That's Noteworthy! (vol. 5)
2 YA reads, book fair goals, book club & bingo
It’s been a long week in the Bennett household, but here I am, awake enough to finish typing up this newsletter, and ready for another (less busy) weekend. I hope the first weekend of fall brings you some lovely bookish moments, some sunshine, and a good meal or a great cup of coffee.
Onto the noteworthy notes of the week…
📚. Finally a couple of YAs! I’m in the middle of a middle grade book that’s a bit longer, and in the meantime I read two fun young adult novels. Both of these books are great if you’re looking for YA without romance content beyond a kiss.
This Time It’s Real by Ann Liang :: This one was recommended to me by my 16-year old daughter and it was an enjoyable read featuring a fake dating relationship with a teen celebrity heartthrob and a girl who’s willing to do anything to get her writing career off the ground. The characters had great chemistry, and while the plot is predictable, the Beijing setting is fresh and the swoony vibes are great. A fun YA rom com.
4⭐️sThrowback by Maurene Goo :: I am longtime fangirl of Maurene so I preordered this book and thankfully, it did not disappoint at all. I completely loved it (and it’s probably my favorite of her book now). This one had an especially fun premise — it’s about a teen girl who time travels1 back to the 90s where she befriends her mom in order to set things right for both her mom and herself. There is a little romance, but the driving relationship in the book is definitely mother-daughter relationship (which becomes a friendship in the past).
The 90s elements were *chef’s kiss* perfect for this class-of-99 reader. A big part of main character Sam’s experience going back in time was how differently she experienced social interactions in the 90s as a Korean American, which was really interesting, if cringey.
There were so many moments that just hit perfectly in this book and had me cheering for perfectly placed plot elements. Really, I can’t say enough good things about it.
5⭐️s
🤓. This week in the library has been all about book fair prep! Our shipment arrived and tomorrow we set it up and allow classes to walk through for a preview. This year, we’re trying out a new company, Literati, and I’ll be sure to share how it goes. So far, I’ve enjoyed working with them, and I especially love their design aesthetic on all the materials.
If you’d like to see what’s for sale, you can visit my school’s online fair, which goes until the end of our fair on Friday, September 29. If you happen to purchase anything (including the Literati monthly subscription box), you’d be supporting our library.
One of my main goals this year for our book fair proceeds is to buy more books in Korean and Mandarin as we seem to receive a handful of new students each year who don’t yet speak English and I love being able to off them books in their native languages. I’ll also be replacing some beloved series that are well-loved (ie missing/lost or thrashed and falling apart due to lots of circulation!).
🥰. A couple of much-needed joyful highlights this week (after some injuries and a growing collection of medical bills in the family 😬)… my book club meetup to discuss Throwback at Chiko (yum)— we had such a great discussion including lots of reminiscing about the 90s and wondering if this book will help daughters appreciate their mothers (two of us with teens hope so 😆). And yes, I did wear butterfly clips and overalls (hooked on one side only, obvs) to book club for this book.
Another unexpected joy was playing Bingo with a group of friends (mostly from my other book club group actually) at the local Elks lodge for a unique birthday outing. Bingo players are serious, focused, and organized, and we had a lot of (quiet!) fun, and several of us in the group won some cash— woohoo!
Happy Friday and happy reading!
xo,
Nicole
I always use affiliate links with Bookshop.org when I link to books. If you purchase through my links you support me a tiny bit, and more importantly, you support indie bookstores. Thanks!
Fun fact! I wrote my own YA time travel story about 5 years ago. It currently sits in the virtual drawer, but maybe, just maybe, I might have some plans for a version of it to see the light of day again. Reading Throwback was fun because while it shared some elements & themes with my story, she handed the time travel really different than my story.