Most Anticipated September 2019 Releases

It's the start of the fall publishing season, which means there's about to be a bunch more great books in the world. Here are some that I'm most excited for.


Waiting For


1. Well Met by Jen DeLuca (9/3/19)
I have been tentatively venturing into adult romance, and this one, with a Ren Faire premise, sounds super cute.


2. Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite (9/3/19)
Nervous about the epistolary style. Excited about the promising voice and premise.

3. Five Dark Fates by Kendare Blake (9/3/19)
It's the last book in the series, and I am HYPE.


4. The Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett (9/3/19)
I'm very curious to see what Jenn's first YA historical fiction is like.


5. Frankly in Love by David Yoon (9/10/19)
Penguin Teen has been hyping this one up a ton.


6. A Match Made in Mehendi by Nandini Bajpai (9/10/19)
Cute teen rom-com=YES PLEASE.

Already Read - You Should, Too!

1. It's a Whole Spiel by various authors (9/17/19)
This boom of YA anthologies hasn't been too bad, and this one is promising. 

DNF Review: She's the Worst

She's the Worst by Lauren Spieller
Grade: DNF
Release date: September 3, 2019
An e-galley was provided by Simon & Schuster via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: Sisters April and Jenn haven’t been close in years. Jenn’s too busy with school, the family antique shop, and her boyfriend, and April would rather play soccer and hang out with the boy next door.

But when April notices her older sister is sad about staying home for college, she decides to do something about it. The girls set off to revive a pact they made as kids: spend an epic day exploring the greatest hits of their childhood and all that Los Angeles has to offer.

Then April learns that Jenn has been keeping a secret that could rip their family—and their feuding parents—apart. With only one day to set things right, the sisters must decide if their relationship is worth saving, or if the truth will tear them apart for good.

When did I stop reading?: 24% into my e-galley.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: This was very much a case of "It's not you; it's me." I just wasn't vibing with the narrative voice or the plotline. I was pumped for a sister story, but the narrative was taking longer than I wanted, and I felt like I didn't know April or Jenn all that well really. I might try to pick up She's the Worst again at a later date. Maybe I'll be in a better mood for it then. 

The Verdict: If you like contemporary YA and sister stories, go ahead and give this one a try - and come back and tell me if it's worth picking up again.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Need to Add to My Personal Library

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

There are a LOT of books I'd like to add to my personal collection, mostly because I read a lot of books as e-galleys or check them out from the library first. And then there are several classics I want because it's fun to have pretty classics collections. So here are ten books I need to add soon.


1. The Length of a String by Elissa Brent Weissman



2. Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes


3. Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard


4. A Kind of Paradise by Amy Rebecca Tan



5. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas


6. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell



7. The Hogwarts House editions of The Philosopher's Stone through The Prisoner of Azkaban (all in Slytherin green of course)


8. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White



9. The Railway Children by E. Nesbit



10. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame


What books are you eager to acquire copies of?

DNF Review: Color Me In

Color Me In by Natasha Diaz
Grade: DNF
An e-galley was provided by Random House via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: Growing up in an affluent suburb of New York City, sixteen-year-old Nevaeh Levitz never thought much about her biracial roots. When her Black mom and Jewish dad split up, she relocates to her mom's family home in Harlem and is forced to confront her identity for the first time.

Nevaeh wants to get to know her extended family, but one of her cousins can't stand that Nevaeh, who inadvertently passes as white, is too privileged, pampered, and selfish to relate to the injustices they face on a daily basis as African Americans. In the midst of attempting to blend their families, Nevaeh's dad decides that she should have a belated bat mitzvah instead of a sweet sixteen, which guarantees social humiliation at her posh private school. Even with the push and pull of her two cultures, Nevaeh does what she's always done when life gets complicated: she stays silent.

It's only when Nevaeh stumbles upon a secret from her mom's past, finds herself falling in love, and sees firsthand the prejudice her family faces that she begins to realize she has a voice. And she has choices. Will she continue to let circumstances dictate her path? Or will she find power in herself and decide once and for all who and where she is meant to be?


When did I stop reading?: About 25% into my e-galley.
Why did I DNF?: Although I was very here for the dynamics of a biracial teen who feels torn between her two worlds, that was not coming through well in the book. It was also full of SO much drama, unrealistic actions and conversations, and a romantic interest who I didn't feel Nevaeh had chemistry with. I also didn't see the necessity of Nevaeh's mother's diary entries. Otherwise, though, I appreciated seeing Nevaeh in the neighborhood her mother grew up in, and wanting to be involved but feeling like she wasn't black enough to be included.

