Lisa

Excellent non-fiction about the plight of a doomed whaleship. I had no idea when I started this that the accounts of survivors were in part the inspiration for Moby Dick. Recommended if you're interested in nautical stories, survival stories, or New England history. OR WHALES. VENGEFUL WHALES.

This is less a biography and more an irreverent overview of the American Revolution. The middle third of the book hardly mentions Lafayette it seems. It does provide a good overview of French intervention in the Revolutionary War.

This is painfully slow and written in slang. Read this one because I'm going through all the Newbery winners and it was a slog. Onto better things!

French graphic novel memoir about a young woman's discovery that she has tumor related epilepsy. This is very well paced and does an excellent job allowing the reader to experience this journey first hand. The art is a little hard to follow, but that may be because I read it digitally.

Would pair well with another medical graphic novel memoir, RX, or Brain on Fire.

I think this is the first book I've finished that the most people on my friends list have given 4-5 stars to.

There's no point in adding a review to such a well known book so I will simply say, I did not realize this film had such an environmental bent. I can't believe it was written in 1965. I really enjoyed it and it's plain to see the influence of Dune on other writers is profound.

Just as terrific as the first volume. This is so inclusive but never feels pandering. The art is so well done. There's a little bit of a fear factor but nothing that would overwhelm a younger reader. The new character Ariel is great and I love what is developing with Sedge's storyline. Can't wait to read the next volume.

Pretty good introduction to the Salem witch trials for a YA audience.

I thought this was a memoir.

Nice art. I can appreciate that the author wanted to really stylize the reader's experience with the font choice but it was a miss for me.

Well that was completely perfect and I can't believe I've never read it before.

This is wonderful. I'd only ever read one book by Steinbeck, which was Of Mice and Men a million years ago in high school.

All I really want to comment on is how much Doc ate on his drive from Monterey to La Jolla. That's a 6-7 hour drive. Maybe highways were significantly different enough that it was a much longer drive back then? He ate 3 days worth of meals. I was dumbfounded reading it. Anyway, great book. It's so descriptive and there are so many wonderful artifacts from the 1930s and 1940s.

Lighting a water heater. Soap chips. Beer cans you open with a can opener. I could go on.

First Star Wars book I've ever read, actually. I found Mara Jade's story really intriguing. Thrawn felt like a Mary Sue antagonist, if such a thing is possible. There were a lot of interesting elements and I'm sure I'll finish this series out.

I've been looking for picture books for older kids and this popped up on a list. The kids laughed out loud at parts. Funny premise and definitely snarkier than your average children's book. The artwork feels very 90s, but that's nice for nostalgia's sake I suppose. There's a fat joke that seems wildly out of place for a children's book even for slightly older readers, and I omitted it as I was reading it to them. Just something to be mindful of for reading aloud.

I'm doing a reading challenge where I needed to read a book published the year I was born. This was my choice. Somehow I never read this as a kid even though it would have been up my alley. Many people describe it as an American Harry Potter feel but the magic and word building is much darker. It's also a lot more esoteric and without explanation. That's honestly kind of cool. The book has been updated for modern audiences so there's references to things like MP3 players and texting. I'd recommend it to older kids who are interested in magic and have already exhausted the usual suspects.

Autobiographical graphic novel about an ad executive with BPD who is assigned to work on a Pfizer account for anti-depression medication. I didn't connect with the art the way a lot of other people did in reading this, but the book is extremely emotive and the author is very good at conveying rage.

This is such an odd book, tonally. The descriptions of these fledgling microbiologists are almost whimsical. I've read from the other reviews that it inspired many young people to become doctors so maybe the initial audience wasn't adults. In any case, it's very readable but dated. I learned a lot about a group of doctors I didn't know much about and I'd recommend it if you're interested in germ theory.

Pretty creepy! Haven't read a Stephen King book in years.

I thought this book was very charming and sweet. I was so surprised to see a lot of acrimonious one and two star reviews and they seem to be from kids who did not like this book being required reading for them. Going to try reading it with the kids to see what they think.

Can gore be cheeseball? Didn't care for this really, but I'm still going to give the show a shot.

This Israeli graphic novel about an ad hoc group of archaeologists who search for the Ark of the Covenant fell a little flat for me. There is a lot of presumed back story that I couldn't quite buy into. I did like the art style and color palette.

I don't understand why my kids like this series so much. But my younger son recommended it to me, so there we go.

Fairly extensive look at the opioid crisis and the intersection with the Mexican black tar heroin trade. This book is incredibly repetitive. The subject matter is fascinating in its own terrible way, and I recommend reading this if it's a topic of interest but by all means skim if you find yourself thinking “he just talked about this anecdote a chapter ago.”

This is a beautiful graphic novel. The artwork is stunning from the linework to the use of color. The story tends towards the predictable but it's a really enjoyable journey. The character design is also so well done from personality to physical looks. Just a really well constructed read. Highly recommended.

This is a masterpiece. It is so lyrical, and beautiful, and profoundly real.

This desperately needed a different illustrator. The linework is distracting and took me out of the narrative. I actually think this might have worked better as a traditional written work. The subject matter is worthwhile and I can tell the author has poured herself into it.