#read:2018

I Believe In A Thing Called Love by Maureen Goo (Margaret Ferguson Books, 2017)

Synopsis Desi Lee believes anything is possible if you have a plan. That’s how she became student body president. Varsity soccer star. And it’s how she’ll get into Stanford. But—she’s never had a boyfriend. In fact, she’s a disaster in romance, a clumsy, stammering humiliation magnet whose botched attempts at flirting have become legendary with her friends. So when the hottest human specimen to have ever lived walks into her life one day, Desi decides to tackle her flirting failures with the same zest she’s applied to everything else in her life. She finds guidance in the Korean dramas her father has been obsessively watching for years—where the hapless heroine always seems to end up in the arms of her true love by episode ten. It’s a simple formula, and Desi is a quick study. Armed with her “K Drama Steps to True Love,” Desi goes after the moody, elusive artist Luca Drakos—and boat rescues, love triangles, and staged car crashes ensue. But when the fun and games turn to true feels, Desi finds out that real love is about way more than just drama. (Goodreads)

I Love You Too Much by Alicia Drake (Little, Brown and Company, 2018)

Synopsis Set in the heart of Left-Bank Paris, this is the story of Paul, a lonely, quiet boy who makes an astonishing discovery and confronts that brutal turning point in adolescence when he learns he must leave the privileges of naivety behind. (Goodreads)

The No Spend Year by Michelle McGagh (Coronet, 2018)

Synopsis Michelle McGagh has been writing about money for over a decade. You'd think that would make her a whizz with her own cash, right? Wrong! Spending with abandon and ignoring bank statements were her modus operandi. Just because she wasn't in serious debt, apart from her massive London mortgage, she thought she was in control. She wasn't. Something needed to be done but rather than cut back here and there, Michelle's approach was more radical. She set herself a challenge to not spend anything for an entire year. The No Spend Year is Michelle's honestly written and personal account of her challenge. But it is more than that, it is also a tool for life that will help you get to grips with your own financial situation. She talks about money in an accessible, unintimidating and often entertaining way and interspersed throughout are really brilliant personal finance tips and life hacks about interest, mortgages, savings , pensions and spending less to help you live a more financially secure life too. (Goodreads)

She doesn't really go to specifics on her entire year, so if you're expecting a step-by-step procedure, this is not it. She does give advice that is useful, especially if you're not well versed at finance and are prone to headaches when you see the words 'loans' 'mortgages', 'pensions' - money related words. Some of her advice here are also plain common sense, especially on things we tend to overlook. Specifics wise, I have to point out that this is not a general finance book. It depends on your situation and your location whether any of her tips and advice are applicable to you. She lives in London, which is a vibrant city and is in good ranking, so people who live in active cities with good economic standing can relate to her situation.

What To Say Next by Julie Buxbaum (Delacorte Press, 2017)

Synopsis When an unlikely friendship is sparked between relatively popular Kit Lowell and socially isolated David Drucker, everyone is surprised, most of all Kit and David. Kit appreciates David’s blunt honesty—in fact, she finds it bizarrely refreshing. David welcomes Kit’s attention and her inquisitive nature. When she asks for his help figuring out the how and why of her dad’s tragic car accident, David is all in. But neither of them can predict what they’ll find. Can their friendship survive the truth? (Goodreads)

- I'm going to start with the only thing I didn't like: the plot twist and how it was handled. It weakened what seemed to be an extremely strong and amazing book. It went downhill from the moment the twist was revealed and everything was messy and it tried to get out of the hole it dug itself into.

+ I loved David and Kit. I really liked their friendship. I hoped that it wouldn't go on the romance territory because honestly, both needed a friend at that moment in their lives. I guess the romance was necessary to bring David out of his shell, but Kit could still bring David out of his shell without them kissing and holding hands. They could have built a kind of friendship that would last a lifetime.

