Tag: Book Critic

Books, Fiction

Bed Time Story of Christmas Cheer with Buddy the Elf

RaeAnna
Recreating my own Elf moment by climbing on the tree to hang the star. | Pajamas |

Worth A Read Yes
Length 44
Quick Review A less time consuming way to enjoy Elf the movie.

If you love Will Ferrell’s adventures in New York City as Buddy the [oversized] elf, then this is the perfect book for you and the children in your life. Based on the movie by David Berenbaum Elf, is a great addition to your bedtime reading list or something sweet to put on the coffee table this time of year. 

I’m not going to go over the plot of the book because everyone—should know—knows what happens because it’s a Christmas fucking classic with all the heartwarmth, songs, and baked goods this season requires. 

Being Silly

That was a lie; I’m going to talk about a couple plot points. The movie does a better job explaining why Buddy is able to escape by way of Santa. The book, however, does not. Buddy wanders into the sleigh and is discovered at the North Pole. Instead of going “Oh no! Let’s find his family.” Santa goes, “Sure. A baby. I’ll let an elf adopt the child I accidentally kidnapped.” No mention of Mommy, at all. The more logical and Santa-like thing of ‘Oops! Let’s deliver this baby back home, pop it under the Christmas tree with a bow on his head, and pretend like nothing happened.’ And since there is no mention of the mom, how did she react? Did she respond with a, “K, cool. My kid’s been napped.” She’s nowhere in the story! She probably died of heartbreak.

What I love most about the book is that it keeps some of the most memorable lines from the movie. “Some people just lose sight of what’s important in life.” It does an amazing job of being sweet and funny and Christmassy all at the same time. Buddy is as ridiculous and wonderful as Will Ferrell portrays him in the movie version. 

Kim Smith does a fabulous job bringing Buddy, the elves, Santa, and New York City to life through her illustrations. 

Christmas is about joy and happiness and good cheer. Buddy has become an iconic bringer of cheer for children of all ages since the movie was released. I love that Elf is now in book form to be read around the fire or curled up in bed. 

Memorable Quotes
The Code of the Elves “2. There’s room for everyone on the nice list”
“You’re not a cotton-headed ninny muggins. You’re just… special!”
“Buddy, you’re more of an elf than anyone I’ve ever met.”

bisous und обьятий,
RaeAnna

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Title: Elf
Based on the film by: David Berenbaum
Illustrator: Kim Smith
Publisher: Quirk Books
Copyright: 2020
ISBN: 9781683692201 

Books, Fiction

A Chaste Christmas Novel: Debbie Macomber’s Jingle All the Way

RaeAnna
Jingle All the Way by Debbie Macomber | Sweatshirt | Shorts | Hat

Worth A Read No
Length 272
Quick Review A chaste (and confusing) Christmas romance for those who really don’t want to be surprised or titillated by love or the holiday spirit. 

I’m going to start off with: I have nothing good to say about Jingle All the Way by Debbie Macomber. I would suggest this book because it is the perfect Christmas romance for Christian women with a sex-sensitivity. Honesty, it doesn’t even have to be sex… intimacy is also applicable.

Everly is a high-powered CEO of a company in downtown Chicago. She gets sent on her idea of hell: a trip down the Amazon river with absolutely no way to connect with the outside world. While on the cruise, she connects with the ship’s naturalist and Chicago-native, Asher. They fall in love on the Amazon as they encounter illness, accidents, kidnapping, and mishaps. 

I still do not understand the title, Jingle All the Way, or the cover image. Poor choices. They do not match the plot at all in any way shape or form. It is very confusing, and I hate it. Poor choices on the publisher’s part.

For the completely inept at knowing how a Christmas romance novel is going to end: If you don’t want to know how it ends (the same as every other one in this genre), do not read this paragraph. I really loathe how the characters always end up married and usually with child in the epilogue. Let’s have a new ending. Like they had three great months before brain cancer suddenly took Asher from Everly and she dedicated herself to preserving the Amazon in his memory. That’s romantic and new!

Macomber’s writing is incredibly unbelievable. The dialogue is very cringe worthy. As someone who is of the same age as the main characters, we would not talk that way to one another, especially if it was a flirtation. The dialogue has as much emotional depth as encounters I have with a friend I don’t much care for rather than the person I’m falling head over heels in love with. 

