Rating: 
Summary: Adrian Grows Up
Review: A fitting tribute to Aidrian age 30. Absolutely hilarious. Adrian has physically matured and has managed to father two children but is still grappling with the same issues he did when he was 13 and 3/4. His family are as dysfunctional as ever and his yearning passion for the gorgeous Pandora has been excacerbated by the fact that she is now the new labour candidate for Ashby De La Zouch in Leics.
A definite must for all Adrian Mole fans - Can Adrian overcome his fears and trepidations and make his sons proud of him?
Rating:
Summary: Adrian Grows Up
Review: A fitting tribute to Aidrian age 30. Absolutely hilarious. Adrian has physically matured and has managed to father two children but is still grappling with the same issues he did when he was 13 and 3/4. His family are as dysfunctional as ever and his yearning passion for the gorgeous Pandora has been excacerbated by the fact that she is now the new labour candidate for Ashby De La Zouch in Leics.
A definite must for all Adrian Mole fans - Can Adrian overcome his fears and trepidations and make his sons proud of him?
Rating: 
Summary: praise for The Cappuccino Years:
Review: A USA Today promising book of summer 2000"...funny, frivolous, and devastatingly dead-on." --Kirkus Reviews Praise for the Adrian Mole series: "Adrian Mole has progressed from being a minority enthusiasm to something like a national figurehead...Sue Townsend...has held a mirror up to the nation and made us happy to laugh at what we see." --Sunday Telegraph "He will be remembered some day as one of England's greatest diarists. No matter what your troubles may be, Adrian Mole is sure to make you feel better off." --Evening Standard "A terrific read...the sort of diary that is irresistible, irreverent, revealing and impossible to put down." --Boston Globe "Adrian Mole, Superstar, has become one of the biggest successes in the history of British publishing...Hilarious!" --Newsweek "The funniest, most bittersweet book you are likely to read...Adrian is a marvelous creation. Read it. It is a sweet delight laced with acid." --Daily Mirror "Wonderfully hilarious...It goes beyond 'Catcher in the Rye.' You must read it. Trust me!" --Phyllis Diller "At last: a wit to touch the hearts of three generations...The author's accuracy and comic timing left me wincing with pleasure." --New Statesman
Rating: 
Summary: Adrian Mole: the Cappuccino Years
Review: Adrian Mole: the Cappuccino Years by Sue Townsend Sue Townsend has become one of Britain's most famous contemporary authors, through her writings of a series of books in diary form written by the character, Adrian Mole. Her first Adrian Mole book was 'The True Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 ¾'. From that successful start she has gone to write another for books, and through the books Adrian has grown from a 13 ¾ year old to an adult. In Adrian Mole: the Cappuccino Years, Adrian is in his thirties and as always he is worrying. Is he a good father to his 3 and 13-year-old sons? Can he find happiness as a TV celebrity offal chef? Why won't the BBC produce 'The White Van', his serial killer comedy? Has he gotten over Pandora? Sue Townsend uses all of these things plus the political situation to write a comical diary. I found this book extremely satisfying. I have not read an Adrian Mole book for a while a found that as usual I became totally absorbed within a matter of minutes, it was as if an old goofy friend had come back. Adrian Mole: the Cappuccino Years is another brilliant Adrian Mole book. It is formula writing at its best. However, I feel that the test of Townsend's ability will be now enjoyable her other books are without Adrian.
Rating: 
Summary: Adrian Mole should be retired...
Review: Adrian Mole: The Cappucino Years should serve as a cautionary tale for writers who are interested in creating "franchise" characters: when a character has outlived his usefulness, he should be gracefully retired. Adrian, now 31, is a single father, a sous chef at a London restaurant specializing in offal, and later becomes the host of a cooking show called Offally Good. His quirks and pecadilloes are less endearing and engaging at 31 than they were at age 13 and 3/4. Adrian has become a hopleless pedant, is emotionally stunted, and for the life of him finds it difficult to understand how his own shortcomings contribute to his poor life choices and failures. Luckily, Mole is surrounded by a lively cast of supporting characters who compensate for his personality flaws. Mole fans will find comfort in the (very British) wit and sensibility, and will relish Townsend's attention to detail, particularly in her discussion of Tony Blair's rise to power, and the lingering effects of Princess Diana's death, yet I'm afraid there is little else to celebrate in this installment.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing, Fantatastic!
