Books Archives - Page 7 of 50 - Brooke's Reviews and Sweeps

Most Recent TBR Adds

By Brookelorren on June 9, 2020June 9, 202026 Comments

Hello! It’s Tuesday, and you know what that means! Time for another Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl). Today’s topic is supposed to be “Books I’ve Added to my TBR and Forgotten Why,” but I usually know why I add books to my TBR, so that wouldn’t be a very good list. Instead, I’ll talk about the most recent books to my TBR. There were a few books I recently added to Goodreads because I read them a long time ago, but I’m not going to include them here.

I’ve never read Twilight before (or seen any of the movies), and wasn’t planning to. After all the book came out 15 years ago and people have mixed feelings about it today. And to be honest? I’m reading it right now and I have to say, while it is entertaining, their relationship has some problems. But with Midnight Sun coming out, I figure, why not read the series? It’s kind of fun to be reading something that lots of your book friends are reading.

I’ve been making a point to read more nonfiction lately. So along with Twilight, I’ve been reading a couple chapters from The Bell Curve every day. It’s definitely an academic book. A few of the chapters are a little controversial, and I have to wonder what direction some of the trends they found went in after this book went to print about 25 years ago.

Of Silver and Shadow was an ARC I got from Netgalley. I was in a hurry to read it, thinking it was coming out at the end of May, and then I discovered that it wouldn’t come out until 2021 (likely because of Coronavirus).

My friend Katerina King wrote Malediction, which came out last fall. I’m not sure why I didn’t add it to my Goodreads TBR sooner than I did.

I read The Guinevere Deception last fall, and I’m looking forward to reading Kiersten White’s sequel, The Camelot Betrayal. This series has some great covers! I can’t wait to read this one.

There’s going to be a sequel to Veronica Roth’s Chosen Ones. It’s still untitled, but I plan to read it. So I added it to my TBR.

Forged in Fire and Stars was a book recommendation given to me. It has a beautiful cover, and it sounds interesting. This book came out last month, but I haven’t had the opportunity to read it yet.

I never read Little Women, but I had the opportunity to read the first few pages of Jo & Laurie and it was pretty good. I got to meet Melissa de la Cruz in March, and the book seemed interesting when she described it.

I got The Summer of Impossibilities as an ARC. I suppose I could have added this book to last week’s Top Ten Tuesday, which talked about books that give off summer vibes.

Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare doesn’t have a cover yet, and it’s also not available for pre-order, but it’s already on my TBR. I like all the Shadowhunter books, so I’ll probably want to read this as soon as it comes out.

So these are my most recent TBR adds! Next week we’re talking about our summer TBRs!

Tell Me Everything

By Brookelorren on June 4, 2020June 1, 20202 Comments

Hello! I’ve been horrible at writing reviews lately, but I need to turn Tell Me Everything, by Sarah Enni, back into the library and I haven’t reviewed it yet! I liked this story and the pages flew by. I think the description doesn’t really do it justice.

Ivy and Harold are best friends. Ivy is shy and retreats into her art and photography; Harold is a high-achieving academic who wants to be involved in almost every club in school.

Things change when Harold goes to summer camp. He comes back stressed about getting into a selective college; Ivy spent the summer taking pictures and following the new anonymous art app, VEIL. VEIL allows people in your local area to post art anonymously, which gives people more freedom to be themselves. Once school returns, Ivy starts figuring out who some of these VEIL posters are, and starts to give gifts to them anonymously.

The Issues

I didn’t expect Tell Me Everything to be a book that explored important issues. Nothing in the description indicates that. But then, someone posts an anti-homosexual rant on VEIL. The site goes from being a fun place for teens to express themselves to one that has gathered the attention of unhappy parents. The book explores the issues of anonymity, free speech, and how sometimes anonymity causes people to behave in ways they wouldn’t do if they had to have their name attache to it–and not always in a good way.

When Ivy starts figuring out who these people are and starts giving them gifts, I start to see how this might not end well. Because not everybody wants other people to find out their secrets. And even if you do figure out someone’s secret, sometimes it’s better that they don’t know you know. I don’t want to give the ending away, but Ivy ends up learning that her good intentions don’t always work out so well.

Plot Twist!

