Review: Sleepover

Sleepover by Serena Bell

Rating: 3 Stars

This was a fairly quick and easy read, with relatively low drama. The writing could use a little tightening up, there were times it was a little repetitive and overly descriptive, but overall it was well-written. I especially appreciated Bell’s treatment of tough issues; mainly death and adultery. I felt that all the characters were well-rounded and felt very real in how they dealt with their individual issues. The only character issues is that I would have liked to see Sawyer’s in-laws either less or more. They were introduced it seemed, to be a source of conflict, but that never fully panned out. I think either there should have been a confrontation/discussion with them about Sawyer and Elle’s relationship, or they shouldn’t have ever been introduced at all. Still, overall a good read, so if you’re a fan of contemporary romance and/or the single parent trope, be sure to check this one out.

Release date: November 13, 2018

Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy of this book.

Review: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kinsolver

With Steven L. Hopp & Camille Kingsolver

Rating: 2 Stars

I want to preface this review by saying that it didn't take very long for me to discover that I am clearly not the intended audience for this book. As a North Dakota farm girl (we didn't live on the farm, but between my family and friends, I spent many of my formative years on farms) with an Agricultural Economist who worked for North Dakota State University's Research Extension Center for most of my life, and a mother who is a dietitian working for the local medical center, I know about food and food culture. My best friends father is an agronomist, who also works for the NDSU's research arm, so I also have a pretty tight connection to the research involved in GMOs and conventional farming. Basically, I am not the food moron that this book is meant for. So keep that in mind as I discuss all the things I disliked about this book.

My first issue was the discussion early on about how what we eat is causing everyone in the United States to become fat and killing us slowly from a mountain of diseases. I'm certainly not saying that what we eat doesn't play an important role in our overall health, but the complete focus on what we're eating, and not how we're eating is problematic. Portion size and a much more sedentary lifestyle are just as important when determining how to lead a more healthy life. 

Another thing I had trouble wrapping my head around was Kingsolver's contradictions, of herself! At one point in the book she waxes poetic about how difficult it has been for her local tobacco farmers since the downfall of tobacco. She goes on and on about how sad it is for those farmers because that was their livelihood and paid their bills, sent their kids to college, etc. and how will they survive as tobacco falls out of fashion. She's trying to evoke these feelings of sympathy for these farmers, and while I do sympathize, I struggle with the fact that she doesn't apply that same logic to any other farmers. It's like it only counts if it's her life experience. Many of the farmers in my area/life grow the crops and animals that are deemed the evils of farming by Kingsolver: soybeans, wheat, corn, cattle that will be sold before it's ready for slaughter. But these farmers are good people too. Soybeans and wheat sent my friends and cousins to college. Cattle sold before slaughter pays my aunt and uncle's bills. It's not nearly as cut and dried as Kingsolver wants it to be. Yes, corporate farming is a problem, but there are lots of what she would consider to be "large" farms that are still family operated. 

Along those lines, the constant harping on organic got really old, really fast. Almost all the farms in our area are considered conventional farms, but that doesn't mean they're not doing their part for conservation. Pasture rotation, crop rotation, and cover crop use are a regular part of farming around here. There are also tons of programs that farmers are taking advantage of to help preserve wildlife habitats in our area. So no, conventional farming does not always equal the end of the world as we know it. 

The other thing I struggled with was the lack of citation. All of the writers tossed out statistics and information often without anything concrete to back it up. There were some references made at the end of the book, and websites listed, but if you're going to be putting out hard statistics, I need a footnote and enough information to find the study myself. 

Finally, while I appreciated what they were trying to do, I found the book itself to be way too long and way too preachy for my tastes. Kingsolver is an excellent writer, but the whole thing came across as a way to prove how awesome their family is for doing this and how we should all just magically be able to do the same. I would have liked to read more about how the year actually went, how true to the eat local movement did they stay (at the end she briefly mentions they did buy some things like boxed mac and cheese), because just a little shot of humility and true struggle would have gone a long way to making this book more palatable for me. I also thought it could have been shortened considerably. I went in expecting to read a story about a family spending a year growing their own food, not be bombarded for over 300 pages about how organic is better and commercial farms are evil and conventional farming is killing the planet. Whether or not you agree those things are true, that's not how I felt that the book was promoted. I'm not made I read this, but I'm more than glad to be done with it and able to put it on the donate pile.

Book Shame

We've all done it; hidden what we're reading from others. Maybe you leave a different book than the one you're reading out in your living room when you've got company visiting. Maybe you slip your book into a cover or another book when you're on the train on the way to work. Maybe you just flat-out lie when someone asks what you've been reading recently. Don't feel too bad about it, because truly, I think we've all been there at some time.

But why? What has led us to believe that some books are more "worthy" than others? Reading is good, no matter what it is. It's exercising your brain, teaching you about other cultures, and making you an all around better person. Or at least, it should be. And yet, there are those people out there who feel that their status as "bookworm" makes them superior somehow, and that sucks.

I recently left a book group on Facebook after discovering that it was filled with such people. It started with a post (from a group admin, no less) discussing the current hit book, Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis.

The poster was wondering: "Am I the only one that as soon as non-reading type people start posting up a picture of a newly popular book and screaming "OMG IT'S SO OOOOOO GOOD YOU HAVE TO READ IT" I immediately put it on my "that book is probably trash" pile???"

Now, in my mind, the post itself is bad enough, but then it got 42 comments of people saying basically the same thing. It really disgusted me, because that's such a terrible attitude to have. I haven't read this book, but it is on my list, partly because I have seen it hyped up all over social media. Some of the people recommending are not huge readers, it's true, but that doesn't invalidate their opinion that it's good. The original poster even mentions later on that this attitude kept her from Twilight, which she ended up loving, but apparently doesn't understand the irony of that.

