Scribbles & Wanderlust

- Book Review: “The Switch” by Beth O’Leary
  
  Posted at 11:52 am by Laura, on October 1, 2020
  
  The Switch by Beth O’Leary
  
  Publisher: Quercus
  Published: April 2020
  Genre: women’s fiction
  ISBN: 9781787474994
  Rating: ★★★★
  
  Ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, Leena escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house for some overdue rest. Newly single and about to turn eighty, Eileen would like a second chance at love. But her tiny Yorkshire village doesn’t offer many eligible gentlemen… So Leena proposes a solution: a two-month swap. Eileen can live in London and look for love, and Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire.
  
  But with a rabble of unruly OAPs to contend with, as well as the annoyingly perfect – and distractingly handsome – local schoolteacher, Leena learns that switching lives isn’t straightforward. Back in London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours, and with the online dating scene. But is her perfect match nearer to home than she first thought?
  
  Leena is super stressed at work, and her grandmother Eileen wants to expand her dating horizons, so they decide to spend the summer at the other’s home—sometimes all you need is a little change of scenery. Hilarity, enlightenment, community, and heartwarming experiences ensue!
  
  This is the perfect little pick-me-up and cheerful read. I loved Eileen’s gumption and view on life—her no-nonsense personality and “see it, fix it” helpful attitude, her sense of community spirit—and she totally reminded me of my own Nana. Eileen is the kind of person I strive to be, to find or have the answers while helping others while maintaining healthy boundaries and a balanced sense of self. Leena, on the other hand, was achingly familiar to me. I related a little too intensely to her desire for perfection, her need to please, her hamster-wheeling brain. There were whole scenes in the book that had me wondering if O’Leary had a little camera on the wall of my office. But Leena, too, found her zen in her summer and it served as a reminder to me to take a step back and breathe once in a while! You can’t give your all when you’re out of gas.
  
  While Flatshare highlighted gaslighting, unhealthy romantic relationships, and finding ways to come out of abuse in a healthy, positive way, The Switch focused on self improvement, self care, and familial grief. Leena and her mother experienced Leena’s sister’s death in two drastically different ways, and Eileen was left to referee her daughter and granddaughter’s emotional well-beings. Part of Eileen’s tendency to keep the peace in all aspects of her life brought on heavy burdens she didn’t need to take on. Part of Leena’s tendency to grind and overwork was to stave off unwanted memories and unacknowledged grief, all of which she needed to experience in order to reunite with her mother and move forward in life.
  
  What I love the most about O’Leary’s books is the way she handles universal, deep, and modern female experiences––all of them heavy, many of them uphill battles as a modern woman––and wraps them with humor and compassion. I know now when I dive into her novels I’m going to be dealing with some dark stuff, but I’ll still smile and laugh throughout the journey. All in all, she’s an “up-lit” author!
  
  If you enjoyed the humor and familiarity and female experiences of The Flatshare, you’ll enjoy this book. If you’re looking for predominantly romance, this isn’t quite it—though there, it’s not the point at all. This is uplifting fiction, discussing grief, community, mental health, aging, and never giving up.
  
  Posted in books, Reviews 2020 | 0 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: contemporary, review
- Mini Reviews
  
  Posted at 1:28 pm by Laura, on September 1, 2020
  
  It’s been…quite some time since I’ve really shared anything on here. It’s also been a very strange spring and summer, and reading for fun has been off and on, hit or miss. I’m way behind on reviews, so I’ll do my best over the next few weeks to catch up! First, some beachy contemporary reads!
  
  ~
  
  Beach Read by Emily Henry (★★★)
  
  I gave into the hype for my very first Book of the Month book, and while I enjoyed it I also found it to be of a bait-and-switch situation. Beach Read looks like a romcom, the premise seems like a romcom, but I’d argue it’s fairly close to domestic fiction with everything that’s unpacked in here. Nothing wrong with that––I enjoy romcom and women’s fiction alike––but it left a sour taste in my mouth with the packaging on this one.
  
  January is under deadline to write another romcom for her publisher, but she just doesn’t have it in her to do it. Her recently deceased father blew open a huge secret and it’s left her wondering if happily ever afters are possible. So she escapes to a lake house in Michigan to get back on track. Her neighbor, though, is rival writer Gus, who is so smug about writing literary fiction and winning all the big awards. They decide to enter a little competition: January will write something literary, and Gus will write something romantic. Sparks fly.
  
