#jared reck

[beelikesbookss]

Donuts and Other Proclamations of Love by Jared Reck - 7/10

ok so i'm gonna say upfront that this book wasn't what i was expecting. i mean, it's called Donuts and Other Proclamations of Love, and it's got the same little cartoon cover as all other YA romcoms rn. i feel justified in expecting a silly little romcom. i decidedly wasn't expecting a family book about a guy and his grandpa and their food truck. not that i'm complaining! i'm fully down for that, i just...didn't think that's what i was getting into at first. and maybe to others, it reads more romance, but i very much got family story (almost coming of age even) vibes

summary time! oscar is a senior in high school, but all he wants to do is help his grandfather (farfar) run his food truck. farfar, however, isn't so keen on that idea and is insisting that he at least finish high school with all in-person classes. oscar also gets a wrench thrown into his plans when he realizes he's not as sure about his future as he thought. doomed to only work the food truck on weekends, oscar ends up being roped into a project to eliminate food waste at the school started by one lou messinger. he hates her until he doesn't.

now onto my thoughts. first off, oscar and lou didn't get, in my mind at least, nearly enough development. there was a lot of "we don't like each other" at the beginning, then they were sort of friends, then they were suddenly dating. and everyone in the book was like "ugh FINALLY" as if they just sat through a 500k slow burn when they got together too!! calm down you're being dramatic guys.

i did like this book, though! i think oscar and farfar’s relationship is really sweet. they’re in it together!

now, i'm gonna get into Spoiler Town below the cut, so beware, i suppose.

i saw something happening to farfar coming from a million miles away. there are almost never Beloved Old People in media if they don't die/have a near death experience. i did think it was interesting to see how all of the characters would cope with the grief though. the epilogue perspective change was...weird to me, but whatever. the fact that farfar lived, though? WILD. will never not be wild. you're tellin me this man made it back from being hit full force by a car? at 70 something?? and then being comatose??? and he's gonna make a full recovery???? goddamn, good for him ig.

[typewriter-worries]

what seems like forever ago, @geryone so kindly tagged me and asked me to share nine book recommendations. after combing through some of my recent reads, here are some of my favorites:

My short little summaries and thoughts are listed under the cut:

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin - Giovanni's Room is about a young man in David and his summer romance with another young man named Giovanni. Through the lens of love and heartbreak, David goes through a journey of identity.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk - We follow our narrator, for now we can call him Joe, as he begins a very unconventional friendship with a man named Tyler. Men fight, they also bite and many a problems arise.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini- Historical fiction novel that is set agains the backdrop of many events from the fall of Afghanistan's monarchy to the rise of the Taliban regime. I don't think I've cried harder reading a book so that's my own weird way of saying I can't recommend it enough.

For One More Day by Mitch Albom- Little read with a lot of heart. Fictional baseball player has the chance to spend one more day with his late mother, who he misses more than he ever thought he would. Another book that kept me crying into the middle of the night.

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio - I feel like if you like dark academia; this is an essential. A group of Shakespearean acting students at the fictional Dellecher Shakespeare conservatory get wrapped in a murder and it's an ongoing case of whodunit.

A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood - A delicate look into the mundane crafted through the lens of grief, loss and heartache. We follow the life of George, a middle-aged gay man mourning the loss of his partner. Like Giovanni's Room, I think it's a staple of queer literature.

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy - A heartbreaking memoir that's sprinkled with the well timed moment of comedy. We learn about Jennette McCurdy's tumultuous relationship with acting, the abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, and her own way of working towards healing.

Promises of Gold by José Olivarez - If prose isn't your thing; this might be! Promises of Gold is a poetry collection in which Olivarez family, identity, love and quarantine. One of my personal favorites is Regret or My Dad Says Love

A Short History of the Girl Next Door by Jared Reck - A story about first love that in ends heartbreak in more ways that one. It's first person and it's YA, two things I normally never read, but it's just so so good. Forget crying into the middle of the night, this had me crying well into morning

no pressure tagging: @firstfullmoon and @soracities if you have anything you want to recommend <3

[fall23iksection]

···

LINE + SPACE architects, POETRY CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, TUCSON

LINE + SPACE architects, POETRY CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, TUCSON

diagrammatic plan and section drawing; plan drawing ground level. this is a good example to see how a concept sketch for the organization of program develops into a plan.

_ik

[fall24iksection]

Line and Space architects: Poetry Center, University of Arizona; DEVELOPING A BUILDING, ORGANIZING PROGRAM - USING PLAN + SECTION

The plan of the building is conceived as a “progression towards solitude.” Progression starts at the west with an active and noisy Humanities Seminar Room whose transparent walls can be opened, allowing flexibility within the shaded transition space, and doubling the seating capacity for larger events. Moving east, public functions dissolve into more intimate spaces within the collection -- one finds themselves in the bamboo garden, an outdoor area of solitude and contemplation.

_ik

[jaredreck]

I'll Take Your Hand - Written and performed by Jared Reck

My latest release:

[ktquimby]

2022 Reading

My reading habits for 2022 suggest that this was the year life began to creep back toward normal. For that, I am profoundly grateful.

