Review: I Hate Everyone But You

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Youtube stars Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin, known for their previous work with Buzzfeed and their channel Just Between Us, have taken their partnership into the world of YA lit. Their debut novel I Hate Everyone But You is a modern-day epistolary which was released September 5, 2017. In it, you read the texts and emails of two long-time best friends, Ava and Gen, who have gone to colleges on opposite sides of the country. They navigate the challenges of beginning their college careers alone, but still have a deal to email each other every day in order to stay fully caught up on the other’s news and maintain their relationship.

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Weekend Coffee Share 10/1/17

Imagine we’re sitting outside, the finally chilling Fall air cooling our hot coffee. We’d have a lot to talk about, I’m sure. Mostly I’d be raving about the weather. I adore the beginning of Fall. As someone that dislikes hot weather and the midwest humidity that comes from water in the corn stalks heating up (yes, that’s a thing), I just get giddy when the weather hovers around 70 degrees. The last few days I’ve been spending as much time outside as possible, either walking or reading on the porch. That’s why we’re outside as we enjoy our coffee and catch up now.

The biggest news I have is that I started a job this week. Don’t get too excited though–it’s part time and temp. I just hate having no income and sitting around the house all day. I think it will be fine, but it’s nothing I’m in love with. I’m also a little peeved, because never was I told it was a call center job. It wasn’t in the job description, mentioned in the interview, or in my first two days of training. I had explicitly been avoiding applying for call center positions because I tend to get nervous on the phone unless it’s someone I’m comfortable with. But at least it’s for a nonprofit rather than some big corporation. Even if I don’t like the job, I’ll be helping people, and that’s really important to me.

Less time at home also means I haven’t had as much time to blog. Changing up your schedule is really exhausting, so even though I’ve finished a few books, I haven’t written about them yet. Hopefully I’ll get to that soon. I especially want to write about I Hate Everyone But You: A Novel by Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin. I’ve been reading a lot of older books recently, but this one just came out.

I’ve also picked up a new hobby. As much as I love reading, I do need a bit of variety in how I spend my free time. Last weekend I took a quilting class with my mom. It was a lot of fun. Something about creating has always felt good to me. That’s part of why I started blogging. But working with my hands is still a completely different experience. It’s really satisfying too. Unfortunately quilting can be really expensive. Luckily for me my mom already has all to tools, so I just have to buy the actual fabric. It’s a bit of an odd hobby for me to pick up though because of how young I am compared to most quilters, but I live in a town full of the very young and the aging. There’s very few people around my age. Plus I like older people (for the most part). And quilting ladies are kinda quirky, which I enjoy.

On a completely different note, I’m trying to improve my instagram skills. It seems like all my friends are better at it than I am. So look at this picture of my cat, Buttons, that I took today! I think it’s pretty swell. She was rolling around in the gravel while I rubbed her tummy. If you have any instagram tips, I’d love to hear them.

That’s about all that’s new in my life this week. What about you?

Review: An Unnecessary Woman

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I picked up my most recent read at a semi-local independent bookstore. I know they say not to judge a book by it’s cover, but the cover and title are what drew me in. Feeling a little unnecessary myself lately, I just had to know what this book was about. To put it much too simply, An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine is a meditation on the love of language and literature as well as what it is like to live your life by continually bucking social norms, not as a political statement, but as simply a way to live life true to yourself.

An important element to this book is its setting: Beirut, Lebanon. The protagonist, Aaliya, is above all resilient. She has to be due to the unrest she has lived through. A basic knowledge of the historical events of the area is helpful when reading through this story, but I wouldn’t say it’s critical.

Now while the world is changing around her, Aaliya lives a simple life. Alone in her apartment, she translates a book into Arabic every year. Her life is solitary and she surrounds herself with literature. Throughout her meditations on her present day life, you go through many flashbacks of how she got to be so “unnecessary” as a divorcee living apart from her family.

