Book Review: Why Not Me?

TITLE: Why Not Me?
AUTHOR: Mindy Kaling
PUBLISHED: September 2015
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Memoirs/Humor
PREMISE: Actress Mindy Kaling talks about what she's been up too since her last book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, and other various topics about what her life is like now that she has had her own show.
MY REVIEW: I was a little late to the game and only read Mindy Kaling's first book a few months ago. I enjoyed it quite a bit and thus have been waiting for her second to come out.
For those that have read her first book, Why Not Me? is basically more of the same. She just talks about different subjects. She talks a little about getting the idea for The Mindy Project. She talks about what life is like for her now. There is some various social commentary on Hollywood itself. It's all done in Mindy's style of humor.
If you loved her first book, chances are you'll like this one as well. It's just as funny and interesting as the first one.
WHO SHOULD READ: Mindy Kaling fans, fans of Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
MY RATING: Four out of Five hilarious women

Book Review: Simon VS The Homo Sapiens Agenda

TITLE: Simon VS The Homo Sapiens Agenda
AUTHOR: Becky Albertalli
PUBLISHED: April 2015
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Realistic Fiction, Romance, LGBT
PREMISE: Simon has been in the closet for awhile now and is fine with that, then he gets blackmailed by a fellow student who threatens to out him if he doesn't do what the student wants him to do.
MY REVIEW: I adored this book with every fiber of my being. I'm honestly hard pressed to find something I didn't like about it. Really the only nay saying thing I can say is that story wise...it's probably not very ground breaking. As far as LGBT books go, this is actually very light stuff. But...that's kind of why I liked it.
Look, I love things like Aristotle and Dante and I've heard fantastic things about The Miseducation of Cameron Post (that's on my list of things to finally get too this year actually). I'm not saying there shouldn't be more books like that. But sometimes I just want an LGBT romance that is just cute and that pretty much is what this book is. There is some seriousness in there about how forcing people out of the closet is not cool. That is an important issue. But mostly this was just a cute romance that I honestly want to see more of. Give me all the LGBT meet-cutes in YA. Straight couples get a bunch of them, LGBT couples should as well.
This is just one of those books that puts a smile on your face, even as the character is pining and there's the usual angst that comes with YA. It's just a very likable and very readable book. If books like this become a trend in YA, I don't mind one bit.
WHO SHOULD READ: those looking for lighter LGBT reads, romance fans, realistic fiction fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five adorable characters to root for

Where to Start: YA/MG Historical Fiction

Now I'm going to move onto historical fiction. For the sake of this list, historical fiction means basically any book that takes place in the past. I tend to have the cut off time period be the eighties for historical fiction. FYI, if it was written in a historical time period, I don't count it as historical fiction that much. For example, Sherlock Holmes was not considered historical fiction when it was written. Therefore, I'm not counting it as historical fiction. I am not counting historical fiction that blends over into fantasy-like areas. There will be separate lists for that (which will likely be quite long because I adore historical fantasy).
This list is just going to be young adult and some middle-grade historical fiction. The next where to start will have the adult historical fiction on it.

Some staples of the genre you should probably read first:
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (note: this and TKAM are usually sold in the adult sections but the main characters are tween age so sorry lit crowd, it counts as MG as well)

Some popular books in the genre:
The Luxe series by Anna Godbersen (she also has a few other historical ones out there)
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson (also check out Fever 1793)
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys
Bloody Jack series by L. A. Meyer
Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson

Some personal recommendations:
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (as well as the two companion books)
Princesses of Myth series by Esther Friesner
Logan Family series by Mildred B. Taylor

Book Review: Modern Romance

TITLE: Modern Romance
AUTHOR: Aziz Ansari
PUBLISHED: June 2015
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Social Commentary, Humor
PREMISE: Comedian Aziz Ansari conducts some research into what romance is like in the days of technology.
MY REVIEW: This book is really interesting. You're probably going to see me say that a lot in this review. Because that's mostly what it boils down too. It's just a plain interesting subject. How has modern technology effected the way we romance? The answer is...a lot.
I love the way Ansari went about his research. He talked to a wide variety of people and cultures. He did not just go into what romance is like in the US. He looked into dating in Japan and various other countries as well. He asked older couples how they went about romance and found some interesting comparisons between that and how we date today. He also remembered not everyone is straight and looked into romance in the LGBT communities.
It's just all very interesting. Being a comedian, he finds lots of humor in the situations so it is a funny book as well as a social commentary book. I appreciate that for once, a book on this sort of subject didn't despair of how technology is ruining the youths. It never tried to lead you to any sort of feeling about the subject either. It basically just presented you with the information and let you come to your own conclusions about the subject. It's a very fascinating book. If you're interested in subjects like this, I definitely recommend giving it a look.
WHO SHOULD READ: people interested in the subject matter, Aziz Ansari fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five interesting subjects

Book Review: The Golden Specific

TITLE: The Golden Specific
Book 2 in the Mapmaker's Trilogy
AUTHOR: S. E. Grove
PUBLISHED: July 2015
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade/Young Adult (crossover kind of series to be honest)
GENRE: Historical Fantasy
PREMISE: Sophia and Theo's adventures continue as she starts searching for clues about her parents and Theo gets apprenticed to an explorer.
MY REVIEW: Honestly...I don't have much to say about this one. Which is disappointing because I really liked the first book a lot. This book wasn't bad or anything it was just very much a middle book of a sequel and fell into all the traps that middle books can often fall into.
It stalled a lot for one thing. I think a lot of this could have been edited out easily and we wouldn't have lost anything. Most of the plot was just exposition. Illuminating exposition. We got a lot more details about this world. But exposition nonetheless and thus, the book felt like it was dragging a lot.
It's still a good series. It's just that this one stalled a lot and felt overly long to me. I still do love the author's imagination and attention to detail when it comes to this world though. Such fantastic world building.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of the first book, alternative history fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books Recently Added To My TBR List

This is a weekly meme hosted by the ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic: Top Ten Books Recently Added to the TBR List (To Be Read for those that don't know)
Now, full disclosure: My TBR list is over seven hundred books long. Yes, I'm one of those that wants to read all of the things. My list reflects that. So...this list is random, it made sense when I added them, I swear.

1) The Naturals Book 3: All In by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

One of the many books of 2015 I did not get too. I love this series that is basically a YA Criminal Minds, if the crew on Criminal Minds had paranormal powers.

2) Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

Like many people, I've become obsessed with the Hamilton musical. The soundtrack is on Spotify if you want to give it a listen. I plan on reading this at some point. Possibly before the Tony Awards because I know that musical better win some Tonys. The Tonys doesn't have as much of a race problem as the Oscars does so there's actually a good chance.

3) The First Wives Club by Olivia Goldsmith

How did I not know that the First Wives Club was based on a book?! I love that movie.

4) Classics For Pleasure by Michael Dirda

Essays about classics. I've been in an essay sort of mood lately and I love reading commentary on classics. The only downside is, I have no doubt this will just add books to my TBR list.

5) Theodosia Book 1: Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R. L. LaFevers

Did you know the author of the awesome His Fair Assassin Trilogy wrote middle-grade fiction? Neither did I. It's just under R. L. LaFevers instead of Robin LaFevers and it looks awesome. This series has museums, old artifacts, mysteries, and secret societies. I'm sold.

6) Temeraire series Book 1: His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

I recently read Uprooted and loved the hell out of it. This series went immediately on the list after I finished it.

7) The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

With all the superhero stuff coming out this year, I think it's high time I read the classic that is in a way the precursor to the superhero.

8) The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma

Another 2015 title I missed. Which is odd because I actually love Nova Ren Suma's stuff. She's such an underrated author.

9) Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

This was recently made into a movie that is getting a lot of Oscar buzz. Hence the add on to the list.

10) Briar Rose by Jane Yolen

I've been reading through the Grimms Complete Fairy Tales and it's put me in a fairy tale retelling mode. Though I'm honestly usually always up for a fairy tale retelling so this is nothing new.

Book Review: Go Set a Watchman

TITLE: Go Set a Watchman
Sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird
AUTHOR: Harper Lee
PUBLISHED: July 2015
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Historical Fiction
PREMISE: An adult Scout comes back home to Maycomb for a visit.
MY REVIEW: The first book I finished in 2016 was a much hyped book from last year. This is one of those books that has a lot of noise around it. That is, there are many issues involved. First, it has the baggage of being a sequel to a much beloved book. So that means many high and probably absurd expectations. Second, there was the way it got published. For those who don't know, there are some issues about whether or not this book should have been published in the first place because some feel Harper Lee herself didn't want it published. This is why I checked it out of the library, because honestly...there was no satisfying conclusion for me about whether or not Lee actually gave her permission for this to be published. I don't want to give money to shady publishing deals. Then there was just the outrage some people had over some things that happened in it. Namely, that it was revealed that Atticus was not quite the upstanding guy that people have made him out to be all these years.
When one clears away all the noise surrounding this book what you have is...honestly a pretty average book. You've probably heard all the negative reviews and honestly...a lot of those reviews are unfair. I feel a lot of them were mostly just people not being comfortable with some of the hard truths that this book confronted. Like the fact that no, Atticus was not perfect. He was just as racist as the other white guys in his era. Just because he did not treat black people like dirt, doesn't mean he wasn't also racist.
Me, I'm somewhere in the middle about this book. I like the things it talked about, more then the actual book itself, if that makes sense. It needed a LOT of editing. I can definitely tell this was a rush publishing job. Which furthers my opinion that the way this got published was more then a little shady. Story wise, it's kind of average. I will say I don't think this ruins To Kill a Mockingbird in any way. Maybe it makes you think about the book differently. But I don't think being forced to look hard at your favorite childhood book is necessarily a bad thing. Honestly, I think what one thinks about this book, will probably just come down to the individual.
WHO SHOULD READ: To Kill a Mockingbird fans (who don't idealize the book)
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five controversial bestsellers

Thematic Sunday: Jane Austen Retellings

So I've spent most of last year reading the Jane Austen books. The most fascinating thing to me is the fact that Austen herself has sort of inspired a mini-genre of retellings/reimaginings/sequels, and so much more. I'm pretty confident that when it comes to retellings of classics, Austen is probably one of the most retold. Probably the only classic that rivals her books in the retellings is Sherlock Holmes. In the large world of Austen retellings, here are some that I recommend.

