Friday Reads: The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

If you haven't stopped by lately, I'm hosting a reading challenge for 2017 called the Read & Watch Challenge. Each month has a new theme word to guide you in picking a book and movie/TV show for the challenge. January's word is BEGIN. (Still time to join in if you're interested!)

And in my post earlier this week, I shared that the book I was probably going to read for this month's challenge was The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon.

This is a book I got via my new favorite bookish thing, the Book of the Month club, and I chose it for the challenge because it is about the start of a love story, the first day two people meet. In fact, the whole book is about just that ONE DAY. 

I thought that concept had potential to drag. A whole book about one day. But my fear was totally unfounded. It hooked me from the very start. In fact, I started it with my 5-pages a day reading habit that I talked about earlier this week, but five pages turned into a hundred that first night. I ended up finishing the book in three evenings. 

So, so good. I won't go into the whole story because I'll post the back cover summary below, but y'all, trust me when I say you'll get swept away. (And I just squeed when I saw it's going to be a movie because it was a very cinematic book.) Beautiful language. Funny. Compelling POVs that include not just the two main characters, who are fantastic, but people the main characters interact with for only a moment. 

At the heart of this novel is the idea that we all affect each other in some way. A moment that seems innocuous or mundane (talking to the cashier at the grocery store, getting caught in a traffic) can change the trajectory or your life and others without you realizing it. It's a romantic and sometimes scary idea. What if we missed the life we were meant to have because of one minor decision? (That's the scary part.) Or what if that thing we thought was an inconvenience actually brought us closer to a happily ever after? (The romantic part.) This book explores both sides of that coin and I loved it.

Also, if you're looking to read books with a diverse cast written by diverse authors, this is a great choice. The heroine is Jamaican, the hero Korean-American. The author explores the complications this causes with their families with a deft hand and gave me new insight into things I didn't know about (for instance, there's a chapter about why the majority of black hair care stores are owned by Korean immigrants.) I liked how the author dropped in chapters on historical topics like this in the narrative. It added an extra layer to the story.

On top of all that, it's incredibly romantic. And I love that the hero is the romantic poet type and the heroine the hard-nosed scientific type. Bottom line: I loved this book. Go read it. :)

Here's the info:

The dazzling new novel from Nicola Yoon, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything (in theaters May 2017!), will have you falling in love with Natasha and Daniel as they fall in love with each other!

Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true? 

A 2016 National Book Award Finalist
A New York Times Notable Book
A BuzzFeed Best YA Book of the Year
A POPSUGAR Best Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A Booklist Editor's Choice
A New York Public Library Best Book for Teens
An Amazon Best Book of the Year

Buy the book: Amazon | B&N | Book of the Month club (*You can't get it as this month's selection but you can add it to your monthly pick if you sign up.)

So what are you reading this chilly Friday?

Book of the Month Club: I'm Giving It a Try & Giving You 50% Off

I'm a sucker for a subscription. I like getting mail. I like getting books. So when I saw the Book of the Month Club featured on the Modern Mrs. Darcy blog, I had to check it out. Now, as you can imagine, I read mostly romance since that is my first love and what I write. The second most read genre for me is probably YA. But "big books", those deemed "books of the summer" that seem to be on all the front-facing shelves at bookstores and Target, those typically aren't what I gravitate toward. Part of it is the rebel in me--I don't want to read what EVERYONE is reading, lol. The other part is I just have so many romances I want to read that I don't have room on my docket. 

But lately, I've been making a point to step out of my comfort zone. It started with the Push Your Boundaries reading challenge and this is the next step. As a writer, I'm always afraid of my writing becoming too "incestuous". I don't mean in a Flowers in the Attic kind of way, lol, but I mean that there's input (books I read, movies & TV shows I watch, experiences, etc.) and output (what I write). If there's not enough variety in the input, then my books (output) may start to sound the same or be too similar to others in my genre. I think what makes writing good is gathering up influences and inspiration from all different realms and then letting it mix up in the creative part of your brain so it can make new connections and generate stories you wouldn't have thought of otherwise.

So, I've been reading a little all over the place genre wise lately, which you may have noticed in my recent post: My Summer Reading So Far. That's why this Book of the Month Club appeals to me. You get to pick from five selections each month and can add more if you like more than one. And the choices seem to be a mix of mystery/suspense, lit fic, women's fic, memoir, and scifi. It's a good variety, which appealed to me. I also like that it's a highly curated list with judges selecting the best of the best of all they read that month.

Here are some of the details and how you can get 50% off a 3-month subscription:

1. "Tastemakers" select five new release hardback books per month for you to choose from.

2. You pick one during the first week of each month (included in your subscription price) and can add more for 9.99 each (which is about 5 bucks cheaper than you can get the books on Amazon). Shipping is free.

3. You can skip a month if you like.

4. You can try it for cheap (you'll get 3 months/3 new release hardcover books for around 25 dollars) if you use my referral link and the code REFER50. If you'd prefer to get a free tote bag and sunglasses and 30% off, use SUMMER30 code instead. (That's what I did.)

To give you an idea of the kinds of books they choose, here are this month's picks. (And if you sign up before July 6th, you can get one of these.)

The Girls: A Novel

By Emma Cline

Love That Boy: What Two Presidents, Eight Road Trips, and My Son Taught Me About a Parent's Expectations

By Ron Fournier

Sleeping Giants (Themis Files)

By Sylvain Neuvel

Missing, Presumed: A Novel

By Susie Steiner

Rich and Pretty: A Novel

By Rumaan Alam

I read through all the descriptions and the testimonials by the judges and decided to get two. I'm getting Love That Boy because it's about his journey with his son who was diagnosed with Aspergers. My son is on the spectrum, so this is a topic near and dear to me. But from what I saw in reviews, it's relatable to all parents, not just ones with children who have special needs. Then, the second I chose was Sleeping Giants because I loved the fervor of the recommendation and the premise sounds like a blockbuster movie. So these will get shipped to me next week. I'll be sure to report back!

Let me know if you decide to give it a try. Has anyone else ever been part of a subscription book club/service? I'd love if they had something like this for romance. :) 

*As noted above, this post contains referral codes. All that means is you get half off and I get free books if people sign up. I haven't been asked to feature this. I signed up and paid for my own subscription. Just wanted to pass along the savings if any of you are interested. :)