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mermaidsirennikita · 7 years

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Book Roundup -- April 2017

I completed by challenge of reading 50 books in 2017.... today. Admittedly this is usually a pretty low bar for me, but I don’t wanna go any higher than 50 just in case I suddenly get super fucking busy or my speed-reading powers deactivate.

Anyway. Most of the books I read this month were honestly mediocre to poor, but I did discover two books towards the end of the month ( “Feast of Sorrow” and “Crazy Rich Asians”) that not only introduced me to new authors but pretty much thrilled me.

So, without further ado:

The Night Mark by Tiffany Reisz. 3/5. Still mourning the death of her first husband, Faye ends up divorcing the man she married for convenience and heading to coastal South Carolina in an attempt to resume her former career as a photographer. After learning the local legend of a lighthouse keeper’s ill-fated daughter in the 1920s, she accidentally ends up in the water--and wakes up in the body of Faith Morgan, said ill-fated 1920s girl. This book is definitely a romance novel, and it’s a lot of fun. As with any romance novel, there are some random choices that are kind of done, and the plot is somewhat convoluted, and the time travel aspects of the plot don’t always make sense.... But it was fluffy. It made me happy. It made me homesick, for that matter. If you’re looking for a quick, somewhat mindless read with some nice sexual tension-filled scenes, go for it. (If anything, I feel like this would have been improved with a few more sex scenes. To be honest.) It’s note quite peak trashy time travel romance novel a la Jude Deveraux’s Knight In Shining Armor, but it’s good.

Love for Sale: A World History of Prostitution by Nils Johan Ringdal. 4/5. A non-fiction history of prostitution spanning from ancient myths to the present day. The book does a good job of covering the East and West--though more attention is paid to Europe than anywhere else, Asia gets a good amount of attention. At certain points, it does get a bit dry. But it does the job, and is very interesting and informative.

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett. 4/5. In this YA contemporary, Bailey moves to California, not telling her Californian longtime online penpal, Alex, that she’s done so. (She has confrontation problems.) Upon beginning a museum job, she falls into a love-hate tension-filled relationship with security guard Porter, not realizing that he--of course--is Alex. This is pitched as a modern-day You’ve Got Mail, so I don’t think that’s a spoiler. Honestly, I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. I was beginning to think that YA contemporaries just weren’t for me anymore, and something about the chemistry and characters in “Alex, Approximately” just got me. Certain dramatic backstories were a bit much, but ultimately the chemistry between Bailey and Porter sold this book for me. They felt like actual teenagers who were actually into each other, and lately I feel like the YA I’ve been reading is too sugary to accurately portray that. Overall, this is a definite summer/spring rec from me.

Marriage Most Scandalous by Johanna Lindsey. 2/5. This was a pretty typical historical romance bodice ripper, about this dude who killed his best friend by accident in a duel years back? And is now a sort of mercenary detective type? So years after said accidental murder, his father’s ward comes a-knockin’, all grown up and such, and she thinks his dad is being targeted by someone evil. Of course they have to pretend to be married to figure out what’s afoot, and you can take it from there. I don’t think I like Regency bodice rippers as much as I do like... Viking romances, or Highlander stories. I feel like bodice rippers should be set in “rougher” times so the extreme fuckery going on is easier to dismiss as part of the fantasy. Plus, idk, some viking dude capturing the self-insert heroine and teaching her the ways of erotic love is just sexier to me than a dude named Sebastian having a secret identity as the Raven. I never said I wasn’t problematic.

Literally by Lucy Keating. 1/5. Annabelle is in the midst of upheaval in personal life when she meets the perfect boy, Will--and finds out that she’s actually the main character in a story by the author Lucy Keating. K. This could have been good, but it’s pretty much ruined as soon as Lucy Keating introduces herself. She’s referred to as Lucy Keating for the whole book; Annabelle thinks about how beautiful she is and her cute clothes; she’s all ambiguous and strange and self-adoring. This was one of the most uncomfortable, awkward books I’ve ever read.

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli. 3/5. This YA contemporary is about Molly, a girl whose insecurity about her weight--and inevitable comparisons to her beautiful twin, Cassie--has her constantly crushing on people that she finds unattainable. After Cassie falls head over heels for Mina, Molly feels pressured to like Will, Mina’s cute and sweet friend. But she also likes--perhaps more genuinely--Reid, who is, like Molly, overweight and maybe a bit uncool. This is less a romance--or I was less interested in the romance--than a story about Molly and Cassie growing up and apart. Molly’s insecurities are driven in part by her comparing herself to Cassie; at the same time, the main reason why she doesn’t want to like Reid is that she thinks he’ll pull her further from her twin. That’s a super interesting, real conflict. The romances I found less compelling. The book includes a lot of diversity, but at a certain point it did feel a bit... checking the boxes-esque? Like, Molly thought back to this boy she crushed on, and specified that he was a trans boy even though it added nothing to the story and really served more to set him apart, in his two paragraphs of page time, as “special” compared to the cis boys Molly had crushed on. I get what the author was going for, but it came off as a bit awkward sometimes. Overall however, this is a very earnest and sweet read.

Given to the Sea by Mindy McGinnis. 2/5. Khosa is the latest in a long line of women “given” to the sea--she’s destined dance into the sea as a sacrifice to prevent it from swallowing up her homeland. Before she does that, of course, she needs to give birth to a daughter who will follow in her footsteps. Trouble is, Khosa is afraid of being touched. Aaaaaand that’s pretty much what I got from this. The story has an interesting mythology and I liked the sort of writing style McGinnis was going for, but that’s it. I kind of debate even giving it a 2/5 for that. There were too many narrators (Khosa, the prince type guy she met, and his adopted sister I got but there was one guy whose presence as a narrator I never understood) and the plot was very... vague. I got that Khosa was doomed to be sacrificed and needed to get knocked up, but everything else was extremely hard to understand. And I was trying. I really tried. It just never got there for me.

The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda. 2/5. I really enjoyed Miranda’s previous thriller, “All The Missing Girls”, but this one just... numbed me. It seemed like a much more standard “what happened to the missing/dead person” story than “ATMG” was, and it never clicked.

My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier. 4/5. Che (yes, named after THAT Che because his parents are The Worst) is a teenager moving from Australia to New York. Also, his little sister Rosa is fucking psychopath. Rosa has been wrong since she was a baby, but Che is the only one in his family who acknowledges this--ironically, because his parents are always occupied with hippy-type projects that are meant to save the world. Che knows exactly how dangerous the unfeeling Rosa is, and how easily she manipulates everyone around her. And of course, she catapults the family into disaster. This book was pretty chilling at times. For that matter, it actually had explanations for things that bothered me--why Che’s parents were so shitty, for example. Threads like those would have been dropped in another book, and I appreciate Larbalestier following up on them. It’s a really effective thriller; perhaps the most convincing part of it is how much Che loves his sister, despite everything. The book isn’t quite scary, but it is creepy--and quite sad at points.

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi. 4/5. From 1968, a serial killer terrorized the hills surrounding Florence. The killer would spy on couples parked to have sex--a common practice in Italy, where people usually didn’t leave their parents’ homes until they married--shoot both of them, and often mutilate the women’s bodies in a sexually motivated manner. There have been a number of suspects, some of which have been convicted then exonerated. Italian journalist Mario Spezi had been following the case for decades when he met American thriller novelist Douglas Preston. Forming a friendship, the two began researching the murders, leading to both of them tangling with the Italian authorities (including the prosecutor who botched Amanda Knox’s case; and if you didn’t think she was innocent before you read this book, you probably will after). The book is divided into two parts--that detailing Mario Spezi’s investigation of the murders as they happened, and then what happened after Preston got involved. Preston describes Florence and the unique Florentine attitude well, but honestly I got frustrated with him a lot. He seemed so ~shocked~ that the Italian authorities didn’t function in the same way that they do in America. I figured that out pretty quickly after landing in Italy for my year abroad, and I was 20 at the time. Also, like... it wasn’t hard to keep my head down. I get Preston’s motivations, but his story is less interesting than Spezi’s, which isn’t surprising. Am I 100% sure that they found the true killer? No, but their guy seems more likely than anyone else who’s been a suspect. This is a very gripping, very interesting true crime story that I definitely recommend.

Feast of Sorrow by Crystal King. 4/5. Thrasius, a young Roman slave, is bought by the patrician Apicius due to his exception skills in the kitchen. Apicius wants to become the gastronomic adviser of Caesar Augustus, and he believes that Thrasius is his ticket to fave. What follows is the decades long saga of Thrasius as he helps his often-capricious master and bonds with Apicius’s family, particular his master’s wife, Aelia, and his daughter, Apicata. But Apicius’s ambition and hunger for renown knows no bounds, and he drags Thrasius and his family into the depths of Roman politics with him. So this book was actually a really, really compelling read. King has a talent for description, and as a recurring backdrop of the drama is cookbook(s) that Thrasius is helping Apicius put together... I got hungry fast. King also has a talent for creating that sense of the Roman world, beyond the famous people. She created an environment that felt real and everyday to me, while at the same time keying in the drama when she needed to. I will definitely be picking up her next book, especially if it’s historical fiction. I couldn’t put this down. With that being said, there were a couple of things that kept this from being a 5/5 for me. One was Thrasius’s romance with fellow slave Pallia--it felt very plot-device-y to me; I mean, you do need to give Thrasius a motivation to stay with his master even when he’s a dick (beyond his own life) and yes having him fall in love with a woman brings in the possibility of Babies as an added motivation, but also... I kinda wish that Thrasius had fallen in love with a dude. His chemistry and sex scenes with Pallia felt super forced, but his scenes with other men were more... interesting. Towards the end of the book, the melodrama got dialed up a little too much--like I know it’s not Feast of Sunshine and Daisies but holy shit. Some fact-checking proves, though, that King did her research and the goriest parts of the book did happen. So overall, I’d highly recommend this to anyone who wants to read an entertaining novel of Ancient Rome.

The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron. 3/5. This novel takes the perspective of Girl, a young female Neanderthal who, due to a sudden turn of events, ends up alone in the wilderness with Runt, a strange young boy her family adopted. At the same time, it tells the story of Rose, a pregnant archeologist who has discovered two unique skeletons and is racing against the clock to finish her project before her baby comes. This is very much what you might call a feminist read--it’s about different aspects of women’s lives, how much has changed, how much... hasn’t. What I found particularly interesting was the look at sexism--particularly towards women who choose to become mothers--in the academic world of archeology. Unfortunately, I can’t say I super liked the book because Girl’s side was... well, kind of a downer. It’s realistic, but strict realism doesn’t always make the best story; and at any rate, who knows how realistic it is? We’re talking about Neanderthals here. Also, I feel like some people will really appreciate the degree to which Claire Cameron describes things, but like. Dude. Once we start talking in detail about the smell of a Neanderthal’s cervical fluids, I’m kinda out. But I gave it three stars because it is well-written and it is an interesting angle to take, it’s just not for me.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. 5/5. American Born Chinese (ABC) girl (but not really) Rachel Chu has been dating the charming Nick Young--her first Asian boyfriend--for about two years, and finally agrees to spend the summer with him in Asia as he stands as the best man in his friend’s wedding. Nick is charming, kind, and handsome--also, he’s mega-rich, as Rachel only discovers upon arriving in Singapore and meeting his family, including his formidable mother Eleanor. Nick hails from not one but two different elite clans in Singapore society, and not only is his mother plotting against no-name Rachel--so are all the women who want to get their claws into him and his bloodline. There are several different, super-interesting subplots going on too, but that’s the main story. And it’s great. This book is the perfect blend of insightful social commentary--from someone who would actually know what’s he’s talking about, rather than an outsider white author--and catty drama. Rachel is probably not the most interesting character here, but she’s supposed to be the good girl, and she’s not bland. She’s smart and sticks up for herself, even if she’s a bit naive. Nick is a decent guy, if not perfect--he’s ignorant to the complications of his own world because... it’s his world, and he’s a man and therefore not privy to many of the machinations the women perform. The two most compelling characters are Astrid, Nick’s beautiful cousin who’s just beginning to recognize the cracks in her marriage, and Eleanor, his mother. Eleanor is AMAZING, the perfect mom from Hell without being a caricature. Her concerns go over the top, but they stem from a valid place, especially when you take cultural norms into consideration. Also, she’s being played by Michelle Yeoh in the movie so... I’m hype. Loved this. It was one of my longer books of the month, but I sped through it in two days.

#books #book recs

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a-smilethat-explodes · 4 years

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Chapter 21- Shattered Glass

"This has got to be the most boring job ever." Alexandra grumbled a half hour before we were supposed to close. I looked up from my books to see her leaning over the counter, resting her chin in her hand as she surveyed the empty video store.

I went back to my studying and replied distractedly, "That's why I bring my books," as I underlined something in one of my books.

