My thoughts after reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I finished Fangirl a couple of days ago. I haven’t been able to decide what to read next because in all honesty, the next book has some big shoes to fill.

If you follow Rainbow Rowell on Twitter, you can see what she has such a great sense of humor in her books. At least I do. Not to mention that she replies to her fans tweets when she is able to whether it’s a favorite or a reply, Rainbow is a gracious enough to let her fans inside her life.

As some of you may, or may not know Fangirl is about a girl named Cather Avery. Cath has a rocky start in her first year of college when her twin sister makes to decision for both of them that they both need to grow up. Along the way Cath learns to stick up for herself, what love is, and that it’s okay to live in the real world away from the fanfiction she writes.

What I love about this book is the way Rainbow pays tribute to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series. The more I think about it, the homage goes beyond Happy Potter, but to all the fans who have literary crushes on books characters. Fans who fall in love with not just the books, but the story.

Hopefully I am not about to give too many spoilers here. One of the many other things I love about this book is all the references to scifi related genre. As soon as you get into the book, page 9 has reference to one of the best movies … Soylent Green is people! I laughed out loud when Wren (Cath’s sister) called Levi, Lt. Starbuck. And good ol’ Levi does not let the Avery sisters nerdom catch him off guard, and knows it was a Battlestar Galactica reference. It made me smile when Levi tells Cath she is Clarke Kent.

Yes, Fangirl is about girl meets boy. However, Rainbow writes Cath’s story in a way that she does not make it obvious as to what will happen next. While Fangirl is classified as a YA book. I feel that it should not be. A great story is just that a great story. And a wonderful writer is a wonderful writer.

Trailers

I was going to write about recent movies I saw when they came out, Ender’s Game and Thor: The Dark World. Which I’m sure everyone has seen and has probably already read other blogs or reviews. So I thought I would do something a little differed and write about trailers I saw.

One of the trailers I have been most excited about is Catching Fire. Yes, I have read all the books. And yes, when everyone was talking about them I was all “what’s the big deal?” Then, I read the trilogy and was all “holy cow, Batman these are good!” During the Catching Fire trailer all I kept thinking was hey that’s straight from the books when Peeta gives Katniss the locket! They’re going to show the dress Cinna makes that turns into a mockingjay! There are going to have the mist from the Quarter Quell. I am super excited to see the things straight from the book.

Let us not forget The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug! With Benedict Cumberbatch and his sinister dragon voice. There are no words, well maybe one… allons-y. Can I ask why is Black Widow in like 98% of the Captain America: The Winter Solider trailer I saw this weekend? I just feel like the Captain America trailer was making it about her. What’s up with that? X-Men: Days of Future Past, two words James McAvoy. Two more words, awesome actor.

I’m not sure if I am alone in this boat, but when I saw the intro to the 47 Ronin trailer “I’m looking for someone who was sold to you. A half bred banished from our land.” I was waiting for Wolverine to come out on the scene. Okay I admit I cried when I saw the Delivery Man trailer. So what? I would like to defend my last statement by quoting from The Guild Season 6:

Tink: Oh God. Donovan just asked me to go to lunch later. No reason.

Codex: So?

Tink: There’s just something freaky going on in my chest area. Maybe I’m having a heart attack.

Zaboo: Tink, those are feelings.

My thoughts after reading Eleanor & Park By Rainbow Rowell

Confession, I have just finished reading Eleanor & Park. My husband bought me Rainbow Rowell’s books after I kept talking about Attachments. I had not read Eleanor & Park right away because I had a couple of books that I just checked out from the library and there was a book I was reading for work. I felt so bad for those library books, every time I would pick one up I kept eyeballing at Eleanor & Park.
 

I felt just like I did when I was reading Attachments, I could not stop thinking about the story and the characters. Eleanor & Park has made me realize I am in love with Rowell’s writing. Eleanor & Park was one of the best books I have read this year, along with Attachments.

After reading it I can see why so many people love this book. The characters, Eleanor & Park, are real. Real being that their lives are complicated and makes you realize sometimes when we fall in love its messy, but if we truly love the other person its worth fighting for.

I enjoyed the fact that it was not another girl meets boy, and boom they’re in love. Eleanor & Park’s love grow out of their friendship. They learn to mutually respect one another and their lives separate and together.

While Eleanor’s home life is not the best, it explains a lot of her reactions and fears she has towards becoming Park’s girlfriend. When Eleanor & Park first fall in love, I kept thinking of the Dr. Seuss quote, “We are all a little weird and, life’s a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with then and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”

While some people may say the characters are way too young to feel this way. Their love was not done in a Romeo and Juliet way either where, everything is so melodramatic. I think that Eleanor & Park reminds us that true love is and can be real at any age. I cried when Park kept waiting for Eleanor to write or call. I kept saying, why won’t she write to him, why doesn’t just she just call him. He is waiting for her, he always has. When he finally got the post card, it felt like they never really ended. It also made me happy cry for Park when she sent him that post card.

Sorry about that, but I think I made my point with that little rant, on how this book emotionally touches the readers heart. Books are wonderful journeys, but when we find the stories and characters that we emotionally connect to we should share those.