Social Distancing Check-In

Hello For the Love of Dewey Readers!

Today we are 1 week into social-distancing in NJ and it looks like it's not going to be getting better anytime soon.  So today we'd like to check in with everyone.  How are you doing?  What are you doing?  And how are you finding joy during this time.

So far I read 6 book! I was averaging one book a day, but then I had to let up on the reading because I sprained my left eye.  Heed this warning... Binge reading is a total sport and can be dangerous. 

I thought that I would be taking the time to write more blog posts, but instead I find myself being more active on our Instagram @ForTheLoveOfDewey.  

Here are the books that I finished so far and my For the Love of Dewey Coffee Bean Rating of each one:
Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Seritella - 4 out of 5 Coffee Beans 

The self isolation to-read / read pile.

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover - 4 out of 5 Coffee Beans 
My Life in Pink and Green by Lisa Greenwald -  5 out of 5 Coffee Beans 
Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone - 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans 
Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult - 3.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans (It was good! But the print was small and it was long... I think this book hot my eye.)
All Along You Were Blooming by Morgan Harper Nichols - 4 out of 5 Coffee Beans (I read an ARC of this and it was hard to make out some of the words.) 

Currently Reading: 
Close Enough to Touch by Colleen Oakley.  

Close Enough to Touch is about a librarian who is allergic to touch.  If someone touches her she'll die.  This seems like a fitting read given our current situation, and it takes place in NJ! 

What are you all reading?

~Jessica 

Hello Dear Dewey Readers!


Today I am writing to you from inside the local coffee shop while working on my #ToRead pile and trying to figure out life...  One of my new goals is to try to figure out where people actually hang out.  What do people do?  Where can I find these people in their mid 20's - early 30's... and do you think they will want to come to my library book clubs? Usually I like to sit home with my books in between loads of laundry... but today is the beginning of a new reading era!

I was not forgotten! 

About a year ago (Can you believe it has been that long already!) I wrote about reading in strange places... like the Stop and Shop Pharmacy.  I even took a #bookstagram photo of a book within a case of yogurt! Obviously the coffee shop is not strange, but today I am going to give you a quick snap shot of my experience. 

The experience: 
I am sitting in the corner with my back to the wall.  There are about 4 other girls sitting on their computers typing, and small groups of people scattered about just hanging out. Many of the men in here are with their respective dates.  I feel sort of guilty for taking up a small bistro table that could theoretically fit 3 people for me & my clunky purse...  but oh well.  I have also been waiting quite a while for the barista to take my order... but that's probably just my anxiety...No. I think she really forgot about me.      

So Dewey Readers, while I wave down the barista and try to overcome my table guilt, tell me, do you read in public? & Where do you hang out?  

Until the next coffee bean review! 

~Jessica 


P.S. I am currently re-reading Delirium by Lauren Oliver. My November book club choice for I Read Ya.  Is it better to love and to suffer than to have never have known love at all? 
    

Currently Reading: Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

Hello everyone!  

It's that busy time of the year again...The start of a new semester!   I am going to apologize in advance if my posts aren't as frequent as the usually are.  This is also my last semester, which is just as exciting as it is scary!  Come May I'll have my MLIS and be on my way to becoming a librarian.  

I am continuing with my WWII historical fiction theme set up earlier this month by my review of All the Light We Cannot See, by reading Martha Hall Kelly's Lilac Girls.  This novel also deals with WWII, but more specifically with Nazi occupation in both France and Poland.  What I like about this novel is that while the main chunk of events take place in Europe, America is also discussed through the voice of the character of Caroline who lives in the New York / Connecticut area.  Unlike All the Light We Cannot See, this novel seems to delve deeper into the gruesome details and horror of the Nazi Concentration Camps. 

My library co-workers have all read this book and gave it high ratings, so I can't wait to get back to reading it and tell you what I think!

~Jessica   

Currently Reading: Last One Home by Debbie Macomber

Hello all!  

     I recently started reading Last One Home by Debbie Macomber.  This book is supposed to be about "new beginnings" and "fresh starts."  And boy oh boy, after the rough last week that I've had, I can sure use a fresh start.

     Right now, I am on page 56 of this book and I am loving it.  Last One Home opens with a scene of three young sisters playing outside on a perfect summer evening.  They're carefree and their outlook on life is the ideal image of childhood innocence.  We're talking warm summer breezes, fireflies, porch lights, games of tag as dusk approaches....Actually, a scene very similar to the cover of this novel (minus the children, of course). 
      Fast forward and the reader meets one of the sisters, Cassie, who is now estranged from the other two.  At one point Cassie ran away from home in the name of "love,"where she got married and had a baby, only to be tragically abused and beaten by her husband.  One day, Cassie gets the strength to say that enough is enough and escapes her abuser with her daughter, files for divorce, and makes a fresh start all on her own.  Things seem to be working in Cassie's favor, as she qualifies for a home through Habitat For Humanity, she is a hairdresser at a salon and has her own set of loyal customers, is picking up an extra side-job, and volunteers by helping other women who are victims of domestic violence.  However, I wonder if by doing too many good things Cassie will end up spreading herself thin and regressing in her good fortune... I guess I'll go back to reading now so I can find out!

Comment below with what you're currently reading!  & don't forget to check out our Instagram for more reading suggestions and #bookish things! 

~Jessica  

The Girl Who Wrote in Silk by Kelli Estes - Currently Reading

Hi guys!

Happy 2017 to you all! I hope everyone ended 2016 on a bang and started out 2017 on an even bigger bang   (: 

I know that this post from me has been long overdue but I am back in the new year and I ready to blog! (Heck yeah!)

I am currently reading The Girl Who Wrote in Silk by Kelli Estes.  I am going to be honest, this is not a book that I would usually go toward if I was at the bookstore but I must say, I am enjoying it quite alot. 


The Girl Who Wrote in Silk was published in 2015 and is the debut novel of Kelli Estes. (Side Note: I'm currently binge watching Blue Bloods on Netflix. On the show, there is a character, Officer Jamie Reagan. (Who is quite handsome, if I do say so myself!) The actor who plays Jamie is named Will Estes. And I was wondering if there was any relation between the author Kelli and cutie pants Will...)

The Girl Who Wrote in Silk was the January 2017 pick for the Jane Box from The Book Drop.  If anyone is looking to try out a book subscription box, I would definitely recommend The Book Drop.  You are able to pick from 4 different boxes and the cost of the subscription box per month is not expensive. Jessica and I decided to sign up for a book box subscription service as a way to introduce ourselves to new books and for something fun.  

*If a review on this book subscription is something that anyone is interested in, let us know in the comments!*

The novel follows a young woman named Inara, who just lost her great-aunt Dahlia.  Inara and her sister Olivia, travel to Orca Island to pack up the family estate called Rothesay.

Upon entering the estate, both sisters are hit with memories from when they were younger and many emotions on the drive to Rothesay. Especially Inara who was reminded of the day she lost her mother and how Dahlia was there to comfort her. Once inside the care takers property, it was like Dahlia and her partner Nancy were still alive, living in the home but just out for the day. 

Airing out the house leads to Inara discovering a silk sleeve under a floorboard... 

Following the discovery of the silk sleeve, the reader is transported to the mid 1800s, there meeting Mei Lien, a young Chinese girl who is living in Washington state. 

The book from my understanding, is going to flip back between Inara and Mei Lien.  I'm interested in seeing what story the silk tells and I am interested in seeing how the lives of these two young women intertwine.

See you all next week!


~ Jillian

Between Friends by Debbie Macomber: Currently Reading

I am so in love with Macomber's Between Friends so far!  This novel is different from the other novels by her that I have read in the past, those of which I think can usually be seen as neat little happy ending stories inside cute Hallmark movie towns.  However, right from the beginning this novel appears to dive so much deeper, following the lives of two best friends, Lesley and Jillian, and their journey from young girls to grown/aging women.  This novel tackles topics such as woman's rights & birth control, the Vietnam War, love, cancer, and so much more.  This novel is also written in the form of journal entries and letters, which I found to be quite different.  I thought that this letter correspondence would make me feel disconnected from the characters, but I am actually so absorbed in their lives and thought processes, that putting it down to type this little blurb is painful!

I can't wait for this review! Happy Reading!

~Jessica 

Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner: Currently Reading

Hello fellow Dewey lovers!  It is terribly chilly and windy here in New Jersey, and I am already bundled up in my jammies as I write this.  Definitely a perfect night to spend huddled under blankets with a book!

      Just like Jillian has been drawn to thrillers the past few weeks, it seems as though I have   been drawn to novels that deal with painful matters of the heart.  Having just finished How I Came to Sparkle Again by Kaya McLaren, which deals with heartbreak in its various forms (keep watch for this review, coming at the end of the week!), last night I picked up Jennifer Weiner's latest novel Who Do You Love, which touches upon this same topic. 
     The prologue of Who Do You Love, opens with the remnants of a devastating and crippling heartbreak, where the main character of Rachel is depressed and unable to get out of bed-- the tragic results of her marriage ending.  After the prologue, the reader is introduced to a much younger Rachel, who was born with a genetic heart disorder and is in the hospital at 8 years old for open heart surgery.  It is  here that she meets a young boy who is is also in the hospital, but for a broken arm.  I haven't gotten much further than this, but I'm beginning to think that this boy is the one that Rachel ended up marrying, and also is the one who ended up breaking her heart.  But are they one in the same?  Or did she marry someone else, and will she be reconnected with this broken-arm-boy later on in the story?  Why did her marriage end?  I have so many questions.  Bear with me and stay tuned to see if and how they get answered!

Happy reading!

~Jessica 

The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer: Currently Reading

Nov. 21, 2016: This week I decided to read The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer (2016).  I guess one could say that I've had a knack for reading thrillers this month! 

This is Meyer's newest release focusing around a woman (Dr. Juliana Fortis) who worked for the government prior to leaving her position and going into hiding.  Fortis has spent the last several years on the run, hiding in plain sight; constantly using different aliases and always altering her appearance with wigs and clothes.  Fortis isn't quite sure what to expect when her old boss reaches out to her but in her own way, she is intrigued and meets with him to talk...

I haven't gotten much further than this in the book! With that being said, I am excited to see how the book pans out and I can't wait to tell you all what I think of this book next week!

This is my first time reading a book by Stephanie Meyer.  As you all know, last week I said that I was a lover of YA fiction and I am.  However, I never read the Twilight Series.  (I accept the repercussions that may be associated with the reveal of this deep dark secret of mine...)  I wasn't drawn to the allure of vampires, even Edward Cullen! Even though Robert Pattinson made very cute vampire in the movies.

I found The Chemist while I was checking out the new release on bn.com last week and after reading the sneak peek, I decided that I would take the chance and step out of my comfort zone and get back on the thriller train. (I did a review of All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda last week.  If you're interest, you can check out that review in the achieve section to the left of this post!) 

~ Jillian

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen: Currently Reading

Hi Everyone,

It's Jillian here! This week is going to start off with a new book!

I figured that I would look through the books on my bookshelf that I haven't read yet and pick one from there.  The choice was between Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen (the winner) and See Me by Nicholas Sparks.  

Book to the Right: See Me by Nicholas Sparks

Book to the Left: Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

Tsum Tsum (top to bottom): Lady, Eeyore and Mickey's Bear

The opening scene of the book takes place in a court room with the verdict being read for Peyton, the brother of the main character Sydney.  Right away we automatically find out that Peyton has been convicted of something (what that something is, we don't know right away). From there, Sydney paints a picture between the stark contrasts between her and him; while telling of Peyton's rebellion that lead him to jail and why she decided to start her Junior Year at the new high school.

Reading these first 30 pages reminded me why I love reading YA fiction so much and why I feel that Sarah Dessen is one of the best YA authors *ever* (in my un-professional professional opinion of course, lol).

Sadly, I have to put this book down and start getting ready for work. Time flies when you're writing and reading! 

Let me know some of you favorite books by Sarah Dessen or if you have any other YA fiction books that you love in the comments below! 

See you all next week! Have a good one!

~ Jillian

Seashell Season by Holly Chamberlin: Currently Reading

     May I begin by saying just how much I adore this book.  I have read two books by Holly Chamberlin before, The Family Beach House and Summer with My Sisters, but this one I just can't seem to put down and I'm only on page 50.  (Well, I did put it down to write this post.  And take a picture.  This book had a full-out photo shoot in my room, complete with seashell props. #instafilter anyone?).  

    Anyway,  Seashell Season takes place in Ogunquit, Maine but also references other Maine coastal towns such as York, Wells, and Kittery.  The story line follows that of Verity, a mother whose child, Gemma, was kidnapped from her as a baby by the child's father.  Sixteen years later, Gemma, who now goes by he name Marni, is found and the father placed behind bars.  Verity is ecstatic, crying tears of joy, while Marni is angry that her world has been turned upside down.  The storyline toggles between the perspectives of Verity and Marnie, giving the reader an inside perspective into the thought process and emotions of both characters. 

     Perhaps one of the main reasons why I am so in love with this book is because my boyfriend and I have recently taken a fall trip to Ogunquit and deemed it "our place" to get a summer home when we #1 become rich or #2  retire in 80+ years.  In fact, I purchased this book at a bookshop in Wells, Maine called Annie's Book Stop. Have any of you ever felt drawn to a book because it takes place in a town that you live near?  A place that you've vacationed?  Or a place that you wish you could one day run away to and live happily ever after?  Happy Reading. 
--Jessica