hfjarmer's reviews
379 reviews

This book was exactly what I expected it to be. No more, no less.
Legends and Lattes follows an ork named Viv who leaves her life of headhunting behind to pursue her dream of opening a coffee shop, a "gnomish" delicacy and totally new concept to the people of Thune. The story is the embodiment of a perfect story plot line with a distinct intro, rising action, conflict, resolution format. The story is incredibly cozy and I could picture myself in the warm and inviting environment of Legends and Lattes. A simple and mindless read in all the right ways.

The one thing I've learned about myself is Jane Austen is likely to be the only author to ever convince me to read romance. There is just something about the feelings "You pierce my soul" evoked in me that no other author has come close to producing. Persuasion follows Anne Elliot, daughter of the incredibly vain Baronet Sir Walter Elliot and sister to the exceptionally pompous Elizabeth and ever-hysterical Mary. Finding themselves in a financial predicament, the Elliot family plans to move to Bath, to conserve funds. To produce an air of doing a favor, they let Kellynch estate to admirable Admiral Croft and his wife. Mrs. Croft is the sister of one Captain Frederick Wentworth, Anne's former fiancé. Tragically, Anne was persuaded (ding ding ding) to break off her engagement with Wentworth at the time, due to his lower position in society and lack of fortune. After weeks of forced proximity (as their families keep each other's company quite frequently), overcoming the attentions of cousin Elliot and Louisa Musgrove to Anne and Wentworth, respectively, Wentworth finally admits his unending love for Anne. They have been longing, yearning, pining for each other all these 8 years.
 
Persuasion is a tale of influence, lost love, and the familial duties of women. This novel draws excellent attention to intricacies of match-making during Austen's lifetime. Her characters never fail to amuse me, and I particularly loved Mary's character, as her absolutely inane and over-the-top personality is one of my favorite aspects of Austen's writing. The subtleties and nuances she writes in her character interactions are truly artful. Also, I'm very sad to say, I thought the movie was completely awful.

This story follows April May, a 23-year-old graphic designer/starving artist living in NYC. April discovers a large transformer-like sculpture on her way home from the startup where she works at 3am. She promptly calls her friend Andy, who meets her in front of the giant 'sculpture' despite the early/late hour and they film a pretend news YouTube video in which they dub the sculpture "Carl". Come to find out, Carls have appeared in almost every major city across the world. April and Andy, along with a group of friends (new and old) unlock the secrets behind these beings, believing them to be extraterrestrial in nature, and sent to unite humanity. It is a tale of the goodness of humanity, the toxicity of media, and the fragility of the human ego. 

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I ended up liking it. I am a long-time fan of Hank Green's and fellow fans of his will be delighted to see all the 'Hank-isms' sprinkled throughout this book. Hanks' personality certainly shines through in his writing and his faith in the goodness of humanity feels contagious. That being said, I feel the story could have been better executed, though he certainly hit a stride in the last third of the book. I listened to the audiobook version of this, and felt it hindered my experience, the narrator made the book feel more cheesy and cliché sounding than I think it would have if read on my own. Despite all this, I will still be reading A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor (non-audio this time).