I really loved the first half of this: 5 stars. The prose is fantastic. And it set up an interesting situation. And I enjoyed the commentary about acting and motherhood and race. I was fascinated by how she could look at an action or a facial expression of one of the other characters and just change her whole view of the relationship. Over ascribing meaning to every little gesture. It seemed exhausting to live like that, but I was interested. Then at first I was interested in the second half - I was disoriented but excited to find out what was going on. But it lead to nothing. It got all abstract and stopped being interesting to me once I realized there was no way to reconcile everything. I loved it so much but by the end I felt like I had wasted my time.

I'm too old to have any experience with iCarly or Sam and Cat, but the book cover grabbed me - especially with that title and her pained smile. While she does talk a little bit about her time on Nickelodeon, the bulk of the book is about her relationship with her mother, who she was very close with, but who was also mentally and sexually abusive. The way she presents it is darkly funny and heartbreaking at the same time.
It's a very candid view into Jennette's life and experiences as a child in Hollywood. She doesn't hold any punches. She was painfully micromanaged throughout her entire life by her toxic mother. And even as an adult, she didn't seem to have many non-toxic relationships in her life.
I'll note she goes into great detail about her eating disorder (given to her by her mother) - so I would proceed with caution there.
I hope the process of writing has helped with healing - and I'd be interested in seeing what she writes next if she chooses to continue writing.

I'm too old to have any experience with iCarly or Sam and Cat, but the book cover grabbed me - especially with that title and her pained smile. While she does talk a little bit about her time on Nickelodeon, the bulk of the book is about her relationship with her mother, who she was very close with, but who was also mentally and sexually abusive. The way she presents it is darkly funny and heartbreaking at the same time.
It's a very candid view into Jennette's life and experiences as a child in Hollywood. She doesn't hold any punches. She was painfully micromanaged throughout her entire life by her toxic mother. And even as an adult, she didn't seem to have many non-toxic relationships in her life.
I'll note she goes into great detail about her eating disorder (given to her by her mother) - so I would proceed with caution there.
I hope the process of writing has helped with healing - and I'd be interested in seeing what she writes next if she chooses to continue writing.

Consistent with the other books in the series thus far. Ana and Din are the same as ever, and it was fun to meet Din's sister. We get more about the world these characters inhabit, and that was interesting. And the mystery itself kept me intrigued. Again, some of the descriptions are pretty gruesome, but I've come to expect that with this series.

I really liked parts of this, but I also kept waiting for things to happen and it never really felt like it got going. It also just felt very much like it was written by a man about men.

This was fun, and it was easier to root for Avery than for the main character in Ember (though she felt a little unrealistic at times - she wouldn't shop at world market). I definitely felt the Hannah Montana influence, which was both good and bad. But it was a quick fun read.

This was a lot fun. I enjoyed the banter between Lucy and Marsh and enjoyed just watching them hang out. But like the first book by this author, it was a little too long, and the third act breakup was kind of goofy.

This was a great collection of essays. I enjoyed the essays about the essays just as much as the essays themselves. Some ideas were a little repetitive and a teeny bit outdated, but I enjoyed this collection.

I thought this was a great read until the ending. But the book needs to end! Margot's chapter should have ended like Krissy's chapter or it should have been clear that Margot would escape, but leaving it ambiguous was just annoying. It ended up just feeling unfulfilling and rushed. It made me examine the rest of the book more closely, and other flaws jumped out. Like Margot just getting too easily sidetracked! She couldn't get anything done - like making a copy of that key! Even though I enjoyed the first half or so - and particularly Krissy's chapters - I was just annoyed in the end.

This was really interesting. I was familiar with a lot of the concepts here, but enjoyed hearing it in more detail and from the source. It's very accessible. And Dawkins is very good at explaining with metaphors or using fun examples in the animal world. Glad I finally picked this one up.

