Ali

So much to love in concept and so much to be frustrated about in execution.

I expected something along the lines of Handmaid’s Tale. What I read was a supposed adult being caught up in a teenagey love triangle while being used as a pawn by both the Illum and the rebels.

I keep reading to the end waiting for any sort of satisfying conclusion that never really came. I hope the prequel coming out next year does a better job of world building because there are so many questions needing answers. Even a cursory overview of “how we got here” would have helped.

I agree with other reviewers that this really is a YA/New Adult level book save for a few sex scenes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine for the opportunity to read and review.

Sometimes when I’m wavering on my feelings about a book, I read other reviews to try to make sense of it all. In this case, I found many others in the same confused boat. I wanted to love this book from the outset being a long time fan of Cameron’s movies, writings and previous books. Ultimately it just felt incomplete.

These stories are absolutely worthy of being told and I’m glad they were but it felt like a collection of Rolling Stone story backgrounds and a biography of his mother put together rather than a true autobiography. So much of his life is seemingly intertwined with his mother’s and I kept wanting him to tell his own story outside of hers. The moments of true introspection are fleeting and you’re left desiring more. You also come away from The Uncool hoping for a Part 2. There’s still so much to be told about his life and his filmmaking career.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avid Reader and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review.

As a frequent reader of dystopian fiction, I am often hesitant as a romance (in this case, a love triangle) is introduced knowing it ultimately will make or break the book. Luckily, Eden/Skye’s triangle makes An Ocean Apart a page turner. You can understand why she becomes torn between the home she knows and possibilities of the future and you, as the reader, find yourself vacillating between them as much as she does.

The big twist and the ultimate outcome both make sense for the characters. I’m not entirely sure why the perspective shifts for the epilogue though. Out of the 3 main characters, it’s the perspective I was least interested in hearing. I think it did a slight disservice to the story to not provide a little more closure.

That said, I definitely recommend this for dystopian-YA-romance-competition loving readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read and review.

“Enshittification” spells out well how the corporations who dominate our lives have no incentive to change their aggressively terrible ways as they’ve monopolized their competitors and have only their self interests in mind.

That said, I don’t understand the main target of this book - is it techies, economists, the chronically online, everyday consumers?

I agree with many reviewers that it really could’ve been edited down lengthwise as Doctorow’s argument loses some punch when you’re reading it reworded and repackaged in chapter after chapter. I ended up skimming the last third of the book just to get through it.

I personally was hoping for a broader cultural look as enshittification has infested so much of modern life but then again, these corporations drive our current culture.

The cures proposed were a bit too optimistic given the current state of affairs. While it touches on the beginning of the current administration, it underestimates the amount of dismantling that was to come.

Thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

Like almost everyone else, I picked up this book from having watched Ruby on GBBO years ago. What I regret is not having picked up any of her work earlier.

I thoroughly enjoyed her candid writing style. It felt more conversational than dictatorial (and yes I had her essay on food critics in mind when I wrote this). I thought the mix of historical and cultural with just a touch of snark made it a worthwhile read and I look forward to reading more from her. Definitely recommend this people who love food but also like considering the bigger picture of how food has evolved and influenced/been influenced by society in the past hundred years.

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

I love receiving an ARC of a book I was already eagerly anticipating. Fresh off his in depth coverage of REM, Peter Ames Carlin goes back to perhaps his favorite writing subject, Bruce Springsteen.

This book is definitely only for the fanatics detailing the daily ins and outs of the physical and psychological experience of recording “Born To Run”. The arduous process is not new information to the majority of Bruce fans. The most impactful part of the book is chronicling the constantly churning insecurity Bruce experiences throughout given the stakes of the album’s success (or lack thereof) and his personal quest for rock and roll perfection.

I’m a Springsteen fan and was raised on the scripture of “Born to Run”. I’ve spoken of the spiritual experience of a Bruce show. That said, at times the book teetered on the edge of being too worshippy even for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for the opportunity to read and review.

