An Obsession with Flappers

I don't know when I exactly became obsessed with the Flappers and the Roaring Twenties. All I know is I read two books that were set in the Twenties and it went from there. Now I'm rapidly consuming information about this period in American history and one of the books I've read on that journey is Flapper by Joshua Zeitz.



I started reading this maybe a month ago, but I put it down for some reason, although it was interesting and on a subject that I enjoy.

But on this past Saturday I picked it back and rapidly got consumed in the book again. It starts off focusing on the Fitzgeralds. Theirs is a fascinating story. From there each chapter mentions some of the major players in the 1920s. Of course it's more of general book, but I liked the glimpses of Clara Bow, Coco Chanel, etc. I'll definitely be looking into more definite biographies of some of the women that helped make America modern.

In two chapters Zeitz mentions non-white flappers, which is really interesting to me as I'm women of color. But it was more like a paragraph. That was my only qualm with this book. It would have been great to learn about WOC flappers as well. But I got the general idea.

The book introduced me to people I'd never heard of before and it touched on one of my favorite people from the Jazz Age: Dorothy Parker. I felt like the book served as an introduction to some of the most important people from the Twenties.

I thought the ending was nice. In previous chapters Zeitz talked about how Americans became consumers. The Stock Market crash of 1929 changed things a bit of course. I thought it was great that Zeitz showed how the flappers influenced even today's generation. That really hit a chord for me.

I give Flapper a solid four stars!

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In The Past Week...

I finished my eleventh book and my first classic of the new year.

I chose Persuasion by Jane Austen as my book for January. I initially took reading it slower than I usually do. I usually read classics slower than I do contemporary books because of the language but this doesn't bother me as much as it used to. But on to the story.

I had originally watched the 1995 adaptation and fell in love with that. I wanted to see if the makers of the film translated the book onto the screen well. I think they did it justice. One thing that I did notice was when Louisa (I believe that's her name. I kept getting her mixed up with her sister.) fell from the steps. It was lot more dramatic on the screen than in the book. I actually had to backtrack for a minute to realize that she had actually fell.

I've only read one other Austen work and that's Pride and Prejudice which I just adore (Darcy owns my heart!), but I've noticed that she tells more than she shows. I felt that there were moments in the book where she could have let the characters speak for themselves instead of telling the reader what happened. It was for this that I rated the book four stars.

Today I finished a short little romance called By Royal Demand by Robyn Donald that has been sitting on my shelf for months waiting to be read. I probably wouldn't have picked it up if I hadn't been cleaning my shelves. But I read the blurb on the back and I decided why not?

It was enjoyable and quick read. I did think the hero Gabe, was just a much a jerk for my taste. The mystery with the Queen's Blood was resolved a little too quick for my taste, but the author is confined to see limit, so I could understand that. I did like the glimpses of Illriya and Sara's home island. I wish that I could have heard what Illriyan sounded like, but maybe that will be in the future books. I gave it three stars.

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Until There Was You Mini-Review

Until There Was You by Kristan Higgins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I got this book on Wednesday. I had been seeing it everywhere and then I saw that one of my friends had read it and she spoke highly of it, so I decided why not give it a go?

The first thing that I noticed was that it was hilarious. Posey was a great narrator and I didn't roll my eyes at her like I may have done with other heroines. It took me awhile to warm up to Liam. He just seemed really cold to me and maybe it's my experience with that type of guy, but I wasn't really feeling that.

I loved all the secondary characters as well. I thought Nicole was precious and I could understand how she felt with Liam being overbearing. I thought they were all fleshed out very well.

The romance was sweet and I really loved the ending. I thought it was so sweet and it harkened back to when they were teenagers. And I'm glad the reason for Liam breaking Posey's heart was explained. It made much more sense.

I'm looking forward to reading more of Higgins' work.



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Ninth Book Down!

Yass! I have read my ninth book for the month of January! Now I'm clear to spend my time reading Persuasion. I loved the 1995 movie and I'm hoping I love the book. I usually love the books more, but I can appreciate a good adaptation.

Here are my thoughts on another Clique novella.

Dylan by Lisi Harrison

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I think I enjoyed this one slightly better than I did Alicia's. Maybe it's because I have gotten used to the language, but it was really fun.



I am a bit WTF at the fact that Dylan considers herself fat even though she's just a size 6. Seriously? But other than that I liked the mentions of Winsome, Svetlana's designer.



Dylan did a little blackmailing to get her way and it all came back to her of course, but she ended up getting the perfect guy. Everyone, except Svetlana, got their happy ending. Just what I like :)



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I believe the girls are thirteen? Since they're in the eighth grade right? I have a hard time classifying the series because technically the girls are children, but the books can also be read by older teens and enjoyed as well.

I've been wanting to read more children's literature actually. I'm 21, so I'm well out of the age range. But there are a lot of cute ones I want to check out. Plus six year old niece can read them.

