I‘m so glad I got over my hate of Trust Exercise to read this one, as I really liked it! Exploring themes of belonging and nationalism by zooming in on a single small family, the reader gains greater understanding of Japan and Korea. I‘m glad I had already read Pachinko so I had some background with Korea/Japan. I do think this could have used a bit of editing, but it‘s quite good.

#NBAlonglist, fiction

This cousin to Office Space is a darkly funny look at office culture and the inanity of certain jobs. But, it goes a step further by critiquing the emptiness of modern online life. When it inevitably goes off the rails, it does so in ways I didn‘t expect. I really enjoyed this and am happy to see BOTM stretching a bit.

I haven‘t even started this book and yet already have a history with it. When it first came out, I was firmly opposed to reading it, as I HATED Choi‘s last book. Then I read a description and it sounds completely different. I eventually decided I actually want to read it and put it on hold about a month and a half ago, but the line‘s still crazy long so I used a Libro credit. Now to start while I work on my crochet plant!

I picked this for the title, figuring it would be funny and fun, and I suspected it would be from the detective‘s perspective. Instead, it‘s from the assistant‘s perspective, basically not funny at all, and the ending in particular is so derivative of Agatha Christie I almost started calling the detective Poirot. Apparently this is the start of a series, which I will not be reading.

#Bookhaul! My order from B&N has arrived, with 3 books from the #NBAlonglist for translated lit and one from the nonfiction list. Then, I stopped into Beach Books in Seaside on my way home and picked up the tagged since it‘s now out. I‘m excited to continue my reading of the lists!

Hannah‘s not so lucky in love and decides to start up a correspondence with an accused serial killer. She then proceeds to lose her job and decides to go to his trial to support him. This is clearly a debut and shows promise (I liked her bananas second book), but just doesn‘t quite get there. Plus, it‘s just a tad too cringey.

Two men went out fishing in a small boat off the coast of Mexico and were caught in a storm. Their boat was disabled and ended up drifting across the Pacific all the way to the Marshal Islands. If, like me, you found the on the sea part of A Marriage at Sea a little thin, this is the book for you. Salvador is an extraordinary man with a great attitude, and I loved this book.

I wasn‘t planning to continue this series quite so soon, but i knew my library had book 2 and I just felt the urge to dive in. I liked this one even more, probably because the stage has been set and I can enjoy continuing to spend time with Emma and company.

This is another superb selection from the #NBAlonglist for nonfiction! Thomas was an anthropology grad student when he started participating in fighting wildfires. Here he details that part of his life and weaves in the history of indigenous land management via fire and the environmental/climate change side of the story. It makes for a very rich reading experience. I can‘t recommend this enough.

As part of the titular society, Magda is tasked with going to Hong Kong to retrieve an “unknowable,” i:e. magic, object. But someone attempts to intervene, setting her down the path of learning the society is not at all what she thought. I really enjoyed this one and liked the whole cast of characters.

This started as an interesting story of an angry man living through his brother‘s slow death from AIDS. The writing and tone is a bit manic and in your face, but once I adjusted to it, it worked. But what ruined it for me is the main character is deeply misogynistic without examination of this and it gets so thick by the end it was just bad.

Ostensibly the journal of a young woman in 1883, we gradually find out how her situation has been impacted by the actions of her cousin. This is a fun, charming novella with a likable narrator. Apparently there are 8 of these, and I‘ll certainly read onward.

My book club is reading this book this month, which didn‘t excite me as I already read it and it didn‘t really come together for me, despite loving McBride‘s previous books. So I was happy to find a skip the line loan on audio and listened to it while making my little sea turtle. I loved the pattern and am happy with how it turned out! #LitsyCrafters

A shockingly high percentage of former foster kids end up either in jail or homeless. Rowe chronicles the stories of 6 former foster kids to reveal this phenomenon while buttressing her narrative with data from studies. She also tells of some people who are trying to change things for these kids. This is sobering, searing, and absolutely superb.

#NBAlonglist, nonfiction

This sly little book examines upward mobility, what we‘re “supposed” to want, and the emptiness that often results. I really liked this. I would have liked it to have more of an edge to pump it up to loved status for me, but it‘s really good.

#NBAlonglist, translated literature

This is the story of Edward McCabe, a black politician in Kansas who hatched the idea as Oklahoma was becoming a state of having it be a black-only state. I love that this man existed and that his story is being told, but I found this a bit dry. It may have been the audio, so if you try this, I would suggest print.

