Amanda
I got extremely behind on reading comics, due to money and time and annoyance with Marvel's constant reboots/resets/crossovers, but this book is a pure delight. Doreen is one of my favorite characters and I laughed out loud several times reading this. Also, Doctor Doom is in it and he's my favorite Marvel villain because he's also completely ridiculous, which this book totally leans into. I'm bummed this series is coming to an end soon, but it's been the best book Marvel has going for quite some time now.
Alyssa Cole was basically already top of my auto-read list, but this whole series has been incredible, with this one being my favorite, or maybe a close second to [b:A Princess in Theory 35271238 A Princess in Theory (Reluctant Royals, #1) Alyssa Cole https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501702014s/35271238.jpg 56629976]. Love Nya and her struggle to come into her own after being controlled/manipulated by her father for her entire life, and Johan's urge to protect everyone he cares about (and avoid getting close to others) because of the loss of his mother at an early age. I also really liked Lukas's storyline - it seemed like it was handled well to me, and it's something I haven't seen in romance before. Like I said, I don't think I've read an Alyssa Cole book that I disliked, and this is one of the best of hers. (2019 summer romance bingo: ”takes place in multiple countries,” but would also work for “royalty,” “heroine smells like a flower” and “someone wears a costume”)
This book makes me want to read a biography of Fleetwood Mac in the 70s - I enjoyed it a lot, and I know enough about that era to get a lot of the parallels here, but I'm pretty sure the real band was even more dramatic and drugged-out. I liked the oral-history style of the narrative here, especially as I got further in and was able to tell all the characters apart. The downside is that there wasn't really much getting into any character's POV or thoughts, since the oral history device puts everything at a remove of 30 or so years. Despite that, I really did enjoy this, especially the two twists at the end which I won't spoil here. One is similar to what happened in [b:The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo 32620332 The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Taylor Jenkins Reid https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498169036s/32620332.jpg 46885151], but felt a lot more natural here, for whatever reason, and the other was unexpected but really satisfying. This is a beach read in the best sense - fun, juicy, and easy to read. (Also, I love Karen. Just saying.)
If you could only read one book on criminal justice reform, this would be the one I'd recommend. (Maybe in conjunction with [b:Punishment Without Crime: How Our Massive Misdemeanor System Traps the Innocent and Makes America More Unequal 39834671 Punishment Without Crime How Our Massive Misdemeanor System Traps the Innocent and Makes America More Unequal Alexandra Natapoff https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1524097576s/39834671.jpg 61593949] and/or [b:The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness 6792458 The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Michelle Alexander https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328751532s/6792458.jpg 6996712], but if it's just one book, this is the one.) Prosecutors have incredible, essentially unchecked power in the American justice system, which means the county/state/court a case is in has a major impact on 1) whether a defendant gets charged at all, 2) what the charge is, and 3) what options are available to resolve the case. I work in a large county with a newly-elected “progressive” DA, and while that has made a difference, nothing substantial will change without the rank-and-file prosecutors being on board and changing how they think about their job (I work with a lot of excellent prosecutors, but as this book shows, all it takes is a few who are more concerned about convictions than justice). I'd like to see a book that covers the transition within a DA's office (like the Philadelphia or Brooklyn ones Bazelon seems to have spent a lot of time with for this book) from old-school to more reform-oriented, because clearly the change isn't an easy one. This book touches on so many aspects of reform, from racial disparity to cash bond, and shows how they're all impacted by the prosecutors' decisions at every level. It's well-written and compelling, not dry at all, and if I had one wish, it'd be for every prosecutors' office in the country to read the 21 suggestions for reform in the appendix and truly take them on board. Imagine the difference that could make, if every prosecutor cared more about doing the right thing instead of their conviction rates.
Not “true crime” in the conventional sense, though it does follow one specific murder case through investigation and trial. However, the victim of that murder is a young black man, as are his killers, which isn't usually the case in most true crime stories (or at least not the ones that get the most attention). Leovy also takes a wider perspective, focusing on the steady drumbeat of unsolved murders happening while the main case is still pending. One of the things you hear a lot about in criminal justice is overpolicing of poor and minority communities (which is absolutely a problem), but this book sheds light on how those communities are, at the same time, tragically under-policed when it comes to the most serious crimes. People are arrested for minor drug charges or traffic violations, while others can literally get away with murder. It's a disservice on both sides of the equation, and this book should spark conversations about what we're really doing with police resources and whose lives are ending unvalued.
Super low-conflict friends-to-lovers romance, works better if you've just read A Duke by Default, because a lot of the main character's family conflict is detailed and resolved in that book (which stars her sister). I like Reggie a lot but I felt like Gus could use more development. This is still a lot of fun, but read as a companion piece to Book #2.
This is kind of an odd mix of traditional memoir and illness narrative (I'm not sure that's the right term for that, but it's definitely a thing). It's definitely more illness- and endo-focused than something like [b:Love, Loss, and What We Ate: A Memoir 34079155 Love, Loss, and What We Ate A Memoir Padma Lakshmi https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1537395391s/34079155.jpg 45626006], and post-diagnosis, I think it does a really good job of showing how endo affects every aspect of her life. This doesn't have a tidy narrative resolution, which makes total sense, since it's a story about coming to terms with a chronic pain condition, and the author has to fight again and again to get the medical treatment she knows she needs, no less at the end of the book than at the beginning. It may be frustrating in that respect if you're looking for a neat story, but hey, welcome to being an endo patient. It's hard to say whether I liked this or not - in a way, a lot of this is my story, and will be the story of a lot of people reading this, so I feel almost too close to it to review it fairly or discuss how it might come across to someone else. It's not satisfying in the way you'd expect a traditional narrative to be, but as the author learns to advocate for herself and becomes an expert in her condition, there is the satisfaction of going on that journey with her. (Special shout-out to the section at the endometriosis conference, where she gives a presentation and all the (mostly male) doctors are astounded and almost offended that she's still in pain even after having surgery. Spare me, dudes.) If you have a chronic illness or chronic pain, read this and know that you're not alone, no matter how difficult things are. If you have someone in your life with a chronic illness, read this to see why we're so frustrated.(This doesn't have anything to do with the book itself, but per the author's Twitter, the Korean edition is titled MY UTERUS IS EXTREMELY LOUD AND TERRIBLE, which is 1) delightful and 2) true. https://twitter.com/abbymnorman/status/1123903010516631552)
Cute and pretty enjoyable overall - good beach-read type romance. I wanted Amy and Ethan to be a little more developed as characters, especially Amy, since so much of the story is about those two relationships. I didn't think the plot thread about Olive being unsatisfied with her job and wanting something new really went anywhere, though I did like the scene with her supposed new boss and his wife in Hawaii. All in all, fun summer read.
(2022 Summer Romance Bingo: Hawaii. Would also work for mistaken identity.)
It was fine, I guess? Almost nothing happens in the first half of the book and then all the plot is crammed into 150 pages at the end. I'm not mad at it or anything, but the pacing is definitely off. Also, if you don't know the characters from the first book in this series, you won't get much of a conception of them here. It's been a while since I read Simon and I kept having to remind myself who was who. This book does really well at capturing that “we're seniors and everything is about to change” feeling, especially in the last few chapters. Worth the read but nothing life-changing.
I wish this had been out when my son was younger - the data-based format is strongest in the early chapters, where there have actually been studies on things like sleep training. A lot of the later chapters are basically “there haven't been enough studies, probably whatever you decide to do is fine,” which is reassuring in a way but not all that helpful when it comes to decision-making. I think this would be good as a gift to new parents but it's of limited utility once your kid is older. Oster is still a very entertaining writer, though, and makes the potentially-dry subject matter both funny and fun to read.
Well, this was a hell of a book to finish on the day that Notre Dame was on fire. A fascinating blend of history, true crime (kind of, though not really enough to shelve it as that), a story of recovery from disaster, and a meditation on what a modern library means to its patrons and employees. I love Orlean's style and this was fun but also educational, without ever being dry or boring. I love libraries.
This isn't anything you don't already know (or I don't already know, but I am a public defender), just drilled down to focus on the lowest-level offenses, where the vast majority of people actually have their interactions with the criminal justice system. Definitely worth the read if you're interested in reform and mass incarceration.
Alyssa Cole is firmly at the top of my must-read list now, between the Reluctant Royals series and this one. This is a little lighter on the romance than the others in this series, with both main characters having to do work on themselves before they're ready for a relationship, and most of that work occurring as they're on a road trip to Mississippi as Union spies (basically). Janeta was a fascinating lead and I really enjoyed her journey in this book from pampered daughter (who's still an outsider in her family) to finding her talents and valuing herself. Daniel was somewhat less compelling as a character - he was so hostile and closed off in the beginning (understandably so) that it was harder for me to relate to him. I want to go back and reread the other two in this series now, but this one is (I think) my favorite.
It was fine? It's possible I'm just not a big fan of novellas (novellae?) if the characters don't already have a prior connection to draw on (like in [b:Once Ghosted, Twice Shy 42128976 Once Ghosted, Twice Shy (Reluctant Royals, #2.5) Alyssa Cole https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1541510712l/42128976.SY75.jpg 65725346], which I did like). Mrs. Martin was a very fun character and all the various schemes she employed to get rid of the Terrible Nephew were hilarious. I just didn't quite buy the insta-love, though I'm still glad I read this. Hooray for older characters and queer historicals!(2019 summer romance bingo: “both leads over 50”; could also count for “title includes character's name” or a very loose interpretation of “sassy grandparent.”)
Love this one - I really like Phoebe as the lead character. I kind of want to go back and reread [b:Devil in Winter 114166 Devil in Winter (Wallflowers, #3) Lisa Kleypas https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1309220205s/114166.jpg 1823830] and [b:Devil in Spring 30179647 Devil in Spring (The Ravenels, #3) Lisa Kleypas https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1467895208s/30179647.jpg 50618062] now, because I like these families so much.
(4.5, rounding up - not tagging as historical fiction because it's set less than twenty years earlier than the publication date, and not tagging as YA because I don't think it is, even though it won a YA award. Anyway.)I LOVED THIS. It's like [b:The Westing Game 902 The Westing Game Ellen Raskin https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1356850909s/902.jpg 869832] crossed with a murder mystery crossed with [b:Dramarama 437590 Dramarama E. Lockhart https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1437512851s/437590.jpg 3085471] (which is super underrated and I love), all set in the late 90s, and you might as well just go ahead and call this my catnip. Half a star deduction because I wasn't as interested in the adult characters and because the villain was just a little too flat as a character, but those are minor nits. I want to give Alice and Rabbit huge hugs and tell them it'll all be okay. And I want to reread this now that I know how it ends and see how everything fits together. It's phenomenal.
Not quite as much fun as [b:Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise 80642 Garlic and Sapphires The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise Ruth Reichl https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436980266i/80642.SY75.jpg 1824603], which was one of my favorite memoirs ever, but then I'm the weirdo who loves reading bad restaurant reviews, even for cities I don't live in. I still enjoyed this, even though not a whole lot really happened, per se, until the end, when everything falls apart really quickly. Reichl is just such an excellent, descriptive writer that this was still something I wanted to keep reading. I think it suffered a little by comparison because her strongest suit (at least in what I've read) is writing about food, and there just wasn't that much of that here, understandably so. Still definitely worth reading, but you should also read Garlic and Sapphires.
As a Full Internet Person with Pre-Internet People for parents, this book explained so much about our differences in communication styles. I also loved the discussion of emoji and memes, and the last chapter's extended metaphor about language as a collaborative project as opposed to something static and unchanging. I'm a former prescriptivist/grammar snob who still has to fight that tendency, but I think reframing language in this way will help a lot.
(Disclosure: the author and I are Internet People who follow each other on Twitter, and I was at the meetup/hangout where she was embroidering the piece mentioned in the meme chapter.)
A little light on plot, but it is a novella, so. Likotsi was one of my favorite characters in [b:A Princess in Theory 35271238 A Princess in Theory (Reluctant Royals, #1) Alyssa Cole https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501702014s/35271238.jpg 56629976] and it was so great to see her get a happy ending! This entire series is just wonderful and I can't wait for the next book.