Monday minis…

I put the puppies down for a nap in their crates and have a rare, blissful moment of silence lol
I got a lot of reading in before they arrived but I don’t have time to blog now. Here’s a quick rundown of the books I read pre-puppy blizzard.



All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson ~ Goodreads

Gorgeous memoir. Johnson's essays (although it never really feels like a series of essay's) on living in the US as a queer, Black man is honest, raw, informative, funny, bittersweet, heartbreaking, loving and inspiring.

“Navigating in a space that questions your humanity isn’t really living at all. It’s existing. We all deserve more than just the ability to exist.”

This is a must read for readers of all ages and backgrounds but especially queer and Black boys. There's a lot of pain and trauma in his life but also a wonderful, large supportive family and fraternity that's rarely portrayed in this way. 

CW: All content warnings are given at the beginning of the book but include: sexual assault (described on page), death, cancer, physical assault, use of homophobic/racial slurs as it relates to the authors lived experiences.


Me by Elton John ~ Goodreads

I was a little disappointed that Elton John wasn’t narrating the audiobook at first (he does the foreword and afterword) but Taron Egerton (who played John in the movie Rocketman) was fantastic. Very conversational and animated.

Me covers his early career with a veritable who’s who of rock royalty, his childhood all the way to adulthood, coming out as gay, marriage and children.

There’s a lot of pain and loss in his life and it’s remarkable that he was able to come out the other side while so many of his friends have not. He was refreshingly honest about his wild days and mistakes while not being salacious or tarnishing others.

He does seem to still posses a bit of a narcissist streak with tantrum tendencies so he’s probably still a work in progress. Aren’t we all - but this was really interesting. (Thanks to A Book A Week for the rec)


Clap When you Land by Elizabeth Acevedo ~ Goodreads

The only thing bad about an Elizabeth Acevedo book is that it has to end and I have to wait a year for the next one. 

Clap When You Land is told in the alternating pov’s (& in novel –verse) of two young women – Yahira in NYC and Camino in the Dominican Republic – unknowingly tied together by one mans death.

Acevedo touches on so many subjects in her books and writes such powerful girls. They are knocked down by life but never out. Family is also a theme. And in this case family comes with major flaws but was written so beautifully and with nuance.

She doesn't give away too much in the blurb so I'll leave it at that.

Read Clap When You Land – read all her books! And on audio if you can!!! Acevedo's narration is perfection. Although there are two narrators for this one.



Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer ~ Goodreads 

This was a clear off my TBR cart and buddy read with Lindsi from Do You Dog Ear read (her review here) 

This was my first book by Kemmerer and it wasn’t quite what I was hoping but overall I did like it. Juliet leaves letters to her dead mother at her grave while Declan, on probation mowing the cemetery’s lawn, finds one of the letters and responds after feeling connected to the words of loss and grief.

 
They begin writing to each other and pouring their hearts out. In the meantime – they unknowingly interact at school and really dislike each other.

There is so much that is left unsaid and a lot of miscommunication between these two so while they are supportive in letters – they (especially Juliet) could be really judgmental in person. It could be irritating to watch but I liked how their letters sort of transferred over to real life and made them both consider their actions and do better over the course of the book. Declan with his temper and starting to believe in himself and her with her actions towards her dad and panic attacks.

Juliet’s relationship with her father is strained as she idolized her jet setting, war photographer mother but I liked how it played out. I didn't love how convoluted the story got to get to that point. Kemmerer kind of detoured into a mystery about the cause of the moms death that felt unnecessary.

Declan’s situation was abusive and I hated how it was resolved. His mother was negligent, at best, and his step father was cruel and it was sort of played off in the end as oooh we were just worried about you and things are better now that we had this chat. I felt it was so bad that if I were to encounter them in real life, I would have called child protective services or help him get emancipated.

This didn’t 100% connect with me but would recommend it to readers who like messy, complicated characters and books that explore grief.

And I really want to read book #2 about Declan's best friend, Rev. 

Big news!

This isn’t news to most of you who follow me on Twitter or Instagram but I’ve been MIA for a pretty good (exhausting) reason…

Meet Kai and Ripley!

Kai is 6 months old/male – very chill and sweet and also very much like my Fonzi. Ripley is 4 months old/female and named after Ripley from Alien and is….WILD lol

We lost Fonzi several months ago and it’s been horrible without him. In general, and especially with the lock down. Being home in all this quiet was very lonely and depressing. I am not meant to live my life without a dog.

I had tried to foster or look for dogs in need a of a home but the shelters were empty out here.

