Old Man's War by John Scalzi
I’ve read more of Scalzi’s blog than his books and he’s just a fun writer. I read Red Shirts (and reviewed it for something like CBR11) and enjoyed it despite my utter lack of Star Trek knowledge so when a friend gifted me this for Christmas, I knew I was in for a good time. And maybe reading only electronic and audiobooks was part of my book exhaustion – getting to actually curl up on the couch with this one made it all fun again. Scalzi […]
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
For me, books are usually entertainment, a way to pass the time, best enjoyed with a large glass of red wine. I do sometimes push my boundaries, read stories about people who have very little in common with me and that does make my world just a little bit bigger, but I forget just how much and how well books can teach us. I find this especially important in books aimed at teenagers because their brains are still forming and if they can hardwire themselves […]
Famous Men Who Never Lived by K. Chess
Something about this cover really flashed me back to Fleishman is in Trouble and maybe that set me off it from the beginning. Nothing about the two books is the same (except maybe the setting of New York City) but man, the covers. Anyway! Famous Men Who Never Lived uses the multiverse theory to talk about loss. Our main character is Hel (Helen – I did struggle reading “Hel” repeatedly. I would gloss over the “l” and then struggle with gender pronouns and figuring out […]
The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
I’m in a bit of a personal slump where I just haven’t had that voracious, must-read-now feeling, and that’s a bummer because this book deserved it. As opening lines go, this one hooked me right from the start, but I still slogged through it. I mean, look at this! There’s no such thing as witches, but there used to be. That is a hell of an opener. This book is so craftily written and I flagged so many lines but on the chore-to-pleasure scale, this still […]
The Dry by Jane Harper
I tend to be a speed reader to a fault – I know I miss stuff – but there are some audiobooks that really drive home why I am the way I am. Even at 1.25x speed, this one dragged. I did the last third or so at 1.5x which veered into chipmunk territory but it was necessary just to drag me to the finish line. It did not help matters that I google-spoiled the mystery for myself. Whoops? The book is set in drought-ridden, small-town Australia […]
Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon
This book is fluent in the language of romance novels and it shows. It is heartfelt and sweet and full of tropes and it knows it. Enemies to lovers, forced partnership, small hiding spot for two – the works. It’s a romance novel that loves romance novels, and it wants you to too. It’s the type of book I feel is perfectly positioned for high schoolers because of much of it is about not being ashamed of loving what you love, especially if what you […]
