Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Thank you to all those who had a few kind words for my slipping sanity last night.  This last grading period had me ready to run screaming for the hills (so to say). Thankfully, the grading is in, and I'm feeling like a new woman!

So, I know you're saying, "Wait, didn't she go out of the country not too long ago?  Isn't that why she's stressed out?"  Why, yes.  That's true.  In fact, I packed essays with me and did my online job while I was away, so I can't say that I got off the hook completely.  That's all behind me now, and I'm thankful that on one of my flights home I had the chance to read Lola and the Boy Next Door, by Stephanie Perkins.  I LOVED Anna and the French Kiss, so I was pretty eager to read Stephanie's newest book.  I was not disappointed.

Synopsis:  Lola is a girl all in her own style, personality, and right.  Raised by two loving gay fathers in San Francisco, Lola was off to her senior year with a hot Rock n' Roll boyfriend and the quirkiest, yet most unique style around.  Although mature beyond many of her school friends, Lola was brought back to reality when her first love/crush/best boy friend moved back into the house next door.  With him came a flood of memories, one being the time she felt most rejected by him.  Not only did she feel rejected, but he had also stomped on whatever romantic feelings she had blossoming within her at the time.  Thankfully, this time around she was bolstered by her new relationship with the hot, older rocker.  Besides, the boy next door was just that, a too sweet boy from next door that never worked out.  But, is that ever really the case?

Review:  First off, let it be known that I love the reality that somehow makes its way into these teen novels by Stephanie Perkins.  No matter how far from what I know for the teens around me, her characters feel real, vulnerable, and engaging.  In short, these teens are people you wish you were friends with and had hung out with when you were in high school.  In that way, they aren't that unrealistic, but they lend their hearts to you so you can understand their reactions, hopes, and desires.  I love that about these characters.

Not really taking off where the wildly popular Anna and the French Kiss left off, but still including our much loved Etienne and Anna, we have what feels like an extension piece that adds another story to the pot.  In this case, we have the fashionista, Lola, who first steals our heart with her own back story behind how she came to be adopted by her two dads.  It doesn't take long though to also love that slightly awkward boy next door, Cricket, who wears his heart on his sleeve in so many ways.  We want to hang onto Max, but what is it about rockers always putting their "craft" first, thus leaving any chance for real connections to a day in the future?

I really liked Lola, Cricket, and even Max (at least in the beginning).  Lola seems just in her reasons for not wanting to let that next door neighbor boy back into her life.  She wants to do what is right for all involved, but how in the world can you do that when you don't even know what that "right" thing is to begin with?  This seems to be at the crux of all Lola goes through in this novel.  What is right in romantic love?  What is right in parental love?  What is right in friendship?  What is right for happiness?

In short, I loved this second installment by Perkins.  She has a wonderful knack of creating characters that you want to walk around with for awhile, and hate to set aside when the book is finished.  In all of their individual quirks and weaknesses, we love them all the more.  And in this case, Lola and the Boy Next Door has enough romantic tension to keep anyone flipping pages until the book is finished.  Where some romantic teen novels have romance, Perkins creates crazy-real tension; tension that anyone who has ever loved someone but not been handed them on a romantic platter will readily understand.  The misunderstandings and sappy sentimentalities are so understandable that we all fall in love with Lola and want to see her truly and undeniably happy. 

If you haven't read a Stephanie Perkins novel, you really must.  The judge is still out on which book I liked better, but I think Anna won out, but only because of my own whole recent Paris trip.  Honestly, these books are so strongly character driven that you will instantly see parts of yourself in them.  In some way, you'll see yourself resolving teenage relationships that probably took you way too many years in your own real life.  In short, Lola and the Boy Next Door is a great read that will easily capture the love of many readers who either see themselves in these characters, or wish they had been them at a much earlier age.


*FTC Disclosure:  This review is based on a library copy of the novel.

Late Night Sunday Blatherings

There should be some rule against cranky blogging.  Here it is.  Sunday at 10 pm and I'm just finishing the last of the grades I needed to post for school, the grades I needed to finish for my online job, and a rambling post on the discussion board for the class I'm taking.  I feel like I need to play that song, "Mama Said There'd be Days Like This" or something.  The good news is, that I survived our first grading term (barely), and can now try to eek out some time for myself in the coming weeks.

Thanks to a partial weight now being lifted from my shoulders, I can report that I did have a meltdown yesterday and sat down with Sharon Lathan's book Miss Darcy Falls in Love, in which I only meant to read a chapter or two. I finished it a couple of hours later.  I suppose that my late night blathering is the payback I get for getting sucked into the first book I made time for  in over a week?  Okay.  That's an okay payback I suppose!  I should have known that I couldn't sit down with one of Sharon's books and "just read a chapter or two."  That's just not possible for me when it comes to her books.  Miss Darcy Falls in Love comes out on Tuesday, and I have to say that I really loved it.  In a couple of weeks I'll have the great opportunity to have Sharon Lathan on my blog.  I'm a big fan of her writing, so I'm always excited to read her books and to simply get a chance to visit with her. 

