TOP TEN TUESDAY: 10 THINGS THAT MAKE ME PICK UP A BOOK

Man, I really came out of that recent blog layout and style change with the best possible intentions, didn't I? Now, I'm finally emerging from this massively soul-crushing reading slump, to realize that I haven't posted new content in almost a month. Good gracious!

Don't worry, though: I'm reporting to you live on vacation, where I'm basking in the dual warmth of having taken a blistering-hot shower (after two days of extensive hiking and long walks), as well as the afterglow of a really fantastic Oregon-produced marionberry cider, and I'm ready to get back to this whole blog-writing gig I've been hanging tough with for the past nearly-nine years.

And truly, nothing makes that easier than a really good writing prompt, and "Top Ten Tuesday," hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is really here to deliver today. Ever wonder what ten things will make me want to pick up a book? Well, your suspense is about to pay off:

1. An appealing cover

Yeah, it's not an original concept, but as it turns out, the majority of people will openly admit to picking up reads based on how inviting and interesting their cover is (or at least reading the back cover, too). I'm definitely not an exception to that rule; in fact, one of the biggest bummers about my modest shelf space, is that I'm not able to properly display my favorites at home.

2. A favored author... specifically, Jennifer Egan, Neil Gaiman, Libba Bray, and V. E. Schwab

These tried, tested, and true names are ones that have proven their prowess to me across time and titles, and sometimes, even genres. My chances of picking up a book will increase wildly should I recognize they came from one of these trusted sources.

3. Shakespearean and Mythological adaptations

To be very honest, if this were high school Savannah answering this question, this would have read "Fairy Tale adaptations," instead. The thing is, I love seeing what people can do with familiar tropes and stories, commuting them to a new setting and environment, set of reality "rules," or even time period. (I've been following the rise of Hadestown for two years now, because the words "musical Orpheus and Eurydice retelling" nearly smacked me across the face way back in 2016.)

4. Pirates

I am not a complicated human: I've only ever lived in two different port towns, I was raised on seafaring stories, and if I ever moved to a landlocked state, I think I'd die of heartbreak. Ching Shih, Grace O'Malley, and Anne Bonny and Mary Read were all childhood names to me. I live for pirates.

5. Food nonfiction

Again, not a complicated human. Food is both delicious and necessary for survival, and has served as an endless source of inspiration and interest to me across my life thus far. Not only that, but it's a meaningful measurement of things like relationships and community, social traditions, and cultural significance, and like music and math, it touches the lives of everyone. Who wouldn't want to read about it?

6. Fellow reader social media recs

That's only the header for this paragraph because the phase #BookstagramMadeMeDoIt is honestly kind of ugly. But it's an ugly truth: I am infinitely more likely to purchase a book, if I've seen it artfully arranged in a cool flat lay, posed surrounded by masterfully chosen props, or held aloft in the arms of a fellow reader I admire. I've said it before, but there was absolutely nothing about Frederick Backman's Beartown that spoke to me... until I saw it hanging around people I think are cool. Now it's sitting on my TBR shelf.

7. It's going to be a TV show

As someone who doesn't love to binge television, it is actually kind of comical, the lengths I will go to to read a book, if I know it's becoming or has already been translated to a different form of media. I read the whole Lev Grossman Magicians series, because I wanted to watch the TV show; same goes for the upcoming Amazon Prime version of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet's Good Omens.

8. It's being offered at a discount

Hello, Book Outlet! How's it going, Goodwill? Basically, most of my purchases these days come from either serious price-slashers, or they've been found secondhand. I'll literally sort through editions at Powell's, and gauge whether things like wear-and-tear or slight water damage is worth getting a copy that's marginally cheaper.

9. It brings to mind where I would read it

Okay, I'm fully aware that this is going to sound absolutely nuts, but if I pick up a title, read a couple of pages and think, "I'd read this on a rainy day," or "This would make a really great late-summer vacation read," I am way more likely to carry it all the way to the cash register. I guess it's kind of like positive visualization: if the book is easily factored into a mood or setting I know I'll be experiencing later, then I know how it could potentially be a good fit into my life. Does that make sense?