This was fascinating but also not at the same time. The world is very dreamlike like Alice in Wonderland or Piranesi or something. I had a guess at what was happening pretty early on, and I think I was right, so in some ways that made the book not that interesting. But there was something compelling about it too. You get little drips and drops about the main characters life. But there wasn't really a main ploy or driving narrative. Strange. I'll probably think on this one for a while.

I've been putting this one off because I knew it would be sad. And it was sad, but it was also very good. There's a lot of books about sad Americans in Europe, but this one has great writing. I could feel the loneliness and the struggle. In some ways it reminds me of the Talented Mr. Ripley, which I read recently and was written around the same time, but with less murder and sociopaths. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

This was cute. Apparently I read a new version that was revised in 2026 - I'm curious about what changed. If you're expecting a Jane Austen novel, you'll probably be disappointed. But for a modern rom com, it was fun.

I thought this was a lot of fun. I was invested. I enjoyed the multiple timelines and how everything came together. The characters were interesting, though I wish we got more time with any given character. Scout, Isabel, Grey, Rosie, Julia - I wanted more from all of them.

The plot was fun - though pretty goofy at times - and the characters were fun too. Arthur was a little bit boring, but everyone else made up for that. The language and stuff felt pretty modern at times, but it's a goofy story with zebras, so I didn't take it too seriously.

Parts of this were cute, and parts of this were super goofy. The language also just felt so modern to me at times that it took me out of the story. There were also a few things that got set up and never really paid off - like the fact that Peter was American didn't really seem to matter at all in the end.

Not as much happened as in the first one, but I still really enjoyed it. It was more about the school than I was expecting - so not sure if the third one will venture out or not. Either way, I'm really enjoying this series and all the characters.

This was a great collection of stores. Not every one was a 5 star hit, and some parts were disturbing, but on the whole the stories were super thought provoking. Perfect Match seems especially prescient today.

As a queer native woman, I really hoped to love this one. Some of the ideas in here were really interesting, but the book just felt so disjointed. And I had no one to root for: Steph was just so selfish and self-absorbed and reckless and stubborn! And she never grows as a character or learns anything. And her sister Kayla and her mother are self-absorbed too, though in slightly different ways. Parts of their stories were interesting, but didn't really fit with Steph's story. The author was just trying to explore too many topics.
I also don't like how the character Della was used as a plot device - especially since she completely disappeared halfway through after being a POV character (well she had a minor appearance later but basically disappeared). It should have been a book about Della or she shouldn't have been included at all.
The blurb also made it sound like there'd be a lot more space, but it was a lot of her childhood and college life. At the same time, we skipped over years of her life that I would have been interested in - like her learning she got into NASA, which was her main drive.

Part of me thought this was really great - interesting topic, interesting writing, and gave me a lot to think about. But part of me really disliked the way certain things were handled, and thought it felt really disjointed and almost too much. I was most interested in Roya and I don't know that we got enough of her. Still, other parts were unforgettable.

This was kinda fun and kinda dumb but completely unnecessary. It moved quicker than the first one though! But I could not buy that Daphne would go back to visit Jackson, and most of her decisions made no sense. I enjoyed Daisy Ann's story though!

Parts of this were interesting and helpful. But some parts were less helpful and bogged down in "TJ" lingo - it didn't seem that useful for a lay person. It wasn't organized in a way that's super helpful if you were in an emergency and wanted to find what to do. But there were some interesting ideas here.

This was a fun read. Parts of it were a bit slow, but I didn't mind. Amber also felt a little flat, but I still thought it was an enjoyable ride.

This was good, but it felt a little YA. The love story was cute, but wasn't 100% the center of things. There was a lot about anxiety and tennis and his relationship with his coach and a little about grief. Parts of it were just a little too disorganized and I would have rather zoomed out and watched his journey over more of his career instead of just the two weeks we got - or at least some sort of epilogue. Still, it was good!