Besides my time out, meltdown read yesterday, not much has been going on in the reading department.  I anticipate that I'll be having a bit of a secondary meltdown and will be reading like crazy this week to make up for its absence.  In fact, maybe that's what I'll do tomorrow night as I turn out the lights early to avoid trick or treaters.  I know.  What a mean person, right?  Honestly, I don't get many Halloween visitors, so I didn't even buy any candy this year and will be calling it an early night tomorrow.  Anyway, here's what I'm finishing, or getting ready to read:

Edited by the lovely Laurel Ann Nattress of Austenprose.  I'm almost finished with this one, and so excited to be highlighting it later on this week!

This is one I need to finish for book club next week.  It looks really good, so I'm excited to get started!

I can't tell you how long I've been wanting to get to this book!  I'm excited that I can revisit France through this book and am really eager to jump right in.

Well, I'm feeling better already, just knowing that this post came AFTER all that hideous school work was completed.  After a little sleep tonight, hopefully I'll be back to my normal self!  Still slightly stressed out, but much more normal than I've been this past week!

Double Review: Two NetGalley Novellas

Quite awhile ago, I joined Netgalley, but then lost sight of what it was all about and let it go.  Sadly, I think that I found it too tricky with my Kindle to figure out how or if I could download books and what my responsibilities really were.  Now that I have my iPad, I have no problems accessing just about any ebook out there, so that issue has been resolved.  As for responsibility, so to say, I think I have that figured out as well and started off slow with a couple of novellas that I thought I'd try out while I was on vacation.  Really what can be better than a short novella to give you that escape factor in a short amount of time, so for me, this was a nice way to start out.

Both novellas that I chose were short romance reads, which it seems dominates this format.  Am I right?  Both were actually pretty different from one another, but both were easy to get into quickly and to finish in a short amount of time.

When Harriet Came Home by Coleen Kwan is essentially about Harriet Brown's return to her small hometown in Australia.  As a grown woman who overcame her shy, nerdy-girl teen years, Harriet just couldn't overcome the anxiety she felt around her high school crush Adam.  That wasn't all that had her stumped though, as she was also responsible for exposing that same crush's mayor father for his infidelities and corruption.  In essence, she blew apart Adam's life and now had to face all of that in returning to help her own ailing father.

This was a classic romance tale where said girl changes for the better and catches the eye of yesteryear's hottie.  There is a nice amount of tension, with a fast moving story, sometimes believable and sometimes not.  Either way, it was a fairly clean read with plenty of romantic tension to keep you turning pages.  Adam seemed like a character I couldn't quite figure out, but I liked that he was so into Harriet, regardless of their past.  In a lot of ways, he is that man that women hope exists, in that he's sexy and aloof, but completely able to commit and be vulnerable at the same time.  (Could we call that a true oxymoron in male terms?)

Three Days, Two Nights by M.J. Frederick was way more graphic where the first novella was subtle.  What I found to be shy or tense in the first novella was completely different in the second.  In this novella, Nathan is trying to reconnect with his ex-wife Tess.  With a long, complicated back story in the military that led Nathan to put his wife on the back burner as he dealt with difficulties of his career, Tess had moved on to become a powerful career woman in her own right.  Nathan found an opportunity to conveniently step in to pilot her jet to a work retreat, wherein he hoped to renew his love for Tess and to make up for past hurts.  Like the perfect storm that it was, the plane hit bad weather and ended up stranded in paradise.  During that time, if Nathan couldn't win Tess back, then he had much more to worry about than a plane that had gone down and food shortage.

First off, I have to say that this was a pretty steamy, graphic read.  The characters are guarded and unsettled enough to create an instant tension and chemistry that it doesn't take more than a chapter or two to get where the story is going.  Tess is pretty wounded though, so in this short amount of space, Nathan had to prove that he had not only changed, but that he wanted her back.  The mode of getting those points across were pretty physical, so I'm thinking that the healing was more of a sexual kind than an actual working through of the core issues.  The tension in the story was well established, and what little we knew about the back story between these two was frame worked, but I will admit to wishing we had more emotional details worked out between the two characters in this short amount of time and space.

Both novellas were an interesting dive into using Netgalley and super vacation friendly with their length in page numbers.  To their credit, I think that Netgalley's site is extremely easy to use and has a great variety of books to choose from.  For me, this was just a start and I hope to read a lot more from them in the future.

Review: Crossed by Ally Condie

During our most recent Book Blogger get together, I won one of a stack of copies of Crossed by Ally Condie.  Having read Condie's first novel Matched earlier this year, and then having selected it for a book circle read in my Popular Fiction class, I really wanted to get my hands on a copy!  Besides, I had students who mentioned it all the time, asking me when it was going to come out, etc.  Thanks to Suey at It's All About Books, we had a wonderful chance to win a copy, so I wanted to thank her for arranging to bring a bunch of them to give out as prizes.  I read and really enjoyed this second book, and now several students in my classes are passing it around already.  (I love when they are that excited about a book!)

Synopsis:  From Goodreads, "In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever."

Review:  Following on the heels of Matched, we know that Ky has been sent to the Outer Provinces and Cassia has watched her friend, teacher, and love be taken away from her.  For any reader of the first book, we have been anxiously waiting to find out what Cassia was going to do and where exactly Ky went.  Beyond that, what in the world is going on in this controlling society and what were we not being told?  In essence, it was all such a mystery that this follow up novel was highly anticipated for the answers it held.

Without giving away much-anticipated information, I can say that Cassia sets off to find Ky.  The opening of the book was actually a little slow as it set up what had and was happening to both Cassia and Ky.  The narrative is split into chapters that tell each of their stories, so we are allowed to hear what they are both thinking and what they are witnessing.  Honestly, these opening "journey chapters," as I like to call them, give us a bit more information about the society that we just have to have.  Sadly, it's still not enough information!  With what little we know, it gives the novel this foreboding, ominous tone.  There is this sadness and anxiety that hangs over the story as our two main characters narrate their journies and travel along different, but hopefully converging paths.

Although the opening chapters have a lot of story to cover and build up, I felt that it was all necessary to the story and helped me wrap my head around what this society was trying to achieve.  It still feels odd and needs A LOT of explaining, but we're finding out little bit more in this installment.  The final 1/3 of the novel is where the real crux of the action takes place, and many questions are answered, while even more questions are born.  I love that these characters are thinkers, that are complex and emotional.  At times I felt they were unreal, but so is this entire society, so it allowed me to give them their reactions.  With a new list of characters, a most surprising direction to the plot, and an ending that leaves me thinking and wanting answers now, I felt that this second novel in the series was a really surprising addition.  I can see that some readers might not like the slow pacing, and might even be upset by some of the twists revealed, but I thought they added a complex layer to the story that will have me eagerly waiting book three.  Now, when does that book come out?!?

*FTC Disclosure:  This review is based on an ARC of the novel obtained by another reader.

Watch for Crossed in stores on November 1st! 

Sunday Blatherings: Back to the Grind

Hola!  I'm back from my trip and quickly gathering all the loose strings.  This was one of the fastest paced trips I've ever been on in my life.  The best part of it was getting to be with people that I love and care about.  I can't say that I got a lot of reading done, since we were busy 24/7 driving to sites, hiking, and more hiking.  At night, when we would come in to crash, I would pull out papers and grade like crazy.  A miracle happened and I actually finished it all, so I'm happy now.

I did get a few novellas read and I finished Lola and the Boy Next Door on the way home, whenever I could stay awake on those plane rides.  Other than that, I now need to survive the last week of term before I have my own reading marathon!

Here are a few pictures of my trip!

The famous volcano at Arenal.  Yes, it's still active and has destroyed cities around the base.  It sure gave me pause for thought when they said it went off in the last 50 years and it is going through a dormant time, which means it could be gearing up for another round of activity.  This was the view out of our window at the place we stayed!

On the other side of Arenal, we hiked up over the lava fields.  Here my friend and I are behind the sign that says it's a high volcanic activity area & to not go any further.  

A volcano near Arenal.  The hike down was so incredibly intense!  There were all stone steps, sometimes narrow, always steep, lined with chains to give you a little something to hold onto.  Let's just say that hiking back out of there made me walk like Frankenstein's monster for the rest of the trip!  It was really beautiful though and so worth the trip down all those stairs.

This is a picture of the criss-cross cement ground cover they used for trails all over the place.  Let's just say that I brought the worst shoes ever & should have brought tennis shoes for all of these trails.  You can see too that it was in the rainy season. 

Here's my friend peaking around the tree down the trail in front of me.  Such pretty greenery!  Just stay away from the holes in the side of the path.  Some of them are homes to giant tarantulas.  *shudder*  One guide even showed us one, which gave me the creepy crawlies for a long time after.

 So, I'm a little mad at myself for not taking more pictures of people and locations.  For me, a lot of times those pictures grab my attention faster than landscapes, but I have to say that the landscapes are pretty cool.  My batteries died when we went to hold the Toucans at this private reserve outside of San Jose.  I have to get my friend's pictures of these amazing little birds.  They are so stinking cool and I loved holding them.  

Well, that's just a snippet of my trip!  Now I need to get back in the groove and get some grading done before school tomorrow.

Sunday Blatherings: Como Estas?

Getting to this point has been a nightmare of epic proportions (with work), but I'm finally off on my Costa Rican adventure.  I've vowed to push work out of my mind so that I can focus on relaxing and enjoying my time with my bff and family, but I'll admit that I'm still stewing on it all a little.  It will be great though, so I'm going to soak it all in!

Hopefully, once I get back I'll have a bunch of great book reviews to post.  Vacations generally equal great reading time, so I'm hoping that's true this time around.  Yes, I did bring a stack of AP essays to grade, but that shouldn't mean I can't still get some really great reading time in as well!  Now, if I could just remember enough of those 5 years of Spanish classes I've taken...

Fiction, to Film, to Fantastic Music Friday: The Killing Fields

I know this seems like a strange addition to this new weekly post, but I recently watched the iconic film The Killing Fields and knew I couldn't pass on a review.  A follow up novel came out as well, but is mainly based on journalism reports written for The New York Times.  This real-life story is based on the experience of a group of journalists who returned to Cambodia, and in particular on two men, Dith Pran and Sydney Schanberg.

As journalists, our main characters return to war torn Cambodia in 1973 as the Cambodian national army is in conflict with the Khmer Rouge after the spill over from the Vietnam War.  The two men are arrested when they are caught taking pictures of an execution and feared their own deaths.  All of the journalists are taken prisoner and essentially only offered a release after Dith Pran negotiates their freedom.  In the days following, the group of Americans prepare to leave Cambodia for the United States, but Dith Pran is unable to get a passport to leave the country with his American associates, and thus begins the first-hand account and gut wrenching story of genocide and murder in Cambodia.

Left behind, Dith Pran must pretend to be simple minded and docile, to prevent the Khmer Rouge's men from thinking he is an intellectual that must be added to the increasing number of Cambodians who have already been murdered.  In the hopes of returning Cambodia to an agrarian nation, with no ties to family but all to state, the Khmer Rouge put forward a campaign to eliminate the "elite" of the country and to reprogram young children and the laboring class to return their power to the nation.  Under the totalitarian regime, men and women are forced to work for hours in the hot sun, planting rice and working in the fields.  All this, done under the eye of brutal young children who have been trained up in hatred for family or natural respect for adults.

In short, Pran escapes and makes his way to the border of Thailand, where he enters a refugee camp and meets back up with his American journalist friend Sydney.  Over their time of separation, Sydney had received awards for his war reports and photographs, but had never been able to rest knowing his Cambodian friend was a prisoner of conflict.  The two meet at the camp, and the closing scene literally broke my heart.  Supposedly, even in real life, as Sydney pleads for the forgiveness of his friend, Pran simply rejoices in being reunited and tells him there is nothing to forgive.

This final scene left me a sobbing mess.  Although I've always loved this famous song by John Lennon, this scene gave it an entirely new meaning.  I had an uncle who served in Vietnam.  From what little he would share with us, I knew that it had changed him forever, and because of his experiences I took an early interest in the conflicts throughout Southeast Asia.  It's not easy to sum up all that led to these conflicts, nor how the global community responded to them.  In a strange way, the closing song and conclusion to the film hit on the terror that is genocide and the reality of its occurrence.  We know that it still happens today and it always leaves us to question what leads up to these evil events in history and how we can prevent them.

The events of the film were real and happened to the man Dith Pran.  He returned to the United States and worked for The New York Times until his death in 2008.  There are amazing tributes and pictures found on their website if you're interested:

• Dith Pran slideshow of pictures:  The New York Times Online 
• "Dith Pran, Photojournalist and Survivor of the Killing Fields, Dies at 65":  The New York Times Online
• "The Last Word:  Dith Pran"  Video Testimonial:  The New York Times Online

Also, the actor who played Dith Pran in the film had also lived through the Killing Fields and was virtually plucked out of obscurity to play the role. This actor, Haing S. Nor went on to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.  His award speech is heart-warming and sincere, as well as much deserved. Although I have not read the companion novel or articles, I've since purchased other books about this event to go along with what I've learned.  In essence, it's given me a new interest in the stories of those who have survived this horrific event.  If you have not had a chance to watch this amazing film, I highly recommend you check it out.

* Fiction, to Film, to Fantastic Music Friday is my own little weekly post. The premise is just to share my favorite books made into film, with amazing soundtracks to boot.  There might even be times where it's just a great film and soundtrack, or great book and film.  Either way, join in if you would like!