romance – Peaceful Reader

More Best Book 2024 edition

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano: I loved the complex sister relationships as they came together and support each other as well as fell apart. This brought up a lot of emotions as the sisters deal with William as he struggles with his mental health, wonderfully displaying the effects of trauma.

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfield: This book was pure joy and focuses on the a SNL-type late night comedy show. Sally’s given up on love, happy in her career as a writer on the show until a handsome musician guests on the show. Sparks fly but it takes awhile for it all to come together. I laughed so much.

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang: This is a thriller set in the publishing world with an emphasis on diverse writers and stolen stories. It reminded me a little of The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz and was a very unique story.

Small Mercies by Denise Lehane: I loved the 1970s Boston setting, strong characters, and the twists and turns of the mystery during a volatile time in history. Denise Lehane is masterful in his writing.

Huda F Are You; A Graphic Novel by Huda Fahmy: This graphic novel was hilarious and poignant. This should be required reading to raise awareness much like the New Kid series by Jerry Craft.

A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat: This memoir graphic novel shares Santat’s middle school years and a trip to Europe with classmates as he navigates first love and coming into his own as a young person. Hilarious and took me back to my own middle school years.

Honorable Mention and new Canadian author:

Carley Fortune! I read all three of these on my Kindle phone app often in the middle of the night with my illusive sleep patterns. This Summer Will Be Different was my favorite but all three are light, funny, and sexy with positive relationships and great yet not perfect men. I notice on her website she has a new book out as well. My sleep has been better which means I’ll be forced to read this new one during the day.

Write now I’m reading The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray.

I’m going to ignore all news stations tomorrow and pray that the next few days are low key. I’m concerned about deportations as the first order of business. There is much that makes me nervous and I hope my checklist does not become reality. Peace be with us all as we navigate this next term.

Amazon Burning by Victoria Griffith

Amazon Burning

(2014)

Astor + Blue Publishing

This is not your typical Peaceful Reader type of book based on the cover and the title but it does have an environmental aspect that I bit right into and I enjoyed most of it.

What I liked:

The setting is the Amazon rain forest and I enjoyed learning more about the Amazon and the Indigenous people who live there and struggle with the changing landscape. The ecology of the rain forest is an extremely important issue and one that gets brushed aside by politics but also by everything local that often takes precedence. It’s difficult to care about what goes on thousands of miles away when there is enough causes here in the US to focus our attention on. This book brings this issue to the forefront as Emma and her swarthy photographer friend bring to light not only an animal smuggling ring but discover truths about the rain forest they never imagined. More books including young adult books should be written about this area to keep it in our minds. The writing for the most part was good. Ms. Griffith is a journalist, well-traveled, and did a great job with dialogue.

What I could live without:

It’s a romance and I’m not a prude but WoW. I know the word burning is in the title. I get that something had to be burning but I thought it would have been in higher order if the burning was the issue not the sex. The sexy scenes were far too graphic for me and they seemed uncomfortable for the author and her characters as they didn’t flow well. What momentum Griffith created in good dialogue reverted to dime-store romance novel in a second. I like the mystery of a romance and I think it damages the overall good impact a book like this can have. At the end of the day are you writing soft porn or saving the rain forest? I vote rain forest and the book has so much to offer but there are many friends I can’t hand this book to because of those very raw scenes.

I also thought the struggle between Emma and her professor was a very timely issue to add in and might have made the perfect reason for her to stay out of the sheets until the end of the book-leaving us with the understanding that her and Jimmy would now be free to pursue their passion for each other. Emma’s ability to shut her professor down makes her a strong and worthy character that might think twice before jumping into bed. Just my 2 cents worth. Now you want to read it more than ever just to see what I’m talking about…let me know if you want to borrow my copy of Amazon Burning OR
You can buy it from Astor + Blue’s website for $4.99 right now.

