One Day in December by Josie Silver- Reshelved Books

Back before I requested an INSANE amount of galleys from Netgalley and making myself so incredibly sick of reading and stripping away all of the enjoyment I found in reading- because I was BURIED under book after book after book; I found this book as an arc.  I thought of how cute it sounded and how I would very much like to review it.

Fast forward to the end of 2018.  That was months ago.  The book made Reese Witherspoon's Book Club.  I purchased One Day in December by Josie Silver to read it. 

Here we are in the beginnings of 2019 and I'm giving you the review!

Yes, my picture has tiny ornaments. Yes, the title says "December".  In my defense, the book does span 10 years and in that time, Laurie is always opening that new year with a list of her New Year's Resolutions.  Fact.

As noted by the red double Decker bus on the cover of this bus, we are yet again jumping across the pond! (If you can't tell, I would loooove to visit England.  Especially at Christmas time.  I think that it would be truly spectacular and beautiful)


I really really liked this book! It was a pleasure to read.  I didn't fit it to be dull or lukewarm (unlike my review from New Year's Day)

Laurie is riding the bus home from work, miserable.  When she finds that she has caught her eye on a mysterious man.  It was an instant connection! But like any good love story, the bus pulls away and Laurie spends the next year looking for this fellow. 

Again, like any other good love story, Sarah who is Laurie's best friend happens to be dating the guy from the bus- who has a name now.  He is Jack!

Obviously Laurie can't tell Sarah that Jack is the guy from the bus - that wouldn't be cool. Especially because of how happy Sarah and Jack make each other. 

There are a few moments that Jack and Laurie share; there are some major life events that Laurie goes through.  Jack even has a life altering experience himself but they're there for each other as friends. 

Over the course of the book, the reader does get to see how the dynamics of these relationships change.  I found that the book was realistic and relatable. (It was a love story that wasn't far fetched)

Silver wrote a story that left you rooting for Laurie and Jack, whatever their paths may have been.

My rating?  This book is an easy 4 coffee beans out of 5!

~ Jillian

Someone like You and That Summer (How to Deal) by Sarah Dessen- Reshelved Books

I know... I know... 

Ya’ll can say it: “Jillian, you were doing so well for the last two weeks with posting every Saturday about a book and it’s moving!” and I would have to agree.  I was impressing myself! Which is why, I’m feverishly writing this to get it up from the stroke of midnight meaning that it would be Sunday. 

Aye!

This week we have a movie from the early 2000s! When I was a tween... (gosh that feels like a million years ago).

How to Deal is the movie this is being reviewed next to the, not one but TWO books that inspired it, That Summer and Someone Like You both of which are written by Sarah Dessen. 

I happened to be talking to my sister last week about these two books. She made a good point, between the two of us, at one point we had almost every book Dessen had written. About four years ago on my Goodreads, I gave these two books stars and saidthat I had read them. I don’t remember reading them. Even while reading them, I could not recall...

Someone Like You focuses on 15 year old Halley, her friend Scarlett and her budding relationship with Macon and the change in the relationship with her mother. 
That Summer tells the story about Haven (also 15 years old), how she’s coping with her father getting remarried, her sister’s marriage and how she reflects on a summer from so many years ago. 

In true form, Dessen focuses and discusses real life issues.  Dessen is really good (in my humble opinion) at handing the reader relatable topics. 
I think that every teenager out there has faced that shift in the relationship with their parents from sharing everything to wanting to be left alone. Every teenager has felt like they know better (even when you don’t have enough life experience yet). 

In Someone Like You, Halley went from telling her mother everything, to telling her nothing and wanting to make her own decisions because she felt she knew best. 
In That Summer, Haven was still looking for her mother’s guidance until the end, when she kinda had a nervous breakdown. (I did not like Haven. She was okay in the beginning but as the story went on, I was turned off to her character. She became whining and child-like. She started out as being naïve but then she digressed). 

I can totally see and understand why the movie writer(s) mashed the two up. It was fun to see that take.  I want to say that How to Deal focused more on Someone Like You and less on That Summer.  Yes, Ashley and Lewis were from That Summer (as was Haven's father and Lorna Queen BUT Halley's father was the radio DJ). 
Halley was the main character, unlike the book Halley, movie Halley had a sister, Ashley (this was Haven’s sister in the book.) I feel like Someone Like You’s charactes were used in the setting for That Summer. If that makes any sense at all. 

Now for the moment of truth! My ratings. 

Someone Like You gets 4 coffee beans out of 5. 
That Summer gets 3.5 coffee beans out of 5.
How to Deal gets 4 popcorn kernels out of 5.

- Jillian