Tell Me Everything has an interesting plot twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. In a good way though. I thought the end was going to go one way, but it went in a different direction. It was a believable end though, so I wasn’t left disappointed or confused. I was very happy with the end.

Conclusion

I liked Tell Me Everything, and was glad I ended up reading it. It’s a book that I didn’t really hear much about when it came out (I heard about it through someone’s book recommendation) but I hope more people hear about it. The voice is great, the issues it discusses are relevant to what teens (and adults) are going through today, and it’s got a storyline that makes you want to keep reading. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you give it a chance.

Books that Give off Summer Vibes

By Brookelorren on June 2, 2020June 2, 202021 Comments

Hello! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) where we talk about books! This week’s topic is “Books that Give off Summer Vibes.” Although for our Australian friends, I’m expecting to see some winter books.

Summer is my favorite season of the year, and I’m so happy that the warmer weather has begun! I’ve started to go outside on nice days, sit in a lawn chair, and read a book, with a turned over bucket as a table. But I think I’m getting patio furniture today! So I’ll be sitting on that instead soon. Anyway, here are some summery books. Some I’ve read, some I haven’t.

This summer, I’m really hoping to reread Summer Days and Summer Nights. I read it two years ago, and I loved it. It has so many good stories in it, including “Inertia” by Veronica Roth, which I adore (but really most of these stories are good). I’ve kinda been hoping this book would drop in price. It’s been on my watch list at eReaderIQ for months now, and the price has gone up instead. Well, I know my library has it, at least.

I don’t know if The Weight of Feathers happens during the summer or not, but this book makes me think of summer. I read it on a hot summer day in July a couple years ago, so maybe that’s why it makes me think of summer. Also, some of the characters are mermaids. So there’s that.

I have a hardcover copy of Listen to Your Heart by Kasie West, but I haven’t read it yet. It didn’t win the TBR lottery last summer or fall, and I didn’t think it would make a good winter book, so I took it off the TBR during the cold months. Maybe I’ll get around to it this year. It has water on the cover–how much more summery can you get?

Start Here by Trish Doller takes place over the summer, I read it during the summer, and it takes place on the water. This is such a great book. I will definitely have to give it another read some summer. Maybe not this one, but someday.

I didn’t read Alex, Approximately in the summer initially, but this is another book that takes place in the summer that gives me major summer vibes. There’s water on the cover to this book too!

It’s been years since I read How Stella Got Her Groove Back. It takes place in Jamaica. I’ve been to Jamaica twice, although neither time did I go hang out on a beach resort like Stella did. Anyway, beachy vibes, Carribbean island, how many more summer vibes do you need?

Echoes, by Alice Reeds, also gives me summery vibes. A lot of the book takes place on a tropical island. Now’s a good time to read this book, because the sequel, Fractures, just came out! It’s what I’m reading now.

Today Tonight Tomorrow takes place at graduation. What can be more summery than graduating from high school? It takes place in Seattle (not quite known for it’s beach weather) but it’s a great book.

I initially read City of Bones in the summer. I remember reading this book on the beach while watching my kids swim at the lake. This book also takes place during the summer. So it gives me some summery vibes, at least.

What can be more summery than going on a road trip? Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour not only takes place during the summer, but it’s a road trip! I haven’t read this one yet, but it’s in the TBR lottery, which is where I put books I would like to read, but randomly draw numbers to see which books I’ll read.

So here are some summery books! How about you? Are you looking forward to summer reading? What books give you summer vibes? Next week we’re going to talk about books we’ve added to our TBR and have forgotten why. Hmmm. I may tweak that topic a bit. But either way, I’ll see you then!

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

By Brookelorren on May 27, 2020May 26, 20206 Comments

When I first heard they were doing The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a Hunger Games prequel, last year, I was only mildly interested. Sure, I went to see all the movies, and it was one of the book series I’ve read in both Spanish and English, but it’s been at least 5 years since I’ve read it. Do I want to go back to the world? It turns out, the book was pretty good and now I want to reread The Hunger Games at some point.

The book centers on Coriolanus Snow, which, if you’ve read The Hunger Games, is an antagonist from the series. How is this book going to work out, making him likable? We’re all the heroes of our own stories, I guess. It turns out, I was pleasantly surprised.

