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