Bite Size Reviews: February 2016

Greetings Bookworms!

It’s still winter. I KNOW. Why do I live in a place where winter happens? I’m a creature of habit, I guess. That, and I’m not sure how I’d handle living in a climate of perpetual summer. It would be like in The Age of Miracles (review) where it they’d have super long stretches of sunshine and it threw off everyone’s circadian rhythms. Would I even know how to summer if I hadn’t gone through my annual bear phase? Probably not. But you can see where my head is at, right? Obviously I can’t be expected to write coherent book reviews. Today we’re going quick and dirty, folks. Let’s eat some cookies.

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen- From time to time I like to read young adult fiction of the dystopian/fantasy/science fiction variety. I’ve been kind of meh on the genre lately, though, so it took something of a catalyst to encourage me to pick up this novel. Honestly? I picked up The Queen of the Tearling solely because Emma Watson will be playing the lead role in the upcoming film version. This is what she had to say about it:

“I had kind of said I would never do a franchise again, so I was desperate to hate it,” Watson says to Wonderland. “Unfortunately, I didn’t sleep for about a week because I couldn’t put the bloody thing down. It would be fair to say I became obsessed with the role and the book. Now I am executive-producing it.” – Emma Watson in Wonderland Magazine

I’m not quite as enthusiastic about it as our erstwhile Hermione is, but I will definitely be continuing with the series. I’m interested to see how this develops.

If You Find This Letter: My Journey to Find Purpose Through Hundreds of Letters to Strangers by Hannah Brencher– This was a book club read, which I never would have picked up on my own, mostly because it was filed in the Christian section. It’s a memoir and not super religious, but it definitely deals with the author’s struggles with finding God. I didn’t love it, but it wasn’t really any religious angle that got to me. It was just a little overwrought for my taste. This girl was sweet, but so impossibly earnest. Every little thing turned into a deep philosophical moment. I get depressed when I get too far inside my own head, so I have a low tolerance for this sort of navel gazing. Just not a great fit for my personality. It might be a winner for you, though! (See? I feel guilty about not liking it because the girl seemed really nice. It’s not like she’s ever going to read my blog, for heaven’s sake. Ah well. In case she does, you seem lovely, Hannah. I’m sure you’ve made a difference to a lot of people who aren’t cranky, jaded, and snarky like me.)

The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes- This book. Jojo Moyes has proven time and time again that she knows how to get in there and toy with my emotions. Heart wrenching and infuriating by turns, The Last Letter from Your Lover had me shrieking in anguish… In the best way. Lost love, missed connections. Gaaaah! Jojo, you saucy minx, I can’t even with you sometimes!

Alright Bookworms, tell me. Have any of you picked up a book just because of some buzz around the movie version?

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