Tag: Thetalkingbookworm

Editor Letter

New Year, Same Me

Veronica Porras (TTB)

Hello. Veronica Here.

Did your jaw drop to see a post from The Talking Bookworm? Mine did as well and I am the one writing this.

I am the classic example of letting life get too busy, but in the stillness that we inherited in 2020 and now that has come with us into 2021, I’ve decided to start posting again.

Yes, I still read on my spare time, but it is nowhere in the numbers it used to be. I don’t read 100+ books a year. More like 15-20 on average in the last couple of years. Lots of rereads which is now leading me into discovering lots of new gems that were published in the last couple of years that I have been MIA.

I started the year with a ACOTAR re-read as “A Court of Silver Flames” comes out in February. I am currently on ACOWAR, a hundred pages from the end.

I guess a new thing about me is that I’ve gotten into video games. While I can’t call myself a gamer since I only play on the Nintendo Switch, Animal Crossing and Legend of Zelda: Breathe of the Wild were my top games for 2020. I am currently playing Octopath Traveler.

2021 was supposed to be my big 3-0 year. I had plans to do a lot of things… but alas… the world had other plans.

You can expect to start seeing more from me in the coming months. I may review some old favorites again, or some new stuff. We shall see.

I hope everyone is being safe and well. It is important to be mind and body healthy during these trying times.

WWW

WWW (August 28)

Veronica Porras (TTB)

www_wednesdays4

W.W.W. Wednesday’s is hosted by Should Be Reading. To play along all you have to do is answer three simple questions: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish? What do you think you’ll read next?

1. What are you currently reading?

I am currently reading Secrets of the Realm by Bev Stout. Bev Stout kindly gave me a copy of her book to read for review. So far, it’s interesting. I’ve never read a story in that part of history and about sailors.

2. What did you recently finish?

I recently finished reading Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler. I fell in love with the story. It may be sad, but it gives you hope. I love books that give me hope. After TBS, I was in a bit of a reading slump.

3. What do you think you’ll read next?

On Goodreads it says that I’m reading The Trouble with Flirting and Eve. I might continue to read those later this week or I will read another ARC. I’ve recently gotten some good ARC’s that I’m really excited to read.

Reviews, ya contemporary

Book Review: Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Okcler

Veronica Porras (TTB)

5231173Goodreads Summary:

“Don’t worry, Anna. I’ll tell her, okay? Just let me think about the best way to do it.”
“Okay.”
“Promise me? Promise you won’t say anything?”
“Don’t worry.” I laughed. “It’s our secret, right?”

According to her best friend Frankie, twenty days in ZanzibarBay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there’s a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there’s something she hasn’t told Frankie—she’s already had that kind of romance, and it was with Frankie’s older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.

Beautifully written and emotionally honest, this is a debut novel that explores what it truly means to love someone and what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every single moment this world has to offer.

What I Like:

First, I want to discuss the cover. You may think it’s pretty or simple, but it portrays 100% what the book is about. The title of Sarah Ockler’s debut novel may lead you to think that it is just another Young Adult chick lit book (there is nothing wrong with YA Chick-lit), but this novel has depth, it is deep, and it will make you reevaluate your life.

Throughout the novel we get to experience firsthand not just the grief Matt’s family is going through, but Anna, whom no one seems to acknowledge that she has every right to be hurting too. There are some beautiful lines written in this novel. For example:

Like the stars, fading with the halo of the vanishing moon. Like the ocean, falling and whispering against the shore. Nothing ever really goes away – it just changes into something else. Something beautiful.

I’m not a person that sheds tears when reading a book. Some have even said I’m hard as a rock, but TBS opened up the safe within my mind and brought memories of someone that I loved that passed away several years ago. I teared up several times while reading it.

This book is a good portrayal of how grief can take control of someone’s life, and the process that we sometimes have to go through in order to heal.

I also want to point out that Sam was such a sweetheart. It must be hard to take a chance on someone knowing you may never see them again after summer ends.

What I Dislike:

If I am going to be super nit-picky, I wish we would have seen a little more of Frankie before Matt’s death. The only lens which we see Frankie through is Anna and that lens can be obscured.

Overall:

Twenty Boy Summer  is one of the best debut novels I have read. The well thought out passages and the full exploration of grief makes this one of the most heat-wrenching, beautiful novels I have ever read.

Rating: 5/5