I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm going to have new posts on my blog sometime early in the week (e.g., Sunday or Monday). And sometimes I'm going to be later than that. Overall, though, I've been much better about updating this blog than any other blogs in the past, so at least there's that...Now, on to the main event! A review of a book by one of my favorite contemporary YA authors: Rainbow Rowell. I was first introduced to Rainbow Rowell when my bookclub read her YA book, Fangirl (yes, you should all read that one too) and I was so happy I read it. So of course I read Carry On, too. Carry On is the fanfiction that one of the characters in Fangirl was writing, and I'm so happy Rainbow Rowell actually wrote it (the sequel to Carry On, Wayward Son, is also coming out in September, just saying). Then I read Attachments, which is an adult contemporary novel by Rainbow Rowell, and I was not disappointed at all. That being said, up until yesterday, I hadn't read the book that many people think put Rainbow Rowell on the map: Eleanor & Park. But now I have, and I'm ecstatic that I did. Because it was awesome!!! There are definitely times that I've avoided contemporary novels in the YA genre that deal with romance. I have found that many of them feel too dramatic for me, and I sometimes end up wanting to yell at the main characters. Part of this is probably because I was homeschooled, so the "normal" high school type relationships have always been slightly foreign to me. I'm also not going to lie, I get this way about many adult/new-adult contemporary romance novels. While there are things that I can shrug off when it's fantasy, paranormal, sci-fi, or historical romance (because obviously I have no real experience with those so I can't complain too much if there's bits of it that annoy me because maybe that's just how it was/is in those settings) it is harder for me to do so when the setting and characters are real-time and my age or an age I've already lived through. I say all of that to set the scene that it takes a really good contemporary YA novel to keep me reading. And I finished this book in a single day. Eleanor & Park hit that perfect spot between sweet and hot when it came to the romance, but this book was about more than just two slightly misfit teens finding each other and embarking on a relationship that may last past their formative years. It was about finding yourself even as you find another person. I get that that isn't necessarily encouraged when you think about things logically. You shouldn't be using another person as a crutch to tell you who you are. That tends to end badly even in books. What happens in this book, however, is more of two people meeting, interacting, and then being willing to explore more of their own wants/needs because they realize that not everyone has the same options and/or they now have a safe place to make those explorations. It is a story of friendship as well as love, and there is plenty of tension (romantic and otherwise) thrown into the mix. Lovers of Sarah Dessen and Rainbow Rowell's other books are probably going to enjoy Eleanor & Park. The characters draw you in and the sweetness of the romance is well balanced by the realities of life (some of which are relatively universal teenage troubles and some of which are ones we thank a higher power that we never had to experience). I wish I had read this book earlier in some ways, but I'm very glad that I read it now. I think I can appreciate some parts of it more as an adult (though still a new one) that I may not have as a teenager. As with many books, this one may not be for everyone, but I suggest everyone give it a try anyway. And if you read any of Rainbow Rowell's books, let me know in the comments. I'm always happy to talk about them! Happy Reading!
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I know, I know, I'm super late this week...And not necessarily because I've been horrendously busy, though I have been busy. But the reason for my lateness is more than just not being able to find the time. I fully admit to being a procrastinator, and that is mostly what has been happening to the blog post this week. Not procrastinating by simply saying "Oh, I'll get to it later," but more of a "I'd rather do this/I need to do this more/first" and then suddenly I could be trying to write this post late at night when I'm mostly incoherent or I can try again the next day. The latter option has happened three times so far this week so hopefully this fourth attempt will be the charm. Or maybe I'll be like Cousin Vinny and the sixth attempt will be the charm (it's a movie, it's hilarious, you should all watch it and let me know what you think). Anyway, there has been quite a bit going on for me this week, mostly revolving around moving myself across an ocean. Depending on your point of view, it's either worse than it sounds or not entirely as bad as it sounds. But it isn't a walk in the park (unless you're talking hiking, then it may be).
