Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Book Couples

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Some of my favorite books are the swooniest, and it's all thanks to the following couples.

1. Paige and Max from The Start of Me and You

2. Anne and Gilbert from the Anne of Green Gables series

3. Lily and Cade from P.S. I Like You

4. Claudia and Gideon from Foolish Hearts

5. Beatrice and Benedick/Benedict (in any Much Ado retelling but especially The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You and Speak Easy, Speak Love)

6. Kat and Hale from Heist Society

7. Inej and Kaz, and Nina and Matthias from the Six of Crows duology

8. Lucy and Henry from The Names They Gave Us

9. Molly and Reid from The Upside of Unrequited

10. Jess and Darcy from The Mother-Daughter Book Club series

[Listen, 13-year-old Emma was shipping them before a) they were even a thing, and b) she even knew what shipping was.]

Who are your favorite couples from books? What did you talk about today for Top Ten Tuesday?

So You Like... #65

It's the first So You Like... post of 2018! If you like a certain famous author, have I got recommendations for you. So you like...

JANE AUSTEN.

You should read...

What books would you recommend for fans of Jane Austen? Any fantasy or historical fiction suggestions? And are there any other topics you'd like to see me cover in So You Like... posts?

DNF Review: Down and Across

Down and Across by Arvin Ahmadi
Grade: DNF
An e-galley was provided by Penguin First to Read in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: Scott Ferdowsi has a track record of quitting. Writing the Great American Novel? Three chapters. His summer internship? One week. His best friends know exactly what they want to do with the rest of their lives, but Scott can hardly commit to a breakfast cereal, let alone a passion.

With college applications looming, Scott's parents pressure him to get serious and settle on a career path like engineering or medicine. Desperate for help, he sneaks off to Washington, DC, to seek guidance from a famous professor who specializes in grit, the psychology of success.

He never expects an adventure to unfold out of what was supposed to be a one-day visit. But that's what Scott gets when he meets Fiora Buchanan, a ballsy college student whose life ambition is to write crossword puzzles. When the bicycle she lends him gets Scott into a high-speed chase, he knows he's in for the ride of his life. Soon, Scott finds himself sneaking into bars, attempting to pick up girls at the National Zoo, and even giving the crossword thing a try--all while opening his eyes to fundamental truths about who he is and who he wants to be.


When did I stop reading?: 25% of the way through, at chapter 8.
Why I did not finish this book: I'd been feeling a bit unsettled with the book for several chapters, but I tried to give it a chance. Finally, I couldn't deal with it anymore. Fiora is such a manic pixie dream girl that it's ridiculous. She keeps popping up in Scott's life and leading him on wild adventures, and I felt like my eyebrow was constantly raised when she was on-page. 
I think Scott's journey could've been way more interesting if there wasn't a girl involved. And if his friends back home were more important or the people he was meeting proved more interesting and well-rounded, then I might've been able to stick with the story.
This one's definitely a book to skip, y'all.

Review: Love & Gelato

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
Grade: C+
Summary: Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.

But then she is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything she knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.

People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: When Love & Gelato hit the NYT Bestseller List in 2016, I was surprised. The lead-up to its release was quiet, amidst big books like ACOMAF and The Unexpected Everything. It was on my radar, thanks to my book blogger habits, and I got a copy release week, but I expected it to slip by most people's notice. It didn't. It took me several weeks to read it, but when I did, I admit I didn't get why so many people had loved it. So I finally reread my copy, over a year later, wondering if I just hadn't been in the mood for it then. Unfortunately, my opinion holds true.
I didn't hate Love & Gelato by any means. It just left a lot to be desired. I thought the premise was good with Lina, her mother, and Howard. However, it never felt quite fully formed. Howard was a great character but there was a tiny something missing from his character or his relationship with Lina that I can't name. The introduction to Ren is a little rough, and his mom and little sister appeared and then didn't really have an on-page presence after that. That whole scene felt unpolished to me. And honestly, Lina and Ren's story would have been 100% better if their other potential love interests weren't involved at all.
I think the journal entries could have been written in a more interesting way. They're presented in giant clumps, which wore on me a bit. But Hadley's (Lina's mom) story was a compelling one, and I appreciated that Lina was trying to understand her mom a little better.
A little foul language. Some kissing (including a guy forcing himself on Lina).

The Verdict: There still managed to be something at the heart of this story that kept me from hating it. I didn't love it, either, though.

