I learned about this book via Eric Garland on Twitter. He is a strategic forecaster, per his bio, and I learn a lot from his tweets. 

I find this book fascinating and essential reading for those of us more on the Left politically. 

George Lakoff lays out nicely the Conservative strategy and how best to handle those awkward family discussions that can sometimes become heated. I never know what to do myself in those moments beside walking away and it is time to engage with our own talking points and reframe the conversation. It is also disturbing the rise of control of media via Conservatives. 

He repeats his points a lot, and gives some great examples so you can understand that Conservative family member. 

My takeaways are : 

- understanding our values 

- reframing the conversations

- and having our own talking points : Stronger America, Broad Prosperity, Better Future, Effective Government, and Mutual Responsibility

A worthwhile read. 

DNF at 35%. I don't read many YA novels and although I thought the plot sounded interesting, it is not for me. And the ARC needs a good edit as well. That didn't help either.

About The Dating Debate:

Nina Barnes thinks Valentine’s Day should be optional. That way single people like her wouldn’t be subjected to kissy Cupids all over the place. That is, until her mom moves them next door to the brooding hottie of Greenbrier High, West Smith. He’s funny, looks amazing in a black leather jacket, and he’s fluent in Harry Potter, but she’s not sure he’s boyfriend material. 

West isn’t sure what to make of Nina. She’s cute and loves to read as much as he does, but she seems to need to debate everything and she has a pathological insistence on telling the truth. And West doesn’t exactly know how to handle that, since his entire life is a carefully constructed secret. Dating the girl next door could be a ton of fun, but only if Nina never finds out the truth about his home life. It’s one secret that could bring them together or rip them apart. 

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book is not for anyone who has to get in the last word, but it is for all book nerds, especially those who live next door to so called unapproachable gorgeous guys. There’s no debating the chemistry. 

Buylinks: https://entangledpublishing.com/the-dating-debate.html

Excerpt from The Dating Debate:

“So, this whole dance thing?” West picked up a fork, took a bite of rice, and stared at me like he was waiting for me to give him an easy out. Not going to happen. Mess with a smart girl and suffer the consequences.

“You started it,” was the most amusing response I could come up with.

“No.” He shook his head as if trying to emphasize his response. “You started it when you invited me in for dinner.”

“Why? Because I knew you’d rather eat dirt than join us for rice? That’s your fault for being a suck-up and carrying my mom’s food.”

“I was being nice,” he shot back.

“No good deed goes unpunished.” I batted my eyelashes at him. “Besides, I was going to help her before you rushed over.”

He looked at me like I was crazy. “So I shouldn’t have helped your mom, but it’s okay for you to shove Cole off on Vicky.”

“Please. He’s a nice guy. She’ll fall for him...maybe because he’s the total opposite of you.”

He pointed his fork at me. “Where do you get off judging me?”

“I’m not judging you. I meant you’re all black-leather- jacket-brooding loner guy, and he’s Mr.-Happy-Sunshine- everyone-is-my-friend.”

“Fine. Mr. Sunshine is out of the way now, so there’s no need for us to go to the dance.”

“Nice try,” I said. “We’re going to the dance.”

“Why?”

“Because you said we were,” I said. “And lying is never acceptable. Don’t stress about this. I’m not proposing we run off to Mexico and get matching his-and-her tattoos. We’ll just go to the dance together. No big deal.”

“Right. Nothing is ever that simple.”

The Dating Debate by Chris Cannon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nina thinks that certain holidays are just a bunch of hooey. She knows from personal experience that some relationships never work out. Instead, she tries to debate her surly neighbor and finds she may be attracted to him.

West is not sure what to make of his neighbor. She seems like an attractive person. She just always seems to take the opposition's position. Why do some women do that?

This was a book that had me laughing out loud at parts. These characters were fun to read. They do seem like opposites attract. The part where they compliment each other with their issues is a bonus.


***This ARC copy was given in exchange for an honest review, by Netgalley and its publisher.

View all my reviews

About Chris Cannon:

Chris Cannon is the award-winning author of the Going Down In Flames series and the Boyfriend Chronicles. She lives in Southern Illinois with her husband and several furry beasts.

She believes coffee is the Elixir of Life. Most evenings after work, you can find her sucking down caffeine and writing fire-breathing paranormal adventures or romantic comedies. You can find her online at www.chriscannonauthor.com.

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Nina thinks that certain holidays are just a bunch of hooey.  She knows from personal experience that some relationships never work out.  Instead, she tries to debate her surly neighbor and finds she may be attracted to him.

West is not sure what to make of his neighbor.  She seems like an attractive person.  She just always seems to take the opposition's position.  Why do some women do that?  

This was a book that had me laughing out loud at parts.  These characters were fun to read.  They do seem like opposites attract.  The part where they compliment each other with their issues is a bonus.  I give this story a 4/5 Kitty's Paws UP!

***This ARC copy was given in exchange for an honest review, by Netgalley and its publisher.

Mini-rant that I won't post on my site:

I just finished this book - Mutationem - well, by finished I mean, *I* was finished with the book, even if it wasn't finished.

I DNF'ed at 57% for a variety of reasons.

One of those reasons was the XXX adult sex in it. I mean, if you Goodreads the cover and description for Mutationem, you are given NO indication that this book is going to have a ridiculous amount over-the-top sex scenes in it. (The fact that they're lesbian sex scenes might make it even worse for some people. I didn't care.)

I swear I think the author put in this one character JUST for the chance to have a plethora of graphic sex scenes in it.

This bugged the crap out of me!

I don't mind reading erotica. One of the few anthologies I own is a best erotica anthology... but I DO mind when graphic sex pops up in books multiple times with no indication at all that it is that type of book.

Argh.