Book Nerds Across America

Book Summary
Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.

Flo's Review
Okay, I've poured some wine and am now ready to tackle this review. (I think Daisy would approve!) I don't even know where to start, y'all. I gave this one 4 stars because I didn't love it quite as much as I did Evelyn Hugo, but it was still such a fun ride. I scrawled some notes as I listened to this audiobook that I will now try to decipher.

First of all, I think what impressed me most about this book was that I liked it a lot...despite the characters. Let me explain. I have always been the type of reader, where if I don't like at least one of the characters, you lose me with the book. There are numerous popular books that I DNFed because I didn't like any characters, and therefore could not find anyone that I cared about, latched on to enough to keep me going. 

So the characters here...I can't really think of any of them that I'd want to be friends with, or even hang out with. Well, maybe one or two. I guess let's start at the top. Daisy Jones. Ehh. She had her vices and she knows them in hindsight. I even think she might have been aware of them in real time. Friend material? No. She said something at one point about how her life was the same thing and she was sick of it and that's kind of how I felt about her. Billy. Ehh. He knew his struggle well, but his vices? I don't know if he realized them. Warren I feel like I would just roll my eyes out, but then be indifferent toward. Pete, also indifferent. I mean, you do you, bro. Good for you. No on Eddie. I feel like he'd complaining the whole time? Lol. Karen would be okay, I guess? I think I'm just ehh toward her because I love Graham. If the Six had t-shirts with individuals on them, I would buy the Graham shirt. Next to Graham, I really enjoyed Camila. I think because my personality and life outlook mesh most with hers. But my point here -- besides Camila and kind of Graham, there was no character that really grabbed me. Usually that means I don't connect so well with the book. But despite my lukewarm feelings toward most of the characters, I still really enjoyed this story. I've talked with my book club girls about how Taylor Jenkins Reid writes characters so well that you literally feel as if they are real people, like you could Google them and they'd come up in the results. I definitely felt that about all of the Six and related characters.

The audiobook...was fantastic. I am so, so happy I listened to this one on audio. The story is told as an oral history and every character had a different actor voicing them. I didn't like Daisy's voice at first, but she completely fit her. That's true with the other characters as well. Billy was sexy. Graham was comfortable, approachable, warm. Eddie was whiny. Warren thought he was the stuff. I cannot commend the actors who read these parts enough. They all did so, so well. 

The format...the oral history was brilliant, because as the author says in the beginning, different people remember events in different ways. It was funny to see how they remembered them differently, but also made you understand the characters so much more. As with all people, how they saw the events unfolding around them influenced how they acted. With this format you can see how someone saw something as one thing and responded to that, meanwhile someone else saw it differently, wondered why the person responded as they did, and then responded differently. Sometimes the differences made me laugh. But they completely made me more emphathetic toward the characters. Eddie is a perfect example here. When you see it from his perspective, you completely understand what he would get so upset about. This was also completely interesting in how Billy saw his role and what he did in the band versus what everyone else saw.

The girl power...I've heard this book touted as "girl power" type story. I...guess? Here's the thing. Daisy's repeated, "I do what I want, when I want, and too bad if you don't agree" thing is supposed to be powerful, but kind of came off to me as ... self-absorbed. Yes, you do. But at the same time, realize how your actions impact others, you know? Karen...like I said, I think my view is just tainted because I Heart Graham. LOL. I did really, really like the female friendships in this though. Daisy, Karen, and Camila never spoke badly about each other. It was the complete opposite -- when they talked about each other it was with admiration and respect. They also supported each other and lifted each other up, to the end. That, I think, is the girl power I take away from the story. 

[How cool is the fan club kit? And there's a Spotify playlist.]

I think I heard that this is going to be a Netflix series? I can't wait. It's going to be fantastic! I am so looking forward to hearing some of these songs.

Book Summary
This is Oh, the Places You’ll Never Go–the ultimate hilarious, cynical, but absolutely realistic view of a college graduate’s future. And what he or she can or can’t do about it.

“This commencement address will never be given, because graduation speakers are supposed to offer encouragement and inspiration. That’s not what you need. You need a warning.”

So begins Carl Hiaasen’s attempt to prepare young men and women for their future. And who better to warn them about their precarious paths forward than Carl Hiaasen? The answer, after reading Assume the Worst, is: Nobody.

And who better to illustrate–and with those illustrations, expand upon and cement Hiaasen’s cynical point of view–than Roz Chast, best-selling author/illustrator and National Book Award winner? The answer again is easy: Nobody.

