Blog Tour: Love and Other Subjects

Title: Love and Other Subjects

Author: Kathleen Shoop

Stand Alone

Format- ebook

Publisher- Oakglen Press

Published- December 11th, 2012

Pages- 258

Source- Orangeberry Book Tours

For every woman who thought she chose the wrong career…

In Love and Other Subjects Carolyn Jenkins strives for two things—to be the greatest teacher ever and to find true love. She’s as skilled at both as an infant chowing down with a fork. Carolyn’s suburban upbringing and genuine compassion for people who don’t fit effortlessly into society are no match for weapon-wielding, struggling students, drug-using colleagues, and a wicked principal. 

Meanwhile, her budding relationship with a mystery man is thwarted by his gaggle of eccentric sisters. Carolyn depends on her friends to get her through the hard times, but with poverty-stricken children at her feet and a wealthy man at her side, she must define who she is. The reality of life after college can be daunting—the road to full-fledged adulthood is long and unscripted. Can Carolyn take control and craft the life she’s always wanted?

Carolyn has been teaching for two months and her dream of changing lives is crumpling beneath her. Her boss Mr. Klein breathes down her neck while her students constantly fight with one another. She starts wondering if becoming a teacher was a mistake. Compared to her best friends she is failing royally. Not only is her work life in shambles but her personal life too. She realizes that what her longtime boyfriend Alex wants she doesn't. She's known this for a while now but it's confirmed when she meets a mysterious man that she falls for instantly. As she tries to take control of her work and love life Carolyn has to face challenges and obstacles all around her. She must find a way to have things work for her so her life and the lives of the students that depend on her are saved.

I was really excited to read another teacher book. I was readily looking for another The Unlikely Gift of Treasure Blume. I quickly realized this book was going to be very different. It started off pretty shaky for me with an incident in the classroom that I think wasn't done right and later in what felt like her falling in the instalove trap. I groaned internally and was hoping that this didn't foreshadow the rest of the story. Luckily it did pick up when you saw Carolyn in her element - the classroom. I felt her pain when she didn't know how to react to some of these kids words and actions. I would have frozen and possibly given up if I were her. I would have burst out crying if I had a boss like hers who is the definition of evil. He just doesn't care and nothing has convinced me otherwise. His and this other woman's relationship just really made me angry. It was so inappropriate and wrong. There were moments with Carolyn that I thought were inappropriate and unnecessary too but I digress. It seems to always happen with me and adult books.

I really didn't like the relationship between her and the mysterious man who everyone said was like sixty. He apparently is fifteen years older but I don't know why it was mentioned so much. It seemed so weird. I just didn't connect with them as a couple. I did like the drama that ensued when she met his well to do family. It left me feeling sorry for Carolyn but also it provided me with some excitement seeing it all unfold around her which sounds mean but I just like drama. I felt bad for Carolyn most of the way through the book. She had to deal with so much and I wanted to see more people on her corner. I wanted her to stand up to her horrid boss. I love that she got some backbone at the end of the book. She was also sneakily being awesome with actually teaching her students without the principle knowing. I didn't like how she assumed some things about the people around her but I did see that she acknowledged she was doing something wrong. She worked hard for people to see her for who she was and to see that she was trying to be better. I really appreciated that side of her. I wish it was only her in the classroom all the time though. That's where the book kept my attention.

All of her students have a hard time reading or can't read at all. One of her students has huge issues that no one seems to notice but her until he gets Mr. Klein's attention. Ooh! That Mr. Klein. He just burns me inside. He would have someone listen to her teach over the intercom. He would criticize her teaching for hours after school. He would make her have a manual of things to ask the students or something silly like that. The kids were bored by it so they never learned anything doing things the Klein way. You don't know how happy it made me for Carolyn to actually teach these kids something and to take initiative. She got to know the students personally and I kept on thinking that this, this is what I wanted to see. It's because I didn't like the romance that when I saw her in the classroom I saw her in a new and better light. She had her faults but she was a great, caring teacher that just needed a chance.

I'm glad that there was a large portion of the book that just focused on the teaching side of her life. It's what I wanted when I decided I wanted to read this book. It was the best part of the book and I really just feel like it should have been focused on even more. After two books about teachers I've realized that I need to find and read more books like them. I don't know what it is about reading books where the teacher is the main character. Maybe all those years in a classroom it's kind of cool to get into a teacher's head. I think mostly it's because I like seeing teachers taking students on this journey and arriving at the end successful. I like hopeful books that make you want to see the good that happens in the world instead of constantly seeing the bad.

To purchase Love and Other Subjects go to:
Amazon/Barnes & Noble/Smashwords

About the Author

"After the Fog is the second novel by bestselling Kindle author Kathleen Shoop. Her debut novel, The Last Letter, garnered multiple awards in 2011.

A Language Arts Coach with a Ph.D. in Reading Education, Kathleen lives in Oakmont, Pennsylvania with her husband and two children." -About Me on Web Page

For more infor about Kathleen Shoop and her books go to:

Goodreads/Website/Twitter