people I know, I use the holidays to not-so-subtly suggest to friends what I know they would love, like 30 Rock or Greek. And many of my friends have grown to love Lipstick Jungle, so it would be a treat for them to receive the show's first season on DVD.

A couple more ideas below, so have fun scrolling on through.

Check out HolidaySugar for all of our holiday coverage and gift guides.

Buzz In: What Books Do You Think Would Make Good Movies?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:30:08 -0700

There are constantly news of books being adapted for film, and some are great ideas while others make me wary. There are loads of bad adaptations (remember Suburban Girl based on Melissa Bank's The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing? Yeah, most people don't.) and a few examples of the opposite (The Jane Austen Book Club made for a better movie than book, in my opinion).

So while the risks are high, the results hit-or-miss, Hollywood consistently turns to the bookshelf for new ideas. What stories have you been able to easily envision on the big screen? I have always thought the epic page-turner I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb would make a great movie (and apparently there's one in development, but details are vague). Also, earth to Hollywood: Jennifer Weiner's Good in Bed would make a great movie with a relatable protagonist - and it already has a fan base to boot. So what is the hold up? I know Jodi Picoult's novel My Sister's Keeper is being adapted, though I also think Vanishing Acts would translate well to screen. Finally, the whole time I was reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, I could see it played out as a movie - though it would need a director with a brilliant, artful eye.

What books do you think would do well on the silver screen?

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Jennifer Weiner Brings Her Relatable Storytelling to ABC

BuzzSugar — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:32:33 -0700

In a smart and savvy move, ABC has struck a deal with bestselling author Jennifer Weiner to develop a television series, presumably focusing on what Weiner knows best - highly relatable women.

ABC already has many shows geared toward females like Grey's Anatomy, Samantha Who? and Desperate Housewives, and I give them kudos for thinking outside the box in their search for the next hit series. Handing over the reins to a known name like Weiner - an author who has built a career creating memorable (and often hysterically funny) characters - seems like a win for them, and for audiences (like me) who love to see a little bit of themselves in the female characters on TV. An ABC representative said of Weiner's fans: "They respond to her wry wit, embrace her smart characters and want to live in the worlds she creates."

Weiner's book In Her Shoes was adapted for the big screen in 2005 and her new book, Certain Girls (the sequel to Good in Bed) hit bookstores earlier this month. She's a hot commodity these days: in addition to her deal with ABC, two different studios are working on adapting her books Little Earthquakes and The Guy Not Taken.

Are you as happy as I am to see someone this talented get so much love? Will you check out a TV show if she's behind it?

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Book Review: Certain Girls

BuzzSugar — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:30:00 -0700

When I was first introduced to the smart, hilariously sassy Cannie Shapiro in Jennifer Weiner's Good in Bed, I felt like I'd made a friend. She's clever, outspoken, fun and talented, though she also, like many of us, struggles with her weight and her feelings of self-worth. Thus, I was delighted to find out that we get a continuation of Cannie's story in Certain Girls - and this time there's another voice talking: Cannie's now-13-year-old daughter, Joy.

Joy, whose premature birth left her with hearing problems, has always known that her mother wrote a salacious, bestselling novel many years ago but never had much interest in reading it - until now. And what she reads horrifies her. She starts to question her mother's honesty, and goes in search of the truth about her family's history. Meanwhile, Cannie's husband Peter wants to find a surrogate so he and Cannie can have their own baby together. Not loving the idea, Cannie explores their options while also trying to plan a bat mitzvah for her surly teenage girl.

In a rare occurrence of the sequel surpassing the original, I enjoyed Certain Girls more than I liked Good in Bed. To find out why, read more.

While I like the character of Cannie and the collection of hilarious characters that surround her in Good in Bed, that book is a whole lotta Cannie. It's also fanciful in ways that I couldn't quite swallow at times. But Certain Girls benefits from Joy's voice and her teenage perspective. At times it struck a chord so familiar I had to put down the book, recognizing as I did the painful experiences of puberty. It's also surprisingly fun to get a new, inside look at Cannie through her daughter's eyes. Certain Girls is also darker, in many ways, and though there's still a good amount of fantasy-world fun, there's also a hefty dose of real-world drama. Perhaps because of this, I became powerfully attached to this mother-daughter duo and had to do that thing where I lingered over the final few pages to try and make it last.

Bottom line: Certain Girls isn't literary perfection, but it is a funny, absorbing and emotional read.

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BuzzSugar's Must Haves for April

BuzzSugar — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:30:00 -0700

Happy April! Here in my part of the world, the sun is shining brightly, but I still plan to be inside a good part of this month due to movie releases like Baby Mama and Leatherheads - not to mention the great TV returning this month. In addition to new movies and good TV, this April brings some fabulous new music, an exciting new read and a few Oscar darlings on DVD. To see my picks, just press "Start."

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View Slideshow ›

The Opposite of Love: Julie Buxbaum ($16.50)	Break Up the Concrete: The Pretenders ($11.99)
Acid Tongue: Jenny Lewis ($12.49)	Certain Girls: A Novel: Jennifer Weiner ($17.79)
@#%&*! Smilers: Aimee Mann ($13.99)	Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day ($12.99)
Baby Mama ($17.99)	Greek - Chapter One ($19.99)
30 Rock: Season 2 ($25.99)	Lipstick Jungle - Season One ($24.99)