Following the format of Anna Quindlen’s commencement address (Being Perfect) and George Saunders’s commencement address (Congratulations, by the way), the collaboration of Hiaasen and Chast might look typical from the outside, but inside it is anything but. 

This book is bound to be a classic, sold year after year come graduation time. Although it’s also a good gift for anyone starting a job, getting married, or recently released from prison. Because it is not just funny. It is, in its own Hiaasen way, extremely wise and even hopeful. Well, it might not be full of hope, but there are certainly enough slivers of the stuff in there to more than keep us all going.

Flo's Review
This. This audiobook for the win! It was only 15 minutes long, but it was a delightful 15 minutes. I literally laughed out loud while listening to it as a drove to my book club on Saturday. But then, Carl Hiaasen through in some utter truth. So it was funny, but it was also honest and realistic. He takes some popular modern sayings and dashes them with some #realtalk. Here are a fews good example:

Live each day as if it’s your last
"As wise and appealing as this might sound, it’s actually terrible advice. If you live every day as if it’s your last, you won’t accomplish a damn thing. ... Spending all your waking hours doing only what feels good is a viable life plan if you’re a Labrador retriever, but for humans it’s a blueprint for unemployment, divorce and irrelevance."

Try to find goodness in everyone 
A waste of time, says Hiaasen. "If it requires the psychological equivalent of a metal detector to locate somebody’s true self, then they’re not worth the trouble."

Don't be quick to judge other people
"Are you kidding? If you don’t learn how to judge others — and judge fast — you’ll get metaphorically trampled from now until the day you die. ... Your future colleagues will judge you, your future loan officers will judge you and your future spouse’s family will judge you. Get used to it, and tune yourselves to judge back."

You get the idea. Hiaasen himself read the audio, making it that much more delightful. Grab this one if you can.

Book Summary
Advice for graduates and reflections on staying true to yourself from the beloved Gilmore Girls actress and New York Timesbestselling author of the memoir Talking as Fast as I Can and the novel Someday, Someday, Maybe.
 
“If you’re kicking yourself for not having accomplished all you should have by now, don’t worry about it. Even without any ‘big’ accomplishments yet to your name, you are enough.” 
 
In this expansion of the 2017 commencement speech she gave at her hometown Langley High, Lauren Graham, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood, reflects on growing up, pursuing your dreams, and living in the here and now. “Whatever path you choose, whatever career you decide to go after, the important thing is that you keep finding joy in what you’re doing, especially when the joy isn’t finding you.” In her hilarious, relatable voice, Graham reminds us to be curious and compassionate, no matter where life takes us or what we’ve yet to achieve. Grounded and inspiring—and illustrated throughout with drawings by Graham herself—here is a comforting road map to a happy life.
 
“I’ve had ups and downs. I’ve had successes and senior slumps. I’ve been the girl who has the lead, and the one who wished she had the bigger part. The truth? They don’t feel that different from each other.”

Flo's Review
Tis the season for graduation books and speeches! I enjoyed listening to this one by Lauren Graham. She read the audiobook, which I always love it when the author reads. You know how they mean things to sound (inflections and such) because it's literally their own voice. 

I also enjoyed the message of the speech. I know that when I was a graduating high school senior, I certainly did not have a laid-out plan for my life. It was refreshing to me, and I'm sure to the graduating seniors to whom this was directed, to hear someone say, essentially, "If you have a plan for your life, that's great. If you don't have a plan for your life, that's great too." (I paraphrased, but kept the spirit of the message.) 

If you get the opportunity to listen to or read this little insightful volume, I definitely recommend it. And not just if you're graduating -- his has good stuff for anyone at any time.

Book Summary
Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they'll find seven months after the invasion? 

Meanwhile, Kady's cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza's ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys—an old flame from Asha's past—reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. 

With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heroes will fall, and hearts will be broken.

Flo's Review
I'm going to miss these audiobooks. What an enjoyable 33+ hours of my life! Even in this book, I still got chills listening to AIDAN. I loved the main analyst's voice. And I even got used to the creepy "Briefing Note" voice. 

Obsidio was a delightful ending to this trilogy. There were several things that had me literally gasping as I listened to them. The twists! The surprises! I was sad at the deaths, teary eyed at some of the reflections of the characters, and always cheering on these great heroes! 

First of all, it almost seems too obvious to comment on the timeliness of reading a book about a group of teenagers who are smarter than the adults surrounding them and are not afraid to stand up to them to save the world. Yeah, I'm just going to leave that right there.