What I Liked

What I liked most about The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was how it gives so much backstory into the original The Hunger Games trilogy. When we’re first dumped into the 74th annual Hunger Games, the capital has everything down already. They’re exciting (if not gruesome) to watch, there’s stakes for all the districts involved, and sometimes people actually volunteer for these things. The victors are rewarded! The 10th Hunger Games–not so much. They’re still figuring these things out. We get to see how these things are put into motion.

Then there’s “The Hanging Tree.” People have been talking about the origins to this song for years, wondering where it came from. It’s stuck with me for years, and I remember the tune still. We get to find out the story behind this song. I love it when book series tie into each other across a character’s universe (maybe that’s why I like shadowhunters books so much). There is so much here that brings Panem to life. It’s great.

Then there’s the story itself. Coriolanus is a sympathetic character–for most of the book. This is not the capital we’re used to, full of wealthy, privileged, and clueless citizens. While it is true they’re better off than everybody in the districts, Panem is only 10 years away from a devastating war. I have a German textbook written in the late 1970s, and from the impression I get from that book, they were still recovering from World War II (the infrastructure was so bad that telephone calls were a luxury). I found myself rooting for him throughout the book. He’s a mentor for the 10th Hunger Games, and gets assigned to the girl from District 12.

He’s thrown a lot of challenges and he has to overcome them. At the same time, despite his challenges, you see the ambition that eventually turns him into President Snow. His mentee is a great character as well, and you want to root for her too.

What I Liked Less

While I can’t say there was anything I disliked about The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, there was a part that surprised me. After the Hunger Games end, there’s still a third of the book left. What? Initially, it felt like the story should have ended there. However, the last third of the book shows us how Coriolanus Snow turns from a sympathetic character to being set on the path that leads him to becoming the villainous President Snow 64 years later. It also contains the origin to the song “The Hanging Tree,” which I really enjoyed.

Conclusion

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is an enjoyable story that gives us a lot of background into The Hunger Games. I want to go on and reread the original series now. There were times I didn’t want to put it down. I definitely recommend it if you liked the original series.

Opening Lines

By Brookelorren on May 26, 2020May 27, 202027 Comments

Hello! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl), where we talk about books! Today we’re going to talk about book’s opening lines. The beginning of a book is so important. Most of us here are avid readers and talk about books all the time, but the average person browsing a bookstore might only give a book a few seconds of time before moving on. Today we’re going to talk about some great opening lines. I don’t have a ton memorized so it’s going to take some digging.

“My mother thinks I’m dead.”

The first line of Legend is actually the only opening line I have memorized, so we can just pack it up and go home here. Obviously he’s not dead, but why does his mother think he is? My boy pointed out to me the beginning of The Young Elites, which is also amazing: “I’m going to die tomorrow morning.” When we had the chance to meet Marie Lu in March, my boy asked her how she came up with such great first lines. She said she thinks about them a lot. Well, they capture my attention, at least.

“On the second Sabbat of Twelfthmoon, in the city of Weep, a girl fell from the sky.”

Laini Taylor has such a beautiful way of writing, and the first line of Strange the Dreamer (from the prologue) sets the story up nicely. Who is this girl? Why did she fall from the sky? By the time you actually get to this scene in the book, you’ve forgotten about this first line. Until it happens.

“I wasn’t ready to turn to stone.”

This, the first line from Fawkes, is another opening line that certainly grabbed me. Why would he possibly turn to stone? This is a line that makes me want to read on.

“When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.”

The opening line to The Hunger Games is probably one of the more famous lines on my list tonight. Everybody knows that you’re not supposed to start a book with the character waking up. This one works though, because instead of starting with a yawn, it gets you to ask questions. Why is it cold? Who’s supposed to be there? I just finished reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes today (which I liked) but it didn’t have an opening line like this one.

“A lace-trimmed wedding invitation sits my nightstand and I know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Mama is not coming back.”

This first line from A Treason of Thorns grabs me. Why isn’t Mama coming back? Who is she marrying? Why is she leaving her child behind? There’s all these questions and… what’s going to happen? I have to read on.

“Nina had broken the cardinal rule, and now she had to kill someone.”

