Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

Goodreads Summary:

A charming and laugh-out-loud novel by Lauren Graham, beloved star of Parenthood and Gilmore Girls, about an aspiring actress trying to make it in mid-nineties New York City.

Franny Banks is a struggling actress in New York City, with just six months left of the three year deadline she gave herself to succeed. But so far, all she has to show for her efforts is a single line in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters and a degrading waitressing job. She lives in Brooklyn with two roommates-Jane, her best friend from college, and Dan, a sci-fi writer, who is very definitely not boyfriend material-and is struggling with her feelings for a suspiciously charming guy in her acting class, all while trying to find a hair-product cocktail that actually works.

Meanwhile, she dreams of doing "important" work, but only ever seems to get auditions for dishwashing liquid and peanut butter commercials. It's hard to tell if she'll run out of time or money first, but either way, failure would mean facing the fact that she has absolutely no skills to make it in the real world. Her father wants her to come home and teach, her agent won't call her back, and her classmate Penelope, who seems supportive, might just turn out to be her toughest competition yet.

Someday, Someday, Maybe is a funny and charming debut about finding yourself, finding love, and, most difficult of all, finding an acting job.

My Thoughts:
I enjoyed this read. I think it was a great first book. It was a little on the predictable/ formulaic side of books, but I don't think it worked against the story to be that way.

Franny is a likable character and you really do care about what happens to her personally and professionally. I would have liked a little deeper look at what it feels like to be rejected all the time. While the subject was covered, it wasn't as deep as it could have been.

Lauren Graham's voice clearly comes out in this book. If you are a fan of her acting you will be a fan of her writing. I look forward to reading more from her. I recommend this as a light read to anyone who likes Lauren Graham's work and anyone who likes a chick read.

While writing this review I was listening to the Rachel Maddow show.

Orange Is The New Black by Piper Kerman

Goodreads Summary:

With a career, a boyfriend, and a loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the reckless young woman who delivered a suitcase of drug money ten years before. But that past has caught up with her. Convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, the well-heeled Smith College alumna is now inmate #11187–424—one of the millions of people who disappear “down the rabbit hole” of the American penal system. From her first strip search to her final release, Kerman learns to navigate this strange world with its strictly enforced codes of behavior and arbitrary rules. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her with small tokens of generosity, hard words of wisdom, and simple acts of acceptance. Heartbreaking, hilarious, and at times enraging, Kerman’s story offers a rare look into the lives of women in prison—why it is we lock so many away and what happens to them when they’re there.

My Thoughts:

I picked this book up because I marathoned the Netflix series and finished it over a weekend. I wanted to know more about the truth behind that series. 

I loved this book. I learned so much about prison, the legal system workings, and the strength of people. The women in this book are stronger than I will ever be, they are serving time for a variety of reason and they are handling that with grace. I left this read wanting to get involved in fixing the prison system. At the very least you realize how close a lot of us are to getting locked up and not really deserving it. People make stupid mistakes but I don't think throwing everyone in jail is the answer to those mistakes.

I recommend this book to EVERYONE. I found it heartbreaking and fascinating.

While writing this review I was listening to nothing, it was awesome.

Before Ever After by Samantha Sotto

Goodreads Summary:

Three years after her husband Max's death, Shelley feels no more adjusted to being a widow than she did that first terrible day. That is, until the doorbell rings. Standing on her front step is a young man who looks so much like Max; same smile, same eyes, same age, same adorable bump in his nose; he could be Max's long-lost relation. He introduces himself as Paolo, an Italian editor of American coffee table books, and shows Shelley some childhood photos. Paolo tells her that the man in the photos, the bearded man who Paolo says is his grandfather though he never seems to age, is Max. Her Max. And he is alive and well.

As outrageous as Paolo's claims seem; how could her husband be alive? And if he is, why hasn't he looked her up? Shelley desperately wants to know the truth. She and Paolo jet across the globe to track Max down; if it is really Max and along the way, Shelley recounts the European package tour where they had met. As she relives Max's stories of bloody Parisian barricades, medieval Austrian kitchens, and buried Roman boathouses, Shelley begins to piece together the story of who her husband was and what these new revelations mean for her "happily ever after." And as she and Paolo get closer to the truth, Shelley discovers that not all stories end where they are supposed to

My Thoughts:

A close friend of mine recommended this book several months ago. I finally got around to it after the semester ended. I did not read the description of this book prior to picking it. I wish that I had. The story took me by surprise from the first chapter and didn't get go until I finished it.

I was torn on if I liked this book the entire time I was reading it. I think I have been reading too many text books this last year so I have gotten used to not having to suspend reason while reading. This is one of those books that you just have to go with the punches and not think about it too much. I tend to think about things too much. I will say that I did like that this book made me think. I have read any number of stories about immortals but this was an interesting take on the whole idea. This being said, I am not sure I bought into the origin story of Max. This was a little too fanciful for my liking. I found it interesting but ultimately frustrating that he was so many different people throughout history. I found I couldn't read more than a chapter a night or it would start to bug me.