Jane Austen Retellings/Reimaginings/Sequels/Tie-Ins etc.

1) Austenland by Shannon Hale

Why: A woman who is obsessed with the Austen books (particularly Mr. Darcy), gets sent on a vacation to a resort that caters to hardcore Austen fans.

2) Bridget Jone's Diary by Helen Fielding

Why: Modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice. You most likely know the movie.

3) Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James

Why: A sort of sequel to PandP where Elizabeth and Darcy must solve a murder that happens on their estate. Check out the BBC mini-series this inspired.

4) The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

Why: A book about a book club who read through the Jane Austen books and all the drama in their lives that mirror the books themselves.

5) Longbourn by Jo Baker

Why: Pride and Prejudice told from the servants POV.

6) For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

Why: Say it with me now: Persuasion, set in space. You know you want to read it.

7) Jane Austen Heroes series by Amanda Grange

Why: Basically all the Austen novels from the men's POV. There's only three shown here, but Grange did all six novels.

8) Jane Austen Mystery series by Stephanie Barron

Why: What if Jane herself became a amateur sleuth?

9) Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

Why: YA modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice

10) Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Ben H. Winters

Why: You probably know that there's a Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It's been everywhere and the movie comes out in a month or so. But you might not know that they did a bunch of other monster mash up with classics including Sense and Sensibility.

Book Series Review: The Heroes of Olympus

SERIES: The Heroes of Olympus
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan
PUBLISHED between 2010 and 2014
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade/YAish
GENRE: Fantasy/Adventure, Mythology Tie-in
PREMISE: The demi-gods of Greece and the demi-gods of Rome's worlds collide as a force threatens to tear the world apart.
MY REVIEW: So, once upon a time, back when I first started this blog actually. I read The Lost Hero. I had just devoured the Percy Jackson series and I honestly, really liked it. But then.,,I forgot to read the rest? It's not a reflection on Mr. Riordan at all. These books are great. I just got into the Kane Chronicles, and then I had so many other books to read, that keeping up on this series sort of fell by the wayside. Especially after he started publishing two books a year.
But Magnus Chase came out and that reminded me that I have not read the rest of these and I started to feel guilty. So I went on a two month binge of the books. I enjoyed every minute of it. Reading these reminded me of why I loved the Percy Jackson series, way back when. I love that Riordan paid attention to the criticisms of the lack of diversity and instead of throwing a temper tantrum or crying PC police conspiracy, he went "you know...good point" and actually put diversity in the next books. Whether or not the diversity was good representation, is probably debatable, but I appreciate that he did it.
If you are familiar with Percy Jackson or the Kane Chronicles, this series follows the same sort of pattern. It's still immensely enjoyable. I love the spins on mythology that Riordan puts in it. I now am super pumped for the Apollo series and I'm reading Magnus Chase as we speak.
WHO SHOULD READ: Percy Jackson fans, Greek mythology fans
RATING FOR SERIES: Four and a half out of Five demi-gods getting stuff done

Book Review: Ungodly

TITLE: Ungodly
Book 3 in the Goddess War Trilogy
AUTHOR: Kendare Blake
PUBLISHED: September 2015
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Mythology-tie-in
PREMISE: Cassandra and her friends face a final battle...
MY REVIEW: This trilogy is very underrated. My only explanation for why people aren't gushing about is...that it's not a happily ever after everyone comes out okay type of YA trilogy. Good characters die in this series and they stay dead. The good characters are complicated, which means they aren't immediately likable. I can't help but notice for all that readers love to complain about wanting more complicated characters (specifically females ones) and less gooey romance, when those things actually happen....the books that do these plot elements don't get super popular. Which, I have to say, is probably a large part of why YA authors don't do them very often. Just pointing that out.
But enough about my frustrations with the YA crowd, this book is just as solid as the rest of the trilogy was. As mentioned above, this is not exactly a happy YA series. Dark stuff happens here. There is a tied up ending, but it's more bittersweet then anything. No characters miraculously live again. The war does end though. Just not in a totally happily ever after way. Which, is actually fine by me. This feels like a more realistic ending. If all that darkness happened and then everyone lived happily ever after and all dead characters came back to life...well, I personally would have felt cheated. I've read series that have done this before and it's always felt like a really forced happy ending. So while I'm sad for Cassandra and other characters...it's a much more realistic feeling ending in a way.
I am personally satisfied with how this ended. I'm sure not everyone will agree and hey, that's fine. But I really liked it. As always with Blake, I can't wait to see what she gives us next. She apparently has a new series in the works for later this year and it looks great.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fans of the first two books, mythology fans, Kendare Blake fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five troubled goddesses