Mini-Reviews: Wrapping up 2017

I realize 2018 is almost done and I'm just getting through the last of the mini-reviews for 2017 but that is what it is. Will I be able to catch up on 2018 before 2019 is over? Only time will tell.

To see the first part of December mini-reviews, check out the last mini-review post and man it has been a lot longer than I thought. October was a blur of, honestly, watching a lot of Disney movies on Freeform. They showed Monsters, Inc and Monster University about every other day and I think I watched at least part every single time. #priorities

December 2017 (part 2)

Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell

This is made up of two short stories by Rowell, one of which (Kindred Spirits) I had read and reviewed previously, and which I loved and have reread a few times. Midnights is an equally adorable sweet love story about high school friends Margaret and Noel at an annual New Year's Eve party growing together each year. The dialogue is fun and cute, something Rowell does oh-so-well. And the stories are short so really, there's no reason not to read this. I may go reread them right now...
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Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

While I haven't listened to the podcast in awhile, I still have a special place in my heart for Welcome to Night Vale so I was pretty excited to read the book. First things first, you should probably listen to the podcast before reading this. At least some of it. You don't need to get all caught up (cos there are soooo many episodes) but at least get a feel, learn who the main characters are, get a feel for the style. Because I don't think the book will make any sense without some background. Not that it makes a huge amount of sense anyway, but that's Night Vale. The book was...fine. Overall, I'd rather listen to Cecil's comforting tones instead of reading it so maybe the audiobook would be better? But I also wasn't 100% into the story. I prefer getting these small glimpses into the lives of the Night Vale residents via community radio. A longer story delving deeper didn't really work for me since it got fairly tedious.
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You Don't Have to Like Me: Essays on Growing Up, Speaking Out and Finding Feminism by Alida Nugent

I don't remember when I first started following Nugent as the Frenemy but I was a fan and hey, this is a book about feminism and funny stuff and collections of essays from hilarious ladies is my jam so yeah, of course I was gonna check it out. So I enjoyed it but also, at this point, I honestly don't remember much of it. I liked it at the time but it didn't really stick with me. I may give it a reread (or at least skim through it). So I guess, if you like this sort of thing, check it out? Maybe from the library or something. Entertaining if not super memorable.
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Now onto the 2018 mini-reviews

*Full list of December 2017 books read
Reset: My Fight for Inclusion by Ellen Pao
Neurocomic by Dr. Matteo Farinella and Dr. Hana Ros
Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell
Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
You Don't Have to Like Me by Alida Nugent

Kindred Spirits: I'm guessing this is your first line

This story is so sweet. Which, yes, is what I expect from Rainbow Rowell. But still, oh man, such a sweet book.

Elena loves Star Wars. Looooooves Star Wars. And what luck? There's a new Star Wars movie coming out. She's going to get to do this right, to be part of the inevitable line of people waiting days to be among the first people to see it. But this is today; you don't NEED to wait in line to get a ticket. Fandango is a thing. The point is to be part of a group of people who love love love Star Wars.

But. The line is only 3 people (including Elena). Which is not exactly what she was expecting. But Elena won't let this (or the fact that she has to sleep on the ground, or that she has to pee in a soda cup) get her down. After all, this is Star Wars, and the line may be short but it's strong.

And like the line, the book is short but the love is clear. Rowell wrote this for World Book Day, and I was lucky enough to get a copy from Emily (which was super awesome of her, hooray book friends!) and I read it immediately. Then I finished it (it's only 56 pages) and started it over. PLUS once i got to the end, I needed to go back and see all the stuff I missed on the first read through.

Rowell's characters are always so wonderful. They feel real, like people you could easily meet and definitely people you'd want to be friends with. Even in such a short work, she still manages to give us full characters.

A part of me wishes this was longer, and another part feels like this was the perfect length for the story. I want more of these characters (because did I mention, love them?) but I felt the story was just what it needed to be.

Really sweet story (which I know I've repeated a million times but it's TRUE) and you should definitely read it.

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Title quote from page 3

Rowell, Rainbow. Kindred Spirits. St. Martin's Press, 2016.

