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51st out of 178 books
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249 voters
My rating:
add to my books
The Boyfriend List: 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver (Ruby Oliver #1)
by
E. Lockhart
Ruby Oliver is 15 and has a shrink. She knows it’s unusual, but give her a break—she’s had a rough 10 days. In the past 10 days she:
lost her boyfriend (#13 on the list),
lost her best friend (Kim),
lost all her other friends (Nora, Cricket),
did something suspicious with a boy (#10),
did something advanced with a boy (#15),
had an argument with a bo...more
lost her boyfriend (#13 on the list),
lost her best friend (Kim),
lost all her other friends (Nora, Cricket),
did something suspicious with a boy (#10),
did something advanced with a boy (#15),
had an argument with a bo...more
Hardcover, 229 pages
Published
January 16th 2009
by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
(first published 2005)
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(Re-Read)Attention, you don’t need a therapist when you’ve got E.Lockhart! Seriously, where was she when I was 15? More importantly, is it sad that it is just as beneficial of a read now that I am nearing 25? This book is a self help book in disguise and I absolutely adored it!
Ruby Oliver, aka Roo, is a noteworthy heroine and I have no doubt that most of the female species can and will find her relatable. She makes mistakes, she’s passive, insecure, intelligent, a bit eccentric, av...more
Ruby Oliver, aka Roo, is a noteworthy heroine and I have no doubt that most of the female species can and will find her relatable. She makes mistakes, she’s passive, insecure, intelligent, a bit eccentric, av...more
view all 5 comments
Tatiana
rated it
I can't help it, I simply adore E. Lockhart's YA books. As far as girly, chick-lit books about relationships go, hers are the best. And this is coming from a person who isn't into chick-lit.
Just like in The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, E. Lockhart explores the challenges of being a teenage girl. In “The Boyfriend List” we learn about Ruby Oliver through her relationships with boys (not necessarily her boyfriends), how these relationship affect her life and if they ar...more
Just like in The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, E. Lockhart explores the challenges of being a teenage girl. In “The Boyfriend List” we learn about Ruby Oliver through her relationships with boys (not necessarily her boyfriends), how these relationship affect her life and if they ar...more
Jillian -always aspiring-
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Wondering teenagers and pondering women
I was hoping that The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, a book I read and loved last summer, wasn't a fluke and that E. Lockhart could dazzle me yet again with wit, sarcasm, and hijinks aplenty. The Boyfriend List: 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver (it's a mouthful, isn't it?) did not disappoint at all. Yes, the tone of this novel (Lockhart's debut YA novel) is a little bit different, but the heart is much the same: a girl trying to find her nich...more
I was afraid I wouldn't love this book as much the 2nd time--but it's possible I loved it more. I think this book makes my all-time top 20. If I weren't so sleepy, I could wax eloquently about all the qualities that make The Boyfriend List close to perfect; instead, I give you this excerpt, when Ruby Oliver goes on a movie date with a boy she barely knows:
"About a quarter into it, Cabbie put his arm around me and, seconds later, he dangled his right hand down over my shoulder an...more
"About a quarter into it, Cabbie put his arm around me and, seconds later, he dangled his right hand down over my shoulder an...more
WOOHOO!
The Boyfriend List = WIN!
I enjoyed Frankie in The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, but after reading The Boyfriend List: 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver, I find that Ruby beats Frankie, hands down.
Both of them read innocent, quirky, funny and imperfect. In other words, they are both screw ups. But wait! Ruby Oliver's story has so much more going for it because as she is not perfect, her life, her story ...more
The Boyfriend List = WIN!
I enjoyed Frankie in The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, but after reading The Boyfriend List: 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver, I find that Ruby beats Frankie, hands down.
Both of them read innocent, quirky, funny and imperfect. In other words, they are both screw ups. But wait! Ruby Oliver's story has so much more going for it because as she is not perfect, her life, her story ...more
Carly
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
me?
Shelves:
alreadyread-childrensbooks
Before I write a detailed review, I think I should make it clear that I fell HARD for this book right from the first page. I am blindly and irregretably in love with it, and I think it's probably an irrational love, so everything I say about it should be taken with a grain of salt.
