February 28, 2015

Audrey Hepburn

I, like most of the world, adore Audrey Hepburn. She is one of gorgeous and sophisticated icons that you can’t help, but admire. I recently watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s on Netflix and thought it was really good. I don’t know why I had not seen it before, but it has definitely made a place on my list of favorite movies.

I’ve noticed that Audrey’s name has started popping up in the young adult section of my bookstore, so I picked up two books, and thought I would share my thoughts on them with you.

Oh Yeah Audrey –Tucker Shaw

At five a.m., a cab pulls up to Tiffany’s on Fifth Avenue dropping off sixteen-year-old Gemma Beasley in full Holly Golightly attire. No one would expect less from the co-founder of popular Tumblr blog, Oh Yeah Audrey. Gemma plans on meeting the other bloggers who share her love of the lovely Audrey. But her plans are suddenly changed when a handsome boy steps in and offers to play tour guide. Gemma is whisked away in a New York adventure.

What grabbed me right off the bat was this cover. I absolutely love it for a couple of different reasons. The first is the color. I absolutely love the Tiffany Blue shade of the dust jacket. (Got to stick with the theme.) The second thing I like is the fact that it is a pop-art-style cover. I don’t see a lot of those kinds of covers, and it’s very eye grabbing.

The set-up of the book was also really cool. The chapters were set up differently, where it told how much time had passed between each event of the day (like Gemma waiting outside Tiffany’s at 5:30 and thinking about her life, then fast-forwarding to her meeting her friends at 6:10 in the morning for breakfast).

The overall story was pretty interesting, There were a LOT of Breakfast at Tiffany’s quotes. At the beginning Gemma says you have to go and watch it to understand everything, but you don’t have to worry about that while reading this. Anytime one of the characters made a comment about the classic movie, there would a little afterthought from Gemma saying “That’s a quote from Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” or an explanation as to what scene it was from. It was nice, but it got a little tedious after the tenth time Gemma had to point this out. I wish the author had been able to mark a quote from the movie without having to constantly repeat these lines over and over again.

The two characters I liked the most were Gemma and Bryan. They had a solid friendship, you could tell. Trina came across to me as the stereotypical kind of mean girl who toes the line between sassiness and rudeness.

Apart from those things, I greatly enjoyed this. The chapters were quick, and Gemma’s strong voice had me captivated with the first sentence. This was a one-sit read (or it would have been if I had not had to go to classes), and I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a new kind young adult contemporary book.

Being Audrey Hepburn – Mitchell Kriegman

When Jersey-girl Lisbeth is seen wearing the black Givenchy ball gown famously worn by Audrey Hepburn at a gala event, she is mistaken as someone of wealth and sophositication. Lisbeth is suddenly whisked away into the world of the Manhattan elite, hanging out with blue bloods, pop stars, and trust funders. While it’s all fun living it up with the young and privileged, Lisbeth wonders if this is the life she truly wants, and if it’s worth giving up her old life.

I initially liked the story. I thought Lisbeth’s story was interesting enough. It kind of came across like the beginning of a Sarah Dessen novel (minus the Southern beach town). The glamorous events that Lisbeth was attending were nice to read about as well. However, I wasn’t as impress with this novel as I thought I would be.

Unlike Oh Yeah Audrey, where I was flying through the pages and felt a little disappointed when I had to set it down to go to classes, this book didn’t hold my attention. I mean, sure it had its positives, and the first thirty or so pages set up who the main character was and what her life was like, I found myself slowly losing interesting, and was okay with reading a few paragraphs before setting it aside to pick up something else.

It seemed as if the author was trying a little too hard to portray what he thought the average high school/early college-aged girl would act like. This was really made clear to me through all the little winky faces he added to the texts Lisabeth and her friends would send to one another. It made her seem more juvenile than someone who was said to have graduated from high school.

I would have to give this a 2.5 on GoodReads. It really wasn’t the worst novel I have ever read, and it was quite entertaining at some points, but, like I said, it didn’t impress me as much as I thought it would.

Have you read either of these books? If so, what were your thoughts on the story and the characters? Let me know in the comments!

Love always,

Lauren

February 23, 2015

Book Review| Landline

Posted by Lauren in Book Reviews

Hey y’all! Today I am doing a review of Landline by Rainbow Rowell.

I have had this on my shelf since it came out and I thought it was about time to pick it up. It seemed like a good book for the month of February.

I absolutely love Rainbow Rowell’s writing. I read Eleanor and Park and Fangirl around this time last year, and couldn’t get over how amazing those stories. Her characters have such strong voices, and are so engaging you never want to stop reading, but you eventually have to because the book ends and then you’re left feeling sad.

I swear, she must have like a magic pen or something that magically makes her books phenomenal.

But enough raving about Rainbow, let’s get on with the review!

Landline follows a woman named Georgie McCool who is going through a bit of a rough patch in her marriage because she is always so busy working as a TV writer and never has time to see her family. She and her coworker/best friend Seth have been given the opportunity to create their own show, something they have been wanting to do since they met in college, but they have to work over the Christmas holiday to get it done, which annoys Georgie’s husband Neal. Neal tells Georgie that he is going to take their daughters to see his mother in Omaha which they had already planned on doing, but Georgie stays behind to work on the show and she watches them leave for the airport. She ends up crashing at her mom’s house that night after a busy day of writing with Seth. When she goes to call her family to see if they got in okay, her cell phone battery begins acting up so she ends up using an old yellow rotary phone she had when she was younger. Somehow the rotary phone allows her to communicate with Neal back in 1998 right before he proposed to her. Georgie realizes that this is an opportunity to fix her marriage, and finds herself falling in love with Neal all over again. However, she knows Neal isn’t happy and she has to decide whether she should convince past Neal to break up with her so he can live a better life without her.

I got this when it first came out since it was around my birthday, and I have no clue why I kept pushing it back on my TBR because it was great. It was a bit harder to relate to the characters in this story since they were in their thirties, but I didn’t mind too much because the actual plot was interesting.

I really enjoyed the conversations between Georgie and past Neal. It was cute seeing her fall head over heels again. I knew she loved him in the present, but it was adorable watching Georgia finding that spark with Neal. Got me all in the feels.

Also, the flashbacks to them when they were in college were really sweet. It was easy to see that, even if they didn’t always communicate that well about their feelings, they were they worked really well as a couple.

And that little Easter Egg with Cath and Levi from Fangirl in there giving Georgie a ride in the red pickup truck! Oh my gosh! I loved it! I was so excited when I read that part and realized that was them. You honestly don’t understand how excited I get when that kind of stuff pops up in books and movies.

Now let’s talk about the characters: I loved Georgie and Neal and Alice and Noomi. They were the cutest little family. I could tell that Georgie really loved her kids and her husband even if she didn’t get to see them all the time because of her job.

I also really liked Heather. I thought she was funny, and it was nice that Georgie and Heather had a good friendship despite there being such a wide age gap between them.

Seth was…okay. I didn’t hate him, but I didn’t love him either. He was one of those people that I wouldn’t mind being friends with, but I would have to take small doses of him. I couldn’t be best friends with him like Georgie.

This was an overall fantastic read, not that I expected anything less from Rainbow Rowell. I gave this a 4.5 on Goodreads, and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes John Green.

February 6, 2015

Valentine’s Reads

Posted by Lauren in Recommendations

Everyone loves a good Nicholas Sparks book/movie at this time of year, but if you are looking for something a little different to read this Valentine’s Day, check out these cute, light reads with delightful characters and romances that will leave your heart racing.

A Little Something Different – Sandy Hall

Lea and Gabe are perfect for each other. They like the same Chinese takeout food, laugh at the same jokes, and are even in the same creative writing class. See, perfect? What’s not so perfect? They are both too shy and aloof to pursue their mutual crush. Something has to be done, and the people who see them every day take it upon themselves to get Lea and Gabe together. Sandy Hall’s debut novel gives us a glimpse at Lea and Gabe’s relationship and how sometimes you need a little push to get what you want.

This story is told from fourteen viewpoints, like classmates and teachers and even a bench. However, neither Gabe nor Lea narrates, which makes it really unique.

This book is so cute and funny and I highly recommend it.

The Girl Who Invented Romance – Caroline B. Cooney

Sixteen-year-old Kelly Williams has spent her life watching from the sidelines as her friends, her brother, and her parents play the game of love. Kelly takes notes of all their attempts and failures and decides to create a board game that really captures how people behave when they are struck by Cupid’s arrow. Caroline B. Cooney captures all the complexities of romance and love in this cute, page-turning story.

Love Story – Jennifer Echols

Erin Blackwell is ecstatic to be majoring in creative writing at the school of her dreams. She plans on starting a new and exciting life in New York City that will help her forget about her past life in Kentucky. An unwanted reminder of that life appears in the form of Hunter Allen, a stable boy from her family’s ranch, who Erin has vowed to despise…so why does Hunter keep popping into her mind and become the main romantic man in her writing assignments for class? Jennifer Echols gives a sweet and sexy story that will hook you in from the first sentence.

February 4, 2015

Classic Corner | Pride and Prejudice

Posted by Lauren in Classic Corner

Ah, Pride and Prejudice. Who ever would have guessed this would be the classic pick of the month? Sorry not sorry. You have to have one of those classic love-hate-love stories when we are in the month of love.

Pretty much everyone in the world knows Jane Austen’s classic story. And if you don’t…I don’t know what to say.

Truthfully, I had never read the book until now. I didn’t even see a movie adaptation until last summer while on a road trip with my family.

I think what really sparked my interest was when I stumbled upon a little vlog series on YouTube called “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries,” which was a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice created by Hank Green and Bernie Su. I don’t really know how I found out about it because it was never requested on my homepage, nor was it mentioned on Tumblr, but somehow I knew about it, and was obsessed with it.

In August 2014 Bernie Su along with Kate Rorick released Lizzie’s secret diary that held all the things we never saw on screen, including a letter Darcy gives Lizzie explaining his relationship with George Wickham.

I am so excited to dive into this story! I don’t know why I kept putting it off because I did really want to read about Darcy and Elizabeth for a long time. Whatever the reason, I’m reading it now and that’s what’s important 🙂

Archive for February, 2015