Review: Adrian's last outing ("The Lost Years", or "The Wilderness Years", depending on your geographic location and luck with bargain bins) was quite good, but seemed a bit disjointed and not alltogether familiar, unlike the first two books. Such was the nature of the subject, following Adrian through his college-age years and into early adulthood. It was an encouraging new beginning from Sue Townsend, but not completely satisfying. The new book, "Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years" captures the spirit of the old Mole books perfectly. The reader will feel at home (albeit a completely disfunctional one) with the love(low)life shenanigans of Adrian's parents, his sister, and grandparents, as well as his many weird and wonderful friends. Townsend's knack for identifying trends and pop-culture has been re-invigorated. For example: The appearance of another well-known diarist and its affect on Adrian and his writing is absolutely hilarious. Adrian still does not "get it" all the time, and he is completely inept with his love-life. At some points you might get so mad at the characters that you want to scream at them. However the disarming, underlying sweetness of it all will catch you off-guard. You will soon find yourself laughing at it instead. It is over much to fast, leaving the reader begging for more (hear that Ms. Townsend...more!) This is a wonderful book. If you are new to the series, I would suggest, that you read the other 3 books first, because it will make this one all-the-more enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing, Fantatastic!
Review: Adrian's last outing ("The Lost Years", or "The Wilderness Years", depending on your geographic location and luck with bargain bins) was quite good, but seemed a bit disjointed and not alltogether familiar, unlike the first two books. Such was the nature of the subject, following Adrian through his college-age years and into early adulthood. It was an encouraging new beginning from Sue Townsend, but not completely satisfying. The new book, "Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years" captures the spirit of the old Mole books perfectly. The reader will feel at home (albeit a completely disfunctional one) with the love(low)life shenanigans of Adrian's parents, his sister, and grandparents, as well as his many weird and wonderful friends. Townsend's knack for identifying trends and pop-culture has been re-invigorated. For example: The appearance of another well-known diarist and its affect on Adrian and his writing is absolutely hilarious. Adrian still does not "get it" all the time, and he is completely inept with his love-life. At some points you might get so mad at the characters that you want to scream at them. However the disarming, underlying sweetness of it all will catch you off-guard. You will soon find yourself laughing at it instead. It is over much to fast, leaving the reader begging for more (hear that Ms. Townsend...more!) This is a wonderful book. If you are new to the series, I would suggest, that you read the other 3 books first, because it will make this one all-the-more enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Adrian, the very fortunate
Review: Americans may find Adrian hard to take. He has 'loser' writtenlarge across him, he doesn't learn from his mistakes, and he alwaysseems to turn down every opportunity that comes his way. It can befrustrating to read his diary, willing him for once to make the rightdecision ... about a girl, about a business transaction, or indealings with his family. But nearly every time, Adrian takes the lowroad... There are lots of nice little jokes here, and many digs atBlairite Britain. It's a fun read, but don't expect to get much morefrom a second read than you did from the first...
Rating:
Summary: Not as Good as the Previous Mole Books
Review: An easy and amusing read, but disappointing in its fluffiness. The record-in-full conversations and entries that spanned twenty-plus pages strained credulity. Also, this book seems to have lost its edge of cynicism, black humour and despair that made the earlier Mole books stand out so much. In fact, it's become - horrors! - rather feel-good, much in the vein of Bridget Jones (who makes a guest appearance); bouncing from one exaggerated situation to another. Why is this so? For one, the tone of wide-eyed naiveity and complete self-absorption that worked when Adrian was a spotty teenager doesn't quite cut it as a thirty-something year old with two kids. For another, Adrian Mole is morphing into someone more human and more aware than ever before - he's actually turning *normal*, which takes a lot of fun out of it. He seems to have lost a certain zest, along with his youth and his hair - he's even coming to recognise his own failings. That's dangerous for someone who has failed as much as him. Lastly, even though he's still one of the biggest losers anyone can ever meet, he actually attains a certain measure of success this round (he publishes a book! albeit one written by his mother; a woman finds him attractive! albeit a psychotic stalker; he *almost* has sex with Pandora! but of course, not quite). Again, this completely goes against the grain of what it is to be *Adrian Mole*. Still, I enjoyed Bridget Jones popping in (very apt, considering Adrian Mole was *the* diarist of the eighties while she's *the* diarist of the nineties); felt proud of myself when I got the Eric Blair/George Orwell reference; and chuckled at all the snide remarks made about Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair.
Rating:
Summary: Smashing
Review: I could not put down this book. It was so nice to follow A. Mole's life. Don't stop writing Sue. I love your books.
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