10. Someone told me to

This is kind of like that whole Bookstagram thing, but a lot more opaque: according to Gretchen Rubin's Better than Before, I am absolutely an "Obliger," aka, someone who thrives on external validation and engagement in accomplishing my goals. I'm already going to be reading and racking up those Goodreads numbers, anyways; if you tell me you want me to read something, chances are, it's a lot closer to being on my shelves. (It's how my brother finally got me to commit to reading Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows.)

What's in YOUR Top Ten? Let me know, in the comments below!

BITS OF BOOKS: DRAFTS FOLDER LOVE STORIES

Remember a month or so ago, when I told you all about the treasure trove of unused reviews I had found tucked away into the nooks and crannies of my Drafts folder? Well, they weren't exactly the end of the stack... in fact, far from it!

So, I grouped together a few of those drafts that just so happened to follow a common theme: love stories. Sure, I've only gotten into romance novels recently, but I've had my past with cutesy contemporary YA and NA happily ever afters, too! While they certainly aren't the kinds of things I'd feel prompted to pick up nowadays, it feels a shame to leave them languishing in the dark of Drafts... so, I've decided to share some of them with you.

And besides, it doesn't look like the bad weather is letting up around Washington anytime soon. Might as well find something sunshiny to keep you optimistic while the world around you is thawing!



Leah on the Offbeat, Becky Albertalli

I had a hold placed on this Simon Vs. The Homosapiens Agenda sequel at the library months before it came out last summer. Both self-aware and highly aware of current teen trends, Leah on the Offbeat is a contemporary YA romance in every sense of the term, packed with relatable feelings, current humor and slang, and conversations that feel all to real to anyone who's had to struggle through things like school musicals, epic promposals, and friend breakups.

I'm a fan of Albertalli's other books, but unfortunately, I came away fairly underwhelmed. The excitement I had over revisiting Leah as a character was dashed a little bit by the fact that she is incredibly cynical, sarcastic, and angsty, which is not always a great character frame to inhabit as a firsthand narrator. It was hard to get invested in some of her troubles, especially those between her and her mom, when it felt like her attitude went a large ways in causing them. While I did appreciate some of her attributes, like her fierce protection of her friends, her enthusiasm for drumming and art, and the relatable relationship she had with her weight (curvy main characters, represent!), they were often washed away by her constant snarking and pessimism.

Honestly, my favorite parts of the novel as a whole were often the ones that featured - shocker! - Simon and Bram. 

Now Me: Unfortunately, the more I think of this secondary installment for the Creekwood fan base, the more disappointment I feel at its outcome. I liked Albertalli's other YA foray, The Upside of Unrequited, a lot more, and it had a curvy main character as well. I'd probably opt to reread that selection, rather than this one. 



I Believe in a Thing Called Love, Maurene Goo

An unexpected and fun YA contemporary romance with plenty of hijinks and hilarity to stretch the bounds of what your average high school experience looks like, without sacrificing any of the awkward charm. 

Cheerfully steering clear of the typical high school stereotypes, by swapping out the teen rom-com rulebook for one of her own, Goo creates a unique cast of characters unlike any you've ever met before... outside of a K-Drama, that is. While I don't think I knew anyone in high school quite as high-achieving as Desi Lee before, I think I probably would have liked her: she reminded me of Sarah Strohmeyer's whip-smart heroines from Smart Girls Get What They Want.

Now Me: Everything about this book - from the doodles on the cover, to our quirky main character - were absolutely cute and fun. Goo has another popular YA book out, and another one arriving this summer... maybe it would be fun to take a step back into the mindset of a romantic high schooler again? 



Public Relations, Katie Heaney


This book was a fun, quick read, that ultimately resembled bad fan fiction a little too strongly for me to fully engage with the plot. 

The attempts at obscuring the inspiration for Archie Fox, the love interest, were almost comically half-hearted, and it kind of made the whole thing come off as a Tumblr "imagine" rather than a fully edited and published novel. That, coupled with a less-than-inspirational heroine, and an unconvincing romantic buildup, rendered the entire thing more suitable for YA shelves than NA. If I was looking for a good celebrity-and-normal-person romance, I'd probably reread something like Meg Cabot's Teen Idol instead. 

Also, this book will absolutely not age well. From frequent mentions of real-life celebrities, to strong social media reliance, to the amount of times the food-ordering service Seamless was mentioned, this book will have exhausted any of its cultural collateral within five years. 