My real issue with this is the implied shame put on so-called "non-readers." If someone joined this group who maybe doesn't read much and was looking for a place to read a book a month and join in some discussion on his/her own time, I would think this would completely turn them off and scare them away. Which is a shame, because we should be encouraging people to read as much as they're able, and in general, book social media is such a great place! Look, everyone isn't going to like the same books, and that's okay. You can dislike a book without utterly trashing it and putting down the people who do like it. You especially shouldn't be doing that for a book you haven't even read. So here's the moral of the story peeps: don't be a jerk, and don't worry about what other people are reading. Just encourage people to read! We need that now more than ever!

Review: Hard Sell

Hard Sell by Lauren Layne

Rating: 4 Stars

Lauren Layne's second installment in her 21 Wall Street series is just as much fun as the first! This story focuses on Matt and Sabrina, who were introduced as enemies in the previous book. It is a romance, so it's pretty clear they won't stay enemies for long, but I really enjoyed how Layne played the trope out. It wasn't done in the usual enemies to lovers way, and  without giving too much away, I really appreciated how much more believable and real the book feels as it moves through that plot, as each character realizes the true nature of their feelings, both past and present.

Like always, I enjoy Layne's emphasis on friendship, and while there was slightly less of that than in the previous book, those relationships were still extremely well done. I like that there was no underlying drama or cattiness between Sabrina and Lara, as that relationship could have been used as a source of drama and conflict. I much prefer Layne's approach, which is to have Sabrina understand that she's not losing her best friend (Ian), but gaining a new friend (Lara), while still acknowledging that Sabrina's relationship with Ian will change. I very much enjoy books that have the appropriate amount of drama/conflict, without heading into soap opera territory, and this definitely delivers. I also really hope that Montlake picks up the third book in the series, because I'm desperate to read the story of Kate and Kennedy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Montlake Romance for a review copy of this book.

Review: The Favorite Sister

The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll

Rating: 2 Stars

This is a tough one for me to review. There were aspects that I liked, and aspects that I didn't like. I was tempted to put it down and not finish at least once, but I'm glad I didn't. 

Jessica Knoll writes a compelling thriller, that kept me guessing until the very end. I thought I had figured out what had happened about halfway through, and was surprised to get to the end and realize I was completely wrong, and completely surprised. I always find that a sign of a good thriller, one that isn't too predictable.

However, I also struggled. I felt like the build-up took too long, and the beginning was too slow. I didn't connect with any of the characters, they were all terrible people, and I didn't feel any sympathy for any of them. Admittedly, that may have been part of the point, showing how no one is as perfect as they seem on the surface, but for some reason, that didn't really resonate with me. I also struggled to keep track of all of the characters and their ventures/story-lines. There was just too much going on in my opinion. I was never able to fully invest in a character or story-line because it jumped around so much. I was also left with a number of questions at the end. I feel like I never truly got to know Kelly as a character well enough to understand the ending, which is a little frustrating.

Overall, this was an okay read. It was well-written and surprising, but a little slow and confusing. Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book.

Review: Belong to Me

Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos

Rating: 2.5 Stars

Reader beware: spoilers below.

I have to say, I don't really know how I feel about this book. One the one hand, it's beautifully written. It's a different style than what I'm used to, but it was lovely. Marisa de los Santos definitely has a way with words.

On the other hand, it moved so slowly, and I didn't really like the story. It felt like there was too much going on, too many story lines to keep track of, and I never really got very invested in any of them. I also hated the Teo-secret child story line. I know that's almost the anchor of the book, so maybe that's why I didn't like it very much, but when I got to the part where Dev figures it out, I got so mad. I just hated that that's where she took the story, and it was a real turn-off for me. I can't really explain why, it was just kind of a gut reaction. 

However, despite all the things I didn't like, I still was compelled to read until the end and find out what happens. And I will admit the second half moved much more quickly than the first half. De los Santos wrote a lovely, quiet novel, so if you're looking for a read featuring compelling characters and emotional writing, this is one you should pick up.

Review: The Chase

The Chase by Elle Kennedy

Rating: 4 Stars

What better way to participate in Read a Romance Month than with a romance I feel like I’ve been waiting forever for?! Okay, not forever, but it’s been a long time and I’ve been impatiently waiting the get back to Elle Kennedy’s Off Campus universe! The first book in the Off Campus spin off series Briar U does not disappoint. I loved reading about Summer and Fitzy and getting quick cameos from some of the characters from the original books. The characters are loveable and believable and I was rooting for them the whole time, even when I wanted to slap them for not making good choices! I will say, I didn't love the Summer-Hunter issue throughout the book. I definitely could have done without the love triangle aspect of the story, but I'm so over love triangles as a trope that that's more of a personal preference than anything else. I have to say, New Adult is a tough genre. At least for me, it's such a hit or miss genre, and I'm not completely sure why. They tend to skew to soap opera, but I can get down for that if it's well done. It just seems that so much of it isn't well done. With Elle Kennedy, it's always well-written and she's one of the bar-setters in the genre, in my opinion. This was a fast and easy read that was paced really well. I loved spending my Sunday back in this world, and am very glad we don’t have to wait nearly as long for the next installment! If you enjoy the New Adult genre and/or sports romance, this is definitely one not to miss! Even if you're on the fence in terms of New Adult, check this out because Elle Kennedy writes some of the best in the genre, hands down.