ignoring my reading goals in favour of stories that are less serious, more romantic
I set myself some reading goals for the rest of the year -- namely, to finish any books I’ve already started. But it seems those unfinished books just weren’t the right genres. Because here I am, having read a bunch of other things instead!
Oh well, there’s still time. The year isn’t quite over.
• The Lonely Hearts Dog Walkers by Sheila Norton: Recently separated, Nicola moves back in with her mother, starts as a teaching assistant at the local primary school, gets a puppy and joins a group of dog walkers. Her five year old daughter struggles adjusting to the new school, while Nicola struggles adjusting to having shared custody; the dog walkers investigate missing cats and then embark upon a mission to save the local park from being sold to developers; new friends are made along the way.
This was very low-angst and, once I realised the sort of story it was, kind of predictable. I can recognise the appeal of this brand of realism, but personally would have preferred more humour or more emotional complexity. I’d also have liked more about Nicola’s job, or the trials and joys of training a puppy -- were Nicola a colleague of mine, it’d be easy to find things in common, topics we could discuss.
But, as a fictional character, her story wasn’t quite what I was looking for.
Amazon has kept suggesting Olivia Dade’s “There’s Something About Marysburg” romance 40-Love for months. When I first noticed it, I had a look and decided it was Not My Cup of Tea. But I’ve since read Dade’s (unrelated) Spoiler Alert, and the other day I discovered that this series is mostly about high school teachers -- and recommended by Lucy Parker and Kate Clayborn.
• Teach Me is about two experienced teachers in their forties. Rose is unimpressed that she must not only share her classroom with the new history teacher but that he has been given her Honors World History class.
I find something particularly satisfying about people who have been hurt and lonely, people no longer young, finding support and love in each other. I liked that they get to know each other over many months. I liked their other relationships, too -- Martin’s close to his teenage daughter, and Rose’s relationship with her former parents-in-law was so touching that one scene made me cry.
It was interesting seeing the US school system from the perspective of teachers and I appreciated all the details about their jobs. (The word “preps” has quite a different meaning to what I’m used to it meaning in an education setting.)
A few times I rolled my eyes because something seemed a bit too didactic, but at the same time it was believable that these characters would hold such opinions and would say -- or think -- them so plainly. Martin got hints. Martin was watchful. Martin could read and interpret body language.
Most well-off, cishet white men couldn’t do either. Didn’t need to do either, unlike the people in their orbit, because they held the power. They created the weather, while others languished in the rain or cringed away from the lightning.
Maybe he’d grown up poor like her. Maybe he’d learned empathy and watchfulness from his years of teaching. But the way he’d stepped back from a simple glare… she’d seen that kind of reaction before [...] And she wondered. About his childhood. About his marriage.
• Sweetest in the Gale: a Marysburg collection contains three novellas. I liked that there was a coloured illustration for each of the two couples not depicted on the cover. As in Teach Me, these couples in their forties and plus-size women are portrayed positively; the first two novellas are about teachers.
Sweetest in the Gale: Griff is worried when Candy, a fellow English teacher, returns for the new school year uncharacteristically sombre and subdued. This is a really sweet romance about two people who are navigating loss and grief. Griff and Candy share honestly about difficult topics and discover things in common -- not just to passion for their subject and for their jobs. And I liked how Griff’s applies his understanding of text and subtext to real life interactions. I enjoyed reading this. His brows drew together, and he met her gaze directly. “Is there any conceivable way your sister didn’t know you loved her? That she didn’t carry that knowledge in the marrow of her bones?”
If Candy cared about anyone, anything, she informed the world at top volume. In her own way. Which didn’t mean she couldn’t or shouldn’t use the direct words, but there was no mistaking her fierce brand of affection and protection.
Unraveled: Maths teacher Simon is assigned to observe and mentor the new art teacher, Poppy. This is a lot more light-hearted than the other stories. I enjoyed how much of it takes place in the classroom, and I liked the threads of mystery -- the whodunit of the murder scene diorama Poppy has brought into class, why Poppy pursues such a morbid artform and what happened to the previous art teacher.
