Top Blogs of 2008

The internet has given us many gifts, not the least of which is the opportunity to have a laugh at someone else's expense. Breakout best selling author Jen Lancaster started blogging when she lost her job a few years ago. She started chronicaling her search for the ever elusive "higher income bracket" and her witty repartee eventually landed her a book deal. Bitter is the New Black was an instant hit, and now on her fourth book, Jen blogs about everything from the terrors of moving from her sinking house in Chicago, to the battle that ensued when picking the cover art for her new book, Pretty in Plaid. If you want a good daily read that will most likely make you wet your pants laughing, check out Jennsylvania. And if, after reading Jen's blog you can't seem to get enough of her special brand of snarky, take a look at the Snarkywood archives where Jen got her start in the business of telling it like it is!

My other favorite Jennifer is Jennifer Weiner, author of In Her Shoes, Good-Night Nobody, and The Guy Not Taken. She lays down her blog wisdom at the SnarkSpot where you can not only read about her upcoming signings and appearances, but you can follow her through the joys of having just had her second child while surrounded by idealistic new parents who go so far as to make their own baby food. Jennifer also comments on the ins and outs of the literary world which in and of itself is always good for a laugh. Meg Cabot of Princess Diaries fame also has her own blog where, right now, you can download every volume of the Princess collection which really is only good if you have children, or if like me you're a teacher and have a habit of reading Young Adult literature. But Meg also dispenses her own pearls of snarkiness as she manages to tank on both Tiger Woods and Britney Spears in the same breath.

If it's uncensored social commentary you want, check out After Dinner Mint by Armando Torres. His entries take you through the more ridiculous aspects of daily life with a humorous twist, complete with some great photos such as one of Santa Claus in his red leiderhosen, flipping the world's children the bird. In the same vein, newly minted preschool teacher, This Brazen Teacher lays bare the myriad struggles, frustrations, and stupidity that go hand in hand with being a public school education. Brazen? I feel your pain!

And now, what kind of writer would I be if I didn't take this moment to shamelessly plug my own blog? Eating the Paste will by no means earn me my Pulitzer, and sadly as of late it has centered more on my cat than on my career, but I like the other Brazen teacher, feel the pain of teaching in a society that no longer values education, and of working in residential treatment facilities where I found more often than not that my coworkers were in greater need of a behavior plan that my teenaged students!

So there you have my own personal recommendations for a few good blog reads. Might I also recommend a Google account, if you don't already have one, so that you can run out and subscribe to each and every one of these fantastic blogs! Especially mine.