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wahlpaper · 1 year
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lemonjewceconvert · 11 months
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Jewish Reading List
Currently Reading
Living Judaism by Wayne D. Dosick
A History of Judaism by Martin Goodman
Essential Judaism by George Robinson
Want to Read
Intro to Judaism
Judaism's Ten Best Ideas by Arthur Green
Jewish Literacy by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
Other Nonfiction
Jews, God, and History by Max I. Dimont
To Be A Jew by Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin
To Pray As A Jew by Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin
The Prophets by Abraham Joshua Heschel
People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn
To Life! by Harold S. Kushner
Uncovered by Leah Lax
Lovesong: Becoming a Jew by Julius Lester
Why the Jews? by Dennis Prager & Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
Hear Our Voice: Women in the British Rabbinate by Rabbi Sybil Sheridan
The Bible Unearthed by Neil Asher Silberman & Israel Finkenstein
Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth by Noa Tishby
Cut Me Loose by Leah Vincent
Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory by Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi
Fiction
Color Me In by Natasha Díaz
From Dust, A Flame by Rebecca Podos
The Wise and the Wicked by Rebecca Podos
Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize by Margo Rabb
Yes No Maybe So by Aisha Saeed & Becky Albertalli
Recommended for You by Laura Silverman
The Trial of God by Elie Wiesel
Holocaust Memoirs & Related
The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Hahn Beer
The School That Escaped the Nazis by Deborah Cadbury
We Wept Without Tears by Gideon Greif
Ich war Hitlerjunge Salomon by Sally Perel
Survivor by Sam Pivnik
Alice's Book: How the Nazis Stole My Grandmother's Cookbook by Karina Urbach
Helga's Diary by Helga Weiss
Night by Elie Wiesel
Have Read
Intro to Judiasm & Other Nonfiction
Choosing a Jewish Life by Anita Diamant
Living a Jewish Life by Anita Diamant
Settings of Silver by Stephen M. Wyler
Jews Don't Count by David Baddiel
Confessions of a Rabbi by Rabbi Jonathan Romain
Becoming Eve by Abby Chava Stein
Fiction
What We're Scared Of by Karen David
It's a Whole Spiel by various Authors, ed. by Katherine Locke & Laura Silverman
My name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
Holocaust Memoirs
Lily's Promise by Lily Ebert
Return to Auschwitz by Kitty Hart-Moxon
The Twins of Auschwitz by Eva Mozes Kor
The Auschwitz Volunteer by Witold Pilecki
The Last Jew of Treblinka by Chil Rajchman
The Saboteur of Auschwitz by Colin Rushton
Eva's Story by Eva Schloss
Maus I & II by Art Spiegelman
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thelonecalzone · 1 year
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The Unaired Two-Page Conversation
I think we're past the point of possible spoilers, so as promised: the 2pg book conversation that was cut for time (and realism). Originally, I was experimenting with "unsent" books as part of the conversations, but I thought it would ultimately be too confusing and opted not to use that, so anything you see with a strikethrough is an "unsent" book.
(If this text formatting is ultra zany and hard to read, someone please tell me and I'll make it more regular. Allison is Blue, Patty is Red... for reasons... 🫠)
Allison: It’s Lonely at the Center of the Earth, by Zoe Thorogood
Patty: Not Here, by Hieu Minh Nguyen
Allison: Tell Me Everything, by Minka Kelly
Patty: Daily Rituals, by Phoebe Garnsworthy
Patty: Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, ZZ Packer
Patty: Crime, by Irvine Welsh
Allison: Without Me? by Chelle Bliss
Allison: Exciting Times, by Naoise Dolan
Patty: Not Without You, by Harriet Evans
Patty: The Page Turner, by David Leavitt
Allison: I Got a Job and It Wasn’t That Bad, by Scott Dikkers
Patty: Really Moving On, by Pierre Jeanty
Patty: What Kind of Job Can a Monkey Do? by Sato Akira
Allison: Hey Rick! Don’t Be So Rude! by Alyssa Thompson
Patty: I Like Monkeys, by Peter Hansard
Allison: So You Like Me Too, by OPR
Patty: The Miseducation of Cameron Post, by Emily M. Danforth