I appreciated parts of this, but it's more like a bunch of thinly connected short stories than a novel. And the vignettes are short! I was very interested in Esperanza, but I feel like I didn't get enough of her. Overall, this was good, but also emotional.

I liked this one as much as the first two. This was cute and I had a great time reading it. As this book acknowledged, it's hard to have a modern fake dating trope because it can get silly really fast. This just sort of leaned into it and pulled it off. Fun series.

I loved the first part of this, but found it harder to connect with the last three parts. Just so much about Sissy's life was familiar to me. Still, I appreciated Lillian, Cora, and Jesse's chapters, even if I didn't like reading them as much. (Maybe it's just too hard to read about the boarding schools). I loved the way the dolls were involved in the story.

I liked this one even more than the Golden Compass. It's not as Lyra-centric--you get introduced to Will right away, and follow his point-of-view for much of the book. You also get several chapters from Lyra's friends from the first book--Lee, the witches, Mary the scientist. It's cool to see our world through the eyes of Lyra, and seeing Lyra's dust through the eyes of Mary. But best of all, I love seeing Lyra and Will's friendship blossom.

I liked this one even more than the Golden Compass. It's not as Lyra-centric--you get introduced to Will right away, and follow his point-of-view for much of the book. You also get several chapters from Lyra's friends from the first book--Lee, the witches, Mary the scientist. It's cool to see our world through the eyes of Lyra, and seeing Lyra's dust through the eyes of Mary. But best of all, I love seeing Lyra and Will's friendship blossom.

I liked this one even more than the Golden Compass. It's not as Lyra-centric--you get introduced to Will right away, and follow his point-of-view for much of the book. You also get several chapters from Lyra's friends from the first book--Lee, the witches, Mary the scientist. It's cool to see our world through the eyes of Lyra, and seeing Lyra's dust through the eyes of Mary. But best of all, I love seeing Lyra and Will's friendship blossom.

Another great entry into the series. This was the earliest one chronologically, and I enjoyed seeing Chih as a novice still figuring things out. They're still a little naive, and don't quite have that relationship with Almost Brilliant yet. and of course the story about the refugees and the tensions there is relevant to today.

Again, this was a lot of fun. I love these goofy characters and the crazy schemes they get themselves into. I love the four main characters, and I'm a fan of the pretty much every side characters as well. I didn't really care about the mystery, but it was a lot of fun watching everything unfold.

This was great, but pretty duplicative of How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk. You don't need to read both. There were some tips here that were helpful that weren't included in the other book, but I still didn't like it as much. It seemed a bit more cynical despite being more recent.

I've been carting this around for years. Glad I finally read it, but it was a hard read emotionally. I take a lot of things for granted.

Although I'm not necessarily planning on having kids right this second (although I'm not counting it out...), I still found this enlightening and fascinating. The book itself was easy to read, and enjoyed her writing style. I admit I just got back from almost two weeks in Europe/France, and loved the vibe and culture. In helping to understand how French kids are raised, maybe I can incorporate some of that vibe and culture into my life. I made a lot of similar observations to the author here: French kids don't throw food, could sit through a multi-course meal in a restaurant, aren't overweight, and though they seemed to run ahead to the end of the street on their own, they didn't seem to be in danger of running away or running into the street itself. This book sheds some light on why these kids seemed to be so well-behaved. Though it's aimed at child-rearing, there's plenty of advice and wisdom to incorporate into our childfree life (curb the snacking, be patient, time take to take pleasure in things). When we do have kids, this is the type of parent I would want to be. I'll have to read it again when that happens!