I read a total of 110 books (I’m not likely to finish 111 before midnight December 31). The vast majority were fiction, and of the novels, most were YA, because that’s my sweet spot. Most were published in 2020 or 2021, with some earlier, and a few current. That’s because most of my reading comes from libraries.

Several years ago, I started tagging books I loved as possible Top Ten books. This year, I refined that further, with Top Twenty and Top Five. Today, I compiled the lists, only to discover I had 12 books in the “Top Ten” list. Try as I might, I could not move them elsewhere. All but one “Top Ten” are YA novels; that one is a picture book. The other lists are much, much shorter. 

As I compiled the lists, I noticed was how often the top listings came in groups. One particular library haul in August yielded three Top Tens and one Top Twenty. 

And here <drum roll> they are, in reading order, with links to Bookshop.org:

Top Twenty:

1.     Ryan, Tom and Robin Stevenson. When You Get the Chance. Running Kids Press, 2021. Audiobook. (8/16/2022)

2.     Kulper, Kendall. Murder for the Modern Girl. Holiday House, 2022. (8/27/2022)

3.     Emezi, Akwaeke. Bitter. Alfred A. Knopf, 2022. (10/18/2022)

4.     William, Sean. Impossible Music. Blackstone, 2019. Audiobook. (11/23/2022)

Top Ten:

1.     Williams-Garcia, Rita. A Sitting in St. James. Quill Tree—HarperCollins, 2021. (3/3/2022)

2.     Dugan, Jennifer. Verona Comics. Listening Library, 2020. (6/29/2022)

3.     Lo, Malinda. Last Night at the Telegraph Club. Dutton—Penguin Random, 2021. (7/25/2022)

4.     Nedd, Alexis. Don’t Hate the Player. Bloomsbury, 2021. (8/14/2022)

5.     Sharpe, Tess. The Girls I’ve Been. GP Putnam, 2022. Print. (8/25/2022)

6.     Zentner, Jeff. In the Wild Light. Crown Books for Young Readers—Penguin Random House, 2021. (8/30/2022)

7.     Wilson, Kip. The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin. Versify—HarperCollins, 2022. (8/31/2022)

8.     McBride, Amber. Me (Moth). Feiwel and Sons, 2021. (10/10/2022)

9.     Stoeve, Ray. Arden Grey. Recorded Books, 2022. Audiobook. (10/26/2022)

10.  Gilliland, Raquel Vasquez. How Moon Fuentes Fell in Love with the Universe. Simon & Schuster BYFR, 2021. (11/?/2022)

11.  Price, Tirzah. Pride and Premeditation. 2021; HarperTeen, 2022. (11/26/2022)

12.  Sonderguin, Alfredo. The Capybaras. Greystone Kids, 2021. (Picture book) (11/30/2022)

Top Five:

1.     Albertalli, Becky. Kate in Waiting. Balzer + Bray—HarperCollins, 2021. (12/1/2022)

2.     Reck, Jared. Donuts and Other Proclamations of Love. Alfred A. Knopf—Random House Children’s, 2021. (12/7/2022)

[2021ya]

DONUTS AND OTHER PROCLAMATIONS OF LOVE

​by Jared Reck

(Knopf, 6/8/21)

9781524716110

Add to Goodreads

Purchase from Bookshop

The future is anything but certain in this alternately funny and heartbreaking contemporary story about food trucks, festivals, and first loves. It's easy to look at high school senior Oscar Olsson and think: lost. He hates school, struggles to read, and wants nothing to do with college. But Oscar is anything but lost---he knows exactly what he wants and exactly how to get it. Oscar and Farfar, the Swedish grandfather who's raised him, run a food truck together selling rullekebab and munkar, and Oscar wants to finish school so he can focus on the food truck full-time. It's easy to look at Mary Louise (Lou for short) Messinger and think: driven. AP everything, valedictorian in her sights, and Ivy league college aspirations. When Lou hijacks Oscar's carefully crafted schedule of independent studies and blocks of time in the Culinary Lab, Oscar is roped into helping Lou complete her over-ambitious, resume-building service project-reducing food waste in Central Adams High School. While Lou stands to gain her Girl Scout Gold Award, Oscar will be faced with a mountain of uneaten school apples and countless hours with a girl he can't stand. With the finish line in sight, a relationship he never expected, and festival season about to begin (for good), the unthinkable happens, and Oscar's future is anything but certain.

[edible--stars]

you don't get judged solely for your worst moments. | book playlist for a short history of the girl next door by jared reck

[bookaddict24-7]

New Young Adult Novels Releasing Today! (September 26, 2017)

The 12 Dares of Christa by Marissa Burt

Invictus by Ryan Graudin

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

Carry Me Home by Jessica Therrier

A Short History of the Girl Next Door by Jared Reck

Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

The Ravenous by Amy Rukavics

The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales & Dangerous Magic  by Leigh Bardugo

There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

House of Ash by Hope Cook

Which new releases are you planning to read? Are there any novels I missed? Let me know!