He's still more good than bad...It just goes to show how much of both a person can be

Oh hey, did you guys know I am a FAN of Rainbow Rowell? Both as an author and also she seems like just the best person (with some confirmation from friends who have actually got to meet her and like have coffee with her and stuff) so OF COURSE I wanted to read Carry On, even if the topic itself (Drarry fanfic) isn't totally my thing. But I know I will be in capable hands with Rowell

This had been on my to-read list for awhile (pretty much since she announced it was a thing she was prob working on) so it got picked for book club and excellent now I have an excuse to buy it RIGHT NOW.

So for those that don't know, Carry On is a spin-off of Fangirl and as I mentioned, is basically Drarry fanfic. Except it's not really Hogwarts (cos you know, that would cost a lot in licensing). Instead this is Watford, and it's not Harry and Draco but instead Simon Snow and Basilton Pitch (Baz).

And look, it actually IS different enough from Harry Potter that while the characters and the school are clearly inspired by and stand-ins for these things, things are tweaked just enough that it can stand as its own story. Rowell's take on magical boarding school, with a focus on the relationships between the characters, which is really where Rowell shines. There's very little in the way of world-building that makes up so much of HP's fun, but then again, this is supposed to be the final book in the "Simon Snow" series, so there would be no reason to get into that at this point.

Simon and Baz have been roomates since the not-sorting-hat put them together their first year. Simon is convinced Baz is out to get him and frankly he seems pretty obsessed with him. As Simon's friend Penelope says

I really, really hate to talk to Simon about Baz. It's like talking to the Mad Hatter about tea. I hate to encourage him. 

I mean, sure he has reason to believe he's out to get him. You'd think Simon would be preoccupied with his work to get rid of the Insidious Humdrum who is sucking all of the magic out of the world. But instead he's hyper focused on why Baz hasn't shown up for the first day of school, nor the following days.

The story jumps back and forth between different characters which I luuuuuuurve. And Rowell is probably my favorite author when it comes to writing relationships, which she does superbly here, for relationships that succeed and those that those that don't. And since I already said it was Drarry fanfic, I think you already know the relationship between Snow and Baz is going to happen.

I love Rowell's dialogue. It's always the best part of her stuff. Her characters' conversations are more clever than normal people's but just enough that it feels like it could be something real people said.

"Ebb," I insist, "[Baz] tried to kill me." 

"Not successfully." She shrugs. "Not recently." 

"He's tried to kill me three times! That I know of! It doesn't actually matter whether it worked." 

"It matters a bit," she says. "'Sides, how old was he the first time, eleven? Twelve? That hardly counts."

But that said, this is prob my least favorite Rowell book. The relationship stuff is awesome, but the rest of it is sort of...eh. Not super my thing. Which didn't surprise me cos the Simon Snow chapters were my least favorite part of Fangirl. But in the end, it's still Rowell and I'm still down for it. Even if I like her realistic (or more realistic, anyway) stuff better.

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Title quote from page 393, location 5309

Rowell, Rainbow. Carry On. alfaguara juvenil, 2016. Kindle

"Can we go back and start over?" "How far back?"

It took me a long time to pick up Landline by Rainbow Rowell. I have no idea why but this seems to be a thing I do with all of her books. I know it's going to be AMAZING but I don't pick it up right away. Or maybe "so I don't pick it up right away." Perhaps I'm holding onto it as a "I know I'm going to love this so when I'm in a slump I'll have something to read that will suck me in." You'd think I'd know since it should be as easy as asking myself, but myself doesn't really know why it does what it does. I think it was Meg's review that finally made go "I need this in my life now" and thus I began.

Unlike her previous books (Attachments, Eleanor & Park, Fangirl) Landline isn't about new love. It's about worn in love. It's about a couple that has been together for years. They've gone through the first glances, the first kisses, the butterflies. Now they've been married for 15 years, have 2 kids, and the butterflies aren't really there. It's not that they don't love each other anymore, but when Georgie decides to stay in L.A. and work on a pilot for her dream show instead of going with Neal and the girls to Nebraska for Christmas, well, is love enough?

