Book #17

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson

322 pages

 

 

I very much enjoyed A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty. It took me a bit to get into it, but once I did, I read it in just a few days.

 

The story focuses on three women in different stages of their lives. Ginny, a 45-year-old grandmother who is taking care of Liza, her 30-year-old daughter who recently had a stroke and is regaining her ability to communicate, and Mosey, the 15-year old granddaughter whose sole mission in life is to not be a mother by 16 like her two elders before her.

 

Part of Liza's rehabilitation is to get her into the pool for physical therapy. Ginny decides to cut down a tree in the yard to put in a pool for daily use for Liza. As the tree is coming down, a box is discovered to be buried near it -- a box of baby toys and baby bones. The questions that come with this undiscovered box are ones that only Liza can truly answer, but her struggle to communicate leads to surprises and discoveries in strange ways.

 

I loved Roger, a supporting character who is Mosey's best bud -- he reminded me of some of the guy friends I had in high school.

 

I will definitely check out more of Joshilyn Jackson's work.

 

Next Up: The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen (yes, I love Sarah Dessen and still haven't read this!!)

Book #16

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

318 pages

Boo ... I was not ready for this emotionally draining young adult book.

I've never read a John Green book. I will now read more. I LOVED all the Indianapolis-area shoutouts, it was like being part of the club that all readers aren't apart of.

Hazel has cancer. Augustus has another type of cancer. Obviously this cannot be good for my emotions. Anyway, I loved all the characters in this book, especially Isaac, their newly blind friend. I loved all the small actions and characteristics that made the kids so relatable -- the hours watching America's Next Top Model reruns, the boys continually playing the same shoot-em-up video game to pass the time, Hazel's obsession with a book. I know people my age and younger who do all of these things all the time.

Ugh. I loved and hated this book. I liked it in the way that I loved The Spectacular Now and Perks of Being a Wallflower -- it truly gutted me and I will probably think about it for months on end. Young adult fiction is alive and well!!

Next up: A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson (hoping there is no cancer in this one ..)

Book #15

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

 (344 pages)

 

I needed a light read after the heavy book I read prior to this and the (what I've heard) tear-jerking next novel I'm set to read. This fit the bill to a tee, and while it wasn't the most amazing literature in the world, it was a light and fun story about a relatable twentysomething in New York City.

 

Franny is a hopeful actress, trying to hit it big after many years in the big city with very little success. She has set up a deadline for herself, and finds herself struggling as the deadline quickly approaches. As she finds disappointing agents, boyfriends, and auditions, her deadline seems to be the final bookmark of her acting career.

 

I loved the descriptions of her friend (and eventual love interest) from her acting class, James. He continues to go to acting class even though he's hit the "big time" (having small roles in movies), and I pictured him by the descriptions of his skeazy personaility immediately as James Franco. If he wasn't supposed to be based on James Franco, I would be totally surprised!!

 

Usually I am skeptical of how much celebrity novelists actually write of their book, but considering Lauren Graham has a BA in English from Barnard, I am more than willing to give her the benefit of the doubt that she mostly wrote this novel herself. I would not hesitate to read anything else she puts out, as long as it's not a memoir about her time on the Gilmore Girls set (that show annoys me even after all these years!).

 

Next up: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green