  Seems cute on the surface, but as we dig deeper into the novel there’s so much more to unpack: grief, childhood abuse, parental adoration, manipulation, the impact of bad relationships, defining family…to name a few. Though a few of the detours or ruminating scenes seemed unnecessary or overly drawn out to me, at the end of the day this is a character-driven novel that straddles commercial and literary romance. Go in knowing this isn’t a romcom, and you should be in good shape.
  
  Summer Longing by Jamie Brenner (★★★.5)
  
  I’ve checked out Jamie Brenner’s books from the library before but never got around to reading them before return. Finally was able to read this one in time, though. Jamie Brenner is going to be a new summer staple for me along with Kristy Woodson Harvey.
  
  The novel follows three POVs—Ruth (retired workaholic), Olivia (Ruth’s daughter, also a workaholic), and Elise (wife of Fern, owner of a tea shop)—and the lives of other women in the small Cape Cod Provincetown. Ruth just wants to reprioritize her life and relax, Olivia wants nothing to do with her mother and run run RUN successfully at her job, and Elise is desperate for a baby after she and her wife went through three failed IVF attempts. Ruth is renting Elise’s house for the summer, and all plans crash when a baby is left on the doorstep. Who is the mother? Why was the baby left here? And what is the right thing to do in this situation?
  
  I’ll admit I identified so much with Ruth and Olivia, and was very frustrated with Elise (so in this sense, I identified with her wife Fern who was so stern and practical). I’ll also admit this is likely because I’m in a headspace right now where the thought of having a child sends me into a panic. But there are women in my life, close friends, who would absolutely identify with Elise, who experienced similar disappointments. Ruth’s career-driven attitude and laser focus, and Olivia’s close connection with her phone, were both things each woman acknowledged and tried to redirect into something that brought joy. All in all, the way the women of this town come together to help raise the baby and figure out the best possible solution, was a joy to read. Sisterhood.
  
  This qualifies for my library books challenge!
  
  Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite (★★★)
  
  This YA novel is funny and surprising—a whirlwind of adventure, intrigue, and family secrets.
  
  Alaine is smart and sassy, clever and quick-witted. After her famous TV show host mother loses it live, and a nasty girl at school bullies Alaine over it, Alaine takes her abilities and uses it to pull an epic prank in a class presentation. Not the best idea in the world, as it results in her father sending her to Haiti to be with her mother and aunt, working on an immersion program to atone for her misbehavior. But once in Haiti, she finds there’s a whole lot more to her family history than she first believed, and that curses may in fact be real.
  
  I loved the way this was written—epistolary style is so much fun. Alaine is also the kind of person I wanted to be as a teen: fast with a comeback, confident, defends her loved ones fiercely. (I’m probably more of a Tatiana in this book!) She can be a little overly confident and that gets her into trouble, but her heart is always in the right place. I was surprised and very appreciative of the relationship she had with her mother. Her mother’s narrative is one I haven’t seen (or at least cannot recall) much in YA and I liked that exploration immensely.
  
  There was a lot happening in this narrative—Alaine’s assignment, her mother’s health, Alaine’s internship with her aunt for this app program, the history with her aunt and mother, the family curse—that felt disorganized. It worked, but did leave me reeling. I had to pause or slow down frequently to see how they all connected. Some events and characters seemed to be placed as vehicles to further the plot and curse. It almost felt like this book was trying to do too much, and I wanted more depth to one or two of the plots more so than a sprinkling of all of them. But ultimately, these writers (sister duo!) have a knack for the YA voice and it kept me engaged. I’m interested in reading their future books!
  
  This qualifies for my library books challenge!
  
  Posted in books, Reviews 2020 | 0 Comments | Tagged book review, genre: adult fiction, genre: contemporary, genre: young adult, mini review
- Deal Announcement: Kaitlyn Hill, YA Contemporary
  
  Posted at 5:14 pm by Laura, on July 21, 2020
  
  I’m excited to share the announcement of the publication of Kaitlyn Hill’s YA foodie feminist romcom, Love From Scratch!
  
  Hannah Allaman at Delacorte has acquired Love from Scratch by debut author Kaitlyn Hill. The feminist YA rom-com follows rival interns Reese and Benny, whose chemistry sizzles when they fill in for a video shoot on a popular online cooking channel. But will exploding internet fame and a heated competition for the fall internship keep romance on the back burner? Publication is slated for spring 2022; Laura Crockett at TriadaUS Literary Agency handled the deal for world rights.
  
  Once upon a time…
  
  February of this year, I participated in Pitch Wars. I do this every year, and am quite particular about which projects I request. When I came across Kaitlyn’s, I had a feeling it would be something perfect. But I wasn’t fast about it––it took Kaitlyn informing me she had an offer of representation on the table to kick my butt into gear. I dropped everything to read it, fell in love with Reese instantly, and needed to throw my hat into the ring. I crossed my fingers and toes and hoped beyond hope she’d choose me to be her agent––she was going to let me know on my birthday, and wouldn’t that have been the absolute perfect gift?
  