Now Me: Same with Leah on the Offbeat, my opinions of this book have only gotten stronger with time. The litany of narrative issues, coupled with inconstant stereotyping, and the poorly obscured real-life source material, make this one more closely resemble something you'd find on Tumblr than in the real world. 

What kinds of past reads have you been thinking about lately? Got anything buried in your Drafts folder? Let me know, in the comments below!

BOOK HAUL: JAN & FEB 2019

Hey, remember how when I was setting Resolutions for this year, I mentioned how badly I wanted to downsize my TBR? How I said that I was committed to adding only one book to my shelves, with every two that vacated it? How this was going to give me an opportunity to re-evaluate my shopping habits, and actually get around to reading the books on my shelves? Remember that?

Yeah, me neither. Especially when, you know, I got it into my head that I wanted to pull together a Book Outlet order. And, you know, that other time when I was at Goodwill, and got a little overwhelmed by the amount of buzzy almost-new books that were on their shelves. So, yeah.

(And we're not even going to talk about how when I took my brother to Barnes and Noble to pick up Leigh Bardugo's King of Scars on its release day, I almost walked out with three other full price books. Clearly I cannot trust my own grabby hands, which think on their own.)

In total, between these two shopping binges, I bought 9 books for myself in January and February (and yes, I'm deliberately choosing to overlook the books included in these purchases that were made for other people). This is a bit of a personal problem, because in just January, I only read 6 books, and only 4 of them were off of my TBR shelves. Now, I've added back more than double that total.

And yet, absolutely no part of this contradicts the amount of excitement I feel about each of these book purchases. You know, it's important to be self-aware, for growth's sake, but it's also important to feel joy, for living's sake.

So, which titles were so important that I broke one of my most important book goals for this year, in the first two months of the year?

BOOK OUTLET

Originally, I made this order in order to pick up a couple of birthday presents for my Dad. And I did: both the Sopranos Family Cookbook and Phil Doran's The Reluctant Tuscan were for him! Plus Anne Fadiman's The Wine Lover's Daughter, which was a present for my mom, too. The rest, though... those are my bad.

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry, Kathleen Flinn
One of the first books off of my TBR shelves in January, was Flinn's Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good, in which the author uses family recipes to tell her history, from her grandparents through to her own childhood. In this bestselling memoir, she discusses how getting fired from her Microsoft job, lead her to learn from Le Cordon Bleu.

Trials of the Earth: The True Story of a Pioneer Woman, Mary Mann Hamilton
Recording her life experiences in the backwoods of the Mississippi Delta, Hamilton gives a first-person account of the tragedies and triumphs that come from the backbreaking labor of making your own land in the early American South. I'm already looking forward to picking this up this summer (aka, the best season to read American Fiction and History).

Vanity Fair's Writers on Writers, edited by Graydon Carter
What can I say, I'm an absolute sucker for this kind of stuff. From Didion to Parker, to e. e. cummings and Capote, I absolutely live for people hyping up other people in their industry.

Strange the Dreamer, Laini Taylor
This has been hyped so often by various friends of mine, that I couldn't resist the temptation to finally pick up this Fantasy story of a junior librarian, driven to discover a lost city, cut off from the world by the gods. Unfortunately for me, Book Outlet doesn't always note what edition of a particular book you'll be sent... and being that this one, for me, is a Large Print edition, I don't think I'll be hanging onto it for very long after reading!

(Oh yeah, and I also bought a cookbook. But I'm not counting that one... it goes on my other shelves!)

GOODWILL

Ignore the price tags on here: being that I went during a special sale day, each of these bad boys were only $2, despite each of their almost-new condition. And, plus the six items of clothing I picked up, too, my total purchase price ended up being only around $40! Score!

Less, Andrew Sean Greer
This Pulitzer winner follows a failed writer about to turn 50, as he adventures through various places abroad, and finds love along the way. Despite its significant award status, I've heard mostly mixed reviews about this one, which is probably why I'm so excited to pick it up! I love when people can't make up their minds about a book... it gives me a little more freedom to decide what I think, without all the hype!

Everything I Never Told You, Celeste Ng
Full disclosure: as a general rule, I avoid contemporary stories about dead girls. But this one has not only been loved by close friends of mine, but also just by Bookstagram at large, and I feel like if I'm going to dip my toes into any modern-day lit anytime soon, this would be a pretty safe choice.

