I always try to read before watching, so I had to wait for this one on hold at the public library. A very sweet graphic novel about crushes, first lovI always try to read before watching, so I had to wait for this one on hold at the public library. A very sweet graphic novel about crushes, first love, rugby, and whether or not to be out in high school....more
I've been reading a lot of war so I added in some romance. This picks up after the first novel or the first season, depending on how you first encountI've been reading a lot of war so I added in some romance. This picks up after the first novel or the first season, depending on how you first encountered Bridgerton. Anthony has decided he needs to get married, but not to someone he will fall in love with. The bee thing is also explained.
Somewhere along the way, author Julia Quinn wrote bonus second epilogues for the Bridgertons. The updated editions include them (the red cover) - I'm not sure it was needed plus it had a spoiler for a future story....more
I didn't read this book when it first came out, and I kind of scoffed at it when it was nominated for my book club (it didn't make the final list, sorI didn't read this book when it first came out, and I kind of scoffed at it when it was nominated for my book club (it didn't make the final list, sorry Sara.) Not serious enough! Silly! But then the movie was coming out and I never see a film before reading the book, so I tried to read it around the same time as everyone else, and had to wait a few months to get off the library hold list. In the meantime I was in several bookstores where I thought about reading it, but I was so sure it might not really be for me that I always chose other books to buy.
The book came in at the right time. How to... avoid the news? How to... forget the world exists? Why not a book that is all about social class and the uber wealthy of Singapore? And what happens when an only son from one of these prominent families brings home an ABC (American Born Chinese, or so they think) woman and it is starting to look serious?
SO yes, it's very soap opera-y, very gossipy, very shallow, or at least most of the characters are. But the author does a great job at situating the story with specific details of language (hokkien but also various Chinese dialects and what even using them implies about your upbringing) and food (peranakan cuisine was a new word for me but includes my favorite Asian dishes, so now I know) and personality traits that feel unique to the upper crust in this particular setting. The people trying not to live their lives focused on wealth are very easy to root for, and it is fun to imagine what it would be to live in a such a way where money was never an issue. The way it reads, I get the impression that the author may have known of some of these famous (or elusive and rumored) rich people, but from afar, and enjoyed getting to write about them in this way. The novel does have this sense of joy in the absurdity....more
Ever since Stoner, I have been on the hunt for novels about small but meaningful lives. I read Plainsong by Kent Haruf earlier this year and felt it dEver since Stoner, I have been on the hunt for novels about small but meaningful lives. I read Plainsong by Kent Haruf earlier this year and felt it did that pretty well. I still mean to read the following two books in that group, but when I saw there was a movie made of this one I skipped the line to read it before watching.
Addie and Louis are both older people in Holt, Colorado, living alone, and Addie invites Louis over to spend the night. They get to know one another in a way they never had (both were friends with the spouses of the other but did not know each other that well) and don't hide their relationship, but then the town and their adult children have opinions about it. Addie's grandson comes to stay with her for a while, and most of the events of the book center around this event.
The movie was decent - Robert Redford is a good Louis although I'm not sure I'd cast Jane Fonda as Addie (but now I can't picture anyone else.) There is a scene in the book that I wish they'd kept in the film because I would have liked to see Robert Redford navigate a situation where his body failed him, but in that way the book feels more intimate than the movie, a little more raw and honest. ...more
Jenny (Reading Envy)
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