#FridayReads - September 30, 2016

Tiina

Every time I write the Friday Reads – even though several weeks have passed - it always feels like time has flown by and it’s been two days at the most. Time moves way too fast. I also know I say the same thing every time. Anyway, now on to my reading plans. They are not going to be majestic. I think my main aim today is to finish off the last 90 pages of The Sisters Brothers by Patrick Dewitt. This is a Western that features, you guessed it, the Sisters brothers, or brothers Sisters as I mistakenly call them all the time. They are mercenaries and the novel follows their journey from Oregon City to California; it’s violent, and filled with random sidequests. I’m not sure I fully understand it but at the same time it’s a fun read, somehow. What else? I’m in a bit of a slump after my holiday so I don’t know if I’ll continue with The Wrath and the Dawn that I started last Monday, or just pick up something else. Maybe a new adult novel? Elle Kennedy’s The Goal in the Off-Campus series is a definite contender. Books that read fast and are entertaining at the same time are good for when you need to get yourself out of a slump. Also, I have been highly anticipating it since I read the third over a month ago. I really can’t wait to conclude the series. I’m heading on a trip to Amsterdam on Sunday and may only make a dent in my audiobook (Samantha Young’s The One Real Thing) as opposed to reading physical books, but as we’re going into a long weekend, I may find some more reading time on Monday, as well. You deserve a gold star for reading that long sentence. In short, the reading slump has taken over so I don’t really know my mood yet. That’s it. This was rambly, but that’s me. What about you? What are you reading?

Coll

Well this will be a rainy and blah weekend in here in New York City so I will be spending plenty of time indoors reading. Part of me wishes for warm and sunny weather, but then a bigger part of me is happy for the blah weather so I can be lazy all weekend and just read, drink wine, and play video games. I started Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy on Monday so I will be continuing with that. It is not an easy read, which I don’t mind, and it is written in a very unique way which I find myself really drawn into. I can’t wait to get further into it and see where it goes. I am also working on Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King. I have had this book for a while now and it is one of the King books I have actually not read yet. It contains two stories and is not so much scary and it is creepy and disturbing and I am obviously enjoying every second of it. To me it is perfect bedtime reading (Tiina would beg to differ). I am also still working on Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn for the Emma Watson book club, which I spoke about last week. Then I am hoping to start two new ones this weekend, both for Read Harder 2016 challenges. The first is Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai (East Asian author challenge), which is about a young girl who must relocate to America as a result of the Vietnam War. It is actually written in verse, which really intrigues me. Annnnnd, the final book I will mention is My Year Without Meat by Richard Cornish (for the food memoir challenge). It is about a man who was so in love with eating meat and decides to reevaluate his food lifestyle and how obsessed with meat he was by becoming vegetarian for a year. Being a vegetarian (and a person who was never in their life a big fan of meat) I am really interested to see what it was like for a meat lover to go to the extreme and turn vegetarian for a year. Whew, that is it for this #FridayReads I guess. Looks like Tiina and I have some big plans, now let us see if we follow through with them. ;-)

Happy weekend and happy reading everyone!

September BOTM Review - The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo - Amy Schumer

Review by Coll
5 Stars

So I have never been big into stand-up comedy (or comedy in general) and it is rare that I find a comedian I really like a lot. I could probably count how many comedians I am a “fan of” on one hand. Amy Schumer happens to be one of them. So when I saw her book, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, was being offered for the September Book of the Month I had to choose it. It has been on my TBR since it came out and this seemed like a sign to me that the timing was right to read it. I am so damn happy I did. Memoirs are not the easiest thing to review, so this may be quite short, but there were a few things I felt I should say about this book.

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo is a memoir, but with a whole lot more mixed in. Add comedy, drama, sex, feminism, sarcasm, and a boatload of scathing honesty and there you have it. I don’t want to gush about Amy, but I just want to quickly explain what drew me to her in the first place. It is not just that I think she is hilarious, but I love what she stands for too. She is a strong-ass woman who is not afraid to speak her mind. She doesn’t let all the trolls destroy her and she doesn’t try to change herself to be more “acceptable”. And honestly, I believe she is 100% acceptable as is. If you didn’t know those things about her already, you will definitely learn them while reading this book.

