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2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


30 / 30 books. 100% done!

2024 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas (1)
- California (11)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (2)
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (3)
- Georgia (4)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho (3)
- Illinois (4)
- Indiana (4)
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky (2)
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (1)
- Massachusetts (4)
- Michigan (1)
- Minnesota (2)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri (1)
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska (1)
- Nevada (2)
- New Hampshire (1)
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico (1)
- New York (10)
- North Carolina (4)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (3)
- Oklahoma (2)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania (2)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota (1)
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (4)
- Utah (5)
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia (2)
- Washington (3)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming (2)
- Washington, D.C.* (2)

International:
- Argentina (1)
- Australia (6)
- Austria (1)
- Bolivia (1)
- Canada (4)
- China (2)
- England (27)
- France (2)
- Ghana (1)
- India (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Ireland (4)
- Italy (1)
- Poland (2)
- Russia (2)
- Scotland (4)
- The Netherlands (1)

My Progress:


51 / 51 states. 100% done!

2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 50 books. 104% done!

2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


36 / 50 books. 72% done!

Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

2024 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


51 / 52 books. 98% done!

2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


37 / 40 books. 93% done!

2024 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


18 / 40 books. 45% done!

2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


25 / 25 cozies. 100% done!

2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


5 / 26.2 miles (4th lap). 19% done!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


51 / 100 books. 51% done!

2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


99 / 109 books. 91% done!

Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge

My Progress


139 / 165 books. 84% done!

The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge

My Progress:


88 / 100 names. 88% done!

The Life Skills Reading Challenge

My Progress:


45 / 80 skills. 56% done!
Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Not Enough Conflict Makes Celebrity, On-Set Romance Novel Surprisingly Blah

(Image from Barnes & Noble)


One of the hottest young actresses in Hollywood, Emma Taylor is used to life in the limelight.  And that's before the 18-year-old is cast in a lead role on Coyote Hills, a new t.v. drama.  The series also stars bad boy Brett Crawford, who's been Emma's crush for years.  As if the thought of working with him isn't making her nervous enough, she also has to deal with snooty Kimmi Weston and Jake "The Bod" Elliott, a famous model who's so down-to-earth he's making Emma rethink her feelings for Brett.  Although Emma's made a vow not to date another co-star (been there, done that), Brett's proving very hard to resist.  Then there's Jake, whose humble kindness makes him even more attractive.  
Try as she might, Emma can't seem to help falling for Jake.  The more she does, the guiltier she feels, as she promised her childhood BFF that she'd set her up with The Bod.  With the paparazzi recording her every move, Emma has to decide what—and who—she wants before the media spins its own story about her.  At risk of hurting everyone she loves, Emma needs to straighten out her confusing life—and fast.

There's lots to love about Not in the Script, a debut novel by Amy Finnegan.  The story's light and fun, with an interesting, behind-the-scenes peek at life on a t.v. set (Finnegan mined her brother's experiences working on-set for Fox to make the tale authentic).  Minus a little violence and innuendo, it's a clean book that maintains a bright, upbeat tone.  As a lover of teen books as well as a mother who worries about the content my 13-year-old daughter finds in popular YA offerings, I consider all these elements plusses.  

Why, then, didn't I love Not in the Script?  Let's start with Emma.  I appreciate good girl heroines, but it annoys me when these fictional lasses have perfect little lives where nothing ever goes seriously wrong.  Without conflict—real, tough, life-changing conflict—Emma doesn't have a story.  Sure, she hits little bumps here and there, but overall, everything sails along smoothly for her.  Because of this, I had trouble empathizing with Emma.  I just didn't care that much.  Since the other characters felt really cliché, I felt the same way about them.  This ambivalence about the story people and their situations made Not in the Script seem like a really, really, really long book.  Overall, I found the novel boring and, because it was really just a romance that worked from the start, kind of pointless.  If I hadn't been reading Not in the Script for The Whitney Awards, I probably wouldn't have finished it.

To be fair, I seem to be in the minority on this one.  Not in the Script gets mostly excellent reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Goodreads.   

(Readalikes:  Not in the Script is part of Bloomsbury's If Only line; although the books are all standalones, presumably they're similar?)

Grade:




If this were a movie, it would be rated:


for sexual innuendo and violence 

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

Winner, Winner, (Back to School) Chicken Dinner!

My giveaway for a hardcover copy of The Night Sister, a new thriller/chiller by Jennifer McMahon, ended a couple of days ago and I'm pleased to announce the winner.  Congratulations to Margie Shaw!  She says she's never won anything, so I'm glad Rafflecopter.com/Random.org chose her for the prize :)  I've already heard from Margie, so the book will be on its way to her soon.

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway.  Thanks, especially, go to the generous folks at Doubleday who provided the book and will be paying for shipping costs.

I enjoyed The Night Sister a lot (read my review here) and I think you will, too.  Those of you who entered to win, but didn't, be sure to get yourself a copy of the book from your library or favorite bookstore.

Happy reading!  
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2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
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2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction

2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction

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2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

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2020 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction