Apprentice to the Flower Poet Z. by Debra Weinstein

I read Apprentice to the Flower Poet Z. by Debra Weinstein in order to fulfil a prompt for a reading challenge I'm doing. 

In this book, Annabelle, a sophomore at a prestigious New York City school, is apprenticed to celebrated poet Z. In addition to doing research for Z., Annabelle becomes entwined with Z.'s family, runs personal errands for her, and begins to see signs that all is not right in Z.'s world. 

Have you ever read a book that's definitely for a niche audience and that audience does not include you? Full of references and allusions that you know probably mean something to someone, but not you? I suspect this book is hilarious and insightful if you are the sort of person who has been to a writing workshop class or have spent time rubbing elbows with the creative intelligentsia of New York City, but as I am that sort of person, this book missed its mark with me. I mostly wanted to tell Annabelle to stop whining, get a new job, and start going to classes, but then I remembered that when I was twenty, I was an idiot, too.

2.5/5 stars

Lines of note:

I don't understand prolificacy, these writers writing a dozen 850-page books. Who has that much to say? (page 159)

lololol. As I dive into the newest Cormoran Strike novel under the Robert Galbraith name (960 pages, naturally), I feel this is my very soul. I only have a 21-day loan from the library. Can I do it?

"They say that if someone collects nothing, that's as telling as what he or she does collect." (page 165)

I think the more telling thing is what they do with the things they collect. If they collect musical instruments, but never play them, what is the point? If they collect ornaments that sit on a shelf and are never used, what is the point? If they collect endless postcards and notecards, but mail them on a regular basis, that IS the point. 

If I've learned anything about the Bovardine family, it's that hair is the barometer of their emotional life. (page 192)

This is true in my world. When I'm in the throes of emotional turmoil, the first thing I do is cancel hair appointments and stop buying hair product. It's actually a really good gauge of my mental health. 

Hat mentions:

Z. says, "Well, hats off to you, Annabelle..." 

The only hat in the whole book!