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The Plucky Reader

A boy, his books, and a blog

“Sometimes When You Dream,

January 27, 2018

you dreams come true in extraordinary ways.” -Jo March, Little Women: The Musical

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This past week, I got to have the experience of a lifetime. I got to check the last item off of my bucket list.

For those of you unfamiliar with the idea of a bucket list, it’s the list of things a person hope to achieve before they die. In my own practice, my bucket list was filled with things I never thought achievable. I wanted to give myself a list of things that were just outside of the realm of possibility so that I could challenge myself to keep working and fighting and growing.

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Filed in: Uncategorized • by Paul Randall Adams • 3 Comments

Review – The Dangerous Art of Blending In by Angelo Surmelis

January 24, 2018

Seventeen-year-old Evan Panos doesn’t know where he fits in. His strict Greek mother refuses to seem him as anything but a disappointment. His quiet, workaholic father is a staunch believer in avoiding any kind of conflict. And his best friend Henry has somehow become distractingly attractive over the summer.

Tired, isolated, scared–Evan’s only escape is drawing in an abandoned church that feels as lonely as he is. And, yes, he kissed one guy over the summer. But it’s his best friend Henry who’s now proving to be irresistible. It’s Henry who suddenly seems interested in being more than friends. And it’s Henry who makes him believe that he’s more than his mother’s harsh words and terrifying abuse. But as things with Henry heat up, and his mother’s abuse escalates, Evan has to decide how to find his voice in a world where he has survived so long by avoiding attention at all costs.

I am crying from 38,000 feet in the air as I type this. The Dangerous Art of Blending In has given me every feel, even some I didn’t know I had. It was beautifully and eloquently written. It was heartbreaking and soul shattering and amazing. It was overwhelming and wonderful and I’m currently so hungover I can’t figure out how this world existed before The Dangerous Art of Blending In and how it will continue to exist now that I’ve finished it.

Big trigger warning ahead: This book deals with child abuse in a very real and a very raw way. If this is something that is triggering to you, proceed with caution.

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Filed in: Uncategorized • by Paul Randall Adams • 3 Comments

Review – The Last Girl on Earth by Alexandra Blogier

January 22, 2018

Li has a father and a sister who love her. A best friend, Mirabae, to share things with. She goes to school and hangs out at the beach and carefully follows the rules. She has to. Everyone she knows–her family, her teachers, her friends–is an alien. And she is the only human left on Earth.

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Alright, I admit it. I judge books by their covers. I totally do. I’m going to guess most of you do, too. It’s okay, really. Here’s the things about book covers: they help us to mentally categorize books in our head. We all know a fantasy book from a mile away, even if that’s not a genre we’re familiar with, based solely on the cover. Almost 90% of the time. Sometimes publishers even use this to their advantage. When I was in college, right after Twilight became the sensation it was, some publisher recovered classic novels like Pride and Prejudice to looks just like Twilight. And it worked because we all judge books by their covers.

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The Morning After

January 18, 2018

There is nothing quite as depressing as the morning-after hangover. Everything hurts. Your head pounds. Your vision is blurred from your late night. You don’t want anybody to talk to you until you’ve had your requisite vat of coffee. And you swear to yourself that you’ll never do that to yourself again.

But we both know you will. We both know I will. We both know that we are too weak to resist. You can’t. It’s impossible. It’s an illness for which we don’t want to seek help.

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We are all victims of book hangovers.

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Review – The Museum of Us by Tara Wilson Redd

January 15, 2018

Secrets are con artists: they trick you into letting them out.

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This book was not what I was expecting when I first downloaded it. The blurb that accompanied it was vague and mysterious and something about that intrigued me.

Sadie loves her rocker boyfriend Henry and her running partner and best friend Lucie, but no one can measure up to her truest love and hero, the dazzling and passionate George. George, her secret.

When something goes wrong and Sadie is taken to the hospital calling out for George, her hidden life may be exposed. Now she must confront the truth of the past, and protect a world she is terrified to lose.

I don’t know why I was so drawn to this blurb, but it spoke to me and I wanted to read it immediately. And I’m so glad I did!

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Requiem

January 8, 2018

I have performed in over 200 concerts in my life. I’ve performed with musical legends and I’ve played in some of the most beautiful performance venues you can imagine. I’ve sung in some of the oldest churches in England and played in some of the oldest churches in Ireland. I’m playing in Carnegie Hall in two weeks.

But today I played my most important performance, ever. Today I played a performance for my Uncle Glenn, one of the most important people in my life.

My Uncle Glenn was the world’s best musician. It’s a fact. You’ve probably never heard his name. You probably never saw him perform. But he made thousands of people happy in his lifetime. All he needed was a half-in-tune guitar and he was ready to go.

Uncle Glenn’s fingers had perpetual grooves in them from the guitar. His hands spoke the years and years of playing guitar in honky tonks and VFWs and Elk’s Lodges. His voice spoke of the decades of bar smoke he inhaled and the country songs he crooned. And his smile spoke of the love and the passion he had for music every single day.

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Review – You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon

January 6, 2018

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I started my year off reading You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon. It was such a wonderful read and really something unlike I would regularly read.

A little bit about this book. It’s a short-story collection predominantly about army wives at Ft. Hood. The stories focus on families and the way they are changed and affected by their husbands’ involvement in the army. The stories are well-written and thoughtful and poignant.

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How to Go On a Date

January 3, 2018

If there’s one thing I have learned to appreciate as I’ve gotten older, it’s a good, solitary lunch. Growing up, I used to get genuine anxiety thinking about going to lunch by myself. I’d plan my meals around the schedules of others. I’d sometimes skip a meal completely just so I wouldn’t have to eat alone. These days, though, I look forward to the rare opportunity to take myself on a nice date.

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There’s something wonderful about going to a restaurant with delicious food, sipping on a sweet tea, and not worrying about anybody else’s schedule. I love turning off my phone, opening a good book, and watching people interact. For me, no lunch date is complete without chips and queso.

So, as we run into 2018 and you’re living your “New Year, New Me” thing, consider taking some time to date yourself. Here’s what I suggest:

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2018; New Year, New Reads

January 1, 2018

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Happy New Year, readers! It’s 2018. Can you believe it’s already 2018? I swear, the older I get, the more quickly years seem to fly by. It feels like I’d barely gotten my feet on the ground in 2017 before we were ringing it out. But now we’ve got a new year, 525,600 minutes to make the most of.

For many people in my life, 2017 was a dumpster fire. For much of the world that surrounds me, 2017 seemed like utter garbage. So, readers, today I challenge you to embrace the new year and to make it newer, better, cleaner, more successful than you ever thought possible.

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Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge 2018

December 30, 2017

This year I took part in the 2017 Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge. In fact, I took on the challenge of completing both lists, which was a stretch for me. Somehow, blessedly, I finished both lists and feel like a rock star for it. This year, it seems there’s only the one list and I can’t wait to start figuring out which books I’m going to select for this list. I’ve already picked a few, but I will update this post as I finish up my selections.

The list and more information about the reading challenge can be found here.

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Below I’ll list the books I’m selecting for the challenge (and will mark them off as I read them.)

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Meet Plucky

Paul sitting with a pile of books

I'm Paul! I'm a former teacher, obsessed with books, reading, art, and music. Stick around and see what I'm going to ramble about today!

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