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  • Category: Reviews 2020

    • 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!

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      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!

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      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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