  It was. It was so great. I was OOO on my birthday but frequently checked my email throughout the day hoping she’d come back to me with a YES––and she DID! (Side note: we live in neighboring states, my colleague Brent lives in the same city, so there were lots of connections we felt personally to Reese and her experiences and upbringing. I was over-the-moon happy to represent Kaitlyn in all these ways!)
  
  Meanwhile, Hannah was moving from Disney to Delacorte (Hannah of Don’t Date Rosa Santos fame) and I had a feeling this would be perfect for her.
  
  Kaitlyn and I worked on some tweaks here and there for submission…and then COVID happened. Was that going to stop us? No. No, because editors wanted something fun and distracting and perfect for their COVID bread-baking activities. This manuscript was perfect for that!
  
  So on Hannah’s first week in her new job, Kaitlyn and I shared Love From Scratch. Flash forward a few weeks, and she presented an offer the week Kaitlyn needed the best kind of good news, and also on my one-month-mark of full-time agenting. This is the dream team. Good things keep happening for the three of us!
  
  And the rest…is history.
  
  Congratulations, Kaitlyn! You’re going to be a published author!
  
  Posted in agenting, deal announcement | 0 Comments | Tagged agenting, deal announcement
- Book Review: Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow
  
  Posted at 11:42 am by Laura, on June 27, 2020
  
  The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow
  
  Publisher: Redhook
  Published: September 2019
  Genre: historical fantasy
  ISBN: 9780316421997
  Rating: ★★★★★
  
  In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place.
  
  Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.
  
  It feels like a lifetime ago I read this book and it left me speechless. Nearly six months later and I’m just now finding the time to sit down and write about it…
  
  The premise alone intrigued me. Stories that have artifacts, books, papers, letters, and this dusty, quiet, academic quality to it will always capture my attention. Stories within stories are fascinating. I went into this novel expecting one thing, and quickly learned it was entirely something else.
  
  January, as a mixed-race young woman in the early 1900s New England, is treated like an object to be examined, “treasured,” and hidden away. While Mr. Locke appears to be benevolent, it is because of his thirst to acquire artifacts from across the globe (and beyond)––in true rich, old, white man fashion––that January is unable to be with her father, a Black man who speaks thoughtfully and has beautiful tattoos across his arms. January wants nothing more than to be loved by her stranger of a father, and his departures become more difficult to bear.
  
  She finds solace in a mysterious book of stories. It smells like the sea, and it reminds her of a Door she discovered as a child in the middle of a field. This book feels like a friend, for in it the narrator shares they too know of these Doors to other places. She feels a deep connection to the narrator, and she can’t quite put her finger on why.
  
  This book opens January’s eyes to the life she could have had, to a life elsewhere, to the truth of her father’s departures and Mr. Locke’s nature. This book shapes January’s identity in such beautiful and heartbreaking ways. As each piece of the puzzle fell into place via these interconnected stories within the book, so too did the puzzles of January’s remarkable life. I was swept up in each tale, in January’s voice, in the melancholy of oppression and separation, in the deep joy of love and family, in the hunger for storytelling and knowledge. Months have passed and I’m still haunted by this stunning narrative.
  
  Ten Thousand is about nostalgia and hope. It’s about the magic of words and stories, love and friendship. It’s about power, obsession, and corruption. It’s about rebuilding and pushing forward. It’s about sacrifice. It’s everything I could want in a historical gothic portal fantasy.
  
  This qualifies for my TBR & genre challenge!
  
  Posted in books, Reviews 2020 | 2 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: fantasy, genre: historical fiction, review
- Mini Reviews
  
  Posted at 10:59 am by Laura, on June 13, 2020
  
  Once again I’m several weeks behind on reviews…months, even. This post will contain mini reviews of historical fiction I read in March through May!
  
  ~
  
  The Other Windsor Girl by Georgie Blalock (★★★)
  
  For fans of royal drama, The Crown, and “beach read”-style historical fiction, this is right up your alley. The novel is about Princess Margaret through the eyes of her (fictional) lady-in-waiting, Vera. Vera is a lower peer whose dream is to become a respectable published author. Her romance novels under a pen name prove successful, as Princess Margaret is a fan. Swept up in royal drama and the whirlwind that is Margaret’s life and personality, Vera loses sight of authorhood to devote all her energies to the royal.
  
  The novel spans about 10 years or so, from just before Queen Elizabeth’s coronation to Princess Margaret’s marriage to Tony. The writing was engaging enough for a novel that seemed to lose direction (though to be fair, it would make sense as Vera’s life is put entirely on hold to serve the princess). Characters felt a little two-dimensional, so it made for a quick read. However, if you’re at all familiar with the royal family’s history, and understand protocol, addressing royals/peerage, and the nicknames for things, this novel will grate a bit. I had to stop reading the Her Majesties and Ladies and Your Graces (and “Buck Place”) because it was all oh-so-painfully wrong.
  
  But! If you love historical fiction and you’re seeking a light, escapist read, this is just the ticket!
  
  This qualifies for my TBR & genre challenge!
  
  A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas (★★★)
  
  Big thanks to my library for their vast digital collection! I finished listening to A Study in Scarlet Women on Hoopla, and enjoyed it overall. I liked the twist on the Sherlock Holmes narrative—still Victorian London, but Holmes and Watson are women and shocking society with their gender assumptions—and found the writing to be engaging enough to see what’s in store next. Thomas really brought London to life, and all the expectations and social norms of society and women’s roles really made for clever cover-ups and murder motives. I have the other audiobooks saved in my Hoopla account now––interested in seeing where this goes.
  
  This qualifies for my library books & genre challenge!
  
  All the Ways We Said Goodbye by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White (★★★)
  
  I’d listened to the W Trio’s work before (Glass Ocean) and did not enjoy it. Though I was impressed I wasn’t able to tell the authors apart, it just didn’t have that forward momentum for me.
  
  Flash forward to this novel—where three narratives are connected via the Hotel Ritz in Paris—and it was a massive improvement. Though I’d figured out/guessed all the connections and twists halfway into the novel, I wanted to power through to the end to see how it would be revealed to the characters. Aurilie is determined to save her family estate in WWI but she’s fallen in love with a German officer; Daisy’s husband in WWII is a Nazi-sympathizer and she stumbles into the Resistance; and Babs is a young widow in 1960s, uncovering her husband’s war work secrets with a spy. The settings felt so tangible, the hotel glamorous and a character wholly its own. The dialogue was engaging and I felt the characters’ emotions deeply—hard to do with so many POVs!
  
  I’d hoped to see/feel more of the wars and spy work, but I also believe this was meant to be more of a historical romance (or trio of romances) more than anything else. And if that’s the case, it was very well done! I personally would love to see more of Daisy’s grandmother…she would make an excellent character study.
  
  This qualifies for my library books & genre challenge!
  
  The Paper Girl of Paris by Jordyn Taylor (ARC) (★★★)
  
  Thank you, Edelweiss, for providing this galley from HarperTeen for review!
  
  A lovely historical/contemporary parallel narrative about a teen who discovers her grandmother’s abandoned Paris apartment, and the secret sister she never knew Gram had.
  
  I enjoyed this for what it was: a sweet Anna and the French Kiss narrative in modern day (with a dash of seriousness with mental health that I wish was developed further to give the weight it deserved) and a French Resistance historical to excite any histfic reader. It had a blend of younger YA meeting older YA. The historical narrative felt almost adult to me—which seems fair, WWII generation had to grow up fast. I enjoyed the sense of adventure and research Alice (modern) put into discovering Adalyn’s (hist) past. What was meant to be a summer of cleaning out Gram’s secret Paris apartment turned into all sorts of deeper surprises into Gram’s past and ties with her family. What appears like sympathizing with the enemy is really spy work.
  
  If there are more hist/contemp parallel narratives in YA, I’m not familiar with them—this was my first experience within YA. I love parallel narratives in adult and seeing how it all ties together. Either because I’ve read so many, or maybe it was the new experience in YA itself, I’d guessed everything about halfway through. I would’ve appreciated a bit more secrecy and a more satisfying conclusion.
  
  However, this is meant for teens. I think a teen reader would appreciate the twists and turns, the parallels, the setting, the dip into historical fiction, the balance of upper and lower YA. (Plus, I was totally that teen who loved books about diaries and abandoned homes full of secrets!) I’d definitely recommend this.
  
  This qualifies for my genre challenge!
  
  Posted in books, Reviews 2020 | 1 Comment | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, genre: adult fiction, genre: historical fiction, genre: young adult, mini review
- Book Review: Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender
  
  Posted at 2:47 pm by Laura, on May 3, 2020
  
  Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender
  
  Publisher: Orbit
  Published: November 2019
  Genre: fantasy
  ISBN: 9780316454933
  Rating: ★★★.5
  
  An ambitious young woman with the power to control minds seeks vengeance against the royals who murdered her family, in a Caribbean-inspired fantasy world embattled by colonial oppression.
  
