by: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Dates Read: April 21-28
Pages: 325
Source: own it
Why did I read it?
This book was the talk of the town when it came out in 2013. They said it was one of the best YA romances of all time. I can't stand to read books in hype like that so I waited 7 years until I found it in a thrift store for $2.
Eleanor has just moved back in with her mom after a year of living elsewhere because her stepdad kicked her out. Her stepdad is decent to her four younger siblings, but hates her and does not hide it. They all share a two bedroom house and living there is like walking on egg shells for Eleanor. Park lives in a wealthy neighbourhood and is a bit of a loner. His parents met in Vietnam during the war and he holds just enough status to not be bullied because of his race, but not enough to be popular. When he sees Eleanor for the first time he pities her. However, when she gets on the bus on that first day there is no where but beside him to sit.
Eleanor is different. She wears weird clothes and doesn't fit in. They start reading comic books together on the bus. Then Park shares his music with her. They become friends. Then they become more. Except Eleanor can't let her family know because she knows her stepdad would kill her for it.
This was a good book. It followed real characters with real stories. It gave you an opportunity to glimpse just a little into the darkness in which some young people live. A life that you don't notice until someone finally breaks and shares what it is like. Since working with kids and youth in similar situations has been my job for seven years, I enjoy reading stories like this. It's more insight. It's more affirmation that sometimes you just can't tell until someone is brave enough to open their mouths. It's proof that it is not as easy as just leaving. I feel these are important stories for people to read, especially if they never experienced something like this in their lives (which I hope they didn't but the reality is that it's all around us).
The writing was overall very good. It switches perspectives from Eleanor to Park so you know what is happening in both of their heads as they experience love for the first time. It also helps us understand why a boy like Park would love a girl like Eleanor and vice versa. It was very nice. However, I had to constantly remind myself that these are 16 year olds. First I would find myself frustrated. A reaction or a feeling or a thought would be too big or too dumb and then I'd remember they are 16 and this is how 16 year olds think. Maybe that's just what happens when you read teen novels in your late 20s. Nevertheless, this just proves the good writing even further.
Rating: 4/5
There were times I knew it was time to stop reading, but couldn't stop so kept on anyway. I would say that's the sign of a good book.
Recommendation: Honestly, a good read. I do think it should be a more mature reader, maybe 16 at the youngest, but an important read.
Friday, June 26, 2020
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Little Women
by: Louisa May Alcott
Publisher: Bantam Classic
Dates Read: December 25, 2019 - April 21, 2020
Pages: 529
Source: Own it
Why did I read it?
The short story: the new Greta Gerwig adaptation was coming out and I (of course) wanted to read it before I saw it.
The long story: When you were a kid did you feel like every character with your name was like a piece of you? Well, when I was young and watching friends and Rachel spoils what happens to Beth when Joey reads Little Women, I just didn't want to read about what happened to me/Beth. I couldn't face it.
Little Women follows the four March sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Meg is beautiful and dreams of love. Jo is a writer and a free spirit. Beth is shy and quiet. Amy is spoiled and dreams of fancy things. Laurie lives next door with his wealthy grandfather and becomes like a brother to the girls.
Honestly, I feel as though I can't really go into plot with this one because the book legitimately spans something like 12 years. It's a classic so just know this: it is a classic for a reason.
This is an incredibly well written book. Each of the girls is so well written and grows in a natural way. The character of Jo is fantastic. It's a timeless story of sisters and friends and it just can't be wrong. It can't.
I feel as though I need to explain why it took so long for me to read. I was still like that little girl afraid about what happens with Beth. I just kept putting it off and putting it off because if you put something off it can't happen. An excellent lesson about living your life in denial. And when it did finally happen, I put my book in the freezer just like Joey.
Rating: 4/5
Honestly, it could be a 5. It really could, there were a few times when it was a little slow. And, I know times were different, but what happens with who Amy marries just made me feel a little weird.
Recommendation: Everyone should read it. Everyone. Everyone.
Publisher: Bantam Classic
Dates Read: December 25, 2019 - April 21, 2020
Pages: 529
Source: Own it
Why did I read it?
The short story: the new Greta Gerwig adaptation was coming out and I (of course) wanted to read it before I saw it.
The long story: When you were a kid did you feel like every character with your name was like a piece of you? Well, when I was young and watching friends and Rachel spoils what happens to Beth when Joey reads Little Women, I just didn't want to read about what happened to me/Beth. I couldn't face it.
Little Women follows the four March sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Meg is beautiful and dreams of love. Jo is a writer and a free spirit. Beth is shy and quiet. Amy is spoiled and dreams of fancy things. Laurie lives next door with his wealthy grandfather and becomes like a brother to the girls.
Honestly, I feel as though I can't really go into plot with this one because the book legitimately spans something like 12 years. It's a classic so just know this: it is a classic for a reason.
This is an incredibly well written book. Each of the girls is so well written and grows in a natural way. The character of Jo is fantastic. It's a timeless story of sisters and friends and it just can't be wrong. It can't.
I feel as though I need to explain why it took so long for me to read. I was still like that little girl afraid about what happens with Beth. I just kept putting it off and putting it off because if you put something off it can't happen. An excellent lesson about living your life in denial. And when it did finally happen, I put my book in the freezer just like Joey.
Rating: 4/5
Honestly, it could be a 5. It really could, there were a few times when it was a little slow. And, I know times were different, but what happens with who Amy marries just made me feel a little weird.
Recommendation: Everyone should read it. Everyone. Everyone.
Saturday, June 13, 2020
The Friday Night Knitting Club
[Audiobook]
By: Kate Jacobs
Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Dates Listened: March 10-23
Length: 12 hrs 36 mins
Source: Overdrive App
Why did I read it?
