This Week We Waged War On Terrible TV Hostesses

• The long-awaited "all black" issue of Italian Vogue hit newsstands, and we gave you a guided tour.
• Judy Blume taught us that having your dessert isn't all it's cracked up to be when you're a disgruntled 60s housefrau.
• We became your personal style guru.
• Three words: dolphin assisted birth.
• See little Emily walk. See little Emily run the fuck away from George Bush.
• We wanted to run screaming from Today Show bungler Ann Curry.
• Speaking of loathsome tv personalities, it was a big week for Elisabeth Hasselbeck! She told us she has never used a vibrator and cried during a discussion of the N-word.

Wifey: Rejecting The Norm

It's time for another edition of 'Shelf Pleasuring', an occasional feature in which we revisit the sexiest books we stole off our parents' shelves when they weren't looking. Today, Fine Lines proprietrix, blogger, NPR book reviewer and filthy-novel-fiend Lizzie Skurnick writes about 'Wifey', Judy Blume's 1978 novel about having your cake...and getting it eaten out, too.

Can someone please explain this five-course, multiple orgasm thing to me? I don't mean this exact second, you can read the review first, but at the end of this exegesis I would like a few people to enter the comments and iterate the exact circumstances under which one would be able to claim one had enjoyed "Breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack." (I myself am not hungry, per se, but, having never been sure if I've personally taken part in the all-day buffet in question, I need to know if I should request a complimentary voucher or something.)

Deenie: Brace Yourself

Welcome to 'Fine Lines', the Friday feature in which we give a sentimental, sometimes-critical, far more wizened look at the children's and YA books we loved in our youth. This week, writer / reviewer / blogger Lizzie Skurnick rereads 'Deenie', the 1973 story of a girl whose newly set back proves only a minor setback.

My mother named me Deenie because right before I was born she saw a movie about a beautiful girl named Wilmadeene, who everybody called Deenie for short. Ma says the first time she held me she knew right away I would turn out the same way—beautiful, that is.

Oh, how I wanted to look like the girl on this cover. She might be the only cover girl I ever wanted to look like, actually. (Those legs! That skirt! That SWEATER!) But kudos to the cover artist for catching that Deenie Fenner is that rare kind of beauty, appreciated both by her high-school-age peers and by modeling agencies in NY—and one of the few female characters to whom the reader might relate to exactly as the other characters do: with admiration, jealousy, and an involuntary sense of possession.

Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself: Springtime for Hitler, Part II

Welcome to 'Fine Lines', the Friday feature in which we give a sentimental, sometimes-critical, far more wrinkled look at the children's and YA books we loved in our youth. This week, writer / reviewer / blogger Lizzie Skurnick rereads 'Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself', Judy Blume's 1977 story of Sally Freedman, who, following WWII, spends a year in Miami and triumphs over Hitler and Man O' Wars.

"Such big eyes!" Ma Fanny said, laughing. "You still have half a sandwich left."

Judy Blume Doesn't Back Down From Censors

Our girl Judy Blume has a whopping five titles on the American Library Association's "Most Challenged Books" list. In this clip from Current TV, Blume defends herself and her books against evil PTA members who continue to ban her informative, delightful, classic Young Adult novels. Of the oft-banned Forever, Blume says, "I wanted to allow a young woman to enjoy her sexuality, which I think is the thing that got me in so much trouble." Damn the man. Save Judy!

Judy Blume v. Censors [Current TV]
Earlier: Then Again Maybe I Won't: Close Your Eyes And Think Of Jersey City

Judy Blume: Almost 70 But Forever Our Girl

Then Again, Maybe I Won't: Close Your Eyes, And Think Of Jersey City

Welcome to 'Fine Lines', the Friday feature in which we give a sentimental, sometimes-critical, far more wrinkled look at the children's and YA books we loved in our youth. This week, writer/reviewer/blogger Lizzie Skurnick re-reads Judy Blume's 1971 novel 'Then Again, Maybe I Won't', which helped many a young girl learn about hard-ons, wet dreams and the downsides to sudden wealth and suburban Long Island.

Thank god the phrase for "wet dream" is the same in England. I say this not out of any allegiance to Royalist nocturnal emissions, but because I'm using the English edition of this book, and have been thus saved a harsh repeat of my 7-year-old initial read: namely, not knowing what the hell Judy Blume was talking about.

Were You a Judy Blume Enthusiast or a Babysitters Club Nerd?