Going into this book I knew it would be funny and I knew it would be brutally and wonderfully honest. What I did not know what how much soul, emotion, and heartbreak there would be in it. Amy is completely up-front with so many things that she has been through, things that I never even thought she had experienced. She comes off so perfectly flawed and I loved knowing that she was just like anyone else in the world and not afraid to show it. I also praise her so much for her honesty in this book and how she did not hold back one damn thing, no matter who it would piss off. She talked about her childhood, her parents, her start in comedy, her love life, and so much more and never once tried to make herself seem like some flawless celebrity on a pedestal. It was amazing.

One thing I really appreciated in this book was that even when she spoke about some very heavy things from her life, she always lightened it up with some humor. She would add something mocking or funny in parentheses and she would include sporadic lists throughout the book that always made me laugh. Admittedly, sometimes the parentheses remarks seemed a little forced, but more often than not I enjoyed them. My favorite chapters were ones where she would include a diary entry from when she was young and include footnotes with remark to her younger self. (This made me wish I had kept my journals from when I was younger to do the same thing.) She also includes pictures throughout the book, as all memoirs do, and they are a great mix of perfectly composed photos and completely hilarious and “unflattering” photos. We all need to admit that one of the best things about memoirs are the pictures and we always enjoy it more when some of them are just a hot mess. ;-)

If you are a fan of Amy you need to read this book. If you are not a fan and don’t know much about her but are interested, then I also recommend you read this book. I found it refreshing to hear a celebrity talk about their downfalls, mistakes, and not hold back anything because it made it much more personal and real. I felt like I got to know Amy Schumer through this book and that if I met her I would feel like I had known her for years. When it comes down to it, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo made me not only love Amy Schumer more, but it also made me love myself more, and for that I thank her. I know that might sound weird, but if you read the book you will get it. Oh and yes, she really does have that lower back tattoo. ;-)

Interested in The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo? Check it out on Goodreads.

#FridayReads - September 16, 2016

Tiina
I'm going to jump right in and get to the books I'm reading. I'm on holiday right now, but weirdly, have had very little time to actually read. Mainly because I get car sick easily so reading in moving vehicles is out for me. I know you wanted to know. However, tomorrow I should have some leisure time so my main aims are to read a bit more of Heather Demetrios' I'll Meet You There, and then start MR Carey's The Girl With All the Gifts. I have already started the first, but it's slow-going for some reason. The writing's beautiful, but it deals with tough issues so it's not all sunshine and games. If I do well with these then I'm looking forward to Renee Ahdieh's The Wrath and the Dawn. Or maybe something else, considering I bought 8 books to a 2-week holiday means I have plenty to choose from. I've only finished 3, to put things into perspective. What about you? Is anyone else enjoying the last summer weekend before autumn starts? Maybe wishing for a readathon to do some binge-reading? I know I am. Watch this space for more news ;-).

Coll
Well seeing as today I will come to the end of three books I am reading, it will be a weekend of new books for me! First will be one of the September books from the Book of the Month Club, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer. Needless to say I am super excited to read this one and cannot wait to start it. I will also be starting on the September/October book for the Emma Watson Goodreads group, Our Shared Shelf. The book is Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. It is about the oppression of women and girls in the developing world, focusing on those in Africa and Asia. It also sheds light on what some women in the world have to go through, how terribly oppressed women are, and points out how a huge part of world progress lies in unleashing women’s potential. I feel like I since I am reading two non-fiction, one of which is rather “heavy” (to quote Marty McFly), I feel like I need something a little lighter and more fantastical. So I think I will start the next book in the Expanse Series (yes I am still working on that but in my defense these books are massive) Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey. Shit is getting real in the universe and Holden and his crew keep getting deeper and deeper into this new and ongoing threat, the protomolecule. This book continues on with their story, a mix of sci-fi, fantasy, politics, and horror. So basically this book is a bunch more awesome. :-) 