Beartown, Frederik Backman
Okay, here's the thing. Originally, this book was sold to me as "Friday Night Lights, but for Hockey," and there's really nothing about that sentence that drives me to want to pick up this book... especially when I read the summary, to see that the catalytic moment of all the action, is the rape of a 15 year old girl by one of the team's players. But what can I say? Out of over 121,000 ratings on Goodreads, it has 4.29 stars. To be clear, that's absolutely insane.

When Life Gives You Lululemons, Lauren Weisberger
I swear I didn't know this was a Devil Wears Prada follow up when I picked it up in the store. I didn't even glance at what the inside flap said. I just liked the cover, and the clever title, and I figured it would make for a fun read during Spring Break. And like I said before, it was $2. Sometimes it's fun to pick things up for no reason at all! (But dammit, that's why I'm in this mess in the first place, isn't it?)

Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel
Highlighting Thomas Cromwell's impact at the moment in British history where Henry VIII is choosing to leave Catherine of Aragon for Anne Boleyn, this historical fiction is probably one of the most consistently recommended reads for fans of the genre I've seen in the past decade. And being that I haven't been able to get the Six: The Musical soundtrack out of my head for the past few months, I'm very receptive to Tudors at the moment.



Well, that's that then... let's hope I can make it through March unscathed, right? Either that, or hope that I just start reading prodigious amounts of my TBR shelves on my own.

Believe it or not, in the middle of this month, I even made a trip to Portland, which included a stopover in Powell's Books... and I didn't pick up anything! This is what character growth feels like, I guess?

What books have you picked up recently? Have you broken any of your Resolutions yet? Let me know, in the comments below! 

TOP TEN TUESDAY: BOOKS I LOVED WITH FEWER THAN 2,000 GOODREADS REVIEWS

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! 

As a collective unit, book bloggers, bookstagrammers, and BookTubers can have a tendency to get hung up on a certain kind of reading material: the much-lauded, marketing-backed, and hype-train-riding recent releases.

But when you do that, you miss out on some of the good stuff... sometimes really good stuff! Be they backlog, indie-published, international, or just plain weird, chances are there are some really tremendous titles you just haven't heard before.

So, here are some of my favorite books, with 2,000-ish or less ratings on Goodreads! 

1. Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good, Kathleen Flinn (1,601 ratings, 3.86 stars)
This food-oriented family memoir, tracking the lives of Flinn's extended relations through their own favorite recipes, has been one of my favorite reads of 2019 so far. Her way of describing not only food, but the ways it affects relationships and reflects tradition, really reminded me of those of my own family.

2. Kitchen Literacy: How We Lost the Knowledge of Where Food Comes From, and Why We Need to Get It Back, Ann Vileisis (350 ratings, 3.68 stars) 
I love reading about food, but mostly in memoir form, and not necessarily nonfiction, so the way this book was immediately able to grab me late last year was a total surprise. It has made me way more cognizant of the effects of my grocery-purchasing habits, as well as the processing my food goes through before it manages to reach my cart.

3. She Caused a Riot: 100 Unknown Women Who Built Cities, Sparked Revolutions, and Massively Crushed It, Hannah Jewell (479 ratings, 3.85 stars)
It's not easy to think of another book that so seamlessly matches well-researched feminist history with a great sense of humor, but if anyone's going to do it, it's Hannah Jewell. I'm usually skeptical of books that boast being filled with the names of impressive names "you've never heard of" - and true to form, I knew quite a few of them - but the ones that were included spanned such a wide reach, diverse and globally-reflective, that I even flagged a couple to read into more later.

4. All the Lives I Want: Essays About My Famous Friends Who Happen to Be Strangers, Alana Massey (1,602 ratings, 3.64 stars) 
Hands down, one of my favorite essay collections from the past couple of years, right up there with Leslie Jamison's Empathy Exams. This one, though, captures a topic close to my heart: celebrity worship and modern pop culture. I liked it so much, I even bought a copy for my younger sister!

