July EstellaGram :: Week Three

July is almost gone! Yikes! But I do like August. There's a special day that happens near the end that I always look forward to. ;) So here I am with week three of my EstellaGram pictures. (Week one here and week two here.) I've really enjoyed the challenge of finding books to fit each day's theme! I hope you've been enjoying getting a glimpse at my eclectic bookshelves.

Which leads to my question for you! Yes, I have a question for you. Are you enjoying seeing my bookish pictures? I'm trying to decide if I should attempt a second month or not. So I'm hoping y'all will help me out. Yea or nay for instagramming my bookishness for the month of August? Come on. Just a quick yes or no is all I need! Pretty please? With chocolate on top? Thank you bunches!! :D

Now on to the pictures:

Day 15 - Novella

{Love getting to read from Lia's perspective! Excellent series.}

Day 16 - Tweet

{Screenshot of my excitement over Barefoot Summer! I had it all pretty with Instagram but couldn't find it, and it was too much trouble to figure it all out. So this is what you get.}

Day 17 - Sharp

{This series is so cute and funny!}

Day 18 - Penguin

{YES, I know it's not a penguin. But I couldn't find a penguin (or even a book published by Penguin). So I used a bird. Chickens and penguins are both birds, aren't they? Kind of anyway? Besides, that's a cute cover and you know it.}

Day 19 - Meaningful

{This book. Oh my goodness this book! It is beyond amazing!! Everyone should read it. It is simply that good.}

Day 20 - Dense

{Dense things do not float, yes?}

Day 21 - Readalong

{I was going to read this one with a group, but I still haven't even read the first chapter. :/ I've heard great things about it though! Does that count for anything?}

Review: Spies and Prejudice by Talia Vance

Goodreads :: Amazon

Fields’ Rule #1: Don’t fall for the enemy.

Berry Fields is not looking for a boyfriend. She’s busy trailing cheaters and liars in her job as a private investigator, collecting evidence of the affairs she’s sure all men commit. And thanks to a pepper spray incident during an eighth grade game of spin the bottle, the guys at her school are not exactly lining up to date her, either.

So when arrogant—and gorgeous—Tanner Halston rolls into town and calls her “nothing amazing,” it’s no loss for Berry. She’ll forget him in no time. She’s more concerned with the questions surfacing about her mother’s death.

But why does Tanner seem to pop up everywhere in her investigation, always getting in her way? Is he trying to stop her from discovering the truth, or protecting her from an unknown threat? And why can’t Berry remember to hate him when he looks into her eyes? 

As any regular reader knows, I am a big fan of Jane Austen and have read several sequels and re-tellings. So when I heard about this one a few months ago, I was eagerly awaiting my chance to read it! I pulled it up on my Kindle screen, started in, and realized pretty quickly that it was going to be a fast-paced ride with rapid-fire conversations and never a dull moment. It wasn't as awesome as I was hoping, but that's not to say I didn't like it. Because I did enjoy myself! Very much. :)

First and foremost? Berry is pretty awesome. Raised by her father, she's integrated herself into his private eye world because there was no other choice really. What else does a man do with his only child when he's going to be away from home all kinds of hours of the day and night? If your answer is 'find a baby-sitter', then sit back down! Because of course he's not going to do that. ;) Thus she tags along and learns the ropes pretty quickly, so that by the time she's a teen, she can handle herself very well on stakeouts and also has a healthy dose of cynicism about men and relationships. She talks (and thinks!) a mile a minute. She's always trying to plan ahead and figure out what the other person is going to do. She's agile and small, which comes in handy when tailing someone. Basically, she's excellent at her "job" and only has two good friends, Mary Chris and Jason. Mary Chris is sweet and smart, with the ability to build all kinds of great spy gadgets for Berry to use. The gadgets are cool! I can definitely admit that. ;) And Jason is the requisite good guy friend.

Then enters Tanner and Drew. These two boys cause lots of mayhem and chaos in Berry's life. They refuse to leave her alone and she's not entirely sure which one she'd like to keep the closest. (Although she'd very adamantly deny she wants to be close to either one!) The reader can figure out fairly easily who is "Darcy" and who is "Wickham" in this scenario. But we have to wait for Berry to figure this part out. All the little nods to Pride and Prejudice were fun! Ms. Vance did a great job of using the merest outline of the original and setting up her own storyline, then letting the characters have loads of fun the rest of the time. The snarky comments, the action sequences, the mystery always just on the other side of what clues Berry digs up, it's all an entertaining ride.