  Sigourney Rose is the only surviving daughter of a noble lineage on the islands of Hans Lollik. When she was a child, her family was murdered by the islands’ colonizers, who have massacred and enslaved generations of her people—and now, Sigourney is ready to exact her revenge.
  
  When the childless king of the islands declares that he will choose his successor from amongst eligible noble families, Sigourney uses her ability to read and control minds to manipulate her way onto the royal island and into the ranks of the ruling colonizers. But when she arrives, prepared to fight for control of all the islands, Sigourney finds herself the target of a dangerous, unknown magic.
  
  Someone is killing off the ruling families to clear a path to the throne. As the bodies pile up and all eyes regard her with suspicion, Sigourney must find allies among her prey and the murderer among her peers… lest she become the next victim.
  
  Difficult, compelling, rage-filled, complex, vengeful, powerful… This was the first book I read in 2020, and I started with a bang.
  
  This novel is full of unflinching rage and complexity on colonialism, power, and revenge. I am aware of my own privilege and the history of my race and the horrors and atrocities we committed, so this was a difficult pill to swallow but one I’m glad to have done.
  
  Beautiful writing—haunting, even—and great world building inspired by the Danish control of the Virgin Islands. Sigourney’s character was a bit passive amidst all the action and uninterested in the mystery of who was killing off all the kongelig, but her rage and moral complexity was strong as hell. I found this to be a character-driven novel with lots of intricate political intrigue and background detail going on. I’m interested in Løren’s POV in the next book, and what will come as a result.
  
  More than anything, diverse books are wonderful in sharing another’s view, and they also shed light on my disappointing lack of knowledge of the world. At least in American curriculum, the majority of our history lessons focus on white history, the successes of our power. We are not taught—unless we take an elective in college, and even then it’s likely white-centric—of the horrors and atrocities that having such power brought.
  
  Callender handles these complexities so well in this novel—what would an oppressed person do if given that power, but is not respected by others in power or those who are also oppressed?—exploring the ambiguity of what it means to walk that fine line. The terrible things Sigourney sees, does, and hears about are truths of our history, and we must face them head on too.
  
  This qualifies for my TBR & genre challenge!
  
  Posted in books, Reviews 2020 | 1 Comment | Tagged book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: fantasy, review
- Deal Announcement: Tasha Suri, YA Historical
  
  Posted at 2:32 pm by Laura, on May 3, 2020
  
  I’m thrilled to share that Tasha Suri (Empire of Sand, Realm of Ash, and new trilogy beginning with The Jasmine Throne) is coming out with her debut young adult historical novel, a reclaimed retelling of Wuthering Heights!
  
  Author of EMPIRE OF SAND, REALM OF ASH, and upcoming THE JASMINE THRONE Tasha Suri’s untitled Wuthering Heights retelling, a debut YA historical that draws on the history of lascar sailors and the mixed race children of East India Company officers, to Emily Settle at Feiwel and Friends, in a nice deal, for publication in summer 2022, by Laura Crockett at TriadaUS Literary Agency (world).
  
  In Publishers Weekly: Children’s Bookshelf, there was a full story covering the exciting news. Tasha is one of four authors so far in this reclaimed classics series––other tales include Treasure Island (drawing upon Chinese maritime history), Robin Hood (drawing upon the Muslim side of the Crusades), and Little Women (drawing upon the Freedmen’s Colony of Roanoke Island during the Civil War). I’m so excited about all of these narratives, and cannot thank Emily enough for reaching out to Tasha for this particularly exciting opportunity!
  
  Tasha is going to rely upon lots of historical research and focus on lines from Emily Brontë’s classic that haunted her since her school days. What if Heathcliff and Cathy were both half-Indian? What if they were white-passing enough to be taken back to England, but not enough to be welcomed into this white, elitist society? What if the “gibberish” language Nelly says they spoke to each other was just another language, the language from home?
  
  When Tasha’s idea began to take shape, my own mind was blown. Everything I knew about this narrative in my academia was blown to pieces, and I cannot wait for her to blow your mind too!
  
  Congratulations, Tasha!
  
  Posted in agenting, deal announcement | 1 Comment | Tagged deal announcement
- Flipping Through the Pages: Winter Rewind 2020
  
  Posted at 10:48 am by Laura, on April 4, 2020
  
  The life in words . . .
  
  A few months ago I talked about how excited I was to go on our honeymoon, how lots of cool things were coming my way in 2020, that I’m super swamped and busy and don’t really have time to process it all…
  
  And then this thing *waves vaguely out the window* hit and…yeah. Honeymoon was basically canceled for us (airline restrictions and bans changed each day so we got a refund/future bookings option, hotels canceled and refunded), to be rescheduled for next spring. Some really cool things that were going to happen this month have also been pushed back and delayed. And I’m still busy, but it’s a different kind.
  
  Last month I talked about my journey to minimize tech, particularly with social media. I laugh about it now because I could not be more connected! I went from ~1 hour a day on my phone screen to ~4 hours on weekdays and ~6 hours on weekends, and my laptop is no longer just for work but also for Zoom for myself and my husband to keep in touch with family and friends. My phone isn’t just for texting and occasional scrolling, but for calls, listening to audiobooks on OverDrive/Libby and Hoopla, and reading the news. I even resurrected my tablet to download library apps and listen to/read books via OverDrive/Libby and Hoopla.
  
  Apart from increased tech and grocery shopping with homemade masks, my life has remained relatively unchanged. I already worked from home for the most part, I didn’t really enjoy going out and being around people anyway. I’m definitely craving hugs from friends and my parents, which is the hardest, absolute hardest, thing right now. I’m thankful for my husband and my cat.
  
  . . . and in images.
  
  But good things did happen January through March! KayLynn Flanders‘s debut YA fantasy Shielded appeared on my doorstep in galley form! (You can find it on NetGalley and EW+!) I also celebrated my 30th birthday with a birthday Starbucks drink, a fresh hair cut, and halting my book buying limitations for one day!
  
  On the Radar
  
  Netflix / Prime / Hulu / Disney+: I finished my Parks & Rec binge and decided to tap into Schitt’s Creek. I have not looked back! Oh my gosh, why did I miss out on this show?! Same goes for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I’m halfway through season 2 and thoroughly enjoying it. I also watched Mandalorian and Witcher, and finally saw Togo on Disney+. Now to see Frozen 2!
  
  Shopping: Felix Gray. What a godsend. I experienced eye strain, headaches, and exhaustion with work, and since purchasing these blue light lenses I’ve become focused, energized, and not at all disturbed by screens. This has especially proven helpful during this hot mess of the world!
  
  Cherished Reads
  
  Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport (★★★★★)
  
  Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow (★★★★★) *review to come!
  
  Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (★★★★★)
  
  Reading Challenge Progress
  
  Based on my 2020 goals.
  
  Library Books: 9/15
  
  The Mistress of Rome || Digital Minimalism || No Judgments
  You’re Not Listening || Tweet Cute || The Authenticity Project
  American Duchess || Born a Crime || A Dangerous Duet
  
  TBR: 3
  
  The Summer Queen || Ten Thousand Doors of January || Queen of the Conquered
  
  Gabaldon / Marillier: 0
  
  Genre Fiction: 5
  
  HISTORICAL || The Mistress of Rome, American Duchess, The Summer Queen, A Dangerous Duet
  FANTASY || Ten Thousand Doors of January, Queen of the Conquered
  
  Looking ahead . . .
  
  This rewind will be changing as time moves on. Of course I’ve seen posts on blogs and IG that are noteworthy, and I’m keeping track of most-read on here too, that I’d love to share with you. But this space will continue to evolve as my personal time allows.
  
  Because this pandemic is making planning difficult, who knows if I’ll get to do these things April through June. But I’m hoping we will be able to see our friends and family in the same room and be able to hug. I look forward to trips to the pool and smelling BBQs and hearing children laugh. My April plans for the honeymoon were cancelled, my plans to Book Expo in May/June were postponed…so let’s just wait as patiently as we can by staying at home and flattening this curve.
  
  What have you been up to January-March?
  
  Posted in This Season's Rewind | 0 Comments | Tagged rewind, this season's rewind
- Mini Reviews
  
  Posted at 9:50 am by Laura, on April 4, 2020
  
  I’ve fallen so far behind on my reviews this year that I’m struggling to write full-blown reviews with individual posts at the moment. So instead I’ll give you a rather packed post full of mini reviews! Enjoy!
  
  Contemporary Reads
  
  No Judgments by Meg Cabot (★★★)
  
  Fairly standard romance with light humor, so it was great for escapist fiction! A terrible hurricane is about to hit a small island in the Keys, and Bree is either incredibly calm or incredibly naive about it. She’s determined to stay put and care for all the abandoned animals, but she’s also distracted by another stubborn soul. I read this first in the series to know what was in store for the second, which I was more interested in (libraries!). I can tell I’m really going to be a fan of the small town/island setting.
  
  This qualifies for my library books challenge!
  
