Two agents fighting a war through time and space begin exchanging letters and fall in love. 4⭐️

Ended the year with this short, cozy read. Happy New Year everyone!

I don't normally read memoirs but I had this as an audio book and it was read by the author and I found it to be relatable and enjoyable. 4⭐️

I love a good 'found family' trope! 4⭐️

This came in from the library and I DEVOURED it! I love the world building, word etymology, the character development, the history lessons, and the commentary how destructive colonialism was and continues to be. This is a book that is going to stay with me for a long time. If I could give it 10 stars I would. Actually, I'm an adult 10/5 ⭐️

I found the perfect spot to read in Porto. Right next to the river. The weather was perfect, there was a gentle breeze, and the background noise was quiet enough that I didn't lose focus. I finished it in that spot and I may have added a couple of tears to the river. Anyway I consoled myself with a glass of green wine but I still think about these characters.

I'm on vacation and have read 3 books so far. I enjoyed this one. His writing reminds me of Michael Crichton (but maybe only because they're both sci-fi?).

I should have posted this right when I finished it yesterday because I had so many thoughts but now I only feel the despair of a book hangover. I miss the characters (even their annoying quirks). This book is a beautiful tribute to the unique intimacy of friendship. I also discovered some art because I looked up the pieces that were unfamiliar to me. 5⭐️

Finished this one in 2 days. I think anyone who is a fan of Frederick Bachmann will enjoy this book. The story is written in third person narrative following Cameron Cassmore (on a quest to find the father he never knew) and Tova Sullivan (a widow who cleans an aquarium after hours) and also features the first "person" narrative of Marcellus, an octopus resident of the aquarium. 4.5⭐️ Found family is my favorite trope!

I was going to give it 4⭐️ but then I decided it reminded me of Lord of the flies so 5⭐️

Always a cozy fall read.

Pro tip: when you go to donate books, just drop off the box and leave. Do NOT go to the other entrance just to "take a peek". It defeats the purpose of purging.

I finished this a couple of days ago but wasn't sure of how to review it. I picked it up based on a recommendation and was surprised to learn it was a memoir. I don't usually care for memoirs but I loved the information about different species and I thought the book was beautifully written. Like the author's son I no longer eat octopus. I think I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads but after thinking about for a few days I believe it deserves 4⭐️

This book is a heavy but important read. Written by a defense attorney based in Washington DC, the book discusses the criminalization of black youth by police officers, SROs, prosecutors, judges, and defense attorneys. The author weaves together her own experiences working in the DC juvenile court system with stories from around the country while providing data to support her arguments. 5⭐️

A family is murdered except for the youngest child, a toddler who happened to figure out how to escape his crib at a very opportune time. He wanders down the street to a graveyard where he is raised by its otherworldly inhabitants. As he grows older he will leave the safety of the graveyard and venture out into the world where a man waits to finish the job. This reminded me a little of Lincoln in the Bardo, which I also loved! 5⭐️

In a coffee shop in Japan there is a seat that can take you to the past. There are several rules including : 1. Nothing you say or do will change the present and 2. You must return to the present before your coffee gets cold. I loved the characters and the lesson! 5⭐️

This has been on my TBR for YEARS! I had no idea what it was about but it was a wild ride. In 1976, Dana is moving into a new home with her white husband when she suddenly finds herself on a plantation in 1819 saving a boy from drowning. Rufus is the son of the plantation owner and a direct ancestor of Dana's. Time and again Dana is pulled back into the antebellum south to save Rufus' life. 4.5⭐️

My feelings for this book are not without bias. I loved the first book in the series because I found it refreshing read about a world where humans are trying to do what benefits society and the environment. So I was very excited when I saw this on the library shelf. I wasn't disappointed. This book continues to follow Mosscap and Dex through different towns as Mosscap meets more humans to determine what their needs are.(cont in comments)

Prival Sangupta is a Bengali widow who has never left the blocks surrounding her Kolkata apartment. When her husband passes, she decides to take a tour of America hoping that it will lead her to her estranged son who she has been told died suddenly from a heart attack. She is accompanied by her tour guide Satya, a young Bangladeshi man, who has never led a tour, and Rebecca, a struggling American actress. 4.5⭐️ I'm going to miss this crazy crew!

I REALLY wanted to like this book. I love a plus sized main character. But the majority of the book discusses her dieting and exercising to get a revenge body and it was a bit much for me. I did love her relationships with her friends and family and the descriptions of her cooking. 2⭐️

This is one of those books that I cannot possibly summarize. Well, I could but not without spoilers. If you liked Station Eleven this is similar. But less pandemic-y. And less dystopian. And with time travel. 4.5⭐️

This Pulitzer Prize winning novel is a must read! Sociologist Matthew Desmond, seeking to understand the housing crises, follows eight families living below the poverty line in an effort to find how we as a country got here and what can be done about it. The individual stories are devastating but Desmond offers some hope in the end. 5⭐️

Maya Angelou's mom was a pistol!

