Sydney Reads and Reads: July
Oh hi there! I know it's early September, but I'm finally here with my July reads! Since I'm already so behind, let's just dive on in!
When Anne Bogel put out her 2019 Summer Reading Guide, and I saw there was a new Romance coming out called Waiting for Tom Hanks, I knew this was going to be a book for me. Kerry Winfrey's debut novel introduces us to Annie Cassidy, a rom-com loving, Nora Ephron obsessed aspiring screenwriter living in Ohio just waiting for her own Tom Hanks to sweep her off her feet. When a feature film starts shooting in her neighborhood and Annie lands a job as the directors assistant she just knows this is a sign her own real-life rom-com is about to begin. Or is it?
I spent Fourth of July weekend on my mom's dock positively devouring the pages of this book. It's delightful take on romantic comedy tropes and constant nods to some of my favorites in the genre (You've Got Mail, duh), made it easy to fall in love with these characters. Though the premise is light and breezy, it also made me think about how much the media we consume (or obsess over) influences our perceptions of real-life and what real relationships should look like. Waiting for Tom Hanks would make for the perfect vacation read, or (because I'm publishing this so late) light back to school fair. Get yourself a bunch of daisies and a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils and you'll be set!
Continuing on with July's theme of Contemporary Romances, I used my hoopla app this month to listen to both The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test by Helen Hoang.
The Kiss Quotient follows Stella Lane, algorithm extraordinaire, as she seeks to overcome her discomfort with physical intimacy as a barrier to her dating life. Enter Michael Phan, a heartthrob of an escort in rather desperate need of money. The two enter into a no-nonsense, no feelings, agreement which leaves Stella throwing logic to the side, and both she and Michael breaking down more walls than they would have thought.
The Bride Test introduces us to Michael's cousin Khai Diep who avoids relationships at all costs, convinced he is incapable of having real feelings. To prove him wrong, his mother returns to Vietnam to find him a bride, coming home with Esme Tran. A mixed-race girl looking for a better life and her long lost American father. Though both Khai and Esme enter into an agreement for their own unique reasons, they soon find that there may be more appeal to this love stuff than they originally planned.
What I haven't mentioned about either of these books is both the characters of Stella Lane and Khai Diep are on the Autism spectrum. Hoang's ability to get inside these character's heads and explore the complicated nature of their minds and emotions was refreshing. Hoang effortlessly shows her readers that though their emotional processes may function differently, those on the spectrum possess the same insecurities and fears about life and relationships as the rest of us. As someone who's driving force behind my reading is motivated by a need to empathize with other people's stories, the representation of autistic characters in these books may be my favorite part about the series, and I will definitely be tuning in to book three!
It's not often here in mid-Missouri that we get the opportunity to meet or hear from famous authors, so when I saw Tan France, from Netflix's Queer Eye, was stopping in St. Louis on his book tour I jumped at the opportunity to go. It was such a fun experience. Tan was funny, engaging, and showed sides of his personality I'd not seen on TV. As with most celebrity memoirs, Naturally Tan, touches on Tan's childhood, school years, coming into his sexuality, discovering his passion for fashion, and the relationships that have made him who he is today.
What sets Naturally Tan apart, however, is the voice. From page one, you know that it is Tan speaking to you and it feels as if you were having a chatty conversation over coffee. Delightful. It's also very clear in the book the importance Tan feels as a person of color, especially a South Asian person, to be a roll model, an example, an individual. To show other kids and adults like him that their stories can be just as important and diverse and white people and other, more represented races in pop culture.
When an explosion at the Yoo's Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) facility in rural Virginia kills a patient and caregiver no one is sure what really happened, and everyone has something to hide. Chock-full of deeply unreliable narrators Miracle Creek, by Angie Kim, takes you into the courtroom battle between an immigrant family and a single mother accused of killing her autistic son and close friend. Miracle Creek kept my suspicions up and my mind working, never sure who to trust. Beyond the courtroom drama, Kim paints heartbreakingly personal and relatable stories about how far we'll go to protect the ones we love and examine the true power of a white lie.
August marks the release of local author Laura McHugh's third novel The Wolf Wants In, so I thought it was about time I go back and read her first, The Weight of Blood. The story is propelled by sixteen-year-old Lucy Dane as she tries to uncover the truth about a childhood friend's murder. If that weren't tricky enough, what Lucy finds leads her to some startling revelations behind her mother's mysterious disappearance just after her first birthday. All causing her to question her allegiances and everything she knows to be true. The Weight of Blood was a great read and the perfect choice to take with me on a recent trip to Colorado. I was drawn in quickly and kept guessing as the story continued to twist and turn. Being from Missouri and spending some time in the Ozarks myself, McHugh's setting of Henbane, Missouri came right to life for me. From the sudden storm causing Lucy to run for the root cellar, to the smothering humid heat, I felt like I was part of the story rather than just reading it. If you, like me, are starting to get the itch for spooky fall books this would be a great place to start!