Buddy Read Review - My Lady Jane

Coll's Rating: 3.75 Stars
Tiina's Rating: 3.5 Stars

T: This time we’re buddy reviewing My Lady Jane by Jodi Meadows, Brodi Ashton, and Cynthia Hand. These three ladies focus on one story in particular and then take vast liberties with it. I have to start with a confession, despite having studied English history, I couldn’t remember much about the actual Lady Jane Grey. So basically I went in with very little knowledge of the story: apart from the actual Henry VIII, his wives, and the succession issues. I did love how the E∂ians (pronouced Ethians) symbolised the Church of England. I think that was my favourite part. Such a clever twist.

C: Yeah I remembered a decent amount about Jane so I was excited to see how they would work that historical story into something more fantastical. There seemed to be a decent amount of research done by the authors before writing it, but it is a rather loose account of the story, which was the goal I guess. I am a HUGE fantasy fan so I loved the elements they used to twist the story into something more magical. E∂ians, people who could shape-shift into animals, and Verities, the people who opposed them, was a great way I think.

T: Exactly. I mean to take apart history like this you need to know the nuances well, and it worked in this case. The fantasy element was done well, it was really seamless. After reading the blurb I kept thinking how they’d work the horse thing into the story, and I was surprised as to how easily I accepted it. It is also interesting how the three authors worked well together. That can’t have been easy. Do you think each of them was in charge of one narrative voice (Jane, Gifford, and Edward)?

C: Oh yeah, I totally think they each wrote a certain character. I think that is why it worked so seamlessly for me. Usually I don't like author collaborations because they can be a bit choppy sometimes, but I think having each author voice a different character is a great technique to use. I also agree with you that the fantasy aspect was presented in a way that was believable to me, which is always a sign of a good fantasy story. Also is it just me or did this read a lot like a fairy take to you? The entire time I was reading I kept thinking "Hey this is so like a fairy tale for adults!"

T: Ha, good point about the fairy tale. It wasn’t my immediate thought, though. I got more Princess Bride vibes. And this reminds me of how I enjoyed the allusions to other more modern literature. I think it was a fun twist. By the way, they will also cover two more Janes: Jane Eyre and Calamity Jane. The first is my favourite book so I look forward to seeing how they fare with her. I don’t think the story needs too much changing, however.

C: Okay so as much as I did enjoy My Lady Jane, I did have a few issues while reading it. I don't want to give any spoilers so I will try to keep this vague but informative. Throughout the story there were little comments scattered about by the authors, usually relating to what was going on. While oftentimes I found these funny, they did start to grow tiresome at a point. I also found they went off on tangents sometimes that seemed unnecessary. So I had mixed feelings on that aspect. What did you think?

T: I agree. I’ll admit, for the first half of the book, they didn’t bother me all that much. I’m a huge fan of parenthesis, so I was definitely biased. However, in the second half (and especially in the last 50ish pages) they actually annoyed me. I understand they are meant to take you out of the story, but it wasn’t done perfectly, as it was more annoying that informative. Less would have been more in this case. Also, I think in general my hopes were too high for this book. I heard only good things and how hilarious it’ll be, so the whole novel actually fell a bit flat for me. Some of the jokes were even a bit lazy and obvious. They came

Cover comparison:
Paperback    vs    Hardcover

off as authors’ inside jokes, and those can be done well, but they didn’t all work here. My rating for this book is thus 3,5 stars. I liked it, I enjoyed reading it, but it wasn’t absolutely amazing. On Goodreads I rounded it down to 3 for a very superficial reason: I read the paperback and I just did NOT understand that cover decision. The hardback one is so crisp, lovely, and extremely striking. The paperback one comes off severely dowdy in comparison, although I see how it’s meant to look like paintings at the time. 
What about you, Coll? Rating?