This was a fun read that I’d recommend to anyone who loves the weirder parts of history. It is as advertised - a history of humans on drugs. It doesn’t glorify or vilify drug use but rather illustrate the positive and negative effects on the behaviors of 40 individuals over millennia.

It was interesting reading the Nixon chapter while my spouse was reading “The Final Days” and discussing how Nixon’s substance abuse put far more on the brink than just his presidency.

I also thought the illustrations were a fantastic addition (especially Queen Victoria).

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton | Plume for the opportunity to read and review.

As a long time reader of Rolando’s Substack, I was so excited when he announced he was publishing a book and thrilled to get a copy early. I cannot imagine how hard it was for him to pare down the thousands of worthy restaurants, signs, sights and oddities observed on his travels.

This book will absolutely inspire you to jump in the car and wander, I’ve bookmarked so many locations, both familiar and far off to add to my must see list.

If you suffer from wanderlust or just love history and American culture at its finest, definitely check this out (and subscribe to Rolando’s newsletter)!

Thank you to NetGalley and Artisan for the opportunity to read and review.

Assassins Anonymous grabbed me from the start with its premise and once I heard a sequel was not far behind, I leapt at the chance to get my hands on it. Reading the first book is pretty much a requirement before picking this one up.

I can’t pinpoint why I didn’t love this one as much as the original but I still enjoyed the ride. You get much more insight into Astrid’s past before, during and after her time with The Agency.

Her decision making is often questionable throughout the book but it helps to further humanize her to her AA family.

The prison would make for a fascinating story on its own.

Both books are fun reads if you’re a thriller/assassin story fan.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons for the opportunity to read and review.

I was of mixed opinions as I started Hit Girls. While I was of high school and college age during the Aughts, I was never much of a pop music person. I knew most of these artists more from their cultural impact and tabloid coverage than their music.

Although a bit fangirly for me at times, Princiotti does a good job of detailing the production of the music covered here and the timely elements involved. What I enjoyed most was her examination of how the artists in question changed both the music industry and the nature of celebrity in America.

It’s a worthwhile read for anyone who came of age in the Aughts and/or is a fan of any of these artists. You will no doubt spend hours watching videos on YouTube as a result (because I did).

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine (Random House) for the opportunity to read and review.

I’ve been a big Brittlestar fan for years and jumped at the chance to read this.

It is what the title says it is - a guide to resisting fascism by seeing it through the psyche of a cat. A quick and funny but valuable read. My only complaint is that the text gets a bit repetitive at times

If you’re looking for something longer and more in-depth, check out his other book “Welcome to the Stupidpocalypse”.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the opportunity to read and review.

What can I say about George Takei? On top of his many talents and professions in life should be storyteller. He has yet again excelled into turning his personal story into one everyone would benefit from reading.

I found “They Called Us Enemy” a captivating book and “It Rhymes With Takei” is no different. It explores George’s life from his childhood realization of his orientation to the current day illustrated by the difficulties he faced being closeted while leading a very public life as an actor, political advocate and activist until he decided to publicly come out and embrace his full self at age 68.

It is an absolutely worthwhile read written by one of the better humans on this Earth.

My gratitude to NetGalley, IDW Publishing and Top Shelf Productions for the opportunity to read and review.

Jose Andres deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. No one can argue against that because you would be arguing against feeding people.

Andres was lucky to figure out early in life that feeding people was his mission. In the past decade, he has exponentially expanded his mission to feed millions in the face of war and natural disaster.

“Change the Recipe” is a collection of the lessons he has learned along the way and how to implement them into your own life. I especially enjoyed the insights into his younger days.

I would recommend this book for upcoming graduates or anyone looking to find purpose in their lives. A grand initial gesture is never needed to change the world. Start small, start local and it will grow and flourish from there.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for the opportunity to read and review.

A mystery starring the Golden Girls? Who wouldn’t want to read that?