Although I'm not necessarily planning on having kids right this second (although I'm not counting it out...), I still found this enlightening and fascinating. The book itself was easy to read, and enjoyed her writing style. I admit I just got back from almost two weeks in Europe/France, and loved the vibe and culture. In helping to understand how French kids are raised, maybe I can incorporate some of that vibe and culture into my life. I made a lot of similar observations to the author here: French kids don't throw food, could sit through a multi-course meal in a restaurant, aren't overweight, and though they seemed to run ahead to the end of the street on their own, they didn't seem to be in danger of running away or running into the street itself. This book sheds some light on why these kids seemed to be so well-behaved. Though it's aimed at child-rearing, there's plenty of advice and wisdom to incorporate into our childfree life (curb the snacking, be patient, time take to take pleasure in things). When we do have kids, this is the type of parent I would want to be. I'll have to read it again when that happens!

Some of this is a little outdated - like too many of the bad examples go straight to smacking the child - but the ideas here seem really helpful! Some of the things seem pretty natural to me, and some I can tell will require some practice. Some of this can probably be used with some of the more difficult adults I talk with at work too...

Interesting. A bit dated. Makes me want to dive deeper.

I enjoyed this more than the first one. It was pretty goofy, but it's just so much fun to watch all the characters interact. Again the mystery kind of took the backseat to the characters and just general fun running around, but I knew what to expect this time.

I liked the vibes and the writing the the characters for the most part. But near the end I was so annoyed with the characters and their inability to talk to each other! Especially June - what she did was horrible - but Adam takes some of the blame too. There’s no reason they should have gone that long without getting together. Probably would have been 5 stars if it weren't for the last 50-60 pages or so.

Based on the description, I was expecting some sort of epic YA fantasy thing with lots of magic and romance and jumping between worlds, but instead it was a quiet story about four sisters in New York City with just a hint of supernatural stuff. It was slow and well-written. More like a modern Little Women than any fantasy comparison I can think of. I enjoyed it! But I think the marketing is off.

A great way to pass on knowledge through stories of plants.

This was a fun world with interesting characters. But something felt lacking to me, though I can’t quite put my finger on it. I liked following the three main characters: Tor, who is basically a tree-god worshipping vampire elf, Noon the fell-witch, and Vintage, our scholar/explorer. There’s a lot of lore and fun creatures and other world building. I’ll pick up the next one and see if it has what’s missing.

This was good but the tv show stuff was pretty goofy. But I liked Astrid's arc and her relationship with Jordan. Not too much to say about it though.

I thought parts of this were really fantastic and parts of this didn't work. Natalie just didn't feel like a real person - though she had interesting moments. I wish it had focused more on one thing - the religious trad wife thing or the influencer thing - instead of this mishmash. There were some really interesting ideas here, but some of it got lost, at least for me.

This was a very good book, but I didn't enjoy reading it. The book centers around a sad crime. On the other hand, I enjoyed the rez antics - these characters are all fictional, but I know most of them. I'm also a native lawyer, so those aspects were interesting too.

This was okay. I was entertained, but I felt like I was passively watching something and not actively involved with figuring out what was going on or really getting interested in any of the characters. The premise was fun, but I was hoping for a bit more. It also felt like the authors were just airing their thoughts on the publishing industry, but not in a fun way.

This was great. I loved the leads together and the side characters were all well developed too. I cared about the romance but also the other things that were going on with Delilah and Claire. And looking forward to seeing more of Astrid in the next book.

This slowly crept up on me. I wasn't super into it in the beginning - and it took a long time to figure out the characters - but by the end I really cared for this goofy team of girls. It's funny, but also full of heart and camp. I don't know if I've ever read a book in first person plural before, but it totally worked.

I did enjoy this. The concept if young Arabella learning everything from romance novels was amusing. And Arabella herself was endearing. But also after the first 50 pages or so I was like "I get it." And then it just continued on and on! This would have been great if it were way shorter.

I've read this book a couple of times, but recently revisted it as an audiobook, which was fantastic. This book really holds up. I definitely picked up on some things I missed when I was younger. Similarly, I'm more intrigued at Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel than I was before--I appreciate their arc more. Things like little Tony and his fish also hit a bit harder, too. And Lyra herself seems much less annoying and more endearing than in years past. Will revisit the other two.