I have never fallen in love with a book before like I fell in love with this one, right from the beginning and never letting up, only growing more and more intense as time and pages went on. The book is l...more
I have never fallen in love with a book before like I fell in love with this one, right from the beginning and never letting up, only growing more and more intense as time and pages went on. The book is l...more
This is an honest look at what it is like to be a teenage girl in high school. When your universe contains your parents and the kids at your school things may seem to surround you and start to suffocate you. Ruby Oliver has started to have panic attacks after her boyfriend breaks up with her. After this breakup she then loses her best friends through a series of misunderstandings. One of the funniest scenes of the book is when we see Ruby having a panic attack at her dinner table. While she has ...more
At the very beginning of this novel, I found it really hard to get into a reading flow. I am not a fan of the huge amounts of footnotes found at the bottom. I like footnotes in journals and other non-fictional readings, however, in this novel E. Lockhart overused footnotes. I felt like it disrupted my reading flow because the footnotes were important to the novel but I was too busy trying to figure out when I was suppose to read the footnotes. So I guess I am not a fan of footnotes for nove...more
Really, The Boyfriend List is hilarious. I like how descriptive, enjoyable and smooth Lockhart’s writing is. Honestly, this is the kind of writing I aspire. Ruby isn’t your average teenage girl: she isn’t whiny, stupid, or a bland protagonist. But she is cynical, and she doesn’t shy away from telling readers to suck it up and accept reality. She is sweet and funny. (While reading, I kept picturing Madeline Carroll as Ruby, and how cute that girl acted on Flipped--great book and/or movie, by the...more
One book that I recently read is The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart. This book is a realistic fiction novel that’s theme teaches you to be careful who you consider and call your friends; people are not always what and who they say they are.
My favorite character in the story is the main character Ruby Oliver. Ruby has had a life from hell these last ten days and it’s taking a major affect on her life. She lost all possible friends and suffers from “insanity” [she diagnosed herself:]...more
My favorite character in the story is the main character Ruby Oliver. Ruby has had a life from hell these last ten days and it’s taking a major affect on her life. She lost all possible friends and suffers from “insanity” [she diagnosed herself:]...more
Who needs an annotation with a subtitle like this: 15 guys, 11 shrink appointments, 4 ceramic frogs, and me, Ruby Oliver? This is a breakthrough book in terms of form, bringing the David Foster Wallace footnote motif into YA lit. But what works isn't what's new, but what is classic: voice. Ruby's voice in the book is the star as she retells, reveals, rants, raves, and regrets much in her short life. Like many of the books here, while the most recent boyfriend (Jackson is the current man of the h...more
I've come up with a chart, to help clarify the Young Adult Diary/Letter Writer With Issues format:
on a scale ranging from hee hee to tears oh god tears, left to right:
Princess Diaries > Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants > Ruby Oliver (The Boyfriend List) > Jessica Darling (Sloppy Firsts) > Perks of Being a Wallflower.
This is in no way a scientific chart. :)
Tangent over, I liked this book, I liked Ruby, I am sick to death of Jackson, an...more
on a scale ranging from hee hee to tears oh god tears, left to right:
Princess Diaries > Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants > Ruby Oliver (The Boyfriend List) > Jessica Darling (Sloppy Firsts) > Perks of Being a Wallflower.
This is in no way a scientific chart. :)
Tangent over, I liked this book, I liked Ruby, I am sick to death of Jackson, an...more
I'm not sure why it is so hard for me to articulate my E. Lockhart appreciation. It may be because every time I think of the Ruby Oliver books I pretty much do this:
Weeks later these books are still bringing a smile to my face. I loved the underlying themes of self-discovery and self-respect. E. Lockhart has this fantastic way of making universal experiences so poignantly personal. I adored Ruby. Her adventures will always have a special place in my book-lovin' heart.
Weeks later these books are still bringing a smile to my face. I loved the underlying themes of self-discovery and self-respect. E. Lockhart has this fantastic way of making universal experiences so poignantly personal. I adored Ruby. Her adventures will always have a special place in my book-lovin' heart.
Let's say 2.5.
This wasn't a bad book but after all of the good things I had heard about it, I just feel really disappointed. It didn't find it particularly amusing at all and I can't stand the way the characters used 'shattered' when they meant upset or tired. It just seems so overdramatic. But who knows? Maybe I would have loved it if I had read it as a teenager.
Ruby just seemed so narrow-minded and boy-crazy and I couldn't understand why she seemed to be more broken u...more
This wasn't a bad book but after all of the good things I had heard about it, I just feel really disappointed. It didn't find it particularly amusing at all and I can't stand the way the characters used 'shattered' when they meant upset or tired. It just seems so overdramatic. But who knows? Maybe I would have loved it if I had read it as a teenager.