I still haven’t read Deal with the Devil by Kit Rocha, but this first line is amazing, IMO. What is the rule? Why does she have to kill someone? This first line is one of the reasons I wanted to get the ARC.

“Mom. We’ve been over this. Don’t read the comments.”

This is the first line for Don’t Read the Comments. Most of us have been on the internet for quite a while, and know how bad people’s comments can be sometimes. After this line, I want to know what they say.

“To be fair, when the alarm goes off, there’s barely even any smoke rising from the oven.”

Wow… this person is even a worse cook than I am! Well, that’s what I might think at the beginning of Tweet Cute, with the smoke coming out of the oven and all. Actually, the character is a much better cook than I am, but with the way this book starts, you might think she lacks baking skills. But I want to read more now.

“I’ve a thief to thank for finding the one person I need to see before I die.”

Oh my. Who’s this thief and why is the main character dying? The first line of The Last Year of the War makes me want to read more. If you read this one, make sure you bring the tissues!

“The stranger came out of the sea like a water ghost, barefoot and wearing the scars of his journey.”

The Priory of the Orange Tree is a very long book, but the first line is awesome. This book took quite a while to read, but I remember reading this line and being wowed. It’s so poetic. Who is this stranger? Where did he come from? It makes me want to read more.

So there are ten first lines that stood out to me. Did anybody else find this assignment to be a little difficult? So what opening lines stood out to you? Next week is the first week of June, and we’re going to talk about books that give off summer vibes. I love summer! See you then.

Reasons Why I Love YA

By Brookelorren on May 19, 2020May 18, 202036 Comments

Hello! Welcome to another edition of Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl). Every week, we get to talk about a different book topic. Today’s topic is “Reasons Why I Love _____.” There will be much love shared this week, I’m sure. Rather than gush over one of my auto-buy authors (which I do all the time anyway), I’m going to talk about why I love YA in the first place.

1. It’s full of adventure. Sometimes I hear (usually 20-something) people say how they want more protagonists their age. I don’t particularly want to read about protagonists my age. Sorry. Not that older protagonists might do something interesting, but I really can’t imagine waking up one day and leaving my kids to go save the kingdom.

2. First loves. My life in high school was pretty pathetic. All the boys liked other girls and wouldn’t be interested in me if I paid them. It was pretty depressing. In YA, I get to walk in the shoes of someone else who (probably) had a better time than I did.

3. Books I can share with my kids. My kids have read many of the same books I have. Although my boy likes to read middle grade books sometimes, he’s also read most of Marie Lu’s books. After listening to most of Astrid Scholte’s The Vanishing Deep together in the car (we still haven’t finished it because that was our car book and we don’t go places together right now because of coronavirus), he found Four Dead Queens on his Kindle and started reading it. After things get back to normal and we finish The Vanishing Deep, I’m going to make him listen to City of Bones with me in the car, because he started it, but I don’t think he actually gave it a chance.

4. Book experiences I can share with my kids. About a year ago, my boy had finished Legend and I asked him if he’d go meet Marie Lu with me at the Tattered Cover if she ever went there. He said he would, and asked if we could go to the Lego Store while we’re there. I agreed. In March, she came to The Tattered Cover with Astrid Scholte and Melissa de la Cruz, and we had an amazing day together. We got cupcakes, went to the Lego Store, had dinner, and then got front row seats at the bookstore. It was an all-day event and was great.

5. It’s a family tradition. My grandma shared the Anne of Green Gables books with me when I was in middle or high school. I ended up inheriting those books from her.

6. Why grow up? Along the same lines, my grandma played with dolls in her 80s. You can like whatever you like, no matter what your age. I read other books too, but there’s no expiration date on liking things.

7. The category is quite diverse. I know YA is often considered a genre, but it’s actually more of a category, and it’s fairly diverse. There’s fantasy books with dragons, contemporaries with people graduating from high school, and futuristic dystopians with teens fighting tyrannical governments. It covers every kind of topic under the sun, from bullying to evil tyrants trying to take over the world. There’s always something to grab my interest.