I've read this book a couple of times, but recently revisted it as an audiobook, which was fantastic. This book really holds up. I definitely picked up on some things I missed when I was younger. Similarly, I'm more intrigued at Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel than I was before--I appreciate their arc more. Things like little Tony and his fish also hit a bit harder, too. And Lyra herself seems much less annoying and more endearing than in years past. Will revisit the other two.

I've read this book a couple of times, but recently revisted it as an audiobook, which was fantastic. This book really holds up. I definitely picked up on some things I missed when I was younger. Similarly, I'm more intrigued at Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel than I was before--I appreciate their arc more. Things like little Tony and his fish also hit a bit harder, too. And Lyra herself seems much less annoying and more endearing than in years past. Will revisit the other two.

I wanted to root for Cordelia, but I had trouble with that. Still, this book stressed me out, and not in a fun way. Cordelia just kept doing impulsive things (even though she's supposedly so self controlled) and kept having to clean up after herself.

Some of this was pretty elementary and some of it was new and made me think, but the tone of the book fell a bit flat for me. I assumed it would cover bisexuality and gender, but it goes into other binaries too. There were some helpful ideas but some of it was stretched too much. Still, helpful as a primer on those topics.

This brought everything I was expecting/hoping for by the premise. I haven't seen that much of the Bachelor, but I'm familiar enough to enjoy the nods to the show in the story. The two leads had chemistry and I even liked Josh. The characters were fun and were different enough that they all weren't a big jumble and had their own personalities. It was a bit messy in a fun way!

This was excellent, though a very tough read with some tough truths thrown at you. It's a powerful read.

This was great - actionable advice, and didn't overstay its welcome. Some of the quotes seemed a little sus, but overall I think this will be really helpful to start/break habits.

I enjoyed this, though I admit I was primed to like it by Rebecca Romney. It took a while to get into the right headspace to read this one and the epistolary format strained my credulity at times, but the story itself was fun once I got into it. Evelina's missteps are entertaining and I enjoyed her interactions with Lord Orville and the other characters. (Sorry to say it's no Austen though).

This was great. Sybil is hard to like. She treats others terribly because she's tortured by guilt and she's sad and lonely because she pushes people away. I totally get Fiona's frustrations. But part of me can't help but relate to her with the way she writes her correspondence. I love that she writes letters to everyone, including people she's never met like the authors of the books she reads. I still don't like her much in the end, but it was very interesting to get to know her. And it was pieced together very well by the author.

Parts of this were cute, and parts of this were goofy. Aurora seemed to need constant rescuing which bothered me a bit. The conflict at the end was silly. "Angel" and "Buddy" kind of gave me the ick. But the characters were cute together and there was a not annoying kid, which is a plus. I also liked the non-goofy hiking parts.

This was interesting, but very academic. I'm not sure I agree with everything here but interesting to see this perspective.

I enjoyed this. Very cozy. There's not a lot of plot or direction at all - just characters and vibes and lots of talk about books and bookstores. It's a little preachy and overly sweet and it talks down to you just a tad, but the cozy vibes outweigh that. It does make me want to quit my job, though.

I love when people nerd out about things! It was so interesting to read Romney's history with rare books and her journey of discovering other women writers of Austen's time. I loved hearing her reactions and insights. Her passion makes me want to pick a few of these up!

I'm an Austen fan but I think it would be interesting even if you didn't care about Austen.

This isn't what I thought it would be. It seems very specific to foundations and philanthropy. There's some general stuff here but nothing groundbreaking. I did enjoy reading about the author's personal history and journey connecting to his native roots, but there's just not a lot here for those outside of the foundation space.