Having more fun on the photo shoot than I did reading the terrible book.

I know that romances must have a reason the two love interests shouldn’t or couldn’t be together, but the reasons Macomber creates in Jingle All the Way are hardly believable. The only thing I remotely like about this one is that Asher is pressured to give up his wandering ways to settle down and begin a family. For once the man is also giving up something. Surprise, surprise, surprise, they both decide to settle in a small town and be happy and a family and give up their wandering and high powered lives. Yuck.

Macomber also starts off the novel with an attack on Gen Z by painting Everly’s assistant as inept, irresponsible, catty, and an all around shitty human and employee. I don’t like this because it’s a sweeping judgement rather than individualized to this particular person, who is a crap assistant. It also sets the scene that Everly is much older, but in reality, they’re maybe ten years apart in age. 

One of my favorite (read this sarcastically) moments in Jingle All the Way is when Macomber takes the opportunity to defend romance novels as a genre. I don’t understand why she feels the need because the vast majority of the people reading it are fans of hers and the genres. So it feels very self-aggrandizing when Everly says, “They’re positive and uplifting and give me hope of finding my own handsome hero one day.”

I do have one audience to whom I can and would suggest this novel. As much as I really did not enjoy reading Debbie Macomber’s Jingle All the Way, it is perfect for Christian women or women with a sex-sensitivity. I, for one, do not love reading sex scenes. They make me uncomfortable. Yet they are a natural part of any romantic relationship. Kissing is also normal… Everly and Asher do none of it. They two chaste kisses. To have a raging love affair last two weeks on vacation in South America without technology or connection to the outside world, I can’t imagine them not having sex. Not realistic. 

Like I said. Don’t waste your time on this book. It’s terrible unless you really hate intimacy and want to know what the ending is by paragraph one. 

bisous und обьятий,
RaeAnna

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Title: Jingle All the Way
Author: Debbie Macomber
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Copyright: 2020
ISBN: 9781984818751

Books, Fiction

LGBTQ+ Romance in Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

RaeAnna
Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

Worth A Read Yes
Length 384
Quick Review Elle and Darcy are complete opposites. After a disaster of a date, they end up faking a relationship to escape the familial judgement accompanying the holidays.

My reading habits trend toward nonfiction and classical literature. As a blogger, I’ve been trying to branch out more. In 2020, I have read more fluff than I’ve ever read in my entire life, and it’s been great. Not because the books are great, but because this year sucks. That being said, I looked forward to reading Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur because it is a rom-com with two women at the center of the love story. 

Elle is the co-owner of an astrology company with her best friend and roommate, Margot. They’re partnering with a popular dating app to create something new and innovative for users. The app’s owner sets Elle up with his sister Darcy, an actuary. Due to being complete opposites, the date is a complete disaster; however Elle and Darcy embark on a fake relationship to get them through the holidays.

Reading Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur in Baytown | Dress | Flag |

If this ruins the story for you, you’ve not read or watched enough rom-coms… meaning this is your first. Elle and Darcy fall in love in the vein of: opposites attract. Woah. Written in the Stars is a cute novel that’s well written. There’s nothing revolutionary or phenomenal about it and hits all the common beats in a rom-com. At its heart, it’s just another love story. I like it more because it’s a rom-com with two women going through the motions of falling in love. 

Even though I didn’t hate this book, I really enjoyed the female friendships that both Elle and Darcy have. They’re full of unconditional love and support. I will never get tired of reading about realistic representations of female friendships. There are not enough healthy depictions of women supporting women, and I will always show up for them. 

I’m kicking off my Christmas reading with Written in the Stars because it’s my favorite that I’ve read so far of the holiday books. It’s well written with good dialogue. The holidays are a part of the storyline but not the driving factor. I definitely suggest giving it a read the Christmas. 

Memorable Quotes
“ One too many exclamation points and you’d sound too eager. Whether you chose lol, rofl, or haha said something about you, about the conversation. How you spelled the word okay mattered, each iteration distinct in tone. K, of course, was in a league of its own, and if there was a period behind it? Chanceres were, things were not, in fact, okay.”
““No one is worth feeling like you’re not good enough, that you’re not amazing exactly as you are.””

bisous und обьятий,
RaeAnna

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Title: Written in the Stars
Author: Alexandria Bellefleur
Publisher: Avon Books
Copyright: 2020
ISBN: 9780063000803

Books, Fiction

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

RaeAnna
It’s not a plane, but it’s a form of public transportation! | Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano | Top | Shorts |

Worth A Read Yes
Length 352
Quick Review A little boy is the sole survivor of a plane crash and navigates the after when he moves in with his aunt and uncle.

