Sundays with Sam - The Sunday Post

Sundays with Sam is a combination of Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Top Ten Tuesday: My Humble Beginnings

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's topic is...

My first reviews!

I started pleasure reading again back in 2013. I was mostly reading my daughter's books, and only leaving ratings on Goodreads. Then, the kid gave me a talking to about leaving my thoughts, and I started doing so. I mean, these thoughts were like a sentence. I found one early review that was just two words. I have come a long way since then. I joined WLABB at my daughter's request back in 2017, but I feel like I started reviewing my books a little more seriously after my first BEA/BookCon back in 2015. Because, I was not consistent until I joined the blog, I decided to share my first ten reviews from WLABB.

Top Ten Tuesday: Life in a Small Town

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's topic is...

Life in a Small Town!

Yep! I am going off topic again, but I was thinking about this a lot lately. Last week, when we were all talking about things that make us pick up a book, I saw a few people mention small town settings. Then, I smiled, and thought, "me too". I lived in Brooklyn, NY until I was 13 (and a half), but spent the rest of my teen years in a one square mile town near Rutgers University. It was a bit of a culture shock at the time, but when I look back at that small town, I do so with some fondness for the distinguishing things about small towns. Below is a list of some YA books set in small towns, that I read and loved, and since I haven't done this topic before, I am going back as far as I want.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?: September 2018

I was inspired by Lia at Lost in a Story 's Down the TBR Hole and Carole at Carole's Random Life in Books's Books From the Backlog. Both these memes are a way for us book hoarders to whittle down our TBRs. I also want to make this interactive by having YOU tell me, which book you think I should read next. (Yes, it's a million memes in one!)

Review: Lessons in Falling - Diana Gallagher

Lessons in Falling 
Diana Gallagher
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Coming of Age
Publisher: Spencer Hill Contemporary
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Savannah used to know where she was going. She was going to keep her GPA high and earn a gymnastics scholarship to Ocean State. But that was until she blew out her knee. Months after she had been given her doctor's blessing to resume athletics, she was still adrift and found herself at a crossroads. Filled with so much doubt about herself, she began seeing the cracks in her friendship with her best friend, Cassie.

Just the same phrase again and again: 'Failed to use proper judgment.'

The Savannah at the beginning of this book is not the same Savannah at the end of the book. Savannah's world had been tilted off its axis at the onset of this story, and as she righted it, she grew and changed.

I liked so many things about this book. I remember those friends, who I thought would be around forever, and as we grew up, we grew apart. Therefore, I could totally relate to Savannah's situation regarding her relationship with Cassie. Cassie was always the same Cassie, but as Savannah expanded her social circle, her eyes opened a little bit wider and she began to see the things that were always right in front of her. I found this part of the story sort of sad but real. Friendships change and sometimes crumble, and I thought Gallagher did a great job illustrating this reality.

Gymnastics is the boyfriend you need to get over

My first thoughts about Cassie were that she was a controlling codependent. However, as the story played out, I became a little more sympathetic towards her. I still didn't forgive all her transgressions, however I was able to better understand why. Still, there were many times where Cassie's behavior shocked me.

I had to figure out what was right for me, not what Cassie thought was best. All these years, I chose her. But she didn't choose me

I just could not believe how a friend could be so discouraging. She was there for 10 years while Savannah worked towards her goal, and then she actively discouraged Sav's return to the sport. It was very difficult for me to reconcile this behavior with that of a best friend.

It's like you wilt when she's in the room.

I was so happy Savannah had a few people on her side. Marcos and Emery were great proponents. They cheered for Savannah and encouraged her to be her best and do her best. I found the relationship between Marcos and Savannah to be so healthy. They were both each other's biggest supporters, and I was elated that Gallagher made this a central component of their relationship and set this side by side with Savannah and Cassie.

That's what you're supposed to do as a friend. You support the dreams, the good ones, and you shake your friends out of the bad ones

The juxtaposition Gallagher offered of Cassie and Savannah's friendship and Marcos and Andreas was quite telling as well. Marcos would risk everything to have Andreas' back and protect him from harm. And then there was Cassie, who fled at the first sign of danger and threw fits when Savannah did not make the decisions Cassie wanted her to make.

This book is billed as a gymnastics book, and gym references abound. The connection and relationship Savannah had with the sport was very authentic. You can definitely tell that Gallagher came from a gymnastics background, and it added an extra dimension to Savannah.

Overall: A poignant coming of age story featuring a physical and mental comeback.

**I would like to thank NetGalley and Spencer Hill Contemporary for the advanced copy of this book

Do you like books about sports or participate in a sport?

Let us know in the comments!