8. The book community. YA is a book category that people of (almost) all ages can enjoy. I can go to a book signing with my boy or buy the Legend trilogy for my niece and then have her tell me she loved the books I bought. The age ranges of people on Twitter vary also. And many people over here at Top Ten Tuesday also like YA.

9. Hopeful stories. A lot of YA stories are hopeful. The good guys usually win. People usually look for a brighter tomorrow. This isn’t always the case, but a lot of the time it is.

10. I’m not old enough for adult books (sometimes). I’ve often said I’m not old enough to watch Game of Thrones. While technically, yes, I am old enough to read any book in the bookstore, there are some books I don’t want to read. I believe books influence your mind, and most YA books are positive, family friendly influences.

Those are some reasons why I love YA. What did you write about today? Next week we’re going to talk about opening lines. I’ll write about some that I really love. See you then!

Last 10 Series I Haven’t Finished (Yet)

By Brookelorren on May 12, 2020May 12, 202019 Comments

Hello! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl)! Here’s where we talk about books every week. Today’s topic is supposed to be “The Last Ten Books I Abandoned,” but I really don’t try to abandon books, so I’m going to go with something similar, but different: the last 10 series I haven’t finished. It could be for a variety of reasons, and I’ll tell you why I haven’t finished them yet. Let’s get started!

Chosen Ones – Veronica Roth

Length: Duology

Why haven’t I finished it?: The second book isn’t out yet! It doesn’t even have a title. But I have every intention of reading it once it comes out.

System Divine: Jessica Brody & Joanne Rendell

Length: Trilogy

Why haven’t I finished it?: The third book isn’t out yet! It’s title hasn’t been announced yet, although the authors know what the title is. The third book hasn’t even been announced on Goodreads, but I went to a book event with the authors and I know they were going to do one.

The Last Hours: Cassandra Clare

Length: Trilogy

Why haven’t I finished it?: Only the first book is available. I’m so looking forward to reading more of this series. I keep looking to see if Chain of Iron is available to pre-order. I might reread this twice before the next book comes out, I love it so much.

St. Rosetta’s Academy: Sandhya Menon

Length: Trilogy

Why haven’t I finished it?: The second two books aren’t out yet! I sound like a broken record at this point. But there are other reasons why I haven’t finished a series, just not the last books I’ve read up to this point.

Dollar: Pepper Winters

Length: Pentalogy

Why haven’t I finished it?: Just haven’t gotten around to it. I’ve read four of the five books so far. I’ve put the fifth book, Millions, onto my TBR lottery, but it hasn’t won so far. Plus, I’m having trouble getting books read right now. Don’t know why.

Camelot Rising: Kiersten White

Length: Trilogy

Why haven’t I finished it?: The other two books in the series aren’t available yet. I do plan on reading them though.

Sea Witch: Sarah Henning

Length: Duology

Why haven’t I finished it?: So many books, so little time. Maybe I’ll read the sequel someday? I’m a never say never kind of person. But it’s not one of my top priorities.

Dreamer Trilogy: Maggie Stiefvater

Length: Trilogy

Why haven’t I finished it?: The other books aren’t out yet. I don’t think I liked this book quite as much as The Raven Boys, so I probably won’t pre-order it, but I’ll probably get the other books from the library and read them.

Monsters of Verity: Victoria Schwab

Length: Duology

Why haven’t I finished it?: I haven’t gotten around to it. It’s in my TBR lottery, so I intend to read the finale at some point; I just haven’t yet.

The Beautiful: Renée Ahdieh

Length: Duology

Why haven’t I finished it?: The Damned isn’t out yet. Like Call Down the Hawk, I’m not sure I liked the first book enough to buy the second book, but I’ll probably get it from the library.

So there are the last 10 series that I’ve read partway through and haven’t finished. So far this year, I’ve finished four series, and this list goes back to mid-October of last year, so I guess I tend to finish most series that I read. Not all of them, but many of them.

Next week is “Reasons Why I Love…” I think I’ll write about “Reasons Why I Love YA.” But don’t quote me on it. See you then!

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel

By Brookelorren on May 7, 2020May 7, 20202 Comments

Hello! Welcome to the Save the Cat! Writes a Novel Blog Tour! I was lucky enough to be chosen to review this amazing book. If you’ve ever wanted to write a novel, or have written a novel and want to make it better, this book may help you out.

