Book Review Four Ways to Wear a Dress by Gillian Libby

My thoughts about Four Ways To Wear A Dress by Gillian Libby

This post may contain affiliate links. Meaning, I get a commission if you purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Read the full disclosure here.

Disclosure: I got sent a free copy of this book by the publisher via Net Galley.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09HLF4FJR
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1728247209
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1728247205
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 7, 2022
Print length ‏ : ‎ 304 pages

The book synopsis for Four Ways To Wear A Dress by Gillian Libby

Book cover Four Ways to Wear a Dress by Gillian Libby

Gillian Libby brings you a bright, sexy, and hopeful story about friendship, self-discovery and acceptance, and fighting for your own happiness, even if it looks a little different than everyone else's.

Millie Ward has been fired. Again. She's tired of feeling like a failure, and she refuses to blame her ADHD the way her parents do every time she hits one of life's speed bumps. This time, she's going to let that speed bump actually slow her down, and jumps at the chance to visit her best friend?and Instagram influencer?Quincy in California. And she wouldn't mind if that invitation also involved getting closer with Quincy's brother, Pete.

Millie's best friends Kate and Bree send her to Peacock Bay with the little black dress they share, giving her the confidence she needs to make the move. But Peacock Bay is full of mega influencers who have perfected the look of the surf lifestyle, and a minor misunderstanding has Millie joining their ranks. Can Millie and her magical dress convince Pete to face the Bay with her, or will Millie's time in California be another misstep on her way to figuring out exactly who she is?

You might also like: My 2022 Reading Challenges

Discussing Four Ways To Wear A Dress by Gillian Libby

Quotes from Four Ways To Wear A Dress by Gillian Libby

I don’t think my parents are going to find any comfort in this explanation when I tell them I’ve been laid off. To them, it will be just one more reason to be worried that their daughter isn’t a capable, functioning adult. Which, in a way, is fair.

When the waiter comes over, I order a beer and then at the last minute shout at his back, “And the tater-tot poutine!” Because one, it’s amazing, and two, cheese-soaked carbs are good for sorrow and confusion. It’s a fact.

“I think their older sister, Amelia, runs the website and social media. Pete does more of the operations from what I understand,” I explain. Pete and Quincy are the fourth and fifth kids in their family (Quincy is number five, like quint. They’re very cute, this family.)

I pick up my phone and form my response carefully. Millie: Fuck it, I’m in. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t that careful.

I know what she’s really saying. It sounds just like the kind of thing a grown woman with ADHD would do. And I get that. But this isn’t like when I was seventeen and got fired from the giant pretzel stand for goofing around and twisting the pretzels in shapes that were “unsuitable for sale.” Penises. I made penis pretzels. I’m not proud of it.

I wish I could believe she was right. That this dress has been sitting in this box waiting for me to need it so it could come out and work its magic on me the way it did for my friends. I have nothing to lose by giving it another shot. It does look great on me, at the very least.

He smiles, he’s not a gloomy guy, but his smiles are small and controlled. Like he’s worried if he gives one out, he won’t be able to get it back.

“But don’t you think there’s something weird about presenting your entire life to strangers like that? I think Alana even posted pictures of her last home birth.” He shivers and I roll my eyes at him.

“Six a.m.,” he reminds me, like a stern professor who just gave me a deadline on a paper. I’ve never had professor-student fantasies until this exact moment.

It’s not like I’m proud of how often I find myself failing at life, but there is a little freedom in not having to feel like I have to hide it.

I follow the universal surfing rules of the lineup. I don’t steal waves. I wait my turn. I want to show the guys out here that I know what I’m doing and that I belong on these waves just as much as they do. But it really sucks that I feel like I have something to prove at all. Why can’t a girl just surf on her own and be respected for her skills the same way guys are? Why should I have to be extra careful about following the rules when the guys out here today probably aren’t even thinking about them?

“I brought the baby so you couldn’t yell at me.” “A sound strategy,” I tell him. “Plus, I know you like her better than me so she was likely to improve your general feelings about my being here.”

I really want to huff and puff my indignation a little bit longer, but this combination of sexy apologetic man holding eco-friendly goods is weirdly doing it for me.

How can someone this good looking seem so uncomfortable in his own skin? If I had that skin, I would be walking around showing it off any chance I got. And I mean that in the least serial-killer way possible.

If history and YouTube have taught us anything, it’s that people love to see other people make complete assholes of themselves.

Just because we mess up doesn’t mean we ARE messed up.