What didn't work so well for me? Basically, this is the type of story where you have to shut your brain off and just go with the flow. Because reality is nowhere near this town. Normally this is not a problem for me. I like to be entertained! :D But the conversations run so briskly that I couldn't keep up with the transitions of emotions the characters had. I decided they were telling me things without showing me. I wanted more proof that they really felt certain ways or were happy with their own decisions. Not just them saying at the end of the conversation that they would agree with thus and so without any build up of how they were persuaded to agree. Also the pacing felt slightly off. It wasn't easy to connect with any of the characters.

Regardless of some disappointment, I had a great time reading this story! I did not realize that it's possibly going to be part of a series. At least that ending made it seem that way. Not any big cliffhangers or anything, don't worry! But there were several unanswered questions. I'd be interested to see where Ms. Vance can take Berry and the gang in the future. :) Read this one for the diverting entertainment, unique characters, and simply lots of fun! (And isn't that cover awesome?!)

"I know who you are."
"You do?"
He shakes his head, like I've just said something stupid. "Pretty girl with an attitude and a reputation for beating guys up? You might be the one person in this school I don't mind meeting."
My face gets warm. "For the record, I haven't beat anyone up since the sixth grade, and that was only because Mark Holberg hit on my best friend." I don't mention the fact that I got kicked out of my dojo as a result. I never understood that one. What was the point of teaching someone how to take out a knee if you weren't actually allowed to do it?

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Endings in Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week is a new topic/discussion that focuses on the bookish side of things.

Top Ten Favorite Beginnings/Endings In Books (talk about books that started or ended just perfectly or with a bang OR you could do specific opening lines or last lines -- however you want to do it!)

 
I haven't ever joined in with this meme before, but I thought this topic sounded like fun. So here I am! And here is my list of books with excellent endings:

1. The Last Battle ~ C.S. Lewis - "All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before." - An excellent ending to an excellent series!

2. Persuasion ~ Jane Austen - "I can listen no longer in silence...You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope." - Such a beautiful letter that precedes such a beautiful scene!

3. Mending Places ~ Denise Hunter - "It won't be easy, this relationship...we'll have things to deal with. I know. There'll be pain and fear and guilt and- Forgiveness. Yes. Forgiveness. It's a good start." - A hard-won forgiveness that mends a tattered relationship and gives them the courage to continue on. An awe-inspiring moment!

4. The Thief ~ Megan Whalen Turner - A surprising ending (that I refuse to spoil, sorry) which turned what I thought was a mediocre read into an awesome read! Which then leads to three more awesome stories! (And more besides hopefully.)

5. Wounded Healer ~ Donna Fleisher - "Chris didn't know how to give hugs. Or how to receive them. She never had. But she learned quickly. She simply did what Erin did and held on. Closing her eyes, for that moment, she felt more alive than she had ever felt in her life." - Once you read Chris' story, you will see what a huge milestone that small moment really is!

6. Daddy-Long-Legs ~ Jean Webster - "Doesn't it seem queer for me to belong to some one at last? It seems very, very sweet. And I shall never let you be sorry for a single instant." - Ah Judy. Such a wonderful end to her story. You knew I'd include this one, didn't you? After all my ruminations on how it's my favorite book?

7. There You'll Find Me ~ Jenny B. Jones - "Hold on to it, Finley." Beckett reaches for my string. But it's too late. I let it go." - She's on her way forward again instead of stuck on one place. A significant moment for Finley!

8. The Truth About Forever ~ Sarah Dessen - "But there was only one truth about forever that really mattered, and that was this: it was happening. Right then, as I ran with Wes into that bright sun, and every moment afterwards. Look, there. Now. Now. Now." - I love this story! Macy struggles through so much of it and that finally clarity is wonderful.

9. My Hands Came Away Red ~ Lisa McKay - "There's not going to be a neat point when I can type the last word, hit save, and proclaim, "It's complete."......I can't really have either extreme though....I'm working on a new normal." - That new normal was a formidable and painful journey to reach. But what an incredible story they have to tell!

10. Barefoot Summer ~ Denise Hunter - "Home. That's what it was. It felt like home." - My newest favorite book! Rereading my favorite parts feels like home to me. I love Beckett and Madison's happy ending!

What are some of your favorite endings?

Review: A Room With A View by E.M. Forster

Goodreads :: Amazon

This Edwardian social comedy explores love and prim propriety among an eccentric cast of characters assembled in an Italian pensione and in a corner of Surrey, England.

