Review: Data, A Love Story
Title: Data, A Love Story: How I Gamed Online Dating to Meet My Match
Author: Amy Webb
Publisher: Dutton
Release: January 31, 2013
Format: eBook from Publisher
Forty million people date online each year. Most don’t find true love. Thanks to Data, a Love Story, their odds just got a whole lot better.
Data, A Love Story: How I Gamed Online Dating to Meet My Match is a lively, thought-provoking memoir about how one woman “gamed” the world of online dating—and met her eventual husband.—via Goodreads
I met my boyfriend online.
When people are skeptical or amazed by this (especially my friends who do date online and haven’t had much luck) I tell them that online dating is easy. The hard part is being completely honest about a) who you are, and b) what you want out of online dating.
So when I heard about Data, A Love Story I was immediately intrigued. Partly because I like funny lady memoirs, partly because I’m always into people who are smart enough to game things—especially Internety things, because that requires a much higher level of math than my brain can fathom—and partly because I wanted to know how Webb was successful with online dating, since I’ve also been successful with it.
All in all, Webb’s book is a really great read: honest, funny, sad at times, and really really smart. However—the way Webb went about “gaming” online dating included making 10 male profiles and email addresses so she could scope out her female competition. Which is, you know, a little creepy, but fine. It’s fine. And then she conversed with other women on the site as a guy for “research” which bordered on Catfish for me.
I mean, it never went into “I want to be with you forever but I refuse to meet you” territory—when she was pretending to be a guy she was never ever ever saying things that would lead anyone on—but still. There’s something a little creeptastic about pretending to be not only one—but ten—different men when you are a woman. The up side to it was that Webb’s brain was doing incredible math aerobics while she collected data on not only what other women’s profiles were like, but HOW they went about conversing with men. She made word clouds, charts, graphs, spreadsheets, and things more complicated than that that caused my head to hurt just looking at them.
It’s really intense.
Overall, this is a fun read about a woman who refused to settle for someone who did not meet every piece of criteria she wanted in a husband. Luckily, she gamed online dating and in this book basically tells you how you too can do it. If you so choose. But more than that, I think every woman who reads this will identify with Amy’s frustrations and concerns and will celebrate Amy’s triumphs right along with her.
Top Ten Tuesday: Settings I’d Like to See More Often
Hello, and Happy Tuesday!
This week, the lovely ladies at The Broke and Bookish and wondering about setting: specifically, which ones should be a little more popular.
1. Theme Parks
My mom and me (wearing unfortunate shorts. Ugh.) with Hogwarts in the distance. (Universal Studios Islands of Adventure)
I loooooove theme parks. And as a teen, they were basically a playground of foreplay. I mean think about it: chaperones were lax, there are dark rides so you can make out, and there are roller coasters and water rides, which are fun and thrilling on their own, but when you add a flirtation component? C’mon. Best day ever.
Books I’ve enjoyed with theme parks: Past Perfect by Leila Sales, upcoming How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True by Sarah Strohmeyer
2. Farms/Ranches
Cowboys. Barns. Horses. Guitars. Bonfires. Cowboy boots. Wide open spaces. Yes, please.
Books I’ve enjoyed with farms/ranches: Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore; From Ashes by Molly McAdams
3. Spaceships
Admittedly, I haven’t read Beth Revis’s Across the Universe series, but I hear that it’s AMAZING and I know that I need to remedy that. WITH THAT SAID, I’d love to see a YA series that is like Firefly—a space western—or maybe like Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century, complete with intergalactic rock stars.
4. Rural Locations
Okay, you got me. This is here so you can ogle Taylor Kitsch. YOU’RE WELCOME.
I’d love to pick up a book that has a setting with the feel of Capeside from Dawson’s Creek or Dillon from Friday Night Lights or Bluebell from Hart of Dixie.
5. Diners
Diners are sort of like bars when you’re a teenager. You can go and casually hang out there and order the same thing every time you go and you can always have basically the same, but enjoyable time every single time you’re there. In most books I’ve read that feature diners, the diner is a workplace for the main character, which I love since I had a job as a teen and appreciate when fictional teens have jobs. But there’s something so kitschy and warm and familiar about a diner, that it just makes me happy.
Books with I’ve enjoyed with diners: Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler; Speechless by Hannah Harrington; Just One Day by Gayle Forman.
6. Eastern Europe
I really love books that are set in other countries, but I’m (I can’t believe I’m about to say this) a little tired of London/Paris. Okay, not TIRED, but I’d like some European diversity. I’ve looooved reading Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone and though there is a lot a lot a lot of stuff happening with the setting, a big part of it is in the Czech Republic and I adore it and I would love to see more stuff set in that part of the world.
7. Ski resorts
Snow. Mountains. Ski lifts. Snow lodges. Apres ski. Fireplaces. Hot Chocolate surreptitiously spiked with peppermint schnapps. Kissing in front of the fireplace whilst drinking spiked hot chocolate. Okay, I’m just going to write that book. DIBS.
8. On the Brink of Revolution America
I’d love to see a YA/New Adult version of Felicity from American Girl.
9. Early 1900s Egypt
So much tomb excavating was going on! And curses! And treasure stealing! And deaths! And excitement!
10. Mid-1800s Bavaria
The royal family of Bavaria was BONKERS in the greatest of ways. And they built all of the castles that the princess castles at Disney are based on. Win-win.
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish.
What’s Making Me Happy {20}
Today, I’m in Aspen.
It’s 10 degrees outside right now.
It’s insanely gorgeous and charming here.
I want to move here and be a ski bunny.
That’s basically my new life goal: Talk boyfriend into buying a cabin in Colorado so that I can be a lady who brunches and skis.