Where to find Four Ways To Wear A Dress by Gillian Libby online:

Amazon affiliate link

Goodreads

You might also like: The Ultimate Guide for Book Bloggers

Are you a book blogger? Check out 101 Blog Post Ideas For Book Bloggers

Book Club Kit: The Girl From Venice by Siobhan Daiko

Disclosure: The FTC Disclosure Provision is a law that requires influencers to disclose when they are being paid to promote a product or service. So please know that if I'm not making money through affiliate links/sponsored content on the post you're currently reading, it's an oversight on my part and will be corrected soon. Read the full disclosure about all the legal stuff here.

Please be aware going into this post that it is for people who have read the book and therefore contains some spoilers.

About the book

Publisher: Asolando Books

Genre: Historical fiction, World War II

Number of pages: 310 pages

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8506469889

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B093SRRM5D

Published: June 29, 2021

Purchasing links: Amazon - Barnes and Noble

Goodreads

Trigger Warnings: Death, Miscarriage, PTSD, Rape

Book Covers

Book Synopsis

Lidia De Angelis has kept a low profile since Mussolini's racial laws wrenched her from her childhood sweetheart. But when the Germans occupy Venice in 1943, she must flee the city to save her life.

Lidia joins the partisans in the Venetian mountains, where she meets David, an English soldier fighting for the same cause. As she grows closer to him, harsh Nazi reprisals and Lidia’s own ardent anti-fascist activities threaten to tear them apart.

Decades later in London, while sorting through her grandmother’s belongings after her death, Charlotte discovers a Jewish prayer book, unopened letters written in Italian, and a fading photograph of a group of young people in front of the Doge’s Palace.

Intrigued by her grandmother’s refusal to talk about her life in Italy before and during the war, Charlotte travels to Venice in search of her roots. There, she learns not only the devastating truth about her grandmother’s past, but also some surprising truths about herself.

A heart-breaking page-turner, based on actual events in Italy during World War II

About the Author

Siobhan Daiko, Author of The Girl From Venice

Siobhan Daiko is an international bestselling historical romantic fiction author. A lover of all things Italian, she lives in the Veneto region of northern Italy with her husband, a Havanese dog and two rescued cats. After a life of romance and adventure in Hong Kong, Australia and the UK, Siobhan now spends her time writing and living her best life near Venice. You can find her on Facebook: Asolando Books, Twitter: @siobhandaiko

Authors website

Author Interviews

The Girl from Venice is a story I’ve wanted to write for years. The family next door to our old place hid a Jewish couple during the war, and, in nearby Bassano del Grappa, there are trees bearing memorials where young partisans were hung by the Nazi-Fascists in September 1944. I needed to do a lot of research before I could sit down and write The Girl from Venice, a daunting task, but I finally got round to doing it and I hope readers will like the story that emerged. Read the full interview by @MagicofWorldsBE

Book Reviews

My Review of The Girl From Venice by Siobhan Daiko

My knowledge of the Italian Resistance was that it existed but that was all. The Girl From Venice enriched my knowledge in a way that was not an info dump. Read the full review by @Berry_Train

The Venetian setting of this novel sets it apart from much of the WWII fiction focused on Germany, Poland, and Austria, and will appeal to readers with a particular interest in the time period. Read the full review by Susan the Librarian

This book is so utterly riveting, I simply could not put it down. This is the sort of book that I could read again and again. Read the full review by Like a Thousand Lives

This book is incredibly gripping, and the writing has that certain spark that makes it next to impossible to put down. I didn’t want to stop reading, and I was disappointed when I had finished it and had no more pages left to read. This book should be on your to-read list. Read the full review by The Whispering Bookworm

There are scenes in this book that will have you wishing for a different outcome, and hoping that everything will end up alright. This book does not gloss over the horrors of war, nor the treatment many prisoners suffered, but this adds to the story. Read the full review by Candlelight Reading

This book was absolutely enthralling from beginning to end and I adored every second of reading it! Read the full review by Oh Look Another Book

Awards

The Coffee Pot Book Club Book of the Year Award- Gold Medal 2021

Discussion Questions

How do you think Charlotte's story helped tell the story of what happened to Lidia? Did it add to the story as a whole?

Why do you think Lidia never told anyone, including family, about her life in Italy?

Did you learn anything new about World War II from reading this book that you weren't aware of previously?

Lidia's father decided not to leave Venice. Would you have stayed like he did or would you have left to build a new life like Renzo and his family?

Do you think you could travel to Italy (or another country) on your own like Charlotte did?

How do you think reading books about past wars can help us in the future?

