Year 4, week 48: Twenties Girl

This week's book:
Twenties Girl
By Sophie Kinsella

I first saw this book on a used book group I'm in on Facebook. I wasn't fast enough to snag it, but the cover drew me in. I know you aren't supposed to judge a book by it's cover, but I have a soft spot for dragonflies. My mom always loved dragonflies, and now that she has passed, whenever I see a dragonfly on something, I have to check it out. 

Thankfully, I actually liked the story because I ended up picking up a copy of the book from Ebay. The story is of a woman that seems lost, and when the ghost of a great aunt attaches herself to our heroine, silly chaos ensues. The great aunt is stuck in the mindset of the the 1920's and all she wants is her dragonfly necklace before she moves on. 

The book is a totally light romcom type of book that I could totally see being made into a movie. If you want a light summer read you should check it out. 

Year 4, week 47: summer rom-com two-fer

Two summer rom-com novels this week

Get a Life, Chloe Brown
By Talia Hibbert

Just a basic romance. The girl almost dies and feels like she needs to do some exciting adventures before she dies, so she makes a list. She has fibromyalgia and is in constant pain. She falls for the bad boy artist from her apartment with a heart of gold. 

The plot didn't really pull me in and I kept falling asleep while listening to it. The initial reason I wanted to read it was due to the health issues that the heroine faces, but I ended up just finding her kinda whiney. I was also excited to read this book because the author is part of the LGBTQ+ community and I really am trying to become better read person, reading all types of authors. I don’t know if I have read too many romantic books recently, but I just wasn’t super impressed and don’t plan on reading the rest of the series. 

The People We Meet on Vacation
By Emily Henry

This book was my pick for Book of the Month a few months back. I ended up reading it in a Buddy Read, when you read it with a group of people over a set amount of time and you discuss it nightly. I would have picked the book no matter what because it was pitched as a When Harry Met Sally for a new generation with a lot of traveling. I love that movie, and due to Covid-19 the family has done zero traveling recently. 

The main plot is a set of friends take an annual trip together every year, they are polar opposites but somehow they have a blast every time they take a vacation together. The book doesn't go too deep and it's definitely a fun quick read. I would recommend if you want a easy summer read.

Year 4, week 46: Romantic Pride-themed Books

Three romance novels I read for Pride month:

One Last Stop
By Casey McQuiston

This was from my Book of the Month book box for June. When I read the synopsis I knew I needed to add it to my box. The novel is a story of a young bisexual woman falling for what seems to be a time traveling women from the 1970's on the New York subway. When I noticed it was by the same author as Red, White and Royal Blue, which I loved, I definitely knew I needed this book in my life. 

The main character moves to New York and moves into an apartment of a motley crew of roommates (kind of like in Honey Girl, later in this post) and they annoyed me a bit in both books, to be honest. There's a lot of times that you, as the reader, have to throw all logic to the wind when reading fantasy. I can't really give away too much plot wise because I don't want to ruin the book for anyone. I will say I was shocked, there's a connection to the Upstairs Lounge Fire. Earlier in the month, I read Tinderbox, which was a book that I read earlier this month about a horrible fire that was set and a gay bar in the 1970s in New Orleans. Two books in the same month about the same tragic event, what are the odds? 

I would recommend this book and enjoyed it.

Honey Girl
By Morgan Rogers

I actually read this book back in February, and I just realized I never got around posting this. This was my Book of the Month book and I was very excited about the novel.  

I tried so hard to like this book, so flipping hard. The novel is written by a young woman of color. This book is her debut novel and I want to support young authors, especially female, but I just couldn't get into it. I don't know if I'm too old or straight or just don't relate with the characters but I struggled. 

The main character is in her late twenties, black and a lesbian. She has just got her doctorate in astronomy, and her military father and hippy mother are just horrible parents. She made her own family with two roommates that suffer from some of the same depression and self harm issues, and the family that runs the tea shop where she works. Our main character goes to Las Vegas after she graduates and drunkenly marries a girl she doesn't know. After the drunken mistakes, she has to reevaluate her drive for her degree and what she is going to do with her life. 

There is just so much going on in one book. It's like the author hit every hipster millenial (is that the right generation?) cliché branch on the way down. This is the author's first book and I know I have said it in the past but the first book is either awesome (John Gresham's A Time To Kill) or sucky (Jodi Picoult's Song of the Humpback Whale). 

I just didn't enjoy the book, but again I just might not be the right demographic. 

When Katie Met Cassidy
By Camille Perri

This book reminded me of a movie I saw years ago called Kissing Jessica Stein. The book and film are about a straight girl falling for another girl, and said girl teaching the heroine how love has no labels or gender. 

I liked the book, but it wasn't actually technically written that well. I wanted more from the characters and more depth. You would think this was the author's debut, but it's not. The book was just a cute quick read while riding the stationary bike at six in the morning. If you are looking to support a LGBTQ+ author, give it a try. 

Year 4, week 45: His Truth Is Marching On

This week's book:
His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope
By Jon Meacham

"Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America."
— Lewis speaking atop the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 1, 2020

This week’s book was for the book group I run. This book was actually one of my favorites that we read for 2021. The book was about U.S. Representative John Lewis and his work during the civil rights movement. It was so well written and was so educational about the civil rights movement while telling Lewis’ life story. 

You might know his name from Bloody Sunday, the march in Selma that turned so violent. Lewis actually wrote three graphic novels about the march in Selma. Or maybe you know him as one of the leaders of the march on Washington, or maybe his political work. He was a congressman in Georgia and a minister. He was a man of faith and was willing to do the work to help make changes. His faith was so deep with hope that the world could be a better place. The world needs more people that are just good humans. He was a spiritual man and would keep his cool while being arrested, physically assaultedm and abused for the cause he believed in. 

Before this book, all I knew was that he was the young man at Selma and he was one of Dr. Martin Luther King’s confidants. I also knew he rallied the south to get out to vote in my recent memory. A lot of people put Lewis up on a pedestal because of his peace and patience, but he was the first to admit he was not perfect. He said he was quick to anger and that no one is perfect. One of my favorite quotes he said about Dr. King and himself was “The difference between saint and savior is that a saint is not perfect.” 

One of the reasons that I enjoyed this book so much was that it came out before he passed away in 2020. The author even had Lewis write the afterword for the book. It always means so much more when the person is able to tell their story in their own words. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone to read.