Ruby just seemed so narrow-minded and boy-crazy and I couldn't understand why she seemed to be more broken u...more
I feel like I'm the only one who actually didn't like this book! Scrolling down the reviews, everyone seems to be giving it five and four stars. It only gets one from me. There were so many things I felt were just wrong with the book from the minute I started reading. I wanted to put it down and return it to the library. The characters were SO annoying. It was unbelievable how annoying and nosy the parents are,they never let her speak, and they argue all the time. Are parents in real life honest...more
I loved that when this book started I didn’t have the full details of Ruby’s damaging social drama. I was so intrigued to meet the players in the story and to find out exactly what went down in that horrible week. There were times that I thought Ruby did a lot of damage to herself based simply on her passive personality. But I really wanted some of the mean girls to get what was coming to them…and that doesn’t really happen. At least not in this book.
I’m sorry, but if this whole story ...more
I’m sorry, but if this whole story ...more
Ruby Oliver has a lot of problems. Her boyfriend dumped her, her friends aren't talking to her (actually nobody seems willing to talk to her, she became a social leper), and there's a list circulating through the school - her boyfriend list. And let's not forget the panic attacks.
Ruby is great - funny, smart, a bit clueless sometimes (especially when it pertains to people), not too much of a Drama Queen. She has some flaws - passivity being the main one. She's also insecure. Her life...more
Ruby is great - funny, smart, a bit clueless sometimes (especially when it pertains to people), not too much of a Drama Queen. She has some flaws - passivity being the main one. She's also insecure. Her life...more
Ruby Oliver is my new best friend. Apart from the awesome fact she’s one of the only main characters ever to have worn glasses (besides Harry Potter), she was also one of the funniest characters I have ever read about! She was so hilarious, everything from her lists to her footnotes (which really cracked me up). She seemed like such a nice person, and you couldn’t help but like her despite some of the stupid things she had done. I felt like I could relate to her a lot (I was jealous of her zeb...more
I was... cautious in reading this one. The cover flap makes it sound like it's going to be a naughty book.
I was surprised to find that The Boyfriend List was actually a fairly clean book. Yes, there is a little of swearing. Yes, there is one instance of teen drinking. Yes, there are a couple sex references. HOWEVER nothing is excessive/explicit/naughty.
Okay, so. Moving past that.
Ruby. She was annoying, whiny, insecure, kind of lame... and I loved her. She di...more
I was surprised to find that The Boyfriend List was actually a fairly clean book. Yes, there is a little of swearing. Yes, there is one instance of teen drinking. Yes, there are a couple sex references. HOWEVER nothing is excessive/explicit/naughty.
Okay, so. Moving past that.
Ruby. She was annoying, whiny, insecure, kind of lame... and I loved her. She di...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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This book is about Ruby Oliver, a 15 year old girl who has gotten the reputation of being a "slut" even though she really isn't. It was all a misunderstanding, kind of, as you will read in her book. Ruby, Roo, has started seeing a shrink. That shrink asks her to write a boyfriend list. Many of the names on this list are followed by comments like "but he doesn't count" or "but it was all in his mind." As you can imagine, a 15 year old writing down a list of boys is n...more
I really wanted to love this book, but it had too much content I wasn't a fan of. Ruby is such an enjoyable MC, and I love how she makes lists--that little character quirk--and just her voice in general and her relationship with Dr. Z, her therapist. But I was really disappointed about the content insofar as relationships with the opposite sex went. I mean, I'm not an idiot--I know teenagers have sex and drink and do drugs and whatever--but I really wish authors would give their characters some ...more
Originally posted here: http://www.goodbooksandgoodwine.com/2011...
Awesome, thy name is Ruby Oliver. Y’all had I not followed Crooked Carla, had I not gone to E. Lockhart’s awesome signing, I may not have ever had the pleasure of meeting Ruby Oliver. The Boyfriend List kicks off E. Lockhart’s Ruby series. GUYZ you have GOT to read this book. IT HAS FOOTNOTES. And it is genuinely funny and heartfelt and full of win.
Okay, so Ruby has the worst luck ever. She is 15 and curren...more
Awesome, thy name is Ruby Oliver. Y’all had I not followed Crooked Carla, had I not gone to E. Lockhart’s awesome signing, I may not have ever had the pleasure of meeting Ruby Oliver. The Boyfriend List kicks off E. Lockhart’s Ruby series. GUYZ you have GOT to read this book. IT HAS FOOTNOTES. And it is genuinely funny and heartfelt and full of win.