#NBAlonglist, nonfiction

This book follows a barge built in Sweden in 1979 for use as quarters for offshore oil workers. Over its lifetime, it served as hotel, troop quarters, and prison, and spent more than a little time derelict in various places around the world. The author uses this to explore society, though I felt economy (despite the subtitle) was not necessarily the focus. Really interesting stuff.

And finally, the NBA longlist for fiction has arrived! I have to say, I‘m fascinated by this list. Though I‘m a bit annoyed that fully half aren‘t out yet (and 3 won‘t be out until November), I‘m delighted that some of the “expected” books (like Audition) aren‘t here. I like the surprise and the continued NBA habit of including small press books (there are 2). I haven‘t read a single one of these and can‘t wait to dig in!

I‘ve been sitting on my gift certificate for CB Book Company and went today to seek out some NBA longlist books. I didn‘t find any and thus settled into a nice browse and ended up with a great stack (pictured with my latest crochet critter)! Helen, they were so delighted by how we know each other, it was really lovely. Thank you again!

A family of 5 is headed for an event with the 17 year old behind the wheel, but the vehicle in AI driving mode. They end up hitting another car head on, killing both occupants. While this is definitely an exploration of AI, it‘s also an examination of the various ways each human contributed to the situation. I thought it was fantastic.

This is ostensibly an ongoing conversation between father and son as the father is facing death in a retirement home. But it doesn‘t really have a traditional structure, unsurprising for Everett, but it lost me a little. Parts of it I really liked, but as a whole it didn‘t really work for me.

This is the list every year that really excites me—the nonfiction NBA longlist! As usual, this year‘s list is super topical and I‘m delighted to see it‘s very feminist as well. Again, I‘ve read 2, the El Akkad and the Li, both terrific. Run the Song seems the odd one out for me and I‘m most curious about Motherland, which isn‘t out yet.

Sitting firmly between The Sixth Extinction and An Immense World, this book looks at the extraordinary qualities of animals and how they are harmed by human light pollution. It also looks at how this light pollution came to be and how humans ourselves are harmed by it. It‘s so well done and truly functions as a call to action to start dimming our nighttime world for everyone‘s benefit.

Halley is headed toward divorce when she suddenly gets fired. Then her dad calls: he‘s broken his leg in a fall and needs emergency surgery. She rushes to his house and finds there evidence that her mother did not die the way she‘d always been told. She starts investigating and more secrets are uncovered. This one gets a little bananas by the end, but Ellison laid the groundwork well enough that I could go with it.

It‘s here!! National Book Awards longlist week!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳 Today‘s lists are translated lit and young people‘s lit (you‘ll have to go their website for the latter, which I don‘t follow). I‘ve actually read 2 of these, the Kang and Hunchback, and the Balle and Barrera don‘t release until November, which is always frustrating. I am loving the cover of Sleep Phase and We Computers only has 3 ratings on Goodreads, so I love seeing it elevated here.

I found this one a little hard to get into at first and I don‘t know if that was me or the book. But then I did and it really gets going and I didn‘t want to stop listening! Díaz does not shy away from gore here, so be aware of that. It‘s really good.

I really got into the story and characters in book 1 of this trilogy, so I raced right to book 2, and it disappointed me. The first third of this book is just fight after fight between our core group and various people, and fighting takes up a lot of the end, too. Very little is done to advance the story or characters. Really dull, and too long of a book for that! Now I don‘t know if I want to bother with book 3. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, it‘s an origin story setting up the reader‘s understanding of a character for a series, also being a series set around a black man at a time that was rare. On the other hand, it‘s a whole lot of people menacing each other without much of a through line and a ludicrous number of bodies piling up. I can‘t quite give it a pick. Pretty cool that my library has a signed first edition.

I didn‘t love her previous book, so I initially ignored this one, but I recently heard a description of it and wanted to try it out. And I really liked it! Valerie disappears while hiking the AT and Bev is in charge of the SAR efforts. Plus, a third woman becomes invested in the case. I like the multiple perspectives and the story kept me riveted.

While nothing can be as delightful as Swann‘s sheep characters in Three Bags Full, she apparently also has a knack for portraying old folks with humor. Suddenly, several old folks are murdered and Agnes decides to investigate. It‘s fun and I look forward to book 2.

In 1984, a white man went to a church at night during a bible study and murdered the black deacon and his wife in cold blood. The police, insisting it wasn‘t racially motivated, proceeded to not solve the case. This book follows the situation until the current moment, showing how poorly our “justice” system can work. It‘s very well written.

Six people in San Diego are visited by odd people who snap a silver bracelet on their wrists. Shortly thereafter, the world ends but the six are shifted to an alternate earth in which it‘s possible to manipulate aspects of time. They start to learn about their unique capabilities while hiding from the authorities and learning someone wants them dead. There are little issues with this, but I enjoyed it and look forward to book 2!

