Love and First Sight {by Josh Sundquist}

Title: Love and First Sight
Author: Josh Sundquist
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Genre: YA Contemporary
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
source: The NOVL

On his first day at a new school, blind sixteen-year-old Will Porter accidentally groped a girl on the stairs, sat on another student in the cafeteria, and somehow drove a classmate to tears. High school can only go up from here, right?As Will starts to find his footing, he develops a crush on a charming, quiet girl named Cecily. Then an unprecedented opportunity arises: an experimental surgery that could give Will eyesight for the first time in his life. But learning to see is more difficult than Will ever imagined, and he soon discovers that the sighted world has been keeping secrets. It turns out Cecily doesn't meet traditional definitions of beauty--in fact, everything he'd heard about her appearance was a lie engineered by their so-called friends to get the two of them together. Does it matter what Cecily looks like? No, not really. But then why does Will feel so betrayed?Told with humor and breathtaking poignancy, Love and First Sight is a story about how we related to each other and the world around us.

While this book was a pretty quick read, it was full of emotion and humor and raw feelings. You could tell this book was heavily researched and carefully written, so as to relate as true of an experience as possible.

I liked Will, and reading about his struggles trying to navigate a public high school. Sundquist did a really thorough job of getting into his head, showing us the process and struggles of a blind person, that sighted people would not even think to consider. Will finds his group of friends, who I enjoyed very much. They were fun, and kind of reminded me a little of my own group of friends in high school. br />
This is a romance, and I did like the relationship between Will and Cecily. It blossomed slowly, and I loved them. However, I feel that this book did not necessarily focus on the romance. It's a huge part (I mean, it is the title) but this is a book about Will. I was a little apprehensive about the "giving Will eyesight" part of the story, as that could have gone so wrong, but I should have known Sundquist would handle the subject with great care. Will's thought process leading up to his decision was carefully expounded, and everything that happened after was carefully researched. The writing was detailed yet precise, letting us really see everything that was happening.

I loved this book. I love how all the different subjects were handled, how touching this story was while still being fun. Sundquist wrote a great story, and I can't wait to see what he comes out with next.

Josh Sundquist:

Website | Twitter | YouTube | Goodreads

2016 in Review

In all honesty, this year has been a weird one. I know it has been for all of us, but mentally and emotionally it has worn me out. I'm sure you could tell by the on-again, off-again way I've been on the blog and social media throughout the year. I know I technically quit the blog last year, but obviously not. I'm not sure what I will do this coming year, but I am hoping to find more balance.

Anyway, you're here for books. I've had a weird reading year as well. While I know that I read about the same amount as I always do, I feel that I don't have as many that stand out in my mind, that I loved. (Partly because I have yet to read both of V.E. Schwab's 2016 releases what is wrong with me??) I did read more nonfiction this year, which I am proud of, and hope to read even more next year. But here are the top books I read this year.

Fiction

Nonfiction

I'm not going to explain all of them, but if I had to pick my top books it would be Stalking Jack the Ripper and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (they're basically the only two I rec ask anyone). My top series would be Harry Potter and The Raven Cycle (while I only have one book each listed, they represent the whole series). 

Here's to a better 2017, both reading wise and other. Happy new year!

November Wrap Up

Hiiii. Wow. Okay. I haven't done a monthly wrap-up in 2 1/2 years (hehehe...oops) and really can't remember the last time I did any sort of personal/chatty post. Which makes me sad, so I have decided to bring them back. I'll probably change up things in these first few until I settle on a format, but they will mostly be casual and chatty. Anyway...on to this month (how is it already December?!?)

If you follow me on Goodreads, you might have noticed that back in July, I stopped rating books. I decided just to try this, since I already did not rate nonfiction/classics, and found that it made reading much less pressured and therefore more enjoyable. I have decided to still rate review books, as well as 5-stars, but those will be the only ones with a star rating.

5-star reads: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Audiobooks: Bossypants, Modern Romance

• Timekeeper by Tara Sim (4 stars)
• Faithful Alice Hoffman (4 stars)
• The Silent Songbird by Melanie Dickerson (4 stars)
• Rad Women Worldwide by Katie Schatz

If you follow me on any social media, you know that I actually took a break for the month of November. This didn't work as well, as I ended up getting back on Snapchat and Tumblr within like a week. BUT I did manage to stay off of Twitter and Instagram, which were really the ones I was concerned with anyway.
Other than that, I've been super busy with school, and now with finals coming up, I'll probably still be staying off the internet until they're over.
Music: Hamilton Mixtape drops TONIIIITE and I am so excited for it, but I pretty much have not played another song since Immigrants (We Get the Job Done) came out. hashtag obsessed.

I want to start adding maybe a "month in photos" part here, but I am very bad at taking photos of real life (seriously, I haven't posted on my personal insta since July). I also want to add different types of posts to the blog, maybe a "What I've been Reading" since I don't review every book I read. Basically, I don't know.

If you have any ideas for posts, or how to make these wrap-ups less rambly, or how just how to get back into the groove of blogging in general, I would love to hear them. Also, make sure to follow me on tumblr because that's where I seem to spend most of my time these days.

Rad Women Worldwide

Title: Rad Women Worldwide: Artists and Athletes, Pirates and Punks, and Other Revolutionaries Who Shaped History
Author: Katie Schatz, Miriam Klein Stahl (illustrator)
Genre: Historical Nonfiction
Rating: n/a
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
source: publisher

In Rad Women Worldwide, writer Kate Schatz and artist Miriam Klein Stahl tell fresh, engaging, and inspiring tales of perseverance and radical success by pairing well researched and riveting biographies with powerful and expressive cut-paper portraits. Featuring an array of diverse figures from Hatshepsut (the great female king who ruled Egypt peacefully for two decades) and Malala Yousafzi (the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize) to Poly Styrene (legendary teenage punk and lead singer of X-Ray Spex) and Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft (polar explorers and the first women to cross Antarctica), this progressive and visually arresting book is a compelling addition to women's history. 

I realize I just reviewed a book very similar to this one, but to be honest, I'm just really glad that we are getting a rise in books like this. I think these books work for young girls to teenagers to adults. The stories of women have been squashed for so long, and it's about time we got to hear them.

I loved the illustrations in this one, as they were beautiful and striking. And let's face it, no matter how old you are, pictures just make everyone better. One thing I also loved about this book was how so many of the women were new to me. Which is sad, but I'm glad their stories are finally getting told. I loved how we saw people from all backgrounds, from every single continent (yes, including Antarctica!). The range of women was very diverse, and I think every little girl will find someone they relate to in here. The book did spread across a lot of history, but a lot of these women are also modern, a good majority of them being still alive. I loved that, as I think it's a great thing for young girls to see that women are still fighting and paving the way.

The stories are not too long or complex, making this a great book for younger readers as well. But I also think older women will get just as much out of it. It's one of those books that I want to recommend to everyone. 

Books like this: 

Kate Schatz &
Miriam Klein Stahl (illus.)

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