(Hahahahaha.)
But other than being in Aspen visiting a friend, there are some other things making me happy this week.
1. Lost Girl.
This is a complete guilty pleasure of a show that Netflix recommended to me. It’s about a succubus. There’s a Hot Vest-Wearing Sheriff. (Evidence below.)
Lots of sexy going on up in there. It’s not as porny as True Blood can be, but there’s a lot of sex happening.
2. Avengers-inspired Dresses
These are awesome and needed.
3. Helloooo Young Christoph Waltz
He was very attractive. I mean, he still is a handsome man, but. Well. You can see.
4. NETHERFIELD BALL
To celebrate the 200th anniversary of my beloved Pride and Prejudice, BBC is recreating Netherfield Ball.
I KNOW.
5. The xx
I’ve been aware of this band existence for awhile now, but I’d never really taken the time to sit and down and actively listen to them.
I have remedied that.
I am glad.
Happy Sunday everyone!
View from the top of Aspen Mountain. Be jealous.
When Your Boyfriend Goes to Paris, You Act Like a Total Bitch
My boyfriend works in international arbitration.
We haven’t lived in the same hemisphere for over a year.
He spends all of his time in Singapore (where he lives), and then for work this week he headed to The Netherlands, and then when the hearing ended earlier than planned his boss told him to use the time that they were supposed to still be in The Netherlands to just…hang out in Europe.
I know.
So he’s in Paris—a city he cares absolutely nothing about in the way that his girlfriend who minored in French, but has never actually been to a French-speaking country, let alone EFFING PARIS, does—because his French roommate, who lives with him in Singapore, is currently in Paris selling screws or something to a construction site.
And he’s all, “I wish you could be in Paris too” and instead of being sweet, like a normal person would be, I’m all, “Yeah, well, I’m poor, and have a job I can’t just not show up to, and also I have plans to go to Colorado this weekend.”
And then when I think about all of the very Parisian things he will see and eat and flirt with, I get jealous. (I’m weirdly okay with the flirting. That’s just something you do in Paris. I mean, look at those people. How could you NOT?)
I realize I don’t want him to text me pictures or tell me about this trip at all because I am so jealous that it makes me want to punch people. And maybe also, I’ve secretly hoped that maybe, MAYBE Paris would be the place we both get to see together for the first time, because a) he is extremely well-traveled, b) I am not because I made stupid decisions in college/life, and c) sometimes you don’t want to be the inexperienced American in a foreign country and it would make it a little better if the person you were with was also an inexperienced American so that you wouldn’t feel bad dragging your experienced American friend to all the touristy spots.
And then, when I get all passive-aggressively angry about his going to Paris out of convenience because I’m a jealous jealous lady who is very shallow and selfish, he points out that I’m going to Colorado this weekend to visit a friend who lives there even though I don’t care anything about Colorado other than the fact that my friend is there.
He has a point. WHICH IS NOT THE SAME AT ALL.
BUT! To top it off, he’s all, “I’d rather go skiing in Colorado. You’re going there without me even though you know I love to ski.”
And I’m like, “DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING?! PARIS AND COLORADO ARE NOT THE SAME AT ALL. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.”
Life is stupid.
Review: Undeadly
Title: Undeadly
Author: Michele Vail
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: November 20, 2012
Format: eBook via Netgalley
Molly Bartolucci wants to blend in, date hottie Rick and keep her zombie-raising abilities on the down-low. Then the god Anubis chooses her to become a reaper—and she accidentally undoes the work of another reaper, Rath. Within days, she’s shipped off to the Nekyia Academy, an elite boarding school that trains the best necromancers in the world. And her personal reaping tutor? Rath.
Life at Nekyia has its plusses. Molly has her own personal ghoul, for one. Rick follows her there out of the blue, for another…except, there’s something a little off about him. When students at the academy start to die and Rath disappears, Molly starts to wonder if anything is as it seems. Only one thing is certain—-Molly’s got an undeadly knack for finding trouble….—via Goodreads
Undeadly had a lot going on.
It’s a book of discovery—Molly, a girl who believes she’s nothing more than a necromancer, which, you should know, is totally common place in the near-to-present-reality setting of this book—turns out to be a very special kind of reaper, chosen by Anubis, the Egyptian god of the afterlife himself, who is a god that teens learn about in school since the world they live in is rife with zombies, ghosts, and ghouls.
But that’s not all—Molly meets another reaper, Rath, during a very bizarre situation, learns about her mother’s background, meets some long-lost relatives, enrolls in fancy boarding school, is inducted into a high-fallutin’ secret society, has visions, fights some crime, and starts training to be a kick-ass reaper.
All in less than 300 pages.
To say the pace of this book is brisk is an understatement.
And though it’s a crowded plot, the book is fun. Molly reminds me of Evie from Kiersten White’s Paranormalcy series: she’s perky and yearns to be nothing more than a typical teenage girl. But she accepts her fate with resolve and goes for it with everything she has.
However, this book was a little shallow for me—I wanted Vail to dig deeper into some of the emotional scenes, because, seriously, Molly has A LOT going on in this book. There were some things that I think Vail could have taken a little more time with—and a couple plot points that could have perhaps not been introduced in the first book at all—that would have allowed for Molly to grow a little more as a character than she did.
Overall, Undeadly is a fun read that mixes Egyptian mythology, necromancy, boarding schools, ghosts, and hot reaper dudes. It’s perfect for a night that you don’t want to go out, but also don’t want to read anything heavy. It will keep you entertained throughout and serve as good company while you’re snuggled up on the couch.
Bethany Larson 