But something strange happens. While staying at her mom's Georgie finds she can talk to past-Neal using an old yellow landline phone at her mom's house. The Neal from when he and Georgie were early in their relationship, still in college. Can talking to past-Neal help her fix the problems with present-Neal? Should she?

The tone here is closer to that of E&P, more serious, less fluff, but don't think that means it's missing Rowell's humor and banter. I love Rowell's style.

Neal didn't take Georgie's breath away. Maybe the opposite. But that was okay - that was really good, actually, to be near someone who filled your lungs with air.

Seth and Scotty brainstormed. Georgie brain-hurricaned.

And the banter! Have I mentioned the banter?

When were you smiling? No one in your family smiles. You're a dynasty of wasted dimples.

"You didn't make me go," he said.
"You can't make me do anything - I'm an adult. And I'm much stronger than you."
"Upper body strength isn't everything; I have wiles."
"Not really."
"Yes, I do. I'm a woman. Women have wiles."

And I haven't even mentioned all of the other characters. Georgie's writing partner, Seth, her mom, her sister, her kids. They're full characters who feel like they exist outside of Georgie and Neal's story.

I loved this book. Obviously. It's Rowell and I expected to love it and of course she didn't disappoint. I've given up trying to rank her books. I love them all, don't make me choose. If you haven't read
any of her stuff yet, I encourage you to reconsider your life choices and rectify this problem. Landline isn't a bad place to start.

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Title quote from page 127

Rowell, Rainbow. Landline. St. Martin's Press, 2014. Kindle

Attachments revisited

I would like the preface this review by saying that I'm currently fighting a cold. At least the start of a cold. Anyway I was up a good portion of the night with a sore throat that kept waking me up and this was after not getting a great night's sleep the night before so I'm at that fun point where lack of sleep turns into delirium. But since I'm writing a second review of a book I already reviewed on here awhile ago, I figured that's fine.

After finishing The Hours I needed something else to read but wasn't on the mood for anything on my TBR pile. I turned to a standby: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. I have it on my Kindle so it's one of those books I tend to re-read bits and pieces of cos I often have a copy with me*. I hadn't so much be slowly re-reading this story as I was reading bits and pieces of it here and there. Jennifer and Beth's email exchanges are the best and you don't need a lot of context to enjoy them. But this time I decided I would actually re-read the whole thing. Hey, did you know the ENTIRE story is amazing and not just the email exchanges?

I knew the whole story was great. But I knew it on the logical level. But whenever I would think back on the book it was the email exchanges I would remember the best with the rest of the story fading a bit. Which was stupid on me because I love all parts of this book. I love Lincoln's story, which before I liked but whenever there would be a Lincoln chapter all I could think was this meant I wouldn't be getting a Beth/Jennifer chapter. This time I knew the stories, I knew their email exchanges so I could focus on Lincoln and the larger story at hand. And it is so good. I forgot just how good it is and how much I love it and how this is a romantic comedy and even though I'm not usually crazy about those I LOVE THIS ONE. I think I figured out why this time around. The characters never do something incredibly stupid for the sake of moving the plot along.

*some spoilers but you probably should have read this book already. You're lucky I'm even bothering with this spoiler message*
Mindy Kaling talks about romantic comedy logic and essentially how there isn't any but you sort of just have to go with it. But where she loves it ("I simply regard romantic comedies as a subgenre of sci-fi, in which the world created therein has different rules than my regular human word.)** I hate just going with it. One of the biggest things I hate is when there's a love triangle and one of the guys is CLEARLY AN ASSHOLE and the hero is who the girl should end up with but there's all this fake tension about who she'll choose. Except no, there is no tension, the choice is obvious.

Attachments has a love triangle and it almost fits into this basic structure. Lincoln is the main character so we're on his side. Beth's boyfriend seems like kind of a douche and Lincoln seems like he would make a great boyfriend so OBVIOUSLY they should be together. Except we see moments where Beth's boyfriend isn't a raging douche. And we understand why Beth is with him and why he's with Beth. And also we have no idea what the chemistry would be between Beth and Lincoln because they don't talk to one another until the very end of the book. I mean we KNOW they're going to be awesome together, and we want them to get together, but I didn't spend the whole time rolling my eyes going "No, you know what lady? Just stay with your obviously terrible boyfriend who even you can't come up with redeeming qualities for." Instead I spent my time going "YES, THIS IS GREAT! HOW DID I FORGET HOW GREAT THIS IS?"
*spoilers contained. But you should probably just read the book. and hang your head in shame for not having read it yet.*

This is the joy of re-reading. I can go back and focus on new parts of the story that I skipped the first time around. Of course I still LOOOOOOVED the email exchanges because while I have come to appreciate the awesomeness of the whole book, these are still the best and if Rowell felt like writing an entire book about just these two, I would be for it. 

One thing Rowell hasn't made any easier is helping me decide which of her books I like best. Everything I think "Attachments is my favorite" I remember something awesome that happens in Eleanor & Park and Fangirl and I continue to go round and round in circles. So to be safe you should probably just read them all. Clearly.

*Moranthology by Caitlin Moran is another good "pick up whenever" book.
**I realize I've included a quote from a book I haven't even reviewed yet but 1) Kaling's book is awesome and 2) it works so well right here.

Rowell, Rainbow. Attachments. Plume, 2011. Kindle edition

To really be a nerd, she'd decided, you had to prefer fictional worlds to the real one.

I read Rainbow Rowell's third book Fangirl a week ago. I almost missed my stop on the train. I've come close but never actually been surprised to realize I am at my stop and need to get off the train right now. Or else have a very unfun morning commute. The saddest part? I was reading the acknowledgements. I really was not ready for things to be over.

I was planning on a the very least liking this. I still read Attachments pretty much anytime I finish whatever Kindle book I'm reading but don't feel like starting something new. (It's really great for this cos it's easy to put down for a month+ and then pick it up again, no problem.) Then there's Eleanor & Park which is wonderful and makes me wish I had enough money to buy everyone in the Minnesota Anoka-Hennepin district a copy of this book. Fangirl did not disappoint. You know, if the fact that I almost missed my stop wasn't obvious enough. I really can't decide which one I like best. Every time I make a decision, I change my mind and remember the other 2 exist. So just know they're all wonderful and you should probably read them all right away if you haven't already. Even if you have, maybe read them again.

Cath is, I believe, a classic introvert.* She and her identical twin sister Wren are starting college in the fall and to Cath's disappointment, Wren doesn't want to room with her. She thinks it's about time they meet other people. She doesn't want to go exploring, not even to find the cafeteria, which means she spends a lot of time eating granola bars in her room. She doesn't want to meet new people, not even her roommate Reagan, who can be a bit intimidating but is also sharing a tiny space with you so maybe say hi. Cath is out of her comfort zone all the time. Except when she's writing fanfic about Simon Snow, which is Harry Potter (except HP is also a thing in this world). I don't know what else to say about the plot without giving things away but there's so much good stuff with Levi, Reagan's friend that is always hanging out in their room and seems unnaturally nice, and Cath's writing classmate Nick, and Cath's dad, and Wren with her more "traditional" I guess collect experience. I'm trying really hard not to start rambling and how much I like this, and it's not going all that well.

Rowell makes me happy because first she makes Eleanor a redhead BUT she's not Irish, and she has brown eyes which is so nice to see (because seriously, not every redhead has green eyes). THEN this time she writes this:

"I can't decide what color [Cath's eyes] are. What does it say on your driver's license?"
"Blue."
"They're not blue."
"They are on the outside."
"And brown in the middle," [Levi] said. "And gray on the edge and green in between."

And TOTALLY nails what my brother's eyes look like. Maybe I have a doppelganger family living somewhere in Nebraska.

What's that? You'd like some more example quotes. Well, if you insist.

In new situations, all the trickiest rules are the ones nobody bothers to explain to you. (And the ones you can't google.) Like, where does the line start? What food can you take? Where are you supposed to stand, then where are you supposed to sit? Where do you go when you're done, why is everyone watching you?...Bah.
(I go through this pretty much anytime I'm in a new situation and it's why I end up getting lunch at the same few places. New things are stressful.)

"I feel sorry for you, and I'm going to be your friend."
"I don't want to be your friend," Cath said as sternly as she could. "I like that we're not friends."
"Me, too," Reagan said. "I'm sorry you ruined it by being so pathetic."

"It makes me feel like the Ugly One."
"You're not the ugly one." Levi grinned. "You're just the Clark Kent."

"I don't like hello. It makes me sound like I have dementia, like I've never heard a phone ring before and I don't know what's supposed to happen next. Hello?"

I'll stop now, but know I could keep going.

I really liked this book. I liked Levi, I loved Reagan (and would like to add her to the list of fictional people I would like to be BFFs with), I like Cath's dad, I even grew to like Cath and it didn't even take that long. Which is good goes she's the main character so you spend a lot of time with her. I can't say the Simon Snow and Carry On chapters were my favorite thing, but I liked them more than I expected to. Not as much as I like the "real world" chapters, but still.

If this was a different author and you told me to read a sort of YA**, sort of love story that centers around a very shy girl who writes fan fiction, I would smile and nod at you while thinking that I will never be getting around to this. But as soon as you say Rainbow Rowell wrote it, well I am there. And I love it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to continue reading all of those lines I highlighted.

*I haven't read Quiet yet but it's on my radar. And I assume once I get to it I'll be an expert.
**I really have no idea what is and isn't YA. This is why I never organize my books by genre. Or at all.

Title quote from page 299, location 4721

Rowell, Rainbow. Fangirl. St. Martin's Griffin, 2013. Kindle edition.

She looked liked art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something

I don't know why I waited so long to read Elearnor & Park. I have no excuse, no reason. I knew I would love it. Or I assumed I would given how much I looooved Attachments. And pretty much all of my blogging buddies loved the book. I had so many reasons to read the book immediately and none to put it off. But I did. For months. For seriously no reason whatsoever. Maybe I was saving it for a time I thought I'd need it.

I was (and still am) in the middle of Richard Wright's Native Son which is very good but also very intense. I needed a break but didn't know what to go with and thought this would be the perfect time to pick up a book that I would love. Something I could power through. And I finally picked up Eleanor & Park. And I loved it. Loooooooooooooooved it. I'll try to keep the gushing to a minimum.

Eleanor & Park is a YA (blah) love story (double blah) but it's so good. I'd say it's unlike any other YA love story, except see those "blahs" above, so I don't really have a good baseline comparison. That said, I'll go ahead and say that this is unlike other YA love stories. Eleanor and Park (and Park's parents, and Eleanor's siblings) feel so real and they dance on cliches without ever falling into them.

It's a romance between two people from different worlds, but no one in Park's world is keeping him from Eleanor. And those in Eleanor's world are keeping her from everyone, not just Park. And by "those" I mean, her asshole alcoholic abusive asshole stepfather. Asshole.

Before I read the book I pretty much just knew that Eleanor is a big red-head (the kids call her Big Red) and poor and no on likes her, and Park is half-Korean, but managed to be popular. It takes place in Omaha in 1986 and involves good music and comic books. I knew it was about teenage love but it's more than that. It's about first love and the intensity in every touch and every look.

I don't really know what else to say that isn't going to devolve into just "OMG THIS IS SO GOOD ARE YOU READING IT YET WHY AREN'T YOU READING IT READ IT" But if you need some other reasons to read this (as if me yelling it at you wasn't enough reason) then enjoy these quotes. And know it took me forever to figure out which quotes to include because I highlighted so many

All [Eleanor's mother's] bones seemed more purposeful than other people's. Like they weren't just there to hold her up; they were there to make a point.