The Summer I found you by Jolene Perry

This YA novel has a wonderful premise; young soldier returns from serving his country with his arm missing and meets a young high school student who is quirky, blunt, and is adjusting to life with diabetes. I liked that part. It was very interesting hearing Aiden’s side of the story in alternating chapters. His struggle with how to fit back into society as an one-armed 18-year-old who has had buddies die around him is no easy task. I’m happy when he and Kate meet because it seems like they could be friends-Kate’s high school boyfriend breaks up with her in the opening pages. They meet through Kate’s best friend Jen who happens to be Aiden’s cousin. Aiden is living with Jen’s family as his mother is newly remarried with small children and not enough room for him.

I thought Jen’s character was about as whiny as they come in high school or out. Everything is a problem for her and things do not match up. She is crushed that Shelton breaks up with her yet later she talks about how they really weren’t that close. She spends a lot of time angry about having diabetes which results in her not paying attention to her levels and what she eats. Because she hates having the disease she chooses to shield this knowledge from Aiden even after she sleeps with him.

My two favorite characters were Aunt Beth and Uncle Foster; Jen’s parents, as they go above and beyond to help Aiden get through life.

A good quote:

“I don’t want to remember this forever.
I don’t want to be without my arm.
I don’t want to do nothing for the rest of my life.
I don’t want to be pitied.” (Location 142)

I like this quote as it shares the turmoil that Aiden encounters every day. How do you put shoes on or open a jar, drive a stick shift car?

Half way through the story though I thought I might scream every time either Kate or Aiden would say some form of the word “distraction.” It could be a drinking game it is said so frequently. Case in point:

“I sort of want an excuse to see him again. For him to see my new hair and improved cheekbones. And maybe to distract me from the weight that’s been pushing on my chest since the doctor’s appointment.

I stuff my phone back into my pocket, biting my lip to hold in the beginnings of a ridiculous grin, and Shelton’s watching me. Watching me in a way that makes my heart jump. The problem is that I don’t know if that’s good, anymore because I’m definitely distracted by someone else. And God knows I’m in desperate need of distraction right now so I look back to my desk. Where it’s safe. For now. (Location 881)

And Aiden also repeats the word and the litany “I open my mouth to argue, but I suddenly feel pretty dumb for not thinking about it earlier. And I’m completely distracted…” (location 910) and it goes on and on-this distraction-I should have counted them. It sounds like a little thing but it is a character flaw for both that they only think in this one vein. It’s like a constant push me/pull me event. High school emotions are like that I understand yet this went beyond for me and I was forced to not care about either character. The name Aiden is also interchangeable written as Aidan in the text and I hope that is a change that was made before it came out officially (March/2014). I was also confused by the title as it is the Spring season for the whole book-summer is on it’s way-yet never arrives. My ARC came from Net Galley. Jolene Perry’s website.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

My friend Tina and I strolled through the library one afternoon on lunch break and I came home with an arm full of books. Anna and the French Kiss was one of them. Tina always reads the newest stuff and often picks up brand new books that the library has ordered for her. She’s on the cutting edge of book-newness!
I, on the other hand, am always a little behind! It is a good thing I have her to lead me a long like a blind person.

Synopsis:

Anna’s wealthy writer dad decides she needs to experience a year abroad her senior year. Anna is happy with the life she’s already living in Atlanta with a great mom, a little brother, a wonderful best friend and her job at the movie theater with Toph, her might-be crush. Her divorced parents get her set up at The School of America where she meets her next door dorm neighbor, Meredith who in turn introduces her to the rest of her friends. `Etienne is one of them and he makes Anna a blushing and bumbling idiot for most of the book. They get all their signals mixed and confusion occurs.

My thoughts:

I loved all the characters and the Parisian setting was beautiful. I did so want to shake both `Etienne and Anna at different times. Good golly: `Etienne has a girlfriend for more than half the book-obviously it’s not working out-but really you can tell he is totally smitten with Anna. She, on the other hand, keeps throwing this almost crush with Toph in `Etienne’s face every chance she gets. Once they finally begin to connect it is a bit of magic though.

Stephanie Perkins has a gift for a teen chatter, which makes it easy to read. I’m very interested in her follow-up books, Lola and the Boy Next Door and Isla and the Happily Ever After. I understand these are companion books but I would really like to know what happens to Anna and `Etienne once they are ever so close to each other in California. Of course, Anna and the California Kiss lacks a bit of romance! If your behind the times like me don’t leave this book behind.

It begins:

Here is everything I know about France: Madeline and Amelie and Moulin Rouge. The Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, although I have no idea what the function of either actually is. Napoleon, Marie Antoinette, and a lot of kings named Louis. I’m not sure what they did either, but I think it has something to do with the French Revolution, which has something to do with Bastille Day. (3)

I know a little bit more about France than this but an interesting starting point for Anna…

Along for the Ride

Sarah Dessen

2009

383 pages

     I’ve now read all of Sarah Dessen’s books and as soon as I was feeling good about this, my friend Tina gave me the news-Dessen has a new one coming out in the Spring. Bring it on, Ms. Dessen-I’m ready for it.
     This is the story of Auden and her dysfunctional family. Both parents are college professors, accomplished writers but short on emotions. She has one older brother, Hollis who seems to have used up all their parental energy leaving none for Auden. This is the story of her summer; the big one set between high school graduation and her freshman year at a prestigious university. Her parents are divorced and she chooses to spend it with her father, his new wife and their baby. Luckily they live in a house on the beach and there is an extra room for Auden.
     It is a perfect time for some reflection as Auden prepares to make the leap to college student, away from her mother. She is a complex character, silently suffering from her parent’s divorce. She doesn’t have a set of girlfriends to hang with and she seems to just be waiting for college and the comfort books and studying bring to her. She’s is a night-owl, a loner and smart beyond her years. Her stepmother, at first glance, is flighty, girlish and struggling with her new role of mother and wife. Her dad is a self-centered poop who shuts himself off from those at home, those closest to him, making the same mistakes he made during his first go-round as a parent.
    Auden spends her time running interference between her dad and her stepmother, Heidi, and trying to comfort the colic-y Thisbe-who knew this would be just like her own parent’s marriage.   To get away she spends time on the boardwalk. During one of these late night wanderings she meets Eli, a night time loner as well.   I enjoyed the casual relationship between Eli and Auden, which develops more as they understand each other better. Eli has layers; he is worth getting to know which makes it difficult on both of them as neither is interested in spilling their sad secrets.
     I loved the surprises many of these characters hold in store for the reader, making it easy to understand how not to judge a book solely by its cover or a person by their first impression.  Speaking of book covers; the cover art on this one is cute, adorable-love the pink polka-dot dress BUT…who is that boy on the cover…that is not Eli, who is described “a tall guy with longish dark hair pulled back at his neck, wearing a worn blue hoodie and jeans.”(41) Bike-riding guys tend to be leaner, less muscle-y in their arms and Eli is usually wearing a dark hoodie. Maybe it’s just that Eli appeared to me in a different way and the guy on the cover seems more Jake than Eli. That’s about the only thing I disliked about this book. What I liked: the shop girls at Clementine’s, the quest to fulfill Auden’s lack of normal childhood experiences and Heidi’s transformation back to independent can-do woman. If you haven’t read any Sarah Dessen books yet you are missing out on an author who really sees things from a teenager’s angle.

Random Quote:

“In truth, I hadn’t expected my mom to care whether I was around for the summer or not. And maybe she wouldn’t have, if I’d been going anywhere else. Factor my dad into the equation, though, and things changed. They always did.” (19)

Click Sarah Dessen for her author website.
Another point of view review:

Missie at The Unread Reader.
and Samantha reviews it at Someone like Samantha.
Find it at an IndieBound book store near you…Along for the Ride