August 2021 Reading Round-up

So, its not quite the 31st of August, but I suspect I may not get through another book before the end of the month, and while I have the momentum to start blogging, I might as well take the opportunity while I have it to do so.

A fellow reader friend of mine has made considerable note about my lack of finishing books since middle of last year – I left a high-stress demanding program and changed companies DURING A PANDEMIC, managed to walk away with a class certificate in Data Visualization, and haven’t yet pulled all my hair out. So, to have not one but two completions this month is honestly more than I’ve had in about two years. I’ll take the win.

This month, I stayed with a more-chill rom-com/romantic storyline rather than my usual chewy yet engrossing epic fantasies or all-encompassing science-fiction. I needed to not engage the brain too much, though I’ve been bouncing around on re-reading Foundation, and maybe even pulling out Dune again before their stories show up on the screen.

Possibilities: A Contemporary Retelling of Persuasion

Author: Debra White Smith
Series: The Jane Austen Series (6 titles)
Format: Kindle
Rating: 3/5
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | GoodReads

I don’t know what it is, but there are a thousand different retellings of Jane Austen’s stories. One of my BFF’s has probably read all the published versions of Pride and Prejudice out there. But for a single gal over the age of 22, Persuasion speaks to me differently. Anne, or in this case, Allie, is the quintessential relatable good lady. Frederick is dashing and a perfect gentleman. What this book gets right is a better way of handling Allie and Frederick’s first breakup. The book shortens the schedule from Persuasion quite a bit, which is fine most of the time. I’m not sure I liked how the author handled Louisa’s character (Louise), but I can see where she felt she needed to go there because of the modernizing of the plot and the dying of old chivalry. I wanted more Allie and Frederick towards the end.

Overall, the book moved quickly and the modernization was well handled. Will it ever replace Persuasion itself for me? No. But does it stand on its own? Yes.

Matchmaking for Beginners

Author: Maddie Dawson
Series: Marnie & Patrick (2 titles)
Format: Kindle
Rating: 3/5
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | GoodReads

I’m not sure how I ended up with this book… I suspect that Amazon may have recommended it as I’ve done a bit of contemporary rom-com type book shopping. I wanted to like this more, but as I was being led to what I thought was a big showdown between Marnie and Noah’s mother, I realized there were simply not enough pages left in the book to cover everything I wanted. There is a sequel to this, A Happy Catastrophe. Its summary starts a few years later, so what I was hoping for at the end of this book may not be in the next. To be honest, I may just put the sequel in the long list of to-reads and maybe like one of Aunt Blix’s spells, it may sparkle and call to me one day.