I'm familiar with several Brothers Grimm stories, but I'd also never sat down and read a bunch of them in a collection. Maybe it's just nostalgia, but a lot of the less famous ones don't really stand out to me.
I was also hoping for more from Philip Pullman - we got little paragraphs from him at the end of each tale, but I wanted more on why he chose the ones he did. He also had several notes saying he didn't like certain stories or would add to certain stories or tell them different - I would have actually like to have seen those changes with a note about how the original went. Instead, this collection just seem like tellings mostly straight from the source. I'm glad I've read them, but it's hardly a "New English Version."

This is the book I wish I'd written (though my version wouldn't be nearly as good). It overlaps so many of my interests! I love the themes here about colonization and I love a good magical school tale. And there's dragons!! Kasaqua is so precious.
As someone who grew up on the reservation and ended up at a school for an "elite" profession, I relate so much to Anequs' journey. Though she's way bolder than I ever was. But she's also so kind hearted and strong! (Maybe too perfect). The side characters are all fun as well.
My only problem was that it was a little too black and white and Masquapaug is too much of a utopia. But that's a small gripe.
I like the historical setting with its slight steampunk vibes. I loved the queer relationships. And I look forward to the rest of the series!

This was a quick read that I probably won't think about much - but I did enjoy the ride. The book feels halfway in tone and plot between her two other books I've read (Big Little Lies and What Alice Forgot), which makes a lot of sense. I kind of guessed the secret, but it was interesting to see how it all played out. The characters aren't very likable, but it was fun to see how they all connected and interacted and what everyone was going to do. I'll probably pick up more of her books in the future.

This was interesting, though the writing was a bit dry at times. There's maybe too many details. But parts of it were really engaging and informative. And I appreciated the appendix/update 15 years later.

This isn’t what I thought so I had to reset my expectations. I was expecting more academic essays and less internet think pieces. Once I got over that, I still couldn't fully get on board. I agree with a lot of what the author has to say, but still found the tone and humor a bit off-putting. The messaging is there but I didn't love the delivery. It also suffers from really being of its time - there's a lot that's dated even just 6 or 7 years later.

I didn't enjoy these stories as much as The Last Wish, but I'm interested enough in the world and characters to give the novels a try.

This was interesting. It was all about the Columbian Exchange and the history and impact of globalization. Malaria, rubber, potatoes, and silver all played a bigger role in the world than I knew. There's also a lot about slavery that was somewhat new to me.

I'm in the minority here - I thought this collection was just okay. I got it to read Shawshank, which was pretty good, but the others were maybe too dark for me.

Kitchen actually contains two short stories - both about grief and loneliness. The language is a bit outdated, but was probably progressive for the time. The plot and the writing itself is pretty minimalist, but both were oddly touching.

I've read a lot of similar books, but this one was still great! Even though the mob song was stuck in my head the entire time. I loved Lyssa and I loved Alderic and I loved their friendship. I guessed something early on that maybe was supposed to take us for surprise (but somehow I missed the obvious Beauty and the Beast-iness of it all). The tone is a bit goofy, but it works.

I enjoyed this. The pan-Indian things ring true and it's fun to have a Navajo protagonist. The tone is very similar to Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, which makes sense. Nizhoni and Davery have a great friendship. And it's a fun use of mythology and modern culture too.

I enjoyed this. The pan-Indian things ring true and it's fun to have a Navajo protagonist. The tone is very similar to Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, which makes sense. Nizhoni and Davery have a great friendship. And it's a fun use of mythology and modern culture too.

I didn't really like You Deserve Each Other, but it did make me laugh so I thought I'd give this author another try. This was goofy but cute. These characters seemed like 10 years younger than written. Maybell makes horrible decisions but got extremely lucky that Wesley was at the house she inherited and not anyone else. They're very much grumpy/sunshine, but it works.

This is a great series. The family is now in the Dakotas, which is new to me from the other books set near where I grew up. The buffalo are the center of this story and it was interesting but sad to see the hunt. The characters we know and love are as true to themselves as ever. And the new character Gichi Noodin was amusing.

Maybe my expectations were too high, but I thought this was good - not great. It was a bit overwritten and full of purple prose. At the beginning, I was really interested in the characters, especially Agnes and Hamnet, but some of the magic was lost as I kept reading. We were too much at a distance for too much of the story. I thought some of the choices were interesting (in the passive aggressive way) like making Agnes a witchy-type character, having her go to London to watch the play, or the chapter about the flea. And maybe I missed it, but I was also waiting for the cut above Hamnet's eye to have some sort of payoff, and that never came back around! I'm glad I picked it up, but it wasn't what I was hoping for.

This was exactly what I was hoping for with a title like this. A great send up to slashers and to rom coms. I saw some of the twists coming because it does follow the slasher format, but it was still a fun journey. Our leading lady was witty and smart and knowledgable about both slashers and rom coms. I loved her relationship with her best friend Laurie. And the rest of the cast of characters fit right in with the genres we were going for. What a fun book!

This was entertaining. There's typical hijinks and a kind of goofy plot - but also some fun verbal sparring between Benedict and Beatrice. Totally the highlight of the play. Beatrice is just such a great Shakespeare heroine! The other plots weren't great but I had a lot of fun with the main couple.

I absolutely loved the characters in this - especially Elizabeth. I loved the interactions between everyone in the Thursday Murder Club and the larger cast. I liked the dynamic between Donna and Chris. But the actual mystery was not that interesting to me. The set up was fun, but it lost some of the intrigue by the end. Still, worth reading for the characters! I'll pick up at least one more of these just for that.

This was interesting but the writing could have been a bit more engaging. The cases were all interesting though.

I can see why I don’t hear about this one too often. The characters aren’t great and by modern standards the plot is pretty creepy. Proteus is flaky and rapped and Valentine is willing to be his friend. The women are barely characters. This was one of the earlier ones and so it was interesting to see that some of this stuff comes back in other plays - cross dressing, mistaken identity, a goofy clown type character, and also Julia from Verona is a similar name to Juliet.

I wasn’t super interested in the blurb, but I’ve loved every book by Ashley Winstead so I picked this one up. It's probably my least favorite book of hers, but I still enjoyed it. The characters are great, especially Hannah Cortland, who’s a bit of a mess but still endearing. I see why the audience fell in love with her! There’s a lot in here about grief but isn’t too bogged down in it. I also enjoyed Theo’s point of view and the stuff about the music industry. I’ll continue to pick up whatever Ashley Winstead writes!

I’ve read a lot of non-fiction books the past few years on similar topics, so I wasn’t expecting to get much out of this. But it turns out a lot of this was new to me! Basically everything after the civil war contained information that I wasn’t aware of. Particularly the chapters on strikers and labor were all enlightening - particularly in early 2026. I knew some things about the civil rights era, but some of it was new too. Basically, everything was much more violent than expected. And so many things that happened in the US were a result of the corporations and the super rich trying to protect their own interests. Unfortunately, the struggles presented here are becoming more and more relevant. I just hope we can take some of the lessons learned.

This was fine. A lot of slapstick and a goofy plot with two sets of identical twins separated at birth. Hijinks ensue. It was entertaining but not very memorable.

I didn't agree with everything here, but there's just so much good knowledge and so many good ideas here that it's definitely worth a read.

This was really interesting. Turns out reading is not preprogrammed in humans the way that speech is. There's a lot that goes on in the brain just to read one sentence. The stuff about the beginning of written language was interesting, as was the stuff about how children learn how to read. On the other hand, some of it was overly academic and dry to read.

This one is a bit shorter and jumps forward in time - now we're following Omakayas' twin sons Chickadee and Makoons. It didn't feel as complete a story as the other books - at least not until Chickadee got kidnapped - but it was fun to see the next generation and all the characters we know more grown up.