- I don't get how David's good looks is relevant to the story. Buying him new clothes and getting him a haircut that shows his face isn't going to make him a different person. It just makes everyone hypocrites because now they pay attention to him because of the way he looks.

I was ready to give this 5 stars because the first 2/3 of the book was strong. The characterization was good. The friendship was good. Since it's inevitable for the story not to lead to romance, the transition was good too. It was the climax and that whole secret that weakened this book for me. It's not a terrible book not to merit a re-read, but it was a disappointing way to end, even if they end up on happy terms.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (Vintage Books, 2005)

Synopsis From one of America's iconic writers, a stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Joan Didion explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage–and a life, in good times and bad–that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child. (Goodreads)

+ Didion is very articulate. If I were in the similar situation and felt the same things, I don't think I could have placed all my emotions down as articulately and heartfelt as did. I would probably be writing all my emotions in caps-lock and flowery descriptions.

- I got lost in some chapters of the book. There would be a train of thought, then it would tangent in a lengthly piece then jump back in again to the original though.

Memoirs are very personal. The reader cannot discount the author's experience because they are theirs and theirs alone. I thought it was a good book overall. I think I would have benefitted more from this if I read it in one sitting. It's hard to shift back to the emotional state Didion is revealing to you if you keep on shifting in and out of the selection.

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson (Katherine Tegen Books, 2018)

Synopsis Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.” Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.” It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history. True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder. (Goodreads)

+ A book I read in one sitting is a plus in my book.

+ This was a page turner. It combines the stories of two murders. There are a variety of characters involved. The school sounds amazing.

- I might not be on board with the romance aspect of the story. The roots of it seems childish - he was annoying, she got annoyed, then it was 'Oh, I like you'. Maybe I'll get on board with it in the next installments.

+ This was an entertaining mystery book. I would love to know more about the first murder (not the present one), especially with the cliffhanger.

Grace and the Fever by Zan Romanoff (Alfred A Knopf, 2017)

SynopsisIn middle school, everyone was a Fever Dream fan. Now, a few weeks after her high school graduation, Grace Thomas sometimes feels like the only one who never moved on. She can't imagine what she'd do without the community of online fans that share her obsession. Or what her IRL friends would say if they ever found out about it. Then, one summer night, the unthinkable happens: Grace meets her idol, Jes. What starts out as an elusive glimpse of Fever Dream's world turns into an unlikely romance, and leads her to confront dark, complex truths about herself and the realities of stardom. (Goodreads)

I don't really have anything much to say about this book except that it was entertaining. I wasn't in love with it, but it was something that I really enjoyed. If you are a fan of boy bands, this might be a book for you. Nothing was what it seemed behind the scene, and it was an eye opener for the main character.

The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani (Penguin Books, 2018. Translated from the French by Sam Taylor)

Synopsis When Myriam, a mother and brilliant French-Moroccan lawyer, decides to return to work, she and her husband are forced to look for a caretaker for their two young children. They are thrilled to find Louise: the perfect nanny right from the start. Louise sings to the children, cleans the family's beautiful apartment in Paris's upscale tenth arrondissement, stays late whenever asked, and hosts enviable kiddie parties. But as the couple and the nanny become more dependent on each other, jealousy, resentment, and frustrations mount, shattering the idyllic tableau.(Goodreads)

+ The first paragraph is a fantastic start of the novel. It dives right into the conflict, making the reader want to read everything immediately. It grabs the reader's attention, and it is something I look for in thrillers.

+ It plays the mystery well. The book presents conflicting accounts on who the nanny is and how she really was. She acts differently around other people, making it difficult to grasp who she really was and that adds intrigue to the story.

- It does slow down around 60% in and it rushes the conclusion once you get to the last 5-10 pages. I wanted more for the conclusion.

+ It is a page turner. Based on the translation, it's well-written. It's articulate, but also has descriptive narrative. The author voices out the thoughts of the characters in various situations, so one isn't left guessing about how this or that character reacted.