Betsy-Tacy Review

Betsy-Tacy

Author: Maud Hart Lovelace

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

Synopsis:

    There are no other girls Betsy's age on her street, so when a new girl moves into the house across the street, she is very excited. When Betsy meets Tacy, so begins a lifelong friendship that was based on they author's experiences of her own friends. The entire series follows Betsy and Tacy as they grow up, documenting their adventures, sorrows, and joys.

My thoughts:

    I haven't read the entire series yet, just the first four books that were combined into the one, but I really like it so far. It reminds me a little bit of the Anne of Green Gables series, which I also enjoyed. I feel like a lot of people can relate to Betsy and her friends even though they lived in the early 1900s. I did have a couple of questions though. Maybe someone knows the answer? The first one was if the author wrote this to be realistic fiction but couldn't happen now anymore because the time period is too long ago, is it considered historical fiction? Or is it still realistic fiction? The second one wasn't really a question, more of an observation. I noticed that the parents in this story didn't seem to keep track of their children as much as parents today do. For example, when Betsy and Tacy were 5, their fathers would go to work and their mothers would stay home, and their mothers would basically be like, "Okay, go play now," and Betsy and Tacy just ran around the town and surrounding areas having fun. At the age of five!! If that happened today the parents would be labeled as "bad parents" but back then it was just considered normal. 

    I can't wait to read the rest of this series!

    Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!

The Fault in YA

    Sometimes I really enjoy reading YA books, but other times, I feel like I'd rather stick to classics. Here are some problems I have with YA:

 No diversity.
    In a lot of the YA I've read (especially dystopian) have white, middle class, straight teenagers. I mean, not everyone is like that, so come on! Incorporate a little diversity into your book for the people that are not white, straight, and middle class! 

The romance.
    I think I said something to this extent in my These Broken Stars Review, and how that relationship was forced. But I still haven't read a book where the main character doesn't fall in love. Yes, I understand that YA is geared towards teens and young adults, and I understand that most teens and young adults are in relationships, but that does not mean that 100% of teens and young adults are. I have no problem with romance, I like reading romance, but sometimes I just want the main character to not find their "one true love" when they are a junior in high school. 
    In addition, a lot of plots center around the love triangle, which I absolutely hate. I once read a book where there was a girl having to choose between like 3 different guys who were all jerks. And it's like, this girl is sixteen or seventeen and she's choosing which boy she wants to be with for the rest of her life. 

The mystery in the romance.
    In a lot of books the main character notices the love interest and because the love interest is such a big mystery, the main character falls in love with them. What ends up happening is the main character falls in love with this idea of a person built upon the mystery surrounding them, so by the time the love interest isn't a mystery anymore (and in fact, is often revealed to be a jerk), the relationship falls apart.

Gorgeous characters.
    There's nothing wrong with having a character that is good-looking, but not every teen has to look like a model with absolutely no effort. Even in dystopian societies where the majority of people can barely afford to find something to eat, and yet are insanely beautiful. And even if the character thinks they don't look good, it's obviously clear that they do. 

    What are your problems with YA? 

Alex and Eliza Review

Alex and Eliza

Author: Melissa de la Cruz

Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group

Synopsis:

    Albany, New York, 1777. As the threat of a revolution hangs over the American colonies, the Schuylers, one of New York's most prominent families, are holding a ball with hopes of getting one of their three eldest daughters --Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy-- engaged. Among the guests is Alexander Hamilton, a young aide to General George Washington. 

    Hamilton is there to bring bad news to the Schuylers, but he cannot help but notice Eliza Schuyler. And thus begins a romance that will change American history.

My thoughts:

    I'm pretty certain Alex and Eliza was written because of Hamilton the musical (in fact, to get in the mood, I'm listening to Hamilton as I write this post). I enjoyed both (the book and the musical), although they did have some differences, which means neither were entirely historically accurate, but that was okay, because it didn't make the quality of the story worse. I really enjoyed learning more about Alexander Hamilton and Eliza Schuyler and their lives because listening to the musical you get a feel for what happened, but it's always nice to learn more. 

    Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

    Have you listened to Hamilton? Do you like it? What's your favorite song? Favorite character?

TBR Jar: What it is & How to Create One

    A TBR Jar? you ask yourself. What on earth is that? (Or maybe not. Maybe you already know what it is) 
    Well, as you might have guessed already, that is what I am going to explain. 

What is a TBR Jar?

    Remember my post So, What Exactly is this TBR? (if you don't, no worries. Also, you can click the name of the post and it will take you to it.) Anyway, in that post, I mentioned that there is no right or wrong way to make a TBR. The TBR Jar is just a visually pleasing, creative way of doing it.

    To put it simply, a TBR Jar is a jar with pieces of paper in it. Each piece of paper has a book title in it (the titles will be ones you want to read (your TBR). When you need a new book to read, simply pick a piece of paper out of the TBR Jar. Add to the jar as needed.

    I stumbled upon this idea online and decided to create one, then thought: This would be a really cool blog post! So as I go through the steps of how to make a TBR Jar, there will be pictures of mine. 

Step 1: Obtain a jar

If you're like me, this shouldn't be very hard. I just used an old Mason jar (which can also be used for canning). If you'd like the jar to be visually pleasing, you can find it elsewhere.

Step 2: Label the jar (optional)

    I just taped a Post-It note with 'TBR Jar' written on it to the jar. If you don't feel the need to do this, don't (in fact, I might remove the label sometime).

Step 3: Consult your TBR and write down the titles

You can write it on pretty much anything. I thought of writing the titles and then folding them into origami cranes, but I decided to just write them on Post-It notes.

Step 4: Add them to the jar

Enough said.

Step 5: Mix up the titles and draw your first one!

    Unless you don't need a new book yet. The one I chose was These Broken Stars. And remember, you should probably keep the titles you've picked to read next out of your TBR Jar so you don't end up drawing them again.

    

Girl in the Blue Coat Review

Girl in the Blue Coat

Author: Monica Hesse

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Synopsis:

    In 1943 Amsterdam, Hanneke works with the black market to deliver extra rations of sought-after goods if the customers pay. Her work keeps her family fed, clothed, and sheltered. She has no desire to join the resistance movement against the Nazis, but she considers this her small act of rebellion.

    One day a customer comes to Hanneke and asks for help finding something. Only, it's not extra meat or lipstick, it's a person. A Jewish girl named Mirjam who was hiding in the house but mysteriously disappeared, leaving no clue as to where she could have gone. At first, Hanneke wants nothing to do with this mystery, but eventually ends up trying to find Mirjam. If Hanneke fails, both her and Mirjam will most likely die. 

My thoughts:

    I thought that the mystery in this book was very intriguing and I think the fact the Hanneke made several wrong turns in trying to solve the mystery made the story more realistic. 

    I also thought it was cool that there were so many ways that a civilian could perform small acts of rebellion and not be out there yelling that the Nazis were bad and immediately get shot. For example, a lot of people had hidden cameras that took pictures to prove after the war that the occupation really happened. There were also people that smuggled babies and toddlers out of the holding place where Jewish people were kept before being sent to the concentration camps. They took the babies and toddlers to new families so that they could have a chance to live their lives. 

    In conclusion, this book was action-packed, suspenseful and taught you a lot about the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. I'd recommend it to middle grade readers and older.

    Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Every Soul A Star Appreciation Post

    I think I put Every Soul A Star on my post Middle Grade Books to Read This Summer, but I just put a brief synopsis of it. In case you've forgotten, here it is:
Realistic fiction coming-of-age story, told through the perspective of 3 young teenagers who all end up at the Moon Shadow campground to witness a total eclipse of the sun.
    The eclipse is fictional by the way, but the Great American Solar Eclipse is coming up on August 21st. The total eclipse (the whole sun covered by the moon) can only be viewed in certain areas. Learn more about the eclipse here. 
    Anyway, Every Soul A Star deserves a lot more attention and readers. Here's why:

The characters are very relatable (yes, even the one who lives at a campground in the middle of nowhere).
    Even though the three main characters are not going to be just like you, their struggles and feelings are ones you can feel too. Not to mention that they are all very different characters, so it's amazing that the author was able to do that.

It teaches you a lot about astronomy.
    Never heard of exoplanets, the Messier objects or don't know any constellations? That's okay, this book will explain it all, while still moving forward with the story. In fact, I'm almost certain that this book is the one that got me into astronomy.

It has a good message.
    Or messages. What the characters learn throughout the book is valuable, and they are all much changed by the end. 

It's long enough to tell a good story and short enough that it doesn't take that long to read.
    I mean, that's bad news if you wanted the story to continue, but... 

    Every Soul A Star is an amazing book! I wish there was a sequel and I think that anyone looking for a good book to read who thinks this book would be interesting should read it!
 

These Broken Stars Review

These Broken Stars

Authors: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Publisher: Hyperion

Synopsis:

    The Icarus is a huge spaceliner traveling through hyperspace. Nothing could go wrong -- until it does. In a Titanic-like surprise crash, it crashes onto the nearest planet. No one survives, except Major Tarver Merendsen, a war hero, and Lilac LaRoux, daughter of the richest man in the universe. The planet is uninhabited by any people.

    Lilac and Tarver begin a long journey through the planet in search of some way to get help. They must trust each other or they will both die. But after a while, they begin to wonder: do they actually want to leave this planet?

    However, when they discover who is behind the whispering voices that plague their dreams --and even their waking moments-- Tarver and Lilac realize that they might leave the planet, but they will not be the same people who crash-landed with the Icarus.

My thoughts:

    This book started out a little slow, but it got better as it went on. No, this wasn't why I didn't like this book as much as I felt that I could have. The problem? The romance. Now, I don't refuse to read books with romance in them. I like reading books with romance. But the romance in this book felt so forced. Like maybe the authors were collaborating and went, "What genre is this going to be?"

    "YA."

    "Oh, better have Lilac and Tarver fall hopelessly in love! And better yet, make them star-crossed lovers! This is geared towards teenagers, after all!" NO. NO. NO. I feel like this decision to have the main characters in love made the story a whole lot worse than it could have been otherwise. It honestly felt like they hated each other, and then they did something that improved their prospect of survival, and then they were making out and passionately in love. I don't know, maybe if Tarver and Lilac's relationship was given more time to grow, I would have liked it. 

    In addition, reading this book made me realize something: I have yet to read a single YA book where the protagonists do not fall in love. If you have, great! But every single time I read a YA book the characters fall in love! Yes, I get that YA is geared towards teens/young adults and they oftentimes are in relationships, but that does not mean every teen is! Can't there be at least one book where the girl and the boy are just friends and there is no pressure on either of them from the other for their relationship to develop into anything other than platonic?

    Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

How to Put off Reading A Bad Book

Do you hate the feeling of knowing that this book is bad? Do you want to find out what happens to the characters but you just can't stomach one more badly-written phrase? Yeah, me too (it's happening to me right now, in fact). Here's what I do to keep from reading the book:

DNF (do not finish) it.

This one is probably the easiest and simplest option out there. If you abandon the book, you won't have to read it. Problem solved. But if you still want to find out what happens, or you hate the book but it's required reading, check below.

Read other books.

I hate that when I'm reading a bad book I spend more time on my phone because I don't want to read. So I end up reading other books too (just the other day I read 3 so I didn't have to read a book I didn't want to).

Bribe yourself.

I once had a book that was required reading and it was awful. I ended up saying to myself, "If you can finish this chapter, you get to read something better." Reading that bad book was torture, but at least I got through it.

Go slowly.

This one seems kind of obvious too, unless you need to finish it by a certain date. I once had a different required reading book that I had about 3 weeks to read. I read like 5 chapters in the first 2 weeks because the book was so bad, and I had to cram the rest of the book into one week. But if there's no date the book has to be finished by, this is an okay tactic. Although it might get annoying that you're still reading it after a while.

Convince yourself it's not that bad after all.

Okay, fine, this one probably won't work. But hey, you can still give it a try!

    Do you have other things you do when you're reading a bad book? Share below in the comments!

My Lady Jane Review

My Lady Jane

Authors: Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, Brodi Ashton

Publisher: HarperCollins 

Synopsis:

    The real Lady Jane Grey was crowned queen after her cousin, King Edward VI , succumbed to tuberculosis. After only nine days of sitting on the throne, she lost her head. End of the story. 

    However, the in-story Lady Jane gets married to Gifford Dudley, who turns into a horse every day and a man at night. King Edward somehow survives but fakes his own death, and Jane didn't die. She needs to get the help of the E∂ians (pronounced e-thee-ans, people who can turn into animals) to overthrow Queen Mary, Edward's brother, who wanted to take the throne instead of Jane. 

My thoughts:

    Because the authors basically threw history to the winds (in a good way) I did end up going "that didn't really happen" a lot. However, I still really enjoyed this book! I think a lot of people wouldn't know about Jane and this book had some true information, although it would be better off to research her if you are looking for some facts. 

    This story was comical and serious at the same time, and the characters were well written. There was even the right amount of mystery thrown in, which made for a book that I devoured within a day!

    Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!

    The authors also have a website, www.ladyjanies.com!

Small Great Things Review

Small Great Things

Author: Jodi Picoult

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Synopsis:

    When Turk and Brittany Baur go into the hospital to have their first baby, the labor and delivery nurse they are assigned is Ruth. However, the Baurs are white supremacists and do not want Ruth, who is African American, to care for their baby (who they name Davis).

    When little Davis Baur goes into cardiac arrest, Ruth is the only nurse in the room. She hesitates before performing CPR, not sure if she should go against the wishes of the family and perform CPR, or obey orders and let Davis be. As a result, she is charged with murdering the baby. 

    Kennedy McQuarrie is a defense lawyer and assigned to Ruth's case. Can Ruth be proved innocent -- or will she be convicted of murdering a baby?

    Told in three perspectives (Ruth, Turk and Kennedy), Small Great Things is a novel about racism and prejudice.

My thoughts:

    This book was an eye-opener. Not because I learned a lot about babies and their delivery (although I certainly did), but because I learned a lot about racism. I think most people think racism comes only from people like Turk (who is so far past racist I'm not even sure if I should call him that). But in the book it is illustrated that you don't have to be a white supremacist to be racist. White people often get privileges simply because of their race -- and sometimes people do it unconsciously. There is one part in the book where Ruth and Kennedy go shopping together and Kennedy is astounded how much attention the employees pay to Ruth: they're always following her and asking if she needs help, and watching to make sure she doesn't shoplift, and when she is leaving the store one of the employees checks her receipt and bags to make sure she didn't shoplift. When Kennedy takes out her receipt too, that same employee says, "You're fine." Kennedy knows this is because she is white.

    Overall, I really enjoyed Small Great Things! It's an adult book, but I think teens could read it too (or possibly younger readers but there is swearing and mature themes discussed).

    Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!

My August TBR

    August is upon us, and with that, the last full month before a lot of schools (mine included) start again. I recently made my August TBR, and decided to share it to this blog. 

August TBR:

• Small Great Things, by Jodi Picoult
• Girl in the Blue Coat, by Monica Hesse 
• Alex and Eliza, by Melissa de la Cruz 
• I'll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson
• These Broken Stars, by Meagan Spooner and Annie Kaufman
• The Summer I Turned Pretty, by Jenny Han

TBR in my bullet journal