The woman I got my other shelties (she also does rescue) from was telling me about a litter she had that had parvo (a very serious disease that mostly affects puppies. Ripley was from that litter but never got very sick. One puppy died and two others are still in recovery. They can shed the virus for up to 6 weeks though even if they aren’t sick so Ripley was isolated alone in a pen for over a month. She’s not housebroken or socialized except for knowing one person and is a bit of a hot mess lol

Kai, was not from her litter but didn’t have all his shots at the time, so also had to be isolated for a few weeks until he got the all clear. He’s a bit better than her because he had been going out and meeting people and being exposed to things before this happened. Unfortunately, he’s lost a little ground with socializing and housebreaking because of it.

I, in my infinite wisdom, decided…I’ll take them BOTH because no one wanted to take on the task of super shy/scared puppies. What else do I have to do during a pandemic anyway?? lol

So, we’ve had our hands full this past week. They are awesome dogs with great personalities and I think they will come around over time with some work.

I read a lot of great books in the week before they came but I’ve been too exhausted to post anything but I’ll try to get back on track next week.

Blog tour: Review of The Summer Deal by Jill Shalvis

Brynn Turner desperately wishes she had it together, but her personal life is like a ping-pong match that’s left her scared and hurt after so many attempts to get it right. In search of a place to lick her wounds and get a fresh start, she heads back home to Wildstone.



And then there’s Kinsey Davis, who after battling serious health issues her entire twenty-nine years of life, is tired of hoping for . . . well, anything. She's fierce, tough, and she’s keeping more than one bombshell of a secret from Brynn -- her long-time frenemy.


But then Brynn runs into Kinsey's best friend, Eli, renewing her childhood crush. The good news: he’s still easy-going and funny and sexy as hell.


The bad news: when he gets her to agree to a summer-time deal to trust him to do right by her, no matter what, she never dreams it’ll result in finding a piece of herself she didn’t even know was missing. She could have real connections, possibly love, and a future—if she can only learn to let go of the past.


As the long days of summer wind down, the three of them must discover if forgiveness is enough to grasp the unconditional love that’s right in front of them. ~ Goodreads

Source: ARC was provided via the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Review: In my early days of blogging, Jill Shalvis was one of my go to authors. Somehow I drifted away from her books (too many books - too little time syndrome) for a few years but noticed I had Rainy Day Friends on my book cart from a conference years ago. Wondering if my reading tastes had changed and if she was still a “go to author”, I picked it up to read with a little trepidation. I should not have worried – it was like coming home to a good friends and family.

Shalvis’s books are filled with love, family and connections. The characters are real and flawed but struggle to do the right thing. And there’s always an adorable pet or two!

The Summer Deal has all these things but surprised me with three POV’s. Brynn – coming home after a bad break up, moves in with her wonderful but hovering moms, Kinsey – Brynn’s childhood nemesis, prickly af, and dealing with serious health issues and one humdinger of a secret, and Eli – Kinsey’s best friend and Brynn’s childhood crush (it was very mutual).

Once Brynn is home, she realizes she can’t live in the same house as her overbearing mothers and takes up Eli’s offer to move into his place to help with rent. One problem. Kinsey lives there too.
Well, really multiple problems. Kinsey and Brynn's growing feelings for Eli. Can she trust either of them? Or her own judgement?

These three carry so much baggage – from their childhoods, with each other and the present day secrets they all keep. Secrets is not a trope I like. At all. But I think it was done really well here.
Being able to see each POV and the why of the secrets really helped me to understand where they were all coming from. It wasn’t malicious or done out of selfishness. In fact, it was born out of love and trying to keep each other safe.

I don’t want to say too much because the blurb keeps things vague so I will too but watching all three learn to open their hearts and learn to trust again was a beautiful thing.

The supporting characters were just as wonderful. Eli’s brother (hopefully he gets a book!), Kinsey’s boyfriend (if he gets his way), Brynn’s mom’s with their open hearts.

I’m SO glad I rediscovered this author and I won’t be taking a break from her again.


Connect with Jill
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BUY LINKS for ALMOST JUST FRIENDS:

Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Bookshop.org | iBooks | GooglePlay

Photo Credit: Susan Zweigle, ZR Studios






Enter below to win a copy of The Summer Deal! Open to US and Canada residents. A print copy will be mailed to the winner by the publisher via UPS.

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Tell Me Something Tuesday

Tell Me Something Tuesday is hosted by Rainy Day Ramblings and discusses a wide range of topics from books to blogging.


