Underwater Dogs by Seth Casteel

Is it fair to review this book? Probably not, but I just want to share it's awesomeness with my readers. Granted, there aren't many words in Underwater Dogs, just an introduction at the beginning to explain how the project came about, along with some information about each dog featured, but since when do books need words? Certainly not if they have adorable photos like these instead.

So yes, Seth Casteel's coffee table book, Underwater Dogs, was on my birthday wish list. And yes, I am very happy my mom bought it for me. Because sometimes you just need a book to make you smile, and that's exactly what this one does. It also makes me want to buy an underwater camera and start taking pictures because I really don't know what my family's dogs look like underwater. But now I'm curious.

As a side note, it is most definitely cheating to count this as one of my "books read in 2012" but I'm going to anyway. I promise not to count "rereads" though– because I will definitely continue to come back to Underwater Dogs. Who could say no to those faces? 

Release Date: October 23rd 2012 Pages: 114  Format: Hardcover 
Source: Gift  Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Buy It: Book Depository

This is a review by Zoë. You can find her here on Goodreads or on Twitter @strandedhero

Collateral by Ellen Hopkins

In Collateral, Ellen Hopkins' second adult novel, Ashley, a young woman who doesn't believe in war, falls in love with Cole, a man who is fighting in it. Having been together for five years and four deployments, Ashley pursues her MFA while Cole is away. She never imagined her life this way, but her love for Cole leaves her no other option. The only problem is, Cole may no longer be the person she fell in love with.

The novel goes back and forth in time, from when Ashley and Cole were just falling in love, to their present situation five years later. I really liked the magic of when they were first together, and I feel like Hopkins captured that initial infatuation perfectly. I didn't find the tense-switching confusing, but I was desperate to know exactly how things went so wrong and that definitely kept me reading.

Like Hopkins' young adult books, many of which I have read and loved– including the Crank Trilogy and Identical– Collateral is written in verse. The verse is complimented by poetry written by Cole, which added an interesting dimension to the story by giving insight into what he was thinking and feeling. As always, I thought Hopkins' verse flowed smoothly and was really easy and enjoyable to read.

However, while I did think Collateral was incredibly well-written, but I don't think I enjoyed it quite as much as I've loved Hopkins' young adult books. This has very little to do with the fact that she's writing older characters here, and more to do with some of the storyline that just rubbed me the wrong way. In general, Hopkins' writes the kind of books that make the reader think, and although she still mostly does that in Collateral it sometimes became too preachy for me to really enjoy it. At some points, it felt more like a message than a story. Ashley spends a lot of time talking about how the war Cole is fighting in is wrong, and the overall tone of the book is pretty negative. It also sometimes felt like Hopkins was simplifying things too much for the sake of the story, including Cole's story.

That said, I feel like many of my reasons for not falling completely in love with Collateral have to do with this book in particular, so it hasn't changed my adoration of Hopkins, nor the likelihood that I would pick up another novel by her again in the future– including adult titles.

Release Date: November 6th 2012  Pages: 496  Format: E-galley  Source: NetGalley/Publisher
Also by this Author (YA): Crank (Crank #1); Glass (Crank #2); Fallout (Crank #3); Identical; Burned (Burned #1)  Publisher: Simon and Schuster  Buy It: Book Depository

This is a review by Zoë. You can find her here on Goodreads or on Twitter @strandedhero

It's Monday, what are you reading? (32)

Hosted by Book Journey

Well not a very productive reading week this time! I did manage to finish one book, so there's that. It actually took me a lot longer than expected, but maybe I wasn't focused very well. I also pretended I was focusing on my own writing, but didn't get too much of that done either. Anyway, they can't all be winners. Next time, right?

Last week I finished reading:
Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Conflicted over this one. I feel like I say that about every book I read, but seriously. I missed Anna, evil Anna that is. The ending was intense, but there were definitely some bits leading up that bored me. I guess I'll have to put my thoughts into proper words and write a review at some point!

What I plan to read this week:
Boundless by Cynthia Hand

I got it from the post office, but didn't actually start reading it yet. Definitely will this week.

The One I Left Behind by Jennifer McMahon

Even though I've already started this one, it's going behind Boundless on the reading list because I know the first book is going to suck me and not let me go until I'm done. And I can't wait. If I have time after that, I'll definitely dig back into McMahon's novel. I was just getting to some interesting parts.

