Pawcasso

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stacking the Shelves: 10/31-11/13

LibraryThing Early Review:

Running Together by  Einav Aflalo

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

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

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

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