Book Nerds Across America

Book Summary
Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.
 
Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.
 
When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

Flo's Review
I wanted to read this novel in preparation for watching the movie on Netflix later this month. HA HA HA. I am so not prepared. How am I going to watch this, like with my eyes?!!? I'm getting worked up just thinking about it! (Somebody hold me!!)

Okay, this one didn't grab me right away, but as I kept reading what really struck me was being inside Finch's mind. I cannot even imagine the depths, the conversations, Jennifer had to go through to understand and share his thoughts so clearly. They felt so real. He was such a real character. Getting into his mind like that was good to see, because of the insight it gave into mental illness, but it was also incredibly hard. It will be interesting to see how Finch is portrayed on-screen because so much of how we understand him in this book is through not what he says or does, but how he feels. 

Every time one of the chsracters was all, "That's just what he does," my heart cracked a little bit more. You can see how the extremity of the internal struggle can go unnoticed by those closest, and that's scary. 

Being a girl made up largely of wanderlust, I loved the ideas of the wanderings and the adventures that Finch and Violet had around Indiana. Finding the unique, creative, off-the-beaten-path, less noticed things in your immediate vicinity can make the world and your existence seem bigger than it first appears. I like that idea. I know Florida has some crazy things (Dave Barry wrote a whole book about it). I really enjoyed seeing them for Indiana, whether they were fictional or not.

Overall, this quiet, beautiful book is so important. I learned from it, and I love when I can say that about something I read for fun. I recommend this book to anyone close to teenagers, and actually, I think anyone, period, can get something out of it. 

Seriously about this movie though...send tissues?

Book Summary
Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked…until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine—Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.

Flo's Review
I cannot wait for this on Netflix! It is going to translate so well to film. I look forward too seeing Willowdean's house with the broken front door, all the people in their Harpy's uniforms, and the insanity of everything around the pageant. 

Dumplin' was one of those books that was a cute and fun read, but also brought deep issues to the forefront in a relatable way. Willowdean is such a great character. Her thought spirals are so real and honest. There's kick-ass in there, but there's also doubt and vulnerability. There's toughness, but also fragility. This reads to me like the thesis statement of the book and is spelled out pretty well toward the end when Willowdean thinks:

Sometimes figuring out who you are means understanding that we are a mosaic of experiences. I'm Dumplin'. And Will and Willowdean. I'm fat. I'm happy. I'm insecure. I'm bold. 

Amanda, Hannah, and Millie were all fantastic secondary characters and I loved watching the friendship build among them. The narrator was also 100% on point. I flew through this audiobook in no time and am looking forward to continuing the journey in Puddin'.

IMDB Summary
Follows teenager Clay Jensen, in his quest to uncover the story behind his classmate and crush, Hannah, and her decision to end her life.

Flo's Review
I read this book back in 2011. So I remember that I loved it, and I remember the general premise, but time has faded some of the book details from my mind.

(I am kind of proud my review of this book, so check it out.)

For the past few weeks, I've seen numerous posts about people watching and loving this series, and I couldn't wait for my opportunity to dig in. That came this past Saturday, when I binged all 13 episodes. And you know what? It didn't really feel that long! I literally watched this show straight from about 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and it didn't really feel like 12 + hours had gone by. The way this narrative is set up makes it easy and seamless to move from one episode to the next. It was the same with the book -- I remember that I just wanted to keep listening to Hannah's journey, and with the show I enjoyed remembering the different characters.

The show did a great job of building up the suspense. I remembered Clay's reason for being on the tapes, but the friend who I was watching the show with had never read the book. She kept anxiously commenting about Clay getting to his tape. An advantage of the show was the ability to look beyond Hannah and Clay. I believe that you absolutely needed in the book to just be with the two leads, as the story was Clay experiencing Hannah's journey. But the TV show allowed us to see more about the culture of the school and delve into the lives of the characters. By seeing these scenes, we got to see more of them that just what Hannah saw. 

I also really enjoyed the combination of the old and new sitting side by side. I mean, a walkman and Beats headphones? Perfect. Because this story would not have the same effect if the tapes were made into a mp3: no flipping sides, no package to pass around. But at the same time, the series needed to acknowledge that we are in 2017, and the addition of the social media and advanced technology was great for that. In fact, it added to the point of the story about the interconnectedness of everything, and how small actions or inactions can have big consequences.

So, if you have the opportunity, I do suggest you watch this -- if you have or haven't read the book. It is a prevalent topic that no one likes to talk about, but is very real in our society. I do like the fact that this piece of art is bringing the discussion more to the forefront of conversation.

And if you have watched it: Season 2? Yay or nay? What are your thoughts? (No spoilers for those who haven't seen it!)

Flo's Review
When the lovely folks at Adaptive Books contacted me about reviewing Coin Heist, they were good to mention that it was going to be a Netflix movie shortly. I was sold! Those of you who have been with Book Nerds for many years (thank you, by the way!) will remember that we used to have a Book-To-Movie post regularly, where we would review a movie based off a book. We don't do them on a schedule anymore, but we certainly do them when we can.

Anyway, I decided to curl up this week and catch this movie. And you know what my final reaction was? It made me want to read the book! True story! Because I could tell in the movie that there was likely a lot of character development that never made it in. That could be for several reasons: it's hard to translate visually, there is no time, it interrupts the flow of the movie. But I just know that there's more to these 4 characters and I want to know it. So I'll be reading Coin Heist soon. In the meantime, I don't regret watching the movie. The heisty (I possibility just made that word up) scenes had me holding my breath, fearing that the teens would get caught and hoping that they didn't.

Here's the trailer: