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BEST READS FROM 2020
TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | PINTEREST | TUMBLR | BLOGLOVIN | GOODREADS
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LORE by Alexandra Bracken Publication: January 5, 2021 Publisher: Disney Hyperion Genre: YA / Fantasy Rating: ★★★★★ |
Written November 30, 2020 by Louize DG
2020, ARC, book review, books, DisneyHyperion, fantasy, fiction, YA No comments![]() |
SPARK AND THE LEAGUE OF URSUS by Robert Repino Publication: April 21, 2020 Publisher: Quirk Books Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy Rating: ★★★½ |
Written November 13, 2020 by Louize DG
2020, ARC, book news, books, children's books, middle grade No comments ![]() |
PET THAT DOG! by Gideon Kidd and Rachel Braunigan Publication: October 20, 2020 Publisher: Quirk Books Genre: Activity Book for Children Rating: ★★★★★ |
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BLACK SUN by Rebecca Roanhorse Publication: October 13, 2020 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Imprint: Gallery / Saga Press Genre: Historical Fantasy / YA Rating: ★★★★★ |
Written October 12, 2020 by Louize DG
2020, ARC, book review, books, fantasy, sci-fi, Simon&Schuster No comments ![]() |
THE MIDNIGHT BARGAIN by C.L. Polk Publication: October 13, 2020 Publisher: Erewhon Genre: Historical Fantasy / YA Rating: ★★★★ |
Written October 05, 2020 by Louize DG
2020, ARC, book review, books, fantasy, historical fiction 4 comments ![]() |
IN A HOLIDAZE by Christina Lauren Publication: October 6, 2020 Publisher: Gallery Books / Simon & Schuster Genre: Romance / Women’s Fiction Rating: ★★★★ |
Written September 28, 2020 by Louize DG
2020, ARC, book review, books, fiction, romance, Simon&Schuster 4 comments ![]() |
MEMORIAL by Bryan Washington Publication: October 6, 2020 Publisher: Riverhead Genre: Contemporary Fiction / LGBTQ Rating: ★★★★ |
Written September 21, 2020 by Louize DG
2020, ARC, book review, books, fiction, LGBTQ, Penguin Random House No comments ![]() |
JUST LIKE YOU by Nick Hornby Publication: September 29, 2020 Publisher: Riverhead Genre: Women’s Fiction/ Romance Rating: ★★★½ |
This warm, wise, highly entertaining twenty-first-century love story is about what happens when the person who makes you happiest is someone you never expected.
Lucy used to handle her adult romantic life according to the script she'd been handed. She met a guy just like herself: same age, same background, same hopes, and dreams; they got married and started a family. Too bad he made her miserable. Now, two decades later, she's a nearly-divorced, forty-one-year-old schoolteacher with two school-aged sons, and there is no script anymore. So when she meets Joseph, she isn't exactly looking for love--she's more in the market for a babysitter. Joseph is twenty-two, living at home with his mother, and working several jobs, including the butcher counter where he and Lucy meet. It's not a match anyone one could have predicted. He's of a different class, a different culture, and a different generation. But sometimes it turns out that the person who can make you happiest is the one you least expect, though it can take some maneuvering to see it through.
Just Like You is a brilliantly observed, tender, but also a brutally funny new novel that gets to the heart of what it means to fall surprisingly and headlong in love with the best possible person--someone you didn't see coming. -Publisher
I appreciate Nick Hornby's novels because he attempts to capture the typical, yet liberal, affairs ordinary people find themselves in. In his latest, an interracial, intergenerational relationship happens between a 42-year-old white English teacher and a 22-year-old black babysitter, with the Brexit as its backdrop. Lucy, recently divorced from her alcoholic husband, braved dating once again. Joseph gladly took up babysitting Lucy's two young sons while she dines and wines out. The boys hit it off instantly with their love for soccer. The fact is, almost as promptly as Lucy and Joseph fell for each other. Yet, no matter how easy it is to exist in the bubble of their newly found love, outside influences persist –race, age, Brexit.
Society is obsessed and critical with the age gap in relationships. Certain studies found that partners with more than a ten-year gap in age usually experience public censure. With humor, Hornby managed to explore the challenges and difficulties that Lucy and Joseph’s relationship undertook. Although their arguments at times felt mundane or contrived, it is interesting to see how these characters comprehended themselves through their interaction with each other and with the outside world. And as complications occur, Lucy and Joseph’s relationship starts to fizzle out at the edges. So is my interest in the narrative. I find myself seeking more from this romance.
Then again, JUST LIKE YOU may not be simply about the excitement of romance. Maybe, it is more about partners (lovers) with opposing opinions (on love, family, or politics), based on their racial identity, class, and stage of development. If whether people are willing to keep or break a relationship based on those opinions. Also, will people allow (or not) society to dictate their definition of a relationship?
JUST LIKE YOU is coming on September 29. You can preorder your copies now.
About the Author:
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Photo by Parisa Taghizadeh
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Written September 14, 2020 by Louize DG
2020, ARC, book review, books, fiction, Nick Hornby, Penguin Random House, romance No comments ![]() |
WRECKED by Louisa Reid Publication: September 3, 2020 Publisher: Guppy Books |
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PIRANESI by Susanna Clarke
Publication: September 14, 2020 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Genre: Adult Fantasy / Mystery Rating: ★★★★ |
Written September 07, 2020 by Louize DG
2020, ARC, Bloomsbury, book review, books, fantasy, Susanna Clarke 2 comments![]() |
LOVE ORANGE by Natasha Randall Publication: September 3, 2020 Publisher: Quercus |
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ANXIOUS PEOPLE by Fredrik Backman Publication: September 8, 2020 Publisher: Simon & Schuster CA Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Mystery/Humor Rating: ★★★★★ |
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Photo by Linnéa Jonasson Bernholm Appendix fotografi |
Written August 31, 2020 by Louize DG
2020, ARC, book review, books, favorite author, Fredrik Backman, Simon&Schuster 6 comments