I would really like to give Dear Edward by Anna Napolitano a glowing review, but I read it a little while ago. It was decent enough. I remember the plot line, but it didn’t make a huge impression on my mind. 

Edward was on a plane with his family and older brother when it crashed, killing everyone except for him. He goes to live with his aunt and uncle who are reeling from the new direction their lives have taken as his guardians and working through their own trauma. Edward finds comfort and friendship in the next door neighbor’s daughter. 

The plot jumps between present day for Edward and the time on the plane before the accident. During the periods where the story focuses inside the plane, the plot looks into the lives of several passengers and their points-of-view and back stories. I think it’s a beautiful and poignant aspect of the novel because it shows the complexity of life and how each person is going through something quietly on a plane in the midst of a much bigger story. It shows how precious and unique life is up to the very end. 

My favorite and most memorable aspect of the novel is the relationship between Edward and Shay. They’re the same age and become best friends. They have a really interesting and intense relationship. I love the acceptance, respect, and love they are able to have for each other even at the age of twelve.

Dear Edward is a good read. There are a lot of really beautiful parts, but I’m not in love with it. I’m glad I took notes as I read because I would have forgotten most of what was in the book outside of the friendship between Edward and Shay.

Memorable Quotes
““My camp counselor won’t even let me read during lunch. She says it’s because reading is antisocial, but I think it’s because she’s actually Joseph Goebbels.””
“This is the subject that defines women. Having babies. Will you have them? Can you have them? Do you want to have them?”
“There is a cycle that normal people ride: They wake up with the light, rub their eyes, get hungry, eat cereal, go about their days, and then with sunset begin to wind down. They eat again, watch TV, yawn, and climb into bed.”

bisous und обьятий,
RaeAnna

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Title: Dear Edward
Author: Ann Napolitano
Publisher: The Dial Press
Copyright: 2020
ISBN: 9781984854780

Fiction

Ignore the Title Paula McLain’s Love and Ruin Isn’t That Bad

RaeAnna

Worth a Read Meh
Length 432
Quick Review A fictional look into the tumultuous relationship between Martha Gellhorn and Ernest Hemingway as she grows from a talented young woman into a fearless writer. 

Love and Ruin by Paula McLain in Ames, Iowa | Dress | Watch | Hair Pins

Ernest Hemingway is one of the most revered writers. Martha Gellhorn is known as one of the greatest war correspondents. Yet one name is internationally renowned, and the other is recalled as the wife of the other if recalled at all – except in certain literary circles. These two remarkable humans met and fell in love, and their love story has been one of great interest. Paula McLain brings Martha to life in Love and Ruin. 

Martha Gellhorn was an incredible woman and exceptional for her time. Born in 1908 in Saint Louis, she went to college but left to follow her dreams of becoming a war correspondent, which was unheard of at the time. She was a career woman with ambition, and that ambition caught the eye of Ernest Hemingway, an already great author, while she was on family vacation in 1936 in the Florida Keys. Assignments took them both to Spain, where they traveled and lived together. They began their relationship while he was still married to his second wife. It was a tumultuous time as wars raged on. Ernest was looking to stay put, but Marty was looking to stay in the action. She refused to let a brilliant man extinguish her ambition. 

Throughout Love and Ruin Marty Gellhorn is incredibly easy to relate to. She’s a free spirit, who wants to live life, make her own way, and be brilliant. She was a modern woman for her time, and people might even say she’s ahead of our current time. McLain creates an interesting and composed picture of the woman she was, torn by passion and purpose. One of the most moving moments was when Marty declares, “I wanted to say, when you fell in love with me you must also have been in love with my wings. Love them now. Love me. Love me, and let me go.” So many women have felt this way and, like Marty, never said it. 

Ernest was just complicated enough to be interesting without taking the spotlight away from Martha. The entire novel, anyone in their right mind would be warning Martha away from the brilliant, narcissist he was. There was never any room in his life for another star, let alone another literary star. McLain allows him a few short chapters from his perspective, but Marty is the star in the relationship in a way she wasn’t in life. 

