Bookish Thoughts

This was a very cute story about growing up and being brave and not missing your chance. Deja and Josiah are best friends who've been working at the local pumpkin patch for the last three years. But now they're seniors and it's the last night, and Josiah still hasn't even spoken to the girl he's been crushing on for the last three years. Deja is determined to make him take his chance, and they set off on a fun night of adventure, finding new things and revisiting old favorites. It's all the fluff I expect from Rainbow Rowell with very little of the angst.

I picked this book up expecting a light, happy, young adult romance. Instead I got put through an emotional wringer. This book broke my heart. Then is painstakingly pieced it back together again only to completely shatter it at the end. And then it left me with the smallest sliver of hope. It was very nearly perfect, and I'm mad at myself for taking this long to read it. Eleanor and Park  is about the love story of two teenagers (Eleanor and Park) in Omaha in 1986. They bond over comics and mix tapes, they fumble their way together with all the awkwardness and intensity of teenagers falling love for the first time. And then they suddenly have to grow up and they do it imperfectly and wonderfully and it just left me ruined. Park is half Korean and sticks out like a sore thumb in his little midwest town. He's not quite manly enough to win his father's approval, but his mother's love nearly makes up for it. He's incredibly atrtactive and weird and quiet, which puts...

Carry On  is a loving spoof of Harry Potter. It's not quite the fanfic that Cath was writing in Fangirl , but it's not not that either. It positions itself as the eighth and final book in a series, though it relies on tropes just heavily enough for you to easily fill in the blanks of the previous seven books. The action centers around Simon Snow, the chosen one who's supposed to save the magical world from the Insidious Humdrum. The only problem is that he's absolutely terrible at magic: tons of power, no control. With him are best friend Penelope (who is never quite called the brightest witch of her age), roommate Baz (a vampire who is supposed to kill Simon because of family obligations but has fallen in love with him instead), and his mentor, The Magician (who is better than Dumbledore in some ways and worse in others). There are ghosts and secrets and magic and a whole lot of teenage angst. It's a ton of fun. Rainbow performs an excellent balancing act, high...

Rainbow Rowell is so good at writing these incredibly sweet, compulsively readable stories. Fangirl  was longer than most of her other books, but it wasn't long enough. I absolutely didn't want this to end, and part of me wants to follow Cath and Wren (and Levi and Reagan) all the way through college and beyond. The book follows Cath at her first year at college. Her twin sister, Wren, has decided that she wants to strike out on her own, leaving Cath with a stranger for a roommate and feeling adrift. She does fine in her classes. But instead of seeking out new friends, she retreats into the internet fandom of Simon Snow (this world's Harry Potter), and the fanfic she's hoping to finish before the last book comes out. I'll admit that I identify a bit more with Wren than Cath in this situation. But having read and written my fair share of fanfiction in high school, this was a fun trip down memory lane. It made me nostalgic for all the good parts of college. I love...

Landline  is a fun, low-ish stakes story with an interesting twist. There was never much doubt that this book would  have a happy ending. But sometimes you just want to dive into a story with a known ending so you can enjoy the journey. Georgie is an ambitious television writer. She and her writing partner are working on a top-rated sitcom that they hate but that is opening doors for them. They finally get a meeting to launch their dream TV show - the one they've been working on since college. But to prepare for the meeting, Georgie is going to have to miss Christmas with her family. And when she chooses her job, it puts a whole lot of strain on her relationship with her husband. I will say that I had a hard time relating to Georgie's husband here. If Kevin had to miss Christmas because something came up at work - an emergency or a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity - we'd deal. He's missed Christmas before, and while it may be different with kids in the equation, it...

I've been hearing good things about Rainbow Rowell for years. But most of her books have yet to be released in paperback, for reasons I can't quite fathom. And I've never really want to spend $25 on one of her books, especially since they all seem to be quick reads. But I finally saw one at a used book sale, so I snatched it up. I'm glad I did, because it was a really cute, light read. I'm equally glad I only spent a couple of bucks on it, since it really didn't take me long to read and it's not the sort of book I'll be revisiting endlessly in years to come. The story is a romance with a sort of creepy concept. If you can get past it, the book is really enjoyable. Light and fun with interesting characters. But I can understand not being able to get past it. At the turn of the millenium, Lincoln has been hired to read the emails of the employees at a small newspaper and make sure they aren't abusing the email system or using it for things unrelate...