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tjwill

tjwill

Joined May 2016

School Librarian, Book reviewer, Vonnegutian, Slytherin, INFJ, Time travel enthusiast
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tjwill
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tjwill
Big | Vashti Harrison
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Pickpick

I‘m so glad this picture book won some ALA Youth Media Awards today! It‘s a fantastic and beautifully illustrated story of how words can hurt, but how we can also work to control our self-image. Many of my students picked this as the Caldecott winner! *Graphic via Little, Brown Books for Young Readers‘ instagram

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tjwill
The Fury | Alex Michaelides
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When I first saw the cover for The Fury, I thought it was by the same author as Crossings—same first name, and #similarcovers with the concentric circles and setting in the background. I enjoyed The Silent Patient, and I might start this one soon.

Ruthiella Me too! 😆 And the fact that the authors have the same first name didn‘t help. (edited) 2mo
27 likes1 comment
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tjwill
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Pickpick

I read this for a book club and I‘m so glad I did. Elizabeth Zott, Calvin Evans, Mad Zott, amd Six-Thirty are all great characters with so much depth. I love how Elizabeth did the best she could despite the sexism of a male-dominated job (and society), and that she raised Mad to be uniquely herself.

AvidReader25 I thought the miniseries did an incredible job bringing the book to life! 2mo
tjwill @AvidReader25 I don‘t have Apple+, so I haven‘t seen the series, but I‘ve heard good things! 2mo
AvidReader25 @tjwill We just got it and I‘m so glad I finally got to see it! 2mo
41 likes3 comments
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tjwill
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Pickpick

This is a fun group of superheroes, and I‘m liking the story arc so far. Black Canary puts together a team with Starling, Katana, and Poison Ivy, and Batgirl joins too at times. Vol. 1 (first 7 issues) had them trying to find who is controlling people‘s minds and sometimes struggling to work together.

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tjwill
Batgirl Vol. 1: The Batgirl of Burnside | Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart
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Pickpick

I read this Batgirl series this week via Hoopla, and they were interesting. I liked how Black Canary was part of them and how some of the other characters became important in Barbara‘s life as well.

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tjwill
Big | Vashti Harrison
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I‘m doing a “Mock Caldecott” unit with my students in the library, and these are the books we are reading. They are so beautiful! We‘ll find out the real winner next week! #schoollibrarian

29 likes5 comments
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tjwill
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I have a weakness for beautiful covers! #bookstorehaul #coverlove

43 likes2 comments
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tjwill
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I haven‘t done a very good job of posting my reading, but I did increase my Goodreads goal and surpassed it again. I‘m going to make a goal to post at least once a week in 2024 because I do love interacting with my Litsy community!

TheSpineView Great job!❤️📖📚 3mo
Ruthiella Fantastic! 👏👏👏 3mo
28 likes2 comments
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tjwill
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Does anyone have a different edition than the #botm one, and can tell me if this is a misprint? I think there is something missing here, even though the pages are numbered correctly. Page 219 stops mid-page like the end of a chapter and page 220 starts like it‘s in the middle of a chapter. It‘s in the middle of chapter 31. No other chapters or section breaks look like this. (Pages blurred to obscure possible spoilers.)

BeeMagical I noticed that too! I thought it was to show how her mind broke and it just starts up randomly!🤷🏼‍♀️ 5mo
tjwill @BeeMagical I like that explanation! It‘s just weird because that‘s the only time it is formatted that way. 5mo
BeeMagical @tjwill hah I completely agree! If it comes in at my library I‘ll be doing some investigating!! 🔎 5mo
21 likes3 comments
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tjwill
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So should I update my goal or just keep going with this one?
#goodreadsreadingchallenge

Julsmarshall I‘m in the same boat! I‘ve hit my goal and can‘t decide if I bump it again. 6mo
Graciouswarriorprincess Same but I am leaving it. 6mo
21 likes2 comments
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tjwill
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September #botm pick! I‘m getting my spooky fall books ready!

