My first experience with NetGalley- The Tanglewood Tea Shop

I'm sure I'm super late to this party, but I just discovered NetGalley!

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So now in addition to the giant pile (ok piles) of books I have to read, I can add whatever ones I get access to there. 

And yes, Marie Kondo, ALL THESE BOOKS SPARK JOY SO LAY OFF ME I'M STARVING. 

Yes Emily, all these books SPARK JOY
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So before I get too GIF happy and off topic, let's chat about the first book I tried and NetGalley. NetGalley is "a site where book reviewers and other professional readers can read books before they are published" and give reviews. I fall into the "professional reader" category, thankyouverymuch. Now, if someone would just pay me to read, we might be somewhere. 

Reviewers post their reviews to the site to share with the authors and publishers, and also share on websites like Goodreads and Amazon. I already keep track of all the books I read on Goodreads because I'm obsessive and also have a terrible memory and if you asked me what books I read last year I wouldn't be able to tell you. So this seems like a win-win. Let's all remember this day when I'm a hugely important book reviewer or influencer or something.

The first book I tried out is the "Tanglewood Tea Shop" by Lilac Mills. The cover was cute (yes, I judge by the cover) and the description sounded pleasant enough. I had a feeling it wasn't going to be my ideal style of book (I'm a sucker for a memoir or thriller I can get through in less than 24 hours), but I gave it a shot anyway. 

After a few chapters I wasn't super into it. It was a cute story, but I wasn't feeling it. I'm going to keep this mostly spoiler free, so don't worry about that. I almost gave up and read something else, but I don't like not finishing books and it seems that NetGalley keeps track of how many books you get access to and then how many you actually review. They recommend a response rate of 80% and goddammit if I'm not going to get 100% of this TEST. 

I'm glad I stuck with it because I ended up enjoying the book. It's pretty much the literary equivalent of a romantic comedy- I knew how it would end, but it was enjoyable getting there.

The story is cute- a 26 year old that's been hit by a bus, lost her job and has no romantic prospects inherits a buttload of money from her eccentric great aunt and decides to spend it on a tea shop in rural Wales. At least I think it was Wales. Might have been right on the border of England and Wales. I'll be honest, the description was a little vague and I didn't google it because I assumed it was a made up place. (Just googled, it is)

She faces adversity, adopts a cat (that's not a big spoiler because the cat is on the cover of the book), bakes a lot of fancy sounding cakes, and (SPOILER) gets the guy! It's very cute and light and a super quick read. It's definitely not my usual style of book, but sometimes you need something quick and simple to read and this fit the bill. It would be a great beach or vacation book.

And now it's time pick something new to read!

Actual footage of me at my poor provincial town's bibliotheque
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