5. How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True, Sarah Strohmeyer
(2,197 ratings, 3.7 stars)
One of the only two fictional works on this list, and definitely the most surprising, being that it's a YA Contemporary pick (No, seriously). If I'm going to be spending my time on a high school romance, it better have all the glitter of a mid-2000s teen flick, and Strohmeyer totally delivers. Let me sell this to you, in three phrases: Disneyland-meets-Devil Wears Prada. It's crazy, and crazy wonderful.

6. Beyond: the Queer Sci-Fi and Fantasy Comic Anthology, Sfe R. Monster (482 ratings, 4.09 stars) 
I still don't get the chance to read as many comic books as I'd like, but I really enjoyed picking up this one a few years ago... especially when it comes from my younger sister's dresser! I'm always stoked to see diversity in fiction, but especially when it's presented in a visual format, like in this collection from a variety of queer artists.

7. Shake the World: It's Not About Finding A Job, It's Creating a Life, James Marshall Reilly (112 ratings, 3.88 stars)
Okay, I've read my fair share of job-finding books in the world, and there have been some really good ones... but this was the first after college that really sent the message home that building a career as well as a philanthropic habit are both fundamental parts of constructing an adult life as a whole. I'm still majorly working on both of those things, but at least this book gave me a good sense of direction about it!

8. Voracious: A Hungry Reader Cooks Her Way Through Great Books, Cara Nicoletti (1,833 ratings, 3.68 stars) 
Out of all of the books on this list, this one probably requires the least explanation, because its title should serve as more than enough. Books are my favorite thing... and so is Food. Both books and food in one read? Truly a match made in heaven. (And her Instagram makes for a fun follow, too!)

... and the ones that are slightly above 2,000... but deserve so much more love!!

9. Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her, Melanie Rehak (2,188 ratings, 3.76 stars)
As a Nancy Drew collector and super-fan - yes, I'm serious - this is consistently one of my favorite nonfiction picks to reread. Focusing in on the lives of Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and Mildred Wirt Benson, this tracks the legacy of not only their work to cement the intrepid teenage sleuth in the pantheons of youth fiction, but also how the various facets of the cultural mantle of ownership are entitled to both. SO good!

10. Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism, Ron Suskind (2,263 ratings, 4.20 stars) 
Get ready to cry buckets. Out of all of the books on this list, and quite a few nonfiction titles, this will absolutely be the one to tug on your heartstrings, like Quasimodo ringing those darn bells. One of my favorite non-fic picks of all time, this tale of how Disney stories and a loving family gave a young autistic boy the language he needed in order to communicate, was turned into an Oscar-nominated documentary a few years back. I haven't watched it yet, of course... mainly because I haven't found the kind of Kleenex box built big enough for it yet!

What's in your Top Ten? Let me know, in the comments below! 

SNOW DAY READS

If you follow my bookstagram account, you know that Washington has been experiencing a spate of bad weather recently. As in, historically bad. Record-breakingly bad. Two Sundays ago, I walked out into my backyard, and my rain boot sunk down almost to the top.

Needless to say, this has made for a perfect environment for reading. Sure, there are plenty of bookish ways to spend your snow day - you can pick up an award-winning Nancy Drew video game, or finally get around to making it through the final season of Netflix's Series of Unfortunate Events - but why not just use it as an excuse to really rack up some numbers on this year's Goodreads goal?

Here are five different categories worth keeping warm with, on the days when you just can't brave the bleak winter weather:

the childhood favorites

There's just something about a snow day that hearkens back to days off from school, hosting a snowball fight in your backyard, hanging out in the park with your neighborhood friends, and downing as much hot chocolate as you could hold in your stomach. Why not harness that kind of nostalgia, and celebrate the snow outside with a childhood favorite?

The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster
Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales (especially "The Snow Queen"!)
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis

the wintry fantasy

There's no shortage of snowy landscapes within the genre of Fantasy. Something about winter itself gives plenty of authors icy inspiration... maybe it's the way snow can transform the world overnight into something completely new, or maybe it's the sense of suspense you feel, waiting for the frost to thaw. Either way, keep warm indoors with these similarly-set adventures.

Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik
East, Edith Pattou
Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo

the icy thrillers

But it isn't just Fantasy that gets their settings from a winter scene, is it? There are plenty of Thrillers and Horrors that find themselves stuck in the snow... whether it's hiding out in a cabin, getting  trapped in unfamiliar surroundings, or more. The best way to pass a snow day, might just be to make a mystery out of it!

Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie
Icy Clutches (Gideon Oliver #6), Aaron Elkins
The Shining, Stephen King

the staycation destination

After a few days of snow keeping you homebound, you might start to dream of a different, sunnier way of living (We know we did!). So, why feel confined to that kind of weather at all? Close up the blinds, crank the thermostat,  and drift away to a world where leaving the house doesn't require three layers of pants.

Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
The Vacationers, Emma Straub
Nine Perfect Strangers, Liane Moriarty

the dense doorstop

Well, if you had told me last Monday that in the subsequent week and a half, I'd be able to drive my car a total of about three times, I probably would have decided to pick up a little heavier reading material. After all, what better time to invest in a heavy, fully-loaded novel, than when you're encouraged not to leave the warmth of the fireplace?

Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
Winter's Tale, Mark Helprin
The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt

What's the weather like where you are? What have you been keeping cozy with this winter? Let me know, in the comments below!

BLOGGING UPDATES, AND A NEW SENSE OF STYLE

As we ventured into the new year, and I was writing out my Resolutions for 2019, the thought crossed my mind: "How am I going to change up the blog this year?" 

Longtime readers - hi, Dad - know that the layout and format of my corner of the Internet has remained widely static over of the course of my eight-and-a-half years of blogging. It feels like so many of the components that make up its foundation have grown over time, and yet, there's so much of it that has continued on throughout its near-decade without meaningful development: for instance, one of my favorite parts about looking back on posts is observing how my writing style and critical voice have expanded, my graphic design skills have altered alongside talent and trends in design, and my book choices have even grown up as I have... but in its total history, the actual layout and look of my blog have only changed twice. 

At first, Playing in the Pages was a pre-set design offered by Blogger, light pink, and one of four of its kind to choose between. As I got older, got a laptop, get more interested in how I can customize this platform to my own tastes, things got a little cooler around here: creating a logo on my phone, from a picture taken of my own bookshelves, I wiped the slate clean with an all-white background, smaller type in a font I thought was a little more hip than your average Times New Roman, and started mocking up interesting headers in Canva, rather than relying on photos in the posts themselves.

But that was back in college, and I've been doing a lot more different work since then. I've gone from a design Newbie to adequate Novice, and I have maintained my blog-adjacent Instagram profile (@playinginthepages) with its own kind of theming. I pay a lot of attention to how others promote and style their own platforms, and over the past year or so, I felt a growing sense that mine wasn't as cohesive as I would have liked it to be.

Sure, there were elements that I had a tendency to rely on in my own work - I had preset headers for things like "Bits of Books" and "Top Ten Tuesday" posts, and an affinity for a particular lighter shade of red - but nothing felt all that cohesive, and it was beginning to affect my excitement for generating content for both of my platforms. I wanted a sense of "Savannah" that felt consistent whenever I talked about books, and it frustrated me that I couldn't narrow things down.

Obviously, the right thing to do was switch it up.

"Style Inspo" (aka, some of my fave #bookstagrammers), clockwise from top-right: @ejmellow,
@thebiblionet, @literatureandchill, @thebiblionet, @literatureandchill.

I've created a new Style Guide, and the blog's layout has gone through a bit of a makeover, much as it will continue to do as I try to decide on what look translates myself and my thoughts best across the Internet. I've got a comprehensive color scheme, a new profile photo, a large-and-in-charge logo, and font choices that speak in my voice. I've got series headers set in place, and a clearer vision of what kinds of photos I want to be taking.

With any luck or decision-making on my part, this will all not only beautify my blog, but also make it easier for me to make graphic design-oriented decisions, instead of taking forever to put together a good-looking header, or agonize over what colors to use in a post.

Not exactly starting the new year with a new look, but having found one just the same, I'm happy with the current version of the "new and improved" Playing in the Pages. I'm excited to put it to good use in the coming couple of years, too!

So, what do you think of the new design? My favorite part's the new font choice. Let me know, in the comments below!

Book Versus Movie: Dumplin'

I have a slight confession to make: I do not like movies. "But how?" you cry. How can someone dislike an entire form of media?