Allison: Just Say Yes, by Niobia Bryant
Patty: Yes, Chef, by Marcus Samuelsson
Patty: Get to the Point, by Joel Schwartzberg
Allison: I Miss You, by Pat Thomas
Allison: Without You, by Saskia Sarginson
Allison: You’re, by Keisha Ervin
Allison: I Got My Dream Job and So Can You, by Pete Leibman 
Patty: Super Spy, by Matt Kindt
Allison: The Librarian Spy, by Madeline Martin
Patty: For the Love of Books, by Graham Tarrant
Allison: Reminds Me of You, by Retno Handini
Allison: For the Thrill of It, by Simon Baatz
Patty: Run Towards the Danger, by Sarah Polley
Allison: Risking it All, by Tessa Bailey
Patty: Risk (With Me), by Sue Wilder
Patty: Ambitious Girl, by Meena Harris
Allison: Yeah, Right, by Jim and Helen Fox
Patty: The Follow-Through Factor: Getting from Doubt to Done, by Gene C. Hayden
Allison: A Stroke of Dumb Luck, by Shiloh Walker
Patty: Credit Where Credit is Due, by Frank Casey
Allison: Optimists Die First, by Susin Neilsen
Patty: The Price of Immortality, by Peter Ward
Allison: Death Visits the Hair Salon, by Amy Anderson
Patty: Murder in the Library, by Katie Gayle
Allison: Sounds Like Fun, by Bryan Moriarty
Patty: I Have More Fun With You Than Anybody, by Lige Clark
Patty: Certifiably Insane, by Arthur W. Bahr
Allison: Charming as a Verb, by Ben Philippe
Patty: How Do You Manage? by John Nicholson
Allison: Liquor, by Poppy Z. Brite
Patty: Hardly Know Her, by Laura Lippman
Allison: Don’t Be Gross, by Barbara Bakos
Patty: It’s Just Anatomy! by Ellen
Allison: Rough Transition, by Patrick Kelley
Patty: Some Girls Like it Rough, by Marlo Peterson
Allison: What Sort of Girls Were They? by Petrea Leslie
Patty: Girls with Bright Futures, by Tracy Dobmeier
Allison: I’m a Little Ghost and I Like the Dark, by Lynda Kimmel
Patty: Dark As the Grave Wherein My Friend Is Laid, by Malcolm Lowrey
Allison: Murder in the Dark, by Simon R. Green
Patty: My Job Was To Bring The Shovel, by Randall M. Rueff
Allison: The Complete Accomplice, by Steve Aylett
Patty: The Magician’s Assistant, by Ann Patchett
Allison: The Witch’s Familiar, by Raven Grimassi
Patty: Witch Minion, by Lissa Kasey
Allison: These Witches Don’t Burn, by Isabel Sterling
Patty: The Drowning Kind, by Jennifer McMahon
Allison: A Touch Morbid, by Leah Clifford
Patty: Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize, by Margo Rabb
Allison: I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonight, by James Hold
Patty: Whiskey, Words, and a Shovel, by R. H. Sin
Allison: Sounds Perfect, by Ashley Boren
Patty: How I Made a Friend, Daniel Georges
Allison: Good For You (Between the Lines), by Tammara Webber
Patty: We’re Very Good Friends, by P.K. Hallinan
Allison: Sounds Fake, But Okay, by Sarah Costello
Patty: What If It’s True? by Charles Martin
Allison: What If It Wasn’t? by Ivan Itch
Patty: Why Do You Care? by Saju Skaria
Allison: I’m Fine and Neither Are You, by Camille Pagán
Allison: The Replacement Part, by Nora Wylde
Patty: Just a Friend, by Ashley Nicole
Allison: How to Kill Your Best Friend, by Lexie Elliott
Patty: You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack, by Tom Gauld
Allison: Dead Jealous, by Sharon Jones
Patty: You’ve Got to Have Friends, by Delbert George Fitzpenfield Anthony
Allison: Everything I Need I Get From You, by Kaitlyn Tiffany
Allison: Among Other Things, by Robert Long Foreman
Allison: Truths I Learned from Sam, ​​by Kristin Butcher
Patty: The Idiot King, by Patty Jansen
Allison: He Helped Me Climb the Mountain, by Betty E. Wright
Patty: The Man Who Pushed His Wife off a Cliff, by Will D. Burn
Patty: Men are Trash, by Salman Faris 
Patty: And That’s Why I Think I Prefer A Rainbow Horse, by Tiarra Nazario
Patty: Sam Houston’s Wife, by William Seale
Allison: What About Her, by Emma Tharpe
Patty: Amelia Bedelia Sleeps Over, by Herman Parish
Patty: The Undead in my Bed, by Katie McAlister
Allison: Sleeping with the Enemy, by Nancy Price
Allison: How Could You Do That?! by Laura Schlessinger
Allison: How Could You Murder Us? by Charae Lewis
Allison: Why Her? by Nicki Koziarz
Allison: I Hate You, Don’t Leave Me, by Jerold J. Kreisman
Patty: I Was Joking, Of Course, by Paul Jennings
Allison: Liar, by Tate James
Patty: What if I Say the Wrong Thing? by Verna A Myers
Allison: Don’t Look Back, by Josh Lanyon
