In April, it occurred to me that I was getting nowhere fast on my TBR jar or on my Goodreads Challenge to read 25 books in 2016. Four months into the year and I’d read…three. And while I love buying books, I have way more than I really need and hate to just continue adding to the problem. And then, it hit me. What about going to the library? I’d half-heartedly looked into the possibility of being able to check out ebooks through my libray, but didn’t really understand how it worked and it looked suspiciously like my library wouldn’t actually be able to do that. But, surely I could check out actual books, right? So, off I went. I got my first library card in like twenty years and went directly upstairs to the YA section to see if I could find any Rainbow Rowell books. And lo and behold, they had some! And lo and behold they had Eleanor & Park! Woohoo!
I came home with two books that day. I wanted to check out all of the things, but figured if I’ve only read three books in four months I should probably assume I can’t get through more than two books in the three weeks I had to read them. Of course I started with E&P first. I’ve read a couple of Rainbow Rowell books before (Fangirl and Attachments) and loved them.
“Eleanor was right: She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn’t supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.”
I read this book in basically three days. Rainbow Rowell may well be one of my favorite authors. I love her writing, I love her characters, I love that she makes me feel like I felt at sixteen. I love that she made me dig out mix tapes I haven’t listened to since high school/college. I love that although her books are shelved with the YA books and that at first glance they appear to be nothing more than a simple romantic love story – it’s the complexity of her characters and their inner thoughts and feelings and struggles that speak to me. Each book I read of hers becomes my new favorite. If you haven’t read her books, you should start one today.
After finishing Eleanor & Park, I started Anna and the French Kiss. So many people had recommended this book to me (probably because of my love of all things Paris and romances), so I was happy to find it at the library.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and read it in about three days because I had a hard time putting it down. A story of an American girl sent to the American School in Paris who begins to fall in love with the city and a boy. I loved her passion for cinema (a passion I share) and the exploration of Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, etc. made me long to return there. I have so many regrets about my time in Paris – so many things I didn’t see or do – and this book just made the city come alive for me again. This one was well worth a read and I’m looking forward to reading her others.
I’ll be back next time with more books!
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