Cover Me: After a concerning mammogram result, Elizabeth agrees to marry an old friend so she will be covered by his health insurance. Oh look, my favourite romance trope, marriage-of-convenience(/fake-dating)! Predictable as anything, but that made it a safe position from which to explore serious and sobering topics: the process of a breast cancer diagnosis and problems with the US health system. That part was really interesting. “Stubborn son of a gun,” she muttered, her words muffled by his sweatshirt.
“Which I guess would make you a stubborn daughter of a gun.” He snorted. “Weird how that particular idiom never took hold.”
Her smile warmed her voice. “It never took hold because, compared to men, most women are fonts of sweet reason. Also, it doesn’t rhyme.”
“Good points.” He considered the matter. “Glad we’re putting our lit degrees to good use at long last.”
• 40 Love: I’m not interested in tennis or holiday resorts; I was disappointed that this novel wouldn’t show Tess being an assistant principal; and even though some of my favourite fictional couples have a significant age-gap, I’m wary about age-gap romances -- and socially-programmed to think it’s odd for a woman to date a much younger guy. But I liked the other stories in this series and I was curious.
Because Lucas has already had a career as a professional athlete, he has experiences, skills and resources that many people in their mid twenties just don’t have. He’s spent years working in a field that involves intense pressure and requires intense dedication; he’s dealt with career-ending injuries. And Tess knows from experience that it’s possible to be with someone older than her and yet become more like his mother than his lover -- what matters isn’t so much how old a man is but the expectations he has of her and the boundaries she sets. So I was convinced that Tess and Lucas were both capable of making their (somewhat unconventional) relationship work.
This still is Not really My Cup of Tea, but that didn’t bother me much, perhaps because I was expecting it.
An interesting exercise in challenging my social-programming.
• Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett: Unlike the other books, this protagonist is still attending school rather than working in one. When Josie and her mother return to Beauty to look after the family bookshop, Josie has plans -- keep to herself, finish high school, secure a photography apprenticeship, move to LA. But after Josie accidentally breaks a store-front window and her childhood friend Lucky takes the blame, Josie’s priorities change.
I enjoyed this more than I expected to. I particularly liked how Lucky subverts people’s expectations, and how Josie’s family works at communicating better with each other. Originally @ Dreamwidth.
Oh well, there’s still time. The year isn’t quite over.
• The Lonely Hearts Dog Walkers by Sheila Norton: Recently separated, Nicola moves back in with her mother, starts as a teaching assistant at the local primary school, gets a puppy and joins a group of dog walkers. Her five year old daughter struggles adjusting to the new school, while Nicola struggles adjusting to having shared custody; the dog walkers investigate missing cats and then embark upon a mission to save the local park from being sold to developers; new friends are made along the way.
This was very low-angst and, once I realised the sort of story it was, kind of predictable. I can recognise the appeal of this brand of realism, but personally would have preferred more humour or more emotional complexity. I’d also have liked more about Nicola’s job, or the trials and joys of training a puppy -- were Nicola a colleague of mine, it’d be easy to find things in common, topics we could discuss.
But, as a fictional character, her story wasn’t quite what I was looking for.
Amazon has kept suggesting Olivia Dade’s “There’s Something About Marysburg” romance 40-Love for months. When I first noticed it, I had a look and decided it was Not My Cup of Tea. But I’ve since read Dade’s (unrelated) Spoiler Alert, and the other day I discovered that this series is mostly about high school teachers -- and recommended by Lucy Parker and Kate Clayborn.
• Teach Me is about two experienced teachers in their forties. Rose is unimpressed that she must not only share her classroom with the new history teacher but that he has been given her Honors World History class.
I find something particularly satisfying about people who have been hurt and lonely, people no longer young, finding support and love in each other. I liked that they get to know each other over many months. I liked their other relationships, too -- Martin’s close to his teenage daughter, and Rose’s relationship with her former parents-in-law was so touching that one scene made me cry.
It was interesting seeing the US school system from the perspective of teachers and I appreciated all the details about their jobs. (The word “preps” has quite a different meaning to what I’m used to it meaning in an education setting.)
