Sunday, November 26, 2017

The Existence of Pity by Jeannie Zokan - Reshelved Books

Hey there Dewey Readers! I just finished an absolutely AMAZING book that I COULD NOT put down!  What is this amazing book, you ask?  Jeannie Zokan's The Existence of Pity.  

The cover has coffee beans! 
The Existence of Pity was one of the first books For the Love of Dewey was sent with a request to review on the blog.  Being relatively new bloggers, I'm not going to lie, I was little apprehensive  to do a review request.  It seems like a lot of pressure.  But the premise of this book interested me, and Zokan is a library science person...so needless to say, I jumped on it. 

Now, about the book.  This novel takes place in 1976 Colombia and is told from the perspective of 16 year old Josie.  Josie and her family are missionaries who are in Colombia to spread the Baptist Gospel, but just because they're serving God does not mean that everything within their family dynamic is right and holy.  In fact, the secrets that linger within the family are anything but.  Josie's father is keeping a huge secret, as is Josie's mother, and her brother.  Josie too is keeping a secret, although not as large.  Josie, plagued with horrible nightmares, is beginning to find comfort in visiting a Colombian Catholic church and praying the rosary.  This turns out to be something that her parents find to be the most blasphemous sin of all (even though I think to most people's standards, the sin's of Josie's parents are far worse). --This actually made me think of my collection of healing crystals and how I hold them for comfort / pray with them.  My mom thinks it's weird. 

Josie's family has hired help in the form of Blanca, a native Colombian woman in her 20's who is dating a police officer named Juan Fernando.  I found Blanca's character to be my favorite part of the novel.  I loved the way that Zokan incorporated her accent into the English text, giving the reader a real sense of being immersed in Colombia.  I also liked how Zokan not only successfully portrayed her to be an employee, but also as a big sister figure, a friend, and an intelligent woman who knew what was going on with each family member before they knew themselves.  Blanca doesn't miss a beat.        

Now for those of you who aren't big Christian-fiction readers, do not be turned away from this book!  While religion plays a large part in the novel, it is not preachy.  Rather it uses religion to show how people can find comfort in different ways, which is done primarily through the Catholic / Protestant divide.  Being Protestant, I understand the differences but I also realize the similarities.  Unfortunately not everyone does, and Josie's parents are an example of this.  This novel is just as much a piece of Christian-Fiction as it is a thriller, a drama, and a coming of age young adult cross over / love story.  I wish my library consortium owned enough copies of this novel so that I could have it as a book club choice in my I Read YA book group.  I think the adults in the group would really enjoy it.  And Jeannie, if you're ever visiting northern NJ, I would love to set up an author visit with you!  So Dewey Readers, I leave you with a rating of 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  READ THIS BOOK! 

~Jessica 

Sunday, November 12, 2017

The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P by Adelle Waldman - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers!  

Tonight I bring you a lovely review for Adelle Waldman's novel The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.   This isn't a book I would normally pick up to read on my own, as it seemed a little *gasp* too literary.  However, in my bookish adventures I've decided to join a books & brunch book club with complete strangers! Because as you know, I like books but I LOVE brunch.


Do you see that pretty little gold key?  It's to our
For the Love of Dewey P.O. Box.  See below.
The main character annoyed the heck out of me.  Seriously, I wanted to shake him.  Part of his psychological personality remind me of a relationship gone wrong that I experienced, but really that's stretching it quite a bit.   Nathaniel P. was an asshole.     

Before I continue my rant let's have a little back story.  This novel, as you may have guessed by the title, is about the many love affairs of Nathaniel P.  Now, Nathaniel is a writer.  He went to school for literature, he has a book published, and he's a total book and writing snob.  In my first paragraph where I wrote "Because as you, " would probably piss him off.  But this is a blog and grammar rules are blurred.  Actually, they're nonexistent.  Let's make them up as we go.  Just because Nathaniel P. has love affairs, does not mean that he hasn't had lengthy relationships.  He lived with one girl shortly after college, but that tanked, and his main and most recent love interest, a six month relationship with Hannah, takes up a good portion of this novel.  But this relationship also fails because Nathaniel P. is really just a jerk.  He claims to be proactive with women's rights, but he gets annoyed with Hannah for wanting to "talk" or when her arms jiggle in a way he finds unflattering, which causes him to distance himself and then return.  These little disgust-ions (I made that word up. Take that Nathaniel P.) continue throughout this novel, causing a continues ebb and flow of Nathaniel being really into the relationship and then pulling back.  To quote Taylor Swift, he would "give love and take it away." So it's not a surprise that Hannah gets frustrated.  

So Dewey Readers, I give you a rating of 2.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.... because you know... brunch.  

~Jessica

P.S. 
Some 20-somethings, photograph keys to new apartments, we photograph keys to our P.O. Box!  Yes, you read that right!  You can now send Reviewer's Copies to P.O. Box 1481 Clifton, NJ 07015.  

Friendly Disclaimer: We can't guarantee that it will make the blog, but we WILL read it and put it on our bookstagram!  

 

Saturday, November 4, 2017

36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant - Reshelved Books

Hello everyone! 

So, let's talk about love.  Specifically, do you think that love can be formed through a survey of 36 questions answered together by two complete strangers? Well, Vicki Grant and her novel 36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You thinks it just might be possible.  

This kind of kills the mystical and spiritual idea of love, no?  Well according to Grant, there was a study by Dr. Arthur Aron that suggests the love can be engineered through such a survey.  I took Psych 101 in college, not that I remember much of it other than that I had to color - yes, color - a picture of the brain, so I can't really say that I am familiar with the study  Actually, I could be a good reference librarian and research the study, but I'm doing laundry and painting cats right now...and don't really feel like it, so we'll just go with what the novel proposes.

The premise of this novel is a study with the hopes of proving or disproving Dr. Arthur Aron's hypothesis.  Can love be engineered between two strangers through 36 questions.  The two strangers that we meet are Hildy and Paul.  Both from two very different economic and familial backgrounds.  We have Hildy, the child a stereotypical nuclear family and who's mother is a doctor, and we have Paul, the child of a single mother who is poor and lives on his own.  Hildy signs up for the study because she feels honor bound by science, and Paul signs up because he wants the $40 it pays. 

What I liked about this novel is that it is written as an epistolary, where we have the question and answer/dialogue form.  This makes the novel read rather quickly.  What I didn't like about the novel is that Hildy and Paul do not answer the questions within the domains of the study room.  They leave the room!  They answer them through online messaging! In coffee shops! And God knows where else!  They have days to answer these questions! AND they have days to talk about other things that stem off of the questions, so of course love is possible.  Their potential love is not just based off the survey alone.  It's a learning process, just like any other relationship would be.  

So dear readers, I give you a rating of 3 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  I read this book within a day and I DID enjoy it, but besides the study not really being a study, Hildy annoyed me.  

Until the next read!
~Jessica 

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

1 Year Anniversary Giveaway!



Can you believe that For the Love of Dewey is turning 1 year old?  No?? Well, neither can we!  To celebrate and say thank you, we are hosting a giveaway for a gift card to Barnes & Noble!  

Here's how you can enter to win:
1) Follow the blog (You're reading this, so that's a great start!)
2) Comment on your favorite post

It's that easy.  

For an additional entry, follow our Instagram and repost our giveaway photo #ForTheLoveOfDeweyYearOne 

Happy reading!