This is a short week for me. Our library is having their annual book sale on Friday so that is where I will be spending the whole day. The whole day! The thing is huge and it’s an annual event for me to spend the day wandering the tables, looking for the few things on my list, but mostly just reveling in the random books I’ve never heard of or catching that out of print gem. Bliss. And since it’s right before Christmas, it’s easy to justify buying stuff as my Christmas presents to myself! Yeah, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
- Not If I See You First, by Eric Lindstrom. (Note that I’ve already finished this one, so this is more a quick review than a preview.) This is one of those books that just screams, “Written to satisfy a publisher/agent who was seeking diversity in YA.” The main character is blind. While that would be great if it truly made this book and its protagonist unique, all it really does is give the character an excuse to have a huge chip on her shoulder and act like a brat. The main character could have been a sighted, bratty teenager and the book would have been the same, save for some details about how she goes about her day. Diversity is something to aim for in YA and I applaud authors who try to incorporate it, but just slapping an “issue” onto a character when it doesn’t really impact the plot isn’t the way to go. This book wasn’t a bad story, I just couldn’t get past the pasted on diversity angle and it irked me a bit.
- The Introvert Entrepeneur, by Beth Buelow. It’s been noted several times on here that I am a huge introvert and that I struggle with suddenly having to actively market my book. I’m not an entrepreneur in the classic sense discussed by this book, but I’m hoping to pick up some tips on how I can “get out there” more without damaging myself.
- The Golden Braid, by Melanie Dickerson. This one is a retelling of Rapunzel. I wasn’t aware that it was Christian fiction when I reserved it, so we’ll see. Christian fiction isn’t usually something that I like or gravitate toward, simply because I find much of it too preachy for my taste. I prefer subtlety to being hit over the head with a hammer. It’s rare to find an author who can juggle great storytelling and the Christian element without turning a novel into a sermon.