Books
Book and Author: 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston
Format: Audiobook
Age Demographic and Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Pages: 336
Rating: 
By the time I reached chapter eight of 10 Blind Dates, setting it down for my first day of reading, I thought to myself, “I’m not going to remember this book.” Four-star books live in this odd limbo for me, either being likable enough for me to keep or so forgettable that I immediately put it in my donation drawer once I finished. I don’t fault 10 Blind Dates for being sanitized and predictable. I fault it for expecting me to care about these characters’ relationship history when I don’t know a thing about any of them. How am I supposed to recognize the significance of Sophie going back to the “old her” when I wasn’t present for her shift from fun to stuffy and studious? When I read a book, I want to go on a character’s journey with them, not read exposition that’s like being told a funny story that’s only funny to those who experienced it. The abundance of characters made it difficult to connect to anyone too. Most of Sophie’s family – aside from Nona, Charlie, and Olivia – either fell into face-less stereotypes or melded together in my mind as indistinguishable figures. The only reason I’m rating this so high is because it wasn’t frustrating or offensive, and I laughed a few times. It was nice to read a lighthearted pallet cleanser while I wasn’t reading Lobizona.
Book and Author: Lobizona by Romina Garber
Format: Physical Hardback
Age Demographic and Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Pages: 386
Rating: 
Click the link to read my book review.
Book and Author: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Format: Physical Paperback
Age Demographic and Genre: Adult Historical Fiction
Pages: 193
Rating: 
Trigger warnings for brief mentions of rape and slave abuse, physical and emotional domestic abuse, colorism, brief racist comments about Native Americans, and frequent use of the N-word.
Most of the themes in Their Eyes Were Watching God center on interpersonal relationships amongst African-Americans, exploring how the fall out of slavery has influenced the people groups’ dreams, ambitions, and marital expectations. Each of Janie’s husbands represents what African-Americans of the early 1900s might have considered a good man: someone dedicated to providing a home and food, someone with money and status, or someone with a kind heart. The first two of these single-minded concepts of masculinity illustrate that many African-Americans at the time either wanted a stable family unit or to be on equal footing with white people. On the other hand, Janie’s romanticism was too lofty of a dream for others to believe possible. But the novel highlights that only having one of these traits isn’t enough to create and sustain love in a marriage. Being black in America at times worsens the circumstances of Janie’s marriages. With Logan and Jody, restrictive Jim Crow laws force her to rely on men to take care of her. Meanwhile, Tea Cake, not having another outlet to relieve the traumatic stress that comes from systemic racism, occasionally dumps his burdens onto Janie, affirming Nanny’s belief that the black woman is the “mule of the world” (page 14). This abuse and toxicity permeate the black communities in Eatonville and the Everglades as well, both groups encouraging gossip and for husbands to hit their wives. Janie’s search for love and independence made me wonder: can her idealism survive in such a cruel world? Maybe it could if people stopped trying to dominate one another and projecting their dreams onto others.
Haul
For Christmas, I received a Kipling 100 Pens Case and Lush gift card from my aunt, a copy of A Song Below Water from my cousin, and All the Things We Never Knew from my brother-in-law. My sister gave me a gold name necklace, a Tangled enamel pin, and a hot chocolate kit. Lastly, my parents gave me a ring light and a Lush gift card.
Life Update
Once I recovered from a cold early this month, I started working on the finishing touches for some cookie boxes I made for my family for Christmas. I made three types of cookies – red velvet whoopie pies, lemon cookies, and snickerdoodles – and everyone got to choose what combination of cookies they wanted. On the back of the gift tags, I stuck on illustrations of chocolate squares, lemons, and/or cinnamon sticks to indicate what flavors they had, including a code on the back of the “Merry Christmas” card. This was my first time making red velvet cookies from scratch, and though they turned out well, I’ll likely use less cocoa powder and food coloring next time. For those who want to make the cookies, too, I used half of the frosting recipe on my red velvet cake recipe I posted on the blog. That was enough for two batches of cookie sandwiches. Also, in this batch of lemon cookies, I replaced the lemon zest with 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract.
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