This little book packs a big punch, revealing the ways of autocracy in our modern world. And of course it‘s not just an exploration of current autocracies but a warning about the risk of other places (read: the US under Trump) descending that way, since man are we teetering on the edge. Terrifically topical. #WPNF25

Literally on page 2. In case anyone was unclear about Trump being an autocrat, here you go. I have the feeling I‘ll be able to quote the hell out of this book (we‘ll see if I end up doing that or not).

The description of this book makes it sound amazing, but the way it‘s structured makes it rather confusing and quite hard to follow. I loved the idea of it and there were aspects I liked, but unfortunately it was a bit of a struggle. #Roll100 (February)

I had skipped this one originally but decided to give it a go after hearing someone rave about it on a podcast. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I did find it a little repetitive in places and feel like the ending was a bit weak. This is the type of book that should slap you across the face at the end and it just didn‘t do that. A low pick for me.

I‘m making progress getting my new library put together! Along the top of the shelves are my #Roll100 books. Plus I have a decent sized built in around the corner. I‘m liking how it‘s looking!

The subtitle and even the description of this one are misleading. I was expecting an exploration of the genders from someone who has experienced living outwardly as both, but this is really more of a straightforward memoir. It‘s lovely for what it is and Boylan comes across as sweet and charming. It‘s good to have trans stories out there, now more than ever.

This might be a wonderful book, but the audio is crap. The reader uses a monotone which doesn‘t even vary for characters speaking. I made it just over halfway through before I‘d had enough.

Hopefully I‘ll start being able to add my books into my new library on Sunday, but in the meantime, here‘s my fabulous new reading chair! It‘s so cozy, I may never leave!

This was one of the books from the #WPNF25 list I was most excited for and it did not disappoint. It‘s a banger of a book, detailing the life of Polish resistance fighter Elzbieta Zawacka in WWII and beyond. She was a remarkable woman. If you love historical fiction but are wary of NF, give this one a try.

This book explores the too common phenomenon of indigenous women going missing from their communities. And it has at its core a struggling, alcoholic indigenous marshal trying to find one of them. There were moments I zoned out a little and I was bothered how reckless the main character was, but I fundamentally liked this. A low pick for me.

This book looks at the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during WWII from the focus of a group of boys/young men who played football in one of the camps. It does a great job of showing the situation Japanese-American citizens were in but the football parts are a bit dull (and I like the game), so I‘m glad there was actually less of that than I was expecting.

I am back in Oregon and after getting groceries, I snuck over to my old haunt, Beach Books! (Don‘t tell my husband. 😉) It just so happens they had the recently #WPF25 longlisted book The Persians, and in their ARCs for those who bought books, was another from the longlist, Nesting! I‘ve already read 3 from the list, so I‘m off to a good start!

Here are my picks for March #ReadYourEbooks. Hopefully I do better this month than I had been. I have a goal to read one Percival Everett book each month this year, so I‘m happy to see Telephone pop up to fulfill that goal. @CBee

I am happy to report I really liked this! It is written as though a memoir by mega-successful author Cate Kay, who has previously remained a mysterious figure known to almost no one. It focuses on the relationships she has with the women in her life, whether friendship or loves. I really like how it all came together at the end.

Here are my March #Roll100 picks! Everything is packed up for my move, so after I get to the other end and my boxes meet me, I‘ll dig through and find these. I only managed to read one for February (and it was a bail), but I still have the others pulled aside. I got distracted by the #WPNF25 list. 🤭

I think the point of this book is to reveal the realities of war through the eyes of a child while showing the mundane aspects of life marching on regardless. But it has a child narrator, which is not my jam, and it‘s choppy. I‘m finding that I‘m bored and don‘t care. #Roll100

I‘ve read Scales before and liked her, so I was happy to see this in the #WPNF25 list. It shows the havoc we have and continue to wreak upon the oceans, but also gives a little hope for some of the things we‘re doing that‘s helping to slow and fix the damage. Excellent read.

I‘ve been focusing a lot on my physical books lately and neglecting my ebooks a bit, so I‘m glad I managed to read one of my #ReadYourEbooks in March. I don‘t see myself sneaking another in before the numbers are drawn, so here‘s my list!

