Title: Pawcasso
Author: Remy Lai
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
ISBN: 9781250774484
Thoughts: A very multi-layered graphic novel that works on many levels for the whole family.
Rating: 5/5
Friday, December 31, 2021
Monday, December 27, 2021
The Paper Palace
Title: The Paper Palace
Author: Miranda Cowley Heller
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780593412503
Thoughts: Some parts gripped me - particularly Part 2 - but most I could take or leave.
Rating: 3/5
Saturday, December 25, 2021
We Are Not Like Them
Title: We Are Not Like Them
Author: Christine Pride & Jo Piazza
Publisher: Atria
ISBN: 9781982181031
Thoughts: This stunning novels shows all of the shades of grey in a tragic moment of systemic racism.
Rating: 5/5
Stacking the Shelves: 12/5-12/25
Won:
Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi
Got in an Owl Post Grab Bag:
Supernova by Kass Morgan
Crown of Thunder by Tochi Onyebuchi
Tuesday, December 21, 2021
The Fortress
Title: The Fortress
Author: S. A. Jones
Publisher: Erewhon
ISBN: 9781654660026
Thoughts: Some of the plot points are not the easiest to read, but this story feels like the male version of The Handmaid's Tale.
Rating: 3/5
Vicarious Vacations
Title: Vicarious Vacations
Author: Michael Wojciechowski
Publisher: self
ISBN: n/a
Thoughts: Fast-paced and engaging tale of addiction...to social media.
Rating: 5/5
The Used-to-Be Best Friend
Title: The Used-t0-Be Best Friend
Author: Dan Quigley
Publisher: Heartdrum
ISBN: 9780063015371
Thoughts: Cute chapter book with a fun protagonist whom many kids will love getting to know and learning some of her Ojibwe language.
Rating: 3/5
Sunday, December 19, 2021
The Exiles
Title: The Exiles
Author: Christina Baker Kline
Publisher: HarperAudio
ISBN: n/a
Thoughts: A very unput-downable historical fiction that brings light to transportation of prisoners and the colonization of Australia.
Rating: 5/5
Thursday, December 16, 2021
Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey
Title: Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey
Author: Erin Entrada Kelly
Publisher: Greenwillow
ISBN: 9780062970428
Thoughts: Kelly tries to round this out, but it still feels pretty simple, even for an early chapter book.
Rating: 3/5
The Female Persuasion
Title: The Female Persuasion
Author: Meg Wolitzer
Publisher: Riverhead
ISBN: 9781594488405
Thoughts: Well-written and realistic, but left me wanting just a little more...something.
Rating: 3/5
The Step Back
Title: The Step Back
Author: J.T. Bushnell
Publisher: Self
ISBN: n/a
Thoughts: Very realistic coming of age story set in the late 90s.
Rating: 4/5
Tuesday, December 14, 2021
The Three-Body Problem
Title: The Three-Body Problem
Author: Cixin Liu
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ISBN: n/a
Thoughts: Well-written, but some of the time jumps in the storyline were confusing when listening, and the science was pretty hardcore at parts.
Rating: 3/5
It Ends with Her
Title: It Ends with Her
Author: Brianna Labuskes
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
ISBN: n/a
Thoughts: Good suspense with decent twists but sometimes Clarke's flashbacks threw me out of the story.
Rating: 3/5
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Catch and Kill
Title: Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators
Author: Ronan Farrow
Publisher: Back Bay
ISBN: 9780316486644
Thoughts: The lengths Weinstein and his people went to cover their tracks and kills a story completely blew my mind.
Rating: 4/5
Born Behind Bars
Title: Born Behind Bars
Author: Padma Venkatraman
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen
ISBN: 97807593112472
Thoughts: A very sad subject that is never really talked about, but I feel that this was definitely toned down for the intended audience.
Rating: 4/5
Monday, December 6, 2021
I, Robot
Title: I, Robot
Author: Isaac Asimov
Publisher: Random House Audio
ISBN: 9780739346273
Thoughts: It is not so much that the technology is dated, but Asimov's writing is so dated that this was hard to get into for a while.
Rating: 3/5
The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Title: The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Author: Sahm Venter, ed
Publisher: Liveright
ISBN: 9781631491177
Thoughts: A few of these letters were very inspiring, but most were monotonous and it felt like this book could have been cut in half or more to make a more powerful impact.
Rating: 2/5
Saturday, December 4, 2021
Stacking the Shelves: 11/28-12/4
LibraryThing Early Review:
Three Lords and Three Ladies of London by Anna Faktorovich
Bought on Nerdfelt:
Story Telling Engines by John Seavey
Thursday, December 2, 2021
The Almost Legendary Morris Sisters
Title: The Almost Legendary Morris Sisters: A True Story of Family Fiction
Author: Julie Klam
Publisher: Riverhead
ISBN: 9780735216426
Thoughts: Very interesting dive into the author's search for her genealogy, and of course I loved all the St Louis references.
