I've just read this for the fourth time and am still finding great stuff to love about it.

I'm not much of a one for feminist literature - hated The Women's Room and never manged to finish it - but this is a powerful and entertaining story about what real friendship is and the complexity of the mother/daughter relationship. Everyone has a price - mine is chocolate

Chocolate is important.

I didn't find that. Well, perhaps a little with Sidda but I love the Ya-Ya's themselves. My mother has always been somewhat bohemian with a close gang of girlfriends, and the seven of us kids had a slightly strange upbringing so I see parallels.

Could I ask you about a word that crops up? It's 'tamales'. I get the gist of it in 'These cocktails wouldn't by any chance be for those three old hot tamales who pulled up in the convertible, would they?' but I'd be interested to know more about the word which is one I've never heard other than in this book. Is it just a southern thing?

I know what you mean about characters. I get to love mine, but you have to a bit, don't you? Everyone has a price - mine is chocolate

Chocolate is important.

Thanks for that. Certainly the right word to describe the Ya-Ya girls.

We all try to make our characters breathe in the hope the reader believes in them and see them through our own eyes. Perhaps this is because we tend to think everyone else thinks the way we do, have the same values and will love or despise who we do. It can be painful when they don’t, and it happens a lot. For example the Ya-Ya Sisterhood has many positive reviews on Amazon (I’ve only looked at UK not com) but here is a one star review which says;

'Well I just don't get it. If you are expecting humour, likeable characters and something approaching real life, forget it. This is a not very well written cataglogue of self-indulgence. I failed to engage with a single character - the two main female protagonists are a mother and daughter who are neck and neck in the race for who most deserves a smack on the legs.'

I wondered if we had read the same book but there you go, readers will always see the world and people through their own eyes.

I agree the author indulged Sidda too much but that has to be the most elegant description of masturbation ever wrtitten. Lol
Everyone has a price - mine is chocolate

Chocolate is important.

I haven't read it but I did read the (prequel?) Little Altars Everywhere. At least I think that's what it was called. I loved it.

But I was shocked. Knowing nothing about it when I bought it - and with it being bright pink - it had been shelved in the children's section.

Definitely an oversight there! It's not for kiddies. But I won't ruin the ending for anyone.

Must read the Main Gig now.

Deep down I'm really quite shallow so I always judge a book by its cover. I don't know who was responsible for devising that idiom but they couldn't be more wrong. I don't think it was a graphic designer.

I agree with you about that particular cover for that particular book. It does look like Chick-Lit. The little girl skipping on the front borders on inappropriate when you consider the content. Though I have seen different covers on LibraryThing so I chose one of those instead.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find an image of Velma Dinkley wearing a gimp mask. Or perhaps I did and just didn't know it. Besides, whenever I hear that word I can't get a certain movie out of my head.

Bring out the gimp.
The gimp's sleepin'.
Well I guess you're gon have to wake him up now, won't you?

That's why I use Photoshop instead of the open source version. Ear worms. Gah.