What are you reading this Monday?

Something Like Normal by Trish Doller

Author Trish Doller has an amazing Tumblr, click here to visit it, where she regularly posts snippets of whatever her work-in-progress is. That's how in the months leading up to the release of Something Like Normal I was able to get a really good taste of her writing, through a novel that has since sold and been renamed as Where The Stars Still Shine. I mention this because these snippets, along with a first chapter excerpt from SLN available on her website, are exactly what had me so incredibly excited to read her debut novel– so much so that I pre-ordered it months in advance, something I rarely ever do.

Suffice it to say, I had pretty high expectations for this debut novel. 

Something Like Normal is the story of Travis, a marine who has just returned home from Afghanistan, to a situation that has changed dramatically. His brother's dating his girlfriend, his parents are breaking up, and he's having nightmares about his dead best friend. It's a lot to handle. Then he runs into Harper, a girl whose life he helped ruin but who now offers him the possibility of happiness again, or at least something like normal.

There were quite a few things I loved about this book. Doller writes an undeniably authentic and enjoyable voice in Travis; he always felt honest and believable as a person to me. In general, her writing is incredibly strong, and there are some beautiful descriptions and moments throughout the novel. Even the dialogue in the novel felt real and charming. If I didn't know better, I would honestly think Doller was an eighteen-year-old male marine. 

There's also plenty of conflict to fill a book with not much more than 200 pages. It makes the book incredibly easy to read, I think I devoured it in only a few hours. And I definitely enjoyed it. My only criticism would be that I maybe wanted a little more. It's frustrating but honest to say that my expectations going into Something Like Normal may have influenced my experience. The book itself is incredibly well-written, just like I expected from Doller. But I think it's just a bit too short for me. I wanted a little more time with the characters, a little more time for events to unfold and develop. It's not a major flaw but it does hold me back from the full-on gush fest I expected.

The truth is, I'm writing this review six months after finishing Something Like Normal, and in retrospect, some of the events or character changes in the novel feel like they needed a bit more time. That said, I am definitely still excited for Doller's next novel, Where The Stars Still Shine. I am most certainly still a big fan of hers. I couldn't stop reading Travis' journey, and I especially loved his voice. This is certainly the first young adult book I've read that deals with these kinds of issues, and I particularly enjoyed the male perspective, which is sometimes lacking among the young adult books I read. The relationship between Harper and Travis was really great, and despite tackling serious issues the novel still has a sense of humour.  

Something Like Normal may not have been exactly what I was hoping for, but it was something pretty close, and I am curious to see if Doller gets it perfect next time– with writing like hers, it's definitely possible. 

Release Date: June 19th 2012 Pages: 224  Format: Hardcover 
Source: Purchased  Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Buy It: Book Depository

This is a review by Zoë. You can find her here on Goodreads or on Twitter @strandedhero

Meghan's 2013 Master List Review #1: The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti

Wow. This book is a total wow.

I've been wanting to read it for a while, and it far exceeded any expectations I had! It opened my eyes to the many issues surrounding female purity and virginity in the US, drawing attention to many inherent biases and ideas I didn't even realize I possessed.

Valenti pulls back the curtain on some prevailing patriarchal elements of society we don't even realize. For example, she connects women's obsessions with aging and weight with the desire to look younger--a desire that comes from the societal assumption that women should appear young, fragile, and eternally infantilized. I had never connected my ideas about weight with this larger picture. Now that I realize that these ideas are based around the core purpose of keeping women from power, I am able to look at my own assumptions a lot more objectively.

But even more than I valued these revelations, I valued the main message of this novel: the morality of an individual, man or woman, should be based on their ethical or virtuous actions, not their level of sexual experience. Though this seems pretty obvious, what this novel ultimately problematized was the way our society teaches women that their morality does depend on their lack of sexual experience. This deeply entrenched attitude that is exposed in The Purity Myth is a must-read for all women, and any man who loves a sister, mother, female relative or friend.

Recommended to: every feminist, people questioning their views on sexuality and purity, those who are interested in the legal, moral, and political issues surrounding female sexuality.


Release Date: December 29, 2009  Pages: 272 Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased Publisher: Seal Press Buy It: Book Depository

This is a review by Meghan. You can find her here on Goodreads or on Twitter @meghanc303