Buy: Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble

Will I be adding this book to my library?: I already own a copy.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My TBR List the Longest

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

I had to modify this week's topic a little, because I've gotten better at reading books once they've been on my TBR list for a while (although I do still have a few from 2014). Some of these are not yet published, so that's partially why I haven't had the chance to read them. But hopefully I can read them soon!

1. When I Wake by Elizabeth Norris (Feb. 15, 2014)

Pub date is now unknown, so I'm not sure I'll ever get to read this book.

2. Heist Society #4 by Ally Carter (May 27, 2014)

Ally has said she'd like to write a fourth Heist Society book, although one isn't officially in the works. Still, if it has a Goodreads page, I'm gonna add it to my TBR. I've been waiting for this book since I read Perfect Scoundrels.

3. My So-Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma (Sep. 26, 2014)

This poor book has had its release date moved two or three times, and it was originally one of my Seventeen 2017 Reads, but at least it's officially releasing in May.

4. Return Once More by Trisha Leigh (Sep. 30, 2014)

5. Throne of Glass #7 by Sarah J. Maas (Dec. 28, 2014)

I've been waiting two years for this book since, you know, Tower of Dawn was just supposed to be a novella. But it's on my TBR even longer since I added it at some point after reading Heir of Fire.

6. Weaving a Net is Better Than Praying for Fish by Ki-Wing Merlin (April 12, 2015)

This was one of my Sixteen 2016 Reads, and now it's finally being published this fall.

7. Unearthed by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (April 29, 2015)

8. Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery (May 28, 2015)

9. When Light Left Us by Leah Thomas (June 7, 2015)

10. Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed (June 23, 2015)

What books have been on your TBR list the longest?

Around the World Book Recommendations #2

Like I said in the previous post of this series, I had way too many cities to feature all at once. So I've got three more cities for y'all today.

NEW YORK

You should read...

CHICAGO

You should read...

ROME

You should read...

Do you agree with my choices? Any other books you would recommend?

Random Friday: Favorite Book Covers That Are Green

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.

This week, I made the topic a little more open than my usual book topics, so y'all are welcome to talk about whatever color you want! I chose green because I've gotten very attached to the color lately, thanks to my Hogwarts house. Here's some YA book covers that are, at least, partially green.

A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

Splintered by A.G. Howard

Do you have any favorite green book covers? Or what color would you choose for today's topic?

Review: American Panda

American Panda by Gloria Chao
Grade: B
Release date: February 6, 2018
An e-galley was provided by Simon & Schuster via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: At seventeen, Mei should be in high school, but skipping fourth grade was part of her parents' master plan. Now a freshman at MIT, she is on track to fulfill the rest of this predetermined future: become a doctor, marry a preapproved Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer, produce a litter of babies.

With everything her parents have sacrificed to make her cushy life a reality, Mei can't bring herself to tell them the truth--that she (1) hates germs, (2) falls asleep in biology lectures, and (3) has a crush on her classmate Darren Takahashi, who is decidedly not Taiwanese.

But when Mei reconnects with her brother, Xing, who is estranged from the family for dating the wrong woman, Mei starts to wonder if all the secrets are truly worth it. Can she find a way to be herself, whoever that is, before her web of lies unravels?

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: I took Intro to Lit my freshman year of college, and one thing that stuck with me was the list of reasons my professor believed we as humans read. One of those reasons was "to live experiences different than our own." Reading American Panda was like living in another world for me, but in a good way.
As much as I love finding kindred spirits in books, there's something good about reading the points-of-view of characters like Mei. It helps me (and other readers) understand others better. I couldn't imagine living Mei's life, but her story fascinated me. I liked that it was set at college, since I think more YA stories should have college freshmen and sophomores. I also enjoyed the storyline with Xing, Mei's brother, and I appreciated how things started to change with their mother. I also liked the moment when Mei went to visit her friend at Dartmouth.
I would've liked a few more dancing scenes, I think. The stuff in the Porter Room felt a bit disjointed, so if that was smoothed out, maybe that would be what I want. I also didn't love the romance.
And this is a little nitpicky, but I felt like Mei's vision was inconsistent. Like sometimes I felt like she could see things that didn't add up with her previous statements about how limited her vision was.
There were a few gross-out medical moments for me (I'm pretty sensitive to those things, although I'm not a germaphobe like Mei). There's a fair amount of foul language. I'm pretty sure making out was as far as it went on page.

The Verdict: American Panda was good, just not quite what I wanted it to be.

Buy: Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble

Will I be adding this book to my library?: To be decided.