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5 Winter Wearables with a Literary Twist

The temperature has dropped, the evenings are getting darker and keeping warm and toasty is suddenly a massive priority. Now is definitely the time to be making a few investments in your winter wardrobe, but there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy a bookish twist while you’re all bundled up. Here are five winter wearables, which have a lick of the literary about them!

Ten Books...Our Teen Favourites

Following our recent posts about Judy Blume's Forever and Young Adult novels, we at Team Novelicious got chatting about our favourite books as teenagers recently (it doesn't take much to start a book discussion over here). We spent a few happy hours reminiscing about the likes of St Clare's, Malory Towers and Point Horror, which were all firm favourites, as were these lovely titles... 

1. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney – This was an important book for Novelicious writer, Jennifer, as it was the first book that had her hooked. Originally published in 1990, this is the story of Janie, who glances at the ordinary girl on the back of the milk carton and, spookily, realises it is a picture of herself as a three year old.  

2. The Cat Ate My Gymsuit by Paula Danziger – A favourite from Kirsty's teenage years, this was Paula's debut, published in 1974. It is about a girl who is incredibly low on self-confidence, until a new teacher comes along. 

3. Remember Me to Harold Square by Paula Danziger – Another Paula Danziger (she was incredibly popular, but sadly died ten years ago). This book is a favourite of Susan's and is a romantic comedy about New Yorker, Kendra, and Wisconsin farm boy, Frank.

4. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume – Margaret is not having an easy time. Her family is half Christian and half Jewish and she doesn't know which religion to choose for herself. On top of that, she's moving from her childhood home and is a late developer. She talks to God, because it's far too embarrassing talking to anyone else about these things. This was another favourite of Kirsty's, who has read it, like, a gazillion times, and my own. I don't think I've read it quite as much, mind you...

5. Diving In by Kate Cann – Another favourite of Kirsty's, this is about a first sexual relationship. Coll meets an older, confident and pushy boy at the swimming pool and he asks her out. Just how far should she go?

10 of the Best Baby-sitters Club Cover Outfits

Big hair, bold make up, shoulder pads, sparkles, power suits and pearls – the 80s and 90s were a weird time to be a teenager struggling with personal style. We didn’t have Pinterest and Cosmo was still deemed ‘too grown up’ for us even when we promised to only read the fashion pages. What we did have for inspiration, however, were books. Here, we reminisce about the best cover outfits worn by our favourite fashionable foursome (and friends) in The Baby-sitter’s Club books by Ann M. Martin.

 

1. Welcome to the BSC, Abby

Remember when the velvet and lace dress only ever came out of your wardrobe for special occasions? Whether it was a family event, a school show flute solo or the Easter Sunday church service, this sickly sweet little number seemed to be every mother’s go-to dress when it came to clothing their daughters in ‘best’ in the 80s and 90s. It was hot, itchy and so, so girly – we seriously considered setting fire to it at least once a year when wedding season rolled around. Then we saw Abby pairing the very same dress with a pair of swank black wedges and a string of tied pearls on the cover of Welcome to the BSC, Abby. Boom. Our minds were blown and we went from Minnie Mouse to Madonna in an instant. Well, we thought so anyway.

 

2. Claudia and Mean Janine

Here’s just one example of teenage style icon Claudia getting it right. The skinny jeans, the oversized jumper rolled up at the sleeves, the colourful, dangly earrings – heck, we’d wear this outfit now. Janine, on the other hand, has clearly been getting clothing packages in the mail from Granny. It happened to us all, Janine, it happened to us all. We only pray that yours didn’t include bras that ‘don’t quite fit’ her. Shudder.

 

Feasting on Romantic Comedy – Homemade Toffee from The O'Sullivan Twins of Enid Blyton's St. Clare's

There is something very special about making a food from one of your childhood favourite books. When I made jammy buns from Malory Towers, I was incredibly excited as finally, something I'd read about and wondered about for years (just what were jammy buns exactly?), was coming to life. And I could taste it! The very treat enjoyed by Darrell, Sally and Alicia – the characters I'd grown up with – during one of their many match teas. Oh, it was such a great day.

Perhaps it is little surprise, therefore, that I've found another childhood favourite this week. Another Enid Blyton story with yet another boarding school (they did tend to eat delicious food at boarding school, no wonder we all wanted to go ourselves). 

The O'Sullivan Twins, Pat and Isabel, did not want to go to St Clare's. They were cross and acted rather badly about it all. So badly, they become known as the Stuck-Up Twins or the High-and-Mighties. But the school soon licked them into shape, rubbed off their sharp corners and, before you know it, Pat and Isabel adore the school and are popular and liked.

The Easter term arrives and with it, second former Tessie's birthday. She decides to have a midnight feast with just a few friends including the twins. The girls are all very excited at the thought of meeting up at midnight in the music room and stuffing themselves silly with a big fruit cake, a ginger cake, sweets, biscuits and wonderful, mouth stuck together, homemade toffee. Plus, of course, ginger beer and sausages. Sizzling sausages in a pan in fact. A sizzling pan in the music room. A music room near Mamzelle's study. No wonder they got caught. 

Still, I bet the food was worth it.

Feasting on Romantic Comedy – Simply Wizard Jammy Buns from Malory Towers

Who is for a game of lacrosse with a feast of jammy buns for match tea?

Before I ever enjoyed and salivated over the food described in a Freya North or a Jane Green novel, there was Enid Blyton. Her descriptions of simple and hearty food like a glistening pink ham would have me drooling as I read whilst tucking into a not-so-satisfying luncheon meat sandwich (luncheon meat was a big thing in the 1980s).

In the books, food would be piled high on tables that would also groan under the weight. So. Much. Food. Yet whether the children were adventuring, solving mysteries, escaping to a secret island, holding midnight feasts or playing a match of lacrosse, the food would always disappear. Then they would continue with their adventures and school life. It was thrilling, wizard, super! (I have to say, these are much better adjectives than the current 'sick'.)

A few weeks ago we featured a quiz to discern which Malory Towers character you were most like. So, of course, I dug out some of my books from my son's bedroom (yes, to my utter joy he has been reading and enjoying them)  and had a sneaky re-read myself.

Darrell, Sally, Alicia, Belinda, Irene, Mary-Lou. I loved them all. Especially Darrell. I loved their plays, their midnight feasts, their sports matches. Not so keen on the practical jokes, but then I wasn't a massive fan of Alicia (though obviously I still loved her.)

One of the best bits would be after the school lacrosse match was played. You would feel exhausted, like you'd just competed yourself, so what better way to recover than by mentally feasting on the gorgeous food the school provided afterwards for match tea. A smashing tea of sandwiches, jammy buns and fruit cake, no less.

Now jammy buns. They sound delicious, but what are they? Well, according to Jane Brocket's rather beautiful Cherry Cake & Ginger Beer recipe book, they are Devonshire splits, but minus the cream. Personally, I'm going with the jam and the cream. You can never have too much of a good thing.

10 of the Most Dramatic Sweet Valley High Covers (Part Two)

If you were a teenager in the 80s or 90s, there’s a good chance you spent large chunks of your time holed up in your poster-clad bedroom, engrossed in the adventures of Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield. The blond, tanned, teenage twins of the hugely popular Sweet Valley High series were like BFFs to us. We couldn't get enough of the books’ glitzy Californian setting, the crazy fashion choices, the impossibly beautiful characters and the ridiculous (yet equally compelling) storylines. Best of all, we loved getting our hands on the next book in the series and guessing what glamorous drama lurked beneath the cover.

We’ve already brought you part one of the most dramatic Sweet Valley High covers. It’s about time for part two, right? Like, totally.

1. Deceptions

Jessica has fallen for Nicholas Morrow, but he has eyes for Liz!

‘Has Elizabeth found new love?’ read the tagline. This cover had us seriously questioning Liz’s sanity. Sure, she’d just been kidnapped by orderly Carl in the previous book and may have been emotionally unstable as a result, but that was no excuse for contemplating dating anyone other than brown-haired, brown-eyed, basketball-playing dreamboat boyfriend Todd. Was it? When down-to-earth Nicholas Morrow approached Liz at a party, he claimed he’d fallen in love with her at first sight. While we probably should’ve questioned how this worked when he’d already met Jessica just moments before (err, they’re twins, Nick), we were aghast when Liz actually decided to go out on a date with him. Girl, you were just kidnapped by a guy who was obsessed with you and now you’re going out with ‘I loved you the moment I saw you’ Morrow? Check yo self. Admittedly, he was rich and nice to his deaf sister, but still …

How we longed to comfort Todd in his hour of need though. Like, a lot.

 

2. Runaway

QUIZ – Which Malory Towers Character Are You?

Pillow fights, midnight feasts, jolly hockey sticks, fierce lacrosse games and lots of drama, while some might say the Malory Towers books by Enid Blyton are outdated, girls of all ages have delighted in the series since its publication in the 1940s. Probably the most iconic of all boarding school stories, we grew up with Darrell Rivers and friends as they competed in sports matches, crept out of their dormitories for midnight feasts by the rock pool and played tricks on the poor French mesdemoiselles.

So familiar were the characters, in fact, we almost feel as though we attended Malory Towers ourselves. But what part would we have played if this were true? There’s only one way to find out … a quiz! Answer the questions below and tally your letters to find your results. Don't forget to tell us which character you were matched with in the comments.

10 of the Most Dramatic Sweet Valley High Covers (Part One)

They’ve been perpetually perfect since 1983 and, to this day, we still love them. Yes, Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield (those lovely California blondes with stunning size six figures, blue-green eyes and matching dimples) drove their jeep of drama into our hearts decades ago and left it there.

Far from the gentle and charming childhood classics we’d grown up with, Francine Pascal’s Sweet Valley High books – devoured under our duvets at night or behind Geography textbooks in school – ushered us into the minefield of teenagerdom with kidnappings, boyfriend stealing, lies, secrets and some seriously dodgy fashion choices.

We love a bit of teen book series nostalgia here at Novelicious so, without further ado, here are 10 of the most dramatic Sweet Valley High book covers. With over 150 to choose from, let’s just call this Part One.

 

1. All Night Long

Jessica starts dating college student Scott Daniels who is older than she is and much more experienced. Jessica, because of her late night with Scott, pleads with Elizabeth to take a test for her, which infuriates her, and gets her into a fight with Todd.

While we were used to seeing Jessica in the arms of random boys as long-time SVH readers, this was no boy. Scott Daniels, college student, had a moustache. As if that wasn’t enough to cement his older man status, he lived in a frat house and drove a red Firebird. Between the face lace, the precarious positioning of Jessica’s shirt and the sexually loaded title, we couldn’t turn these pages fast enough.