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    • Mini Book Reviews July 2020

      Posted at 8:52 am by Mrs. Ram Jam, on August 1, 2020

      I had a fantastic reading month. So many good reads.

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      An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1) by Sabaa Tahir–published 2016–YAL fantasy–four stars:  Considering I’ve been let down more often than not in recent months with YAL fantasy, this was a much-needed surprise. When Laia’s grandparents are murdered and her brother is taken captive by the Empire, Laia joins forces with the Resistance, becoming a slave and a spy to free her brother. A cadet named Elias, the bastard son of the vicious Commandant, wants nothing more to escape his fate, but soon discovers that destiny has other plans for him, including colliding with Laia. As a fantasy reader, the first couple of chapters are always the hardest for me. It’s difficult to orient myself in a made-up world, and if I can’t find solid footing after committing myself to 10 percent of the book, I often give up. At first, this book’s minimal worldbuilding took a bit too long to establish itself, but once I crossed the threshold, I was quickly swept up by the tale. The writing isn’t anything fancy, and the whole in-love-with-the-enemy-archetype is used, but the story twists and enchants anyway. Towards the book’s last 25 percent, the chapters end on crescendoing cliffhangers, and what’s not to love about that?

      An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1)

      Pushout:  The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique W. Morris–published 2016–nonfiction–four stars:  Morris delineates how the education system fails to meet the needs of Black girls and how often they get overlooked because there’s so much emphasis on Black boys. She critiques schools’ zero-tolerance and uniform policies, schools’ lack of mental health services, teachers’ approaches to discipline, etc. This book breaks my heart because it further highlights how entrenched systemic racism is in the current educational model. All schools and teachers need to approach discipline through the lens of intersectionality, and more mental health services need to be provided for students so they can find success in the classroom instead of being criminalized by a system that fails to meet their needs. When will this country start shoveling money into public schools?

      Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools

      Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas–published 2020–contemporary fiction–three stars:  What a strange, strange little book.  Catherine House is like an Ivy League school, but it’s not. It’s super selective, but its students are misfits and drunks. It’s prestigious and beautiful, but it’s crumbling. The curriculum is challenging, but it’s nonlinear and overlapping. At first, Ines struggles to find meaning while navigating the mysterious campus and can feel that something deeper, more sinister, lies at the heart of the school. A selective group of students focuses their work on plasm, and Ines becomes obsessed with it, even though it’s not her focus of study. Eventually, the mystery behind plasm and Catherine House reveals itself, forcing Ines to make the one choice she doesn’t want to have to make. This book has so much potential, but . . . the plot meanders and takes a really long time to come together, probably because it takes place over such a long time frame. The storyline could have been tidier if it had taken place over a year instead of three. For such a complicated, unconventional adult story, the Lexile level came off as lower middle grade. If you’re big into atmosphere, I could see you really enjoying this book, but for the most part, it doesn’t have mass appeal.

      Catherine House

      Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism:  And Other Arguments for Economic Independence by Kristen R. Ghodsee–published 2018–political nonfiction–four stars:  An interesting argument on how capitalism commodifies and inhibits women from achieving financial freedom from men. In a capitalistic society that runs on women’s unpaid work and stereotypical gender roles instead of providing appropriate public social assistance programs that help women get access to birth control and pay for costly child care, women can never truly be free nor truly enjoy sex. I’m interested in learning more about sexual economics theory.

      Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence

      The Marriage Game by Sara Desai–published 2020–romance–two stars:  After a breakup with an influencer and a viral retaliation video, Layla moves from NYC back to Cali to start her own personnel business. Her parents who own a Michelin-starred Indian restaurant have the perfect office space for her in their building, but Layla’s dad leased the space to Sam, a former doctor turned corporate for-hire-to-fire man. Layla refuses to give up the space, and Sam, instantly attracted to Layla’s sass and curves, decides to let her stay put, as long as she lets him help her weed her way through a list of potential husbands from an arranged marriage website. A cute concept hides in this book, but the third person omniscient narration obscures it. The narrative jumps around and has gaps. When Layla goes on her dates with potential husbands, Sam tags along, and they both hold conversations with one another like the third person isn’t there. Every man that Layla goes on a date with is a stereotype. At the end of the novel, Sam hasn’t learned anything and is still an asshat when it comes to his sister, but he gets the girl–and isn’t that the only thing that matters in a romance novel at the end?

      The Marriage Game

      Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan–published 2020–contemporary fiction/romance–two stars:  Kwan can do wrong. Sex and Vanity fails to rise to the juicy, dishy vivaciousness of the Crazy Rich Asian series. The end.

      Sex and Vanity

      A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2) by Sabaa Tahir–published 2016–YAL fantasy–four stars:  Book two picks up right where the first left off, maintaining a breakneck pace through the first several chapters. Helene’s first-person perspective is introduced into the narrative alongside Laia’s and Elias’s. Book two isn’t quite as good as the first one, worrying me about where the storyline is going to go in the next two books. The plot in the middle of the book felt like boring filler, which I find tends to happen with longish YAL fantasy reads, but the pace picked up again towards the books’ end. In contrast to the pace, the magic reveals itself slowly, which tortures me. When I’m reading fantasy, I expect magic, magic, magic. The Commandant’s spy is revealed, and who it is is an interesting twist. I’ve got high hopes for book three.

      A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes, #2)

      Braving the Wilderness:  The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brené Brown–published 2017–nonfiction/self-help–four stars:  Somehow, the universe knew when to place this book in my hands. I could hear the lyrics of my favorite the Chicks song, “The Long Way Around,” buzzing around in the soundtrack of my mind the whole I time I was reading:

      Well, I fought with a stranger, and I met myself
      I opened my mouth, and I heard myself
      It can get pretty lonely when you show yourself
      Guess I could have made it easier on myself
      But I, I could never follow
      No, I, I could never follow.
      Brown offers powerful insight on how to stand firm in personal beliefs amid a world that’s forgotten the rules of civility. If you’re disenchanted with the state of politics and social media, pick up this book.

      Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone

      Friends and Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan–published 2020–contemporary fiction–three stars:  Elisabeth, a new mother and an author, hires Sam, a student at an all women’s college, to watch her baby three days a week while she writes her next book. Despite their age difference, the two women become close. Elisabeth meddles in Sam’s life, and Sam envies Elisabeth’s privilege. I’m conflicted here. Friends and Strangers parallels Kiley Reid’s Such a Fun Age in so many ways–highlighting themes ranging from racism, ageism, elitism, etc.–but it lacks the humor and the depth that Such a Fun Age achieves. Sullivan covers so many topics–new motherhood, capitalism, cattiness, influencers, IVF, Facebook forums and on and on–through her characters’ conversations, but it’s presented in a way that’s already been done before. There is no fresh take. And while she writes with ease, the sentences are short, as are the paragraphs, and sometimes plot events are just listed in a paragraph consisting of a sentence or two before moving on to the next one. I did like how Sullivan switches out of the present narrative to describe past events and does so frequently, which is refreshing. And I liked how even though this is told from Sam’s and Elisabeth’s third-person limited perspectives, it felt like I was reading a story in the first person. Maybe if I hadn’t read Such a Fun Age first, I would have enjoyed this more.

      Friends and Strangers

      The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich–published 2020–historical fiction–three stars:  Set In 1953 on a Chippewa reservation in North Dakota, Thomas works as a night watchman for a factory. When he receives notification that Congress is posing a bill that would take the reservation away from them, he devises a way for community members to travel to Washington D.C. to speak out against it. A young woman named Patrice, Thomas’s niece, works in the plant but takes some time off to travel to Minneapolis to look for her sister who’s missing, getting kidnapped upon stepping off the train in the city and swept up with the same shady business circle that her sister found herself in. Patrice escapes, returning without her sister but with something just as dear, changed by her time in the city. I adored Patrice as well as Wood Mountain and the wide range of characters and their development. Erdrich speckles the pages with deep, well-written thoughts like: Things started going wrong, as far as Zhaanat was concerned, when places everywhere were named for people–political figures, priests, explorers–and not for the real things that happened in these places–the dreaming, the eating, the death, the appearance of animals. I saw refreshing historical vernacular like “gadabout” and “toothsome,” which I’m totally stealing and am going to try to bring both of them back into fashion. Think I can get my 8th graders to start describing their crushes as toothsome instead of snacks? But, she structured the book in such a way that it detracted from the story. You’re not only privy to Patrice’s and Thomas’s stories as the focus of the third person narration, but at least 15 other characters as well— including a ghost and a couple of horses that ditch the homecoming parade to mate. The chapters are short and told from MOSTLY one perspective and then switch to a new point of view in the next, making it hard to get invested in any one character’s story at a time. Then other parts of the story are told in the first person, and another part is like a transcript. Verdict:  too many perspectives and too many different structures. Also, I found my eyes glazing over, like Thomas’s from lack of sleep while he’s on night watch, while reading about him on night watch. This book is based on the real-life events surrounding Erdrich’s own grandfather, and the story is totally interesting, but the structure will make the book inaccessible and unpalatable for some.

      The Night Watchman

      Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia–published 2020–historical fiction/horror–four stars:  The Haunting of Hill House meets Jane Eyre with hints of “The Yellow Wallpaper.”  In Mexico during the 1950s, gorgeous, headstrong Noemí gets sent from Mexico City by her father to check on her married cousin Catalina, who has sent a disturbing letter, in a remote part of the country. When Noemí arrives at High Place, the house itself and its inhabits exhibit strange behavior, and Noemí starts having terrible dreams. Determined to rescue her cousin, Noemí refuses to leave until she can escape with Catalina. My only criticism of this novel is that it could have been creepier. Moreno-Garcia layers on repetition, much like Shirley Jackson does in The Haunting of Hill House, subtly at first but oh so effectively. It was nice to watch the imagery of the ouroboros, mushrooms, fairy tales, the color yellow, etc. build into the narrative. At times you don’t know what’s real versus what’s a dream. This was just so well done and such a welcome break in the monotony of a mediocre adult fiction reading streak for me.

      Mexican Gothic

      We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie–published 2014–nonfiction–four stars:  Based on her TEDx talk on the same topic, Adichie provides her own insights on feminism. I’ve been reading oodles of feminist literature this year, and this short essay reiterates ideas outlined in what I’ve already read. If you’re just getting into feminist literature though, this might be a good starting point for you. I did like what she had to say here:  Because human beings lived then in a world in which physical strength was the most important attribute for survival; the physically stronger person was more likely to lead. And men in general are physically stronger. (There are of course many exceptions.) Today, we live in a vastly different world. The person more qualified to lead is not the physically stronger person. It is the more intelligent, the more knowledgeable, the more creative, more innovative. And there are no hormones for those attributes. A man is as likely as a woman to be intelligent, innovative, creative. We have evolved. But our ideas of gender have not evolved very much.

      We Should All Be Feminists

      The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams–published 1944–play–three stars:  I needed to read something in a legitimate honest-to-god book. I’d read 80 ebooks in a row, and I was starting to read books differently. Lucky for me, I have a book that belonged to my grandmother that’s four of Willaims’s plays. I jumped into The Glass Menagerie thinking that I’d never encountered it before, but I quickly realized that I must have read it long ago as it became increasingly familiar. It was pretty okay. I’m going to tackle A Streetcar Named Desire next when I need to touch paper again.