The Verdict: So much potential that wasn't coming through.

Random Friday: Fall 2019 Reads

Want to participate in Random Fridays? Just do the following:

• Include the above image in your post and link back to my blog.
• Blog about this week's topic (or a variant of it).
• Add the link to your Random Friday post at the bottom of this one.

Can you believe it's already almost time for fall? It's still weird to me that I'm not going back to school. Perhaps, though, that means I'll have more time for pleasure reading? Including the following books. ;)


1. The Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett


2. Five Dark Fates by Kendare Blake


3. A Match Made in Mehendi by Nandini Bajpai


4. Well Met by Jen DeLuca


5. The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys


6. 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston


7. Dangerous Alliance by Jennieke Cohen


What are your most anticipated releases this fall?

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Review: More to the Story

More to the Story by Hena Khan
Grade: B-
Release date: September 3, 2019
An e-galley was provided by Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: From the critically acclaimed author of Amina’s Voice comes a new story inspired by Louisa May Alcott’s beloved classic, Little Women, featuring four sisters from a modern American Muslim family living in Georgia.

When Jameela Mirza is picked to be feature editor of her middle school newspaper, she’s one step closer to being an award-winning journalist like her late grandfather. The problem is her editor-in-chief keeps shooting down her article ideas. Jameela’s assigned to write about the new boy in school, who has a cool British accent but doesn’t share much, and wonders how she’ll make his story gripping enough to enter into a national media contest.

Jameela, along with her three sisters, is devastated when their father needs to take a job overseas, away from their cozy Georgia home for six months. Missing him makes Jameela determined to write an epic article—one to make her dad extra proud. But when her younger sister gets seriously ill, Jameela’s world turns upside down. And as her hunger for fame looks like it might cost her a blossoming friendship, Jameela questions what matters most, and whether she’s cut out to be a journalist at all...

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: After loving Khan's Amina's Voice, I was super excited to hear she was remixing Little Women. There haven't been enough retellings of LW (although there have been plenty of film adaptations lately). The Mirza girls are all a bit younger than their LW counterparts, but they all clearly correspond to certain sisters, and then Ali arrives to be their Laurie. I liked how Meg became Maryam, and how she still seemed the same but translated to a modern setting. Jameela (Jo) was a great protagonist, and I thought it was a great idea to have her want to be a journalist - still a writer but a slightly different medium that connected her to her grandfather and family history, though perhaps that could've been emphasized a bit better. If More to the Story had been YA, I think it would've been explored further. Aleeza (Amy) seemed a bit younger than the age she was supposed to be (nine, I think?). Granted, I haven't been around any nine-year-olds lately but she read more like a six-year-old. I think MttS is definitely a character-centric book, but I think the different plots could've been stronger at times. I really liked Jameela's plot with Travis and the newspaper, though. She learned how to compromise but also how her vision could still be accomplished.

Content warnings: cancer, Islamophobia

The Verdict: Great for a middle grade audience.

Buy: Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble

Will I be adding this book to my library?: I don't think so.

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Tropes

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Tropes: you can't live with them. You can't live without them. But here are some of the ones I don't mind so much.

1. Hate-to-love

(Or more typically, dislike-to-love.) When those two bantery characters suddenly realize, "Oh shoot I'm in love with them," or "Oh no I'm so obsessed with them because I actually like them." It's so dang good that I've written it into one of my WIPs.

2. Fake dating

This, like, never happens in real life, but it's so satisfying in books.

3. The soft cinnamon roll love interest

Looking at you, Gideon Prewitt.

4. Lack of communication, not miscommunication

Like, you've got both characters pining for each other because they didn't communicate their feelings properly and then THEY DO IT PROPERLY AND THE PAY OFF IS SO GOOD.

5. Friendship stories

Idk if that's really a trope, but I'm always here for books that center friendship, alongside good family relationships and romances.

6. The mom friend

I am one, so I love to find them in my books.

7. The love interest has a secret identity

So like, any superhero story OR. Y'all should read the Rebel Mechanics trilogy. Just saying.

