Jenna Evans Welch

October 2017 Wrap-Up (Part 2)

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Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter
(Gallagher Girls, book 3)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  October 15 – 16
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Dem sweet spy skillz!
Least Favorite Thing:  Boys somehow being more important than life-or-death missions???? (Don’t get me wrong, I get why it’s like that, but I still roll my eyes every single time.)

I read this one in one sitting, which should tell you how engaging it was. So far I think it’s the best of the Gallagher Girls series, although I’ve got 3 books still to read, so maybe that will change!

I read this book for The Cookie Read-A-Thon 🙂

My Posts About Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover

Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter
(Gallagher Girls, book 4)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  October 16
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Overprotective besties.
Least Favorite Thing:  Townsend. Obviously.

I’ve realized something. I could literally never be a spy in this world. Why, you may wonder. Because of the danger? No. Because of the need for super special spy skillz? No. Because it’s fiction? Nope. I could never be a spy in the world of the Gallagher Girls because when people give me cryptic ass responses to more than two questions in a row, I start planning their murders.

I literally don’t even like Zach anymore. Just like answer a fucking question ever you mediocre boy. Ugh.

Other than the fact that no one can just answer a straight question ever, the book was good.

I read this book for The Cookie Read-A-Thon 🙂

My Posts About Only the Good Spy Young

Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter
(Gallagher Girls, book 5)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  October 16 – 17
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  That music trigger thing was coolio. (But obviously, you know, very bad.)
Least Favorite Thing:  Dr. Fucking Steve. Like honestly could I have even said anything else? Screw that guy…

Is this my favorite Gallagher Girls book now? I think it might be? There was a moment in the beginning where I was Not Enjoying It, but that did not last long at all! I think this has got to be my favorite yet. Wow.

Also like, I never liked Dr. Steve because he was annoying, but what the fuck dude… He better die in the next book I swear.

I read this book for The Cookie Read-A-Thon 🙂

My Posts About Out of Sight, Out of Time

United We Spy by Ally Carter
(Gallagher Girls, book 6)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  October 17
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  “the blow stuff up and run approach”
Least Favorite Thing:  For super secret spies, almost every op they go on is like suuuuper public!

Well, that’s the series done! I’m pretty glad I decided to go back and reread the first book and finish the series. It was worth it.

I read this book for The Cookie Read-A-Thon 🙂

My Posts About United We Spy

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  October 19 – 20
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  I could practically taste everything they ate through my eyeballs. Yummy book.
Least Favorite Thing:  I can’t believe nobody punched that prick Matteo in the face.

I made a separate post about the Mexican knife fight thing because I have Emotions™ about it and because it’s one of the reasons this book is 3 stars and not 4. Not the only reason, but a decent sized part of it.

I read this book for The Cookie Read-A-Thon 🙂

My Posts About Love & Gelato

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
Rating:  ★★★★★
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  October 21 – 22
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  The rhythm of the writing.
Least Favorite Thing:  I literally can’t think of anything I didn’t like. Sorry, not sorry.

I can’t wait to get my hands on more books by Nina LaCour. Reading this book reminded me of reading a Cynthia Voigt novel. Which anyone who has spent any amount of time on my blog would know is the highest compliment I can give anything.

I read this book for The Cookie Read-A-Thon 🙂

My Posts About We Are Okay

Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan
(The Lynburn Legacy, book 3)
Rating:  ★★☆☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  September 28 – October 30
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Lillian’s favorite story. Ha!
Least Favorite Thing:  Um…why does every male in Kami’s circle that isn’t her father have to profess his romantic feelings for her?

I’m kind of disappointed… I didn’t like this one very well. It didn’t flow as well and didn’t really hold my attention well. It was okay, but only that, in my opinion.

My Posts About Unmade

In Progress

Love & Gelato & Casual Racism

Lee2 Comments

Alright, so I just finished Love & Gelato last night, and there were plenty of things to like, but also one thing that bothered me the entire book. The “Mexican knife fight” crack.

There was some muffled yelling and then what sounded like a Mexican knife fight going on between her and her brother.

There’s a point in the novel where Lina is on the phone to her friend in America and there’s a scuffle on the other end, the friend evicting her brother from the room so they can talk, and she describes it that way.

What does that even mean? Like I understand wanting to describe the scuffle. That part makes perfect sense. But why bring Mexicans into it? Knife fights are inherently Mexican? Mexicans are inherently violent? White women are inherently racist? Get the fuck out of my face.
(Also why a “knife fight” in the first place? What does a knife fight even sound like?)

Maybe someone who didn’t grow up with everyone around them making jokes about stabbings every time they dared to show an emotion just because they happen to be Mexican — “Oh no, you’re mad, don’t shank me!” — wouldn’t notice or care about this, but I noticed and I care and I’m so fucking tired of casual racism in popular novels…

Cookie Read-A-Thon: Day 8

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I managed to meet my goal, although it did take me a strangely long amount of time to read 250 pages. I’m going to blame the fact that my lips and hands are all tingly from lack of oxygen. (I miss breathing… I bet it’s nice this time of year…)

I plan to make a post or two about Love & Gelato, but not tonight, too exhausted.

Books Read Today:

Time Spent Reading Today:  3 H 10 M

Total Pages Read:  2131

Total Time Spent Reading:  25 H 33 M

Books Completed During Read-A-Thon:  8

Tomorrow I will need to pick yet another book from my shelf (you can see the options here, and give me your opinion on what I should read next because I super need it!) and I’d like to make a sizable dent in it. Also I may try to work on Unmade a little more, but somehow I doubt it.

Friday 56: October 20, 2017

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The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda’s Voice and the rules are simple:

  • Grab a book, any book (I, personally, prefer to use my current read.)
  • Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that’s ok.)
  • Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it)
  • Post it

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

Sonia had left the journal right in the center of my pillow, like maybe she was worried I wouldn’t notice it otherwise, and it was weighing down the bed like a pile of bricks.

Cookie Read-A-Thon: Day 7

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I’m sad to admit I haven’t been doing very well at the read-a-thon yesterday or today.

Yesterday I literally slept all day. When I was awake I was in that half-asleep haze… I wanted to read, and at one point my fever was high enough that I thought I was reading, but then I realized I didn’t have a book. I don’t think I can feasibly count that as read-a-thon progress.

Today I only read for about an hour. I intended to make up for yesterday by reading a whole book, but after falling asleep reading 3 times (once in the bath, thank goodness the book fell onto the floor and not into the tub with me, that would have been horrible) I’ve given up.

Books Read Today:

Time Spent Reading Today:  1 H 27 M

Total Pages Read:  1881

Total Time Spent Reading:  22 H 23 M

Books Completed During Read-A-Thon:  7

Tomorrow I hope to finish Love & Gelato. If I can do that, I’ll consider it a good day. Wish me luck y’all.

First Lines Fridays: July 28, 2017

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First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First Lines:

You’ve had bad days before, right? You know, the ones where your alarm doesn’t go off, your toast practically catches on fire, and you remember way too late that every article of clothing you own is soaking wet in the bottom of the washer?

Interested? Scroll down for the cover and summary!

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

“I made the wrong choice.”

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.

But then she is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything she knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.

People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.