Dewey Shorts - New

Hey everybody!

Jessica and I are happy to announce that new things are coming to our IG!

(Hopefully you've been to our IG page to see what we're adding)

We're introducing what I'm calling "Dewey Shorts".  A "Dewey Short" is going to be a video that's 30-60 seconds in length.  We're going to quickly talk about a book that we've read; whether we liked it or we didn't like it.

These are books that we have something to say about but not enough to warrant an entire blog post. 

You can check out the quick video over to the left of this post, under Instagram.

Let us know what you think! 

~ Jillian

One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus- Reshelved Books

Who is ready for a new review on a new book?! 

I hope you all are eagerly waving your arms up in the air! haha.

I don't know how old the majority of our readers are but if you fall into the mid to late twenties and up, you should know about all of those classic John Hughes films from the 80s! 

Sixteen Candles! Pretty in Pink! St. Elmo's Fire! The Breakfast Club!

And this 90s baby does love Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club   :)

Let me know what you're favorite John Hughes movie is!  You can post down below OR find us on Facebook! FortheLoveofDewey is now a group and we'd love it if you joined!

But onward to the good stuff...   

One of Us is Lying is Karen McManus' debut novel.   As a YA fiction story, One of Us is Lying is a story about five teenagers, one who mysteriously ends up dead in detention.  The "who done it" and the why are what you as the reader are trying to figure out.  

This book is a mash up between the game of Clue and The Breakfast Club.

From what I could find out there on the great internet, it seems like McManus was influenced by the writings of Agatha Christie for her debut novel.  According to Book Club Babble, McManus used The Breakfast Club as her primary inspiration. 

Which is something I can totally see... Take for example Brian and Simon.  For anyone who has seen this movie, do you think that McManus loosely based Simon on Brian?? Brian had the intentions of suicide but was never success.  Simon actually *dies*...

Tabitha Lord of Book Club Babble did an *amazing* review with Karen McManus. I strongly recommend to everyone to go and check out her review!  Another good review on the book was done by The Big Thrill- you can check out that review here.

Lord brings up great questions that included awesome points.  I love how she brings up how nowadays, teenagers don't have a sense of privacy (which is true, when I was in high school, TEXT MESSAGES were just becoming a thing! and I am by no means old!).  How social media has taken over and made things that were once private, public.  (Not only that, but suicide is something that's increasing in teenagers :(  )

I very much liked the delivery of the story!  I liked how as the reader got deeper into the novel, the plot became more twisted.  The police were pitting Bronwyn, Nate, Cooper and Addie against each other- something that should have pulled them apart, made them stronger together in the end.  You slowly learn about Simon's life and 

As, I said before (because for anyone who knows me, I love to repeat myself) I liked how the book was a spin on The Breakfast Club: you had the athlete, the criminal, the brains, the outcast and the pretty girl.  While the five of them were able to walk out together at the end, One of Us is Lying loses the outcast. 

There was a twist at the end of the story that I was not expecting.  I could see how the "killer" was who they were, but I would never have imagined who was helping them.

I give this book 5 out of 5 coffee beans.  It held the right amount of suspense and it answered all of the questions that it laid out.  I didn't get tired of the characters and I didn't find them to be annoying.  The book progressed in a way that didn't leave you feeling ripped off. 

~ Jillian

Everything, Everything By Nicola Yoon - Reshelved Books

Hello fellow For the Love of Dewey Readers!  *Woof, Woof!* I just read an amazing book that left we with a complete and utter book hangover.  This book, just like the photo below, is EVERYTHING. 

Dogs and books are everything. 

I stumbled upon Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon while I was scrolling through Facebook one evening before bed.  Someone had shared a trailer to a movie that was coming out and it looked good. I don't really watch movies, but when I found out it was also a book I got SO excited.  I immediately placed it on hold at my library, and it was everything I hoped it to be and more.   

I LOVED photographing this book. 

So, what would you do if you had a terrible illness that suppressed your immune system to the point where you had to live inside, be homeschooled online, only see certain visitors monitored for their health, and breathe filtered air?  What kind of person would you be?  Do you think that you would know what you were missing if you never knew it was there?  For Madeline Whittier this is her reality and the only life she has known.  Madeline  has a rare disease known as SCIDS, which the novel describes as a disease that surprises her immune system to the point where any "trigger" has the point to kill her.  I have never heard about SCIDS before, so I decided to learn more about it.  As a future librarian and person with anxiety, I probably shouldn't have Googled it but I did.  Did I mention that I wasn't feeling well when I read it?...  Anyway for those of you who are curious, here is a link to a website dedicated to SCIDS.    

Back to the book. 

One day, a new family moves into the house next door.  The boy, who is about her age, and his sister go to Madeline's house to bring over a bundt cake, but over course they can't come in and Madeline's mother cannot accept the cake.  This sparks an interest and  online friendship that blossoms into sneaky yet sterilized visits between Madeline and her new neighbor, ultimately causing Madeline to question her life, her dreams, and love.  

A For the Love of Dewey rating of 5 out of 5 coffee beans! This book is gripping, it is inspiring, and it's a bookish love story.  Check out the trailer to the movie to be released this year!

~Jessica

P.S.  Nicola Yoon liked our post on Twitter!

Judging Books By Their Covers

    They say you should never judge a book by it's cover, for it is the pages and story inside that grip us, and that the cover is nothing more than a superficial medium holding these pages together.  Unfortunately, I'm guilty where I almost always judge a book by it's cover.  As a reader, blogger, book lover, and librarian, I should be ashamed.  I guess part of me is, but only a small part.  Here's why.  
    I love my books.  I love to be gripped by a story.  I love the art form of language, and how an author arranges letters to form words, and words to create something that is both literary and beautiful.  I love to feel like I'm friends in my head with the characters that I am investing so much time with, but what about when the book is finished?  What about before I even pick the book up?  Basically, I'm drawn to covers that are visually appealing.  I like to line my books up on my bookshelf and lay on the floor to stare at the covers, both after and before I read them.  With Instagram hashtags such as #bookstagram, displaying books with pretty covers has become an art form.  We like these photos because we love books, but we also like these photos because we like to look at the book covers.  The librarian in me likes my book case organized by author and title, but the book blogger in me that loves pretty covers also likes the idea of arranging them by color.  Perhaps this is a ploy by marketers to get us to buy more books or certain types of books.  But for now, I think I'll just spend some time admiring my covers.  

Some covers I love!

~Jessica