Secondly, I was definitely teary at a few points in this book -- mostly listening to things Kady's dad wrote and said to the main characters. Thanks Mr. Grant! *tears* 😭 But I loved how he wrote to Hanna about how he and her dad would have conversations about these girls they were raising and how they were basically growing up to kick butt and be more awesome than they were. I just loved that.

I want to gush about a lot of things, but I also want to keep this spoiler free, so just know that I finished listening to this audiobook a few days ago and I am still thinking back on it about things that made me swoon, laugh, cry, rage. That's the sign of a good book right there. This series earned my mad respect for sci-fi, a genre that I don't usually read. The audiobooks were great. The books were great. Both were creatively and uniquely done. It's been a good ride with the Illuminae group, and I will be recommending their story to others.

Our other review of the Illuminae trilogy books:
Gemina 
Illuminae

Book Summary
Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.

The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminae continues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault.

Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.

When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station’s wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.

But relax. They’ve totally got this. They hope.

(Super Long) Book Summary
A hilarious, thoughtful, and in-depth exploration of the pleasures and perils of modern romance from one of this generation’s sharpest comedic voices

At some point, every one of us embarks on a journey to find love. We meet people, date, get into and out of relationships, all with the hope of finding someone with whom we share a deep connection. This seems standard now, but it’s wildly different from what people did even just decades ago. Single people today have more romantic options than at any point in human history. With technology, our abilities to connect with and sort through these options are staggering. So why are so many people frustrated?

Some of our problems are unique to our time. “Why did this guy just text me an emoji of a pizza?” “Should I go out with this girl even though she listed Combos as one of her favorite snack foods? Combos?!” “My girlfriend just got a message from some dude named Nathan. Who’s Nathan? Did he just send her a photo of his penis? Should I check just to be sure?”

But the transformation of our romantic lives can’t be explained by technology alone. In a short period of time, the whole culture of finding love has changed dramatically. A few decades ago, people would find a decent person who lived in their neighborhood. Their families would meet and, after deciding neither party seemed like a murderer, they would get married and soon have a kid, all by the time they were twenty-four. Today, people marry later than ever and spend years of their lives on a quest to find the perfect person, a soul mate.

For years, Aziz Ansari has been aiming his comic insight at modern romance, but for Modern Romance, the book, he decided he needed to take things to another level. He teamed up with NYU sociologist Eric Klinenberg and designed a massive research project, including hundreds of interviews and focus groups conducted everywhere from Tokyo to Buenos Aires to Wichita. They analyzed behavioral data and surveys and created their own online research forum on Reddit, which drew thousands of messages. They enlisted the world’s leading social scientists, including Andrew Cherlin, Eli Finkel, Helen Fisher, Sheena Iyengar, Barry Schwartz, Sherry Turkle, and Robb Willer. The result is unlike any social science or humor book we’ve seen before.

In Modern Romance, Ansari combines his irreverent humor with cutting-edge social science to give us an unforgettable tour of our new romantic world. 

Flo's Review
I was lucky enough to snag this audiobook at a con. I love audiobooks, and I especially love audiobooks read by the author. That was all I needed. I didn't actually read to see what it would be about first before jumping in, so I was actually expecting it to be an autobiography about Aziz. Whoops.

But Modern Romance was delightful. Aziz partnered with Eric Klinenberg to study dating in the modern era and share their findings. Not surprisingly, dating has been impacted largely by the rise of technology, and especially smart phones. See?! Now I understood the cover picture and you do too! 

This book was great because it talked about a lot of things that I knew to be true, but never really considered as a direct factor of how dating today looks. For example, Aziz talked a lot about how the internet has opened up the whole world as a possibility. It's a good thing, because we know have sooo many people to choose from for a potential mate. But is it a good thing that we have sooo many people to choose from? We are looking for a soulmate, a perfect match, now because we can. We don't need to get married to start our adult lives. More and more people are experiencing "emerging adulthood," living on their own, building their careers, and trying lot of new things. All this is so different from past generations, where the pool of potential mates was often just your town or neighborhood, and getting married was a means to get out of your parents house. Therefore, a lot of young people weren't looking for the "perfect match." They would find a good one and the love would grow from there.

Aziz and Eric traveled to a few different cities around the world to research their dating scenes: Tokyo, Buenos Aires, and Wichita (Kansas) to name a few. I loved these sections. It was fascinating to me to hear how the dating scenes varied in the different cultures. 