A charming young Englishwoman, Lucy Honeychurch, faints into the arms of a fellow Britisher when she witnesses a murder in a Florentine piazza. Attracted to this man, George Emerson—who is entirely unsuitable and whose father just may be a Socialist—Lucy is soon at war with the snobbery of her class and her own conflicting desires. Back in England, she is courted by a more acceptable, if stifling, suitor and soon realizes she must make a startling decision that will decide the course of her future: she is forced to choose between convention and passion.

The enduring delight of this tale of romantic intrigue is rooted in Forster’s colorful characters, including outrageous spinsters, pompous clergymen, and outspoken patriots.

I was convinced to try this one by a lovely review from Hamlette several months ago. I am so happy I picked it up! Oh my goodness, the things these characters will think and say! I actually read this very slowly because I was reading it aloud to some others. And let me tell you, it is nearly impossible to read this story out loud without having to stop and giggle every few pages! For being published in 1908, the absurdities of these characters can most definitely be related to and enjoyed today.

Lucy herself is wonderful. She is young and confused and still trying to figure out who she is and what she wants from life. She thinks she knows it one moment and then something will happen or someone will say something and she realizes that maybe she wasn't so sure after all. What person, when they're in their late teens and early twenties, knows exactly what they want out of life? Very few, I'd wager. And her dissatisfaction with even the things she did enjoy (like her piano playing) made a lot of sense to me. So much sense that, like her, I can't explain why. The feelings of frustration at oneself but unable to figure out why or what to do about it? I have totally been there.

So Lucy is great. We see most everything from her perspective, so I'd say this is mainly her story. But Mr. Forster likes to switch POV in the middle of scenes unexpectedly. So we get to hear from the side characters also! This may sound strange or off-putting, but trust me it works. And those side characters? They are a hoot and a half! Miss Lavish, cousin Charlotte, Mr. Beebe, the Misses Alan, Mrs. Honeychurch, Freddy, too many to name them all. Lucy's observations of each one of these characters, and even the small moments we might get in a few of their heads, gracious! There aren't really words to describe how funny and nonsensical they are, with their quirks and ideas and whatnot. The characters, on the whole, are what make this story so much fun!

Then you have Cecil and George, the two men vying for Lucy's affections. Both extreme opposites if there ever was! And poor Lucy has quite a time of it between the two of them. George is pretty reticent, so we don't hear from him as much. But he's never far from people's (and by people I mean Lucy ;) minds. And Cecil! He's an intriguing sort. The reader is never sure exactly where to place him. Or at least I wasn't. By turns ridiculous and sassy and awful and nice, he's a hard man to pin down. For that matter, George isn't really any easier though. He says so very little that you have to read between the lines with him. These two men make for lots of confusion for Lucy and lots of humorous moments for us! :D

Mr. Forster has a unique way of writing. As I said above, he likes to switch POV often, and he has a tendency to ramble on during certain passages. I confess to a few moments of skimming the pages because there was a little too much time spent on one thought of description. But those were very minor moments, which did not lessen my happiness with the story. Also of note, it may seem like a romance, which it is, but Mr. Forster also uses his time to point out the absurdities of these people and the kinds of lives they were living. The romance doesn't really become much of the focus until the second half.

So basically, all that was a really long-winded way of saying that I loved this story! I never knew quite what to expect the characters to say or do and I laughed through so many scenes. The offbeat yet hilarious characters will definitely have me returning for visits. If you get the chance, I recommend reading it! So much fun awaits you. :)

"It is fate that I am here," George persisted, "but you can call it Italy if it makes you less unhappy."

On the cornice of the wardrobe, the hand of an amateur had painted this inscription: Mistrust all enterprises that require new clothes.

"Take an old man's word; there's nothing worse than a muddle in all the world. It is easy to face Death and Fate, and the things that sound so dreadful. It is on my muddles that I look back with horror - on the things that I might have avoided. We can help one another but little. I used to think I could teach young people the whole of life, but I know better now, and all my teaching of George has come down to this: beware of muddle."

Conversation was tedious; she wanted something big, and she believed that it would have come to her on the windswept platform of an electric tram.

Happy Charlotte, who, though greatly troubled over things that did not matter, seemed oblivious to things that did...

"A smell! A true Florentine smell! Every city, let me teach you, has its own smell!" 
"Is it a very nice smell?" said Lucy, who had inherited from her mother a distaste to dirt.
"One doesn't come to Italy for niceness," was the retort; "one comes for life."

I want you to have your own thoughts even when I hold you in my arms....