Book 16 Texts from Jane Eyre

 

Texts from Jane Eyre by Mallory Ortberg fulfilled the category “Book in a Format I Do Not Normally Read” for the PopSugar 2021 Reading Challenge. This was a tough category for me. I typically have an e-book, audio, and print story going at all times. (Yes, three different titles.) I read graphic novels all the time too. The Facebook group helped suggest other formats. I checked out a Webtoon (Freaking Romance), a novel in verse (Booked), and a nonfiction behind-the-scenes photo book of The Umbrella Academy. I figured you all have already heard enough about my obsession with the show. Then Texts from Jane Eyre appeared in the return bin at work.

Done.

The 240-page book is an imagining of great literary icons texting each other. It’s hilarious. It’s divided into five parts and seems to be organized by timeline. The oldest references are first, though the last is dedicated to young adult and children’s books. (But Atlas Shrugged was in there. Maybe it was more modern characters.) Not that it matters. You can skip around and read in any order. Many characters have multiple conversations within their section. As a reader, we can listen in to Jane Eyre, Ismael, Harry Potter, Hamlet, and many more. Some sections focus on the author rather than the characters, such as the Leaves of Grass texts.

A small warning. I, an English major and avid reader, didn’t know all the background of the characters used. Some I had to look up, some I just read with the knowledge I wouldn’t understand everything behind the jokes. The book is very much for the literature nerd who’s read Harry Potter and the Babysitter’s Club. When I bragged about picking up the title for the prompt, a few in the PopSugar FB group warned me it was high-toned, super nerdy. I scoffed, thinking I knew it all. Nope. I don’t remember my Gilgamesh or Daisy Miller among the several others.

I liked this book on its own merit but also, as I am now homeschooling a junior in high school, I liked it as a teacher. What a great activity to do with a reluctant reader to have them create texts about literary characters. It can also check understanding. Did she laugh at the Gatsby joke, or should we review Daisy’s character again? Anyway, it had some great deep insight into these classics with fun jokes and pokes at authors.

I give Texts from Jane Eyre by Mallory Ortberg Four Literary Classic Texts. (See what I did there?)

 

 

Book 15 Boyfriend Material

 

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall fulfilled the category “Book Set in a Place I Want to Visit in 2021” for the PopSugar 2021 Reading Challenge. The novel is set in London. I won’t get there anytime soon, but the dream is still alive.

This title was recommended to me by the ML of Albany NaNoWriMo, Shannon. I can’t thank her enough. It’s the best book I’ve read this year. A slow burn male/male, sexy but sweet, and the perfect story for all those out there who struggle in their late twenties-early thirties.

Our hero, Luc O’Donnell, is down on his luck. He’s the son of a rock star whose fame only makes life more difficult ala Corman Strike, Robert Galbraith’s, aka JK Rowling, grisly detective. Like Strike, Luc has difficulty just living his life because everyone is watching him. It doesn’t help that Luc likes to party and have one-night stands. But his bad behavior has gotten him in trouble at his non-profit job. How can the fundraiser of CRAPP (yes, that’s the acronym, lol) raise money if he’s in the papers for being a drug-using, alcoholic loser? Against better HR policies, his uptight boss orders him to get a respectable partner and get some good press. Luc doesn’t push the HR issues because he needs the job.

Enter Oliver Blackwood. A quiet, prissy lawyer whom Luc was rejected by months ago. The two come up with a bargain to fake-date until they achieve their respective goals. Luc must raise money for his dung beetle charity, and Oliver must go to his parents’ anniversary party with a date. I love that no one ever forces either man to pretend he’s not gay. It was so refreshing.

What we have next is a wild, weird relationship between two men who refuse to admit they actually have feelings for each other. Because of the bargain, they are forced to deal with issues that would normally have broken them up over and over. This book is a true romance. Boy gets boy, boy loses boy, boy gets boy back. I loved the first-person point of view and how in-depth the feelings are. The sexual tension is out of control, and I literally cried the first time they kissed. Cried. Hard.

A little critical analysis as a writer. As I mentioned earlier, Luc is the rejected son of a rock star who must deal with the paparazzi but never his father (until later in the book). I thought Alexis Hall tapped on a great marketing idea with that character. Agents, editors, other writers tell us to make our stories “uniquely familiar.” In other words, write something that people will already relate to, connect to, or understand, but make it yours. Using a character with a similar backstory to Corman Strike caught my interest immediately. I’ve read most of the series and like Corman. Here is a man with a similar background, but very different. But I think I connected to Luc easier because I already “knew” Corman. Well done, Author!

If you love romance, read this book. If you’re a millennial, read this book. If you’re curious about male/male romances but are unsure if they are for you, read this book.

I give Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall Five Huge Dung Beetles.