Book Thoughts: Yes Man

Title: Yes Man
Author: Danny Wallace

I borrowed this book from my boyfriend a bit skeptically. I usually stick to YA and fiction. This is an adult book and a memoir.

I am glad that I decided to read it anyway.

Essentially, Danny decides to defeat his lethargy and depression by going a whole year saying only yes to every invitation, request, and opportunity. So, of course, he gets up to all sorts of wild and crazy shenanigans.

Yes Man is snarky and British and hilarious (seriously, the number of times I was in hysterics reading it is too high to count) and I absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a fun read. And not only is it fantastic, it's also true!

Read read read. What are you waiting for? (But don't see the movie. Every single person I've talked to said it was awful. The book is where it's at.)

Book Thoughts: The Pregnancy Project

Title: The Pregnancy Project
Author: Gaby Rodriguez

Gaby Rodriguez is my age -- high school class of 2011. I think that only made her story that much more powerful for me. She grew up the daughter of a single mom and the youngest of eight kids; her mom had her first child at age fifteen. Most if not all of her older siblings became parents as teens. Gaby has spent her whole life hearing that she'll never amount to anything and that she'll be a teen mom too.

She's done everything she can to reject those stereotypes; she's in the top five percent of her class, she isn't sexually active, and she has plans to be the first in her family to go to college. But still the stereotypes are there.

So for her senior project, she pretends to be pregnant. Her project is about the negative effect of stereotypes, and she lives it. For six months, she endures the snide comments and social pressure facing soon-to-be teen moms, telling only a handful of people (including her mom and boyfriend, but not her siblings or her boyfriend's parents).

Gaby deals with an incredible amount of pressure and her experience is truly powerful. I am simply awed by what a girl my age did to reach out to those around her, and I wish everyone could read this book and see how damaging stereotypes truly are and the strength of character it takes to press on despite having everyone set against you.

I don't have words for the effect this book had on me. The world I grew up in is so vastly different from the one Gaby grew up in, and her story is eye-opening. Definitely, definitely read it.