The first time I heard of Save the Cat! was at an Ask Me Anything with Marie Lu. She suggested it for people who want to learn to write. Pffft! I’ve already written five novels! I’m actually not sure how many books I had written at the time, but I had written several. I believe when I finish writing Saving Adelinetta, it will be my tenth novel.

But! For me, the more I write, the closer I become to having a book I want to send out to agents, the more I want to learn. What makes a successful story? Even if I have this story now, how can I write another one? How do I write a story that people will want to read? This is one of the beautiful things about Save the Cat! It’s a book that brand-new storytellers can use to put together their first novel, as well as a book that intermediate storytellers can use to make sure their books are ones that people will want to read.

What’s in the Book?

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel can be broken up into three different sections:

An introduction to the Save the Cat beats.
How these beats are used in different kinds of stories.
Pitching and troubleshooting your novel.

If you read any part of this book, you’ll definitely want to use the first section for reference. You might think Jessica Brody made these up, but they’re actually pretty much universal to most successful stories. I wrote The Brightness of Shadow without knowing about these beats. You know what? I pretty much hit all the beats without even knowing what they were. However, Save the Cat has further information and examples about things to include in the beats. As I’m revising my book, I’m using this book to help me. Additionally, I have some unfinished books I’m working on. These beats have and will help me finish these books.

This book spends a majority of its time giving examples of different types of stories that can be written using these beats. By types of stories, I don’t mean genre (romance, mystery) or category (young adult, middle grade). An example of a story type is an underdog story or a road trip. Perhaps there are other story types than the ten mentioned here, and books can fit into more than one story type, but if you read through the examples in this book, you should be able to get a good idea of how story beats fit into the kind of story you want to tell.

The final section of the book deals with how to pitch your book and deal with any problems you may have. If you’re going to query your book, you need to write a query letter. And probably a synopsis. There’s a chapter for that. The final chapter deals with other problems writers might have.

Conclusion

Do you want to write a novel? Have you written a novel? Save the Cat! Writes a Novel can help you with that. It’s a book I plan to use in the future (and have used it to put together something of an outline of a fanfic I plan to write at some point, The Rift). This book can help most people plan out their next book. Even if you’re a pantser, Save the Cat! can give you an idea of where your characters should go next. I highly recommend it.

In addition to Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, Jessica Brody has written several other books. I reviewed Sky Without Stars on this blog before. I really have to review its sequel, Between Burning Worlds, because it’s amazing.

Want to learn more about Save the Cat! Writes a Novel? Follow the blog tour! Also, you can learn more about how to save the cat (including the new software, which I haven’t tried) over at savethecat.com.

About the Author:

Jessica Brody worked for MGM Studios as manager of acquisitions and business development before becoming an internationally best-selling author of more than fifteen novels for adults and teens including The Geography of Lost Things, The Chaos of Standing Still, A Week of Mondays, and Better You Than Me. She travels the country teaching Save the Cat! workshops to novelists.

Books That Make Me Happy

By Brookelorren on May 5, 2020May 5, 202021 Comments

Hello! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) where we talk about books! Today’s topic is supposed to be “Things I’d Have at My Bookish Party,” but I don’t know? As an introvert, parties can be somewhat anxiety-producing. But, since parties are supposed to make you happy, and today I could use some happiness vibes, I’m going to go with “Books that Make Me Happy” instead.

Right now, I’m rereading The Rose Society by Marie Lu. A couple years ago, during the 2018 Olympics, I started writing a fanfic from Magiano’s point of view, Saving Adelinetta, that covers his experience of the events of The Rose Society, The Midnight Star, and beyond. I set it aside for two years, but I’m now working on finishing and publishing it. Writing it makes me happy. Considering I’ve gone into the bathroom to cry into a towel several times today, I kinda need this in my life.

Shadowhunters make me happy. I love Cordelia, and I love how Chain of Gold ends, even though I’m dying for the next book in this series. I want to reread this now, but I know I need to wait until closer to Chain of Iron‘s release date. If I reread a book too much I often get tired of it.

Divergent is another book that makes me happy. I don’t like the ending of Allegiant, but everything else up until chapter 50 of that book makes me happy. And there’s a lot of amazing fanfiction that makes me forget that chapter 51 of Allegiant ever existed.