Love and Ruin by Paula McLain

Love and Ruin is a woman’s coming into her own story as much as it is a love story. She allows herself to fall in love, fall in life, and get back up. I’m not completely sure Love and Ruin is the appropriate title for this book. It implies to love Hemingway was to simultaneously be ruined. Yes, he did have a dramatic impact on the course of her life, but he in no way ruined her. She was an absolute success. She overcame so much to become one of the most important and insightful war correspondents of the 20th century, and she was a woman! Titling the book as such is a disservice to her memory even if the book is not. 

It’s a lovely piece of historical fiction. Honestly, I would have liked a book that focused on Martha Gellhorn as a person rather than the period of her life that related to Hemingway. Choosing one of the most famous and most covered portions of her life is a little boring. She had fifty-four productive and incredible years of her life post-Hemingway. Those deserve attention as much if not more than her love affair and first marriage.  

Memorable Quotes
“Women were so rare at the front they might as well have been nonexistent.”
“I had said yes. And yes always came with a price.”

bisous und обьятий,
RaeAnna

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Title: Love and Ruin
Author: Paula McLain
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9781101967393

Books, NonFiction

I’d Like All Advice to Be As Friendly As Amy Poehler’s in Yes Please

RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 329
Quick Review Amy Poehler is known for a lot of things but mostly for being funny. She does not disappoint in her memoir. 

Yes Please by Amy Poehler in Ames, Iowa. | Dress | Sweater | Glasses

I grew up watching Amy Poehler. She was the right kind of funny, smart, raunchy, and sweet for me. Her incredibly supportive, brilliant, fruitful, and genius relationship with Tina Fey was and is an inspiration for what female friendships can and should look like. I bought Yes Please years ago, and I’ve finally gotten around to reading it. It’s real in the way you want memoirs to be; it’s funny in the way you hope a comic’s memoir is; and it’s raw in a way a strong woman who knows her own mind is.

Writing a book is hard. Poehler makes it absolutely clear from the moment you crack the spine that writing a book is hard, she even takes a short break to let Seth Meyers write a chapter so she doesn’t have to. It’s an incredibly poignant moment and a testament to the woman and friend she is. There’s a good chance that she’ll never pen another book again because it’s obvious the process is not her favorite. Poehler also brought on Mike Schurr, the co-creator of Parks & Rec, to annotate her chapter on Parks & Rec, which is heartwarming and funny. She has surrounded herself with brilliant and funny people. 

Yes Please is a memoir-advice combo. She’s wise and gives pretty great advice. If I hadn’t learned most of it the hard way, I would have found it even more helpful. It’s a bright, colorful, and bold book filled with large fonts and pictures. It definitely appeals to the kid in me. 

In an era of social media and more information is not enough, Amy Poehler is in the public eye and knows what it’s like not to have much privacy. There’s an overarching theme, which is quite explicitly stated, “Nothing is anyone’s business.” Her life motto should be adopted by more, or all, people, “Good for you, not for me.”

I love a quotable book, and this is an incredibly quotable one. Although Poehler is entrancing in interviews, on stage, and on the screen; she has an incredible way with the written word in the way of a brilliant comic. From the funny moments to the more serious moments, she has something to say. She knows when to be funny and when to hold the humor, “A person’s tragedy does not make up their entire life.” She can be serious and bring levity. It is never more evident than in her comparisons. Treat your career like a bad boyfriend, “Ambivalence is key.” Careers can come and go. They’re important, but they shouldn’t define life. Whereas creativity should be nurtured like a good boyfriend because that is important. 

Poehler can sum up the entirety of Yes Please in her own words better than I can, “It is not about being a good girl; it is about being a real woman.” It’s not a clean book. There’s mess to it, and I love that about it. It’s a great book to make you laugh during these dark times. 

Memorable Quotes
“Writing a book is nothing like that. It is a small, slow crawl to the finish line.”
“…I would stare out whatever window I was near and reminisce about experiences I hadn’t had. Is there a word for when you are young and pretending to have lived and loved a thousand lives? Is there a German word for that? Seems like there should be. Let’s say it is Schaufenfrieglasploit.”
“There is nothing more depressing than a tired dominatrix.”

bisous und обьятий,
RaeAnna

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Title: Yes Please
Author: Amy Poehler
Publisher: Dey Street Books 
Copyright: 2014
ISBN: 9780062379795