Lisa can really write a popcorn mystery. Picked this up because it was on the #BannedBooks list at my library - my guess is because the plot revolves around misogyny & incel forums. The ending felt a bit rushed but overall, I sped through this.

Hey #AuthorAMonth fam - this just popped on to Amazon Prime yesterday! I haven‘t watched yet but I‘m sure it‘ll be a silly romp. I‘ve read a bunch of Hendrix already so I think I‘ll kick off Spooky Szn weekend by watching this. @Soubhiville

A bit of a predictable mystery story (esp if you‘re familiar with the JonBenet story) but well written. Quick read.

I‘m not sure how I feel about this. I‘m not sure who this memoir is for…or if she needed to write it. Listening to the audiobook, I went from feeling empathy to pity to feeling downright worried for her mental health. So much heavy stuff in this, much of which doesn‘t appear to be fully realized by Selma herself. I hope she‘s okay.

Well, this title is apt. I didn‘t enjoy this as much as the other Nic Stone reads - largely bc both female characters felt vapid. I do feel like this was honest to how teenagers would act but all was forgiven a little too easily and everyone was far too codependent for this to be a happy story. #AuthorAMonth

Super cute rom-com that in my opinion really nails the chaos surrounding Kpop idol hysteria.

Photo is of Han from the group Stray Kids — I took it at their recent concert in NJ & he was mentioned in the novel as one of the fictional WDB boys celebrity friends. 😆 (It‘s also his birthday. 😆)

Phew! I found a new author to devour! I can‘t believe I haven‘t dived into her works before!!! Twisty, turny, dark and creepy! this is #2 in a series but worked as a stand-alone to me going in cold. Going to look up more from her now…

I didn‘t love this quite as much as Dear Martin — but it‘s plot is much more memorable for the sheer number of kids without support systems who live it every day. 🫶🏻 #AuthorAMonth

I kept waiting for something *more* to happen in this plot but it was pretty uneventful.

This will be a fab #AuthorAMonth, I can already tell. I need to read everything by this author. 💙

If you loved The Hate U Give, this is along that speed. Truthful, honest, but portrays kids like actual kids. I hope this is in classrooms across the country. Starting the sequel as we speak.

A solid modern staple for schools, in my opinion. 💙

This is a hot ticket - had to get on a waiting list to get my copy at my local bookstore because they went thru 10 copies on its first day! Unprecedented demand for such a smallish community! Excited to dive in.

This was excellent - heartfelt, heartbreaking, frustrating, honest.

This book isn‘t about sharks (the main plot isn‘t anyway) but the pic is too crazy to not include 😂 A friend caught this while fishing in New Jersey (& tossed it back in after the picture.)

This book is better than reviews suggest - it was fast paced & popcorny even if the narrator is *painfully* naive. Like…scream at her level naive.

This wasn‘t for me. It could have been the audiobook narrator but for a fantasy novel, this was painfully slow and uninspired. #AuthorAMonth

4 years! Wooo hoo! 🎉 🥳

This YA book was a bit tamer than I was expecting but it covered a lot of tough topics - health, sex, violence - in a way that was realistic for teens without being graphic. #AuthorAMonth

A bit of poetry to start the week strong. 💪🏻

#AuthorAMonth

This is one of those books that is more descriptive than plot heavy - I was often thinking where is this going? That being said, I liked the references to various Hindu (?) gods & goddesses although I wish the stories were fleshed out more rather than passing references. I‘ll have to research more into them on my own.

I‘ve heard this compared to Circe but I haven‘t had the chance to read that one yet. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 🧡 💛

This MG book was so ✨ cute ✨ and well written. Think Harry Potter minus the problematic elements, featuring predominantly powerful ladies. I also am going to adopt “butt toad” into my lexicon for people who annoy me. 😂 🐸 🐉 🧙🏻‍♀️ ♥️

The relevancy to this moment is really something else. While it is incredibly bleak and sad (tw abound regarding r*pe, death, children), it is remarkably clear eyed about pushing forward in the face of intense adversity.

Short, well written. Are the characters likeable? No. Are they familiar, especially in this politically charged moment? Yes. Speaks volumes on the fine line between selfishness and loneliness and our society is plagued with miscommunication and trauma. Especially white Americans. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Don‘t let the cover (which really doesn‘t speak to the story inside) fool you.

This took a long time to heat up and once it did, it didn‘t stick the landing for me. It was clever use of modern horror (a la ‘Get Out‘) but so much was left unsaid, vague & confused. I‘m mostly wondering what‘s going on with Farrah‘s mother - did she know? Was she there? The codependency of all of this was simply too much.

I enjoyed this enough and it was well written historical fiction, set in 1930‘s Kentucky. But the plot was *slow* and there was so much focus on what was basically a secondary storyline (Alice/Bennett) that the crux of the story lost impact.

While the lead character is a mess (are we supposed to find her comedic? I don‘t - I feel sorry for her), I enjoyed this, esp the ending. Never saw the television series but this makes me want to watch to see if there are any differences. #AuthorAMonth

Quick read. Still quality King.