C: Oh man I was so torn on my rating. I loved reading the book and was always looking forward to picking it back up. To me it was a great example of YA historical Fantasy (is that a thing?) and I did find it quite funny at times. I caught some ASOIAF references (GoT for those who didn’t read the book series) and that I really appreciated. I was at 4 stars until something at the end irked me. It had nothing to do with the author comments, or the cover (I had a very pretty cover on mine and Tiina was quite jealous), but with the way a certain influential and well-known historical writer was represented at the end of the book. Vague, I know, but I don't want to spoil anything. Is this petty of me? I don't think so, I just know how I felt and went with that. I actually give it a 3.75 (4 on GR). I feel like for me it was above 3.5 but not a full 4. To some, that .25 of a percent might be insignificant, but it is huge people!

T: I wouldn’t say it’s petty since I know what Coll is talking about and the same thing annoyed me. It seemed like a last minute decision as it’d seemingly been a huge plot point throughout the book, but in the end the resolution was mentioned in passing. Very unsatisfying. So yeah, not quite a 4 star read for either of us but I would definitely recommend it to others. Well, mainly because Jane is every book lover’s spirit animal ;-) (You will get it when you read the book). I did enjoy the reading experience, and it was definitely unique among the books I’ve read.

C: Yeah overall I really had a great time reading this book. It is worth the read and I am glad that I own a signed copy of it (thanks Uppercase Box!). I also think a wide range of people would enjoy this book. It is fun, an easy read, and you will learn something from it too. I think it will also prompt people to go look into the story of the real Lady Jane (be prepared to be depressed from that though, fyi). So yeah, to make a long closing short, My Lady Jane is a really delightful book and we definitely recommend it.

“Armies aren't very good about carrying libraries with them. I can't imagine why. We'd fight so much less if everyone would just sit down and read”

If you want to hear from the author’s about how they, the writing process, and the book idea check out this adorable and very awesome Uppercase Box video on YouTube, with Cynthia, Brodi, and Jodi giving their accounts of everything. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zdiL83am0U

Buddy Read Review - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Tiina's Rating - 3.5 Stars
Coll's rating - 3.5 Stars

OK, so we decided to let the hype around Harry Potter and the Cursed Child die down a bit before we jumped onto the bandwagon. And by hype, I really do mean controversy. There have been a lot of issues surrounding the published script book, and it is universally acknowledged that it’s not the tightest of plays, plot-wise. Then again neither of us has actually seen the stage production so the review will focus only on the written version. Here’re our thoughts.

T: Right, so I’ll start with an odd disclaimer. Unusually for anything related to Harry Potter, I went into this with very low expectations. And I think I was right to do so. What about you? What were your thoughts before starting?

C: Oh, yeah. Same for me. I actually didn't mind waiting to read it until a month or so until after it was out. I didn't want to be swayed by the hype and I also wanted to disassociate it as much as I could from the original HP books. I just wanted to go into it viewing it as its own entity and not being influenced by anything else. I felt that was the best way to form an honest opinion of it, ya know?

T: Yep, I completely agree. I think if one was to listen to JK Rowling and read this as belonging to the canon, then the reader would be very … disappointed even. I mean after finishing I’ve read up more and more about it, and I think it did feel rushed, and most of the things I love about HP weren’t there. There was some humour, though, which I enjoyed. I think Scorpius was a hoot and a half. Is this a spoiler? I mean we find out quite early on that he’s a good egg.

C: Oh Scorpius was the high point of the book for me! I adored everything about him and the juxtaposition between him and his relatives. Is this a spoiler? I agree it felt rushed, but I attribute that to the format. I think the main thing this book suffered from was lack of detail. Any true HP fan will, either consciously or subconsciously, go into this book hoping for an in-depth and detailed story, and that is not what you get from Cursed Child. This mainly has to do with it being written in play format. I believe that as an actual fiction book this could have been quite amazing. I just felt I was not being totally immersed in the story or the characters and that is what I was really wanting.

