I tried but I just couldn‘t get into this one. I‘ve decided not to force myself to finish “buzzy” books that I am not enjoying. It‘s definitely an unpopular opinion!

Great story and graphics! Highly recommended.

DNF. Unfortunately I watched a spoiler-y YouTube review coupled with the fact that I disliked the writing style. I was forcing myself to continue with this until I was not. Back to the library it goes!

The full cast audiobook includes sound effects and music. Wonderful!

It would have been helpful to know the title character‘s true motivations for leaving her 5 year old daughter and not communicating with her for more than 10 years. This was eventually given but it was too little too late.

The book dragged in the middle but is an impressive debut. In spite of the pacing issues, I look forward to reading what this author does next.

A beautifully translated, nonlinear meditation on grief. The main character is somewhat difficult to grasp until it is slowly revealed that she is reeling from a huge tragedy. Well worth the read.

Too much drug use. It got on my nerves. I won‘t be continuing with the series.

This was the first book that I picked up at the library sale today.

My first haul from my first library book sale! It was overwhelming but I managed to select a few titles. I‘m most excited about the anthology of African love stories since there are so many new to me African authors in the collection.

Just starting this one. Lots of bible quotations but the writing is good.

This was a mixed bag for me. The tale is told in 4 parts and I really did not like the first two parts which were 200 pages of a 320 page book. The pacing and story for me vastly improved in the last 2 parts of the book so at least it ended on a positive and more hopeful note. Satire isn‘t really my jam but I enjoyed Black No More by George Schuyler more.

Slowly making my way through We Cast A Shadow, lighting my #treeoflife candle and taking a moment to enjoy English daffodils from Trader Joe‘s.

I‘ve just dipped in and out of this one so far but I do like it!

Watched the movie tonight and it was just as infuriating as the book. Glenn Close did a great job.

Coming of age stories. Nice writing but it lacked an emotional punch for me.

Silly plot but I‘d like to read more by this author.

The unreliable (and unlikeable) narrator reigns supreme in this one. I ended up liking it quite a bit.

A little gem of a novella

Listened to this well-produced book of essays on audiobook, read by the author. Sedaris is quite an entertaining performer but there are many sensitive subjects (like suicide) and unsavory topics (bodily functions) discussed. Not for everyone.

I enjoyed this read in spite of (or perhaps because of) my difficulty with the moral question that lies at the heart of the novel.

This was a dark and devastating read. Highly recommended if that‘s your jam.

I loved this. It was a very quick read. It was written before the 2016 election but she does include an addendum of sorts that was added after. Highly recommend!

There was so much in this short book (based on a graduation speech) to appreciate and enjoy. I like this one:
“A poor person to me can have a big bank balance, but is incurious, judgmental, isolated, and unavailable to change.”
Or this:
“I‘m also sorry to report there‘s no such thing as karma.
So many of my talented, great friends are dead and so many of the fools I‘ve met and loathed are still alive. It‘s not fair and it never will be.”

Two novellas in lists so it was interesting but didn‘t pack the punch of her earlier short story collection (Karate Chop) for me.

Interesting concept but the book was unnecessarily long and had issues with pacing. The ending was a surprise.

Three more new books from the City of Asylum bookstore.

Bought at the City of Asylum bookstore today.🙂

My husband and I visited the cityofasylum.org today and took this photo of one of the Burmese House murals. And of course, I had to buy Khet Mar‘s book of short stories, “Night Birds and other stories”. City of asylum sponsors writers in exile from their home countries.

It‘s not great literature but it‘s a quick, fun summer read that I enjoyed. The protagonist has a snarky sense of humor which I appreciated. It‘s loosely based on the author‘s own life.

The audiobook read by Carrie Fisher was very good. Recommended!

Endpapers by Mack Young. Love them!

Another good one.

Love Banksy but the text was meh.

Just finished this one and I adored it. Hard to believe it was a debut novel.

Another Book Riot Read Harder Challenge (an essay anthology). Most of the essays were compelling.

Book Riot read harder challenge pick for a romance novel by or about a person of color. A family (and the couple at its center) is dealing with early onset Alzheimer‘s disease.

I loved this one. Both the story and the illustrations were wonderful!

The first part of the book was annoying and repetitive. The second half was marginally better but ultimately did not save the book for me. This was my second Muriel Spark and probably my last.

It was a frustrating read/listen. Plus the audiobook had a problem and didn‘t end with the famous line but there was text from earlier in the novel dubbed in at the end.

This one is next on my TBR.

“We are trapped in a legal system that has never favored woman and has never believed survivors”. V.L. Seek.

Footnote on page 184. Essay by V.L. Seek, “Utmost Resistance”

Read this yesterday, translated from Japanese. It was good.

Important for middle grade kids.

I don‘t usually enjoy short story collections but I whipped right through these. She‘s a good writer. Many of the stories had links.

A short book. I liked the writing and will read more by this author.

It had some good parts but overall it was kind of meh for me.

It was a quick read but it was not good. I was aware of the device being used to manipulate the reader into a wrong conclusion so it didn‘t work for me.

Riveting medically related memoir by a reporter who contracted a rare brain disorder.