The short answer is that I don't have the patience for it. The long answer has a lot more to do with what I feel are shortcomings of the genre - stuff like how limiting the scope of two hours' worth of visuals are as a narrative format, or how the portrayals of characters onscreen as constrained by stereotypical beauty and aesthetic standards damages plot - and the fact that sitting around for that long is just plain boring. I can lounge in one spot and read a book cover-to-cover over the course of several hours... but ask me to do the same for a movie (or television!), and I'll probably cry.

(Notable exceptions include Beauty and the Beast, ParaNorman, Black Panther, Treasure Planet, The Godfather, and the second half of the Fast and the Furious franchise, but that's a whole other thing.)

Why am I telling you all of this? You're on my book blog, which means my movie preferences are probably not why you're here. But it all explains why, when it comes to movies, there is a particular subset I handle with a whole lot of scrutiny: Movie Adaptations.

I've done it before for Love, Simon last year, and even Wild the year before that. So, I'm taking on one of my favorite YA novels of last year, and it's Netflix counterpart, to see how both stack up!

the story

Julie Murphy's Dumplin', originally released in 2015, follows the story of Willowdean Dixon, a fat girl growing up in a small town in Texas. Her mother, Rosie, is a faded star of the local beauty pageant - Miss Teen Bluebonnet - who can't seem to let go of that past, choosing instead to help run the pageant every year, famously wearing the same gown she won in every time she crowns a new winner.

Willowdean has never seen herself reflected in the lifestyle of her mother, but after the untimely death of her beloved aunt, Lucy, she feels compelled to change that. Joining the pageant as an act of rebellion, Will finds herself joined by a whole new group of cohorts, eager to challenge the status quo.

Meanwhile, she juggles not just school, but a job at a local burger place, as well as the affections of two boys, who couldn't be more different. As tensions rise, and Will begins to wonder how confident she is in her own plan, she's forced to question whether she's as comfortable in her own skin as she really thought... especially after her beautiful best friend Ellen joins the pageant, too. 

the book

The figure of "the fat girl" is easily tokenized in YA literature, but Dumplin' soars past those boundaries with glee, as well as the stereotypes typically ascribed to other body definitions in fiction.

Willowdean is not perfect, nor shy... far from both. The front-runner of the pageant, Bekah, is skinny, blonde, and beautiful, but also incredibly kind and humble. None of the "outsiders" Will befriends were meek or otherwise wallflowers, and one of them was even widely a pain in the ass, including to her fellow friends. They talked frankly about sexuality. They had flawed relationships with parents who refused to recognize their body as something that is a part of them, rather than something outside and separate from themselves. The characterizations allowed them to be both fully-formed and full-figured, instead of being relegated to stereotypes of "the jolly best friend" or the "juvenile weirdo."

Because these classifications are so unique and relatable, it doesn't allow the reader to brush the book off as an attempt to settle a score, or present a "Big Topic" kind of narrative. Willowdean's entire objective isn't that she's doing something to stick it to the man, it's so that she can do it for herself, and the same goes for her friends. There's an emphasis on the fact that it sucks that something that is somehow normal for other people shouldn't be normal for her, just because of her size. It's something she tries to explain to her ex-beauty queen mom, to no avail.

Here's the bottom line: representation is SO important. I read this book in a way that I know my two younger sisters never will be able to.

Notes from the Field 

• Loved the small-town Texas perspective, something I've never read before but want to look out for in the future. It's far outside the realms of what I'm used to experiencing in my daily life, and I thought it was communicated really well through both description and characterizations of its inhabitants. 
• A lot of background male characters who were also interesting, instead of only the two love interests, and that included a diversity in male rep as well as female.
• Naturally, the book meant a little more to me, too, because I myself was in a pageant when I was in my senior year of high school (one that got its start in the 1930s, no less!). Granted, it was not your average pageant - while others give the excuse of being "a scholarship thing," ours literally was a community service type thing, and we rarely wore our gowns - but the experience still meant a lot to me, so when Willowdean described the fervor over things like preparing for interviews, or the bonds she formed with the friends she took part in the pageant with, I totally got it.

the movie

As is typical for any movie adaptation, Dumplin' - released by Netflix on December 7th, 2018 - streamlined elements of the book narrative for greater concision, but did so without losing any of its heart. 