      The Glass Menagerie

      A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight–published 2020–thriller–four stars:  When an old law school friend calls Lizzie collect from Rikers wanting her to represent him because he’s about to be charged with his wife’s murder, Lizzie doesn’t want to get involved but promises him that she’ll find a lawyer to defend him. After bringing it up with her boss, Lizzie decides to take on the case, believing in Zach’s innocence, but as she digs deeper, she uncovers a hidden ugliness in her old friend’s life and the truth of the crime. Alternating with Lizzie’s perspective, Amanda’s story is told as it leads up to her death. I really, really, really enjoyed this thriller, a thriller miracle for me. The title is multilayered. Multiple storylines and twists come together nicely. I couldn’t put this book down the last 40 percent of it. However, the writing isn’t anything spectacular, and there were a couple of loose ends. I bet this book is going to be Goodreads’s best thriller of 2020.

      A Good Marriage

      One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London–published 2020–contemporary fiction/romance–four stars:  [Whispers to herself] I will not overanalyze or overthink this read. [A little bit louder now] I will not overanalyze or overthink this read. As a plus-size fashion blogger, Bea is used to internet trolls bashing her. But when she becomes Main Squeeze’s new leading lady, think a cheesier version of The Bachelor, after writing a blog post about the show’s lack of body diversity that goes viral, America and the internet can’t decide if they love her or hate her. Determined not to fall in love on set, Bea shuts down, even though the cast is made up of hunky men. She questions whether they really could fall in love with a girl like her. If you’re looking for something light-hearted and easy to escape into, this is the book for you.

      One to Watch

      The Swap by Robyn Harding–published 2020–thriller–three stars:  At the beginning of the year, I found novels with influencer main characters a novelty. Now, I’m so over it. If I read one more book this year that has a self-centered, stunning influencer as a main character I might consider a reading strike. Freya, a former influencer, lives with her former professional hockey player husband in a glass house in the woods. But this couple is no Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher. A little lonely, Freya makes friends with a teenaged Low, to whom she gives pottery classes. Low becomes obsessed with Freya and is furious when she makes another friend, Jaime. When Jaime and her husband go over to Freya’s house to do shrooms as a double date (is this, like, a thing?), the night gets out of control when some good, old-fashioned partner swapping occurs. Emotions run high, and the ugly truth behind Freya and her husband’s marriage comes to light. Since when is partner swapping such a thing in books? Maybe it’s just a thriller thing? I mean A Good Marriage featured some swinging too. So here’s the deal:  I didn’t hate this thriller, but it wasn’t anything fantastic.

      The Swap

      Why We Can’t Sleep:  Women’s New Midlife Crisis by Ada Calhoun–published 2020–feminist nonfiction–four stars: To prepare for my impending midlife crisis–hopefully it’s still a good decade away–I decided to read up on what to expect. While this book focuses on Gen Xers, this millennial totally related to the content. This book is particularly great because it features the voices of so many different women and lets other women know that they’re not alone.

      Why We Can't Sleep: Women's New Midlife Crisis

      The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett–published 2020–historical fiction–five stars:  Raised in a small Louisiana Black community, light-skinned twin sisters Stella and Desiree run away to New Orleans to escape the small-mindedness of their town. The twins’ lives diverge there, Desiree moving to Washington D.C. after Stella runs away without saying goodbye. Desiree marries an abusive man and escapes back home with her daughter Jude. Although Desiree doesn’t want to stay in Mallard, she moves back in with her mother, enrolling Jude in school, where Judes suffers for years in a hostile environment because she’s darker than the other Black children. Stella, meanwhile, makes the decision to pass as white and marries a banker, and even though she’s wealthy and has everything she could ever ask for, her lies haunt her. She too has a daughter, and Stella’s and Desiree’s girls eventually cross paths, forcing the twins to confront their pasts and their mistakes. Bennett is masterful at weaving in and out of different decades and perspectives. I loved how the two generations’ stories interlaced. Add. This. Book. To. Your. TBR. Now. This is the best fiction I’ve read all year.

      The Vanishing Half

      Aurora Rising (The Aurora Cycle #1) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff–published 2019–YAL science fiction–three stars: Read Brian Sanderson’s Skyward instead. There are so many eerie parallels between Skyward and Aurora Rising. Both feature female protagonists with latent, world-saving powers, space fighting, and quippy AIs–just to mention a few. Aurora Rising has too many narrators and not enough worldbuilding. Despite this, I can understand why teenagers would like it, but I won’t be recommending it to my students.

      Aurora Rising (The Aurora Cycle, #1)

      (All cover art taken from Goodreads.)

       

      Posted in books, reading, Uncategorized | 4 Comments | Tagged book reviews, books, mini book reviews
    • Mini Book Reviews June 2020

      Posted at 11:27 am by Mrs. Ram Jam, on July 3, 2020

      Dead to Her by Sarah Pinborough–published 2020–thriller–two stars:  Setting a thriller in Savannah sounds like a sure bet. Spanish moss and haunted city squares seem like the perfect suspense recipe. Alas, this book doesn’t do its setting justice. Marcie, a former waitress who has married into the upper echelons of Southern society, befriends Keisha, a black British bombshell who is freshly married to Marcie’s husband’s law partner. There is some literal weird voodoo happening in this book, it’s too long, and the ending sucks. The end. Don’t read it.

      Dead to Her

      Godshot by Chelsea Bieker–published 2020–contemporary fiction–three stars: Ummmm, I’ve read tons of bizarre books, but this one might be the weirdest one of all. Fourteen-year-old Lacey May belongs to a cult. Her mother leaves her, and Lacey moves in with her Grandma Cherry, a woman who plays with taxidermied rodents and carries a cane made out of bull testicles. The writing is captivating. I had a hard time putting the novel down, but I also had a hard time with the child rape, the incest, and the teenage pregnancies. Other issues I had? I could go on and on. Lacey May works as a phone sex operator. A person getting away with shooting another person. All of the god glitter. Nobody in the town of Peaches stood up for the poor girls. Ultimately, I know this is a work of fiction and warns of believing in something blindly, but just because it’s readable doesn’t make it a four-star read.

      Godshot

      Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips–published 2019–fiction/mystery–four stars: This. Is. How. A. Mystery. Is. Done. Two girls vanish from a remote Russian city. Even though each chapter was told from a brand new character’s perspective and those characters didn’t seem like they had anything to do with the case, I didn’t even care. The girls’ disappearance was always lingering in the background. All of the characters’ lives overlapped by the end.  Not only did Philips do a phenomenal job laying out the starkness of the Russian setting and the corruption of the Russian government, but she also delved deep into societal obstacles that women still face. And the ending, gahhhhhhhh! Chills. Chills. Chills.

      Disappearing Earth

      Happy & You Know It by Laura Hankin–published 2020–contemporary fiction/chick-lit–four stars: Clap your hands! Clap clap! Clap your hands! Clap clap! This book made me happy and I know it. Seriously. (I know I’m lame; I can’t help it.) Booted from a band just before making it big, Claire finds herself crooning toddler tunes for cash to a baby playgroup. During the playgroup, the Upper East Side mommies drink wine and enjoy the free samples that are heaped on their leader Whitney, a Momstagrammer. Claire forms an unlikely friendship with one of the moms named Amara, gets sucked into their group, and discovers the real reason why the mommies can do it all. Y’all. I found the writing hilarious. Hankin makes penning funny similies look easy and can turn that hilarious simile into a metaphor that lasts the whole paragraph. The women drop the F-bomb, and it’s refreshing to see it in writing. Even though the book is borderline far-fetched at the end, who cares? I needed this fun read.

      Happy & You Know It

       

      The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein–published 2017–nonfiction/history–four stars: Although this book is more than dry in a few spots, this is an important read, outlining just how pervasive systemic racism is in the United States. For example, I had no clue that the people responsible for the interstate system purposely routed it through Black suburban areas, destroying Black people’s homes and forcing them to move into over-crowded Black urban areas.

      The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America

      Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore–published 2020–fiction/time travel–four stars: Moment of honesty: At first I couldn’t buy into this book. On New Year’s Eve the night before Oona’s 19th birthday at the stroke of midnight, Oona time travels to 2015, waking up disoriented and in an aged body. As it turns out, this happens every year at the same time, and Oona experiences her life out of order from year 19 on. If you can move past the unbelievable premise, apparently this only happens to Oona and nobody else, then you might enjoy this mashup of 50 First Dates, Back to the Future II, and The Time Traveler’s Wife.

      Oona Out of Order

      You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis Coe–published 2020–nonfiction/history–three stars: This is the first biography that I’ve read in years, and I’m dustier than a forefather’s boots after a hard ride on a horse when it comes to the American Revolution’s history. Aside from the catchy and borderline risqué title, the book’s quirky writing style fell off the proverbial saddle far too early in the ride. Coe skims the surface of what history readily teaches about Washington and his life, instead delving deep into the forgotten: the many illnesses he overcame, his life as a gentleman farmer, and the often neglected fact that American was founded on slave ownership and that Washington indeed owned slaves. It’s refreshing to see a book that gives the facts that are often left out of textbooks, but the book failed to hold my interest throughout.

      You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington

      Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella–published 2020–mystery thriller–three stars: Despite Cadence’s brother’s suicide at Harvard during his senior year, Cadence decides to attend Harvard anyway that fall, partially for closure and for figuring out what led to her mentally ill brother’s death. When she starts to hear voices in her head, she begins to question her own sanity, but the voices can’t be ignored. Rant alert: If. I. See. One. More. Naturally. Born. Red-headed. Protagonist. In. The. Next. 50. Fiction. Books. I. Read. I. Might. Scream. Statistically, redheads only occur naturally in 1-2 percent of the world’s population, so why is there an inordinate number of them as female leads in novels? From this point forward, I’m adding an extra column to my book tracking spreadsheet to track this mathematically impossible proliferation of gingers in fiction. And before my soapbox gets too sudsy causing me to slip off, I’m over books set at the Ivies. I’m also over books where a high school protagonist only wants to get into the Ivies. And I’m going to extend my rant to all top twenty universities for that matter.  How about a little collegiate diversity? Guess where Serritella went to school? You get one guess. Now that I’ve rinsed off my lather, the ghosts were contrived, and I didn’t like the way the ghosts’ dialogue with Cadence was done. The book was too long. I disliked the storyline. At the end of the book, there was a five years later chapter and an epilogue after that. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times–#deathtotheepilogue.

      Ghosts of Harvard

      A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #1) by Holly Jackson–published 2019–YAL mystery/thriller–two stars: Pippa, a high school senior working on a capstone project, investigates the closed case murder of a teenage girl because Pippa doesn’t believe that the girl’s boyfriend, Sal, committed it. Where do I start with this trope-laden novel? How about the title? I can’t stomach the phrase “good girl” anymore. Hello, it’s 2020? What about feminism? The so-called good girl also breaks into a house and faces no consequences for it. Sounds a whole lot like white privilege to me. Jackson replaces character development with giving characters nicknames and terribly punny dialogue. This book should have been written in the first person instead of third-person limited to help the lacking character development. The detective work was too easy; everything felt clinically clean. And if it was that easy for a teenager to figure out, then why didn’t professionals figure it out before? And guess where the aspiring teenage detective wants to go to college: Columbia. (Vomit. See above rant.) I do not get why this is rated more than 4 stars on Goodreads at all.

      A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #1)

      Everywhere You Don’t Belong by Gabriel Bump–published 2020–contemporary fiction–three stars: Following the story of Claude, a young Black man whose parents have abandoned him to live with his grandma on the South Side of Chicago, the narrative captures his childhood and then follows him to college in Missouri. This book has massive potential and airs on the literary side, but it could have more power as a YAL novel. Bump did an excellent job of capturing Claude’s childhood perspective, and that voice tried to grow with Claude as he aged, but it wasn’t as masterful as it was in the beginning. I felt like the allusions to Chicago and historical events were glaring instead of woven in to highlight the narrative. Some passages had that whole I’m-going-to-teach-you-a-theme vibe that should have been more subtly executed. But the writing in other places was superb. Look at these. (I added further clarification about the quote in a bracket): 1. “Brother,” a bearded one [a white college boy to Claude] said to me, “can’t you help us party?” He was pathetic. He was sad, on the verge of tears. If he didn’t party soon—what was he going to do? He was lost and scared, empty, hopeless. I imagined him in a library, or any quiet setting; I imagined him struggling with his own thoughts. 2. Whitney was terrified of what most terrifies white people in liberal-minded professional environments— Whitney didn’t want Simone to call her a racist. I’m looking forward to picking up another of Bump’s novels in the future.

