Welcome to Quick Lit! This is where I partake in Modern Mrs. Darcy’s link-up and share short (sometimes) and sweet (cavities not included) reviews of what I’ve been reading lately.

I realize that this is about where I say things about the month’s books that are basically some variation of, “I didn’t read much” or “Wow, got a lot of reading done.”

I mean, if I didn’t say those things, I would just be going on every post about how “I love books!” and “Isn’t Goodreads grand?” I already go on about those things sometimes, so it’s quite tricky to come up with something clever. I could update you on my life! But I should save that for those posts that mostly just say, “Hmmm. Adulting is hard.”

Actually, I think I just summed up my blog.

Being an adult is hard, but at least there’s a lot of books.

TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE
Jenny Han

I was expecting some relaxing fluff, and I got it—& I really liked this piece of relaxing fluff YA . Lara Jean’s distinct personality is nothing like my own, but I could relate to her position of the edges of high school high society (but not, thank goodness, the particular bit of scandal she finds herself in.) I’m looking forward to the sequel, and have another Han series on library hold for the next time I need a light YA fix (which is relatively often).

 

BAD FEMINIST
Roxane Gay

This book was so good, halfway through it I stopped reading my library e-copy and ordered a paperback off Amazon.

And then took over a month to get around to finishing it.

Gay’s essays on her life, feminism, race, and entertainment were great. Enjoyable, but challanging. I find myself wanting to understand more what intersectional feminism means, and this was a good place to start.

RELUCTANTLY CHARMED
Ellie O’Neill

I recieved an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I requested Reluctantly Charmed completely at random. I don’t remember doing this, but it’s obviously true because I never would have picked this based on the cover or title. From a reader standpoint, frankly it’s a bit boring.

But the book is not! It wasn’t five-star worthy, but I would have given it a 3.5 if I could have. I liked the protaganist, Kate, though she wasn’t highly memorable (I barely remembered her name just now.)The faerie premise could have been quite cheesy, but I felt it worked well. Come to think of it, it reminded me of the fairies on Torchwood: seemingly innocent, friendly, etc, but quite creepy and awful in reality.

FAIREST
Marissa Meyer

I’m not sure if Fairest should really be called 3.5, as it’s 100% a prequel. There’s only on barely-there mention of Cress to neccesitate reading it in that order, but to be fair, it definitely needs to be read after at least the 1st book.

Fairest gives us a peek at Levana’s past, her adolesence specifically. She’s never been exactly likeable, so this isn’t your typical make-them-sympathetic villain backstory. No, she’s always a bit out of her mind, and never really understands the purpose of empathy. But it’s well constructed, and while I didn’t love reading about someone I didn’t really like at first, once I got into it the shortish book flew by quickly. And while Levana is hardly a sympathetic character, Meyers brought me this close to sympathizing anyways.

THE THOUSAND-DOLLAR TAN LINE [Veronica Mars #1]
Rob Thomas

Listening to this was the result of the convergence of my addiction to Veronica Mars  and my new-found desire to give audiobooks a real shot. When I saw on blog post elsewhere that Kristen Bell (who plays Veronica in the show) was the narrator, and that she was fabulous at it, I went for it—and was not disappointed. So good. Bell’s narration was a great bridge moving from show to book, and I’m disappointed that she doesn’t narrate #2. I’ll be checking that one out on ebook!

 

A PEEK AT WHAT’S UP NEXT:

Is it nerdy that, in addition to being particularly excited to read all of these next books, I’m also pretty thrilled at how I inadvertendly am reading a bunch of books that look great together? 

 

What are you reading?