See any titles you like? Let me know in the comments. I'll be back with an August round up soon! - xo Sydney
When Anne Bogel put out her 2019 Summer Reading Guide, and I saw there was a new Romance coming out called Waiting for Tom Hanks, I knew this was going to be a book for me. Kerry Winfrey's debut novel introduces us to Annie Cassidy, a rom-com loving, Nora Ephron obsessed aspiring screenwriter living in Ohio just waiting for her own Tom Hanks to sweep her off her feet. When a feature film starts shooting in her neighborhood and Annie lands a job as the directors assistant she just knows this is a sign her own real-life rom-com is about to begin. Or is it?
I spent Fourth of July weekend on my mom's dock positively devouring the pages of this book. It's delightful take on romantic comedy tropes and constant nods to some of my favorites in the genre (You've Got Mail, duh), made it easy to fall in love with these characters. Though the premise is light and breezy, it also made me think about how much the media we consume (or obsess over) influences our perceptions of real-life and what real relationships should look like. Waiting for Tom Hanks would make for the perfect vacation read, or (because I'm publishing this so late) light back to school fair. Get yourself a bunch of daisies and a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils and you'll be set!
Continuing on with July's theme of Contemporary Romances, I used my hoopla app this month to listen to both The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test by Helen Hoang.
The Kiss Quotient follows Stella Lane, algorithm extraordinaire, as she seeks to overcome her discomfort with physical intimacy as a barrier to her dating life. Enter Michael Phan, a heartthrob of an escort in rather desperate need of money. The two enter into a no-nonsense, no feelings, agreement which leaves Stella throwing logic to the side, and both she and Michael breaking down more walls than they would have thought.
The Bride Test introduces us to Michael's cousin Khai Diep who avoids relationships at all costs, convinced he is incapable of having real feelings. To prove him wrong, his mother returns to Vietnam to find him a bride, coming home with Esme Tran. A mixed-race girl looking for a better life and her long lost American father. Though both Khai and Esme enter into an agreement for their own unique reasons, they soon find that there may be more appeal to this love stuff than they originally planned.
What I haven't mentioned about either of these books is both the characters of Stella Lane and Khai Diep are on the Autism spectrum. Hoang's ability to get inside these character's heads and explore the complicated nature of their minds and emotions was refreshing. Hoang effortlessly shows her readers that though their emotional processes may function differently, those on the spectrum possess the same insecurities and fears about life and relationships as the rest of us. As someone who's driving force behind my reading is motivated by a need to empathize with other people's stories, the representation of autistic characters in these books may be my favorite part about the series, and I will definitely be tuning in to book three!
It's not often here in mid-Missouri that we get the opportunity to meet or hear from famous authors, so when I saw Tan France, from Netflix's Queer Eye, was stopping in St. Louis on his book tour I jumped at the opportunity to go. It was such a fun experience. Tan was funny, engaging, and showed sides of his personality I'd not seen on TV. As with most celebrity memoirs, Naturally Tan, touches on Tan's childhood, school years, coming into his sexuality, discovering his passion for fashion, and the relationships that have made him who he is today.
What sets Naturally Tan apart, however, is the voice. From page one, you know that it is Tan speaking to you and it feels as if you were having a chatty conversation over coffee. Delightful. It's also very clear in the book the importance Tan feels as a person of color, especially a South Asian person, to be a roll model, an example, an individual. To show other kids and adults like him that their stories can be just as important and diverse and white people and other, more represented races in pop culture.
When an explosion at the Yoo's Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) facility in rural Virginia kills a patient and caregiver no one is sure what really happened, and everyone has something to hide. Chock-full of deeply unreliable narrators Miracle Creek, by Angie Kim, takes you into the courtroom battle between an immigrant family and a single mother accused of killing her autistic son and close friend. Miracle Creek kept my suspicions up and my mind working, never sure who to trust. Beyond the courtroom drama, Kim paints heartbreakingly personal and relatable stories about how far we'll go to protect the ones we love and examine the true power of a white lie.
August marks the release of local author Laura McHugh's third novel The Wolf Wants In, so I thought it was about time I go back and read her first, The Weight of Blood. The story is propelled by sixteen-year-old Lucy Dane as she tries to uncover the truth about a childhood friend's murder. If that weren't tricky enough, what Lucy finds leads her to some startling revelations behind her mother's mysterious disappearance just after her first birthday. All causing her to question her allegiances and everything she knows to be true. The Weight of Blood was a great read and the perfect choice to take with me on a recent trip to Colorado. I was drawn in quickly and kept guessing as the story continued to twist and turn. Being from Missouri and spending some time in the Ozarks myself, McHugh's setting of Henbane, Missouri came right to life for me. From the sudden storm causing Lucy to run for the root cellar, to the smothering humid heat, I felt like I was part of the story rather than just reading it. If you, like me, are starting to get the itch for spooky fall books this would be a great place to start!
See any titles you like? Let me know in the comments. I'll be back with an August round up soon! - xo Sydney
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