8. One character revealing their love for another when they think said other character is asleep (but not, like, telling the unconscious character cause that's a dumb cliche; I mean them telling a third character)

(I have a variation of this in the previously referenced WIP...)

9. The "hands go down" trope

i.e., when someone asks "any questions?" and everyone raises their hands, and then the aforementioned person is like "....that are NOT about such-and-such" and all the hands go down

10. Spin the bottle or Truth or Dare forcing two characters to kiss

*stares at The Start of Me and You* 

What are y'all's favorite tropes?

Rewind & Review #141

Created by Shae Has Left the Room.

~I've been working on a massive Taylor Swift song data project. It's been time-consuming and a little frustrating when charts won't cooperate how I want them to, but it's also been very cool.
~"Lover" (the song) is very good. 
~My wisdom teeth surgery has been scheduled, blech.

Books I Received for Review

Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibanez (from Page Street Kids)
Finding Mr-Better-Than-You by Shani Petroff (from Macmillan via Edelweiss)
Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz (from Entangled: Teen via Edelweiss)

Books I Bought

Technically, You Started It by Lana Wood Johnson
The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
Voracious by Cara Nicoletti

Books I Read

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith (reread)
The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg (3 stars)
More to the Story by Hena Khan
The Undoing of Thistle Tate by Katelyn Detweiler (2 stars)
Just Listen by Sarah Dessen (4 stars)
If I'm Being Honest by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (reread)
A Treason of Thorns by Laura E. Weymouth
The Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell (3 stars)
Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett (reread)

Blog Posts You Might've Missed in the Last Few Weeks

   (from 8/5-8/10)

• Review: Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim (4 stars)
• Top Ten Tuesday: Cover Designs I Liked or Disliked
• Eleven Retellings to Read After the Classics
• Random Friday: Songs of the Summer

   (from 8/11-8/17)

• Emma's Favorite Styles ATM
• Review: American Royals by Katharine McGee (3 stars)
• Review: The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais (4 stars)
• So You Like... #86

So You Like... #86

I've discovered I quite like doing music-inspired So You Like posts. I'll get right to the point this time, though. So you like...

KACEY MUSGRAVES.

You might like these books:

What album should I recommend books for next?

Review: The Silence Between Us

The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais
Grade: B
An e-galley was provided by Blink via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: Moving halfway across the country to Colorado right before senior year isn’t Maya’s idea of a good time. Leaving behind Pratt School for the Deaf where she’s been a student for years only to attend a hearing school is even worse. Maya has dreams of breaking into the medical field and is determined to get the grades and a college degree to match, and she’s never considered being Deaf a disability. But her teachers and classmates at Engelmann High don’t seem to share her optimism.

And then there’s Beau Watson, Engelmann’s student body president and overachiever. Maya suspects Beau’s got a hidden agenda when he starts learning ASL to converse with her, but she also can’t deny it’s nice to sign with someone amongst all the lip reading she has to do with her hearing teachers and classmates. Maya has always been told that Deaf/hearing relationships never work, and yet she can’t help but be drawn to Beau as they spend more and more time together.

But as much Maya and Beau genuinely start to feel for one another, there are unmistakable differences in their worlds. When Maya passes up a chance to receive a cochlear implant, Beau doesn’t understand why Maya wouldn’t want to hear again. Maya is hurt Beau would want her to be anything but who she is—she’s always been proud to be Deaf, something Beau won’t ever be able to understand. Maya has to figure out whether bridging that gap between the Deaf and hearing worlds will be worth it, or if staying true to herself matters more.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: As writers, readers, and publishing professionals continue to push for more diverse YA books, I always yearn for more stories with Deaf characters. I watched Switched at Birth for years, which really ignited my passion for sign language and Deaf culture. I appreciated that the author didn't try to "Anglicize" American Sign Language and how it's spoken. It was eye-opening, and although it took me a little to get used to, the way it was written felt second nature by the end of the book.
Maya is a character who has a lot of walls up, and it was interesting to see how little by little she let a few people in. Beau's plot line, though, was your typical "love interest doesn't want to follow his dad's dreams for him" fare. I appreciated how much effort he put into learning ASL, but beyond that, he wasn't my favorite character. And then the whole blow-up over his birthday present for Maya felt cliched and predictable and overdone.
I did like Maya's growing friendship with Nina! And Maya's family and learning about her struggle to find a job. So this wasn't a terrible book. I don't regret reading it. But it wasn't the best thing ever.