Similar to how it was when I just moved across the country, there are a lot of little, "every day" things that need to be taken care of when you attempt to move across oceans and national borders. For example, credit/debit cards all need to be informed that you're traveling, even when just buying the plane tickets for international travel. It was literally a whole fiasco that took about an hour to try and purchase (not find, just purchase) the plane tickets because my bank was being very diligent in making sure there was no fraud. This is a wonderful thing. Except for when it isn't because it takes four or five phone calls to make sure I actually get the tickets and I'm worrying the whole time that either the plane will fill up and I'll have to find another flight or the prices will skyrocket because the website data is saying "there's a lot of people interested, you can probably jack up prices" even though it's just one person trying to figure out why the stupid flights "may no longer be available" when there were still at least 40 seats left five minutes ago when she finally got the bank on the phone to let them know it is her trying to purchase plane tickets from European companies. Another thing to think about, the different luggage/carry-on restrictions that exist for airlines from other countries. They aren't always more restrictive than national airlines, but in my case, some of them are which means I'm actually going to have to purchase a new carry-on bag. Not a huge deal, but that's still something I have to do before I leave. Also, an update in electronics. This, for me, is more because I'm embarking on a PhD and a seven year old computer that has Windows 7 (which will be discontinued come next year) is not necessarily the best idea. But I have to make sure that new computer will be able to handle the electric system in the UK. Along with making sure my phone and e-reader can handle it as well. Plus, actually purchasing (or finding my parents' old version) electric-plug-adapters/converters. Apparently the UK and Ireland use different ones than the rest of Europe, and if I'm going to be travelling across Europe, and potentially other places too for conferences, I'm going to need a converter kit that is more than just the UK. Not to mention unlocking my phone and figuring out which company I want to go with for a UK mobile phone plan. I'm thinking at this moment that a pay-as-I-go plan is going to be what happens, but I've still got research to do. Thankfully, I've already got my Visa hammered out. And where I'm going to be living. And I have a very limited part-time job as a Teaching Assistant, so I'll at least have some food money that isn't coming out of my savings until I can find a 15 hr/week job for the rest of my living expenses. But I still have a lot to do and it is daunting. That being said, I still have a little time left, so I can take it small chunks at a time and still have opportunities to hang out with family and crochet a baby blanket for a friend that I should have started last month (I told you all I was a procrastinator ;P ). Anyway. If you have advice, encouragement, or even just words of commiseration, let me know in the comments. And if you have any reading suggestions, let me know. I always love adding to my TBR pile. Happy Reading! I'm not necessarily going to be discussing a single book in this book review post, but I am going to be addressing a topic that I think is interesting based on a book I recently read and reviewed on GoodReads. Since I'm in Colorado now, I have access to a series of books that weren't at the Arlington/DC libraries. Now, over the past five years I had read this series two times, and I'm starting my third time through. It's a paranormal-ish romance series, and like I said, I'm reading it for the third time. The concept is one that I enjoy despite how horribly it portrays human nature (or perhaps because it helps portray the racism, bigotry, and idiocy of current society in a way that is "safe" and might potentially get through to those of us who somehow can't quite connect the dots between things our current political landscape is allowing and things that happen in genocides), where humans have been kept as scientific subjects by a corporation working on "super soldiers"/medical improvements and been genetically enhanced in some way but the public found out, the people are rescued, and now the government is trying to figure out how to cover their butts since they were a major funder of the research. So now the former test-subjects have been given some/full autonomy while remaining US citizens and have their own places to live, but of course hate groups happen and say that these people don't have a right to exist. You can imagine what happens next, especially since these are romance. ;)