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Two Book Reviews

I come armed with two reviews of the young adult variety. I'm eight books down for my ten book a month challenge. The ninth book has yet to be decided, but the tenth book which I have saved for the last week of January will be one of my classics for the year. I've chosen Persuasion as I simply fell in love with Austen's work after struggling to finish a rather flat copy of Pride and Prejudice. After a simple change in edition (to the Penguin Classics which I now adore!) I finished P&P in a day after it had taken me a year to get through the first 200 pages. Lesson is that an edition changes everything.

I've also signed up for Library of Clean Reads Italy Challenge. I'm not sure which level I'm going for yet, but I have four books I'm eying for use in the challenge. I've set so many challenges for myself. Let's hope I can make them.

Anyway on to the reviews. First up is the Private Prequel, The Book of Spells.

The Book of Spells by Kate Brian

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Reading this book was kind of bittersweet. It's the last of the Private books that I haven't read yet. Having read the other books, I had heard about the Billings Literary Society. I was really excited to learn more about them. When I started reading the books I kind of got deja vu. From reading the Private novels, I know that Reed and Noelle are descendents of Eliza. But Eliza's introduction to the school seemed just like Reed's.

I initially thought Theresa was more like Noelle in the first few Private books, but it turns out she's an ancestor of Paige and Dylan. I think the books said something about that. My memory is vague. Of course I knew that Catherine was a great-great-great aunt of Ariana. I didn't get the killer vibes from Catherine.

Catherine ends up dying and the coven tries to bring her back to life. They do the spell and they do. I have to say it was anti-climatic. The creature just tried to choke Eliza. Is that all? Maybe it was my impression in reading the Private novels, but I expected some worse or more gruesome. Apparently the creature looked and sounded just like Catherine, but obviously it wasn't her.

All in all though I enjoyed the book and it was a quick read.



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I was really expecting more out of this book. The end of the Private series was kind of anti-climatic and from the way things were explained in the main series, I was expecting the creature to be more gruesome or something. That's the way they made it sound, but all it did was choke Eliza before they used a spell against it. Seriously? I kind of wished there were an epilogue though. I want to know if Eliza ended up with Harrison. I know she had children because of Noelle and Reed, but who did she marry? Questions, I have them Kate Brian.

Next up was Alicia's part of the Clique Summer Collection. It was a quick read at 112 pages and I finished it in an hour. Beyond some minor complaints about word usage. I generally enjoyed it. It was fun and very chick lit for teens. Also as someone that likes to invent words, I kind giggled at some the Clique-isms. True story, I checked out the Clictionary at my local library and I regret that I didn't pursue it closer because then I would know what some of the acronyms mean.


Alicia by Lisi Harrison

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


So I read the first two Clique novels and I enjoyed them and thus I bought the subsequent books. While shopping I saw four of the five summer collections going for $0.97 each. Now while I spend a lot of money on books, I loves me a good bargain! So of course I bought them.



I picked up Alicia's book this evening. Keep in mind that I haven't read the series since late 2011. It took me a minute to get back into the flow.I immediately knew I had missed some things, but that didn't bother me too much. What did bother me were the words used. Some of the stuff I could let slip by and I have to admit I liked some of the terminology. But spelling hot hawt and not nawt? That was just too much for me. It's minor, but I can get really picky about using proper language.



I did feel for Alicia for being thrown over by her cousins, but she bonded with Nina and I thought that was sweet. In the end she won the day when Nigel turned out to be the Spanish pop star. That did kind of surprise and I admit my inner thirteen year old cheered. Everything turned out okay.



So in conclusion I will be reading the other Summer Collections, maybe sooner than later and I'll get back to reading the main novels.



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And Only To Deceive Review

Six books down and four to go for the month of January. I've made it a goal to read 10 books a month including a classic of my choice. And Only Deceive is my sixth book.



When I first started reading the book, it took me awhile to get into it. Usually I intend to read a full 100 pages, but I only got into the thirties at first. But after I took some time off and I started to read again, I found myself becoming engrossed in the book.

I've always loved to learn and reading about Emily's thoughts on the Illaid and Greek art. There were some lovely snippets from the epic poem and it made me want to pull out my copy and try again. But the copy I have is a different edition of the classics I usually use. I prefer the Penguin Classics editions because I find them more readable.

I thought the mystery was solved in a very nice way for the era. I didn't get the vibe of being a detective or anything though. The villain turned out to be the Palmer brothers specifically Andrew. I have to admit I thought Colin would be the perpetrator, but he was actually investigating the case. I guess that shows that things are not always as they seem.

Now that I've read the first book, I will be order the next one as soon as I can. Although it may took a little while for me to read it because I try not to get overwhelmed by the characters by reading books back to back!

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Thoughts on The Summer I Turned Pretty

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I kinda of sorta love this book. I did think the name Belly was kind of silly, but when I learned it was sort for Isabel suddenly I thought it was cute. Weird of me huh? I liked how some chapters were flashbacks to previous ages. I kind of felt sorry for Cam and Jeremiah getting the short end of the stick. But I was pretty happy with the end. I have the second book on my shelf. Now all I need to do is get the third and then everything will be right in my world!



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In other entertainment news, I've been buying music since three this morning. Music is such a big part of my life. I've just got into Tori Amos' stuff and I just love it!