      Everywhere You Don't Belong

      Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo–published 2020–YAL/poetry–four stars: Camino’s dad who lives in New York City visits her once a year in the Dominican Republic. In NYC, Yahaira resents her father’s yearly trek home to the Dominican Republic. When a plane traveling from NYC to the Dominican Republic crashes, Camino’s and Yahaira’s lives collide, both trying to make sense of the aftermath. The poetry is fire, but I disliked how Camino didn’t tell anyone who loved her that El Cero was a predator, allowing her loved ones to think she was encouraging him. If people were warning her about him, why not speak up and tell them that their worries were warranted? (Also, you’ll never believe where Camino wants to go to college . . . Columbia anyone? Sigh.) Anyway, here’s some of Acevedo’s gorgeous verse: dirt-packed, water-backed, third-world smacked: they say, the soil beneath a country’s nail, they say. I love my home. But it might be a sinkhole.

      Clap When You Land

      Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1) by Seanan McGuire–published 2016–YAL fantasy–four stars: I love a good book about doors that lead to other worlds. Nancy finds herself back in the real world after deciding to make sure that living in an underworld world is the right choice. But upon her arrival home, her parents who have feared her dead after her long absence send her to boarding school, where other children who have been thrust out of their found worlds learn to cope. Most of the students long to go back, looking for doorways around every corner. As the new girl, Nancy becomes the prime suspect when a murderer goes on a spree at the school. There’s a Lewis Carroll nonsense vibe to this book that makes my Alice in Wonderland soul sigh in delight.

      Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children, #1)

      The Lies That Bind by Emily Giffin–published 2020–contemporary fiction–two stars: Inevitably an established author is going to write a World War II historical fiction novel or a 9/11 love story. More authors should just say no to both options. I’d love to give Giffin the benefit of the doubt here, but her already proven novelist skills are rudimentary at best in this overplayed storyline set during 9/11. The writing is beyond generic. Her descriptions of the terrorist attack lack emotion, creating no mood as a result. Like a lot of other books I’ve been reading recently set in the ’90s and early 2000s, Giffin plops allusions into the narrative with no real finesse. It makes for stilted reading.

      The Lies That Bind

      Mindf*ck (Books 1-5) by S.T. Abby–published 2016–dark romance–three stars: I’m reviewing the entire series in one mini book review because 1. These are more like novellas than books and 2. I read them all in the same month. Normally, this isn’t something I would pick up because I mainly read books I can get from the library, but a friend told me I had to check the out. And I’m all for reading out of my normal reading zone. Lana, a serial killer, falls in love with the enemy–an FBI agent named Logan. Throughout the novels, the real reason behind Lana’s past and what’s made her become a murderer is revealed, making the reader question their moral compass. The second book in the series is the best one. And while the entire series is totally binge-able and a little bit of a guilty pleasure, the writing itself is merely competent.

      Serpent & Dove (Serpent & Dove #1) by Shelby Mahurin–published 2019–YAL fantasy–two stars: I knew the universe would punish me for reading 6 novellas in a month; however, I didn’t know it would seek its revenge swiftly nor in the form of a lengthy YAL fantasy book that the masses (for reasons I cannot ascertain) adore. Similar to the setting and storyline in Sin Eater, S & D takes place in an alternate version of Europe, France from what I understand here, and focuses on how religious zealots can inflict harm on the world when they possess little knowledge about what they’re fighting against, in this case, witches. Reid, a witch hunter, is forced to marry Lou–a plucky, bawdy witch–without realizing he’s married to the enemy. Every plotline in this story lacks originality. A seventh-grader could have constructed the syntax lining the pages. Since Mahurin went to the trouble of describing how the magic works in the world, she could have done a better job making the magic come alive–instead, it’s an afterthought. Just plopping a plot into an alternate version of history isn’t worldbuilding. Lou and Coco shamelessly flirt with Ansel, a 16-year-old. Gross. Lou and Reid have sex for the first time on the rooftop while it’s freezing during Yuletide like some kind of salacious Christmas carol gone wrong. (Sex on the rooftop, click click click! Down through the chimney with good Saint Dick.) Gross, gross, gross. Overall, this novel amounts to nothing more than a commercially placating YAL money grab. Read Sarah J. Maas or Holly Black instead.

      Serpent & Dove (Serpent & Dove, #1)

      Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston–published 2019–romance/LGBTQ+–four stars:  Considering I’m a year late to singing this book’s praises, you probably don’t need to read this review because you’ve probably already read it. For some reason, I kept backlisting this book, but in an attempt to finally listen to an audiobook to completion, I enlisted my high school friend, an audiobook aficionado, to recommend one. She said this one was excellent, so I listened. And I listened. And I listened. And I listened. And that’s the problem with audiobooks and me. I’d rather read it because I enjoy it more and it takes less time. I need to see words on a page. I need to see how the sentences form. I need to see where there are breaks in chapters. However, this particular audiobook was excellent. Now to the story itself, the First Son of the United States Alex falls hard, and in once instance into a very expensive royal wedding cake, for his rival across the pond, Prince Henry.  But how can Alex and Henry keep their romance a secret without inciting an international political disaster? Alex and Henry’s love story radiates off the page (iPhone?) with warmth and humor. (If I hadn’t just finished binging Schitt’s Creek, I’d say Alex and Henry’s love story is my new favorite, but David and Patrick’s has won that title.) The characters are well-developed and diverse. McQuiston writes with wit and unmistakable style. I also love that she’s an LSU grad, Geaux Tigers! Is this book closer to a five star read? Sure, for some, and it might have been for me too if not for a couple of different reasons. First of all, I should have read it instead of listened to it. And secondly, no matter how witty emails between two lovers can be, I don’t want to read/listen to them. I hate reading other people’s steamy emails/letters/whatever IRL. Why would I want to read them in a book?

      Red, White & Royal Blue

      Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld–published 2020–contemporary fiction–contemporary fiction–two stars:  In this novel, Sittenfeld writes what Hillary Clinton’s life could have been like if she never married Bill. While the story is well-researched and a plausible what-if, it failed to engage me, managing instead to signal my icky radar into high alert. If you think that imagining former presidents having sex with their wives is akin to thinking about what your parents do between the sheets, then this book is not for you. A naked Bill plays the saxophone for Hills, gag. Furthermore, watermelons, of the literal kind, are mentioned all too frequently by Bill. I could not read a single line of Bill’s dialogue without hearing his good-ol-boy twang in my head. And Sittenfeld’s chosen portrayal of Hillary perplexes me. Hillary can’t get over how handsome Bill is. Hillary just wants to be loved. Hillary comes off as stiff and aloof; it’s even reflected in the sentence structure. Hillary is ruthless. Did Sittenfeld want to make Hillary unlikeable? And while this is an alternative historical narrative, I had a hard time digesting Sittenfeld’s choice to erase Carol Moseley Braun, the first Black female US Senator, from history so Hillary could get elected to Congress. This is, by far, my least favorite Sittenfeld venture.

      Rodham


      All cover art taken from Goodreads.

      As always, any discussion is welcome!

      Posted in books, reading, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged book reviews, books, mini book reviews
    • Mini Book Reviews May 2020

      Posted at 7:35 pm by Mrs. Ram Jam, on June 11, 2020
      beach read
      a heart so fierce
      afterlife
      untamed
      catch and kill
      sadie

      Who is in desperate need of a good book to read? I read some fantastic books last month.

      And I’m honestly curious here; since when has it become a trend to write without quotation marks to denote dialogue? Not. A. Fan.


      The Near Witch (The Near Witch, #1)  by Victoria Schwab–published 2011–YAL fantasy–two stars:  Can I start by saying that I love Schwab? Her Shades of Magic series shades me 8 different kinds of fangirling any time I read her name, so OF COURSE I had high expectations for TNW, her debut novel. Lexi lives in Near on the edge of a moor, and years ago, the town’s councilmen killed a witch, who they thought was responsible for the death of a boy. When the wind starts singing and children start vanishing, their disappearances are blamed on a stranger who’s come to town. This book just isn’t the same kind of caliber as Schwab’s later novels. It nearly bored me into binging Schitt’s Creek on Netflix instead of finishing, but I plodded along, barely avoiding picking up the remote. This may sound strange, but I had an issue with Lexi’s name. The book possesses an old-world magic vibe, so Lexi sounded too contemporary.

      The Near Witch (The Near Witch, #1)


      If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane–published 2020–chick lit–three stars:  When Laurie’s boyfriend of 18 years dumps her out of the blue, she and her coworker Jamie, a hottie who’s trying to make partner at their law firm, decide on a fauxmance to make Laurie’s ex jealous and to help Jaime look like less of a womanizer in the eyes of their bosses. I’m sure you can figure out where the majority of the plot goes from there . . . I might have missed something, but I’m unsure how the title fits in with the book. I struggled with the dialogue in places too; my not-up-to-date-status with British slang left me missing some things. Also, are you aware that the British equivalent of MILF is yummy mummy? Mind blown. (Also, gag.) However, I did love that this was solely from Laurie’s first-person point of view. It seems like every romance novel I’ve read recently alternates chapters from one love interest’s perspective and then jumps to the other’s.

      If I Never Met You


      American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins–published 2020–contemporary fiction–two stars:  American Dirt has been surrounded in controversy since its release. While I was hesitant to read it, I decided to open it to make my own decisions about it. Lydia and her small son, Luca, are the only survivors of a drug cartel massacre in Acapulco. Facing the cartel’s retaliation, Lydia and Luca are left with no choice but to try to make it to the United States for safety. While I understand this is a work of fiction written by an author who researched her topic, this book is a prime example of why the #ownvoices movement matters. I even have a really hard time reading books written by men anymore where there’s a female protagonist, let alone a book like this. I’ll give Cummins the benefit of the doubt because I don’t think she meant any harm in writing this book, but I had other issues with this book as well. It’s written in third person omniscient, my least favorite point of view, and I didn’t feel like the narrative benefitted from it. The narrative was painstakingly slow. It seemed as if every waking moment was described. Especially towards the end of the book, there were paragraphs that were pages long. Granted, I was reading it on my Kindle on a size four font, but did there really need to be a five-page paragraph that only had ten sentences in it? Cummins also does that really annoying bit that C-list historical fiction writers are known for where they try to teach you about things instead of letting the narrative happen.

      American Dirt


      Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite–published 2019–YA contemporary fiction–three stars:  A family curse? A shipwreck?  Extremely early-onset Alzheimers? Shoddily constructed embezzlement plot? Modern epistolary (cringes–#deathtotheepistolary)? This book was too much, but it has that whole cutesy writing vibe I like, even though I didn’t quite buy into some of the allusions Alaine made. Would a teenager bring up Jeff Goldblum?

      Dear Haiti, Love Alaine


      Cork Dork:  A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste by Bianca Bosker–published 2017–nonfiction–four stars:  Totally in the running for being the book with the longest title that I’ll read this year. Yeesh. Bosker quit her day job, which was working at The Huffington Post as a technology writer, to try to become a certified sommelier. I found this book fascinating. Not only does it weave in her trials and tribulations of navigating working in restaurants and the complexities and rigorous training of becoming a sommelier, but it also discusses the history of wine, wine table service, and the science of smell and taste. This book may not be for everyone, but I particularly loved it because, duhhhh wine, and how it highlights just how hard it is to work in the service industry. Bring on the riesling. Cheers.

      Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste


      City of Ghosts (Cassidy Blake #1) by Victoria Schwab–published 2018–middle-grade fantasy/horror–four stars:  Both of Cassidy’s parents are bonafide ghost story writers; however, her parents don’t know that Cassidy can actually see ghosts. In fact, her best friend is one. When her parents get offered to turn their books into a TV show, they pack Cassidy and their cat up and head to Edinborough, the City of Ghosts, to film their first episode. For a middle-grade book, these ghosts are legit scary. This book is everything Katherine Arden’s Small Spaces wasn’t but could have been.

      City of Ghosts (Cassidy Blake, #1)


      Untamed by Glennon Doyle–published 2020–memoir/self-help–four stars:  Even though I rated this four stars, I plan on recommending the shit out of this book. It’s the best self-help book, a genre I typically eschew, I’ve ever read. Doyle, a well-known Christian author and motivational speaker who left her husband after she fell in love with a woman, writes exquisitely and honestly. It’s empowering in one sentence, and then in the next, she’ll write a truth that will tear you apart. And what I love about this book is that Doyle never stops questioning the world that she finds herself in. I loved the structure of the book: pithy essays (chapters?) layered with a few longer ones. However, I didn’t relate to what she had to say about “Knowing.” She talks about looking deep within yourself instead of relying on others and society, and trust what your mind and the “Knowing” are telling you. And while I do believe that to a certain extent and I know she’s trying to say you’re the only one who knows you and can make the best decisions for you, I don’t always trust my decisions. Also, anytime she relayed dialogue, it was full-blown sentences that didn’t really read like a true conversation.  Let me leave you with this quote from the book:  “It is difficult for a woman to be healthy in a culture that is still so very sick. It is the ultimate victory for a woman to find a way to love herself and other women while existing in a world insisting that she has no right to.” Preach, Doyle. Preach. Plus–how gorg is this cover?

      Untamed


      A Good Neighborhood by Therese Ann Fowler–published 2020–contemporary fiction–two stars:  Brad moves his blended family into an older neighborhood, leveling the original house and raising a McMansion in its place. Valerie, a black woman who is also an ecologist, files a lawsuit against him and the city when her beloved oak tree starts dying, a byproduct of Brad’s inground pool. Despite the animosity between the two families, Juniper, Brad’s stepdaughter, and Xavier, Valerie’s son, begin dating. Don’t bother with this book. I know I’m a white girl, but this book read like the author, an older white woman, is trying to show off how woke she is. A black boy gets unjustly accused of raping a white girl, there are southern good ol’ boys, there’s gaslighting, there’s pedophilia, there’s a teenage girl who makes a chastity vow, and there’s suicide. Fowler tries to do too much at once, and I don’t think white women should be telling the story of what it’s like to be a black male, again #ownvoices. Speaking of storytelling, what the actual f*ck is going on with the POV? It’s third-person omniscient, and then there are parts that are narrated by the collective “we” of the other neighbors. Fowler does try to share a message with the “we” POV at the end of the novel, but aren’t “we” a little past the point of blatantly stating the message at a story’s end?

      A Good Neighborhood


      The Black Prism (Lightbringer #1) by Brent Weeks–published 2010–high fantasy–four stars:  Why are high fantasy books so long? I really would have liked this one a bit more (This is close to a three for me, but I rounded up.) if it had been 200 pages less. I still haven’t figured out who the black prism is either, but I do no know that Gavin is the Prism and there’s a pretty great twist pretty early on in the story.  It was heavy on the war parts and light on the parts really pivotal to the storyline. There were a few places where I didn’t know what was happening or how other characters knew that some characters had gotten captured or switched sides or whatever. At one point I even went back through five previous chapters to see where a character got captured because I had thought I missed it, but I hadn’t. It just wasn’t described. I thought Liv’s character was written pretty ship-shoddily. I don’t know if I’ll continue this series.

      The Black Prism (Lightbringer, #1)


      Sadie by Courtney Summers–published 2018–YAL–five stars:  Whoa. This is unlike any YAL book I’ve ever read. It’s like the best kind of mash-up of Taylor Jenkins Reid and Gillian Flynn. It’s the darkest YA read I’ve ever encountered, but I think YAL needs more literature like this. It was slow to get into, but a quarter of the way through the book, I couldn’t put it down. I like how it switched between the podcast about the mystery of Sadie’s disappearance and then Sadie’s narrative. I love how the ending left me, and will leave you too, unsatisfied.  And the writing in general. Wow. Take a look at these two magnificent sentences:  “It’s the kind of motel that makes you feel every one of your secrets. The cost of the stay is only how much you’re willing to live with yourself.”

      Sadie


      A Heart So Fierce and Broken (Cursebreakers, #2) by Brigid Kemmerer–published 2020–YAL fantasy–four stars:  Do yourself a favor, and pick up the first book of this series (a retelling of Beauty and the Beast), so you can get to this second one. The writing in both novels is less than stellar, but the storyline more than makes up for it. This book switches gears and introduces new characters as the main ones, a smooth move and the perfect way to move the story along.

      A Heart So Fierce and Broken (Cursebreakers, #2)


      The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms–published 2019–chick lit–three stars:  When Amy’s estranged husband comes back to Pennsylvania from a three-year parental hiatus in Hong Kong to try to reconcile with their children, Amy heads to a library conference in New York City and ends up staying for the entire summer, facing a major case of mom guilt the whole time. Her college roommate Thalia, who runs a woman’s magazine, features Amy in the magazine, giving her a make-over. Amy gets laid, Amy gets a blow-out, Amy has white wine lunches, Amy gets better bras, Amy trends on Twitter, yadda yadda yadda. While the writing at times was witty, particularly the missives from her daughter, it just wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen already. I found the term #momspringa cringe-worthy, and the ending of the book failed to tug at my heartstrings as it should have.

      The Overdue Life of Amy Byler


      Pretty Things by Janelle Brown–published 2020–thriller–three stars:  Nina, a grifter with her sexy Irish boyfriend by her side, heads to Lake Tahoe to pull a con on a rich social media influencer named Vanessa whose father wronged Nina’s family when she was in high school. For starters, no thriller needs to be nearly 500 pages like this one is. The story alternated chapters between Nina’s and Vanessa’s first-person points of view, often resulting in the same plot events being told from both characters’ perspectives. Why? Why? Why? Why? As a reader, I don’t want to read a plot event that I just read AGAIN even if it is told from someone else’s POV. So many pages could have been saved if the storyline could have just moved ahead. This is my biggest hindrance to rating this a four because I really liked the storyline. If you want to read something shorter and faster-paced that touches on the dangers of social media usage, read Followers or Follow Me instead.

      Pretty Things


      Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid–published 2019–contemporary fiction–four stars:  I had to wait eons to get this delivered to my Libby app, but it was worth the wait. Don’t let this novel fool you. It’s got a The Nanny Diaries vibe simply because Emira is a nanny to a wealthy family and has a sweet, tender relationship with her charge Briar, an inquisitive, loquacious toddler ignored by her mother, but it’s also a discourse on race, privilege, and ageism. It starts with Emira, Briar in tow, being accused of kidnapping while at an upscale supermarket because Emira’s black and taking care of a white child. Then Briar’s seemingly well-meaning mother, Alix, attempts to make Emira one of her friends. You will hate Alix. Emira’s boyfriend will make you uncomfortable. If you’re white, this book will make you check your privilege and question your implicit bias.

      Such a Fun Age


      Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes by Kathleen West–published 2020–contemporary fiction–three stars:  It’s refreshing to a see a story set in a high school that focuses on professional, knowledgeable teachers and administrators instead of a story about teachers with a devious plotline where teachers are criminals or caricatured as idiotic for comedic effect. There are too many Bad Teachers, AP Bios, and Dark Vanessas to view or read. There are so many novels that focus on students instead of teachers. West, a veteran teacher herself, writes a tale about a liberal English teacher (ohhhh hello there) who manages to get a smear campaign issued against her due to helicopter parents and a nasty, secret Facebook parent group that gossips about the teachers and happenings at a privileged high school. One over-involved parent, Julia, even interferes with the theater department casting, sneaks into the school, and accidentally punches a student when the cast list is posted. And of course there’s a viral video capturing it all. People who don’t work in schools have no idea how much scrutiny and criticism that teachers face due to parents, particularly those at high performing schools.  I liked this book, and it was probably closer to a 3 1/2 star rating, but there were far too many alternating third-person limited narrators.

      Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes


      Afterlife by Julia Alvarez–published 2020–contemporary fiction–four stars:  Antonia, recently widowed, helps an undocumented immigrant get his girlfriend safely from Colorado to Vermont at the same time that her mentally ill sister goes missing. Read this instead of American Dirt. The prose, literary and fresh, propels the story at a nice pace. However, be warned that the book lacks quotation marks to signal dialogue.

      Afterlife


      Catch and Kill:  Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow–published 2019–nonfiction–four stars:   I’ve been an avid NBC news freak since I was a tiny person watching the Today show because my mom had it on every morning. My friend and I have even been those people who on a girls’ trip to New York City a few years ago braved the cold to be part of the plaza crowd to catch a glimpse of Savannah, Al, and Matt. I even shook Lauer’s hand that morning, like thousands before me, and he told me it was nice to meet me. Anyway, I had no clue that Farrow was the one who broke the Harvey Weinstein scandal for The New Yorker, let alone that he had begun working on the piece during his time as a correspondent for NBC. Who knew that Farrow was followed–with real spies–once he started his inquires. Ultimately, 70 percent of this book is really fascinating and does a great job of fleshing out corruption in the movie and news industry as well as making sure the victims’ stories are told, but 30 percent of this book is slow. I’ve also seen in the past few days criticisms of Farrow’s version in a few news outlets, describing him as a sellout looking for a way to further his career, but that doesn’t detract from the hard investigative work that it took to out the criminal sexual behavior of powerful men.

      Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators


      Beach Read by Emily Henry–published 2020–romance–four stars: January moves to her deceased father’s Michigan lake house to heal and write her next romance novel. Her next-door neighbor ends up being her college rival, also a published author. Deciding to swap writing genres for their upcoming books, the two make a bet about who can sell theirs first and spend their weekends doing research for the two genres together. So, I rounded up to four on this one. The plotline is cute and so’s January and Gus’s rat-tat-tat. There are some stunner insights written quite well. I underlined more parts of this novel than I have any other romance. But, the writing dragged here and there, and I had a hard time swallowing when the characters called the University of Michigan “U of M.” Like a good little Big 10 alum, I’ve always referred to it as simply Michigan and owned a “Muck Fichigan” t-shirt for game days. Is it really called U of M? Somebody help this Illinois grad out.

      Beach Read


      All Adults Here by Emma Straub–published 2020–contemporary fiction–three stars: This is a perfectly fine family drama that’s well written and hits on several social themes. But this reader is ever so fatigued, and I was hoping for a mindless read when I picked this book up. I’ve read other Straub novels, and I wasn’t expecting this one to be so deep. The novel chronicles Astrid and her adult children–Elliot, Porter, and Nicky–by switching out chapters told from a different character’s perspective using a limited third-person POV (for the most part). You see Astrid’s, Elliot’s, and Porter’s points of view. There are chapters told from Cecelia’s, Nicky’s daughter, POV, and then also her new middle school BFF’s perspective. Then there are a few other chapters told from other character’s points of view as well. Here’s the reason why I’m tired: I’m tired of working so hard while I’m reading. Are eight different perspectives needed to tell a stand-alone novel in a 368-page space? I get it when you’re trying to build suspense, it’s a novel in a series, or focusing in on a few key characters, but what other point is there? Is it necessary to introduce a brand new perspective in the second to last chapter when that character has been dead from the first chapter and the story has been told chronologically from the get-go? No. Is an epilogue needed? The last two chapters really didn’t even need to be included in the novel at all. Why. Are. There. So. Many. Long. Paragraphs? Give the readers a break! However, Straub nails middle school angst on the head.