The audiobook was fantastic. Aziz kept cracking on the listeners about being too lazy to read the book and choosing to listen to it instead. He also had fun doing different voices for the people he interviewed. He mentioned in the beginning that the book had several graphs. I ended up grabbing a copy of the book from the library to look at while I read, and I was impressed with how well Aziz explained all the graphs in the book to the listeners. I definitely did not think that listening to the book took away from the experience. In fact, I might even recommend listening to it over reading it, because the funny side comments translate better (I think) when you hear Aziz say them as an aside than when you read them in footnotes.

But whether you read it or listen to it, if you want a thorough but fun examination of dating culture in the world today, I'd recommend you pick up Modern Romance.

Book Summary
The only daughter of a prominent samurai, Mariko has always known she’d been raised for one purpose and one purpose only: to marry. Never mind her cunning, which rivals that of her twin brother, Kenshin, or her skills as an accomplished alchemist. Since Mariko was not born a boy, her fate was sealed the moment she drew her first breath.

So, at just seventeen years old, Mariko is sent to the imperial palace to meet her betrothed, a man she did not choose, for the very first time. But the journey is cut short when Mariko’s convoy is viciously attacked by the Black Clan, a dangerous group of bandits who’ve been hired to kill Mariko before she reaches the palace.

The lone survivor, Mariko narrowly escapes to the woods, where she plots her revenge. Dressed as a peasant boy, she sets out to infiltrate the Black Clan and hunt down those responsible for the target on her back. Once she’s within their ranks, though, Mariko finds for the first time she’s appreciated for her intellect and abilities. She even finds herself falling in love—a love that will force her to question everything she’s ever known about her family, her purpose, and her deepest desires.

Flo's Review
I believe I've fallen prey to book expectation hype vs book reality again. This is my first experience reading a Renee Ahdieh book, but it won't be my last. I have the audiobook for The Wrath and the Dawn, and I do plan to listen to it when I can.  

But back to Flame. This was presented as a Mulan retelling, and I was ready for amazing girl powerness in the mist of advertisy, action, advance, romance, etc. What I heard was...a lot of talking and thinking. 

This is one situation where sometimes an audiobook is a disadvantage. Pages and pages of dialogue make the action seem even more stalled in an audiobook, I think. In my current situation, I listen to audiobooks when driving around town. That means that if there is a long conversation going on, I am listening to the same conversation in the morning when I drive to work, when I drive to and from for lunch, after work when I head to wherever I am headed, and so forth. Sometimes with this story, I was listening to a single conversation for several days. 

Thus, it felt to me like the story wasn't moving along. For example, I felt like the scene with Mariko where she first meets the Black Clan in the bar place took forever. I was literally listening to that same scene for several days. 

Mariko was also in her head a lot. I understand that. She is going to take drastic action, so we need to fully understand her rationalization before we can get on board with it. But I felt like so much time was spent listening to her say the same thing over and over in her head. Yes, Mariko, I know you want to find out why you were a target for the Black Clan. You've said this in your head about 27 times in the last chapter. 

Alas, I could not finish the audiobook, but as I said before, I will definitely be listening to The Wrath and the Dawn. Renee is very good and establishing setting and scenery and I am looking forward to escaping to that world.


Thank you to Penguin Random House Audio for providing me with this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

You know I love audiobooks, so I was happy to see the news that Jack Black and Samira Wiley (from OITNB) are each narrating the book Minecraft: The Island by Max Brooks (who wrote World War Z).

Book Summary
The top priority is finding food. Then it’s not becoming food. Because there are others out there on the island . . . like the horde of zombies that appear after night falls. Crafting a way out of this mess is a challenge like none other. Who could build a home while running from exploding creepers, armed skeletons, and an unstoppable tide of hot lava? Especially with no help except for a few makeshift tools and sage advice from an unlikely friend: a cow.
In this world, the rules don’t always make sense, but courage and creativity go a long way. There are forests to explore, hidden underground tunnels to loot, and an undead horde to defeat. Only then will the secrets of the island be revealed.

Audiobook Details

Book Summary 
As bubbly as champagne and delectable as wedding cake, Once and for All, Sarah Dessen's thirteenth novel, is set in the world of wedding planning, where crises are routine. 

Louna, daughter of famed wedding planner Natalie Barrett, has seen every sort of wedding: on the beach, at historic mansions, in fancy hotels and clubs. Perhaps that's why she's cynical about happily-ever-after endings, especially since her own first love ended tragically. When Louna meets charming, happy-go-lucky serial dater Ambrose, she holds him at arm's length. But Ambrose isn't about to be discouraged, now that he's met the one girl he really wants. 