[Romeo & Juliet] was 'Oh my God, he's so cute' at first sight. If Shakespeare wanted you to believe they were in love, he wouldn't tell you in almost the very first scene that Romeo was hung up on Rosaline....It's Shakespeare making fun of love," [Eleanor] said.
"Then why has it survived?"...
"Because..." [Park] said quietly, looking at his desk, "because people want to remember what it's like to be young? And in love?"

"Nobody gets enough," [Park's mom] said. "Nobody gets what they need. When you're always hungry, you get hungry in your head." She tapped her forehead. "You know?"
Park wasn't sure what to say.
"You don't know," she said, shaking her head. "I don't want you to know...I'm sorry."

Please also know that I took 2 notes while reading:
"OMG I fucking love Eleanor
"Aaand now I love Park."

Also, I was excited for a red-headed lead. I didn't realize I'd be so excited to learn that she also has brown eyes. But I was. Enough to bug Rowell on Twitter with lots of exclamation points that she made a red-headed, brown-eyed character because SERIOUSLY, NOT ALL RED HEADS HAVE GREEN OR BLUE EYES. (Oh are you wondering if my eyes are dark brown? Maaaaaaybe.)

I loved this book. And warning, it made me cry, or at least tear up. On the subway. But it was so good it was OK.

Title quote from page 165, location 2427

Rowell, Rainbow. Eleanor & Park. St. Martin's Griffin, 2013

He said he preferred Armageddon to Sam's Club

I just read Attachments by Rainbow Rowell and you guys, I loved it. There's going to be a lot of gushing. Be prepared.

Lincoln is the security tech guy in charge of making sure no one is using the company email for personal conversations or cursing or anything remotely fun. Emails from two employees, Jennifer and Beth, keep getting tagged. But their conversations are incredible and Lincoln can't even bring himself to send them a warning. Yet he keeps reading their emails and develops feelings for Beth. It's a romantic comedy, which is not my normal cup of tea. I think the last one I read was Pride and Prejudice. Lamb was kind of bromance-y. Anyway, what I'm saying is normally romantic comedies aren't for me. But this snuck by normal cynical defenses and I didn't even realize I was reading a romantic comedy until I was already in love with all the characters.

Lincoln's the main character and you spend a lot of time as his failed relationship and his job that he hates. And of course reading Beth and Jennifer's emails. Don't get me wrong, I liked Lincoln and I liked seeing him break his normal routine. And I sort of loved his mom and her cooking. But every time a chapter started with an email from Jennifer and Beth I got all excited. You only see these guys through their emails that get flagged so the fact that they establish themselves as so amazing so quickly is a skill. My favorite moments are all contained in their conversations. It's hard to find lines to share because the joy in these two is really their back and forth but here are a couple examples:

Jennifer to Beth: Maybe I do like Tom Cruise. But I hate feeling pressured to find him attractive. I don't.
Beth to Jennifer: Nobody does. It's a lie perpetuated by the American media. Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts.
Jennifer to Beth: Men don't like Julia Roberts?
Beth to Jennifer: Nope. Her teeth scare them*

Beth to Jennifer: I don't know if I ever believe in that anymore. The right guy. The perfect guy. The one. I've lost faith in "the".
Jennifer to Beth: How do you feel about "a" and "an"?
Beth to Jennifer: Indifferent.
Jennifer to Beth: So you're considering a life without articles?

Beth to Jennifer: Why are you lying awake, thinking that you're a terrible person?
Jennifer to Beth: To keep my mind occupied when I can't sleep. Some people count sheep. I self-loathe.

Don't you love them already?!?!?!

You should read this book! Right now. Right now! Although it was hard to find. Or rather, I went to my local indie bookstore and I couldn't find it (but I didn't ask so it may have been there) so I ended up getting an e-copy. So it's not that it was hard to find, it just didn't fall into my outstretched hands.

Also you should read Alice from Reading Rambo's and Rayna from Libereading's because they're amazing and their reviews are great and the reason I picked this up.

*Rayna shared this quote too but it's just. that. good I had to share it here too. I also liked Alice's larking comment but I only wanted to repeat one quote.

Title quote from location 3610, page 209

Rowell, Rainbow. Attachments. Plume, 2011. Kindle edition.