      All Adults Here


      Valentine Gloria, a 14-year-old Mexican-American girl living in Odessa, Texas, in the 70s, makes the worst decision of her life and gets in a vehicle with a boy who later rapes her. She escapes across the desert, finds a farmhouse, and comes upon a pregnant Mary Rose and her little girl, begging for their help. First and foremost this is a tale about women and oppression. Nobody listens to Gloria and nobody listens to Mary Rose. You forget that just 50 years ago women still had it pretty shitty. But I’m going to be a bit of a broken record here; I would have liked this book a whole lot more if there weren’t so many damn perspectives and long paragraphs. It does the same POV thing that All Adults Here does but then throws in Mary Rose’s chapters from a first-person point of view. It even waits until the second to last chapter to introduce a new character’s POV, unnecessary to the storyline and told from some weird “we” perspective. And furthermore, this is like the second book in a week that I’ve read that uses ABSOLUTELY NO QUOTATION marks for dialogue. Why? No dashes even to set it off for the most part and often dialogue would just happen in the middle of a paragraph too. Why make the reader’s job harder? I’m all for being innovative with writing and whatever, but Wetmore isn’t James Joyce, and at least Joyce had the decency to use dashes instead.

      Valentine


      P.S. After writing this post, it appears I’m a POV snob. Sorry not sorry.

      P.P.S. All cover art is taken from Goodreads.com.

      P.P.P.S. As always, any discussion is welcome.

      P.P.P.P.S. Please pardon any unsightly typos/grammatical mistakes. 1. WordPress and I are not getting along today. 2. I can’t get Grammarly to work properly right now. I’ve proofread this until I’ve gone cross-eyed and just need to be done with it.

      Posted in books, reading, Uncategorized | 2 Comments | Tagged book reviews, books, mini book reviews, reading
    • A Little Thing Tale: Little Thing Meets Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

      Posted at 11:01 am by Mrs. Ram Jam, on May 16, 2020

      Earlier this year, I decided it was time for Little Thing to finally get her Harry Potter on. I would have introduced her to Hogwarts sooner, but she’s only recently begun showing interest in books that don’t feature kitties. And lacking the motivation to read it herself, I knew I would have to tackle reading book one out loud to my Little Muggle.

      (Even though I am an English teacher, I abhor reading things aloud. I suck it up buttercup and do it for my students occasionally when I can’t find a better, free audio version, and I always read to Little Thing before bedtime, but acccckkkkkkkkkk.)

      And HP aloud poses all kinds of issues:

      1. Have you ever tried to read Hagrid’s brogue out loud? YEEESSSSSHHHHH. So hard. I’d rather wrangle baby Norbert the dragon IRL and have him singe off my-coronavirus-ignored-overly-bushy eyebrows (Holy shit. I have Hermione-Granger-book-one eyebrows right now.) than botch Hagrid’s dialect.
      2. I had to think to myself Quirrell rhymes with squirrel every damn time Quirrel’s name appeared in print.
      3. Was I pronouncing Wingardium Leviosa with enough conviction to make a feather lift off a table? Would it make Hermione Granger proud?
      4. Should I read all the dialogue in a British accent?
      5. HOW AM I GOING TO READ SNAPE WITHOUT GIVING EVERYTHING AWAY? HOW AM I GOING TO READ SNAPE WHEN EVERY TIME I THINK OF SNAPE, I THINK OF ALAN RICKMAN, AND I’M STILL NOT OVER THAT HE’S NO LONGER AMONG US.

      Anyway, Little Thing and I finished last week, and she’s now obsessed, even practicing enchantments with her American Girl dolls.

      I kept track of some of her observations while we read. I only wish I would have kept track from the beginning. Here are her best ones:


      Little Thing:  You know Snape sounds a whole lot like snake.


      Little Thing:  You know what’s fun to say–Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff.

      Me:  What about Gryffindor? Or Slytherin? Aren’t those fun to say too?

      Little Thing:  Nope. Not as fun as Hufflepuff. It satisfies me. Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff. HUFFLE-PUFFFFFFFFFFF.


      Me: [reading the part where Malfoy steals Neville’s Remembrall and the subsequent Malfoy and Harry broom scene; looks up, and sees Little Thing plugging her ears] What’s wrong? Why are you plugging your ears?

      Little Thing:  Harry’s gonna be in so much trouble. I don’t want to hear it. He might get expelled. [pauses] What’s expelled mean again?


      Me:  [when Harry tells Neville] “You’re worth twelve of Malfoy . . . The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn’t it? And where’s Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin.”

      Little Thing:  Stinking Slytherin! Stinkin Slytherin!

      Little Thing: [ten minutes later] Stinking Slytherin! Stinkin Slytherin!


      Little Thing:  Do you know what I think has been killing the unicorn? A four hundred head dog. He’s got the sharpest claws. And the biggest teeth. And 500 legs.


      Little Thing: I don’t think Fluffy is a bad dog. He might look like a bad dog on the outside, but on the inside he’s a good dog.


      Little Thing:  [in a British accent] Why would anyone want to hurt Harry Potter? He’s famous.


      Me: [reading] “It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead.”

      Little Thing:  NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


      Me: [tucks her in, and says with a British accent] Good night! Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow!

      Little Thing:  Is that from Harry Potter? [in her own British accent]

      Me: No. It’s from Romeo and Juliet.

      Little Thing: Then WHY did you make it sound like it was from Harry Potter??????

      Me:  [considers all of the possible explanations but my brain is about to explode because it’s the end of the day, coronavirus, distance learning, end of the school year, etc., and settles on] Nevermind.


      Me:  [reading when Quirrel says] “All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor from winning, he did make himself unpopular . . . and what a waste of time, when after all that I’m going to kill you tonight.”

      Little Thing:  [gasps then pauses] I wish Harry had a never-die potion. [pauses] I wish my family had a never-die potion. I wish the whole world had a never-die potion.

      Me: [gets misty-eyed]


       

      woman in white cap sleeved shirt blowing dust

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    • Mini Book Reviews April 2020

      Posted at 9:24 am by Mrs. Ram Jam, on April 5, 2020
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      Since I have nothing better to do, I’ve been snuggling under my favorite llama blanket in my spot on my couch with my noise-blocking headphones reading books–AND doing my book reviews almost immediately upon a book’s completion, go me!


       

      Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman–published 2006–fantasy–four stars:  Fat Charlie Nancy lives an acceptable, albeit rather mundane, life in London and is engaged to Rosie, a lovely woman. When Fat Charlie reaches out to his estranged father who lives in the States to invite him to the wedding, a family friend tells Fat Charlie that his dad is dead. Upon arriving in Florida for the funeral, Fat Charlie learns that not only is his dad a god but also that he has a brother. Random, mirthful mayhem, of only the kind that Gaiman is capable of crafting, ensues. I thought this would be a five star read for me up until the part of the book where Fat Charlie travels into a bizzaro realm filled with strange animal gods and a shit ton of caves, but this part of the book unbalanced the rest of its awesomeness for me. This book has more of Terry Pratchett Discworld vibe to it as compared to any of other works by Gaiman, and I just didn’t get the whole Discworld phenomenon.

      Anansi Boys


       

      Howl’s Moving Castle (Howl’s Moving Castle #1) by Diana Wynne Jones–published 2001–YA Fantasy–four stars: After Sophie’s sisters have been apprenticed off, Sophie is stuck making hats in her recently deceased father’s shop when a witch comes in and strikes Sophie with a curse that makes her a very old woman. In order to try to break the curse, she seeks the help of Howl, a wizard, and joins his moving castle household as a rather annoying housekeeper. This is a fun read. My biggest issue with the book was Jones’s choice in naming the fire demon Calcifer. That’s not a cool fire demon name. It made me think of a milk demon or a bone demon instead.

      Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle, #1)


       

      The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library, #1) by Genevieve Cogman–published 2015– YAL fantasy–three stars:  Sent to an alternate reality to retrieve an original Grimm’s fairy tales, Irene and Kai find the book missing and befriend a detective in their attempt to locate the book. Set in a steampunk London, vampires, fae, alligators, and a menagerie of other animals bar their way. Imma be honest—I had no idea what was going on in this book 1/5 of the time. I felt punked by my first foray into steampunk.

      The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library, #1)


       

      Grit by Angela Duckworth–published 2016–nonfiction–three stars:  It took massive amounts of grit for me to finish this book. Watch Duckworth’s TED Talk instead. The gist: people who have grit achieve more in life. I didn’t need to read 277 pages to tell me that.  Where she discusses grit in education wasn’t anything new to me either. Set high expectations, give feedback, let them try again, reward them, etc. Any good teacher can tell you that. Also, she discusses how gritty people might work anywhere from 70-77 hours per week, which is understandable, but as a teacher, isn’t that promoting unpaid work in a field that’s already underpaid?

      Grit


       

      My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russel–published 2020–thriller–four stars:  A former boarding school student recounts and grapples with her so-called love affair with her sophomore year English teacher. There’s no way you can read this without being uncomfortable. Vanessa makes it clear that she wants the relationship with Mr. Strane, and the sex scenes, while not overly graphic, are creepy. She doesn’t feel like a victim, but she clearly is. The author does a nice job of fleshing out the conflicting emotions of a victim of abuse. I dislike the whole teachers are predators trope, but also recognize that sometimes it does happen. Also, this is also like the 15th book (completely made up number) I’ve read this year where the protagonist is a redhead. That is statistically impossible. I need to start keeping track. Why are all the protagonists red-headed anymore????

      My Dark Vanessa


       

      The Bear by Andrew Krivak–published 2020–fantasy/fable–four stars:  A girl and her father, the last two people on Earth, leave the safety of their mountain home, journeying to the ocean for salt. When tragedy befalls them, a bear offers hope for survival. What a perfectly lovely tale. It’s short. Its simplistic storyline and language hide a complex, beautiful fable. The only reason this isn’t a five star read for me is because of the fables within the fable. I don’t stan over fables to begin with, and my eyes started glazing over while reading the ones within the story. This reminded me of The Road, not in the sense of being chilling because this story is not, but in the sense that the silence at the end of humanity and the sheer loneliness that a soul can experience is visceral and spooky. This story makes the end of humanity beautiful.

      The Bear


       

      The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave–published 2020–historical fiction–four stars:  After a sea disaster claims the lives of nearly all the men from a small Northeastern Norwegian community in the 1600s, the women try to rebuild their lives and some take on men’s roles in order to survive. A godly Scottish commissioner is sent to oversee the village and root out any of the villagers’ old, pagan ways. The story is rooted in true events from the time period. I appreciate the writing in this novel, but it’s slow-paced and quite boring up until the last twenty percent of the book. The story follows Ursa, the commissioner’s new wife, and Maren, a villager whose betrothed was killed in the wreck, and is told in the third person. I think the story would have benefitted from a first-person perspective because the narrative is a bit cold.

      The Mercies


       

      The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James–published 2020–thriller–three stars:  Carly leaves suburban Illinois to investigate her aunt’s disappearance that happened in Fell, New York back in the 80s. The tale alternates between Carly’s story set in 2017 and her Aunt Viv’s experience in 1982. Viv was a night shift clerk at the rundown Sun Down Motel prior to her disappearance, and Carly decides to take the same position to help solve the case. This book started off strong for me and then fizzled flatter than an open coke left out for three days. There are legit ghosts in here, and they are scary. I was terrified at first and then the narrative left the ghosts behind for the majority of the story. I was hoping for a truly terrifying read and then it became more of a lackluster thriller. There were too many parallels between Viv and Carly. Carly even moves into Viv’s old apartment. The twist at the end was surprising, but I should have seen it coming.