It took me a little bit to settle into this, which very much could have been me and not the book, but once I did, I really liked it. Then main focus is on Ebony in 2019, but we get to know her family and a very special family heirloom. So many black American families don‘t know their history, and I felt like this helped seize history back. And the reader is very good, but I‘m perplexed by the choice to have a white woman read this.

Ronson looks at the phenomenon of internet shaming both in those who did some public misdeed as well as others who made dumb, insensitive jokes, and how that shaming has reverberated in the lives of the shamees. It‘s an interesting read and makes me glad I don‘t use social media outside Litsy. (It looks at events in 2012 and remains very relevant.) #ReadYourEbooks

As you can imagine, this one is a tough read. But it‘s well done and vital. In particular, Bates discusses how not only are the attitudes of men‘s rights activists and increls not going away, they‘re spreading and creeping into other lines of discourse in the absence of counter programming, so ignoring them is not the answer.

This story collection slaps you across the face and doesn‘t apologize for it. It deeply explores what it is to be a woman and contains all the content warnings. I thought it was very good.

I was a few books into this series before I realized there was a prequel, so now that I‘ve finished what‘s been published, I circled back to it. This is good entry point to meeting all the characters, and nice to see Molly and Emma meeting Pat for the first time. These are fun mysteries that get living in Hawaii right.

Everett infuses this book with his signature humor and habit of working on many levels while exploring the life of young Not Sidney Poitier. I see in this book glimmers of Erasure, The Trees, and James and, as usual with him, I really enjoyed it.

This meditative book turned out to be the perfect fiction companion for the NF Raising Hare. Both are quiet and contemplative with a focus on life‘s true priorities and nature. I enjoyed this.

In this wholly absorbing book, astrobiologist Cabrol looks at the possibility of life in the universe outside of earth and in fact that near probability of it. It is so fascinating and mind-boggling that I immediately started it over and listened again when I finished. I‘m sure I could read it several times and pick up new stuff. It‘s definitely science heavy and packed with info. Not for everyone but brilliant for me.

From my perspective, Neneh Cherry is a one-hit wonder and I wasn‘t terribly interested in her story. But I tried since this book is part of #WPNF25, and I‘m afraid this just isn‘t for me. I made it about halfway through and it‘s just not holding my interest. I don‘t know why it was included on the longlist.

This is the most marvelous book! Dalton details the relationship she developed with a tiny baby hare (leveret) during COVID lockdown and how things moved forward from there. If you have even a speck of tenderness for animals, I‘m pretty sure you‘ll love this as much as I did. #WPNF25

I had heard good things about this writing craft book so nabbed this when it popped up on skip the line loans. Turns out it was abridged, but I listened anyway and it is quite good. I‘d like to read the whole thing someday.

Other Littens are loving this #TOBlonglist book, but it just isn‘t working for me. I don‘t like the writing. And even after setting it aside for a week and picking it back up, still no go.

Having spent 20 years in medicine, this isn‘t something I would usually read, but it‘s beautifully done. It‘s the story of 2 kids, one in desperate need of a heart transplant to survive and the other in a horrible car wreck. It‘s handled with gentleness, care, and grace, showing every step of the transplant process through their stories and enriched by some historical narrative. Superb. #WPNF25

I just happened to be reading this when the #WPNF25 longlist came out and there it was! I can see why. The book delves into the lives of 4 women in modern China, giving a peek into the realities of life in China. I found it fascinating.

Early reviews of this book were not great and I was NOT going to read it. Then #TOB25 had to go and put it in the tournament so I begrudgingly put it on hold, figuring I might still skip it. I took a little bit to settle into it (not sure I would have made it through in print with my bad attitude) and…I really liked it. Sure showed me!

This book tells the story of how white Americans drove the buffalo to the brink of extinction then a few individuals helped save enough animals to allow the species to survive. It‘s well done with interviews from many sources, including Native voices. It has many illustrations, which I appreciated. Apparently there‘s an associated documentary if you want to check that out.

Ethan and Sutton don‘t have the perfect marriage. They‘ve each kept secrets, then a tragedy drives a deeper wedge. Then one morning Ethan awakes and Sutton is gone. Thus starts the twisty novel where we eventually get multiple perspectives. I really enjoyed this.