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Several Reviews and an Explanation

On the day after my last post here, my internet was turned off. It's a long story, but they claimed we didn't pay them. So for almost two weeks I was without internet. I almost went insane. But what did I do with the time, you ask? I read of course. I think I finished eight books. I also wrote up my thoughts on the books.

I have a new laptop (yay!) that I love and I'm hoping to be posting more regularly here. There is something to be said about updating your blog from your bed, am I right?

There are some spoilers for Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen.

Thoughts on Matched by Ally Condie


I had heard good things about Matched, but I was hesitant to pick it up because of my own bias. But I finally started reading it. I’ve recently become fascinated with dystopias which I have to give credit to my first one, The Giver. While The Giver and Matched aren’t particularly violent, the means that the government suppresses their respective people made me think about my government. I’ll be the first to admit that the government here isn’t perfect, but it does seem to me that things could go along that way. But without going on a political rant, Matched was very interesting and I’m looking forward to reading the second one.

Thoughts on Desperate Duchesses by Eloisa James


A few months ago, I bought a lot of romance novels. This isn’t out of the norm for me as I tend to buy a lot of books in short spans of time. But anyway, around the 21st of this month, I was looking at my bookshelf and I saw this book. The blurb on the book piqued my interest, so I started reading. Immediately I knew why people raved about Eloisa’s writing. It was so funny! I mean I laughed out loud so many times. Damon and Roberta had perfect chemistry and Teddy was so cute. Also I thought it was great that even though Teddy was illegitimate Damon still cherished him. I’m also really interested in Elijah and Jemma. I hope their story is expanded upon in future books. I am definitely looking forward to more of Eloisa’s books.

Thoughts on The Bride’s Bodyguard by Beth Cornelison


I decided to pick up this book because I was looking for some action and if you know me, you know I love romance. So it seemed like a perfect combo. Within the first few pages, the action started, which was a plus for me as I have a very short attention span. So after Paige’s wedding got fucked up (Excuse my language, I couldn’t think of a better word). She and Jake, the bodyguard, take off. While they’re running from the terrorists the two start to fall in love. I thought it was believable enough. But on point, the story was good and I thought the author did a good job with it. Also she’s from Louisiana and I think she might be from around my area and that simple fact made me way too excited. So go, Louisiana!

Thoughts on Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins


I read The Hunger Games a little while ago. But it wasn’t until Christmas that I picked up Catching Fire. I don’t know if it was because my Christmas wasn’t so great, but I was without internet, so I decided to read. I wasn’t disappointed. The whole book was a ride and I finished it in a day. For Katniss and the other victors to have to go into the Games again was just terrible. I also noticed that there were little signs of rebellion. What with the mockingjay symbol and all. At the end of the book, I wasn’t too surprised at what happened, as it’s rare that I don’t look up spoilers for things. But still, I loved it. Now I’m contemplating should I go ahead and read the last book? It’s a tempting prospect.


Thoughts on the Dark Divine by Bree Despain


I bought this book way back on May 20, 2011. I had already wanted the book and when I saw it in the store, I immediately picked it up. It wasn’t until the last week of December that I actually started reading. The font of the book kind of threw me off, but I got used to around page 100. The story is really interesting. I already knew it would involve werewolves somehow, but I wasn’t sure how. I actually quite liked the heroine, Grace Divine and despite her name, she didn’t seem to be holier than thou. That sort of behavior really annoys me as I know a few people who are so like that. I didn’t see the end coming, but I like to be surprised. I also found Grace and Daniel’s relationship to be believable. That’s really important to me in books. But I’m looking forward to reading the next book as soon as I can!

Thoughts on Fallen by Lauren Kate


I started on this back in August or September or something. I don’t know what made me put it down but I did. During the last week of December, I picked it up again. I do really enjoy it. I wouldn’t quite say Luce is a stalker, but she does give off the vibes of it. I like Daniel, but he’s so hard to read sometimes. I think it’s rather strange that while I am completely fascinated by religion and all that. I’m currently in dispute with my own religion, whatever that means haha. But I really liked this book despite a few qualms I had with a few minor details. I will be reading the next book soon.


Thoughts on Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen


After reading Bright Young Things, I was eager to read the sequel. I remember counting down the days until the book came out. In October after it had been released, I ordered it and waited for the book to arrive at my door. I had intended to read the book as soon as I could, but for some reason I never got around to it. It wasn’t until the last day of December during my exile from the net that I actually picked it up.


It took me about fifty pages to get back into the story, but after that hurdle. I remember why I had liked the first book. I still find Astrid to be dreadfully boring though. I don’t know what it is about her, but when I read a chapter about her, I find my eyes glazing over. Right now, Letty is my favorite girl.


I really wasn’t expecting Astrid to get kidnapped. I honestly thought it would be Cordelia. From the way Astrid was acting about being engaged to Charlie. I didn’t expect them to get married in the end. I REALLY wasn’t expecting Max’s mother to be black. But he did seem to be guarded and that was why. My girl Letty is finally living her dreams, but I can’t help feeling something is iffy about Valetine O’Dell. It just sounds suspicious. I’m hoping it works out for her though.

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