Another book that makes me happy is Enchantée. I remember reading it, almost getting to the end, and then having to go to work. The thought of calling in late that day definitely crossed my mind. I didn’t, and finished the book at lunchtime instead.

I was so lucky to get the chance to read Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon early! This book is another one that makes me happy. I need to reread it at some point.

Perhaps it’s summer that makes me happy, because thinking about Alex, Approximately makes me happy too. They get to chill out on the beach on the cover, and maybe that won’t be possible this year due to the coronavirus, but I will be able to go outside and read on my patio this summer. And that will make me happy, especially with a summer book at my side.

The Best Laid Plans isn’t the perfect book, but the ending is just so sweet. I’m sure you can guess the ending from the cover and the description, but there were things revealed at the end of the book that I just loved.

I read Summer Days and Summer Nights in 2018 and I have happy memories of it. This summer, I hope to have the chance to read it again. There are so many great stories in here! Plus, it’s a summer book, and summer makes me happy.

Just looking at the cover of Start Here makes me happy! Okay, I did cry during part of this book, but sometimes tears can be cathartic, right? And it wasn’t tears of sadness, it was tears of an ending, not knowing what the future would hold, but knowing that the journey I just went on was a good one. Like college graduation.

I can’t help but smile when thinking about When Dimple Met Rishi. This book is so funny! I flew through this book. And look at this cover! Doesn’t Dimple’s smile make you happy just looking at it? It does for me, at least.

So there are ten books that make me happy, that are like a party in my brain to read. What did you write about today? Did you come up with ten things to take to a bookish party?

Next week’s topic is “The Last Ten Books I Abandoned.” Abandon a book? That might be another topic I need to modify a bit, but I think I’ve got some ideas for that one.

The Summer of Impossibilities

By Brookelorren on April 28, 2020April 28, 20203 Comments

Don’t you just love summer? It’s almost the end of April, school is starting to wind down, and it’s almost time to break out those summer books! I recently read The Summer of Impossibilities by Rachael Allen (thank you Netgalley and ABRAMS Kids for the Advanced Reader Copy!), and think this will make a lovely summer book. It deals with a lot of things that teens struggle with, and cumulates with beautiful friendships.

The Characters

One of the things that stands out to me in this book is the characters. Their situations are all different, but many teens will find someone they resonate with.

Skyler – She loves playing softball, but suffers from juvenile arthritis. She’s afraid to tell her parents that she’s in pain. They have so many expectations for her–plus, they’re having some problems of her own.

Scarlett – Sky’s twin sister, she’s having some problems of her own. She’s not sure how to deal with her boyfriend. She’s also recovering from cutting, and at times feels like she’s broken.

Amelia Grace – She likes girls, but she also wants to be a youth pastor. When she’s accidentally outed, her church doesn’t want to allow her to be a youth pastor anymore. Amelia has to figure out if there’s any way to be the person she wants to be without giving up part of who she is.

Ellie – Ellie has been homeschooled for most of her life and has difficulty making friends.

The Story

These girls’ parents were best friends as teens and started the Southern Belles’ Drinking Club (SBDC) when they were teenagers. When Sky and Scarlett’s parents are having difficulties, they call up their old friends and spend the summer at their lake house together. The girls know about each other, but haven’t seen each other in years. They end up starting their own SBDC (drinking is optional: Ellie is a Muslim) and make a pact to do something impossible over the summer. Each girl’s impossible thing has something to do with their struggles.

Conclusion

The Summer of Impossibilities is such a sweet friendship story, and is perfect for summer reading. Do the girls all achieve the impossible? Well, I’m not going to give away the ending, but I will say the girls like how their summer resolves and grow as people in the process.

The main down side to this book was that the characters tended to have similar voices. Sometimes I’d have to flip back to tell who’s POV the story was coming from, or I’d tell which character was speaking by their unique situation. The story is told from four points of view, which can be incredibly difficult to write, especially when you’re writing characters of the same gender and age (I’ve written a story with 3 POVs before, and it helped that they were either different genders or ages). However, POV issues aside, it was a lovely book I think will make a great summer read.