      The Sun Down Motel


       

      The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez–published 2019–romance–three stars:  Firefighter Josh moves to California after a breakup for a bit of a change and to be closer to his best friend Brandon, who he met while they were marines. Josh is Brandon’s best man in his upcoming wedding and has a meet-cute with Brandon’s fiancee’s maid of honor Kristen. Kristen is fiery and independent and fights her attraction to Josh even though they’re both smitten with one another because she has an underlying health condition that she’s certain Josh won’t like about her. The dialogue and premise for the story are witty and adorable at first, but it falls too heavily on the romance plotline archetype. She puts him off for way too long, making the story about 70 pages longer than it needed to be. The story is a bit of a tearjerker though. I got misty-eyed in a couple of places.

      The Friend Zone


       

      The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica–published 2020–thriller–three stars:  After some familial troubles while living in Chicago, Sadie and her family move to a small island off the coast of Maine when her husband’s sister commits suicide and leaves them her house custody of her teenage daughter. As soon as they move though, Sadie senses that all is not right and their neighbor, a young wife with a stepdaughter, is murdered. I’ve read a few of Kubica’s novels now, but this one wasn’t as impressive as The Good Girl. The story alternates among Sadie, Camille–a psychopath who is sleeping with Sadie’s husband, and Mouse–a little girl who is being abused by her stepmother. I’d figured out the biggest twist as soon as Mouse stepped in as a narrator, and it pretty much ruined the rest of the book for me. It was an easy read though that was hard to put down.

      The Other Mrs.


       

      Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby–published 2020–nonfiction essays–four stars:  This is the funniest thing I’ve read in ages and am adding her other two books to my TBR faster than you can spell diarrhea–which may seem like a strange figurative language choice on my end, but she talks a lot about her struggles with IBD in this book. She makes talking about literal shit hilarious. As someone who suffers from IBD too and knows that the only workaround the poop taboo is to make that literal shit funny, I applaud her. This isn’t just a poop joke book; it’s a well-crafted essay collection by self-proclaimed I-don’t-have-my-life-together-and-I-don’t-want-to-change-out-of-my-comfy-clothes-person. It’s so hard to write humor, and she makes it look easy. I would have given this five stars, but she was a little reliant on the word adjacent and death jokes and her last essay was a mess–which she pretty much admits to. I love her though.

      Wow, No Thank You.


       

      The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix–published 2020–fantasy–four stars:  Patricia, a mom of two who is living the so-called perfect life, finds an escape from housewifery when she joins a true-crime-reading book club. When a handsome stranger moves in next door, strange things begin happening in their sleepy southern town, but Patricia is the only one who connects all of the dots, enlisting her book club friends to help her solve the mystery. I’m in love with this book and would have given it 5, but I have a couple of major issues with it. The men are assholes. Every last one of them. And they don’t listen to their wives. It made me furious. At least 100 pages could have been shaved off this book if the writer, a man, would have stopped denying the wives of their right to be heard. Granted it takes place in the late 80s and early 90s, but still. In no way do I think that Hendrix was making fun of women at any point, but the ladies came off as silly upon occasion. The other issue I had with this book is that the black characters were more than flat. And again, it is a book set in the south 30 years ago, but still, it’s enough to make you go hmmmmm. However, this book is funny, dark as hell, and sexy; overall, I enjoyed it.

      The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires


       

      Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel–published 2020–thriller–two stars:  When Rose Gold’s mother is released from her five-year prison sentence, RG takes mommy dearest in despite the fact that her mother poisoned RG for her entire childhood, hence, you know, PRISON. This alternates POVs between both mother and daughter, and I just can’t with this thriller. Instead of creating any kind of suspense or creepiness, the mood comes off massively hokey. This book should be titled Wretched Puke Green instead because 1. it’s awful and 2. of all the vomiting in the book.

      Darling Rose Gold


       

      Chosen Ones (The Chosen Ones, #1)  by Veronica Roth–published 2020–fantasy–four stars: Ten years ago, the Chosen Ones saved the world from the Dark One, a powerful magician responsible for mass killings called Drains. Sloane, one of the Chosen Ones who now suffers from PTSD, brought about his supposed demise. She thinks the past is behind them, but when she and two of the other Chosens are called into a parallel universe to fight a similar foe, she begins to question everything. I’m glad Roth decided to take on adult literature. This was a fun read. I thought the parallel universe setting in Chicago was well done despite there not being a ton of world-building.

      Chosen Ones (The Chosen Ones, #1)


       

      One Crazy Summer (Gaither Sisters, #1) by Rita Williams-Garcia– published 2010–historical fiction middle grade–four stars:  At the beginning of the summer, Delphine and her two sisters who live with their Big Ma and Pa in New York are sent to stay with their California-living mother who left the girls when they were young. Their mother wants nothing to do with them while they’re there so the girls spend their days at the Center, primarily run by the Black Panthers. I had a hard time getting into this read, but at about 15 percent of the way in, I was hooked.

      One Crazy Summer (Gaither Sisters, #1)


       

      If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin–published 1974–fiction–four stars:  Set in the 70s in New York, Fonny is falsely accused of raping a woman, and his fiancé, Tish, and her family try to get him out of prison. Ultimately this is a love story, but it’s also a deep dive into the corruption and racism rampant in NYC’s police force and legal system during the time period. I’ve eschewed watching the movie version of this because I, duh, wanted to read it first. Baldwin’s writing style crept under my skin, and I’m still thinking about the story days later. And while I’m a huge fan in general, I didn’t think that Tish’s first-person POV worked throughout the whole book. There are parts that she’s narrating that she’s not present for like when her mom goes to Puerto Rico to confront Fonny’s accuser who has fled the country, which doesn’t really work in standard first person. I had a hard time with the verb tense too. It switches in and out of the present tense to past in places that should be written in the same tense. For example, Tish describes a dinner that Fonny and she had before Fonny went into prison, but it’s written in the present tense and then switches to the past. It does this in a couple of other places too.

      If Beale Street Could Talk


       

      Tweet Cute by Emma Lord–published 2020–YAL romance–four stars: WHO NEEDS A YAL MODERN-DAY RETELLING OF YOU’VE GOT MAIL? Even though the novel’s plotline is unabashedly stolen from the Tom and Meg rom-com, I. Could. Not. Put. This. Book. Down. You need Jack and Pepper in your life. It’s cheesy, and there’s a whole bunch of grilled cheese references. There’s Taylor Swift and Mean Girls allusions. There’s witty banter. What more could you want? My biggest criticisms:  the epilogue reeks of every single YAL romance cliché and I’m tired of the whole YAL-female-protagonist-being-the-best-baker-on-the-planet-trope.

      Tweet Cute


       

      Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1) by Jim Butcher–published 2000–urban fantasy–four stars:  I am a fantasy purist, swear on Harry Potter’s life or force Veritaserum down my throat to test my loyalty or whatever, but occasionally I’ll break from mainstream fantasy and venture out into its urban cousin. I chose this one because it’s the number one urban fantasy pick on Goodreads, and muggles, if you can get past Harry Dresden being a chauvinistic pig who thinks every single woman (there’s about four total in the book–who are all Gigi Hadid stunning) is a sex object and is trying to use their sexuality to against him, then you might enjoy this read. I’m keeping it in mind that this was written 18 years before #metoo made its way onto the scene. Dresden’s really not a bad guy, the writing is funny, and the pace is quick.

      Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1)


       

      What are you reading friends?

      (All cover art is taken from Goodreads.)

      Posted in books, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged book reviews, books, mini book reviews
    • Mini Book Reviews March 2020

      Posted at 9:28 am by Mrs. Ram Jam, on April 4, 2020
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      Y’all. How’s quarantine going? I’m coping by baking things I can’t eat, soaking up the sunshine, and reading in long stretches. (Particularly soaking up the sunshine while reading in long stretches–if you figure out a way for me to effectively soak up the sunshine while baking things I can’t eat, holla at your girl.)

      I finally have some 2020 reads under my belt, and I’m pretty sure that I’ve read this year’s IT book already.


      • Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett–published 2019–contemporary fiction–three stars: I freaking love this title and cover, but the book disappointed me. Jessa-Lynn, a Floridian taxidermist, spends the book drunk, self-wallowing after her father’s death, and terribly dressed in dirty clothes. While the writing at times jumps off the page, in places it’s too purple and harps on plot events already established.

      Mostly Dead Things

      • Small Spaces (Small Spaces #1) by Katherine Arden–published 2018–middle-grade horror/fantasy–three stars: I loved Arden’s Winternight trilogy. I picked up this middle-grade read expecting to get the heebie-jeebies from this book à la Neil Gaiman Coraline style, but the scary factor tanked.

      Small Spaces (Small Spaces, #1)

      • Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano–published 2020–contemporary fiction–five stars: A boy named Edward is the sole survivor of a plane crash. The story weaves together his tale of recovery and the story of the victims’  lives in the hours before impact. While I’m normally not a huge fan of third-person omniscient narration because it’s executed so poorly so often, Napolitano is a master of the skill. Y’all. I heart this novel hard. It’s the best straight-up fiction read I’ve had since The Great Alone.  It’s for sure making my top three for the year. Get ready for this book to break your damn heart.

      Dear Edward

      • Followers by Megan Angelo–published 2020–dystopian/post-apocalyptic/contemporary fiction–four stars:  I love that over-reliance on smartphones and influencer scrutiny has started to make its way into contemporary fiction. There are two different stories here. The first is the story of two present-day influencers in the time leading up to a smartphone apocalypse. The second chronicles Marlow, a reality TV star who has a 24/7 following while she lives in a Truman Show-esque situation, in the future. The stories eventually come together, highlighting the shallowness of an overly-reliant digital world. 

      Followers

      • Things in Jars by Jess Kidd–published 2020–historical fiction/magical realism–three stars: There’s a ghost in love with a human, a mermaid-like child with weird teeth, and a mystery to be solved. Ummm it wasn’t terrible? But it could have been so much better.

      Things in Jars

      • Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain–published 2020–contemporary fiction–two stars: This has a pretty good rating on Goodreads, but I just didn’t see what all the fuss was about. Was it compelling? Yes, but 1) things came together too cleanly at the end and 2) the protagonist’s entire premise, she’s jailed wrongly for a DUI that she didn’t commit but gets released from jail early to restore a painting, is just absurd.

      Big Lies in a Small Town

      • The Education of an Idealist:  A Memoir by Samantha Power–published 2019–memoir–three stars: At first, I was totally engrossed by Power’s memoir. She tells of growing up in Ireland, her alcoholic father, her move to the US, and her work as a war zone reporter in the Balkans. But when she starts discussing foreign policy and her work for Obama, it gets a little thick with a whole bunch of people and places, making for cumbersome, technical reading. If you’re super into foreign policy, this read is for you. Oh, it’s about 100 pages too long as well.

      The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir

      • Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer #1) by Laini Taylor–published 2017–YA fantasy–four stars: Strange, yes that’s his last name, is a dreamer. He dreams of a lost city, and his dreams, well, I don’t want to ruin the book. I don’t know if I’ll continue to read this series. While disorienting at first, I regained ground as the story went on, but I hated its ending.

      Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer, #1)

      • Follow Me by Kathleen Barber–published 2020–thriller–three stars: Let’s face it. I keep reading thrillers even though they’re one of my least favorite genres. A social influencer named Audrey leaves New York City to start a new job in Washington DC. She reconnects with her BFF from college and a former boyfriend, both of whom live in the city. She posts her entire life online and one of her followers is following Audrey around for real in the city. I liked this novel better than Barber’s debut Are You Sleeping (now renamed as Truth Be Told) because the writing is more contemporary and interesting.  I disliked that every male in Audrey’s vicinity fell in love with her. I wasn’t a fan of the minor twist at the end. But . . . it was still a solid read–for a thriller.

      Follow Me

      • The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black–published 2013–YA vampire/urban fantasy–two stars: Okay, so, I think I’m going to stop reading any YAL that hasn’t been published in the past five years. This was pretty bad and disappointing considering how freaking awesome Holly Black’s more recent The Folk of the Air series is.

      The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

      • Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler–published 2007–memoir/humor–three stars: Funny in places, but dicey in others.

      Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea

      • Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1) by Rachel Caine–published 2015–YA fantasy–three stars: A decent read for YA, and I might recommend it to students, but it is a bit forgettable.

      Ink and Bone (The Great Library, #1)

      • Fix Her Up (Hot & Hammered #1) by Tessa Bailey–published 2019–romance–four stars:  Yowza. Cute. Funny. And. Ahem. Steamy. I haven’t had this much fun reading a romance novel since The Hating Game.

      Fix Her Up (Hot & Hammered, #1)

      • Truly Devious (Truly Devious #1) by Maureen Johnson–published 2018–YA mystery–three stars:  So many of my students want to read good, contemporary mystery novels that are YA, but I haven’t found many. If you know of any (besides We Were Liars, One of Us Is Lying, and the Pretty Little Liars series), let me know. In this mystery, Stevie loves mysteries. She’s a true crime junkie. She applies to a prestigious school and gets in, hoping to solve a decades-old crime that happened there. Then. Gasp. Another murder happens, and she tries to solve it and manages to get oh so close, but the book ends essentially in the middle of the story, and you’ve got to pick up the next one to figure out what happens. This bounced around too much for me.

      Truly Devious (Truly Devious, #1)

      • Invisible Women:  Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado-Perez–published 2019–nonfiction/feminist literature/political literature–five stars: Hey, ladies and gentlemen. Read this book. It’s mindblowing. It will make you angry, but it’s utterly fascinating. It’s about how the world is designed for men (hence the title). Ever wonder why your smartphone is hard to work one-handed ladies? It’s because it’s designed for men. Ladies, ever wonder why you take medicine and it doesn’t work or experience side effects that aren’t listed? It’s because being female isn’t taken into account when doing most medical studies. Oh and that car you’re driving . . . don’t get me started. If you read only one nonfiction book this year, read this one.
      • Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men  

      As always, any discussion is welcome! And if you’ve read something fantastic recently, please tell me about it!

      (All cover art taken from Goodreads.)

      Posted in books, reading, Uncategorized, writing | 0 Comments | Tagged ann napolitano, are you there vodka it's me chelsea, big lies in a small town, blogs, book reviews, books, carolini criado perez, chelsea handler, dear edward, Diane chamberlain, fiction, fix her up, follow me, followers, holly black, ink and bone, invisible women, jess kid, katherine arden, kathleen barber, kristen arnett, laini taylor, maureen johnson, megan angelo, memoirs, mini book reviews, mostly dead things, nonfiction, rachel caine, reading, romance novels, samantha power, small spaces, strange the dreamer, tessa bailey, the coldest girl in cold town, the education of an idealist, things in jars, truly devious, writing
    • My Favorite Post-Apocalyptic Reads

      Posted at 9:12 am by Mrs. Ram Jam, on March 14, 2020

      Are you stuck at home in an effort to flatten COVID-19’s curve?

      Do you need a break from Netflix, Hulu, and Disney Plus?

      If you’re anything like me and like to make some reading choices based on current events, then you might be desperate for a good post-apocalyptic read to further terrify yourself while you’re social distancing.

      Here are my favorites, ranked. There are zombies. Viruses. Technology plagues. Aliens. There’s a little bit of everything on this list. And some of them don’t quite fit the genre, but they’re close enough for me.

      1. The Stand by Stephen King. Five stars. One of my favorite books of all time.

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      2. The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Five stars. Chilling and haunting.

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      3. Bird Box by Josh Malerman. Four stars. The sequel comes out this year! Can’t wait.

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      4. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Four stars. A very funny end of the world read.

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      5. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Four stars. A traveling band of Shakespeare performers? Yes, please!

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      6. Followers by Megan Angelo. Four stars. Technology gone wrong. Timely. Also, this is totally a guilty pleasure read.

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      7. The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker. Four stars. I reviewed this book last month. Check it out here.

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      8. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. Four stars. Classic!

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      9. The Passage by Justin Cronin. Three stars. I was totally into this book, but it is really long. Some of you might really enjoy this read though.

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      10. The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey. Three stars. I didn’t like Carey’s writing style, but this is a good zombie story.

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      (All cover art taken from Goodreads.)

      Any ones I missed that I need to add to my TBR?

      As always, any discussion is welcome!

      Posted in books, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged apocalypse, apocalyptic, apocalyptic books, bird box, blogging, blogs, book reviews, books, cormac mccarthy, emily st john mandel, fiction, followers, good omens, hg wells, josh malerman, justin cronin, karen thompson walker, megan angelo, mr carey, neil gaiman, post apocalypse, post apocalyptic, post apocalyptic books, reading, station eleven, stephen king, terry pratchett, the dreamers, the girl with all the gifts, the passage, the road, the stand, the war of the worlds
    • Mini Book Reviews February 2020

      Posted at 10:13 am by Mrs. Ram Jam, on February 29, 2020

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      Even though February is a short month, I crammed in thirteen books. While I’ve yet to read any books published in 2020 (due to my library not having any), I read some fantastic backlist books this month. Here are my mini book reviews.


      A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum–contemporary fiction–published 2019–three stars: This novel follows three Arab women from the same family but of different generations as they live in Brooklyn. I desperately want to love this book, but I teach middle schoolers who have better narrative techniques than I saw demonstrated here.

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      Refugee by Alan Gratz–middle-grade historical fiction–published 2017–four stars:  Three different children in three different parts of the world in three different time periods share their refugee experiences. The tales are grounded in real historical events, but the main characters, sensationalized and contrived, detract from the stories. This is still an excellent middle-grade read.

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      Fallen (Fallen #1) by Lauren Kate–YAL fantasy–published 2009–one star: Terrible. No redeeming qualities whatsoever. I can’t even try to summarize it for you because I don’t want to relive one word from it. Books like this give YAL a bad name.

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      Skyward (Skyward #1) by Brandon Sanderson–YAL sci-fi–published 2018–four stars:  Who wouldn’t want to read a sci-fi version of Top Gun but with a female protagonist, spaceships, and a mushroom-obsessed AI? It’s pretty funny in places, too. The writing isn’t out of this world, but the plot is a galaxy worth of fun.

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      A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers #1) by Brigid Kemmerer–YAL fantasy–published 2019–four stars:  If you need a modern-day retelling (which is normally not my Ram Jam) of Beauty and the Beast, stop what you are doing and pick up this book.

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      The Coddling of the American Mind:  How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff–nonfiction/current events–published 2018–four stars:  You’ve probably heard about this book (originally a shorter piece published in The Atlantic a few years ago) if you keep up with politics and current events. Lukianoff and Haidt discuss how the way we raise our children, the emphasis of feeling over logic, and shifting free speech norms on college campuses are stifling rhetoric in a place that’s supposed to value it. I don’t agree with everything they have to say (They come at this with a male perspective and are a bit insensitive about rape, rape culture, and feminism. They also minimize intersectionality and microaggressions.), but they make some interesting points. And isn’t the whole point of this book to be able to make an argument, back it up, and have conversations about it–like adults–whether you agree with them or not?

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      The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker–science fiction–published 2019–four stars:  Call The Mamas & the Papas because there is some “California Dreamin'” going on in this book. Seriously. A small California town gets inflicted with a viral sleeping disease and goes under quarantine. Or maybe I should sing  “wake up kids/ we’ve got the dreamer’s disease”? New Radicals anyone? Anyway, ’twas a good read for me.

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      Swear on This Life by Renee Carlino–romance–published 2016–two stars:  I thought to myself, it’s the day before Valentine’s Day. I should read a love story. So I did, and I wasn’t impressed. Emiline, a writer, reads a much-buzzed-about novel only to discover it’s her personal coming of age story told by the ex-love of her life. You get to read a mediocre novel within a very mediocre novel if you decide to read this book.

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      The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson–fantasy–published 2010–five stars:  All hail to the kings! I’m in love with this high fantasy tome; it clocks in around 1,000 pages. It’s got just enough magic, world-building, and storyline for fantasy lover perfection. The writing itself isn’t spectacular, but its other elements more than makeup for some narrative holes. For example, I had a hard time picturing how the bridge runners placed the bridges across the Shattered Plains’ plateaus. Also, Sanderson overuses the words “carapace” and “pupate.”

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      Deep Work:  Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport–productivity/nonfiction–published 2016–three stars:  I think I would have liked this read more if I hadn’t already read Newport’s Digital Minimalism. He argues that in order to get deep, meaningful work done, you need to go offline, be unreachable, and dedicate uninterrupted chunks of time. He criticizes open work areas (I wholeheartedly agree with this.), multi-tasking, email mindset, and several other habits that infiltrate the modern workday. I got aggravated with this book for three main reasons. 1. I will never get deep work done at work because of the way my public school day is structured. I further feel like students can’t get deep work done because of habitual classroom distractions.  2. Again, just like The Coddling of the American Mind, this is a very male-oriented book. He talks about how he was able to get all of this work done while he had a young child. Well, Cal, what was your wife doing? Was she getting any deep work done? In the book, there are several examples of successful men who get deep work done while the only female example that I can remember is J.K. Rowling. 3. This is a book of privilege. I’m sure there are plenty of non-middle and non-upper class workers out there busting their asses who would like to perform deep work but don’t have the time, money, or help to do so.

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      Teach Like a Pirate:  Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator by Dave Burgess–education/nonfiction–published 2012–three stars:  I already knew everything presented to me in this book, and the information is dated at this point. Burgess is inspiring though.

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      Starsight (Skyward #2) by Brandon Sanderson–YAL sci-fi–published 2019–three stars: Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll continue this series. The beginning is rushed and confusing. Lackluster writing permeates the pages. The cliffhanger doesn’t compel me to read on. Overall, this was a disappointment. Guess which words make several appearances again? (If you guessed “carapace” and “pupate,” then you are correct.)

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      The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next #1) by Jasper Fforde–fantasy–published 2003–three stars:  In this bizarro England, Thursday Next, a member of a special task force in charge of crimes against literature, seeks a villain who’s kidnapping major characters from literary masterpieces and finds herself read into Jane Eyre. At times, this novel can be hard to follow because if you’re not hardcore into British literature, allusions will go over your head.

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      Women Talking by Miriam Toews–contemporary fiction–published 2019–three stars:  For years in a Mennonite community, supposed demons raped women of all ages while they slept. When it’s discovered that a group of men are responsible for the violent crimes, the women must decide to stay or leave their settlement. (This is based on a true story.) I liked the way this was written, but I found it boring.

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      (All cover art taken from Goodreads.com) 


      As always, any discussion is welcome!