This was the last book in my monotonous work phase. I chose it because I'm 83 inside and like to knit and wanted to read fiction about people who knit.
Georgia is a single mom who owns a knitting shop in New York City. A group of women start gathering in the shop on Fridays after closing to work on their knitting projects and talk. This brings in a mess of other characters: an older woman who works in the shop part-time, a woman in her 40s who has decided to have a baby on her own, a loud middle-aged woman who has decided to go to law school, a young purse designer, and a feminist who joins to write her thesis on women participating in antiquated practices.
The plot is all over. Georgia gets hired by her former high school best friend to knit her a gown even though they haven't spoken in 15 years. The father of Georgia's twelve year old reappears after years with little or no contact. Georgia falls in love, she goes to Scotland, and other life-changing events take place (no spoilers). Plus the plots of all the other woman in the club. It was all just too much. I listened to the book so maybe it was written better but all of a sudden we would be following the story of someone else with no warning, not even a pause, and I would be so confused about what was going on. Too much happened in this book. I would think we were reaching a nice place for it to end and then I would look and still see there were 5 or 9 or however many chapters left. I saw there is a second and third book and thought "HOW?!" because way too much already happened in the first.
The writing was not great. In the book Georgia's daughter, Dakota, is 12 and eventually 13. She sounds NOTHING like a 12 or 13 year old. As someone who works with kids for a living, I would have believed her to be 8 or 9. She was both written poorly and read poorly. The words alone made her young, but the narrator made her sound even younger. Not only did the jumping character to character with no warning make the story hard to follow sometimes, but she referred to her parents in the narrations by their first names. There is a point when she is talking to her mom and I thought another woman only to find out minutes later that the woman is her mom. Why would you say "said Suzie" instead of "her mother said"? Because you want me to struggle?
The narrator was not great. Sometimes there would be no change at all in her voice/tone when reading different characters. This is especially confusing when 8 women are having a discussion while knitting - you could not tell who was talking! She also pronounced some words really weird. They went to a Seder dinner, but it took me a moment to figure out what they were doing because she pronounced it 'cedar' like the tree. She also pronounced culinary like 'que-linary'. I get it, there are accents and dialects out there...but it made it really difficult to stay on track in an already mish-mashed book.
I did like that there was some knitting terms and metaphor included. As an inner old lady, I really enjoyed that part. It wasn't a lot, so if you don't knit you're not lost the whole time. It was just a nice touch for us old souls.
Rating: 2/5 -- It's just not a good sign when near the end I hope for something bad to happen and when it does, I stand and cheer. I was in my office literally cheering for what happens and the end and when I told my coworkers what I was so happy about they thought I was crazy.
Recommendation: I don't know that I would really recommend this book to anyone. If anyone really wanted to read it I would say to physically read it to avoid the narrator. But honestly, you don't need to waste your time.
By: Kate Jacobs
Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Dates Listened: March 10-23
Length: 12 hrs 36 mins
Source: Overdrive App
Why did I read it?
This was the last book in my monotonous work phase. I chose it because I'm 83 inside and like to knit and wanted to read fiction about people who knit.
Georgia is a single mom who owns a knitting shop in New York City. A group of women start gathering in the shop on Fridays after closing to work on their knitting projects and talk. This brings in a mess of other characters: an older woman who works in the shop part-time, a woman in her 40s who has decided to have a baby on her own, a loud middle-aged woman who has decided to go to law school, a young purse designer, and a feminist who joins to write her thesis on women participating in antiquated practices.
The plot is all over. Georgia gets hired by her former high school best friend to knit her a gown even though they haven't spoken in 15 years. The father of Georgia's twelve year old reappears after years with little or no contact. Georgia falls in love, she goes to Scotland, and other life-changing events take place (no spoilers). Plus the plots of all the other woman in the club. It was all just too much. I listened to the book so maybe it was written better but all of a sudden we would be following the story of someone else with no warning, not even a pause, and I would be so confused about what was going on. Too much happened in this book. I would think we were reaching a nice place for it to end and then I would look and still see there were 5 or 9 or however many chapters left. I saw there is a second and third book and thought "HOW?!" because way too much already happened in the first.
The writing was not great. In the book Georgia's daughter, Dakota, is 12 and eventually 13. She sounds NOTHING like a 12 or 13 year old. As someone who works with kids for a living, I would have believed her to be 8 or 9. She was both written poorly and read poorly. The words alone made her young, but the narrator made her sound even younger. Not only did the jumping character to character with no warning make the story hard to follow sometimes, but she referred to her parents in the narrations by their first names. There is a point when she is talking to her mom and I thought another woman only to find out minutes later that the woman is her mom. Why would you say "said Suzie" instead of "her mother said"? Because you want me to struggle?
The narrator was not great. Sometimes there would be no change at all in her voice/tone when reading different characters. This is especially confusing when 8 women are having a discussion while knitting - you could not tell who was talking! She also pronounced some words really weird. They went to a Seder dinner, but it took me a moment to figure out what they were doing because she pronounced it 'cedar' like the tree. She also pronounced culinary like 'que-linary'. I get it, there are accents and dialects out there...but it made it really difficult to stay on track in an already mish-mashed book.
I did like that there was some knitting terms and metaphor included. As an inner old lady, I really enjoyed that part. It wasn't a lot, so if you don't knit you're not lost the whole time. It was just a nice touch for us old souls.
Rating: 2/5 -- It's just not a good sign when near the end I hope for something bad to happen and when it does, I stand and cheer. I was in my office literally cheering for what happens and the end and when I told my coworkers what I was so happy about they thought I was crazy.
Recommendation: I don't know that I would really recommend this book to anyone. If anyone really wanted to read it I would say to physically read it to avoid the narrator. But honestly, you don't need to waste your time.
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