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⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 A book I never would have picked up if not for the #ToB25 short list! Unique structure of telling the stories if 8 teenage girl boxers as they fight in matches at a tournament in Reno. It was interesting enough while reading, but I finished it a few weeks ago and none of the characters or stories stayed with me. Soft pick.

This book was not for me, and I‘m not sure what it was. The boxing? The writing? Where there too many boxers so we spend too little time with the boxers? I‘m don‘t know, but it was something

#tob25

I enjoyed this book and how it used a youth sports competition in Reno, NV to frame the lives of the 8 contestants. The last chapter was a little weird, maybe? But Reno is a weird place, so whatever I guess. #tob #tob2025 #tob25

Getting my February #BookSpin list out early for once. 💐💝

ETA: modified to account for last minute buddy reads 🙃

After many starts and pauses, I have finished Wild Houses, a book that hit a few lists last year. A bleak Irish setting with depressing scenes and down on their luck characters made this a bit of a bummer but when the plot finally got rolling I was engaged and flew through the last quarter of the book. It‘s a pick because of the character development and the setting. Bad choices are made and the lives of several young people intersect. Low pick

#25Alive! Day 23: The #Dreams of teenage female boxers are on display here with their feints, jabs, hyper-self-awareness. Gradually going through the #ToB25 shortlisted titles.

I love Matar‘s warm, erudite tone & rich subject matter so no surprise that I was engrossed by this novel. Khaled & his friends yare in London, unable to return to Libya. The heartbreak & uncertainty of this exile is beautifully rendered & feels true to life. It‘s poignant but told in a warm, inviting voice. Matar‘s writing flows & there‘s something exact in his prose that feels thoughtful & not showy. He wears his knowledge lightly. Moving.

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