Nagle looks at a modern day jurisdictional debate as well as the history of US government behavior regarding native peoples in this book. While I liked all the parts of it, it didn‘t entirely work for me as a whole. The current story is regarding the Muskogee reservation but much of the past history was about her own Cherokee family. I found that split a little confusing and would have liked to see one or the other as the focus. #WPNF25

There are people who love Marilynne Robinson. I am not one of them. This is my third attempt to read her (the other 2 were NF) and she just is not for me. I don‘t care for her writing and after 26 pages have no interest in continuing.

Poor Nate and wealthy Natalie, together since middle school, are nearing college graduation. They go to Hawaii for Christmas break with friends and we are some spectacularly bad behavior. Nate‘s passive but a decent guy, but a couple of the characters are so toxic. I liked the idea and bits are funny, but I wished the author had pushed a little more. Low pick.

Kerry‘s made a mess of things, so when a caretaker position at in inn in the mountains crops up, she jumps at the chance to go there and finish her overdue book. A storm hits soon after she arrives and in the isolation, cold, and lack of power, she stumbles on a body. This was an entertaining thriller though Kerry didn‘t always quite ring true.

I‘ve always admired Merkel and now I do even more. We don‘t see eye to eye on some policy, but her level-headed approach, respect for those with other views, and willingness to change when the circumstances show she should are ideal in a leader. Plus, she‘s had a very interesting life. This is long but well worth it (and only a little dry in some spots about generating policy, which is inevitable).

One day, without warning, multiple teen girls at a well-regarded school in Kuala Lumpur start to scream. This mass hysteria event allows us to get to know 2 girls at the school. I liked the idea and think this deals gently with themes of trauma, but overall it was just ok. And the ending, which had some good aspects, is a bit of a dud.

The upside/downside of an organization like the NYT highlighting the best books of the year is that it brings those books to wider attention, but seriously increases expectations. I thought this memoir of transitioning late in life would blow my socks off and it just didn‘t. I‘m so glad it exists and hope to see more trans stories being told, but it just didn‘t meet my expectations.

Diane Boyd has been researching wolves since the 1970s and shares some of her experiences here. It‘s largely stories, many of which are quite funny, of her time working with wolves rather than a more traditional memoir. I loved it!

I love Mary Roach, and this book is no exception. Ostensibly about space, it‘s really about human physiology and how it is impacted by being in zero gravity, all packaged with her signature wit. I loved it!

I‘m afraid this #TOBlonglist book just didn‘t work for me. It should be so affecting, dealing with queer coming of age, first love, and grief. But it fell flat for me with a very sappy ending. I have to agree with @BarbaraBB that it felt very YA, not in a good way. Plus, I hate the cover, which reminds me of bad wallpaper.

Madness looks at the disparities of mental health care for black vs white people, focusing particularly on a Maryland asylum. It relies on individual accounts, fleshed out with stories gleaned from other sources. I have some quibbles, but overall it‘s a really powerful book highlighting a devastating inequality.

Agnes travels to Iceland to participate in a podcast about a famous historical murder there, of her grandmother and aunt. Her grandfather is believed by many to be the killer, but for her that doesn‘t fit the man she knows. This is definitely a slower burning thriller, more of the psychological variety. I enjoyed it but I think it‘s ultimately forgettable.

Haiwen and Suchi meet as children in Shanghai and we see their lives going forward, though Haiwen‘s story is told in reverse. Their lives allow us to see the backdrop of life during Japanese occupation as well as the politics of Hong Kong and Taiwan. I enjoyed this.

When the #TOBlonglist came out, this one looked right up my alley. A man gets a new blood test that tells him he has a tendency for criminality and will kill someone, but it‘s funny. Problem is, it‘s not so funny (but thinks it is), then takes a wild turn away from the premise halfway through and doesn‘t hold together. I wish I had bailed.

In his latest, Hendrix travels back to 1970 to a place where pregnant teen girls are stashed to have their babies (and have them taken away) so their families can pretend it isn‘t happening. I loved this book. Some of the body horror had me cringing away from the page. And this book is so female in the best way that I kept forgetting it was written by a man (other male authors should take note).