Martha

Disappointing first TJR book for me. Very into the concept but writing was just too trite and boring and surface level. 

So very readable for me - beautiful writing that is both manic and deliberate. Wouldn't say I ‘liked' some parts, bc they were deeply unrelatable but that's half the fun of her writing. And the other fun is coming to parts that were in fact relatable. Biggest con is it's another book about a woman with much privilege. But there's so much more to it - family history, queerness, sex, parenting, menopause, partnership, friendship, mental health - all done in the unique weirdness of this author. 

I enjoy a novel written in short stories as it allows depth and creativity around a topic and is so difficult to do well. Some chapters were brilliant and effective and weird. Others felt a bit forced (the ending?? Controversial). But overall a beautiful and sad and thought provoking meditation in how our world could deal with such massive grief and change. 

Reads and short stories in novel form, which author definitely takes advantage of. I loved the creativity and humor and absolutely seemingly random stories. 

Recommend as a fascinating detailed look into living with black bears and the evolution of a towns understanding and treatment of them. The writing could certainly be tighter - the tangents get pretty random and surface level at times - but I think there's also something to be said about writing from someone who has a great story to tell but not training or practice in writing. 

Almost stopped listening multiple times because of how stupid the characters were for most of it. The twist at the end was a good one but not sure it was worth the rest of the book. Only couldn't put it down for the last hourish. Extremely disturbing plot. 

Mystery thriller suspense with a structure that made for a great audio book. Thought the ending could have done more (by doing less?) to have a stronger and darker conclusion to match a dark book. 

I loved the storyline and concept but missed stronger character development. The cadence felt predictable in the middle section and writing a bit heaving handed and repetitive at times. 

I read this after looking for a book on the history of Okinawa and surprise surprise this was the only one I could find that wasn't just about the battle of Okinawa. The straightforward awareness and language the author uses to describe her life, her parents lives and the lives of people on Okinawa was deeply touching. I loved the moving around in time to tell multiple interwoven stories. 

I don't read many short story collections and this made me want to! Very social commentary in very interesting ways. 

A drama with enough funny to keep me going. The pace dipped for me in the middle section feeling too drawn out and the ending a wee forced? But also effective so... But for a book this long that's not bad. Found the characters all relatable and flawed. There are no favorites here but I rooted for all of them. The punctuation of Imelda was so effective in creating a sense of panic and unease that I hated to love. Really beautifully written family portrait. 

4 by romance standards. Sporty spice premise with good character development. Took some odd unnecessary turns but overall very enjoyable. 

Thoughtful and pretty funny reflections on bisexuality and gender. Downsides- Too much about her own growth and learning about -isms, like I get it, you learned a lot in the last few years, I don't know what it adds to this. 

Didn't do it for me as a story or character arc. Couldn't get past the stupidness that leads to the climax. 

Will think about this one for a long time. As a person struggling with my position as a potential child bearer and parent and in a changing environment that often feels out of control, this spoke to me big time. I do love a reflective piece that includes a lot of science. 

So many of these reflections on growing up as a cis middle class girl in the 90s resonated hard with me. So many insightful nuggets. I really enjoyed the author's reading of it too, not over the top but with feeling. 

During and after reading this book I don't quite know what to make of it. Parts made me lol at the dry absurdity. Other parts were too long on the insufferability of men in their early 20s. I started to hate how much of a limp character she was, it became unrelatable to me that she truly recognize no agency or control in her life. Perhaps that's the point. 

Love the frame of the story but the execution leaves me uninspired and wanting. Maybe because I listened to it but I found the character development non existent and the character voices quite similar. 

I enjoyed reading overall but found the cadence of plot overly predictable and boring. The character's voice also stays pretty one note and there isn't much character arc. I loved the Martian so not sure what happened with this one. Maybe also not in the mood?

I learned a lot about Lauryn Hill and appreciated the reflections from the author. Reading the sections in interview format are hard for me to stay engaged with. 

Haunting and violent and beautiful. Hit me in my chest and cannot stop thinking about it. 

Thoughtful and new and exciting YA adventure 

This book haunted me. It was very difficult to read and also the best representation of sports and assault I've encountered. Not a five because some of the language felt trite but maybe that's a result of the translation? Also because the second half of the book was more about the parents than the girl?? And that was a miss for me. 

Deeply heart touching memoir on illness, loneliness, love and living with all these pains. The writing is beautiful and invites self reflection despite never having had an experience at all close to hers. 

Could not stop listening to this one - Louise Penny is a queen of mystery and the political world was a different spin on the usual contexts. Can't give it a five star because of its clear propaganda for the us military state.