This was a pretty quick read but despite that, the plot moved slow. There were events that reminded me of ‘Gone Girl‘ - unlikeable, temperamental husband; did he kill her or is the author gaslighting us….but the ending ultimately killed the mood for me. #AuthorAMonth

That might have been the dumbest “mystery” I‘ve ever read. I‘ve never read this author - I know she‘s written a wide breadth - but this heroine was immature, terrible at her job, completely unempathetic, and utterly reckless. Also was this meant to be funny? Because most of the ancillary characters came off more stereotypical & racist. Wouldn‘t recco.

Hit my Goodreads goal later than I expected.

This book was phenomenal. Accessible historical fiction that had heart, vulnerability, intensity.

New kitty alert! 😻💖 We‘re deciding to call her “Greycie”.

I really enjoyed this book. It was arguably a little too lengthy/meandery for the storyline but that only heightened the tension for me. #AuthorAMonth

Book club pick. Plot is pretty boilerplate mystery but TW for rape. Ending was also quite obvious but well written that you enjoyed the two lead characters dynamic.

This was fab - a Korean-inspired fairytale fantasy with elements of the Little Mermaid & Cinderella, but with a heroine that‘s smart & brave. 🌸 🐉 🧜‍♂️ 👑 🎟

This is a narrowly a pick simply because I was hoping it‘d be spookier. So much of the plot was told as exposition, which I suppose puts the reader in the place of the governess at the center of the story…but made it feel quite slow. #AuthorAMonth

Was inspired to finally read Rachel‘s memoir after seeing her literally kill in this comedic play on Broadway a few weeks back. I loved her memoir (though if you‘re looking for a thorough breakdown of her career/SNL days this isn‘t the book) because it feels a bit like a close friend telling you stories over brunch.

I enjoy Molly‘s characters on SNL - while this does provide some insight to who she is as a human, the bulk revolves around the complicated relationship she has with her father on a somewhat surface level.

This was pure camp - a soap opera-y Sex & the City meets Big Little Lies featuring four Anglo-Nigerian friends. I can picture it as a television series. Loved the background on Nigerian culture and the characters are imperfect and flawed in a human way. The inciting action is a little ridiculous but it‘s a page-turner for the pure froth of it all. 🇳🇬

I wanted to love this but it just wasn‘t for me. It was repetitive, anti climactic, and would expand on details that had no baring on the plot but rush through important events that could be fleshed out & embellished upon. I vacillated btwn a So-So & Pan, but ultimately this was a chore to push through.

This is a narrow Pick but I really loved the nuances about Cuban history and the push-pull for exiled Cubans. The second love story felt forced to me, especially the ending.

Went and saw this new musical at the Public (starring Phillippa Soo of Hamilton fame) — it was based upon the tagged memoir, following the American suffrage movement. Well-written and clever, pulls at your heartstrings & makes you laugh (and cry). I need to find a copy of Doris‘ book now….

This was some fabulously emotional YA - well written, well paced, and heartbreaking for all three POVs. This should be a television series stat. Follows two teenage best friends who are a little in love with each other — their own secrets and traumas, and a matriarch who risks everything for them both.

Not really sure why this is labeled “horror” — it‘s not. “Cozy horror” (if that‘s a thing?) at best (unless you‘re afraid of 🕷?). It reminded me of some of Grady Hendrix‘s novels - scary elements with a ton of humor and overall, a positive message.

There is little here to connect to the actual David Bowie but for a children‘s story centered around being comfortable in your own skin, it‘s cute enough.

There was so much potential here but the opportunities to explore darkness and set up interesting unreliable narrator twists was ignored in favor of tropes and needless repetition (“Stop! Stop! Stop!”). It gets a so so just because I flew through it wanting to know the end, hoping I‘d be surprised. I wasn‘t.

I‘m reading so much historical fiction this year! I enjoyed this, altho I do feel the end was a bit rushed. Tells the story of two women who were once close and grew apart over the course of 80ish years on Jeju Island in South Korea. The women were Haenyo - or female divers who were often the main income providers for their families.

#AuthorAMonth

A memoir about grief & loss during the pandemic…by an SNL power player? Yes. Highly recommend the audiobook as its read by Cecily herself and you can hear the vulnerability in her voice. It‘s painfully relatable for all of us, even if you haven‘t lost someone, and beautifully written.

Finished this with hours to spare while traveling Upstate to spend time with family.

Not typical King but excellently written. Looking forward to the alleged television series of it — I was rooting for Billy the whole way. My only complaint was the excessive references to The Shining, which didn‘t add anything. 🤷🏻‍♀️

This was one of the storefront windows at the Brooklyn Heights Barnes & Noble. 🇺🇦

I was never a Historical Fiction person, but I do enjoy when it feels accessible & relatable to now, rather than feeling stuck in a time period I cannot relate to. This follows a century long life of Violeta, spanning The Spanish Flu, military occupation in Latin America, and modern times.

I liked this but I think it tried to be too many things. It‘s Coming of Age/Race Justice YA, but also Sci-Fi dystopia that verges on confusing. Minus that choice, I feel like this would be a great YA choice.

💖 wish I had read this in high school

#AuthorAMonth