Isla and the Happily Ever After: a brief review

taken from Goodreads.com

I read both Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door when they each came out a couple years ago. I liked them a lot (cute, borderline cheesy teen romances) and was excited when the third and last companion book was finally released. I did like it, but I think I've realized (as I mentioned in this post) that I'm just getting way too old. These teen romances about declaring love after a month and traveling Europe and having sex everywhere/all the time just kind of make me want to vom. And I get it that some people's kids have a lot of money and attend black tie Christmas parties at the Met and have drivers/security guards who allow them into restricted areas for make out sessions with their girlfriends, but most people's kids don't. So after a while it's all just kind of eh. It was a perfectly fine book, but I really do think I need a break from teen fiction. I'm just getting too grumpy and jaded about it.

Another Twofer: brief reviews

taken from Goodreads.com

Sequel to Al Capone Does My Shirts, Al Capone Shines My Shoes continues the story of Moose Flanagan. As the middle school-aged son of a prison guard at Alcatraz during the 1930s, Moose and his family live on the island, along with all the other guards' families. Things are finally going so much better for the Flanagan family, until Mr. Capone himself decides it's time to cash in on a favor he secretly did for Moose in the first book. Just as cute as the first one, Shines My Shoes is full of great historically accurate fiction and fun characters. Definitely recommend it (and the first one, and I'm guessing the third one although I haven't read it yet...stay tuned).

taken from Goodreads.com

Going into this one, I had read two Rainbow Rowell books, Fangirl and Eleanor & Park. One of them I liked and one of them I didn't like. So I was curious about how I'd feel about this one (one written for adults and not for young adults, and one that's about a failing marriage, which is the kind of topic I would have very strong opinions about), and I was pleasantly surprised. I listened to it through audiobook, which was also much better than I expected once I realized a lot of the book is dialogue over the phone. I wasn't sure how that would play out via audiobook, but it worked. Much more importantly, though, is that the book was good. It was very interesting. The commentary on marriage was one I didn't agree with start to finish, but it brought up some very good (and, to my surprise) very conservative principles. Rowell provided quite the discussion about why this particular marriage went downhill, and the very common and simple actions that were taken (or not taken) to avoid such a downfall. I wouldn't go out of my way to demand that people read it, but I did enjoy it and thought it was interesting. I'm curious to keep reading Rowell's work (or just Attachments, I guess, because I think that's all I have left at the moment).

(Twofer) Silas Marner and The Sky is Everywhere: brief reviews

taken from Goodreads.com

I kind of cheated with this one. I listened to it, but not exactly with an audiobook. I listened to this book in the form of a radio drama by Focus on the Family, which is super close to an audiobook except there's a full cast and sound effects and perhaps some minor editing. So, in the efforts of full disclosure, there's a chance I didn't actually read it all. Not in the traditional sense. But I'm counting it, because I feel like it. Attitude aside, I enjoyed this story. I had an incredibly hard time getting into it, which is a problem since it's so short. I would probably have to say that I struggled with understanding/following any of the first half of the plot, but the second half was great. The character of Silas Marner is a gem, and the other opposing character is a total jerk. Wanted to punch him in the face. Good, sweet classic. 

taken from Goodreads.com

This one is a teen drama/romance, with all the typical teen drama/romance elements despite its heartbreaking and unique plot, in which a high school girl deals with the recent death of her older sister. It's a good plot, but the fact that there's also a love triangle, a miscommunication that leads to many tears, and a painfully predictable reunion in the end (spoiler...but not really, because it's painfully predictable). Also, I felt SO OLD while I was reading about this sweet teenage child who is speaking about wanting to "give all of herself" to this boy she just met, and "belonging" to him, and being "so incredibly in love" with him. No. A thousand times no. You are not incredibly in love with him, because you met him two months ago and you're an infant. Other than that, it is predictable but it's also cute and very sweet.

The Silver Star: a brief review

taken from Goodreads.com

Well. I told you all about my thoughts regarding Walls' book Half Broke Horses a couple weeks ago, and today I finished her book The Silver Star (via audiobook). And I loved it just as much as both of Walls' other books. Actually, I think I liked it more. This one isn't a memoir of any kind, but is instead a novel about two young girls with an unstable mother and no father who decide to strike out on their own in search of long lost family members on the other side of the country. Walls follows her usual style of heartache mixed with comedy and wonderfully endearing characters. I really enjoyed this book, and I would even go so far as to say that I'd love to read it again sometime. I definitely recommend this book, along with The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses. If you haven't read any of them, it's time.

Diary of a Young Girl: a brief review

taken from Goodreads.com

Since high school, I've tried to read this book three separate times and haven't gotten very far any of those times. I don't know what it was about it, but I just couldn't ever get into it. The fact that this is a worldwide classic and a staple of most middle and/or high school reading lists didn't make me feel too great about never reading it, and I always had it on that list in the back of my head that I would get to one day. Once again: audiobooks save the day. I enjoyed this book a lot; it's amusing to me because Anne is SUCH a teenage girl, but she also has moments of incredibly wise insights. The way she sees and comments on the world is pretty incredible, and definitely worth a place on the shelves of the Classics. I did find myself thinking, though, on several occasions, that all the rest of it (the parental drama, the boy drama, the incredibly detailed personal/sexual descriptions) seemed a little unnecessary and long winded - and maybe even inappropriate? - for a book to teach in a classroom. As a stand-alone book and memoir, though, I definitely enjoyed it.