Rating: 4/5
Cloud Cuckoo Land
Title: Cloud Cuckoo Land
Author: Anthony Doerr
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
ISBN: 9781797128535
Thoughts: A lot of story lines in a lot of different time periods to keep straight, and while I marveled at how two of the timelines tied together, the third had a point but also might not have been missed if it was not there.
Rating: 3/5
Monday, November 29, 2021
As Brave As You
Title: As Brave As You
Author: Jason Reynolds
Publisher: Atheneum
ISBN: 9781481415903
Thoughts: I loved how realistic this book was and that it didn't shy away from how messy family relationships can really be.
Rating: 4/5
Saturday, November 27, 2021
Stacking the Shelves: 11/14-11/27
LibraryThing Early Review:
No Matter the Price by Daniel Pare
Bought on Amazon:
Pawcasso by Remy Lai
Super Detectives! by Cale Atkinson
Friday, November 26, 2021
An Emotion of Great Delight
Title: An Emotion of Great Delight
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780062972415
Thoughts: Lots of good intentions behind this novel, but it was way too slice-of-life for my taste.
Rating: 3/5
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Front Desk
Title: Front Desk
Author: Kelly Yang
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine
ISBN: 9781338157796
Thoughts: Uplifting story for middle readers about pursuing your dreams and accepting others.
Rating: 4/5
Monday, November 22, 2021
Rock Paper Scissors
Title: Rock Paper Scissors
Author: Alice Feeney
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ISBN: n/a
Thoughts: Very solid modern gothic, but a tad slow at the beginning.
Rating: 4/5
Friday, November 19, 2021
Of Bark and Sap
Title: Of Bark and Sap
Author: Karim Friha
Publisher: Lion Forge
ISBN: 9781942367734
Thoughts: Fast-paced and imaginative steampunk fantasy with great characters and plot.
Rating: 5/5
Small Volcanoes
Title: Small Volcanoes
Author: Sarah Kinney, Stefan Petrucha, & Stan Goldberg
Publisher: Papercutz
ISBN: 9781597073554
Thoughts: Decent middle grade mystery, but the artwork was uneven and the characters looked too old.
Rating: 3/5
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Long Road to the Circus
Title: Long Road to the Circus
Author: Betsy Bird
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9780593303986
Thoughts: Fun historical fiction for mg readers that actually is based in some facts.
Rating: 3/5
Monday, November 15, 2021
The Cricket in Times Square
Title: The Cricket in Times Square
Author: George Selden
Publisher: Listening Library
ISBN: 9780807204757
Thoughts: A little dated, but still a cute story for younger readers.
Rating: 3/5
Saturday, November 13, 2021
Friday, November 12, 2021
She Caused a Riot
Title: She Caused a Riot: 100 Unknown Women Who Built Cities, Sparked Revolutions, & Massively Crushed It
Author: Hannah Jewell
Publisher: Sourcebooks
ISBN: 9781492662921
Thoughts: Snarky, irreverent look at 100 powerful women mostly forgotten by history.
Rating: 4/5
Return to the Altar
Title: Return to the Altar
Author: Mathew C. John
Publisher: I.H.S.
ISBN: 9780984765683
Thoughts: John makes some great observations in the book, but there is way too much opinion that could turn off a casual Catholic reader.
Rating: 2/5
The Mouth of the Mine
Title: The Mouth of the Mine
Author: Caleb Posten
Publisher: Black Rose
ISBN: n/a
Thoughts: Good horror, but needed more explanation for the antagonist.
Rating: 3/5
Get a Life, Chloe Brown
Title: Get a Life, Chloe Brown
Author: Talia Hibbert
Publisher: HarperAudio
ISBN: n/a
Thoughts: Very fun rom-com, and it was very empowering to see a main character with a disability, but it was a little steamier than I expected.
Rating: 4/5
Thursday, November 11, 2021
The Turnout
Title: The Turnout
Author: Megan Abbott
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sos
ISBN: 9780593084908
Thoughts: This had such a strong psychological element to it that it could feel the dampness and rot that permeated from the starting catalyst and continued until the bitter end.
Rating: 3/5
Forbidden Kisses
Title: Forbidden Kisses
Author: Annie Rains
Publisher: Loveswept
ISBN: 9780399181122
Thoughts: A cute, sweet romance, even if the "forbidden" part is a tad unnatural.
Rating: 3/5
Monday, November 8, 2021
Playing the Enemy
Title: Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation
Author: John Carlin
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780143115724
Thoughts: A look at Mandela's political prowess leading up to a seminal rugby match.
Rating: 3/5
Born a Crime
Title: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
Author: Trevor Noah
Publisher: Speigel & Grau
ISBN: 9780399588174
Thoughts: Fast-paced, funny yet biting memoir with an unbelievable ending.
Rating: 4/5
Friday, November 5, 2021
The Personal Librarian
Title: The Personal Librarian
Author: Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: n/a
Thoughts: Amazing how the stories of powerful men overshadow the stories of the women under them, and I am thankful for Benedict and Murray for bringing Belle's story to life.
Rating: 4/5
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