Okay, so Ruby has the worst luck ever. She is 15 and curren...more
There is no better word for The Boyfriend List than ADDICTING. No matter how many times I read and reread and rereread this book, I find myself falling in love over and over again. Ruby is such a fun, lovable MC who I'm sure many teenage girls can connect with. E. Lockhart has a way with words (and footnotes) as she explores the complex and confusing relationship between boys and girls. Friendship? Romance? Backstabbing? Yup, yup, yup... and then some.
I'm not gonna lie, I honestly...more
I'm not gonna lie, I honestly...more
Described to me as one of the best high school girl romantic shenanigans confessionals out there. I think this might actually be true – high school was just ten years ago for me in real time, even if it was much longer in soultime, and this book feels very familiar and authentic to me. It just had no aliens. Or ghosts, or demons, or telepaths – basically, no one had to save the world, so it didn’t kick up to awesome for me.
That, and the much more important thing. The shtick here is t...more
That, and the much more important thing. The shtick here is t...more
Wow, I can't believe I like this book. The title and cover were a turn-off, but I liked E. Lockhart's The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks, so I gave it a shot. It took awhile, but halfway through the book when I saw that the main character, Ruby Oliver, was actually changing and growing, and not just mired in her pity party about losing her boyfriend, best friends, and reputation all in one week, I changed my opinion. It seems realistic, despite the fact that Ruby lives on a housebo...more
The book is about a girl named Ruby Oliver, her life.At first,Ruby had alot of friends, she had 2 bestfriends that she always hungout with.She wasnt extremely popular, and she wasn't hated either.She played lacross, and was really good at it. She had a job helping her dad, and she did fairly well in school, until she went to a party, and got really drunk and fooled around with a guy her mom caught her with her first beer, and she had 2 panic attacks. Then eventually,
She does really bad in...more
She does really bad in...more
The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart Realistic Fiction,
dating, High School,
family, social
customs, audio book.
The Boyfriend List is a novel written by the main character, Ruby "Roo" Oliver, who visits a psychologist after a series of panic attacks that occurred because of social destruction that landed her the her one-dimensional Tate High ...more
dating, High School,
family, social
customs, audio book.
The Boyfriend List is a novel written by the main character, Ruby "Roo" Oliver, who visits a psychologist after a series of panic attacks that occurred because of social destruction that landed her the her one-dimensional Tate High ...more
The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart tells the story of Ruby Oliver and the boys both past and present that have played a role in her life.
After what Ruby titled “the spring fling incident,” Ruby is boyfriend-less and friend-less. She begins having panic attacks and her parents decide to take her to therapy where she meets with Dr. Z.
Dr. Z. asks Ruby to create a list of all the boys in her life. Ruby creates a list of 15 boys, some from elementary school and others from just...more
After what Ruby titled “the spring fling incident,” Ruby is boyfriend-less and friend-less. She begins having panic attacks and her parents decide to take her to therapy where she meets with Dr. Z.
Dr. Z. asks Ruby to create a list of all the boys in her life. Ruby creates a list of 15 boys, some from elementary school and others from just...more
I gotta tell you--I think I like this series better than Frankie Landau-Banks--which I liked a lot. This book (which I listened to on tape) is a 4-star, but the series as a whole, for consistency, humor, tight narration, and complexity, is a solid 5.
You all--lots of smart girls like boys. And just because the girls are smart and ironic and trying to be self-actualized and feminist and everything, doesn't mean they don't do stupid things because of boys, or that they don't let boys get ...more
You all--lots of smart girls like boys. And just because the girls are smart and ironic and trying to be self-actualized and feminist and everything, doesn't mean they don't do stupid things because of boys, or that they don't let boys get ...more
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| books | 1 | 8 | Sep 16, 2011 06:33am |
Readers Also Enjoyed
E. Lockhart is the author of a number of teen novels. She has had nine official boyfriends, if you count the boy who asked her to go with him at a 7th grade dance and then basically never talked to her again. She has never been on a sports team of any kind and got excused from gym class by going to ballet lessons. She has a tattoo, cuts her own hair, and has worn the same perfume since high school...more
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“I hate those endless descriptions of a heroine's physical attributes . . . it really bothers me how in books it seems like the only two choices are perfection or self-hatred. As if readers will only like a character who's ideal--or completely shattered.”
—
78 people liked it
“It shattered something inside me that hadn't been broken before.”
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63 people liked it
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