Happy reading!

[lifeofaliterarynerd]

It’s our memories that make us who we are – those moments that for whatever reason, big or small, stick in our brains, that make up our stories.

A Short History of the Girl Next Door by Jared Reck [review]

[hershelwidget]

NEW STUPID CRACK SHIP JUST DROPPED HAVE FUN

ABSOLUTELY NOT A SINGLE THOUGHT BEHIND IT I JUST WOKE UP TODAY AND DECIDED I’D CAUSE A PROBLEM

[journeyintotheshelves]

Tuesday’s Treats is a weekly blog post dedicated to newly released books that I’m most excited for. (Books are in no particular order.)

All books featured this week will be released: SEPT 26th

1. A Short History of the Girl Next Door: Jared Reck (goodreads) (book depository)

Matt is in love with his best friend, and neighbor, Tabby, but he hasn’t been able to tell her how he really feels. And his love life isn’t the only place where he feels inadequate, and his one safe haven is his English class where he can fully express himself. But then, piece by piece, Matt’s life starts to fall apart and he’s not quite sure how he can piece himself back together again.

Now, I’m always a bit wary of books about the “girl next door,” but I’ve heard nothing but good things about this book, on both the happy and sad sides of emotions, so I cannot wait to dive into this one.

YA Contemporary Fiction, Romance; Knopf/Random House, Hardcover (US)

2. The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic: Leigh Bardugo (writer) & Sarah Kipin (artist) (goodreads) (book depository)

Over the past two years, I’ve been slowly falling in love with Bardugo’s Grisha world. With her latest book, The Language of Thorns, her vast world will get even bigger and more beautiful.

YA Fantasy, Short Story; Imprint/Macmillan, Hardcover (US)

3. Invictus: Ryan Gruadin (goodreads) (book depository)

With a time-traveling Recorder from 2354 AD and a Roman gladiator from 95 AD as parents, Farway “Far” Gaius McCarthy isn’t quite a man of one time. For as long as he can remember, Far has wanted to explore history himself, but when he fails his time travel exam, the only way he can follow his dream is as part of a team who steals valuables from the past. But when he meets a girl who knows secrets about his past that can unravel his future, Far and his team are thrown something much bigger than any of them ever expected.

Any book that is compared to Doctor Who is my kind of book, and this one hopped right to the top of my TBR.

YA Science Fiction; Little, Brown/Hachette, Hardcover (US)

4. An Enchantment of Ravens: Margaret Rogerson (goodreads) (book depository)

Isobel is a highly sought after painter for the fair folk who cannot partake in creative pursuits themselves. When she gets her first royal customer, the autumn prince Rook, she makes a detrimental mistake that results in her imprisonment. However, when they are ambushed while on their journey by the Wild Hunt, Rook and Isobel must rely on each other for support and survival. That support blossoms into trust and love, and Isobel quickly finds that she has to make a decision between love and her Craft that may just save them all.

YA Fantasy, Romance; McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, Hardcover (US)

5. Starfish: Akemi Dawn Bowman (goodreads) (book depository)

Kiko Himura has never really felt like she belonged; her mother’s unsupportive and she doesn’t quite understand or connect with her half-Japanese heritage. Prism, an art school, is her dream and her ticket out. But Kiko doesn’t get into Prism and her abusive uncle moves back into their house, all hope seems lost. Then her friend invites her on a tour of art schools on the west coast, Kiko jumps at the chance. On her trip, not only does Kiko learn about new schools to plant her roots, but also a bit about herself, her friends, and her family.

YA Contemporary Fiction; Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster, Hardcover (US)

6. There's Someone Inside Your House: Stephanie Perkins (goodreads) (book depository)

Now I’m not really a fan of horror, but I may have to make an exception for Stephanie Perkins. And seeing as it’s getting closer and closer to Halloween, a slasher read may just be perfect.

YA Horror; Dutton/Penguin, Hardcover (US)

[writing-between-the-lines]

A Short History of the Girl Next Door by Jared Reck

3/5

This book was quite a shock! I expected a light and fun contemporary but instead got a dark, touching, tear-jerking novel! I liked this story a lot because it felt like I was seeing a glimpse of what real grief is like, instead of the Hollywood/ glorified portrayal of grief. The only issues I had with the book was I was bored a couple times. But overall I liked the story!

[mobilepubliclibraryteens]

Fifteen-year-old Matt Wainwright is in turmoil. He can’t tell his lifelong best friend, Tabby, how he really feels about her; his promising basketball skills are being overshadowed by his attitude on the court, and the only place he feels normal is in English class, where he can express his inner thoughts in quirky poems and essays. Matt is desperately hoping that Tabby will reciprocate his feelings; but then Tabby starts dating Liam Branson, senior basketball star and all-around great guy. Losing Tabby to Branson is bad enough; but, as Matt soon discovers, he’s close to losing everything that matters most to him.

[hypable]

Read the opening chapters to 'A Short History of the Girl Next Door' by Jared Reck

Be prepared because A Short History of the Girl Next Door won't play out like it does in the movies. Read the first two chapters here.