Day One: Monday, February 12, 2018
This week is pretty busy, but I’m definitely hoping I can make it through my TBR for this week, partially because I’m really excited about the books on my TBR and partially because I want to win. You know. Because winning a readathon is obviously a thing. Anyway, Brooklynaire just hit my iBooks and I’m beyond excited to start reading it tonight. For now, I need to sleep because I have to go to work. Woo.
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I just got home from work and the most exciting thing happened while I was there, We’re Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union finally came to me from the library! I’ve been on that hold list for literal months and I started listening to it and I absolutely adore this woman. Chapter Two was the best and I’m ready to read some more tomorrow. This read doesn’t really count as anything for ContemporaryAThon, but just so you know, it’s so good. Now to make dinner, watch The Bachelor, and then start reading Brooklynaire.
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Oh my gosh. I told myself I wasn’t going to stay up until I finished Brooklynaire, but ya girl lied to herself. I have to get up at 5 to make it to my OrangeTheory class in the morning, but I can’t stop thinking about this book. Technically Nate is Rebecca’s boss. I say technically because Nate has always seemed more equal to her than above her in the Brooklyn Bruisers series. That said, the way that Sarina chose to deal with the power deferential was actually so amazing. There are discussions about sexual harassment that feel so relevant to what’s going on in the world and just… Honestly, this book was so good. Nate is a great hero and I really adore Rebecca as a heroine. I just really can’t say enough good things about this book. It was one of my favorites of hers, which is impressive because I adore almost all of them.
Day Two: February 13, 2018
It’s after 7:00 and I’m just now getting home, which is wild because I left my house at 5:30 this morning. I am so tired, but I’m also determined to get through American Panda so I’m going to make some dinner and then sit down and start reading the book. Oh yeah, at work today I listened to some more of We’re Going to Need More Wine and I still love Gabrielle Union. More than I did yesterday even. I got to the part today where she discusses being raped and y’all, it’s really awful when rape victims check their privilege. Like, really awful. It’s beyond messed up that there are police departments that mishandle these cases, re-victimize trauma victims; that there was a backlog of rape kits a mile long in Michigan… I could continue forever, but I’d rather not. I’ll check back in with you once I’ve made some progress on American Panda.
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I’m having the most mixed emotions about this book right now. I really like Mei and I’m appreciative of her character even more so now that we’ve passed the halfway point of this book. But I swear to goodness, I want to pack her mother up and put her gently down in a trash can and smother out all of her slut shaming. IT IS 100% OKAY TO HAVE SEX RESPONSIBLY. I know part of this is cultural difference (that’s like half the point of this book), but oh dear God, if someone ever said something like some of what Mei’s mom has said in front of me, I would lose my mind.
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Okay, I have completed American Panda and I really adored the last quarter of this book. I think that it’s going to be so important to so many people and I think it’s a great book that fills a void in numerous areas. For one thing, it was really nice seeing Mei in college. The one thing I do wish is that we had a little more room to talk about Mei actually figuring out what she is interested in and not just so much room dedicated to her knowing she isn’t interested in being a doctor. I wound up giving this book four stars on Goodreads and I think that’s probably accurate. It was good and I enjoyed it, but I don’t think it was perfect for ME.
Day Three: February 14, 2018
I finishedWe’re Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union and y’all, I am obsessed with this woman. She is funny and wise and honest in ways that you don’t often see. I just really adored this book and would highly recommend it. I did not, however, get any physical reading done today because I spent my evening hanging out with one of my best friends. Maybe tomorrow? Probably not, honestly.
Day Four: February 15, 2018
Hello, my name is Jenica and when I am unduly stressed out, I seek romance novels. At work today, I started to get really stressed because my parents surprised me with a reality check that now that I have a start date for my new job, I actually have to find a place to live on this side of immediately. So my anxiety sky-rocketed and since I know The Heaving Bosoms podcast is going to be tackling Nine Rules to Break when Seducing a Rake soon, I figured that snagging it from Hoopla was basically my duty. I haven’t read the book since 2016 so listening to it was amazing. I realized I had Nine Rules mixed up with A Rogue by Any Other Name.
I was only able to get a few hours in before I had to leave to go judge for my old moot court team and then I had a celebratory dinner with my coach afterward. It was amazing and I very much enjoyed spending time with her! When I got home, my mom was here and so I chatted with her for a bit but now she’s off to bed and I’m going to the ebook copy of Nine Rules I just bought for a bit.
Day Five: February 16, 2018
I literally read Nine Rules until my laptop died last night so that was quite unfortunate. I listened to the good parts on audio today while at work, but I left early to pick up my mom and head to the other side of the state to meet my dad. We’re going apartment hunting tomorrow. Wish me luck! Well, by the time you read this, hopefully I’ll have a place… Anyway, I didn’t quite finish the book so I’m going to multi-task now while I watch men’s ice skating on the hotel TV. My parents are already asleep. Amazing.
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I have so many thoughts about this book. I still absolutely adored it, but I dropped the rating to a four because I don’t feel quite right about giving a book a five star rating when some of the scenes make me feel a bit uncomfortable consent wise. Sarah MacLean usually does consent so well, but I guess in her debut romance novel, she was a bit less overt in comparison to her other works. I do adore how well this book discusses gender roles though. I’m also thinking I’m going to do a series review of this one so I can talk about it in more detail. Someone force me to use a consistent upload schedule, please? Thanks.
Day Six: February 17, 2018
Remember how I said that when I am stressed I read romance novels? Yes, well, I also buy books when I’m stressed. So we were strolling down Main Street trying to find this alleged apartment that may or may not have still been available (it wasn’t) and once we found out that it wasn’t, I darted into the Friends of the Library Used Book Store before my mother could stop me. While she talked to the volunteer working the store about housing, I headed straight to the romance novels and picked up Marrying Winterborne by Lisa Kleypas, When the Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare, Only a Kiss by Mary Balogh, and Pleasure of a Dark Prince by Kresley Cole. I’ve already read Marrying Winterborne and loved it, but it’s the one I want to re-read first (I’ve also already read the Tessa Dare I picked up). I’m obsessed with The Ravenels series. I’ll update you all later!
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Somehow made it halfway through Marrying Winterborne before the light went away while we drove aimlessly around the area trying to find apartment options. Loving this story, but more importantly, I HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE. Bless. I’m going to have to get super creative with shelf space, but I have confidence in myself. The real problem is where my clothes are going to go… We’ll see. Now to drive all the way home. Woo.
Day Seven: February 18, 2018
I woke up this morning, intending to go to work, but instead, I finished reading Marrying Winterborne and tried to find a ticket to Black Panther. Yeah… Finding tickets to Black Panther is literally impossible. IMPOSSIBLE. So, yeah. I guess I’m going to have to wait until later in the week to go see it with my sister. But I’m really, really excited to see it and I’ve seen nothing but good things about it, obviously.
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I started reading All American Boys, finally, and I am only on page 59, but y’all… This paragraph…
“I gotta admit, there was a part of me that, even though I felt abused, wanted to tell him to let it go. To just let me heal, let me leave the hospital, let me go to court, let me do whatever stupid community service they wanted me to do, and let me go back to normal. I mean, I had seen this happen so many times. Not personally, but on TV. In the news. People getting beaten, and sometimes killed, by the cops, and then there’s all this fuss about it, only to build up to a big heartbreak when nothing happens. The cop gets off. And everybody cries and waits for the next dead kid, to do it all over again. That’s the way the story goes. A different kind of Lifetime movie. I didn’t want all that. Didn’t need it.”
It makes me feel so many emotions, including rage, but also hope because that same thing is true of school shootings and I’m hopeful because these students from Florida are talking. And they’re not going to let us forget about what happened to them. I admire them so much. But all of this is to say that I really appreciate what Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely did with this paragraph. It’s beautifully put and I imagine is a sentiment others share.
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Um, well, I guess I’m stoping this book at 69% of the way through because my copy has really super messed up pages? It jumps from page 218 to 267 and pages 219 to 266 are just missing. So, that’s… Weird. Also weird is that this has happened to me twice during a readathon. Anyway, I tweeted at Simon & Schuster to complain because I don’t really know what else to do. Does anyone know what you do in this situation? Anyway, I’m just going to wrap the readathon up here because I’m tired and I don’t feel like reading any more tonight. I didn’t do that well this week, but it’s okay.
I completed the challenges Most Recent Contemporary and Read a Book with Pink on the Cover with Brooklynaireand with American Panda, I completed both a hyped book and a diverse book. All American Boys would have completed a Dark or Taboo book, but well, we saw how that worked out. I hope your readathon was more successful than mine! Let me know down below!
x
firewhiskeyreader 