Weekly Recap #67: Week of 8/19 – 8/25
/24 Comments/by Suzanne
It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.
When I sit down to write these posts, I swear all I think about is that I must be the most boring person on the entire planet. Nothing all that interesting ever seems to happen to me, lol. One pretty cool thing actually did happen this week though. After I joined Instagram a couple of weeks ago, I started following some of my favorite authors, including Becky Albertalli. She’s doing a Sunday political feature on her account every week where she spotlights a U.S. senator who is up for reelection in November. The week I noticed her feature, she actually happened to be focusing on Tim Kaine, the senator from my state who is up for reelection this year. I commented that I thought he was wonderful and definitely planned to cast my vote for him again in November, and the next thing I knew I had won a signed book of my choice from Becky! I love all of her books and already owned all of them except for Leah on the Offbeat so I chose that one. It came yesterday, signed by Becky, and filled with the cutest stickers from all of her other books too. I only have one other signed book in my collection so this really made my week!
Aside from that bit of excitement, it was pretty much business as usual for me with school, homework, soccer practice, etc. We are fully back into the grind now. We did take a break last weekend and went to see Ant Man and the Wasp, which is hilarious by the way – I highly recommend it! But this weekend has had gorgeous weather so we’ve been outside all weekend working on those DIY projects that got rained out almost every weekend of the summer. Shutters are finally done and now we’re doing a brick veneer on the foundation of our house. Our house is white and the builders had painted the foundation white as well, which just looks so plain. It was fine before because we had these huge boxwoods that covered it up, but the boxwoods got so overgrown and unmanageable that we yanked them up this summer and plan to re-landscape those front beds. In the meantime though, we noticed how naked the front of the house looked so thus, the new red brick veneer. We’ve done about halfway across the front so far this weekend and hope to finish soon, but it already looks like a completely different house, so yay!
Oh well, I think that’s it for me. I hope everyone else has a great week!
WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK
- [19 Aug] Weekly Recap #66: Week of 8/12 – 8/18
- [20 Aug] Not Her Daughter by Rea Frey ★★½
- [21 Aug] Top Ten Tuesday – Books That Will Bust You Out of a Reading Slump
- [22 Aug] Can’t Wait Wednesday – VENGEFUL by V.E. Schwab
- [24 Aug] Discussion Post: Romance Tropes That Work for Me
WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK
UPCOMING REVIEWS
STACKING THE SHELVES
TOTALLY RANDOM
Discussion Post: Romance Tropes That Work for Me
/28 Comments/by Suzanne
ROMANCE TROPES THAT WORK FOR ME
If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you’ve probably seen me mention on more than one occasion that I don’t typically read or enjoy romance books. I’ve tried them in the past and they’re just not my thing. I have no idea why, but if I had to hazard a guess, I’d say it probably springs from my childhood. My parents got divorced when I was ten and their relationship for years before that was absolutely horrible. I can only recall actually seeing them kiss one time and it was such a shock to see them actually being affectionate with one another, I remember that I actually stood there gaping at them for the longest time. Screaming and yelling was the norm, so much so that when they finally told my sister and I that they were divorcing, I remember being ecstatic about it and couldn’t pack my suitcase fast enough. I love both of my parents dearly but they were clearly just not a good fit.
So yeah, that’s way too much information about me, but as you can see, my relationship views were negatively shaped at a pretty early age. And I don’t know if that experience has made me the way I am, but when I read most romances, I just find them so unrealistic that I can’t even enjoy the story. Insta-love is the number one offender and will almost always get an eye roll out of me, lol.
I also want to add that I mean no disrespect to everyone out there who loves romance novels. This is definitely one of those ‘It’s me, not you and not the books themselves either” situations.
With all of that said, however, that doesn’t mean that I hate all romance. I’m not sitting here like Grumpy Cat or the Grinch wishing for all of the fictional characters I read about to be miserable and alone. In fact, there are several romance tropes that I very much enjoy. And the key to all of them is simple…I find each of these kinds of relationship to be incredibly realistic. Today I’m sharing not just the tropes I love, but also some of my favorite reads from each.
ENEMIES TO LOVERS
The Enemies to Lovers trope is probably my favorite just because, as I said, I find it so realistic. I also love that the chemistry is always so intense, whether they’re on the hate end of the spectrum or the love end. Sparks are always going to fly, and there’s usually some guaranteed barbed banter that it super entertaining.
BEST FRIENDS TO LOVERS
A close second favorite is Best Friends to Lovers. I just think this trope is so sweet. I love it because the couple obviously has a long history together if they’re best friends. That friendship bond guarantees that there will be chemistry even if things get a bit awkward when they start to realize their feelings for each other have moved past the friendship stage. And that awkwardness makes it all the more realistic for me because it’s a situation that I can easily envision playing out.
FAKE RELATIONSHIP TO LOVERS
When it’s well written, I think the Fake Relationship to Lovers can be one of the most fun tropes out there. The idea that you start off trying to fool someone else only to realize that the joke is on you always amuses me.
SECOND CHANCE AT LOVE
This is another favorite for me because, even though I’m telling you I don’t like romance, I’m actually a romantic at heart, especially if it involves someone getting a second chance at love. We all make mistakes and/or sometimes circumstances that we can’t control get in the way of what could have been a great relationship, so I find second chance stories very reassuring. It’s nice to know people can find their way back to each other.
STAR CROSSED/FORBIDDEN/ENEMY LOVE
When this trope is well written, it’s also a favorite of mine. I guess it goes back to my days in high school reading Romeo and Juliet, but there’s just something that really appeals to me about two people trying to be together even when they know they shouldn’t because they’re supposed to be sworn enemies.
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So, what are some of your favorite romance tropes?
Can’t Wait Wednesday – VENGEFUL by V.E. Schwab
/46 Comments/by Suzanne
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about. It is a meme that I have loved participating in for over a year now, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll just be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.
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My selection for this week is VENGEFUL by V.E. Schwab. I just read the first book in this series earlier this month and thought it was absolutely brilliant. I love books that feature anti-heroes and Schwab, no surprise here, has outdone herself with her characters, Victor Vale and Ely Ever. I can’t wait to see what Schwab has in store for them in this latest installment. If the title is any indication, we’re going to be in for one heck of a ride!
VENGEFUL by V.E. Schwab
Publication Date: September 25, 2018
From Goodreads:
The sequel to VICIOUS, V.E. Schwab’s first adult novel.
Sydney once had Serena—beloved sister, betrayed enemy, powerful ally. But now she is alone, except for her thrice-dead dog, Dol, and then there’s Victor, who thinks Sydney doesn’t know about his most recent act of vengeance.
Victor himself is under the radar these days—being buried and re-animated can strike concern even if one has superhuman powers. But despite his own worries, his anger remains. And Eli Ever still has yet to pay for the evil he has done.
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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