I’ve been looking forward to reading Carry On, by Rainbow Rowell, since I heard about it for a few reasons. First and foremost, I look forward to reading every Rainbow Rowell book I hear about. She’s an amazing writer and an amazing storyteller. Secondly, Fangirl is one of my all time favorite books. As I’ve written before, it’s a book so nice I reviewed it twice. While some readers of Fangirl didn’t like the Simon Snow asides, I was not in their number. I liked Simon and Baz and Penelope and was very excited to learn more about them their world. The final reason I wanted to read this book is that I like Harry Potter, which Carry On is definitely an homage to in many ways. So yes, I was looking forward to reading this book. I read it this week. And here are some of my thoughts. Continue reading “Carry On, by Rainbow Rowell”
Tag: Rainbow Rowell
Book Review: Landline, by Rainbow Rowell
I find it fascinating that all of Rainbow Rowell’s novels hinge upon a piece of modern technology. Email is at the center of the appropriately named Attachments. The title characters Eleanor and Park fall in love sharing headphones on a Walkman, listening to mixed tapes. Fan fiction and Internet culture plays a huge role in Fangirl.
And now Rainbow Rowell has done it again. Only this time, in Landline, the technology is outdated. The old rotary phone harkens back to the past, just as the main character Georgie McCool does when she uses it. Continue reading “Book Review: Landline, by Rainbow Rowell”
Marry, Date or Dump: Augustus, Park, & Adam
I took todays contenders for marry, date or dump straight from the pages of the New York Times YA Bestseller list. Without giving away any spoilers from these books, let me assure you each of these three men is more than swoon-worthy. Augustus Waters woos Hazel in John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars with an unending supply of witty quips, living metaphors, and a shared taste in books. Park from Eleanor & Park is a quiet and sensitive fan of comics and music. And Adam is the rock’n’roll, not-so-bad, bad boy in If I Stay, by Gayle Forman. I’ve reviewed all three books, and fallen at least a little in love with each of these characters. Now I’m excited to see who you will marry, date and dump. Let me know in the comments!
Continue reading “Marry, Date or Dump: Augustus, Park, & Adam”
Marry, Date or Dump: Cather, Wren & Reagan from FANGIRL
As many of you know, or have guessed, I’m a little obsessed with this book. I even reviewed it twice, I had so many good things to say about it. I read it again the weekend for the zillionth time. So even though I’ve done one of these for Rainbow Rowell characters, I thought I would narrow it down to the three main ladies in Fangirl. Let me know who you would marry, who you would date, and who you would dump in the comments!
Continue reading “Marry, Date or Dump: Cather, Wren & Reagan from FANGIRL”
My Rant about John Green, Twilight, and Female YA Authors
On Wednesday night, I saw two things I’ve been thinking for a long time clearly articulated on twitter. One by YA author John Green, the other about him. The first was a series of tweets, termed by Green himself as a “twitter rant”, defending Twilight fans and shining a light on the misogyny that underlies the attacks on the series. After negative feedback, he further clarified his position with this post on tumblr. After reading about this, I saw this series of tweets and further conversation about John Green’s influence on the New York Times Bestseller list and the lack of women on the list.
I’m sharing these on my blog today because I’ve wanted to write about why I like Twilight and the nerdfighter domination of the bestseller list for a long time. I also want to start a discussion, or at least share some of my feelings, about the negative reactions to both social media events. Continue reading “My Rant about John Green, Twilight, and Female YA Authors”
Marry, Date or Dump: Rainbow Rowell Characters
Last year I had never even heard of Rainbow Rowell. This year I read (and loved) all three of her books. Seriously, I think Fangirl is not only my favorite book of the year, but one of my favorite books of all time. I’m delighted to give you a double feature of the male and female leads from each of her books. For the gentlemen, I’m excited to see who you would marry, who you would date and who you would dump when given the option of Levi from Fangirl, Park from Eleanor and Park, and Lincoln from Attachments. For the ladies you can choose between Cather, Eleanor, and Beth from the same novels.
Let me know who you pick in the comments. Also if you have a favorite Rowell novel tell me what it is!
Continue reading “Marry, Date or Dump: Rainbow Rowell Characters”
Fangirling for FANGIRL, by Rainbow Rowell
Once a friend told me that she measured how much a book meant to her by how long she attempted to prolong the reading experience after she’d finished a novel. This week, I’ve been thinking (and agreeing) with that assessment after reading Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell, and finding myself completely unwilling to let go of the story. Instead of starting a new book, I’ve been rereading my favorite scenes and looking up reviews and author interviews on the Internet. And from these blog posts, reviews, and interviews I definitely get the feeling that I’m not the only one that’s reacting to the book this way. Continue reading “Fangirling for FANGIRL, by Rainbow Rowell”
Eleanor and Park: An Unlikely Duo
If you are going to read one review of Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell, don’t read this one. I’m serious. Instead you should read this New York Times book review, written by John Green. I’m pretty sure when you look up rave in the dictionary, what you see is a copy of this review. It was compelling enough that my nana cut it out of the paper and mail it to me, and intriguing enough that upon reading it I immediately sent it to Alee with the request that we make this our next review. She quickly agreed. So read that review. It will convince to read the book, better than I can.
While reading the book, I worried that it wouldn’t live up to the high expectations set by the review. This was not a problem. It lived up to the hype. Continue reading “Eleanor and Park: An Unlikely Duo”
Alison Doherty 