MidnightBookGirl This was my pick too! 7mo
tjwill @MidnightBookGirl It seems perfect for fall! 6mo
25 likes2 comments
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tjwill
A Library | Nikki Giovanni
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My own elementary librarian came to visit me in my library and brought me this lovely gift! 🥰

Amiable Gorgeous mug! 7mo
Prairiegirl_reading I LOVE that mug!!!! 💜 7mo
38 likes2 comments
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tjwill
Canary in a Cat House | Kurt Vonnegut
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Check out the back!

Ruthiella Awesome find! 😃 7mo
29 likes1 comment
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tjwill
Canary in a Cat House | Kurt Vonnegut
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My newest Vonnegut acquisition: a first edition collection of short stories. This collection is no longer printed because most of the stories also appear in Welcome to the Monkey House, which is still in print. It is in excellent condition for a 1961 paperback, and that cover illustration is fascinating.

wanderinglynn Great find! 7mo
britt_brooke Oh, it‘s beautiful!! 🤩 7mo
Eggs Absolutely 💯👍🏼🤗 7mo
36 likes4 comments
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tjwill
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This is one of the books we got at Brattle Book Shop. It even has a Happy Father‘s Day inscription inside. Sorry to Jon, Leah, Maya, and Eli—Papa didn‘t have that book very long. I hope it‘s because he just wasn‘t into it, and not because he‘s no longer around.

Aims42 That‘s always my first thought too when I buy second hand books with inscriptions 😢 8mo
40 likes1 comment
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tjwill
Commonwealth Books | Boston, MA (Bookstore)
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I got an edition of Look at the Birdie that I didn‘t have yet at Commonwealth Books in Boston. This was the only Vonnegut they had, and Brattle didn‘t have any. I would have bought way more if they had. Finding different editions of Vonnegut is always at the top of my list at used bookstores.

35 likes1 comment
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tjwill
Brattle Book Shop | Boston, MA (Bookstore)
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Of course we had to get some used books at Brattle Book Shop when we were in Boston. Their alley full of books is so fun to browse.

Amiable Love Brattle Books! Have fun! 8mo
Ruthiella Awesome! (edited) 8mo
Daisey Loved this bookstore when I visited and started my tradition of trying to buy books when I travel. 8mo
46 likes3 comments
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tjwill
Brookline Booksmith | Brookline, MA (Bookstore)
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When we went to Boston this summer, one of the things I was most excited about was going to independent bookstores because we don‘t have any very close to us. Brookline Booksmith has always been one of my favorites since we lived there (13 years ago). These were my and my husband‘s choices, which were staff picks. The kids went with books from some series they like.

LiteraryinLawrence I used to live right near there! It‘s a great bookstore and I have visited on the few occasions when I‘ve been back! 8mo
36 likes3 comments
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tjwill
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Isn‘t this journal beautiful? A colleague asked me for a summer reading list of about 5 or 6 books. I‘ve been having fun working on it, but I have 9 books on it so far! 😁😳

TheBookHippie So pretty! 10mo
CatLass007 Gorgeous! 10mo
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MerlinTheSlightlyAwkward Ohmygoodness, this needs a puffy textured version, where all the little book spine corners can be touched 😳 😍 10mo
tjwill @MerlinTheSlightlyAwkward It is slightly textured, where you can feel the spines sticking out. 10mo
MerlinTheSlightlyAwkward @tjwill Yessssss 😍🎯🦾 10mo
44 likes6 comments
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tjwill
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Pickpick

My daughter and I just read the first two books in this series and loved them. We are excited to see on the author‘s social media that he‘s working on the third!
Bea meets Cad, a Galdurian (whose race was supposedly extinct), and he helps her on a quest to find her grandfather, the PigWizard. Their mission becomes so much more when they realize there is a villain who wants to tamper with the artificial suns that keep Irpa in perpetual light.

32 likes1 stack add
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tjwill
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This reminded me of the scene in The Good Place when Michael is interviewing Eleanor about bad things she did on earth.

Clare-Dragonfly 😂 13mo
33 likes1 comment
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tjwill
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Mehso-so

I love Steve Martin, so I enjoyed the memoir aspect to the book. I also liked the comics, but together everything felt disjointed.

