Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Was Required to Read for School But Didn’t Hate
/32 Comments/by Suzanne
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is actually supposed to be Books I’d Gladly Throw Into the Ocean, but I honestly couldn’t think of ten books that aroused that kind of negative reaction in me. Required readings for school came to mind since, by nature, I hate to be told what to read and remember going into every required reading assignment fully expecting to hate the book. (Yeah, I was super mature, haha!) Instead of sharing the books I hated though, I’d rather share the ones that surprised me because I not only didn’t hate them, but I actually kind of loved them.
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Books I Was Required to Read for School But Didn’t Hate
1. MACBETH by William Shakespeare – I was one of the few in my English classes who actually got excited when it was time to read a play from Shakespeare. Macbeth was probably my favorite of the ones we had to read and I chalk it up as an early sign that I would grow up to love witchy reads so much, lol.
2. BELOVED by Toni Morrison – This book was actually one of my first required readings in college and to this day, it’s one of the most haunting I’ve ever read. I don’t know if enjoy is the right word to use here since the subject matter deals with the horror and brutality of slavery, but it’s a read that has stayed with me for years now.
3. I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS by Maya Angelou – I’ve never been one to read much in the way of nonfiction so I probably groaned out loud when this book was assigned, especially since at the time, I actually had no idea who Maya Angelou was. Her story blew me away though and led me to read as many of her poems as I could get my hands on. As one who also never read much poetry, this is a testament to just how incredible writer she is.
4. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen – This book was my first experience with an enemies to lovers romance and, to this day, it’s still a favorite of mine.
5. JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte – I fell in love with this book as soon as I realized the protagonist was an underdog. Anyone who follows my blog knows I’m a sucker for a good story that features an underdog. Add in a mad woman in the attic and this was a riveting read for me.
6. THE TELL-TALE HEART AND OTHER WRITINGS by Edgar Allan Poe – I fully expected to hate everything Poe had written since I’ve never been much of a horror fan, but my goodness, his short stories were absolutely mesmerizing to me as a teen. The creepy atmospheric quality, the psychological horror, etc. It’s one of the few units in school where I was truly bummed once it was over.
7. THE AWAKENING by Kate Chopin – I had to read this book my senior year in high school and don’t know if this was actually a great read or not, but I remember being fascinated by it, I think in part because, with very rare exception, pretty much all we had been assigned as required reading up to this point were dead white male authors. The Awakening was probably the first real “feminist” book I had read and it was very eye opening.
8. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee – I always refer to this as the first “grown up” book I ever read. It was assigned to me as required reading in the 8th grade and as someone who had spent her childhood reading Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, E. B. White, etc., this book was just such a stark contrast with its focus on Scout’s loss of innocence as she witnesses racism at work in her sleepy Southern town. It was another of those reads that just blew me away and that has stuck with me all these years later.
9. THE OUTSIDERS by S.E. Hinton – I had to read this one in middle school too and I was just struck by how gritty and moving the story is while at the same time being a story about family, friendship, and brotherhood.
10. LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding – This was my first experience with a dystopian novel and I remember being completely glued to the book wondering what was going to happen to these boys if they didn’t make it back to civilization soon. It was fascinating and terrifying.
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Question: What were some of your favorite required reads from your school days?
Review: THE INTIMACY EXPERIMENT by Rosie Danan
/20 Comments/by SuzanneAlso by this author: The Roommate
Series: The Roommate #2
Published by Berkley Books on April 6, 2021
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Romance
Pages: 336
Source: Netgalley
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FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Rosie Danan’s steamy debut The Roommate was one of my favorite romance reads of 2020. The plot was original, the characters were unforgettable, and the sexy factor was off the charts. This year Danan has gifted us with The Intimacy Experiment, a companion novel that features one of my favorite characters from The Roommate, former porn star turned businesswoman, Naomi Grant. I knew I would love The Intimacy Experiment, but what I didn’t expect was that I would actually end up loving it even more than the first book!
Naomi and Clara, the protagonist from The Roommate, are co-CEOs of a successful website that educates its subscribers about sexual satisfaction. Naomi has also decided she would like to teach some classes on relationships and intimacy and is looking for a forum where she can make that happen. As always, Naomi is smart, sassy, and determined to get what she wants, but she’s getting frustrated that she can’t get anyone to take her seriously. That is until she meets Rabbi Ethan Cohen at a seminar. Ethan has been trying to figure out a way to attract more younger members to his synagogue and when he hears Naomi’s passionate speech about what she wants to teach, he invites her to design a seminar series on Modern Intimacy. At first Naomi wants no part of this proposal, but then she reconsiders. It also doesn’t hurt that Rabbi Ethan is super sexy and Naomi is finding it hard to resist his charms.