T: I’m not sure it counts as a spoiler since we find out in the first act that Scorpius is not like his parent. And as to the rest you said? Exactly!! The facts and details are what were clearly missing from this play. I’m not even fully sure it’s about the format, for some reason it comes off as not a lot of thought went into this. I am not sure I’m making sense. I think it’s just a little cheesy, they always went for the most obvious joke, the most obvious “calming phrase” or a lecture on morality. It’s like all the characters were caricatures of themselves, not the real thing. Ron, for instance, was made out to be a boy in a man’s body, when everyone else had grown up. This may be controversial, ha!

C: Oh yeah, I had some issues with several character portrayals. Not only Ron but also Harry and Albus, as my main two to point out. However I can't help but wonder if this was done in order to make it stand out on the stage. Like if they went for dramatic character actions as opposed to subtle to make them stand out. Am I making sense? Now I don't want it coming off like I have only negatives to say about the book because there was quite a lot that I liked. Like the main premise of the story, for example, which I won't go into detail about so I avoid spoilers. I just thought it was quite creative and drew on a lot from the original books, which I quite liked. Not to mention there were several twists I did not expect, which made it more interesting. Also I found myself gaining a slight soft spot for characters that I would normally hate, which I think was Rowling's way of showing that people can change.

T: Yep, although there was a lot about the main plot that was very convenient, but I did enjoy a whole play on something that was only slightly dealt with in one previous book. And I think it in a way answered a lot of questions people would have about this aspect. It’s a used trope, sure, but it worked well in this world, and showed how we really shouldn’t meddle with… you-know-what. You’ll know if you read this script book.

There is one aspect about the play that I didn’t think was very nice.  I was warned about this before, and I didn’t think it’d be this obvious, but it was. Unfortunately, and so unnecessarily in this day and age. I’m talking about queerbaiting here. I didn’t know the term for this before The Cursed Child, and now I do, which is sad. I got a very strong feeling throughout the whole play that Scorpius and Albus are meant to be a couple. There were strong indications from the start, as if they are skirting around the subject of them falling in love, until it’s yanked away towards the end with very obvious and awkward manifestations of straightness. Did you get that feeling at all?

C: Yeah I was also a bit confused by that. There were certain connotations in the beginning that just got pushed aside towards the end and forgotten about. Maybe I was just reading too much into character interactions, but I feel like it was quite obvious and something most people would have noticed. I also noticed a few plot holes, and some things that had me stop and think "Well if this were the case,wouldn't we have noticed something in the previous books?". I feel like we are bashing the book though and it did have it's high points. After all we both ended up giving it 3.5 stars, so we did like it quite a bit.

T: I don’t think we’re exactly bashing the book, but a play that is so high-profile as this one – I mean Harry Potter is a world-wide phenomenon and there probably isn’t a person alive who hasn’t heard of it – it just seems like slightly shoddy work, to be honest. Too much controversy for a work like this. But I stand by my 3,5-star rating: for the nostalgia factor, for a good time, for some really great humour. I’d recommend it to other readers, but with a caveat of not expecting an eight Harry Potter novel. I know it’s obvious, but I’m sure many read it as such. I’m glad I read it, and I would watch it performed on stage if I ever got the chance. Unlikely, but hey, there ya go. Any final thoughts?

C: I think if it had not been sold as part of such an iconic series like HP this book would have not faced as much criticism, obviously. Looking at it for what it is, it was quite enjoyable, humorous, nostalgic, and well worth the read. Yes, there was plenty that I wish had been added or elaborated, but we don't always get our wishes. ;-) I did enjoy my time reading it and it gave me many great feelings and made me want to go back and reread the series (for the fourth time). I definitely think it should be read, but only if you go into it without expectations and minimal comparisons. In the end it did not make me think less of any characters, and it made me think more highly of a few, so in the end that is always a good thing.

Our rating: 3,5 stars, rounded up to 4 for Goodreads.