Stories/series like this have always been compelling to me. I started with Lora Leigh's Breeds series and then catapulted off into similar but slightly different series'. And many of them were well-written. Lora Leigh's writing is great (though it has grown a lot since the first book of the Breeds), and Cynthia Eden is no slough either. However, this series that I'm re-reading now, is a little different. Laurann Dohner's New Species series is one I used as a template for the explanation above. I enjoy the concept. And like I've mentioned a few times, this isn't my first rodeo through her books. But her writing technique...leaves something to be desired. I think I noticed that in the first and second read-throughs, but it is more apparent now than I remember it being. Of course, writing and the response to writing is highly subjective (which is why many of the math people I know state they like math more), but there are still some objective ways to tell if a story is well written. For example, using passive voice isn't the greatest strategy for a novel. It sort of creates a disconnect between the character and what they are feeling/doing. Stating that "this occurrence made me feel terrified" is vastly different than stating "this occurrence terrified me." One is choppy and one is not. One "tells" the reader and one "shows" the reader. Do you remember which one your fifth grade composition teacher liked more? Because I do. Another example is dialogue and the use of contractions. Dialogue is super important for novels that have a lot of talking, and most romance novels have a lot of talking. But in modern times, contractions (i.e., isn't instead of is not, couldn't instead of could not, it's instead of it is, etc.,) are used frequently in speech. As such, dialogue in books that has sparse contractions doesn't read as smoothly. It doesn't mimic speech as we hear it in our every day lives and so it doesn't "sound" as good when we read it (even when we're not reading aloud). Contractions are so important that not including them can sometimes even change the intonation of characters for me, which can change the meaning of what they say. And if that changed meaning doesn't jive with what's happening in the story? Well, that means I have to stop, go back, re-read, and as a reader that's frustrating. But somehow, despite the examples above being prevalent in the New Species series, I'm reading it for the third time in 5 years! And you know what? Even though I'm really noticing these writing issues, I'm not going to stop. I want to keep reading. I'm almost compelled to keep reading. Now, my personal opinion is that Laurann Dohner has crafted a world and characters well and because those are more important to me in terms of whether I like a book, I'll keep reading because of them. Which is great. But here's my conundrum. I like to leave reviews and ratings that are helpful to other people. I usually rate/write reviews on Goodreads. But how do I quantify books that aren't technically well-written but I keep coming back to? Many people don't read the actual reviews, so even if I go through and explain that a higher rating is because I've re-read the book so many times people may not know that's why I'm giving it four out of five stars. And if they trust my judgement and go only off my rating but see all the issues with the writing and stop, does that mean I've "failed" them with my review? My personal opinion is that I'm going to give it a high rating because something about that book/series is good enough that I came back for more, but I'm not the only reviewer out there. What's your opinion on this? Would you give a high rating to a book you've re-read multiple times even if the writing technique is bad? Or do you base your ratings mostly on technique and don't care if you've read it multiple times if the writings bad? What do you wish other reviewers would do? Let me know in the comments! Happy Reading! Well, I'm posting a day late again. Although this seems to happen so frequently maybe I should just accept that I'll probably be posting on Mondays now? We'll see. Anywho (no that's not a typo, just another colloquialism I have sometimes), on to the post! Which will probably be relatively short. Maybe. We'll see.
I'm going to start off by saying I severely miscalculated packing time and cleaning time for my apartment. As such, I may not get my full deposit back but at this point all I can say is "Oh, well" because I made it to Colorado in one piece. Sure, not all my luggage did because I had no scale and was 5 and 6 pounds over the limit respectively on my checked bags. And yes, I'm pretty sure I accidentally tossed at least one nice mug in the trash as I was frantically trying to make my apartment appear mostly clean. But I made it! And I got to sleep all day Saturday and Sunday. I didn't, actually. I mostly read and watched movies with my family, but that's close enough to sleeping, right? ;) Now, my safe arrival aside, I'm definitely going to have to get better at packing before attempting the trip to Scotland. I'll also be getting rid of quite a bit, I think. And resigning myself to the horrendously expensive costs of shipping some things internationally. Some things I won't bother with, such as my yarn collection. I'll be able to get supplies in the UK. I'm not going to be bringing more books than what will take up my plane ride. And I'm drastically reducing my wardrobe, especially since mid-80s seems to be the hottest Edinburgh has gotten this year. Of course, climate change is a thing, so that could change, but in that situation I'll just buy stuff while I'm there. Overall, my takeaways from my most recent move are going to be very helpful for my next move. Yay! What's your least favorite part about moving? Is there such a thing as a favorite part? Let me know in the comments! Happy Reading! |
AuthorThe author is a librarian who reads "too much" (is there such a thing?) and talks just as much. As an aspiring author she gets bogged down by grammar rules when she just wants to forget them to make a sentence flow, but never seems to be able to. She appreciates thoughtful comments and constructive criticism, but internet trolls beware, she's read enough fantasy novels to know how to defeat the monsters. Archives
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