I’m late! I’m late! lol Thank you for the TMST reminder Roberta

Question: Do you tag authors in your (overall) positive reviews? How do you feel about authors not acknowledging them or opting out?

Answer: In my very early days of reviewing (10 years ago!) I used to tag authors and they almost always loved reviews and understood the process – all publicity is good publicity – if you will. But book blogs and reviewing were not a big thing back then. There weren’t arc’s or competition and I was almost contacted directly by authors. It was very difficult to get your book out there – even Twitter wasn’t too big of a thing yet so yes, I often tagged authors with my reviews. I used to even reply to their initial email request with a link. I have never had any problems.

Fast forward and this is an enormous ecosystem now and everyone has differing opinions on everything.

I’m still very much Team Honest Review but I also understand that many authors don’t want to read them. Even if they are good. Sometimes our version of a good review has something that is actually hurtful to them.

For example – I might call a book fluffy. To me, that is a high complement (the highest! I love books that make me happy) and not at all indicative or contradictory of the book having nothing important to say or it’s emotional impact. Yet I’ve seen several authors very hurt by that description. Sometimes the story is based on their personal experiences that hurt to reveal and now you’re calling it fluffy. I stand by my view but I no longer tag authors because I also get how they might not want to read it even if, to me, it’s a compliment.

There are also a lot of authors who just can’t even get into reviews without it weighing on them in some way. Even if it’s good. They are on to the next book and need to be in a different head space. Or maybe having been burned by being tagged in negative reviews – have anxiety to ANY reviews so steer clear.

I can’t keep track of who wants what so I just don’t tag them anymore. If they care enough they can get alerts lol
I try to tag more for book mail, favorites lists and general promotion type posts now. Where I’m just cheer leading something I love. They can choose to read or share without worrying either way.
As for acknowledging reviews – IMHO, I think a simple thank you goes a long way. I don’t think publishers or authors understand how much time, energy and money go into this hobby that almost all of us do for free so yeah – it stings a little that no one seems to care anymore. I get especially salty if it’s for a blog tour. That requires a lot more effort and a time line and you could acknowledge it with a thank you or simple RT since the author purposely signed up for this. And since I’m already here griping lol - I hate when they only acknowledge the big guys and not the smaller bloggers. Again. I think they underestimate our effort and the power of word of mouth.

But, for the most part, I try not to get too worried about that. There are bloggers who don’t want to hear from authors in their space at all and its difficult for ALL of us to try to navigate who wants what so I just do my thing and don’t take it too personally.

What are your thoughts on tagging authors and them acknowledging reviews?

My Monday Musings...

After announcing my 15 books read for May total I promptly stopped reading lol

To be fair, the world is on fire and I just wanted to hide under the covers. But I got off my ass and tried to be productive and contribute something positive.

I had already made a point to steer more of my purchases to local, small businesses and this past week I chose two Black owned indie bookstores. I also purchased a few LGBQT+ books in honor of Pride month.

These were purchased from The Lit Bar in Bronx, NY & Semicolon Bookstore in Chicago.

And please check out Semicolon’s #ClearTheShelves GoFundMe to help provide access to books for students who can’t always afford to buy them.

Another worthy cause to donate to is the Marcus Books 60th Anniversary Fund – Marcus books is the oldest Black owned bookstore in the country. This fund helps expand infrastructure, build their online presence & mortgage on the property.

One more from my neck of the woods is L.E.M.S in Seattle, WA. They are “the last Black owned bookstore focused on the African diaspora in the PNW.” – GoFundMe and need money to survive the shutdown and revitalize the store.



Tomorrow is #BlackPublishingPower day.

I plan on buying All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson and considering a few for the second book – maybe Take a Hint Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert or Finding Joy by Adriana Herrera – both favorite authors of mine. But I’m open to recommendations.






Recommended posts:

The Book Community’s Bias over at Du Livre

Black Lives Matter (Let’s Have a Chit-Chat) on  Olivia’s Catastrophe’s blog (she’s also hosting a 3K follower giveaway on her Instagram account right now!)

On HuffPo - 3 Questions that White Students Should Ask Themselves Before Checking in on Their Black Classmates written by Devon Kidd. Written with students in mind but applies to everyone who considers themselves an ally.

*Note – since drafting this post last week, I started reading again and finished 3 books. I am nothing if not contrary. Especially with myself! lol

Review: Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo

10 00 p.m.: Lucky is the biggest K-pop star on the scene, and she's just performed her hit song "Heartbeat" in Hong Kong to thousands of adoring fans. She's about to debut on The Tonight Show in America, hopefully a breakout performance for her career. But right now? She's in her fancy hotel, trying to fall asleep but dying for a hamburger.

11 00 p.m.: Jack is sneaking into a fancy hotel, on assignment for his tabloid job that he keeps secret from his parents. On his way out of the hotel, he runs into a girl wearing slippers, a girl who is single-mindedly determined to find a hamburger. She looks kind of familiar. She's very cute. He's maybe curious.

12:00 a.m.: Nothing will ever be the same. ~ Goodreads

Source: ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Review: Goo is an author I’m glad that I gave a second (& third) chance to. She tends to write flawed characters in wacky K-Drama situations. It can be over-the-top fun but her heroines tend to cross a line for me by setting up dangerous situations. In her debut, I Believe in a Thing Called Love, for example, Desi manipulates the hero using information from his painful past and even stages a car crash. The Way You Make Me Feel started with the same thing – a heroine who likes to prank people – but really grew over the course of the story and was called on her BS, so it really worked for me.

Now, in Somewhere Only We Know, it’s the hero that’s sketchy this time and it was a bit of a struggle to root for him but I think she pulled it off.

When we first meet Jack, he’s working his side gig as a paparazzi, trying to get a photo of two superstars having an affair at a hotel. His parents are putting pressure on him to study things he has no interest in and this is his little rebellion and way of still practicing his passion – photography.

Lucky, staying in the same hotel, is the reigning queen of K-Pop and is just drowning under the pressure to look a certain way, wear the right clothes, eat what her handlers tell her to eat. She’s about to perform on The Tonight Show in America the next day and if all goes well she will be the first K-Pop crossover sensation. She's not really sure how she even feels about that. She's lost the joy of performing that drew her to it to begin with.

After taking her anxiety medication, she sleepily (& in her flimsy slippers) sneaks out into the streets of Hong Kong at night looking for a hamburger. Jack sees her, and despite his cynical nature, decides to help Lucky stay out of trouble, thinking she’s drunk and lost.

Jack brings her back to his room overnight and is a perfect gentleman but realizes who he has right under his nose. An expose on Lucky would be the career break he needs so he pretends he doesn’t know who she really is and convinces Lucky (who introduces herself as Fern) to spend the day exploring and eating their way through Hong Kong before the 24 hours are up when she has to leave and he has to turn in his photos exposing her.

The day and night are filled with adventures and vibrancy – Goo’s descriptions making you feel like you are right there in the streets of Honk Kong. Lucky and Jack bond over their Korean-American cultures, family pressures and share things with each other that they’ve barely admitted to themselves.

So, OF COURSE, they fall for each other. But the clock is ticking and Jack’s secret and it’s ability to crush Lucky is ever present.

So…Jack. I had a few problems there. Like I said, Goo has a tendency to write flawed characters that hop into dangerous situations, and Lucky being on (prescription) drugs and wandering aimlessly into the night freaked me out. Yes, a cute boy found her and love ensued but my brain kept thinking of all the horrible things that could have happened to her. But that was not Lucky’s fault. And Jack was good to her the night she spent at her house – as in not making a move on her. But he did continue to covertly take photos of her (G rated) and that’s a f*cked up dynamic that I struggled with for most of the book. Being in Jack’s head and seeing how the photographs turned (quickly) from opportunistic and more about his admiration and growing feelings helped.

What really worked for me is how it was all resolved. Lucky was such an incredible character. Growing stronger by the hour and after learning the truth didn’t let Jack wiggle out of anything. She held his feet to the fire while showing a grace and maturity that helped them both become something better. The end wasn’t a tidy “I forgive you” but was so perfect, realistic and smile inducing. I really liked it!

Maurene Goo writes very messy/flawed (meaning realistic) teens that every reader isn’t going to be on board with but with the exception of her first book, I feel like there are consequences and growth and show teens good examples of screwing up but changing yourself to be and do better.

Tell Me Something Tuesday

Tell Me Something Tuesday is hosted by Rainy Day Ramblings and discusses a wide range of topics from books to blogging.

I missed last weeks question but the answer will the same as this weeks so I’m combining them.

Question: (from May 26th) What are your summer reading plans? & June 2nd: Summer Picks 2020

This is my TBR cart. Every physical, unread book I own is on it. The total is 58 (60 if you count the 2 I’m currently reading).

It’s my goal to get this number to around 20-ish. I don’t want to read everything because I do like having a few books around to choose from.

