I started out kind of hating this book, but it really got engaging for me after the first third. Disturbing and funny, the whole thing had the ring of honesty and authenticity. Also, maybe racism. Still, definitely a pick for me.

God damn, this book tore me up. A treatise on what we do with compassion, empathy, and love, how it goes wrong, how it gets complicated.

I think this is far from a perfect book, but good lord it is an enchanting and devastating one. It‘s full of the same sleepy magic The Buried Giant has, with all the heartbreak and resignation.

This is the first book in a while to give me a book hangover. I was all kinds of messed up by the end. Completely fabulous. Definitely excited to read more by Groff.

I loved this book. Bleak and painful and gorgeously told.

Haunting. So excited to dive into Acceptance.

The first half of this book was significantly more compelling than the second half. Regardless, the premise stayed interesting.

This book was unbelievable. Beautifully researched, beautifully written, beautifully balanced between science, philosophy and personal experience. Brb gotta see a mycologists about some mushrooms 🍄

This is an artfully constructed book that I completely hated. I thought it was billed as a true crime story set against the backdrop of the Chicago World‘s Fair, when it‘s more a painstaking history of the fair with the fun fact of a murderer running amok woven through. True skill in the rendering of the story, just completely uninteresting to my sensibilities.

I didn‘t love the conclusion to this trilogy. I thought the pacing was strange, and some of the interactions with the Big Bad of the book were frankly silly. Plenty of good ass kicking moments from the mains, though, and that was fun.

Just meant to flip through a little, but it‘s impossible to read Mary Oliver without a deep dive.

I‘m really loving the slow burn Schwab favors; the plots of the first two books haven‘t really been high-octane, and information about the world and the mythology comes out in tantalizing drips and drabs. I have some concern that the result may be a big info dump in book three, but my hopes are high. Also, the narrators for #2&3 in audio are incredible.

Where lies the strangling fruit that came from the hand of the sinner I shall bring forth the seeds of the dead to share with the worms that...

I‘d been sleeping on this one because the title sounds aggressively like a YA book to me, and I‘m deeply skeptical of most YA sci/fi and fantasy. As it turns out, this was an exceedingly captivating story focused on nuanced world building reminiscent of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell and Neverwhere. I‘m eagerly waiting to get the sequel from the library.

Love love loved this. Wolitzer writes her characters with vibrancy from the inside out. Nothing about this story of navigating a world in which femaleness is so complicated feels pandering or self congratulatory. It‘s sincere and honest, and artfully written.

Love requesting books through interlibrary loan. I forget about the requests I place, so getting the notifications that they‘re available is like a little present.

I listened to this one, and it ended up getting returned before I could listen to the last hour and...I didn‘t care. Interesting premise, decent characters but sooo up its own ass. It felt like it was patting itself on the back the whole time for how super understanding it was of the female plight. If media is really woke, it shouldn‘t have to keep reminding us of its wokeness.

This book was an interesting experience. Loved the magical realism elements and the dreamy quality, but still felt like some of it was a slog with not a whole lot of payoff. I might try again in the future though; anyone else feel like Murakami says things that you need to be in the right frame of mind to really appreciate?

Grim & compelling

I read this one coming off of The Stand, so it‘s hard not to compare them. They‘re alike in scope and theme, though UtD had a lot to say for itself. Vibrant characters, and that blend of truly literary and truly abominable writing that only Mr. King can provide. I think I liked The Stand better, but I most certainly wasn‘t bored by this one.

“The thought process can never be complete without articulation.”

Jemisin is extraordinary. The world building and character development are truly a wonder. Excited to read the rest of this trilogy.

Found this at a record store and couldn‘t resist!

My favorite in the series so far. I love King's Lynchian resistance to over explanation, and his blending of genres is so satisfyingly seamless. So excited for Wizard and Glass.

I love Joe Hill's style. He goes for gritty without excessive indulgence of cynicism. I loved this book, and I'll read more from him for sure.

Lovely. Perhaps a little predictable, but charming nonetheless. An honest and earnest human story.

I think there's probably something impressive about this book. But the teenage pretension stopped being charming about halfway through, it stopped being fun hating every single character with absolute fervor, and the climax during which the narrator discovers the secrets of the novel is mind numbingly boring. Still, the format is interesting, and the scope is something to praise.

I mean, Shakespeare did it, so why not Stephen King?

I'd forgotten what it was like to read a book that confronts you with the uncanny reflection of your own personhood. This is one of those stories that will be in me forever, I think. Also, this is the fourth or fifth one I've read as a rec from @MLRio who has not steered me wrong yet.

I haven't read a lot of King, but I've immensely enjoyed each one I have. The opening to the Dark Tower series was poetically written and compelling in a cerebral way. I can't wait to dive into the rest of the series.

So many feelings about this book. Odd and immensely compelling, though it struggles under the weight of its structure. The denouement is uncomfortably elongated, but extremely satisfying all the same. Very excited for whatever else Hawkins will churn out.

A nice installment in the Avalon cycle, but it follows the general theme that the magic of Mists is lacking from these prequels.

Not in any particular order, but it's so beautiful

Entertaining, for sure. I enjoyed the scope of the story, even if the pacing was a little strange. Too many battle scenes not written particularly well, though.

I can't help it: I'm positively enchanted by Bradley's vision of Avalon, so for the first time I'm going through the expanded series. This first one is good fun as an origin story of sorts, but is a bit drawn out and lacks the immersive grandeur of Mists. Still reading the rest of them, though.

I love my @outofprint Pride and Prejudice pouch! I'm keeping all the supplies for my current cross stitching project (#Hamilton themed) tucked away in it.

I liked this. It felt a little...thin for reasons I need to think about for a couple of days, and there were a couple spots of hackey writing that had no business next to some really beautiful prose. Still, it moved smoothly, it was just erudite enough without being alienating, and the ending was finely crafted.

Loving this nightmarish alt-history fantasy

Always worth a reread.

Exhaustive and nuanced, this look at this history and development of Scientology demands that the reader think critically about religion itself and its sociological implications.

A charming, sweet, strange story. It'll be a picture book in May, which I think I'll buy for my little nephew.

I love reading the second book in a trilogy without the feeling that I have to get through filler plot development material before the thrilling conclusion. This definitely qualifies. I'm listening to these on audio, and I gotta say that the production is great. Pullman is a great narrator, and the full cast they have to read the characters is terrific.

I love the worlds Phillip Pullman has created. I'm rereading His Dark Materials in preparation for the first in the Book of Dust trilogy this October.

My first Octavia Butler. Painful and moving. I couldn't stop talking about it, so my roommate was convinced to buy it too so we could discuss.

Tiny shelfie

My @outofprint Beowulf tshirt came!

What can you say about a book that speaks so loudly for itself? An extraordinary sequel, and a shockingly good middle book in a trilogy. Book three of the Broken Earth series cannot come soon enough.