I guess what bugged me about this book was that it was half modern fiction and half historical fiction. Previous reads that flipped between time frames haven't bothered me too much but this one did. I liked each story but by flipping back to the present time, or five years ago, or 500 years ago something in the story lost its charm for me.

I don't want it to sound like I didn't like this book. I did like it. I thought the writing was pretty good and the characters were likable and believable, for the most part. The ending was left open which I love and hate at the same time. I get to think about what the possible outcomes for the characters could be and that is always fun.

I would recommend this book to historical fiction lovers first, then I would recommend this to people who have a different personality than me. If flipping between many time lines and having to accept blindly what it being told to you doesn't bother you then this book won't bug you like it did me.

While writing this review I was listening to Emmapuppy snore and my neighbors stomp around.

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Goodreads Summary:

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.

Everneath is a captivating story of love, loss, and immortality from debut author Brodi Ashton.

My thoughts:

I really dug the angle this book took. I have read a lot of books with the love triangle with big crisis but this book has a new take with the outlying story being rooted in mythology. I have never been big on mythology so it was fun for me to learn that stuff right along with the main character Nikki.

I was a little bored with the love triangle aspect because I think it has been done so many times before. Sometimes people fall in love and there isn't a third party. I can see how it was needed for this book, but Jack was a little too predictable as was Cole. I would have liked a little more diversity there, but over all I really enjoyed this read. I read it earlier in the semester and didn't pay enough attention to it to review it, so after I received the second book as an ARC I re-read this one and got a lot more out of it this time. 

I liked that Nikki is more complicated than other female leads. I also like that Nikki doesn't really shy away from her dark and twisty like so many other characters. I wouldn't say that she loves her dark side, but she doesn't really try to hide it either and I liked that.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy dystopian novels or teen lit. Since I am not sure how close the mythology stuff follows I only have recommend it to mythology lovers.

While writing this review I was listening to coffee brewing.

XVI by Julia Karr

Goodreads summary:
Some girls can't wait to be sixteen, to be legal. Nina is not one of them. Even though she has no choice in the matter, she knows that so long as her life continues as normal everything will be okay.

Then, with one brutal strike, Nina's normal is shattered; and she discovers that nothing that she believed about her life is true. But there's one boy who can help--and he just may hold the key to her past.

But with the line between attraction and danger as thin as a whisper, one thing is for sure..For Nina, turning sixteen promises to be anything but sweet.

My thoughts:
This time last year I was reading my first dystopian YA novel. Something about Christmas break makes me want to read about the end of civilation as we know it. :) Just kidding. I liked this book. It didn't blow my hair back but there were several parts of this book that appealed to my political science heart. I definitely could feel how the author felt about the sexualization of young girls, health insurance companies, and over bearing governments as a whole. The interesting thing about this book that other dystopian books lacked what how real the main character is. Nina is the average girl who is put into some serious and shitty circumstances. She handles what she can and fails when she can't handle them. I am looking forward to the follow up to this book which is due out in a few weeks.

I would also say that I liked that Nina was not only loyal to her family like all or most dystopian books, but Nina also valued her friends as family. I liked that Nina had strong female friendships with two very distinctly different girls. I can relate to that. Even now my two closest female friends couldn't be more different.


I would recommend this book to people who dig the dystopian trend in YA books.

Bitter is The New Black By Jennifer Lancaster

Goodreads Summary:
This is the story of how a haughty former sorority girl went from having a household income of almost a quarter-million dollars to being evicted from a ghetto apartment...

My thoughts:
I am pretty sure that Jen Lancaster is my new best friend. Okay, not really, but I think she is pretty awesome. I loved this book. I dug her insight and lack there of. While reading this book I felt like I was hanging out with a richer less emotionally intelligent version of myself. I love me some designer clothes and the SHOES oh the shoes how I love thee.
I have read some seriously negative reviews of this book. I will say that Jen's narrative is definitely not for everyone. I think she appeals to a specific type of personality. I would not recommend this book to just anyone. She has the snotty bitchy attitude that a lot of women in my generation have. We feel entitled to a lot and when our expectations inevitably fall short we don't always handle it the best way but in the end we figure it out.

While writing this review I was listening to the snow melt from the first storm of the season.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Samantha Kingston is exactly like a lot of the mean girls I went to school with. Samantha's friend Lyndsay is a lot like I was in high school. The leader of the mean team. I think in a lot of ways this books feels like it was written by Tina Fey during her mean girls phase had she been obsessively watching Groundhog Day. I know that this comparison to this book has been made multiple times but it is the best way to some up this book. Sam lives the same day over and over seven times.

Sam is faced with her own harsh reality and the harsh reality of those around her. She is also made acutely aware of consequences for actions big and small. The writing style of Lauren Oliver took a little getting used to for me. I blame this on my recent re-reads of Harry Potter, it can be a mind fuck to go from dramatic wizards to dramatic popular girls. Once I adjusted I found the way the characters interacted to be authentic, meaning, that while these girls are mean girls they are also incredibly loyal to one another. They may be bitches, even to each other, but they each have redeeming qualities if you take the time to look for them.