There’s so much I enjoyed about this book but the chemistry between Naomi and Ethan was definitely a high point. I loved watching Naomi and Ethan design the course together. Even though they’re an unlikely pair, they just worked together so perfectly and the more they worked together, the more they became invested in each other. I loved the contrast between Naomi’s feisty independence and Ethan’s loyalty and devotion. Ethan is like a Golden Retriever and I just adored him and wanted Naomi to stop fighting her attraction to him.
If you enjoy romance that is a slow burn, you’ll enjoy Naomi and Ethan’s journey because fighting their attraction to each other is definitely a big part of the story. Also, where The Roommate is filled with sexy, steamy intimate scenes, this book features way fewer scenes of that variety. As much as I enjoyed the romance of Clara and Josh in the first book, I actually preferred the slower pace and the deeper issues involved as Naomi and Ethan were both so conflicted as to whether or not it would be appropriate for them to be together. I also liked that we got a little insight into the Jewish faith as Naomi, who is also Jewish, decides to take some courses to learn more about the faith she hasn’t practiced since she was a child.
One last thing I loved was the Intimacy seminar itself and the way Danan presents it. It’s as if we’re attending all of the courses as well. I loved watching Naomi teach, Ethan sitting in the audience lending his support, and also how enthusiastic the young attendees were as Naomi explores topics such as being honest with yourself and potential dates about what you’re looking for in a relationship, how to meet people in the first place, how to take a relationship to the next level, and how to survive a breakup. I thought the seminar was brilliant and wished I could have taken a course like it back during my single days. It would have made dating life so much easier to navigate!
If you’re looking for an original, sexy romance I highly recommend The Intimacy Experiment. The characters are immensely likable, the storyline is both fun and thought-provoking, and the ending will leave you with a smile on your face. I loved every page of it and look forward to reading more from Rosie Danan.
About Rosie Danan
Rosie Danan writes steamy, big-hearted books, articles, and tweets about the trials and triumphs of modern love.
The New York Times calls Rosie Danan’s debut novel, THE ROOMMATE “a book about people expanding into their best possible selves…warmly funny and gorgeously sexy.” The rom-com has been optioned for film, and a companion book THE INTIMACY EXPERIMENT is forthcoming April 6, 2021 in both the US and UK.
After participating in the writing mentorship program Pitch Wars as a 2018 mentee, she was thrilled to rejoin the organization as a 2019 and 2020 mentor.
When not writing, Rosie enjoys jogging slowly to fast music, petting other people’s dogs, and competing against herself in rounds of Chopped using the miscellaneous ingredients occupying her fridge.
As an American expat currently living in London, she’s developed an incurable fondness for electric kettles.
Blogoversary Giveaway – The Bookish Libra is Turning 5 & I’m Celebrating with a Giveaway
/32 Comments/by Suzanne
Happy Blogoversary to me! I never imagined when I started my little blog that I would still be blogging and loving it 5 years later. I love celebrating blogging milestones, so I’m hosting a giveaway as a way to say thanks to everyone who follows and reads my blog. Thanks so much to all of you for your friendship and your support! The book blogging community is the best! 🙂
At first I was going to come up with a specific list of books for you to choose from, but there’s so many amazing books out there right now that I didn’t want to limit your choices. So, instead, I’m just setting a $25 value on my giveaway and letting the winner select a book (including preorders) of their choice (up to that $25USD value) from The Book Depository. The giveaway is also open internationally as long as TBD ships to you, so be sure to check their list before entering: (Countries The Book Depository Ships To)
Also, I selected The Book Depository since I really wanted the International option, but if you win the giveaway and prefer e-books to physical books and would rather have an Amazon giftcard or if you have a favorite Indie bookstore that will allow e-gift certificates and would rather support your Indie, I’m fine with making that switch as long as we stay at the $25USD cap.
No giveaway accounts, please.
The giveaway runs from now until April 12, so be sure to get your entries in by then. I’ll be contacting the winner via email. Thanks again for all of your support! ♥