July 2018 Wrap Up

July was a really busy month. I literally forced myself to read because I was not going to read one book a month. That's not what summer reading is supposed to be like. School has been hectic but I'm surviving. Hopefully, I can say the same for August.

1. Save the Date, Morgan Matson 3.8/5

“It seemed like the second you tried to tell someone why you loved someone else, it took the luster off it, like pinning a butterfly down in a case—it never quite captured it.”

Charlie Grant’s older sister is getting married this weekend at their family home, and Charlie can’t wait—for the first time in years, all four of her older siblings will be under one roof. Charlie is desperate for one last perfect weekend, before the house is sold and everything changes. The house will be filled with jokes and games and laughs again. Making decisions about things like what college to attend and reuniting with longstanding crush Jesse Foster—all that can wait. She wants to focus on making the weekend perfect.

The only problem? The weekend is shaping up to be an absolute disaster.

There’s the unexpected dog with a penchant for howling, house alarm that won’t stop going off, and a papergirl with a grudge.

There are the relatives who aren’t speaking, the (awful) girl her favorite brother brought home unannounced, and a missing tuxedo.

Not to mention the neighbor who seems to be bent on sabotage and a storm that is bent on drenching everything. The justice of the peace is missing. The band will only play covers. The guests are all crazy. And the wedding planner’s nephew is unexpectedly, distractingly…cute.

Over the course of three ridiculously chaotic days, Charlie will learn more than she ever expected about the family she thought she knew by heart. And she’ll realize that sometimes, trying to keep everything like it was in the past means missing out on the future. 

I'm a little disappointed. 

This was not the typical Morgan Matson book. I liked the book but it didn't give me that feeling. It didn't give me the feeling that the other books gave me. The book is more focused on Charlie and her family. There is a possible romantic relationship but not much comes of it. I think this book should have been from multiple points of view. The Grant family is so big and interesting. Every character is different and it would have been nice to hear their side during the three days. I also couldn't remember whether a character was a sibling or not. That being said it was not a bad book. It is a little different but I still enjoyed it. I just wish that it would have been more of a romance.

2. Orange is the New Black, Piper Kerman 4.5/5

“Prison is quite literally a ghetto in the most classic sense of the world, a place where the U.S. government now puts not only the dangerous but also the inconvenient—people who are mentally ill, people who are addicts, people who are poor and uneducated and unskilled.”

With a career, a boyfriend, and a loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the reckless young woman who delivered a suitcase of drug money ten years before. 

But that past has caught up with her. 

Convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, the well-heeled Smith College alumna is now inmate #11187–424 — one of the millions of people who disappear “down the rabbit hole” of the American penal system. 

From her first strip search to her final release, Kerman learns to navigate this strange world with its strictly enforced codes of behavior and arbitrary rules. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her with small tokens of generosity, hard words of wisdom, and simple acts of acceptance. 

Heartbreaking, hilarious, and at times enraging, Kerman’s story offers a rare look into the lives of women in prison—why it is we lock so many away and what happens to them when they’re there.

I did not expect to like this book as much as I did. The only reason that I hadn't picked it up was because I wasn't a huge fan of the show. The book is absolutely nothing like the show. I don't think the two could be more different. This is Piper telling her story and there's almost no humor. I found myself not being able to put the book down. It was so interesting not just to read Piper's story but to hear about the other woman. This book destroys the stereotypes of women's prisons. I was shocked to that there was not one scene of violence in this book. Most of the inmates were nonviolent women who were arrested for small drug related offences. This book shined a big light on the problems with America's justice system. This book was published in the early 2000s and almost nothing has changed since then. The incarceration rate has actually gone up significantly. The United States has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. 

This book got a lot of criticism because it was written by a white woman who was 'unqualified' to give her opinion. This is Piper's story and yes she does aknowlege the fact that she was privileged multiple times throughout the story. Regardless of whether you see this book as a cliche I think it's important to read.

3. The Orphan's Tale, Pam Jenoff 4.8/5

“Why are we so hard on one another? I wonder. Hadn’t the world already given us challenges enough?” 

A powerful novel of friendship set in a traveling circus during World War II, The Orphan's Tale introduces two extraordinary women and their harrowing stories of sacrifice and survival 

Sixteen-year-old Noa has been cast out in disgrace after becoming pregnant by a Nazi soldier and being forced to give up her baby. She lives above a small rail station, which she cleans in order to earn her keep… When Noa discovers a boxcar containing dozens of Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp, she is reminded of the child that was taken from her. And in a moment that will change the course of her life, she snatches one of the babies and flees into the snowy night. 

Noa finds refuge with a German circus, but she must learn the flying trapeze act so she can blend in undetected, spurning the resentment of the lead aerialist, Astrid. At first rivals, Noa and Astrid soon forge a powerful bond. But as the facade that protects them proves increasingly tenuous, Noa and Astrid must decide whether their friendship is enough to save one another—or if the secrets that burn between them will destroy everything.

This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. I saw that my grandfather was reading it and I wanted to give it a try. It was a little slow in the beginning but it picked up quickly. It's hard for me to talk about this book without spoiling it. It took me a while to fall in love with the characters but of course I did. Often times when a book is more plot driven the characters lack personality. I didn't feel that way with this book though. I was bawling by the end of it which surprises no one. 

DFTBA

-AB