Quotes from The Girl From Venice by Siobhan Daiko

‘Five more years to go. Seems like a lifetime…’ ‘For you, it does, because you are young. Five years, for me, will pass in a flash.’

‘All Jews have been expelled from the university,’ he said without preamble. She gasped. ‘What do you mean, “expelled from the university”?’ ‘I went to register, and they shoved a piece of paper at me. There’s been a Royal Decree excluding Jews from public office and higher education.’ Renzo’s deep baritone voice seemed to have gone up an octave. Lidia shook her head. ‘There must be a misunderstanding. They can’t do this to us.’ ‘We’re Jews and that’s a good enough reason for them.’

‘I don’t think it was that. The generational gap between parents and children was very different when I was growing up. It seems that everyone talks about everything nowadays. In those days, it was normal for adults to keep things from children. Many of us had parents who’d suffered horrible experiences in the war and they preferred to forget all about them.’

I’d read that there was a monument in the square with a list of the Venetian Jews who’d been deported to concentration camps from the city between 1943 and 1944. My skin tingled with nerves; I hoped I wouldn’t find Gran’s family’s name etched onto the memorial.

Obviously, those air raid sirens had been a distraction. People’s eyes had been on the sky and the noise had prevented them from hearing what was going on. Would they have done anything, though? She doubted it; they would have been too afraid—

It had been as if they were possessed by the Devil as well as by the Nazis. Evil incarnate. She shuddered. How could they have done what they did?

‘I think we should defend the summit to the last man, show the Germans that Italians know how to die,’ Rocco insisted. But Silvio, who’d been quiet up to that point, shook his head. ‘Wouldn’t it be better we show them we know how to live?’

Francesca gave my arm a squeeze. ‘Italians pitted against Italians. Germany pitted against the Allies. Young people fired up by the spirit of insurrection. It was a terrible time in Italy.’

‘And it’s happening again today in other parts of the world.’

You might also like: Book Club Kit: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

You might also like: Incredible Five Star Books You Need to Read

Are you a book blogger? Check out 101 Blog Post Ideas For Book Bloggers

If you'd like to support me, donating goes a long way to helping with the running of this blog. Thanks for your support 💗

Donate now

Tips from an experienced book blogger

What I've learnt in over 10 years of book blogging

I started book blogging in 2006 back when tripod was the website platform of choice and Myspace was the place to hang out online. As you can imagine, a lot has changed since then.

If you want to know more about the current state of the book blogging industry and what average stats look like for 2022 check out the Book blogging in 2022 survey.

I moved over to this blog on 1st June 2012 so today is my blogiversary. I wanted to take this opportunity to look back over the years and share some of the things I've learnt along the way.

Back on 1st June 2012 I got just 27 page views for that first day. Since starting this blog it's had a total of over 1.21 million page views so far. My blog and I have had quite a journey.

What I've learnt from over a decade as a book blogger

A passion for books

Firstly you need to be passionate about books. If you're not truly interested in the subject you blog about you'll lose steam pretty fast. It will also, most likely, show to your readers. So, if you're thinking about starting a book blog ask yourself if you're likely to get bored of talking about books. If the answer is no, you've found your community.

I don't think I'll ever get bored of talking about; books, publishing, reading, book blogging,etc.. and so after all these years feel pretty confident that I found my niche.

Read what you want

Read the books you want to read. Don't get caught up in trying to reading every trending book. Time is too limited as it is to be able to read all the books we want to read so don't go wasting any time on books you don't really want to read. Why force yourself to read a certain genre if you don't enjoy it? It would just be a waste of time.

Not everyone can read hundreds of books a year. That's OK. We lead busy lives and some of us are slower readers. It doesn't make us any less of a book blogger.

Consistency is key

When it comes to blogging it's not so much important how often you post, but more the fact that you post regularly. Whilst posting every day is great it's not essential for getting good traffic. Posting on the same day or days each week however does wonders.

Plan for perfection

Schedule in advance when you can. This really takes the stress out of posting. It also allows for better planned content and helps you make sure you're sharing a variety of content over the course of the week/month. If you need some inspiration for what to post about check out the 101 Blog Post Ideas For Book Bloggers post I did back October 2020. Scheduling in advance also helps make sure you're posting on the same days/times each week.

Team work makes the dream work

Collaborations are dynamite for pageviews and also a lot of fun. For more reasons why you should consider doing more collaboration posts check out this post I did back in February 2021 Reasons To Collaborate With Other Bloggers. If you're not sure what to do for collaborations check out Book Blogger Collaboration Ideas.