Content warnings: ableism

The Verdict: Good, but the ending was bleh.

Buy: Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble

Will I be adding this book to my library?: Hmm...probably not.

Review: American Royals

American Royals by Katharine McGee
Grade: B-
Release date: September 3, 2019
An e-galley was provided by Random House via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne. Like most royal families, the Washingtons have an heir and a spare. A future monarch and a backup battery. Each child knows exactly what is expected of them. But these aren't just any royals. They're American. And their country was born of rebellion.

As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America's first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling. Nobody cares about the spare except when she's breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn't care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her. And then there's Samantha's twin, Prince Jefferson. If he'd been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.

The duty. The intrigue. The Crown. New York Times bestselling author Katharine McGee imagines an alternate version of the modern world, one where the glittering age of monarchies has not yet faded--and where love is still powerful enough to change the course of history. 

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: I'm super into royal families. I have been for years. And I'm not just talking about the British Royal Family. I also follow the Scandinavian houses, other European families, and even some of the East/South Asian ones. So I was cautiously excited for American Royals. Of course the premise takes a little suspension of disbelief since we all know Washington didn't want to be king, and a bunch of colonists didn't want a king anymore.
But it's still fun to think about.
First and foremost, there were too many POVs. I really could've done without Daphne's because there was nothing redeeming about that girl. Her arc is weak and boring. I think limiting it to just Beatrice, Samantha, and Nina would've been fine. Beyond that, though, all of the three other girls felt a bit stiff. They felt like characters, not real people; relatedly, the plot sometimes felt a bit too much like what someone thinks a monarchy is. Also the whole pressure of Beatrice to marry, even though she's a girl, is a bit outdated. She's only 21, and it's 2019. I think the author could've done something revolutionary and created a country where that wasn't an issue, since she completely rewrote history.
There were a few historical anachronisms and issues that I don't think the author considered. She name-dropped teddy bears early on and didn't explain how they got their names in her fictional world til way too late (since they were named for Teddy Roosevelt in ours). Also I kept wondering about slavery and all the racial issues America has faced; they all seemed to be brushed under the rug, and I really would've liked to see how an America with a monarchy, one that likely didn't go through a Civil War, would've handled those. 
There are three/four romances in the book (two are love triangles of sorts). Nina and Daphne are both interested in Prince Jefferson, and I found him and Nina much more compelling, although they're the typical "commoner dates a prince" fare. Beatrice has a little "princess falls for a member of her security team" plotline, and I definitely shipped that, so the ending was super disappointing (and abrupt). Samantha's romance started on a too familiar foot, and then most of the book is her pining for the guy and pouting that she can't have him, so I felt kinda meh about that.
I really wanted more political stuff, as well as just showing what royal life can be like. There was a lot of repetition about paparazzi, so it felt more like the royals were celebrities than true royalty.

Content warnings: sexism, underage drinking, characters sleeping together

The Verdict: What the heck was that ending.

Buy: Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble

Will I be adding this book to my library?: No.

Emma's Favorite Styles ATM

Since I'm working at a fashion boutique right now, I thought it would be fun to talk about some of my favorite styles and trends at the moment.

COLORS

Mustard keeps fading in and out of style, but it's a nice earthy tone to match with blacks, browns, navy blues, and even some olive greens.

Rose pink is having a hey-day, as is rose gold. I got the prettiest rosy velvet skirt from Modcloth earlier this summer:

Simply Stylish Velvet Midi Skirt - $14.97

That's another thing - velvet - especially crushed velvet - is in again, and I am HERE FOR IT. I tried to get this gorgeous velvet midi-skirt romper for junior-senior over a year ago, but my mom said no, haha. But at least I got this skirt. There's just something so elegant and antique about velvet. But we're talking about colors.

I seem to favor navy blue, like, a lot. Blue is always in style, and if you go for navy, it's technically a neutral, so it's great for a work wardrobe.

STYLES

Rompers and jumpsuits are sticking around. Which is fine and all, but most do not look good on me. And the two rompers I do own shrunk in the wash even though I line-dried them. :( I just don't have the torso length for most rompers/jumpsuits. But props to those who can rock them.

I've really noticed that tie-front shirts are in this season, which isn't quite my thing. I like my shirts to be a little longer, or I like to tuck them into my skirts so a tie-front prevents that.