  Tweet Cute by Emma Lord (★★★.5)
  
  This novel tapped into a universal experience: the ways in which drama online infects and disrupts our daily real life. It also speaks about power and long-held grudges. Pepper and Jack have power struggles with their parents and siblings, and the parents hold long grudges and vent it through their children. All Pepper and Jack want is to survive high school and figure out their futures, not get roped into a viral sensation. I appreciated the development of the romance here. It’s not insta-love, there isn’t really a slow burn here either—it’s a natural, gradual teaming up of flirty fun while maintaining sanity in the hot mess of social media life, and then a realization they’re meant to be together. It’s sweet, it’s PG, and I loved every second of it. I was also SO HAPPY SO SO HAPPY that the teens talked to each other instead of hiding crap like their parents’ did. Just be honest, folks. From the beginning. Save yourself a headache! Highly recommend this novel for someone wanting a sweet contemporary YA with all the growing pains of being a modern teen finding their footing IRL and online!
  
  This qualifies for my library books challenge!
  
  The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley (★★★)
  
  Entertaining, thoughtful, and ironic—just how “authentic” is Julian’s Authenticity Project? I identified with Monica, a driven, hardworking, loving young woman who gives and gives and feels she’s not worthy to receive anything back. Other characters—an addict trying to sober up, a backpacking Australian, an IG-obsessed new mom, a caring grandmotherly figure (Lizzie was my favorite!!!)—are impacted by Julian’s project in big and small ways, with twists and turns both predictable and surprising. Interesting concept, would definitely recommend for those seeking uplifting reads or community-of-strangers fiction a la Fredrick Backman, Phaedra Patrick, and Gail Honeyman.
  
  This qualifies for my library books challenge!
  
  Historical Fiction
  
  American Duchess by Karen Harper (★★★★)
  
  I finished this on audio and really enjoyed it! I’ve read Harper’s The Royal Nanny so I was already a bit familiar with her writing—clearly well-researched biographical historical fiction, great characters come to life, a little stiff in the dialogue, quick pace—and wanted to see how she did with American Duchess. Her writing of course is the same, but she really brought to life a woman I knew literally nothing about apart from her family name being basically American royalty.
  
  Consuelo Vanderbilt (!) is the daughter of a railroad magnate and rising suffragette, and one of the first “dollar princesses” to marry into European peerage/royalty to help fund those families. She married the Duke of Marlborough and it was not a happy one. Her cousin by marriage is Winston Churchill, and even after her divorce and remarriage to a French pilot, these two stayed in touch. The novel spans Consuelo’s life, from shortly before her first wedding through the end of WWII. It’s astounding all that can happen in our lifetimes, and Consuelo utilized everything she had to try to make the world a better place.
  
  Next on my Vanderbilt and Churchill journey is A Well-Behaved Woman (Consuelo’s mother Alva) and That Churchill Woman (Winston’s mother Jennie).
  
  This qualifies for my library books & genre challenge!
  
  The Summer Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick (★★★)
  
  About two months ago I took a poll on IG and asked which medieval/Plantagenet-set novel I should read from a stack I provided. IG voted for The Summer Queen. This was for the librarian book club called Genre Study, whose theme for 2020 was historical fiction, and March’s theme was medieval/Plantagenet/plague (…oh wait…). Though we couldn’t meet in person in March, and though our discussion is pushed to May (though that may also be pushed again), I still wanted to read my chosen book.
  
  The Summer Queen is the first of a trilogy on Eleanor of Aquitaine, with this one following her marriage (Louis VII), annulment, and early part of her second marriage (Henry II) as Queen of France and then Queen of England. Biographical fiction is difficult to do, especially this far back in time, because you have to make the modern reader interested in the person, their life, and their situations. Thankfully Chadwick does an excellent job of writing historical fiction that’s engaging with the modern reader, rather than feeling like a slog.
  
  That said, this modern feminist reader was so frustrated with Eleanor’s limitations and powers––she could scheme, plot, and plant ideas to make men think they came up with it, but the execution was so slow-going I know I’d personally run out of patience if I were in Eleanor’s shoes––and so frustrated with the Church––the Crusades still baffle me––and I just…lost it with Louis. What a dick. And poor Eleanor was married to that man-child for so long. Henry was a relief, but not by much. The novel ends with them sailing to England to claim the throne. I guess, in short, Chadwick did an excellent job of expressing those frustrations to a modern reader without making Eleanor’s character feel anachronistic.
  
  There are, I’ve been told, better/more engaging narratives out there of Eleanor’s life (particularly by Alison Weir). I’m probably going to pick up the rest of this trilogy since I want to see her children rise up against Henry, but I’ll also try Weir too!
  