Great summer read! Sometimes I just want to read about people who are meant to be together against the odds. 4.5⭐️

Very informative read both for those who are on the Ace spectrum and for those who aren't. Covers the intersections between being Ace and homo or heterosexual, trans, disabled, BIPOC. Also discusses consent in a way that is beneficial for anyone regardless of identity. 4⭐️

I absolutely fell in love with the characters in this book. There were quite a few instances where I was yelling at the main character because she makes some pretty bad choices but ultimately I just wanted things to work out for her. 4.5⭐️

I just really did not like this one. If you want a to read a fabulous book with an autistic narrator I would suggest The Curious Incident of Dog in the Nighttime. 2⭐️

I loved All the Light You Cannot See but this book just felt like a jumbled mess for the first 400 pages. In the book's defense, I had covid while reading it so brain fog may have been a contributing factor. I really slogged my way through. 3⭐️

A Hollywood legend recounting her life story to the young woman who will write her memoir after she's passed. People are complicated 4.75 ⭐️

Beautifully written novel about a woman in the 12th century who is shipped off to a convent only to eventually become abbess and completely transform it. As someone who was raised Catholic there were a lot of situations I found humorous. I really enjoyed how the convent was its own matriarchal society within a larger society (and institution) that are not. 5⭐️

This book was twisted. Almost DNF'd because the beginning was slow and I didn't like the narrator but it picked up toward the middle and I breezed through the rest of it. I wasn't disappointed but it's not my typical genre. 3.75⭐️

Desiree and Stella are twins born and raised in Mallard, LA, a town where the lightness of one's skin is prized. At 16 the girls flee the confines of their small town and head to New Orleans where one of them disappears. The story follows the trajectory of Desiree and Stella's lives after their separation. 4⭐️

I really enjoyed this book. It is narrated by Daniel, a 27 year old, who possibly witnesses a college student being kidnapped. He wants to contact the police but there is one problem: Daniel has spinal muscular atrophy and cannot speak. Aided by his best friend, Travis, and his caregiver, Marjani, he is determined to save this girl.
I really loved the representation in this book and despite one glaring plot hole I enjoyed the story overall. 4⭐️

I didn't enjoy this as much as the first in the series. For an 800 page book I felt there were so many sub-plots that felt thrown together and it resulted in the story feeling disjointed. Will I read the next book in the series when it's published? Yes. But I'm not waiting with bated breath.

I just love the library so much!

I had a hard time getting into this one and was 10 pages away from DNF when the story picked up for me. I'm glad I stuck with it because I really enjoyed it! It's interesting to imagine living life without being able to connect with anyone. 4⭐️

I've been on an fantasy kick. I enjoyed it enough to purchase (and start reading) the sequel but I'm still suffering a book hangover from the Six of Crows duology. 4⭐️

I've been slightly behind with posting, I finished this over a week ago. This book was a fun ride and I deeply miss all the characters! 4.5⭐️

Loved this one. Good character development. Already started the second book!

Brilliant poetry collection 5/5⭐️

A sort of Alice Through the Looking Glass theme but if there were multiple Alices who ended up in different worlds, each suited to that particular child's needs and capabilities. The book follows students at a boarding school who long to return to the worlds they stumbled into. After Nancy arrives from an Underworld students at the school are murdered one by one. I enjoyed the theme of acceptance but the book fell just shy of expectations 3.5⭐️

This story follows Vanja. Abandoned by her mother at the age of 4 she becomes the adopted daughter of Death and Fortune. These days she is moonlighting as a princess and stealing from the nobility. When she angers a Lesser God a curse is placed on her for her greed. Vanja must figure out how to right her wrongs to survive the next full moon. And that is just the first few chapters! 4.5⭐️

I was never really interested in mythology growing up but I have enjoyed all of the mythology re-imaginings that I've read recently. I will definitely read more of Sylvia Moreno-Garcia's books! 4⭐️

George Johnson's memoir of growing up in NJ simultaneously trying to define his identity and hide it. Def. ✔️ trigger warnings for this book! I wanted to read it b/c it recently made some banned books lists. Overall I enjoyed it and I hope that kids in similar circumstances have access to books like this so they have a sense of solidarity. I hope that kids in differing circumstances also read books like this to develop empathy and acceptance 4.5⭐️

I accidentally glanced at a couple of Google reviews before reading this one and, based on those, I might be an outlier. I loved this book. It has so many qualities I don't like but it's different from anything I've read and I really enjoyed it. I reserved it from the library based solely on a patient recommendation. It's one of those books that the less you know going into the better IMO. 5⭐️

John Green, even in non-fiction, is the king of toying w my emotions. Even a chapter innocuously titled "Googling People" packs an unexpected gut punch. Green reviews different aspects of the current geological age. I love random facts and back stories on how things came to be (the QWERTY keyboard, Monopoly). 4.5⭐️

Camino lives in the Dominican Republic. Yahaira lives in New York City. When American Airlines flight 587 crashes shortly after takeoff there are no survivors. Camino and Yahaira both lose their father on that day and each girl is about to learn of the existence of a second family and a sister she never knew about.

This was the perfect pallette cleanser after my last 3 books. Nora Seed has decided to end her life, but instead of death she ends up at the Midnight Library, an in-between place where the different paths her life could have taken are all available to her. But this is not a permanent place and Nora must find the life that suits her or risk losing herself forever. 5⭐️

It's a good thing this was an audio book because I would have thrown a physical book across the room at least 30 times. The amount of injustice and corruption in this world never ceases to amaze me. Anyway, read this book. It was infuriating but phenomenal. 5⭐️ I need a fluffy read. My last 3 books were heavy. TW for substance abuse, OD

This one is tough for me to review. I don't normally read memoirs and while I did enjoy it I probably should have at least read a synopsis before diving in. I'm not in a place to be reading about a girl losing her mom. 3.5⭐️