It’s not the best mystery you’ll ever read but it’s fun being able to picture so much of the story so easily. This would’ve made a great TV movie back in the day.

I loved it being centered around Rose to get a deeper look into the strange world of St. Olaf.

Worth picking up if you love the Girls and/or a breezy mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the opportunity to read and review.

I enjoyed this look at the different backgrounds and methods of several protestors of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Through their stories, you are shown a number of ways small acts of resistance can make a difference against seemingly insurmountable odds. Even if the end result is not what you desire, you don’t give up hope. You transfer it and find new ways to act, rebel and persist.

Thank you to Timber Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

This is my favorite installment to date in the Huda F series. Huda’s emotional growth takes a massive leap in this installment, as a result of both age and circumstance. No matter what age you are, your parents divorcing affects you. Add this to all the normal teenage woes and the added pressures of being a Muslim female and you’ve got one heck of a stressful situation. Everyone in the book learns the valuable lesson of stepping back to gain perspective when nothing seems to go your way.

This will definitely be on my list of graphic novels to recommend this year!

Thanks to Penguin Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

If you thought Lone Wolf was emotional, strap in for Nemesis. 
Nemesis is a continuation of Lone Wolf. The two books act as almost a stand alone duology within the Orphan X series. Evan's reluctant embrace of humanity, both its good and bad sides, is continued and heightened here. You also get a greater insight into the few people he has allowed to get close to him: Tommy and Joey. 
Evan is pushed into the closest thing to a real world 2025 situation that he's faced. A mission with more layers, personalities, histories and emotions than he's ever had to deal with before. 
I don't know when or how the Orphan X series will end but seeing Evan come back around to being fully human since Jack plucked him from the group home was as beautiful to see as it was painful for him to realize.
I remain eternally grateful to have received another ARC of my favorite thriller series. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins/Minotaur for the opportunity to read and review.

I've been a fan of Linda's since her recapping days on TWoP and eagerly read her first two novels. I loved Evvie Drake and didn't love Flying Solo so I tried to start Back After This with an open mind. 
I'm happy to say that BAT falls in the love category for me. Although the direction of the book was clear fairly early on, Linda did the story justice by having it take appropriate twists and turns to make the ending more satisfying. 
Also, I need a Great Dane in my life. 
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read and review. 

I enjoyed Thieves Gambit so I was excited to receive an ARC of the upcoming sequel. 
Basically, it's another Gambit. The middle heist - 5 stars, no notes. The other two? Meh.  
I really enjoyed learning more about the characters and seeing their personal growth. The problem though is that I really dislike that YA action/thrillers often seem to rely on “the girl is hopelessly/distractedly in love” trope. Obviously the Ross-Devroe entanglement was going to be a major part of the plot as a proxy war between their mothers. 
I wish we could have seen an ending where Ross explores a different direction in life in more ways than one. The ending we got was fuzzy and abrupt. 
However, I would absolutely love a book about Hart's casino and the secrets they deal in. That would be a spinoff with incredible potential. 
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the opportunity to read and review. 

If I had known this was an academic study, I likely would not have picked it up. I don't particularly enjoy the over-intellectualization of rock music. It's a practice that strikes against the very spirit of the genre.

No one needs 200 pages of text to tell them that Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen were influenced by metropolitan New York and that influence was apparent in their music. You can get that by simply picking up almost any of their albums. The author claims not to delve deep into histories or details at times and then does just that. He loses the thesis when it no longer becomes applicable to Springsteen and Joel's music around the mid 80s and should have ended it there. This book could have been much more effective at a fraction of the length and minus the overuse of ten dollar words. 

And yet, that wasn't my biggest issue with this book. The biggest issue by far was the complete lack of copy editing. For a university published book, you expect better. Not glaring errors every few pages. 