Granted, this meant relying a little more heavily on character stereotypes, while also punching up some of the thematically-oriented moments for greater emotional payoff (kind of like what we saw with the Love, Simon movie). However, it is a fair adaptation of a contemporary YA novel, that never felt like it was dumbing down its source material for its audience; if anything, it made some of the foundational aspects of the novel shine.

There were different objectives in play, of course: reorienting what could ostensibly be defined as a romance-centered novel, into the greater frame of a coming-of-age story, the movie focused more on Willowdean's development, especially in terms of how her relationships with her friends, her crush, her late aunt, and her mom, intersected with her self-perceptions of confidence and worthiness. This lead to a near-expulsion of almost all named male characters, which to me, made the film really unique.

This choice of focus made the movie an exercise in realistic portrayals of teen lifestyles, and the overall production design really strove to drive that point home. The wardrobe of the entire cast is really darn exceptional, defining aspects of character background like socioeconomic class, occupation, and objectives in a subtle way that you can't get from a written description. Director Anne Fletcher (also responsible for The Proposal, praise be) did a great job with making everything look very down-home and authentic, painting the portrait of a small Texas town with a broad brush of rural Americana that feels recognizable. Danielle McDonald was a perfect casting choice as Willowdean, as was Jennifer Aniston as Rosie.

Overall, the whole thing really set the standard for quality of content that I expect out of Netflix these days. 

Notes from the Field 

• The soundtrack - which, despite the fact that some are remixes and plenty have features from other artists, is made up exclusively of Dolly Parton songs that she helped produce - is far, far better than anything I could have ever expected. It even got a nom at the Golden Globes!
• It's difficult to portray hero-worship in a way that makes sense through visual media without going overboard, but I thought that it must have been a little difficult finding the right amount of Dolly fixation when she's also one of your movie's producers. Like, we all love Dolly, but... it's a lot! 
• This casting was stupendous! I could not have been more impressed. Especially the supporting cast: 
• Dove Cameron (whom my family adores from her work on Disney Channel, and off-Broadway) struck a perfectly sweet note as pageant front-runner Bekah, 
• Odeya Rush (from another family favorite, the 2015 Goosebumps adaptation) was a great girl-next-door Ellen, 
• Maddie Baillio (Tracy Turnblad in NBC's Hairspray Live) was the Millie sent from Heaven that we all desperately needed, and 
• Bex Taylor-Klaus killed it as Hannah, who was actually one of my least favorite characters from the book, but played the role with such sincerity that it made her feel more real, and less stereotypical. 
• Even Luke Benward - who plays Willowdean's handsome work crush, Bo - hit the right intersection of being both approachable, yet vaguely unattainable, that was so fundamental to their relationship. 

the verdict

At the end of each of these kinds of posts, I choose which of the two formats I felt delivered a story better. However, this is going to be the first to divert from that pattern... because I thought both shared different versions of the same great story, and were so varied in their approach, I can't award any kind of outcome that would evenly match them.

Instead, I think that each different medium, served a different need.

 The book, carrying the responsibility as both the original format, and the more complete narrative - giving background, development, and explanation in a more nuanced way than the visual nature of a movie could - might be for those looking for a deeper dive into an engrossing story. Not only is the cast of characters much larger (even including a second love interest!), but they are more fleshed out, while the narrative still gave room for more interior thinking from Willowdean.

On the other hand, the movie only took out what was necessary for a more cohesive and concise plot, one that maintained all of the emotion, while only losing minor plot elements. The aeshetics and production design make for a beautiful viewing experience, one that truly transports you in a way that simply dreaming up the setting and characters yourself might not. It kept some of the book's breakout moments more subtle (such as Ellen's relationship with her boyfriend Tim, or Hannah's big reveal at the end of the pageant), in order to put greater emphasis on others (getting to know Aunt Lucy, or Will's resolution with her mother). In total, the movie felt like more of a feel-good experience, and even offered more plot resolution at the end: instead of leaving the winner of the pageant ambiguous, they announce the name!

I can honestly say that I personally enjoyed both, and would recommend them. If you're asking me which is your best option, I genuinely believe in both. It just depends what you're looking for! At any rate, figure out which medium suits you best right now, and if you enjoy it, make time to try the other.

Have you seen or read Dumplin'? Which version was your favorite? Let me know, in the comments below!