Patty: Come Back, by Sally Crosiar
Patty: SHIT, by Shahnon Ahmad
Patty: Barbie: It Takes Two, by Grace Baranowski
Allison: I Changed My Mind, by Jimmy Evans
Allison: Allison Hewitt Is Trapped, by Madeleine Roux
Patty: Are You Still There, by Sara Lynn Schreeger
Patty: Wait for Me, by Caroline Leech
Allison: Look Back, by Tatsuki Fujimoto
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readingaway · 6 months
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Danielle Babbles About Books - Cures for Heartbreak by Margo Rabb
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What made you want to read it? - Kissing in America, also by Margo Rabb, was one of my favorite reads of 2019 (I think) so I wanted to read her other works and when I read this her latest book hadn't been published yet.
What parts or elements stood out to you most? - Based on the author's notes, this was a very personal book for Rabb to write since it was closely inspired by her own mother's sudden passing. The grief in this book is so raw. And with the age of the protagonist (a similar age to Rabb when she lost her mom), the ways that she deals with grief are believable.
What writing things did you pick up? - The length of the chapters and the sort of staccatto, disjointed transitions between them are an essential part of conveying the protagonist's feelings.
What format did you read it in? - Ebook. I decided to get my own copy because it was so impactful.
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the-book-ferret · 3 years
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the-final-sentence · 4 years
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I took that leap, and I was flying
Margo Rabb, from Kissing in America
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2021ya · 3 years
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LUCY CLARK WILL NOT APOLOGIZE
by Margo Rabb
(Quill Tree Books, 5/11/21)
9780062322401
Add to Goodreads
Purchase from Bookshop
Sixteen-year-old Lucy Clark has just been suspended from boarding school. Suddenly without a place to stay for the remaining three months of the semester, she’s sent to live with a cousin in the West Village neighborhood of New York City. Her new job: to care for Edith Fox, an elderly millionaire, and help her tend a secret garden in the middle of the city. But Edith has another task for Lucy—Edith believes someone is trying to murder her, and she enlists her young assistant to help protect her. Can Lucy prevent Edith’s murder and save her life? Or is there no murderer at all, and Edith simply losing her mind? Part coming-of-age story, part mystery, and part modern day Secret Garden, twists and turns abound in LUCY CLARK WILL NOT APOLOGIZE as the heroine starts her life over, finds her voice, and attempts to unravel the puzzles of her new world and her own heart.
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weheartya · 6 years
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"Grief isn't like a map you can follow. It's not a simple route with a destination. Sometimes you loop back and find yourself in the exact same place you left."
KISSING IN AMERICA by Margo Rabb
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bookaddict24-7 · 3 years
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New Young Adult Releases Coming Out Today! (May 11th, 2021)
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Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know!
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New Standalones/First in a Series:
Where the Rhythm Takes You by Sarah Dass 
Switch by A.S. King
Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize by Margo Rabb
The Other Side of Perfect by Mariko Turk
Baby & Solo by Lisabeth Posthuma
Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler 
Lucky Girl by Jamie Pacton
From Little Tokyo, with Love by Sarah Kuhn
Every Body Shines by Various 
Ill Shadows by Jean Nasser & WJ Cintron
Not Our Summer by Casie Bazay
Incredible Doom by Matthew Bogart & Jesse Holden
Fix by Albert Mann 
New Sequels: 
Illusionary (Hollow Crown #2) by Zoraida Córdova
War of Dragons (House of Dragons #2) by Jessica Cluess
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Happy reading!
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wahlpaper · 1 year
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Kissing In America Review
Kissing in America by Margo Rabb
CW: Loss of a Parent, Generational Trauma, Rattlesnake, Mental Illness, Money Problems, Neglectful Parents, Bankruptcy, Grief, Depression, Discussed Alcoholism, Discussion of the Holocaust, Description of Bodily Decay, Discussion of a Stillborn Pregnancy, Discussion of Racism, Discussion of STDs, Child Abandonment, Discussion of Mass Death, Loss of a Sibling, Slut Shaming, Body Shaming, Swearing
4.5/5
"Is this a kissing book?" Only kind of. Kissing in America does have some kissing in it, but it is not a romance! This is a story about grief and searching for yourself, about bad things and how we recover from them. I had just read a book about grief before this one, so I was hesitant to start another, but I'm glad I did. Margo Rabb is a Jewish author that I had yet to check out. I'm always glad to add another to my "pull list". There were some parts of this book that were hard for me to read, but I believe I will be reading more of Rabb's books.
Kissing in America is about Eva Roth, a high schooler who had lost her father in a tragic accident 2 years prior. Her mother has distanced herself from Eva and won't talk about it. When Will, a boy she tutors, provides a safe space for her to talk about her grief, they form a bond. Unfortunately he moves to California, causing a flare up in Eva's grief. She hatches a plan that will get her to L.A. and hopefully help her best friend, Annie, along the way. They are to go on a road trip ending with a Jeopardy-like game show that awards a college scholarship. Eva, Annie, and their families learn a lot about themselves along the way. Eva finally gets a chance to start healing from her father's death.
The problem with reading teen books that are even partially relatable when you've reached adulthood is that you're likely to reflect on your teen self and cringe. Considering my autism diagnosis, I try to be kind to past-me, but sometimes those flashes just happen. Despite the fact that Will knowingly contributes to the romantic feelings Eva has for him, I found it hard to read when she was pining for him. Luckily this story is about much more than Eva and Will. Despite my dislike for these moments, I don't see it as a negative for the book. It is realistic to do silly things for a high school crush, especially when they show interest in you. Trial and error can be a great teacher.
Rabb handles grief, generational trauma, and money problems very well. Eva's grandmother had lived through the Holocaust and passed down repression as a coping mechanism to her daughter. This greatly affects Eva, who feels like she's sneaking around to acknowledge her father's death. Eva also reaches a breaking point in her tolerance for her mother. The road trip is an act of rebellion. Along the way she gets bogged down by her past due to her aunt's insistence to join the girls, new news about the accident that took her father, and having new people in her life that end up learning about her tragedy. She, or perhaps life, finds a way of making her whole again. She wants to help Annie afford college, she needs to get comfortable with writing poetry again, and she has to communicate with those she truly loves.
Kissing In America will not be a light read, even if it is a shorter one. Rabb balances the grief with exciting stops along the road trip, Jewish flair (such as the use of Yiddish), and funny moments, but the overall tone is somber and inspirational. I highly recommend the book and I highly recommend being prepared for it. Take breaks if you need them and read safely!
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audreyprovostya · 3 years
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People have strong opinions on YA romance. Mostly negative. I fervently disagree. 
The past few years have experienced a boom in young adult fiction, from the Harry Potter series to the infamous Twilight books. Parents have watched slack-jawed as their teens devoured them. It’s no surprise that literary critics and concerned adults alike have taken to scouring these works for an answer as to why their teens seem so enthralled, and they were not impressed with what they found. Ever since then, the young adult genre has been castigated as the willful dumbing-down of an entire generation, and a stigma revolves around the works, their authors, and their readers. But this prejudice is well-rooted in ageism and sexism, and largely ignores to attempt any critical analyses on the quality of the writing in favor of panning something simply because it is not a “literary classic”.  
It is most useful to talk about young adult romance, which seems to be under fire the most, but first, it is important to define what the term “young adult” refers to precisely. Mary Ann Badavi in her article, “No, The Fault in Our Stars Is Not Young-Adult Fiction’s Savior,” argues that YA describes books written about teenagers. At the same time, Ruth Graham in her controversial article titled, “Against YA” defines it as books written for teenagers. Graham argues books for teens should not be read by adults and thus should not be considered good literature, while Badavi argues that books written about teenagers can be read by adults and have merit. The term “YA” is incredibly broad and flexible, even flimsy, and is more of a marketing term than a literary categorization. Curtis Sittenfield wrote about his book, which he intended to be for adults but was marketed as a young adult novel, “You write the book you want to write, and then publishing has its way with it.” The lines between adult and young adult are incredibly blurred, and publishers are not thinking what is appropriate for the book more than they are thinking of how best to get it into the most hands. Sometimes that means teens will buy and appreciate some books more, even if they were supposed to be for adults, or the other way around. James Patterson’s Maximum ride series, as Margo Rabb, author of Cures for Heartbreak, describes in her New York Times article, “I’m Y.A., and I’m O.K,” was first categorized as a young adult novel series until sales went down, and then was placed in an all adult section in which the sales picked back up again. The story revolves around a group of winged teenagers, and features typical young adult themes such as romance and puberty. But why are adults interested in books “for kids?” In her article, “The Adult Lessons of YA Fiction,” senior associate editor for The Atlantic Julie Beck writes, 
I read [YA Fiction] because the stories are good and meaningful to me now...What I do mean to say is that things made for teenagers are not inherently less worthy of our time, attention, and critical consideration, simply because they’re for and about teens… The process of personhood might slow with age, but it doesn’t stop.
Thusly, the argument against reading young adult literature as an adult because it is intended for “children” doesn’t hold much water. 
Some adults have accepted this, and have added young adult literature to their collection of books. However, they are often ashamed for having an interest in them as if they are juvenile, especially romance for young adults. YA romance novels are often painted as a means of wish fulfilment and escapism for boy-crazy teenage girls that is empty of any intelligent or challenging content. It would be comparable to a marshmallow; sweet, but ultimately only made of sugar and air. On the other side, some women critique from a feminist point of view; that girls should not be taught that they can only find worth in a relationship with a boy. Tara Isabella Burton wrote in her New Statesman article, “‘Ghost Stories’: The ubiquitous anti-feminism of young adult romances,” that YA romance couples lack real depth, and are thus unrealistic. “Her relationships are not predicated on the idea that two people, with all their flaws, might discover themselves operating in emotional synchronicity. Rather, Mary is loved because she is the best…” But it is not that simple. 
YA Romance Novels are especially important for their female readers as sources of inspiration and strength. In an article for the Washington Post, Alyssa Rosenberg wrote, “Romance novels are a tonic, a form of reassurance that someone is interested in ordinary women’s inner lives and is rooting for us to resolve our conflicts about work, love, and what we deserve from our relationships.” And yet some critics argue that this form of escapism is merely just that; and not truly literature. Rosenberg follows up with, “It is a poor strategy, though, to hector women to read classics without acknowledging that the canon — which provides plenty of fantasy fulfillment for men and attention to their inner lives — can be an unnerving reminder of a past that for women is not always past.” Rosenberg is not the only one with this sentiment. Blogger Chelsea Codren wrote in her blog post on “the hub,” run by the Young Adult Library Services Association 
...YA romance novels are the only places where teenage girls can get frank discussions of sex, gender, and sexuality… they are giving them a place where it is safe to have girly emotions...Teenage girls don’t need a lecture; they need every ounce of support we can give them in a world that tells them their emotions are stupid and their thoughts don’t matter.
Perhaps instead of internalizing ridiculous romantic ideals as many critics believe, girls are discovering lessons about the complexities of life. A reason why anyone reads in the first place. 
Though at the same time, Graham disagrees that escapism is good. She states in her article that, “At its heart, YA aims to be pleasurable.” But escapism is the whole point of reading and writing; the author intentionally works to immerse the reader in their world, to pull the reader into the narrative enough to believe the characters are real so that their readers are emotionally invested. Otherwise, they would get bored with the story and stop reading. The experience wouldn’t be pleasurable. Critics may mention that some literature, especially romance, works as escapism and is thus not literature. There is a difference between creating complete escapism; an alternate reality where the main character has no personality and is really a pair of shoes for the readers to walk in, and a character that has a personality but is also relatable on a human level. Rosenburg writes of Graham’s article, 
Graham might have had a more defensible case and made a more effective plea against what the film critic A.O. Scott called the “cultural devaluation of maturity,” if her piece made a comprehensive case against readers who seek out a certain kind of easy enjoyment and moral satisfaction no matter where they find it.
Reading can be pleasurable, but not in an empty way. It is pleasurable because stories offer questions, insights, and hopes that we fervently search for each time we pick up a book. This is what we look for in stories. While many teens and adults alike are willing to entertain books like Fifty Shades of Grey or Twilight as pure fun, at the end of the day, the books that stay with them the most are the ones that have the emotional depth, human experience, and connection they, like all readers, are searching for. 
