Zell

A lot of great information about working to fix a failing marriage. As another reviewer said, I think this book is too targeted towards people whose marriages are already in trouble, and that this information is for all people in committed relationships. I also found this a little dated and sexist, but it was written in the 90s so that isn't too much of a mark against it.

This book has a wonderful atmospheric feel to it, and a great small town feel. It really highlights issues of poverty, criminality and recidivism, and the effects of incarceration. However, Jodi's actions don't make sense and aren't explained a lot of the time, both in the past and the present. It also felt like a lot of nothing happens, and the beginning isn't much different from the end.

Plus one star for the twist at the end and the statement it makes. But besides that, I really didn't like this. The characters are caricatures, so one dimensional it is cringeworthy. I didn't like the use of second person perspective in a story with multiple narrative characters. And the “voiceover” narrator was eye-roll worthy.

Very allegorical, lots of metaphor for our world. I think the gas masks were an interesting choice, but not one that really worked for me. I liked the commentary on society, but I feel like the characters were used as devices rather than people, and would have preferred this book to be more of a character study rather than disjointed stories about people we aren't made to care about.

Some of these stories really came together for me, but some of them just felt like a lot of pretty words and sentences that didn't equate to much. I think Salter's style is really interesting, but some of these didn't feel fleshed out enough.

I absolutely love a good epistolary novel, and this one was one of the best I've ever read. It was brutally honest, heartbreaking, and endearing all at the same time. The characters felt real and alive on the page, and each had unique personalities, voices, and characteristics. I really enjoyed the style of writing, and found this such an incredible and important book to read.

Great for younger audiences who want to learn sbout allyship and being intersectional and accepting. Showcases authors from different backgrounds in an accessible way. The highlighting of quotes in boxes that are right next to the box in the text was annoying and didn't do anything for me.

Interestingly organized, beautiful pictures, lacking in a solid pantry section and I think I would have preferred traditional organization. But overall a good cookbook.

I thought these stories were clever, creepy, and atmospheric. I really enjoyed how much Ocampo manages to say in such short stories, and how much is implied. Beautiful, lyrical prose. Towards the end, some of the stories feel a little formulaic and similar, but overall an enjoyable read.

Great photos, good step by step instructions, and nice, classic recipes. Some felt a bit basic like they could be easily found on pinterest, but a lot were unique regional combinations. Overall solid book.

An interesting class commentary and coming-of-age story. Interesting view of politics, the theater, adultery, chosen and blood family, arranged marriages, and bisexuality/teen angst. This had funny moments, and touching ones, but ultimately felt a little emotionless, and had too objective of a narrator for me.

I found the stories overly pretentious. I felt like the author was so caught up in the message that the characters, plot, and readability were left behind. These felt overly dense, saying nothing at all in a lot of words. I was really disappointed by the stories in general, although a couple of them felt like they had potential.

This memoir was gritty, hard-hitting, and brutally honest. It described addiction and PTSD bluntly. However, I feel like the parts outside of the section about being in Iraq were extremely repetitive. Self loathing, shooting up, trying to get drugs, getting ripped off. It felt monotonous after a while. Overall worth a read though.

The only cookbook that has made me cry. Deeply relatable, heartwarming, and reassuring. As someone who has attempted suicide, someone who lost a life partner too soon (it's always too soon), and someone who loves cooking, this book truly spoke to me. The recipes were vibrant, and the writing style is like being wrapped in a warm blanket. I loved this book.

This book seemed to be set up as a celebration of local restaurants, but the recipes described in the info section were rarely the ones presented, which was disappointing. This could have been a time capsule, preserving the best dishes from the many of these restaurants that are now gone, but the format prohibited this, presenting random dishes to fit the category instead. The pictures were nice, but the recipes were often overcomplicated and too complex/too many ingredients to be achievable by the average home cook.

A little dense, definitely designed for the traveller who wants to see all of oregon, doesn't mind wasting gas, and enjoys tiny back road towns. However, the author's voice adds a level of levity and also social commentary that I wouldn't expect from a book from 1965.

I can't comment on the authenticity of the traditional recipes, but I can comment on the overall quality - this read like a church cookbook (and I guess it is). It seems full of family recipes that shouldn't have left the family. Fried rice with Italian dressing? Underseasoned recipes with just salt and pepper? 5 versions of the same basic pound cake? The history here interested me, but the cooking part was extremely disappointing.

This book had some great character moments, and I thought the exploration of family relationships, love, and politics was interesting. However, I felt that some of the characterizations were heavy handed, stereotypical, and a little disappointing. The interlude about the amusement park husband was also just confusing and felt unnecessary.

I had no idea a book about eating locally could be so polarizing! I personally loved this book, and as someone who is actively trying to eat locally and who has dreams of homesteading, I found it informative, funny, and relatable. Kingsolver writes so beautifully, and I loved Camille's inserts as well.

Good sous vide basics with information on min and max times, as well as good charts in the back. However, I feel like the recipes are meant to be shortcuts, based on pre-sous vide-d proteins, and they seemed to take almost as long, in many cases, as traditional cooking. This felt like it unnecessarily complicated things.

Good information for beginners, easy to read and follow. Would have liked information on more varieties, as well as information on spore prints (they are mentioned briefly but never defined or discussed). Overall a good intro for someone new to mushrooms.

I enjoyed the dark humor of this book, and thought Prin's character was a charming one. However, I found a lot of the plot points unbelievable and forced, and was not a fan of the pacing of this book. It felt like a lot of big topics were being jammed down the reader's throat without time to give them the attention they deserve. Prin, while an interesting character, is also very self pitying and wishy washy, and although he is charming he is also duplicitous and self-serving, in an unrealistic way.

A delightfully charming little book about the life of an ordinary writer who finds herself bemused and stunned by her own success, after many failures and muddlings about in the publishing world. Hanff's voice is humorous and sweet, and although this didn't strike the same emotional chord that 84, Charing Cross Road did for me, it was still a delight to read.

Wow! This book is apparently polarizing, and I can see why. I absolutely loved it though. The author's use of imagery and vivid natural descriptions of taste, smell, sensation, feelings, are just so lovely and vibrant. The wildness captured in these stories, as well as the anxiety, uncertainty, and conflictedness feel so real and hit really close to home. All of the stories were good, but some in particular were fantastic- Animal Wife Revisited, Beware the Undertoad, Desiree the Destroyer, The Vanishing Point, and The Tenant in particular really stood out to me.

A quirky, humorous space romp of a novel with great one liners. However, this book lacks substance, plot, cohesion. I feel like it is a good light-hearted read, as long as you don't think about it too hard (or at all). The whole book is just characters getting into bad situations and then the author inventing funny and nonsensical ways for them to get out. It's all slapdash humor and made up words, and I found it funny but without much to make it GREAT.