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tjwill
Bea Wolf | Zach Weinersmith
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A middle grade graphic novel retelling of Beowulf?! This looks delightful. I saw someone post about it on Instagram and immediately requested it on NetGalley and got it. #arc #NetGalley

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tjwill
Maybe in Another Life: A Novel | Taylor Jenkins Reid
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Pickpick

This was a “sliding doors” type of dual story that splits when Hannah has just moved back to LA and decides to stay at a bar and hang out with her ex or not. The way it all splits and comes together is very interesting.
#AuthoraMonth @Soubhiville

45 likes3 stack adds
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tjwill
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This seems exactly in my wheelhouse. I have an unnatural attraction towards thrillers set in a snowy secluded place. Add in a contest for a publishing deal and this seems like an amazing winter read.
February 2023 #botm

AmandaBlaze I chose this one, too. 13mo
MaleficentBookDragon Same here! It is my favorite trope right now. 13mo
tjwill @MaleficentBookDragon Do you have any favorites that you‘ve read? (edited) 13mo
37 likes3 comments
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tjwill
Sentence | Louise Erdrich
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Pickpick

I love how a haunted bookshop, a modern Native American experience, and the pandemic come together so well in this story. Tookie forms strong friendships as she makes her way through a difficult few years.

#AuthoraMonth @Soubhiville

40 likes1 stack add
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tjwill
Spare | Prince Harry the Duke of Sussex
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Pickpick

I watched Harry and Meghan between Christmas and New Years Eve, and then read this a couple days after it came out. I listened to the audiobook in just a few days. It was so interesting, and I‘ve never been someone who follows the royals‘ stories. He‘s my age, which makes it feel all the more surreal to me.

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tjwill
Book Fair Day | Lynn Plourde
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I had my first book fair as a school librarian in September. It was a huge success and also so exhausting!

Ruthiella Congratulations! 👏👏👏 1y
BookBabe I remember the excitement of school book fairs from childhood—the best! 🙌🏻 1y
tjwill @Ruthiella Thank you! 1y
tjwill @BookBabe Seeing it in the kids‘ faces brings back that feeling! It‘s so wonderful. 1y
50 likes4 comments
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tjwill
Painting Murals | Patricia Seligman
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I haven‘t been posting much, but I‘m going to try to more often. I just started as a school librarian this school year, and it‘s been a lot of work and so fun. The first big change I made was painting a mural on the back wall. It just had a white wall with a book quote before and I wanted to add color. This picture is from back in August. #schoollibrary

kspenmoll I love what you did! So bright & welcoming! You must be so so busy.we are here - not going anywhere! Relax. 😀 1y
Tamra Awesome work! 1y
Jas16 Looks fantastic! 1y
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LeslieO I‘m a retired school librarian and I always said that it‘s the best job ever! 1y
monalyisha It looks WONDERFUL! ✨ 1y
BookBabe What a huge improvement! Great job! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 1y
tjwill @LeslieO I love it too! 1y
49 likes8 comments
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tjwill
Brave & Bold (2007-) #33 | J. Michael Straczynski
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Even superheroes need self care.

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tjwill
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I wanted to do some Batgirl reading, so I got these.

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tjwill
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❤️ That epigraph!

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tjwill
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After not getting any #botm for a while, and reading a lot of my previous choices that I hadn‘t got to yet, I actually got 3 this month.

40 likes2 comments
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tjwill
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Pickpick

I met Jason Reynolds for the second time on Sunday and got this beautiful book signed. It‘s an illustrated poem full of emotion, and the artwork and design are amazing, in an art journal style. I know I‘ll be reading this one and enjoying the art over and over.

#AuthoraMonth
@Soubhiville

Soubhiville That‘s great! 2y
mrp27 Awesome!! 2y
DivineDiana How fantastic! 2y
44 likes1 stack add3 comments
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tjwill
A Little Hope: A Novel | Ethan Joella
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Pickpick

The lives of several families and individuals in the same area of Connecticut are intertwined, told in various points of view. In each chapter, the emotional pendulum would swing between despair and hope. At times, it felt like too much, but it was carefully paced to drop all the pieces together by the end.

43 likes2 stack adds
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tjwill
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Pickpick

This picture book about Ada Lovelace, widely regarded as the first computer programmer, explains how she got interested in math and science, and how she came to write programs to expand the possibilities for Charles Babbage‘s Analytical Engine.