So why not just turn to “the greats” like the Great Gatsby, the Picture of Dorian Gray, or The Catcher in the Rye rather than sift through the ever-expanding mountain of YA books? Critics of YA would rather teens seek out these examples of literature instead. Graham writes again, “But if they are substituting maudlin teen dramas for the complexity of great adult literature, then they are missing something.” That is completely true. There is merit in reading the classics. It’s important to broaden your horizons and take in good literature from all around you. Most of my AP Literature books went unread when I was younger, but now, every time I see the copies in the box in my cellar, I always make a note to myself to finally pick them up and read them. I want to be able to experience them at my own pace, on my own time, because I too am searching for the human experience found in reading quality works of literature, like everybody else, including teenagers.  
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readingaway · 3 years
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Mid Year Book Freakout Tag
Stolen from @ninja-muse, this was a good distraction for a few minutes
How many books have you read so far?
126; fewer than I wanted to have read but there’s a lot of extenuating circumstances and reading must take a back seat to everything else. A few have been re-reads like Dance of Thieves, Red White & Royal Blue, the first three books of An Ember in the Ashes, and I will get to re-reading We Hunt the Flame in the next few weeks. 
What genres have you read?
A decent mix, I think. It’s still somehow dominated by fantasy and YA (or YA fantasy), but I’ve gotten in quite a few other genres like contemporary/ adult literary fiction, historical fiction, romance, sci-fi, classics, and some nonfiction, poetry, short stories, and graphic novels. 
Best books you’ve read so far in 2021:
Not counting re-reads -
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (book 3 hurt so much)
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson
A Memory of Light by Brandon Sanderson & Robert Jordan 
Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett (my favorite Discworld novel so far)
The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
New Spring by Robert Jordan
The Emigrants by W.G. Sebald (was a bit hard to read but the flow and the emotional pull)
The Lives of Christopher Chant and Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones (I’ve discovered that when I’m in a slump - usually because my reading has been too depressing or dry I just have to pick up a Jones or a Pratchett to fix things)
A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir (I mean, I thought I was upset by certain things but then I checked the tagged posts on here and realized I’m normal, actually)
Spindle’s End by Robin McKinley
Curses are for Cads by Tamara Berry
The Goddess Chronicle by Natsuo Kirino
The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson
The Valley and the Flood by Rebecca Mahoney
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Cures for Heartbreak by Margo Rabb
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2021:
Uh, I’m gonna go with The Box in the Woods even though it’s not quite a sequel, it is connected to the main series
New release you haven’t read yet, but want to:
Lucky Girl by Jamie Pacton, Delicates by Brenna Thummler, Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize by Margo Rabb, and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. There’s a few more but these are the ones I’m most anxious to get to.
Most anticipated release for the second half of the year:
I’m very excited for A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger, Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson, Hypnosis is for Hacks by Tamara Berry, and The Winners by Fredrik Backman - the intended release date is unclear but it looks like it should be out in English in November/ December but might be pushed to next year. (On that note, I am still waiting for The Winds of Winter and The Thorn of Emberlain.)
Biggest disappointment:
Ace by Angela Chen was well put together but nothing earth-shattering or even that affirming for me. I keep myself sheltered from discrimination so I don’t face the stuff that people in the stories related faced, nor is it like I’ve never heard of asexuality before. 
In terms of books I think were just bad, Coyote America by Dan Flores was a flop; it looked like it might be pretty informative and some parts of it were, but there were so many assumptions and presumptions, as well as poor argumentation, that it threw everything else the author was claiming into question. Brideshead Revisited and A Handful of Dust, both by Evelyn Waugh were also big disappointments, out of all the classics I’ve read so far this year they were both boring, stale duds in which nothing interesting happened at all and the narrative voice was even more boring and grating. 
Biggest surprise:
Um, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I thought it would be iffy but it was... it flowed well and highlighted the differences between the women and had such emotional depth and also drew so much attention to patriarchal religious structures and patriarchy in general. 
Favorite new author (debut or new to you):
Ooh, I’ve read quite a few debut novels - mostly middle grade since I’ve been reading a lot of middle grade since my own novel project falls somewhere between middle grade and YA and I want to study the story types and narrative styles and I like how they’re written much more clearly than YA and adult books and yet typically have great emotional depth. So for most notable debut authors I liked Rebecca Mahoney and Nora Shalaway Carpenter. In new to me authors, Rachel Maddow, Tillie Walden, and Natuso Kirino all have other books that I’m now interested in checking out. Actually I have one of Tillie Walden’s other books next to me right now.
Underrated gems:
I’m going to say Spindle’s End, The Goddess Chronicle, The Valley and the Flood, Cures for Heartbreak, the Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones, Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland, Black Flamingo by Dean Atta, The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham (a classic horror/ sci-fi novel), and The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar
Newest fictional crush:
Was gonna say “don’t have any” but one could say that I love Marko in Saga (they draw him with such a strong jawline and he wears armor and has beautiful ram horns; bearded Marko was peak Marko) and Eleanor Wilde in Tamara Berry’s Eleanor Wilde mystery series might count.
Newest favorite characters:
the crew in Saga and Ashby in The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet stick out but really, I loved a lot of characters this year.
Book that made you cry:
Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles, Love & Olives by Jenna Evans Welch, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid leap to mind
Book that made you happy:
Aside from the ones I already listed, The Transatlantic Book Club by Felicity-Hayes McCoy
Most beautiful book cover of a book you’ve read so far this year:
Oh but there’s quite a few! Like The Pull of the Stars, the vintage classics copy of Orlando, The Go-Between, The Valley and the Flood 
How are you doing with your year’s goals?
Well I didn’t make any official goals aside from my overall reading goal of 200 books, which I’m doing well on. I might up it to 250 but I’m not sure how demanding fall semester is going to be yet. Aside from that I just have vague goals to push my boundaries and read as diversely as possible - not just with things like #ownvoices books but in genre, all the different categories, as well. That’s going pretty well.
What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
SO MANY. I can’t give a list because there is no way to keep it concise.
Tagging: @softironman, @she-wolf-of-highgarden, @motherofkittens94 and anyone who wants to do it.
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barbielezbian · 3 years
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Kissing in America by Margo Rabb didnt end up the way I expected, but was so impactful in another way entirely. The message about love and grief and relationships especially with mothers hit me and my multiple issues so hard. Def going to buy the physical copy of this one if i can find it
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cheshirelibrary · 5 years
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Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: 20 YA Books About Heartbreak and Breakups
[via Book Riot]
YA books feature a lot of love, a lot of romance, and, as it should be expected, YA books about heartbreak aren’t a small portion of the shelf space, either. What is it with YA books about breakups and heartbreak being so appealing?
This list of YA books about breakups includes new books as well as older ones. Keep tissues by your side for the moments you know are coming. But never fear: as much as this is a list about the sad times, many of these books are also quite funny. Some of the books feature breakups as the thrust of the book while others include it as a smaller—but still important—part of the story.
Audrey, Wait! by Audrey Benway
The Break-up Artist by Philip Siegel
The Break-up Diaries by Ni-Ni Simone and Kelli London
Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak by Adi Alsaid
The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler
Calling My Name by Liara Tamani
Cures for Heartbreak by Margo Rabb
The Dangerous Art of Blending In by Angelo Surmelis
Dear Heartbreak edited by Heather Demetrios
Dumplin‘ by Julie Murphy
Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon
Heartless by Marissa Meyer
Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
The Museum of Heartbreak by Meg Leder
The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi
The Seven Torments of Amy and Craig by Don Zolidis
Starting From Here by Lisa Jenn Bigelow
Symptoms of a Heartbreak by Sona Charaipotra
You Were Here by Cori McCarthy
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weheartya · 6 years
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That's what writing did, what I'd forgotten: how it unraveled the tangled feelings and wove them into something new.
KISSING IN AMERICA by Margo Rabb
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thebookishisland · 5 years
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📒 January wrap up. 📒 . I expected to read a lot more than this but a lot happened to me and my family that got in the way. But the books I did read where great. 😄 . . Rome in Love by Anita Hughes. ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 The DUFF by Kody Keplinger. ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 The Firefighter Daddy by Margaret Daley. ⭐⭐⭐ A High-End Finish by Kate Carlisle. ⭐⭐⭐ Cures for Heartbreak by Margo Rabb. ⭐⭐⭐ The X-Files: Agent of Chaos by Kami Garcia. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ . . . . . #bookstagram #bookblogger #booksofinstagram #bookish #booklove #bookstagrammer #bookworm #amreading #bookphotography #booknerd #bookaddict #igreads #igbooks #reader #bibliophile #instabook  #bookflatlay #kamigarcia #margorabb #katecarlisle #margaretdaley #kodykeplinger #anitahughes https://www.instagram.com/p/BtUQHtBHtZE/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=acgnq6xayu8
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