       

      Posted in books, Uncategorized, writing | 3 Comments | Tagged a curse so dark and lonely, a woman is no man, alan gratz, backlist books, blogging, blogs, book reviews, books, brandon sanderson, brigid kemmerer, cal newport, cursebreakers, dave burgess, deep work, etaf rum, fallen, fantasy, fantasy reads, fiction, greg lukianoff, historical fiction, jasper fforde, jonathan haidt, karen thompson walker, lauren kate, middle grade, mini book reviews, miriam toews, nonfiction, reading, refugee, renee carlino, sci fi, science fiction, skyward, starsight, swear on this life, teach like a pirate, the coddling of the american mind, the dreamers, the eyre affair, the stormlight archive, the way of kings, thursday next, women talking, writing, YAL
    • Why I Love and Hate Teaching Romeo and Juliet

      Posted at 3:34 pm by Mrs. Ram Jam, on February 22, 2020

      Psssttt. Here’s a secret. This English teacher hates Romeo and Juliet more than the Montagues and Capulets loathe each other. (I know. Gasp. Shocked emoji face. Call Karen in HR and fire me right now.) And because it’s entrenched in the freshman canon, I will never escape its overtly romantical clutches as long as I am teaching English I. 

      Why do I hate Romeo and Juliet and teaching it?

      1. Romeo, a whiny lover boy ruled by his teenage emotions, is my least favorite Shakespeare character. I spend the entire time wanting to smack him and talk some logic into him. 
      2. Benvolio sucks too. Whenever something big happens on stage, Benvolio summarizes the just-happened events for new-to-the-scene characters. 
      3. The way Romeo and Juliet talk to one another makes me gag. Love stories aren’t my Ram Jam. 
      4. The students harp on the fact that Juliet is 13 and never recover from it. They also debate Romeo’s age endlessly (The text never gives it.). They talk about this the ENTIRE time we’re reading. 
      5. It’s full of sexual innuendo, and I teach middle school. Need I say more? 
      6. I’d much rather tackle The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Othello, or Macbeth. 

      And while I do lather on the Romeo and Juliet hate thick, I love teaching it for almost the same reasons I despise teaching it.

      1. I take my hate and shout it from the desktops from the beginning. It’s simple really. I let the kids know I hate Romeo and Benvolio. I don’t tell the students why. I string them along and build interest to hook them, revealing tidbits here and there why I hate Romeo and Benvolio as the acts unfold. I use my Romeo hate to teach characterization. I use my Benvolio hate to teach summarizing. I make my hate passionate, fun, and refreshing instead of letting it bring my lessons down. Frequently, the kids hate Romeo too, and we bond through our mutual dislike. 
      2. Even though it’s a love story and the ooey-gooey language makes me cringe, I appreciate the poetry. We analyze the heck out of the figurative language and poetic structure of Romeo and Juliet’s dialogue. For example, when Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time, they actually start rhyming together in their religious imagery-filled banter and wind up creating a shared mini sonnet, which is pretty freaking cool from a structural standpoint. 
      3. The kids relate to the teenage emotions running rampant throughout the text even though they pretend that all of the kissing mortifies them. We discuss why it’s important to not be ruled by emotions and how to consider situations logically. 
      4. The kids have zero knowledge of Elizabethan theater and England before they start reading and are fascinated by what they learn. The fact that it was illegal for women to act so men played all the parts blows their minds. They’re horrified and enthralled when they discover women could get married at twelve years old and were sometimes married to much older men. They have no concept that modern medicine did not apply back then, women often died in childbirth, and child death rates were high. They’re floored when they realize Nurse was Juliet’s wet nurse and that the word nurse etymologically stems from a Latin word meaning “to nourish.” 
      5. On the day we start Act I Scene 1, I tell them Shakespeare is a dirty old white guy to prepare them for the puns and hook them into the play. You might find this method a little shocking, but have you read this play? It’s full of inappropriate jokes, and while it might have gone over your head when you were in high school, my kids understand what they’re reading. If I didn’t prepare them for the dirty jokes, my lesson could crash and burn in a million different ways. They appreciate being treated like adults. When I handle it this way, it minimizes the puns, and we’re able to focus on the storyline and the structure. 
      6. Even though Romeo and Juliet isn’t my favorite play, I love Shakespeare and theater. I’m able to channel that love into a play I hate (My only love sprung from my only hate! Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.). I’m in my element when I’ve got the bard and a script in front of me, and the students see the best me when this unit rolls around each year. 

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      What are some texts you hate but you have to teach? I’d love to hear! I’d also love to know why and what you do to combat your hate to make interesting lessons. 

       

      (Also, another shocker, I’m not a huge fan of To Kill a Mockingbird—but that’s a whole other blog post.)

       

      Posted in books, poetry, reading, teaching, Uncategorized, writing | 5 Comments | Tagged benvolio, blogging, blogs, drama, english teacher, i hate romeo and juliet, juliet, plays, poetry, reading, romeo, romeo and juliet, shakespeare, teaching, teaching shakespeare, writing
    • Mini Book Reviews January 2020

      Posted at 12:27 pm by Mrs. Ram Jam, on February 1, 2020

      Even though January lasts eons, I look forward to reading in January each year. In December, I peruse the best-of-the-year book lists that permeate book lovers’ blogs and throw their favorites on my January TBR. I end up reading a few fantastic books at the beginning of every year.


      Wilder Girls by Rory Power –YAL horror–published 2019–two stars:  Under quarantine because of a slow-moving, fatal disease called the “Tox,” an all-girls school battles with the fallout. Even though the premise is fresh, Power failed to create a single likable character. Because of plot holes, the characters starved for no plausible reason. However, the cover is badass. I still can’t stop looking at it.

      wilder girls

      Because Internet:  Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch–nonfiction–published 2019–five stars:  This. Book. Is. Fascinating. As a self-proclaimed word nerd who loves learning about etymology, I couldn’t put this book down. Who wouldn’t want to examine the history of how the internet has influenced the English language’s evolution? Who wouldn’t want to learn about text tone of voice, the history of emojis, and the Unicode Consortium? Plus, McCulloch’s comedic word-nerd voice radiates throughout. Take away? Stop judging informal writing as if it were formal. Texting and social media writing will never follow standard English.

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      The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw–YAL fantasy–published 2018–two stars:  Three sisters, killed for their supposed witchery 200 hundred years ago, come back every summer to haunt the seaside town responsible for their demises. They drown unsuspecting teenage boys to take their revenge. Disclaimer–the adult supervision in this town is nonexistent. The parents allow the teenagers to throw a massive beach party on the night of the witches’ reappearance even though there are drowning deaths every summer? Come. On. A girl goes missing during this time, and the teenagers hold her hostage. The adults neglect to search for the missing girl. Ugh. Now, I admit, I missed a plot twist, but I’ll blame that on the muscle relaxer I took the night I read the book.

      the wicked deep

      The Chain by Adrian McKinty–crime/thriller–published 2019–three stars:  A divorcée and breast cancer survivor named Rachel is finally getting her life back on track when two people kidnap her daughter Kylie from the school bus stop. This is no normal kidnapping. Rachel gets a phone call demanding ransom and that she must kidnap and hold another child hostage to get her own daughter released. The people who kidnapped her daughter received the same phone call and instructions, and this process goes back years like a chain letter. Forced into a terrible position, Rachel and her family face death if they break “the chain.” The plot is inconceivable. Have everyday Joes become mastermind kidnappers at the drop of hat and not get caught nor go to the police? No chance. I found parts of the prose contrived. For example towards the novel’s end, McKinty explains the metaphor of the chain. Mind blown emoji. Don’t explain the metaphor McKinty! You know better. I guess I’m just in desperate need of a good thriller because this genre consistently fails in impressing me.

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      Night (The Night Trilogy, #1) by Elie Wiesel–memoir–published 1956–five stars:  Considering my aversion to World War II historical fiction and nonfiction, it shouldn’t be surprising that I’ve eschewed reading this memoir for years. However, Wiesel’s austere prose gutted me.

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      Normal People by Sally Rooney–contemporary fiction–published 2019–four stars:  Connell and Marianne, high schoolers who come from different backgrounds, fall for each other, hiding their relationship from their friends and their families. Their toxic relationship follows them to college. I disliked Connell and Marianne but liked this novel.

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      The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow–YAL fantasy–published 2019–four stars:  January, raised by a rich armchair archeologist, pines for a grand adventure. One day she discovers a door, walks through it, and finds herself in another world. Her guardian then destroys the door. Once she discovers there are more doors leading to millions of other worlds, her hero’s journey begins. The magical, wistful, and carefully chosen words shine on the page, creating a glorious fairy tale.

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      Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah–contemporary fiction–published 2019–five stars: Trying to resume her ornithology research after a health setback,  Joanna rents a cabin in Southern Illinois to conduct her studies and to help her heal. One night, a little girl appears, and Joanna enlists her reclusive neighbor to help solve the mystery of the scared, intelligent girl. I. Could. Not. Put. This. Book. Down. If you enjoyed Where the Crawdads Sing, you’ll love this book; it’s better than Crawdads. It has more humor and more heart while being less dense.

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      The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern–fantasy–published 2019–five stars:  I held off on picking up this book for two reasons. 1. It’s lengthy. 2. I reread Morgenstern’s Night Circus last year, and to my horror, couldn’t explain why I thought it phenomenal upon first reading. As a result, I thought this book would waste my time. A few book reviewers who I respect critically panned this book while others loud capped their approval. Morgenstern’s sophomore novel is more concrete, vivid, and literary than her first. Much like the above-reviewed The Ten Thousand Doors of January, the plot focuses on doors leading to other worlds and the doors’ widespread destruction.

      the starless sea

      Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters, #1) by Talia Hibbert–romance–published 2019–three stars:  The titular protagonist faces chronic pain, moving from her family home to prove her independence. As soon as she unpacks her flat, she gets the hots for her building’s super hot super. Against her better judgment, she asks him to help her cross off items from her “get a life” list. Chloe has fibromyalgia, the same disease I suffer from. Brown does a decent job describing its symptoms and the day-to-day difficulties those symptoms create, but that does not outweigh this romance novel’s mediocrity.

      get a life

      Do I Make Myself Clear? Why Writing Well Matters by Harold Evans–nonfiction–published 2017–three stars:  Believe me, Harold Evans, a well-respected British editor, would judge my writing. While I found a few of his insights valuable–particularly the importance of writing a clear sentence, he’s a self-described language purist and abhors English language evolution. Parts of this book are simply old-school grammar textbook lists of things like common word usage mistakes. He also t-charts poorly written passages of a wide variety of genres with his commentary of its weaknesses. These parts made me feel like I was trying to wade through terribly constructed student work, resulting in my head wanting to explode. Read a different book if you want writing tips.

      do i make myself clear

      The Cactus by Sarah Haywood–contemporary fiction–published 2018–three stars: Even though Reese Witherspoon is a national treasure, her book club picks are literary trash. I”ve yet to read one I’ve rated higher than a three. The Cactus is a lesser Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. The plot twist exposed itself within the books’ first quarter.

      the cactus

      Ava and Pip (Ava and Pip #1) by Carol Weston–middle grade–published 2014–four stars:  Ava, a writing loving elementary schooler, tries to help her painfully shy older sister Pip find her voice. Little Thing and I enjoyed this read.

      ava and pip


      What did you read in January, friends?

      As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on these books if you’ve read them!

      (All cover art is taken from Goodreads.com)

       

      Posted in books, reading, Uncategorized, writing | 0 Comments | Tagged adrian mckinty, alix e harrow, ava and pip, because internet, blogging, blogs, book reviews, book reviews january, books, carol weston, do i make myself clear, elie wiesel, erin morgenstern, fiction, geta life chloe brown, glendy vanderah, gretchen mcculoch, harold evans, middle grade, mini book reviews, night, nonfiction, normal people, reading, rory power, sally rooney, sarah haywood, shea ernshaw, talia hibbert, the cactus, the chain, the starless sea, the ten thousand doors of january, the wicked deep, where the forest meets the stars, wilder girls, writing, YAL
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