Kent is the love interest in this book. I like that he is kind of over the top with his checkered shoes and bowler hats. I used to spend a lot of time with guys like Kent in high school. It made me miss all those guys for a little bit.

Over all I dig this book. I plan on picking up Lauren Oliver's second book after I finish all the other books I have started right now. I would recommend this book to formally overly bitchy girls such as myself, and or, currently bitchy girls. I liked the message this books sends. I will say though if you have recently dealt with suicide or bullying this book might not be the best thing for you to read.

Afterlight: The Dark Ink Chronicles by Elle Jasper

I should have known from the cover tag line of "Blood is thicker than ink." That this book was going to be complete shit. Actually, saying this book was complete shit would be an understatement. I have a high tolerance for crappy vampire books and tv shows. I read and reread Anne Rice more than I would like to admit so trust when I tell you that I don't normally hate on crappy vampire books.

This book is like a smutty version of Twilight. Can I just tell you how tired I am of helpless, yet hardened women, who crave... long... lust... for vampires. Even though they could get killed they still bone their vampire boys until they "change." UGH! Enough predictable shit!

This book also uses words like "freakin" and "hellava" way too much. There was zero variety in the vocabulary of Elle Jasper. I also have to say that reading the sex scenes was mostly just gross rather than even slightly erotic. I have written my share of sex stories. I opted to make most of them funny. Frankly, trying to write erotica and have come out as anything other than ridiculous is just a wasted effort.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. From cliched characters to poor writing it just isn't worth the time it takes to read.

The Help By Kathryn Stockett

I finished this book a few hours ago. It is the story of three women set in Mississippi in the 1960's. One women is a white recent college graduate while the other two are black maids. Yesterday, was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I was living in New Jersey going to elementary school the first time I heard the "I have a dream..." speech. It gave me goose bumps then and it gives me goose bumps now. That speech gave me hope for the future of race relations. I have hope for sexual equality. I have hope that inequality is something that is covered in history books, not felt in day to day life. I know that I am an idealist. I know I will suffer with my disappointment when what I wish doesn't happen. But I can hope. As a little girl growing up first in Draper, Utah then in Flanders, New Jersey, then back to South Jordan, Utah you would think that I was somewhat sheltered against racism. I did after all grow up in the 80's and 90's, not the 50's or 60's. I remember some kid at school calling me a spic and I had no idea what that was, let alone that it was a racial slur. I was in the 1st grade when this happened to me. It was the first time, but certainly not the last time someone said that to me.

I am confrontational to say it nicely. My friends all agree that they love when I am a bitch to people when they deserve it but hate with when I aim it at them. I am not afraid to tell people exactly what I think of them and whatever it is they are doing in front of me. I related to the character Minny more than the others in The Help, because she too couldn't help herself. She would tell people exactly what she thought of them. She would also lash out at people when they deserved it. I have a hot temper just like her. In the story Minny has a harder time than most maids as she is confrontational. She gets fired a lot for her mouth. She is also a really sweet woman and would do anything to protect the people she loves most. I could also relate to that level of loyalty.

Miss Skeeter isn't someone I could relate with at first. She was just another spoiled rich white girl from the south in the beginning of this book. She like an onion needed her layers peeled back. Her Mother was over bearing and overly critical and I had a hard time with this dynamic. My own Mother can be somewhat out spoken but has never intentionally made me feel bad about myself like Skeeter's Mother does consistently through out the book. Miss Skeeter comes up with the idea to write a book. She decides she wants to write the black maid's perspective on domestic life. She obviously had no idea what she was getting herself into when she started the project but by the end I think it made her a stronger person.

The character of Aibileen has the strongest voice in the book. We see her struggle with raising yet another white baby. We see her love a child that is not her own, knowing that one day that child will flip a switch in her head and start seeing Aibileen as less than. We see Aibileen show great courage in being the fist woman to record her stories for Miss Skeeter. Aibileen works for Miss Skeeter's close friend so it is difficult for them both to talk about the way Aibileen is treated.

The way these three very different women come together and share their lives with one another isn't a new story. I would say that over all this story has been told in different forms many times. I am not saying I didn't enjoy this book. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I did like that the two black maids had more of a voice in this book than the one white character. In that way it was different from other books that I have read. I didn't struggle too much with the dialect in which this book is written. I took a Diversity in American Literature class which had reading selections much more difficult and thick with dialect. I only mention it because I wasn't prepared for it when I picked the book up to start reading it. I generally prefer to know before hand if a book is written in a dialect. I tend to have to concentrate a little more on the reading when this is the case. I started this book a while ago but had to put it down until I had more time I could devote to it.

I would recommend this book to any one interested in race relations, female bonding, the south, and or a different view of American History. I would not say that anyone not at least a teen should read this book, as there are some graphic parts to it and some of the language is a bit harsh. I had a friend tell me they were thinking of reading it to their 6 year old. I don't think that would be a good idea.