A few times I rolled my eyes because something seemed a bit too didactic, but at the same time it was believable that these characters would hold such opinions and would say -- or think -- them so plainly. Martin got hints. Martin was watchful. Martin could read and interpret body language.
Most well-off, cishet white men couldn’t do either. Didn’t need to do either, unlike the people in their orbit, because they held the power. They created the weather, while others languished in the rain or cringed away from the lightning.
Maybe he’d grown up poor like her. Maybe he’d learned empathy and watchfulness from his years of teaching. But the way he’d stepped back from a simple glare… she’d seen that kind of reaction before [...] And she wondered. About his childhood. About his marriage.
• Sweetest in the Gale: a Marysburg collection contains three novellas. I liked that there was a coloured illustration for each of the two couples not depicted on the cover. As in Teach Me, these couples in their forties and plus-size women are portrayed positively; the first two novellas are about teachers.
Sweetest in the Gale: Griff is worried when Candy, a fellow English teacher, returns for the new school year uncharacteristically sombre and subdued. This is a really sweet romance about two people who are navigating loss and grief. Griff and Candy share honestly about difficult topics and discover things in common -- not just to passion for their subject and for their jobs. And I liked how Griff’s applies his understanding of text and subtext to real life interactions. I enjoyed reading this. His brows drew together, and he met her gaze directly. “Is there any conceivable way your sister didn’t know you loved her? That she didn’t carry that knowledge in the marrow of her bones?”
If Candy cared about anyone, anything, she informed the world at top volume. In her own way. Which didn’t mean she couldn’t or shouldn’t use the direct words, but there was no mistaking her fierce brand of affection and protection.
Unraveled: Maths teacher Simon is assigned to observe and mentor the new art teacher, Poppy. This is a lot more light-hearted than the other stories. I enjoyed how much of it takes place in the classroom, and I liked the threads of mystery -- the whodunit of the murder scene diorama Poppy has brought into class, why Poppy pursues such a morbid artform and what happened to the previous art teacher.
Cover Me: After a concerning mammogram result, Elizabeth agrees to marry an old friend so she will be covered by his health insurance. Oh look, my favourite romance trope, marriage-of-convenience(/fake-dating)! Predictable as anything, but that made it a safe position from which to explore serious and sobering topics: the process of a breast cancer diagnosis and problems with the US health system. That part was really interesting. “Stubborn son of a gun,” she muttered, her words muffled by his sweatshirt.
“Which I guess would make you a stubborn daughter of a gun.” He snorted. “Weird how that particular idiom never took hold.”
Her smile warmed her voice. “It never took hold because, compared to men, most women are fonts of sweet reason. Also, it doesn’t rhyme.”
“Good points.” He considered the matter. “Glad we’re putting our lit degrees to good use at long last.”
• 40 Love: I’m not interested in tennis or holiday resorts; I was disappointed that this novel wouldn’t show Tess being an assistant principal; and even though some of my favourite fictional couples have a significant age-gap, I’m wary about age-gap romances -- and socially-programmed to think it’s odd for a woman to date a much younger guy. But I liked the other stories in this series and I was curious.
Because Lucas has already had a career as a professional athlete, he has experiences, skills and resources that many people in their mid twenties just don’t have. He’s spent years working in a field that involves intense pressure and requires intense dedication; he’s dealt with career-ending injuries. And Tess knows from experience that it’s possible to be with someone older than her and yet become more like his mother than his lover -- what matters isn’t so much how old a man is but the expectations he has of her and the boundaries she sets. So I was convinced that Tess and Lucas were both capable of making their (somewhat unconventional) relationship work.
This still is Not really My Cup of Tea, but that didn’t bother me much, perhaps because I was expecting it.
An interesting exercise in challenging my social-programming.
• Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett: Unlike the other books, this protagonist is still attending school rather than working in one. When Josie and her mother return to Beauty to look after the family bookshop, Josie has plans -- keep to herself, finish high school, secure a photography apprenticeship, move to LA. But after Josie accidentally breaks a store-front window and her childhood friend Lucky takes the blame, Josie’s priorities change.
I enjoyed this more than I expected to. I particularly liked how Lucky subverts people’s expectations, and how Josie’s family works at communicating better with each other. Originally @ Dreamwidth.