Macmillan is no longer sending boxes of ARC’s (because of COVID but will probably stick with the digital format even after), I’m not going to any more book conferences any time soon so if I can tackle this pile - that’s it!

I will be the rare blogger without a never-ending TBR pile! I tackled the Kindle a few years ago. I don’t have an exact number but it’s well under 50 and I rarely request more than 2 books at a time on Netgalley.

I would say about 80% of my current reading is done through the library and the Libby/Hoopla apps.

So that's my answer to both questions. My summer reading plans and picks are whatever comes from this cart. lol

June of Books Giveaway

I’m joining in with the June Of Books Giveaway Hop hosted by It Starts At Midnight and @ FLYLēF

The winner can choose any ONE book, up to $25 value, as long as it is released during the month of June

Need a little inspiration?


June 2020 Book Releases
Two that I highly recommend are: 10 Things I Hate About Pinky by Sandyha Menon and The Summer Deal by Jill Shalvis!

Rules & stuff!

The winner will be announced on July 1st on this post in the rafflecopter form - and notified by email. Winner has 48 hours to respond or I will pick another winner. (read my full * My Giveaway Policy here)

International entries OK as long as The Book Depository ships to your country.

To enter – fill out the Rafflecopter form and leave a comment!

What book are you most looking forward to in June 2020?

*Extra entries not required - but if you do - my SM links are in the sidebar. Twitter is where I like to chat, Instagram is where I mostly post about books, food, nature and one grumpy, clingy cat named Figment and Goodreads if you want to know what I’m reading.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Monday Musings…

Total shocker but after months and months of not being able to read – I’m reading ALL the books! 15 in May!

I’m totally caught up on review book reading so I’m free and clear to get back to my TBR pile.
Here’s a bit of a wrap up the past week.

Currently Reading:



He’s Come Undone: A Romance Anthology by Emma Barry, Olivia Dade, Adriana Herrera, Ruby Lang, Cat Sebastian ~ Goodreads I’m a fan of every single one of these authors and this anthology about uptight men and the women that unravel them is one of the better anthologies I’ve read.









Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. kendi ~ Goodreads I’ve been trying read more non-fiction and I love Jason Reynolds, so when I was offered this for review I grabbed it. Stamped is a remix of Kendi’s adult Stamped From the Beginning and aimed at teens to educated and get readers to understand how racism has been baked into the fabric of America (and the world) right from the beginning.  While also teaching how to examine those ideas and stamp out those teachings.

The writing has a very frenetic energy that is kind of hard for me to follow but is perfect for teens to grab their attention and an absolute must read for parents and kids to start discussions.



Read:

Fell of Dark but Caleb Roehrig ~ Goodreads This is a very ambitious book. Roehrig combines snark, historical figures, vampires and werewolves in a very entertaining way. There’s a touch of romance or more like attraction maybe between the teen protagonist Auggie who discovers he’s the Chosen One holding a demon vessel inside of him (major Buffy vibes!) and 2 vampires who come to town and it plays out in a very interesting way – as a way to show LGBQT history and attitudes throughout time and to play with the turn your lover into a vampire and stay together for eternity trope.

There’s loads of danger and action and it’s fun – yet it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. There were so many characters (primarily his best friend and her love interest) that came and went only to service the plot as needed and I was a little squicked out but how old the vampires were in relation to Auggie. Even though they are *stuck* in time as teens. But that’s just me as an old lady – I used to be all about that during the Twilight years – even though it bothers me now. So you know…ignore that if it doesn’t bother you.



Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert ~ Goodreads I’m a huge Annabeth Albert fan and this first NA title by her was a delight. Much tamer than her adult series (and most NA) but still full of romantic tension between these two rivals to more.

As always, she brings depth to her characters – one of the MC”s is neurodiverse and Jewish – both have complicated relationships with their parents – while adding the fun road trip aspect and of course the major competition between Alden and Conrad for a spot on the Odyssey Pro Tour – something they both desperately need – but only one can win.

The ending was a little dragged out and overly sappy but I do like my solid endings so I’ll overlook it. And there were several repeated phrases that might be cleaned up in the finished copy.


Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo ~ Goodreads  I loved this one! This is a one day romance with a fairly unlikable hero but she made it work. I hope to have a review up for this one soon.











The Summer Deal (Wildstone #50 by Jill Shalvis ~ Goodreads I’ll be reviewing this one for an upcoming tour so I’ll be brief and say this was a very messy, complicated look at friends, family (by blood and found), and forgiveness and I loved it!








What have you all been reading? HAVE you been reading?