While cold-shoulder tops/dresses have started to fade from the scene, off-the-shoulder pieces are sticking around. I have a turquoise off-the-shoulder dress from Francesca's that I LOVE. (Mainly because I wore it to walk around the Met one day, and one of the live musicians at the balcony cafe complimented it.)

The 90s are definitely back in vogue. Everyone wants stone-washed denim, chokers, and scrunchies. I was barely alive for the 90s, and I wish we hadn't brought back most of those trends. 

I've discovered the joy of jeggings; most skinny jeans just feel too tight to me so I often went for a straight-leg denim, but I decided to try on some jeggings at Kohls last fall, and now they're all I want to wear. They feel like denim, but they're more like a proper skinny jean, yet I can move around in them. These are the most similar style-wise to what I have, but mine are a dark-wash more similar to these (but mine aren't high-rise). If Kohls gets more like mine again this fall, I'm definitely snagging another pair. I also wouldn't say to some in a nice burgundy color, like ones Taylor Swift wore a few years ago.

One of the staple pieces in my wardrobe is this dress:

H&M Sleeveless Jersey Dress - $9.99

I have it in five different colors and patterns, lol, and it's such an easy thing to dress down or dress up a little for work. I'm still searching for it in an elusive dark gray cotton-y fabric because I borrowed a similar dress from a friend in college on a couple occasions, but she didn't know where she'd gotten it, and she liked it enough that she wouldn't let me buy it from her, lol.

SHOES

So I tend to only get new shoes if I see something that really strikes my fancy, OR if one of my other pairs is falling apart. And even then, I favor sandals/flip-flops and boots. I hate the in-between seasons where it's too warm or cold for my preferred shoes and I have to wear flats or sneakers. So if I had my choice, I'd pretty much only ever wear ankle booties and sandals. I did get a couple new pairs over the last year. I got gladiator-esque sandals to go with a new romper, and I got a sleeker silhouette sandal that has a little bit of a block heel, just so I'd have another option to wear to work that hopefully wouldn't kill my feet. (I was gonna share those, but alas, Aldo seems to be sold out of them already.)

I will share these ankle booties from DSW that are super similar to a pair I own.

Bare Traps Rosslyn Bootie - $59.99

I actually might have to get a pair because I've worn mine so much that the heels are starting to wear. 

So what are your favorite styles at the moment? Do you have any staple pieces you've worn for years? How would you describe your style? Let's talk clothes! :)

Random Friday: Songs of the Summer

Want to participate in Random Fridays? Just do the following:

• Include the above image in your post and link back to my blog.
• Blog about this week's topic (or a variant of it).
• Add the link to your Random Friday post at the bottom of this one.

There are some songs that fit with specific seasons. And there are some that are so summery that they bring a little warmth in winter or are perfect for summer road trips. My choices are...


"Me!" by Taylor Swift
"Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus
"Lost" by Blake Rose
"Live While We're Young" by One Direction
"Waiting for Superman" by Daughtry
"Try Everything" by Shakira
"Shotgun Rider" by Tim McGraw
"Finally Free" by Niall Horan
"Africa" by Toto
"Run Away With Me" by Carly Rae Jepsen
"Rollercoaster" by the Jonas Brothers
"Dancing Queen" by ABBA
"Kokomo" by The Beach Boys
"Love Is a Wild Thing" by Kacey Musgraves


What are your perfect summer songs?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Eleven Retellings to Read After the Classics

Sometimes the classics we have to read for school are boring, or perhaps the language is too complicated to understand. That's why I'm a big fan of retellings; they get to the heart of the story and rework it in a great way. Here are some of my favorites.


1. Pride by Ibi Zoboi
(After Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen)


2. Not Now Not, Ever by Lily Anderson
(After The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde)


3. Speak Easy, Speak Love by McKelle George
OR

4. The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson
(After Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare)


5. My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
(After Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte)


6. I, Claudia by Mary McCoy
(After I, Claudius by Robert Graves)


7. A Thousand Beginnings and Endings by various authors
(After a variety of Asian folklore)


8. Hunted by Meagan Spooner
(After Beauty and the Beast)



9. If I'm Being Honest by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
(After The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare)



10 and 11. For Darkness Shows the Stars and Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund
(After Persuasion by Jane Austen and The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emma Orczy)


What are some of your favorite retellings?