This searing book looks at 5 families in Atlanta who, despite working hard and making educational efforts, find themselves homeless due to lack of housing and policies designed to have them fail. It‘s a damning indictment of how we run our country in the US. We should be appalled and I truly wish every republican would read this book with an open mind to see what happens. Dion Graham reading it makes it marginally easier to swallow.

I didn‘t post my list, but here are my four books for September‘s spins. We‘ll see how I do given that as soon as the National Book Awards longlists come out next week, I‘ll be pivoting hard toward them. For August, I‘m just finishing up the one book I read for #ReadYourEbooks, but I‘m still thrilled as it‘s long and been on my Nook forever.

Here are my latest little critters. The cactus and mushroom are part of a plant arrangement I‘m making for my mother-in-law for her birthday. And the dino is just because I think it‘s cute. 😬 All patterns are from the tagged book. #ShowandTellTuesday

This book opens with a very wacky, very gory extended horror scene. Which Tingle gets away with by terming it a “low probability event,” and we‘re off to the races with Vera, who is not handling the mental trauma of that event at all well. But then someone comes along looking for her particular knowledge. This is fun!

This book looks at space colonization, whether it be Mars or the moon, and looks at all the reasons why it is so very unlikely to occur (sorry Jeff and Elon). It‘s quite interesting and they clearly take a cue from Mary Roach on the humor front, though with slightly less success. A low pick for me.

Meg has made it as an actress, but has had to change herself and is kinda exhausted by the Hollywood scene. So she takes a trip to a town in Ireland where she had wanted to go to school. Somehow, she discovers herself in the life she would have lived had she done so. I really enjoyed this one and thought the author did a good job pulling it all together. Plus there‘s some good humor sprinkled through.

On October 19, 1984, a small commuter plane crashed in northern Alberta, killing 6. Four men survived. This tells the story of the crash and how it happened, their experiences before rescue, the aftermath, then follows the men for over 20 years. It‘s terrific narrative nonfiction and an excellent read.

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I read Gretchen‘s previous two books and they were a bit of a split decision for me. This one is a bit different, with horror elements but really more of a noir with good creeping dread but a bit less gore. I liked parts of it but was a little bored by the end. And the cover is so dreadful to look at, I figured a pic of yesterday‘s walk would be preferable as the main image. Low pick for me.

This book is a delightful peak at the (mostly past) people of Astoria, Oregon. It starts with a longer piece about the Flavels, the “first family” of the town, then moves into short pieces about other inhabitants. There‘s a lot of white guys, but I appreciate that there are also a fair number of women, from a semi-notorious madam to one of the last full blooded Clatsop Indians. I found this delightful!

When I read about this, I was super pumped for it, but it ended up just meh. It‘s too much backstory and just plain didn‘t hold my attention. I kinda wish I had bailed.

My B&N #bookhaul order has arrived! All were 50% off and I‘m so excited. The sale ends on Sept 1, I think, if anyone still wants to shop.

In this book, Johnson looks at how black people have always been considered less than in the US and shows how that just isn‘t true. He shows examples of genius in black people, even just little things, and largely by looking at people who aren‘t known or famous. I came away feeling that the biggest genius in black culture is black community, which he shows beautifully. It‘s a great book that left me thoughtful.

Here‘s my latest critter. I made most of it on our long drive to my in-laws‘ house and the rest while I was there. My hubs suggested the rainbow horn and I think it works. #ShowandTellTuesdat

In 2020, 4 women grew intrigued about a cold case and started to work together to investigate it. I had really mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, the book is well-written and propulsive and what they discovered is fascinating. On the other hand, they made amateur mistakes, nearly putting themselves at serious risk, and committed fraud. So I can‘t quite call this a pick.

In Abrams‘ latest, someone has died at a high tech company and there‘s a question of whether AI was involved. Avery and her gang are brought in to investigate and we really see how things with AI can go wrong. Chilling, and a great read.

Uh-oh, I‘m going to piss some people off with this one! I HATED this book. It is heavy-handed treacle and I have no idea how it‘s persisted this long. In order to get through it, I switched to audio so I could make my little fox while listening. I only persisted because it‘s for my local bookstore‘s bingo card. 😬

Lottie didn‘t set out to kill people, it just kind of happened that way. But she got away with it and is now retired and living in another town under a new name. Until someone comes knocking, stirring up her past, and she feels there‘s no choice but to kill again. Such a fun premise, but I found this really uneven. Parts were great, but this could‘ve been a much better book.