I expected this to be more of a murder mystery - especially with the title - but the murder part really took the backseat here. It's not really a "mystery" to solve either. It's really more focused on Cash and her day to day life: drinking, bar hopping, playing pool, living in a small town near Fargo, and just kind of being aimless. There's a lot here too about the impacts of the foster care system and just general racism against Native Americans. Too much of this was familiar to me. Cash felt a lot older than 19, but I guess it's also true that growing up this way makes you grow up fast.

I enjoyed this more than some of the other classics I've picked up recently. It has a really slow pace and not a lot happens. You follow a sad man who encounters a geisha in a small snow town in the mountains. It's just a quiet story with some great, expressive passages.

This was a great thriller. I knew exactly where it was going pretty early on, but still I enjoyed the ride. The villain was a bit cartoonishly evil, but the way it all came together was very satisfying.

This series is fine - there's just enough here that I want to continue and see how it all plays out. But even though I like the additional characters like Cyrus, the story peaked with book 1. There just isn't a lot that happens in each book. Same with this book - the whole thing revolved around a couple of big moments, and the rest was just the characters vibing and recapping previous moments from other books to each other.

This is a great collection of short nonfiction. Not every piece was a winner, but it reminded me of how much I love essays. There's a lot of authors I've read from before, and some authors that were new to me. Some of these hit really hard, and most of the others were at least interesting. Worth picking up!

This is a fun series. This delivered what I expected after the first book - a quirky and strange mystery, more fantasy stuff, and more from Ana and Din. The characters are so eccentric. The mystery was a bit convoluted and so is the fantasy world, but it's fun to see it all unravel. Some of the descriptions were really gross, but it fits with the vibe of the book. Also I enjoyed the author's note at the end.

This was interesting. Tom is a fascinating but despicable character. He does not have the capacity to care about anyone but himself, and finds himself with a boatload of problems of his own making. But yet I wanted to see if/how he'd get himself out of trouble. His relationship with Dickie is interesting and there's definitely some homosexual subtext (or just text) there too. I enjoyed this one. But on the other hand, I don't really have any desire to read more of the Ripley books.

This was enjoyable, but I feel like the ones with the whole group are not as good as the individual doorways. It was fun to see Nancy and a bunch of other characters - and the halls of the dead - again. But this one didn't strike me as hard as some of the others have. Still a great series though.

Fine ending to the series. Nothing too surprising happened, but it all came together in a satisfying way. There was a bit too many fake out deaths or characters thinking other characters were dead when they weren't, but it was still a fun way to wrap up the series. It had more twists on the fairytale elements, and a lot of good character interactions.

This was cute but kind of pretentious. Is there only one way to love books? I liked the appreciation of books, but parts fell flat for me. But there's also some good quotes!

"A cherished book will always have a soul. It will come to its reader’s aid in times of crisis."

A book about books. Very short, very peculiar. Lots of little pithy aphorisms.

This is just as good as the first two. Omakayas is a little older and the story is a bit more mature, but there's still plenty of heart and hardship. This is a great series.

This would have been helpful to read when I was in high school. It would have been an eye-opener. I've since learned a lot of this - and a lot of this in school!

This was lovely. Great writing, great vibes, great characters. There's witches, and dragons, and magic and babies, and a swamp monster. Everything I want in a children's book! I loved the messages in this book too - love, stories, and not blindly following tradition.

I still like this series a lot, but this one wasn't my favorite. It's cool how each book is different from the ones before it, but it also means that some of the things that really worked for me in previous books aren't in this one. Still, the writing was great and the story about famine was impactful.

This was an interesting and well-written character study. It’s a quiet book about a young university student and his relationship with an older mentor-type man. But why is every Japanese novel that I pick up about sad suicidal men? For better or worse, this fits right in with the darker, melancholic classic Japanese books I’ve picked up - though it’s probably one of the ones I’ve liked more.

This was good, but doesn’t reach the highs of previous entries into the series. This one also has a different vibe from the others - it’s a sort of retelling of Bluebeard. There's some fun narrative things here, but I honestly would rather go back to Chih collecting stories rather than being part of the story.