"Books," she snorted, grabbing mine from me. "Yeah, I tried the whole college thing. That was a bust," she said as she flipped through my book. She looked up at me with a smirk. "I didn't make it this far."

"Why does that not surprise me?" I asked dryly, taking my book back from her.

Her eyes widened and then her smirk grew wider. "So you do have a sense of humor!" she exclaimed.

"Of course I do, you just…" I began and then trailed off.

She pounced on that, of course. "I what?" she demanded curiously.

"You bring out the worst in me." I finished flatly.

"Trust me, I can bring out a lot worse, baby," she breathed as she leaned forward. Her low cut shirt sank lower as her body moved forward- "My eyes are up here," she said quietly without taking her eyes off of me.

Caught, I decided there was no use in denying it. "I'm a guy. Sue me." I looked away.

"Yes, I know," she replied disdainfully as she sat back on her stool. "You can burp, scratch yourself, and stare at my boobs just because you can."

"Time to close." I announced, managing to keep the relief out of my voice.

"Don't pretend like you aren't relieved," she didn't miss a thing. I ignored her as I walked over to the door and flipped the sign over to close. I started straightening up the movies, ignoring her intent stare. "So did you give Cassie anymore thought?" she asked as she joined me.

"About what?" I asked flatly, evenly spacing the movies apart (stupid Paul and his anal cleaning rules).

"About how desperately in love she is with you?" Alexandra deadpanned.

"Please." I snorted, checking the last shelf. "If she liked me that much, she would've said something about it by now."

Alexandra snorted herself. "Like she'd tell you," then stopped to tick off on her fingers, "She's either A) afraid of running your friendship, B) afraid of rejection, C) scared shitless of a relationship, or D) all of the above."

"What are you trying to say?" I stopped and asked her, annoyed now. "Am I just supposed to go up to Cassie and ask her if she likes me as more then a friend even though then I'd have to turn her down because I've never felt that way about her?"

"Have you never?" she asked me curiously, stopping as well.

"No." I snapped back.

"Haven't you seen those typical romantic comedies?" she asked me derisively. "That's what the heroine's object of her desire who is also her best friend always says when confronted about his love for the heroine."

"You've been watching too many chick flicks." I replied coolly. "I don't feel that way about Cassie… never have and I never will."

"No need to be an ass about it… just give it some thought, I'm sure that she'll appreciate it." Alexandra shrugged, turning back to the shelf.

"I'm sort of dating someone else." I said slowly as I watched her fix the movies.

"What's she got that's better then Cassie?" she asked absentmindedly.

"Nothing, really." I replied honestly. "It's just… I feel something when I'm with Christine that I don't feel when I'm with Cassie. It doesn't hurt that Christine is beautiful too."

She stopped as she snorted and sneered at me. "Boys are all the same," she said wryly. "Dude, she's hot, so why should anything else matter?" she said in a mock deep voice. "Please… there's a lot more to a relationship then just looks."

"I know." I retorted. "But it's not only that she's beautiful, it's…" I trailed off.

"You don't know?" she stopped once again and stared at me. "You're pushing away your best friend who's in love with for some girl that has good looks?" she shook her head and then said with venom, "You're all the same, you're all stupid."

"We're still in the getting to know you stage, damn!" I exclaimed, surprised at how harsh her words had been.

Alexandra stopped. She tilted her head back for a moment and I heard her audibly take a deep breath. I could tell by the way her shoulders were rising to meet her ears that she'd had enough. She held the breath for a moment, let it out in a sharp blast, and then turned to me, fire in her eyes. "You're in school, right? Let me give you a little extra homework."

"What-" I began.

"Figure out what you like about this damn girl and give me a good reason why you aren't dating Cassie. Get back to me when you do figure it out," she stalked over to the counter and grabbed her jacket.

"Where are you going?" I demanded.

"I can't stand to be in this room with you any longer," she snapped back as she jammed her arms into the sleeves and pulled her hair out from under her collar. "I'm clocking out and getting the hell out of here," she stalked over to the computer and began typing.

"Alexandra, wait-" I began.

There was a sudden shatter of glass. I shouted in surprise and jumped back as the window broke. What the-? I looked up to see if Alexandra was okay.

For the first time since I had met her, she looked scared. Gone was the gutsy, say anything, balls out girl. Her eyes were wide and terrified as she pressed herself back against one of the stacks of videos.

Silence filled the room. I could hear a dog barking in the distance through the open window. On the floor I noticed a brick in the pile of shattered glass.

"What the…?" I choked out then looked up at Alexandra.

I don't think either of us moved for a full five minutes, just stared at each other then the brick on the floor. Finally I shook myself and said, "Shit, call the police!"

She stumbled over to the phone and picked it up. "911?" she asked, sounding slightly hysterical. "911 our store was just…" she stopped; clearly losing her words, opened, and closed her mouth a few times as she stared at the brick on the floor.

"Give me the phone." I finally found my rational thinking. She handed it over wordlessly. I told the 911 operator what happened.

Almost immediately after I hung up, I heard sirens in the distance. I put my arm around the clearly shaken Alexandra and waited for the police to show up.

They were different officers from the ones I had talked with the night before. They cautiously opened the door into the video store, avoiding the spray of glass on the floor. "Are you the one that called?" the first officer asked me.

"Yeah." I replied and then explained what had happened. Alexandra kept quiet, clearly still shaken.

"And no one came in?" the officer asked me curiously, looking baffled. "No one tried to enter the shop and hold you up? No one said anything, no threats were made, did you hear anyone running, a car drive away?"

"No sir." I shook my head and then recalled, "It was quiet… the only thing I heard a dog bark in the distance."

"Do either of you have any enemies?" the officer asked.

"Enemies?" Alexandra repeated, finally speaking up as she pulled away from me.

"Anyone that you've upset lately, maybe you got into an argument with someone, stole a girlfriend or a boyfriend… anything?" he asked. Another officer began snapping pictures behind him.

Ben came to mind at that moment. No… Ben was an ass but he would never go out of his way to come down to the store and smash a window just because he wanted to scare me. He'd just come in and try to break my nose. That was more Ben-esque then smashing windows. "No sir." I shook my head.

"No." Alexandra echoed.

"What happened?" I heard the familiar angry bellow of Paul behind the officer. "How could you let this happen to my store?" he shouted, pointing at me.

"Now sir-" the officer held up his hand as Paul stormed in.

"OW! DAMN IT!" Paul shouted, jumping off the broken glass. Clearly a piece had gone through his shoe. He leaned over and yanked the shard of glass out of his shoe then glared at Alexandra and me. "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY STORE!" he bellowed.

"Sir, please calm down," the officer advised him calmly. "This isn't their fault, they didn't ask for the brick to be thrown in the window."

"But I left the store in their care-" he began angrily, breathing coming in short gasps (never a good sign when it came to Paul).

"I suspect this was some ridiculous prank by some neighborhood boys," the officer soothed. "Please calm down, sir, your insurance will cover it."

"How?" he demanded angrily. "It wasn't a burglary, they were here-"

"It could be called an attempted burglary," the cop interrupted in the same soothing voice. "The perpetrator perhaps only saw the young lady behind the counter, threw the brick, saw the young man, realized it was a bad idea, and took off."

Paul slowly breathed slower. "Maybe," he said gruffly.

The officer turned back to Alexandra and me. "Now that we have your statements, you two can go ahead and go now. We'll handle the rest of this."

Alexandra nodded once then began carefully stepping over the glass. I grabbed my jacket and books then hurried out after her.

She was approaching a black car parked in the lot when I got outside. "Hey!" I called. She didn't stop, only jammed her keys into the door, obviously still rattled by the turn of events. "Hey, are you okay to drive?"

She stopped trying to find her key, lifted her head, and stared past me back at the store before smiling grimly while she shook her head. She looked up at me and forced a smile. "I'll be fine," she patted my cheek, which felt patronizing, finally found her key, and unlocked her car.

I stepped away as she started her car… she didn't look at me, only turned around, and backed out of her spot. I caught sight of the familiar BMW symbol on the hood of the car and felt my eyebrows go up in surprise. That was a nice car for a girl who worked at Video Warehouse, had worked at Blockbuster before that, and hadn't finished college. Probably a trust fund kid pretending to go to college so that Daddy would let her have her money when she turned 25. I shook my head and then walked over to my car, pulling out my cell phone and keys as I did so.

"Hey." Cassie answered her phone. "It's later then usual, you okay?"

"Someone tried to break into the video store." I sighed in reply.

"What?" she demanded as I started my car.

"I'll explain when I get to your house, okay?" I asked.

"Sure," she agreed.

"I'll see you soon." I hung up and checked my phone.

No missed calls.

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