Sarah Dessen’s many, many fans will adore her latest, a richly satisfying, enormously entertaining story that has everything—humor, romance, and an ending both happy and imperfect, just like life itself.

Flo's Review
Sarah Dessen's novels are like a warm hug. Seriously, that is the feeling I get when I read them. Like, "yes, life is crazy and sometimes sad, but you are warm inside this friendly embrace. And here, have some chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven."

Once and For All particularly spoke to me because it is about a family that runs a wedding planning business -- and I am in the middle of planning my own wedding. But along with that, it addresses the questions of forever and second chances. Louna was a little too reticent and inflexible to me at times, but she was realistic based on the trauma she experienced.  I adored Ethan and Ambrose: Ethan for his perfection, and Ambrose for his imperfection. They were both amazingly lovable characters. Also, can I hire William to run my life?! I love him!

I listened to this one on audio and the narrator did a wonderful job. Seriously, I can't love on this book enough. All the warm fuzzies! If you love Sarah's other books, this one won't disappoint. And if you've never read any of hers, this wouldn't be a bad one to start with.


Thank you to Penguin Random House for providing me with the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Book Summary
In middle school, everyone was a Fever Dream fan. Now, a few weeks after her high school graduation, Grace Thomas sometimes feels like the only one who never moved on. She can't imagine what she'd do without the community of online fans that share her obsession. Or what her IRL friends would say if they ever found out about it. 

Then, one summer night, the unthinkable happens: Grace meets her idol, Jes. What starts out as an elusive glimpse of Fever Dream's world turns into an unlikely romance, and leads her to confront dark, complex truths about herself and the realities of stardom.

Flo's Review
I am obsessed with the New Kids on the Block. And the Backstreet Boys. Basically, boy bands: I love them. So when I heard about this book, I was excited to lose myself in the world of fandom. 

The main character, Grace Thomas, is secretly a Fever Dream fan. She goes for a run one night and happens upon one of the members. So starts this whirlwind of parties and clubs and paparazzi and more. Unfortunately, I never connected with Grace. I don't know...I kind of feel like this book did a lot of "tell" and not that much "show." I never really deeply felt Grace's love for this band. And throughout the book I felt like I was reading a story, not like I was engrossed or involved with it.

I did like Jes, and it was interesting to see this take on what is the reality of celebrities' images and personalities versus what their fans create for them. And I appreciated the honest and realistic ending. 

Thank you to Random House for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

If you had the chance to read The Bourbon Kings by J.R. Ward, you might be chomping at the bit to see what else can possibly happen to these characters! I know I am!! Lucky for us, the second book, The Angels' Share, will be released this month, on July 26th. While you wait, we're happy to share a little excerpt from the book to tide you over. Find it after the page break. If you need a little refresher on what's going on, here is our review of The Bourbon Kings.

Book Summary
When Amaterasu Takahashi opens the door of her Philadelphia home to a badly scarred man claiming to be her grandson, she doesn’t believe him. Her grandson and her daughter, Yuko, perished nearly forty years ago during the bombing of Nagasaki. But the man carries with him a collection of sealed private letters that open a Pandora’s Box of family secrets Ama had sworn to leave behind when she fled Japan. She is forced to confront her memories of the years before the war: of the daughter she tried too hard to protect and the love affair that would drive them apart, and even further back, to the long, sake-pouring nights at a hostess bar where Ama first learned that a soft heart was a dangerous thing. Will Ama allow herself to believe in a miracle?

Author Interview 

Awesome lanyard, amirite?!

I was super sad that I couldn't go to BEA this year because of work, but I was excited to see that BookCon was going to be 2 days this year. All day Saturday and all day Sunday? I could do that! I hopped the first flight out Saturday morning and made it to the Javits Center in New York City around 11:30 a.m., about an hour and a half after the Con began.

I went to the exhibit hall first, where the publishers started strong -- books, t-shirts, and all types of swag were being handed out! There were a LOT of people at BookCon and the lines were crazy long, but everyone was really nice. One of my favorite parts about book conventions is actually meeting new people in line. It's just so much fun to talk about your favorite books and book characters with people you GET YOU, you know?!

Saturday was a fun day, but it took me awhile to get into my groove. I missed out on some books and some signings that I was hoping to catch, but that's just part of it. I definitely still got some great books and signings. I was wandering around the exhibit hall when I saw Leigh Bardugo in the Macmillan booth! She wasn't signing books yet, but I was able to get the cutest picture ever: