Technically, I take forever to read texts and therefore am not the best person to chat with. Which is why when I opened this book and saw that it’s in the form of text messages – I wasn’t feeling inclined to read. But once I started reading – gosh, how CUTE is this book!!!
A sweet romantic story with funny interactions, two very interesting MCs – Haley Hancock and Martin Nathaniel Munroe II (yup, neat name, and guess what, there’s two of them), and a whole lot of chatting. The plot is a simple case of misunderstandings mixed in with a not-so-love triangle , and readers will understand the storyline fairly early on, at least earlier than Haley for sure.
Haley is a smart, innocent, introvert who hates being the center of attention and considers herself to be a weirdo. And Martin – the one she’s texting – is a sweet, equally as smart, guy who is smitten by Haley and wants to get to know her. But, like most modern crushes, this also starts with the guy texting the girl to start a conversation – beginning a whirl of mistaken identity and hilarious (and sometimes embarrassing) situations. Since the two don’t have a lot in common – both coming from very contradicting home lives, makes it even more interesting to see their relationship and their growing respect for one another develop throughout the book.
Category Archives: Buzz
Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi
You know that book that you’ve been meaning to get for a long, long time because a friend recommended it, or it’s on the New York Times Bestseller list or you read the blurb on the back in passing and it looked good? The one that you always look at in the bookstore and think, “I’ll get it next time,” but this time you saw a shiny cover and got distracted and ended up buying that one instead? Yet when you finally do pick it up it becomes one of your absolute favorites? For the past few months Emergency Contact has been that book for me, and I finally got around to reading it. Then I smacked myself in the face with said book for waiting as long as I did.
Mary H.K. Choi is one of those rare authors that just gets their readers mentally, emotionally and culturally. From the first few chapters I was hooked. I immediately liked the main characters (it is a dual perspective book) both as characters and people, and as the book continued I kept liking them. The supporting characters as well were well written and fleshed out, to the point that you got a sense of who they were and why they were doing what they were. Even the ex girlfriend of the male lead, who traditionally is a very unlikable character type was portrayed as a person who, yes, was a bit callous and clueless about how she was hurting Sam (the male lead), but wasn’t really a bad person. All of the characters were written as real people who made mistakes and stupid decisions, but in the end were doing their best.
The plot centers around the relationship between Penny, a freshman at UT, and Sam, a relative of her roommate who works at a nearby cafe (this book is literally that perfect coffee shop AU that you’ve been looking for). Both Sam and Penny have anxiety but find it easy to talk to one another— via text that is— and soon become close. However, while the story revolves mainly around Penny and Sam’s friendship, Choi is only too happy to dive into everything from the two’s relationships with their respective parents, their friends, significant others, to Penny’s struggles and triumphs in her creative writing course and the reality of growing up in a low income family.
All said, Emergency Contact is a fantastic book with great writing, wonderful characters and a plot that will make you alternately laugh and cry.
What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
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What if it’s Us, by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli, is magical. It tells the story of Arthur, a high school student who lives in Georgia but is spending the summer as an intern in New York, and Ben, a New York native spending the summer in summer school. Their sweet, romantic-movie meetup is incredible. Neither of them can believe it. Somehow, in the chaos of the huge city, the universe managed to put them together in the same place, at the same time. They knew they had to make the universe’s wishes come true. Their desperation to find each other is adorable and admirable. Everyone is rooting for them, and the lead up is amazing. This story is two boys, finding love and a perfect summer in the magic of New York.
Silvera and Albertalli write this book with familiar and comfortable characters. They feel so real and relatable, making them even more lovable. Every character is unique; every interaction special. There are laugh-out-loud moments, and serious moments, and very romantic moments. Everything an amazing story needs. This book makes everyone believe in love. All different kinds of love. It is about taking chances, and do-overs, and forgiveness. A great story for anyone and anytime.
Shiver by Maggie Steivater
Romeo & Juliet meets Twilight in the woods of New England.
Grace was saved from a wolf attack by one of its own when she was a child. After watching each other from a distance for years, she and the wolf are reunited when a local teen is attacked. Grace’s wolf is injured and appears as a human on her doorstep. Grace’s alienation from her parents sets the stage for this romantic mystery that will have besotted readers carrying the book everywhere, hoping to sneak in just one more chapter.
Readers who enjoy a little paranormal enhancement in their narratives will love this gripping spin on doomed love as told from different characters viewpoints. The characters are complex and relatable and it seems appropriate to root for the wolves who somehow seem to normally live among us.
Shiver is still one of the first books I think of when someone asks me for a book recommendation with adventure and romance. My daughter and I raced through the series together and have since devoured the rest of Maggie Stiefvater’s offerings. Shiver is the first of its Trilogy but Stiefvater has another series, The Raven Cycle, and stand alone titles, The Scorpio Races and All the Crooked Saints. The different series and stand alones are quite distinct in subject matter from each other but I loved them all!
Memoirs of a Geisha by Athur Golden
There are a few books that you know are going to be great. They are going to be
everything you wanted and an utterly transformative experience.
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden was one of those books. A book that when I saw
it in the book store something instantly resonated. So much so that when I finally got my hands on a used copy it took me maybe three years to finally read it. The already worn and well thumbed through novel sat on my shelf collecting dust at the very end of the book shelf, then it sat in a box when I moved out for college. Then one winter break while I was looking for something to read during a long trip across the country I stumbled upon it again at the bottom of a tub in the garage. a It had taken a few years before I could finally get around to it before I was in need of such a novel. Really glad to have waited.
If I had just devoured it the second I got all the details, I would have missed the intricacies and full beauty of this wonderful story. You know how when you love a story you try to push back the end? Either by not reading the last chapter, watching that last episode or pausing every single moment to take it in and make it last for as long as possible? That’s what I did with this book but not by not finishing it but by rereading passages. Whenever there was a particular moment or word that caught my eye it would be flagged either with a post-it or scrap of paper or pencil mark or folded page. Sometimes when there was a call back I could go back to that moment and bask in how Chiyo -the narrator- grew from then or how she excellently set up the reader for the twist or piece of irony. Totally recommended as a new way to lengthen your new reading experience!
Now, without further ado here are a few reasons why Memoirs of a Geisha is such a lovely and heartfelt book:
Aside from Chiyo the truly incredible narrator and protagonist who is one of the single greatest literary characters ever written, she is the only one who can tell her story. That is why you should read this novel, to hear this story from her. Chiyo was representing a culmination of experiences, traditions and characteristics of real Geisha life while still being her own unique person and not some caricature. Before reading this book I thought that it was simply translated
by Arthur Golden but discovered towards the end that this novel is a result of countless hours of research, admiration and respect for Geisha and Japanese culture. Chiyo is so real and sounds not only like a real Geisha but a real woman. a woman who has lived a full life. Hers was a life and a journey reflecting on human experience that is so moving and so provocative.
With just over 350 pages a whole life is shared with the reader. While Chiyo was looking back on her life there was still this sense that she was reliving these moments rather then just recounting them. This allowed for bits of dramatic irony to unfold or for more fine details to be planted early on for reveals later.
Now, historical fictions with an element of romance are a personal favorite and an unguilty pleasure, so that made this novel capture my heart even more. Chiyo begins her journey with discovering what love is and how many types of love there is!
Well, who is this novel for? Luckily a fairly large audience. Memoirs of a Geisha is a piece of historical fiction, a timeless romance, tragedy, success story, and an insight into the world of Geisha. So if you have any interest in learning about pre and post World War II in Japan, and how someone becomes a geisha, or another take on what love is, then you should read this classic.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Among modern children’s classics, few books ring as true or hit as hard as Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief. In leu of Bridge of Clay’s release (his first children’s novel since The Book Thief) I thought it would be a good idea to have his first book as our Throwback Thursday review. The Book Thief is a gem in the world of historical fiction, and a timeless tale that will entrance generations to come.
When Liesel picks up a bedraggled book left by accident on her brothers grave, she has no idea what will happen. She has no idea that her mother— a communist in Nazi Germany— is taking her to live in safety with a foster family. She has no idea she will make friends with a boy with yellow hair and learn to read with her father, no idea she will steal books from a bonfire and a mayor’s library. She has no idea what she will learn and love and lose in the brief span of her fleeting childhood.
An Enchantment of Raven by Margaret Rogerson
Have you ever read a book with such vivid imagery that when you close your eyes you can almost imagine you are inside its world? My favorite of those books is An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson. Enchantment is set in a lush world of magic and monsters that— in tandem with sweeping world building and compelling characters— makes for a brilliant book. I am not usually a fan of romance stories, but An Enchantment of Ravens drew me in and held on until the very last page.
At seventeen, Isobel is the best portrait artist in generations, and her reputation grows with every passing year. Since childhood, Isobel has painted for the Fair Folk, a powerful race that lusts after human craft.
Isobel is used to having creatures that could murder her in an instant sipping tea in her living room. But when she hears from one of her clients that the Autumn Prince— a powerful Fair One not seen in Whimsy for centuries— is coming to meet her, she’s shaken. But Rook (the Autumn Prince) is not what she expects from a Fair One, and certainly not what she’d expect from one of their princes. He’s nearly human. But just as they grows comfortable towards one another— fond, even, she makes a terrible mistake. Isobel paints human sorrow in his eyes, an unforgivable weakness among his kind. Furious, Rook spirits her off to the Autumn court to stand trial, setting off a whirlwind of adventures and a forbidden romance that will have you on the edge of your seat.
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Born a Crime. From first glance you might assume that Trevor Noah grew up with a “normal childhood” taking place in The United States; however, by looking a little closer, you will quickly find that his childhood was anything but ordinary. Growing up as a mixed child during the apartheid, Trevor Noah was burdened from birth with the challenge of trying to fit in, even when nobody wanted to accept him.
I recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read, especially if you are struggling to find your place in the world. Through this book, Trevor shares his story not only encouraging others to share theirs, but to prove that just because you don’t feel like you fit in now doesn’t mean that you won’t be successful.
What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
After months of waiting, the time has finally come to welcome into the world What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera. The long awaited collaboration between two of the best authors of queer YA more than lives up to both author’s previous books. While Albertalli’s light and cheerful style gives the story a rom-comesque feeling (while still flipping the genres usual stereotypes), Silvera’s chapters ground the book, giving it a thoughtfulness and dimension needed to balance it.
When Arthur accompanied his parents to NYC for the summer he had three goals: make friends at his internship, explore the city, see Hamilton. But now his parents are fighting, one of his best friends won’t text him, and there has been no sign of Lin Manuel Miranda. To top it off he was too clueless to get the name of the cute guy he met at the post office.
Meanwhile, Ben has his own set of problems. His friend group splintered after a couple of breakups, his boyfriend cheated on him and his best friend has all but abandoned him for his latest romance. Oh, and he has to attend summer school. With his ex.
With the help of craigslist, their friends, and plenty of internet stalking via instagram they may find each other, but what then? Will they work together, and what happens when Arthur has to leave at the end of the summer?
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Sharon M. Draper’s book, Out Of My Mind has been read by many an elementary student, along with other great reads like Wonder and The Report Card, but it was this book that stood out to me when we read it as a class. It was so well written and so smart and witty that I couldn’t help but read ahead in class. I had read a few books about physically disabled kids and even more about some exceptionally smart ones, but combining the two into a relateable and fabulous story really clicked with me.
Melody is a middle schooler with cerebral palsy and a photographic memory, who cannot walk or talk and doesn’t have much control over her own body. Though bits of the book are definitely about Melody’s smarts, a lot of it focuses on the social dynamics of being a person struggling with a physical disability. When she is placed in an integrated classroom, where she is one of the brightest students, many dismiss her as “mentally challenged” before giving her a chance to prove herself. Even teachers at her school dismissed this way, though not as cruelly as her fellow classmates. Though this book is targeted to kids in 5th-8th grade, if you are older, it is a worthwhile read.