While this book is an enjoyable read, I couldn’t make myself care much about the characters or the plot, which I think is showing though in my brief synopsis of it. The prose, however, is beautiful. Alameddine is a master at crafting sentences, weaving together allusions to other works with his own observations, and writing deeply about loneliness, aging, politics, etc. That’s what made the book for me.

I was never completely absorbed or felt as though I couldn’t wait to get back to it after setting it down, but I by no means regret reading it. My copy will probably make it’s way to a used bookstore eventually in order to make room for something else, but I’m glad I picked it up.

 

National Video Games Day

Apparently it’s National Video Games Day. While this “holiday” is simply one of many superfluous holidays that seem to be attributed to every single day on the calendar, I thought it would be a great opportunity to finally talk about video games on this little blog of mine.

Now, many people are often surprised when I’m outed as a gamer. I guess I don’t seem the type to spend hours in front of a screen playing the life of a made-up person, creature, or robot. Honestly, I always find it surprising that others are surprised.

As a lover of stories, video games have always seemed like a natural fit for my interests. You see, I’m drawn to story-rich games, simulations, and RPGs. Unlike when reading a book where the plot is set in stone, in a game I get to interact with the story and co-create it as I play.

I know, I know–tons of people love to criticize video games. They say it’s a waste of time, that you’ll kill your brain cells, or become more violent. Well I say “bologna!” There are all sorts of studies that show that video games help hand-eye coordination, decision making skills, and creativity.

For me, gaming is also a great stress reliever. As someone who lives with mental illness everyday, it can be great to step into the shoes of someone else for a while. Or the repetitive actions of some games can be soothing. Plus, the soundtracks of video games are often specifically created to be relaxing and to help you focus (unless you’re about to face a boss, then it gets suspenseful).

But I wasn’t always comfortable acknowledging my love of video games. When I was younger I would get really nervous to go to the store and buy a game. I always felt like it was something for boys only and that I must have been a weirdo for wanting the new pokemon. Now I know that’s a ridiculous notion to hold onto. Gaming is for anyone and everyone.

So happy Video Games Day! And keep your eye out for more video-game related content on this blog of mine that refuses to follow any specific niche no matter how hard I try.

Race and Literature: A Few Recommendations

Race is a complicated issue in the United States. While we may not be in the era of Jim Crow laws or legalized segregation anymore, racism is unfortunately alive and well. Just this week five high school students in a small town not too far from my own wore white hoods and burned a cross while waving around a confederate flag. It’s despicable, but racism includes so much more than these larger events that can easily be pointed out.

Our nation, particularly the white majority, needs to educate itself on race issues. Even the most well-intended social justice interested person has to constantly fight the internalized racism that is entrenched in this nation’s culture. While I am by no means an expert on race, I have learned a lot over the past few years and have had to challenge my own assumptions time and time again. Sometimes it’s by noticing the reactions of my friends when I unintentionally say something I didn’t understand the repercussions of, sometimes it’s by listening to the stories of others and learning what they have to deal with on a daily basis, and sometimes it’s through reading. I took a few classes that focused on literature that challenged the narrative we are often fed about race in the United States. Here are a few recommendations to get you started:

Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse: an Introduction

Before I actually dive into Leigh Bardugo two connected series, the Grisha trilogy and the Six of Crows duology; I just want to acknowledge that this post (and possible follow up posts on these works) is not going to be my typical book review. Originally I planned on doing separate reviews for each book, but I read the Grisha trilogy before I rebooted my blog so the books didn’t feel adequately fresh for regular reviews and then I got sick as I was reading Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, so those reviews were delayed. Okay, let’s quit procrastinating and dive into this AMAZING universe.

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

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I’m a big fan of crime-based tv shows and podcasts, but for some reason I’ve never ventured into crime books. Deciding it was time to remedy this lapse in my reading practices, I picked up The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson at a used bookstore.