  This qualifies for my TBR & genre challenge!
  
  Posted in books, Reviews 2020 | 1 Comment | Tagged book review, genre: adult fiction, genre: contemporary, genre: historical fiction, genre: young adult, mini review
- On Minimizing Tech
  
  Posted at 1:31 pm by Laura, on March 8, 2020
  
  It’s not typical of me to read nonfiction by choice. I read it for academic purposes, I read it for book club discussions, but by choice…that’s rare. And this year seems to have a theme: minimizing tech, or rather, utilizing it in a way that it doesn’t control me.
  
  This has been something of a journey I’ve battled with for several years now. I’d scroll endlessly through FB in college, I would tweet silly things about my life, I’d post pictures on IG. But then I became an agent and everything I said was scrutinized down to the letter. So I backed off Twitter over the years, to the point where I only tweet agent-related business. No more scrolling and shouting into the echo chamber and losing focus. Then the 2016 election happened and I had to back off FB because it hurt so much to see so many loved ones be so…closed-minded. And then IG makes me roll my eyes constantly because people are concerned about stats and numbers and followers and likes, and frankly I don’t give a damn about that — I just like the pretty pictures and book recommendations and travel shots.
  
  But that’s just social media. What about other media? Binge-watching TV, my laptop constantly on and open, frequently picking up my phone…these are habits I’ve developed over the years and I know I’m not alone. What are ways I can minimize tech and live a full life?
  
  Enter Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport (★★★★★). Newport utilizes history, anthropology, psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and his own experiment with 1600 participants to explain why we are addicted to our phones/tech/social media, and how we can reclaim our lives—our hobbies, our solitude, our social selves. It’s not anti-tech. It’s pro-minimalism. And we all need this book. If you find yourself reaching for your phone while waiting in line just to check the screen, you need this book. If you find yourself scrolling and liking and commenting while your child is taking a bath and trying to show you their imaginative underwater adventure, you need this book. If you feel anxious and overwhelmed at work so all you do during breaks or when you get home is crash on the couch exhausted, binge-watching Netflix and playing games or scrolling through social media and you still feel drained and exhausted and worthless, you need this book. If you’ve taken social media breaks cold turkey for a few days and came back and felt FOMO or overwhelmed, you need this book. If you say “I just don’t have time anymore” when someone asks about your past hobbies or long-term projects, you need this book. If you don’t have a whole lot of apps on your phone, your screen time each day is tracked at about avg 2 hours/day, and you still text instead of actually talk/see your friends, you need this book.
  
  I’ve since set perimeters and limits on app usage and daily screen time on my phone, and though it’s difficult, it’s actually been quite the blessing. I’ve been able to focus on work better, I’ve been able to dabble in old hobbies again, and I’m able to read more too. Conversations with loved ones are deeper as well, which leads to my next recommendation…
  
  You’re Not Listening by Kate Murphy (★★★) discusses the difference between deep, natural listening, and surface level listening. We know what listening looks like (eye contact, nodding, reactions), but really listening involves “reading between the lines” of what someone is saying. This is absolutely something I need to work on. Other forms of listening—but without tech—is to put the phones down, turn off the TVs, close the laptops, and actually have a conversation away from tech. Family dinners, basic chores and tasks, even if you’re doing something else but without tech, you’re more receptive to deep conversation. Listening isn’t latching on to what someone says and talking about yourself and how you compare; it’s hearing the context of someone’s joys and concerns and asking for more about that. It’s amazing how many people feel they aren’t heard. And it’s sad. While this book didn’t have concrete exercises for me to try like Digital Minimalism, it did give me a lot to think about in conversations with others.
  
  This isn’t a standard book review post, I know. But I felt these books needed some context for my journey. Next up on the library holds list is Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving by Celeste Headlee. Though not in the realm of digital minimalism, it will be in the realm of learning to step away, take deep breaths, and reevaluate priorities.
  
  I’m quite excited about this journey. I hope to learn from it and utilize the tools they provide.
  
  Posted in books, Reviews 2020 | 0 Comments | Tagged book review, digital minimalism, genre: nonfiction, mini review
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- Hello, I’m Laura!
  
  I'm a bookish bookworm and book hoarder. By day I'm a literary agent, and by night I'm forever rearranging my bookshelves. I could talk your ear off about Gothic literature, and in my past life people thought I'd become a professional musician. I have a fluffy black cat named Rossetti, I love to knit, tea is my drink of choice, British TV is the best, and I'm obsessed with popcorn. Welcome to Scribbles & Wanderlust! Grab your favorite hot beverage and let's chat books!
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