One of the things I noticed when I was reviewing last year’s blog posts was that I’ve gotten out of the habit of talking about and talking up books on this blog. Don’t get me wrong – I tweet plenty about books and I’m super active on Goodreads, but it still feels strange to not be blogging about books as well.
That’s why I’m looking to try something new in 2018: the four star reading round up. My goal is to write up a post that lists each of the books that I’ve finished that month, and that I’ve given a rating of four stars or more. I’ll link to my own reviews of those books, but I’ll also list four–or even five, for those rare five star books out there–reasons why I loved them so much.
I recognize that this post is a little late, but seeing as it’s been a busy month so far–and a busy 2018, if I’m being honest–I’m asking you to bear with me.
My four (or five) star reads for January are:
1. Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas
My review
Four reasons to love it:
1. The political intrigue and courtly scheming–like “Game of Thrones” with a little more love between siblings and a little less bloodshed.
2. Chaol’s developing relationship with Yrene, and how neatly it coincides with his slow path toward healing.
3. The way in which Chaol’s disability was handled, especially at the end of the story.
4. How much less white the world-building (finally) became, and how functional the khagnate’s (Middle Eastern inspired) kingdom was when compared to the war-torn brutality of Adarlan
2. Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy
My review
Four reasons to love it:
1. The variety of LGBTQIA rep, from Ramona’s friends who are gay and a lesbian, respectively, to Ramona herself, who learns that her sexuality isn’t quite as simple and straightforward as she thought, and who learns to accept it regardless.
2. The loving, protective, dysfunctional relationship between Ramona and her sister Hattie.
3. That the after-effects of Hurricane Katrina are prevalent on the page and in the small Mississippi town where Ramona and her family live, without taking over the whole story.
4. The awesome friends to lovers relationship that develops between Ramona and Freddie, and the ways in which their relationship forces them to confront their own biases about sexuality and race.
3. Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
My review
Five reasons to love it:
1. Teenage feminists smashing the patriarchy.
2. Vivian’s journey from a good, dependable, quiet girl to a girl who stands up for herself and for others.
3. Friendships across cliques and across racial boundaries, and girl friends who have each other’s backs no matter what.
4. The relationship between Vivian and Seth, and the fact that Viv’s feelings for him don’t make her blind to his faults.
5. The ending, which made me feel all the feelings.
4. A Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen
My review
Five reasons to love it:
1. Great interpersonal relationships–between Spencer and his friend/crush Hope, Spencer and his family, and Hope and her big sister Jamie, just to name a few. I honestly wished that this cast of characters were real so I could know them in real life.
2. Top-notch Tourette’s Syndrome representation.
3. Nerdy POV characters with nerdy friends who make nerdy references and drop nerdy facts into conversation as a matter of course.
4. The fact that all of the younger characters fall in and out of infatuation with multiple times throughout the story, and that these other relationships are treated as normal and expected because they’re too young to be settling down and committing to each other.
5. The imperfect but lovely small town Georgia setting that really comes to life on the page.
5. You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone by Rachel Lynn Solomon
My review
Five reasons to love it:
1. Adina’s journey toward realizing that she wants to be seen and known for more than just her music or her beauty.
2. Tovah’s journey toward realizing that she doesn’t have to have her whole future planned out or have all the answers.
3. Present, involved parents who love their daughters fiercely but don’t always relate to them or understand them either.
4. The dichotomy between Tovah’s developing relationship with one of her high school classmates and Adina’s developing relationship with her (older) viola teacher, and the ways in which those relationships inform the girls’ decisions for better and for worse.
5. The gut-punching moment when Adina and Tovah receive their Huntington’s test results, and all the gut-punching moments when they’re forced to confront their mother’s mortality and their own mortality after that.
6. Paper Hearts Volume 1: Some Writing Advice by Beth Revis
My review
Four reasons to love it:
1. It strikes the right balance between encouraging up-and-coming writers and doling out doses of tough love.
2. The grammar lesson that totally revolutionized my comma usage, and answered the comma questions I hadn’t even known I should be asking.
3. How easily accessible the information is, in part because of how the book progresses from the conception of an idea to revision and polishing and in part because of how short the chapters are.
4. The inclusion of charts and graphs to demonstrate plotting and structuring techniques. Why don’t more writing guides include charts??
Have you read any of these books, and if so, what did you think? What four or five star books would you recommend?