For someone who seems to know a fair amount about his subjects, the author misquoted lyrics when they are readily available on Bruce and Billy's own websites (and did so twice on a single page). He mixes up different songs on the same album (the Magic Rat is Jungleland, not Backstreets). Misspelling easily googleable song, band and musician names and saying Bruce played certain songs in concert when setlists across the internet prove otherwise. I wanted to take a red pen to the pages. The multitude of gaffes takes away any effectiveness the text might have had. 

If you want to pick up a book about Joel or Springsteen, there are many others to consider before picking this one up. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Rutgers University Press for the opportunity to read and review. 

I feel like a lot of others when it comes to The Dissent - I wanted to love it. I loved The Union. The Dissent however just didn't live up to expectations. 
There's a great story in there but it got muddied along the way. I don't know if it would have been better served by being three books or by editing this one down. There's definitely a place for a third book though given the ending. 
I would absolutely love to see this series on screen in some format because it's a perspective that hasn't really been explored. 
Thank you to 47North and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review. 

5 stars to a book that reawakened the Wingnut in me. I laughed, I cried several times and I smiled even more. I would've loved to have had this closer to when the show was still on the air but it required to have some distance and some time to reinforce the overall message. TWW brought together committed people that inspired each other and the viewers and continues to do so to this day. 
You really need to be a West Wing fan to fully appreciate the entirety of the book but the messages are universal. Be a person for others, pursue your passions and even small actions can have huge influence. 
Thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review. 

This is a complicated review for me. Steven Hyden has been my favorite music writer for the last decade plus and it was his writings about Springsteen (specifically his agreement that Tunnel of Love is underrated in the Bruce pantheon) on Grantland that first made me a fan. 
That said, this book has me conflicted and I don't know whether it's on him, his editors, his publisher or all of the above. It's marketed as being centered around “Born In The USA” but it's much more than that. It's much more of a study of the man himself, a shifting political landscape and his role before, during and after it. I understand using BITUSA as a hook to draw people in but it does a disservice to the book's contents. 
As for editing, it bounces all over the place, thematically and anecdotally. To market it around a single album calls for a more linear format and this doesn't have that. 
And as for Hyden himself, it lacks objectivity. Again, I don't know the motivations for the book and whether he wanted his personal feelings and opinions to come through so much. The worst example of that is the long section comparing Springsteen to Hyden's greatest musical love, Bob Dylan. It goes into far more Dylan minutiae than most people are seeking when picking up this book. 
It reads like a book by a Springsteen fanatic for other Springsteen fanatics, which it is and I am. As I mentioned, I love Hyden's work and his work on Springsteen and enjoyed this book immensely from that standpoint. 
My criticism stems from whether any of the aforementioned parties wanted this to appeal beyond hardcore Springsteen fans. At the end of the day, as the book is written, I can't say that it would.  
If you love Bruce though, by all means, dive into this, pull up some favorite bootlegs, dream about “Electric Nebraska” and enjoy. 
Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette for the opportunity to read and review. 

I enjoyed Our American Friend so I jumped at the chance to read the author's next book. It certainly kept me reading wanting to find out how all the pieces eventually came together and what the final puzzle looked like. That said, there was still a lot of jumping around and suspension of disbelief that made it a frustrating experience. However Kath is a gem and I'd love a spinoff book about her crazy life. 

I don't want to write a long list of nitpicks so I'll say this, if you want a US-Russia spy novel with a slow churn story and various forms of relationship drama, it's worth a read. If you're looking for a nonstop thrill ride, look elsewhere. 

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

5 stars for content but 3 stars for editing. 

I will always happily pick up a book about the Giants and especially the ‘86 team. They provided me with my earliest football memories and firmly ensconced me it my family's fanaticism for Big Blue. 

The book was absolutely helped by Gary Myers' long standing relationships with many Giants coaches and players. They definitely opened up more for him than they would have for someone else. That said, the book suffered by a lack of editing. The story would've been much more effective chronologically. The bouncing around both with time and players featured made the book take much longer to get through. 

Thank you NetGalley and Public Affairs Books for the opportunity to read and review.