It's OK to say no

You don't have to agree to every book review request or book tour. If you try to say yes to every request you'll soon hit burn out and get overwhelmed. Be selective and only take on tasks you want to do that fit your schedule. Remember if you’re not getting paid for it, you’re not obligated to do it.

Your opinion matters

Everyone rates books differently and that's OK. Want to know more about how I rate books? Check out Book Reviews: Star Rating Systems for Books. It also gives insight into the other rating systems that are often used by book bloggers.

You might also like: Book Reviews: Can You Trust Book Bloggers?

Be you

Just be yourself. Don't try to copy anyone else. What works for one person won't necessarily work for another anyway. It's much better to be your original, unique self. No one can be more youer than you! Stand out for being who you are instead of trying to be someone else.

Know your limits

Whether it's how frequently you post, the type of content you're comfortable with, or how you interact online know your limits. It can all be a bit overwhelming if you try to do everything and be everywhere. Find what works for you. Ways To Avoid Book Blogging Burn Out.

It's a work in progress

We never stop learning especially when it comes to book blogging. Constant changes to technology, algorithms, etc... mean that the learning curve never ends.

If you want to take your book blog seriously and care about whether people read it or not, then you need to learn a bit about the technical aspects of blogging. Some posts you might find helpful include; SEO for Book Bloggers: How to Improve SEO for Book Reviews, Things That Should Be In Every Blog Post, and Book Blogging 101: Everything You Need To Know About Metadata.

Want to know more about book blogging? Check out The Ultimate Guide for Book Bloggers for a wide variety of resources and advice.

What I've learnt in over 10 years of book blogging

If you'd like to support me, donating goes a long way to helping with the running of this blog. Thanks for your support 💗

Donate now

Book Blogger Posts Round Up

A collection of blog posts by book bloggers

This post may contain affiliate links. Meaning, I get a commission if you purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Read the full disclosure here.

Looking for new bookish content to read? Want to discover some new book bloggers to follow? Look no further!

I introduced this new feature here on the blog in May 2021 to showcase blog posts by other book bloggers. I'll be linking up a variety of blog posts so hopefully there will be something to suit all tastes.

The following posts were submitted for inclusion in this round up via my Twitter, where I asked for posts. I'll be continuing to do this every month.

Why?

Because I like reading blog posts by other book bloggers and thought you might too. Finding the time to scan through various social media feeds to find suitable content can take up valuable time though and so I figured I'd make it easier and put together a collection here on the blog.

My plan is to include a wide variety of content so there's something for everyone. You'll find book reviews, interviews, discussion pieces and more...

Want to be included in future round ups? Follow my Twitter profile and keep an eye out for the submission tweet.

May 2022 Book Blogger Round Up

@bitchbookshelf posted about What to Know Before You Start Reading Romance Novels. Romance is easily my favorite genre, but I think it’s largely misunderstood. It’s about more than Hallmark-worthy plots, pretty dresses, and spicy scenes. Here are four things I think all readers should know if they’re interested in getting into the romance genre.

@ReadingLadiesBC took part in #TopTenTuesday with her post One Word Reviews of 10 Five Star (adult) Fiction Reads.

@Honolulubelle reviewed The Florentine by Tom Trott. "Tom Trott’s writing has never failed to entertain and always contains several stupendous twists I could never have conjured in my wildest imaginings". Read her full review here.

@WordsofMystery did a reading recap in her post what I read in April. "Not going to lie, April may have been an even more lacklustre reading month for me. A couple of reads I was looking forward to ended up disappointing me."

@TheBurgeBkshelf reviewed Rising Dust by Fleur McDonald. "Rising Dust is a wonderful blend of police procedural, crime, suspense and character development." Read her full review here.

@alitescape reviewed To Bleed A Crystal Bloom by Sarah A. Parker. "This book was so difficult for me to put down. In fact, I binge read the last 50% for the better part of a day. I’m not an expert reader of adult dark fantasy, but this is the darkest fantasy I’ve read so far." Read her full review here.

@SifaPoulton shared her review of the ARC Under Fortunate Stars by Ren Hutchings. "UNDER FORTUNATE STARS is a delightfully intricate, twisty time travel book where a vessel crucial to peace and one over a century and a half later both slip through space time. I loved watching them having to work together despite the expectations put on the Jonah‘s crew and their reactions to it." Read her full review here.

What bookish blog posts did you enjoy reading in May? Have a favourite book you read in May that you want to share?

In case you missed it, don't forget to check out the April Round Up for even more great bookish posts by different book bloggers.