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tjwill
The Love Hypothesis | Ali Hazelwood
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Pickpick

This was a cute contemporary romance with a fake dating trope, set in science academia. I liked how it addressed how women are underrepresented in science, and how the characters became friends through their fake dating as they inevitably got feelings. Of course, Olive denies her feelings for most of the book—overall a light and predictable read.

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tjwill
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Pickpick

This YA romance was so emotional. Evie has been down since her parents‘ divorce. After she donated her former favorite romance books, she starts having visions about other people‘s relationships. She decides to try some new things to determine why the visions are happening, and ends up taking ballroom dance lessons. As she gets to know her dance partner X, her perspective on love and life begins to change, and she gives her dad another chance too.

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tjwill
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Pickpick

I love both the main characters in this friends-to-lovers contemporary romance. Poppy meets Alex in college, and they start a summer vacation tradition to their friendship. They face professional goals and relationship challenges, but they can always depend on one another and their summer trips. It alternates between present and moving forward through their past trips, which adds a lot of suspense to the “will they?” trope.

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tjwill
Paris Apartment | Lucy Foley
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Pickpick

This is my favorite of Lucy Foley‘s books I‘ve read. After some trouble at her job in England, Jess goes to stay for a while with her brother in Paris. He says he will wait up for her, but when she arrives, he isn‘t at his apartment. The others living in the building are all suspicious characters. She understands limited French and knows no one there, so she has to decide who to trust as she tries to find out what happened.

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tjwill
The Rock from the Sky | Jon Klassen
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Pickpick

Based on the title, you can probably guess what happens to his spot. This one has Klassen‘s offbeat sense of humor, with the turtle‘s steadfast devotion to his spot.

Cathythoughts Love this ♥️ 2y
42 likes1 stack add1 comment
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tjwill
After the Snowfall | Richard Lo
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Pickpick

I love the cut paper and watercolor illustrations with colorful trees in this one. The fox simply walks through the forest, observing the changes since the snowfall. There isn‘t a story, just walking through looking at the animals and nature, so it would be good for talking to kids about forest animals and changing seasons.

BennettBookworm Stunning! 2y
41 likes1 comment
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tjwill
Bear Island | Matthew Cordell
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Pickpick

This beautiful picture book has a family grieving the loss of their dog. The girl used to always explore the wooded island nearby with her dog, but opens up to adventure on her own one day, befriending a bear whose emotions often mirror her own.

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tjwill
Last Night | Hyewon Yum
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Pickpick

This wordless picture book features a child sent to bed without dinner and a stuffed bear that becomes life-size in the night (in a dream?) when the child leaves to explore. It was reminiscent of Where the Wild Things Are, but with forest animals instead of make-believe creatures.

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tjwill
A Little Hope: A Novel | Ethan Joella
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What a beautiful and heartbreaking sentiment.

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tjwill
Mr. Popper's Penguins: Enhanced Edition | Richard Atwater, Florence Atwater, Robert Lawson
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Pickpick

Mr. Popper adopts a couple penguins and ends up with a whole troupe of performers. This is very cute, even if it had a few parts that were unbelievable moments for the characters. My 7yo had several uncontrollable fits of laughter, so we had fun taking turns reading it to each other.

BennettBookworm CLASSIC!! 2y
44 likes1 comment
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tjwill
Convenience Store Woman | Sayaka Murata
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Pickpick

Keiko Furukura has never felt like she fit in, except in her job as a convenience store worker. In the store, she knows the cues and feels the rhythm. In all other aspects of life, she just does what she thinks people expect of her. This is a quick read that makes human interaction into a satire.

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tjwill
The Holdout: A Novel | Graham Moore
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Mehso-so

It took me a long time to finish this one because it just didn‘t keep my attention well enough to devote much time to it at once. I am glad I continued reading it; the ending tied up a lot of loose ends and was satisfying. It‘s told in alternating timelines, past and present, about the trial that changed all the characters‘ lives. The past sections switch between all the jurors, and the present focuses on Maya, the juror who influenced the others.

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tjwill
Little Robot | Ben Hatke
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Pickpick

This very short graphic novel is a story about loneliness, bravery, and friendship. The illustrations really tell most of the story, and they are full of emotion and detail.

34 likes1 stack add