faintingviolet – Page 28 – Cannonball Read 17

“People bury the parts of history they don’t like, pave it over like African cemeteries beneath Manhattan skyscrapers.”

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

August 17, 2022 by faintingviolet 6 Comments

Thrillers aren’t usually my genre. Is that why When No One Is Watching is good but not great for me? Possibly. But we read out of our comfort zones on purpose so that maybe the next one is better, or that we’re more ready for it. This is another book that hopped to the front of the to read line based on this year’s Read Harder Challenge which has a task specifically for reading a political thriller by a marginalized author and this fits the […]

“Finding the ocean was as simple a matter as letting a river lead you in the direction it wanted to go most.”

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

August 13, 2022 by faintingviolet 2 Comments

This one didn’t make me cry nearly as much as its predecessor, Psalm for the Wild-Built, but that shouldn’t make you think that it didn’t have an emotional impact, it did make me tear up on more than one occasion. Because this novella is a meditation on what we call the human condition. It is also a look at how we can live if society puts happiness and contentment first. If we don’t compete but instead cooperate. But its also the kind of novella that […]

Opposites Attract Enemies to Friends to Lovers

The Stand-up Groomsman by Jackie Lau

August 11, 2022 by faintingviolet Leave a Comment

I know a Jackie Lau romance is going to make my heart happy. In some ways The Stand-up Groomsman is a departure from the types of Lau books I’ve enjoyed in the past. In this follow up to last year’s Donut Fall in Love Lau takes a more serious tone and unpacks some bigger emotional truths, in this case how we handle expectations and how it interacts with larger family dynamics. But in most ways, this is almost exactly the type of book I’ve come […]

For all us noodle lovers

That Noodle Life: Soulful, Savory, Spicy, Slurpy by Michael Le and Stephanie Le

August 10, 2022 by faintingviolet 2 Comments

That Noodle Life arrived on my radar thanks to emmalita’s review last fall. I wanted to love this book. A cookbook that is all about noodles should be a book I love. Noodles are THE BEST. But sadly, I didn’t love this book. I do like it though, and copied many recipes to keep on hand when my library demanded I give the book back. Mike and Stephanie Le are the creators of iamafoodblog and have written a cookbook that is a love letter to […]

“People feel more comfortable talkin’ about mental health than they have in the past, but it’s still easy to feel alone when you’re in the thick of it.”

Bet On It by Jodie Slaughter

August 10, 2022 by faintingviolet Leave a Comment

I requested this book from NetGalley specifically because of its Anxiety and Complex PTSD representation. On those fronts this book worked aces for me. The internal lives of Jodie Slaughter’s characters worked exceedingly well for me as a reader. I thought it was very thoughtful about the way mental health struggles were portrayed as part of the overall story, and as a driving factor in that story. Because it is a driving factor, the leads could understand that part of each other’s experience and be […]

“It’s time for the world to let queer black boys unpack their shit.”

All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson

August 10, 2022 by faintingviolet 3 Comments

When we had our book club vote for September, I was secretly hoping that All Boys Aren’t Blue would be one of the ones we chose. I was flabbergasted that in November of last year the memoir had a criminal report filed with the Flagler County Sheriff’s office by a member of the Flagler County School Board arguing that the book’s inclusion in three district school libraries violated state obscenity laws because it contained sexually graphic material. It has also been removed from school libraries […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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