Between 6 and 5
I read quite a bit in between these two, partly because I was avoiding reading a Holocaust diary and partly because I went on a really low mileage backpacking trip and what else are you going to do while waiting for the bears to come?
The Way You Make Me Feel, by Maurene Goo - I've been tired, y'all. And burned out. I've been reading some candy books. This is a candy book. One of those YA books where people who don't like each other have to spend time together. It's super sweet, super representational, and I really liked the realistic relationship and family dynamics. And I'm hungry because it's about food trucks and how come we don't have a Korean-Brazilian fusion food truck? Get on that shit, South Carolina.
The Belles, by Dohnielle Clayton - I know so many people have been anticipating this one for so long - I liked it but didn't adore it. Really interesting world building, loads of potential though. Slightly frustrating main character, which is sort of par for the course for this sort of thing - think Uglies, a bit.
A New Hope, by Robyn Carr - I'm trying to read more broadly and be a better reader's advisory librarian and, like, people can't get enough of Robyn Carr, right? So I took this one on my Kindle to the Bear Infested Woods. Y'all, it is just two nice people with similar values who fall in love and get married. That's it. The conflict, what there is of it, is literally "I think you're still really fucked up about how you left it with your ex and it would be healthy for you to talk to her." "I don't want to talk to my ex." That's it. Everybody lives in a nice town full of nice people and, while bad things have happened to them in the past (I did cry a bit because the main female lead is still grieving a baby who died of SIDS) nothing at all bad happens to them in this book, or in fact, one assumes, ever again. This is so not my jam, but I guess I get it? (Also this book is not about Star Wars.)
The Story of the Lost Child, by Elena Ferrante - y'all, every time I read one of these I have to work my way back up to reading the next one because they're so much emotional work. I didn't really care for My Brilliant Friend (I know, sacrilege) and only read the second one because I forgot my book at my lunch break and, like, I work at a library but nothing I really wanted to read was checked in. And The Story of a New Name FUCKING WRECKED ME. So it took me a while to read Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, which FUCKING WRECKED ME. The last one is good but, surprisingly given the subject matter, didn't really get into my head like those middle two. But I couldn't not finish the story. And of course it was totally not satisfying because life is like that.
Library of Souls, by Ransom Riggs - eh. I mean, any book is better if it's all you got and the night is dark and full of terrors and mosquitoes. It was a pretty good, if pat, end to this good-but-plotty series.
Born a Crime: Stories of an African Childhood, by Trevor Noah - I really feel meh about the guy on The Daily Show but I loved his book. I don't usually do celebrity biography but I had to read one for Read Harder and it's legit great. Funny, heartbreaking, educational - I hear the audio is fantastic but we only have it on CD here and who listens to CDs anymore?
The Way You Make Me Feel, by Maurene Goo - I've been tired, y'all. And burned out. I've been reading some candy books. This is a candy book. One of those YA books where people who don't like each other have to spend time together. It's super sweet, super representational, and I really liked the realistic relationship and family dynamics. And I'm hungry because it's about food trucks and how come we don't have a Korean-Brazilian fusion food truck? Get on that shit, South Carolina.
The Belles, by Dohnielle Clayton - I know so many people have been anticipating this one for so long - I liked it but didn't adore it. Really interesting world building, loads of potential though. Slightly frustrating main character, which is sort of par for the course for this sort of thing - think Uglies, a bit.
A New Hope, by Robyn Carr - I'm trying to read more broadly and be a better reader's advisory librarian and, like, people can't get enough of Robyn Carr, right? So I took this one on my Kindle to the Bear Infested Woods. Y'all, it is just two nice people with similar values who fall in love and get married. That's it. The conflict, what there is of it, is literally "I think you're still really fucked up about how you left it with your ex and it would be healthy for you to talk to her." "I don't want to talk to my ex." That's it. Everybody lives in a nice town full of nice people and, while bad things have happened to them in the past (I did cry a bit because the main female lead is still grieving a baby who died of SIDS) nothing at all bad happens to them in this book, or in fact, one assumes, ever again. This is so not my jam, but I guess I get it? (Also this book is not about Star Wars.)
The Story of the Lost Child, by Elena Ferrante - y'all, every time I read one of these I have to work my way back up to reading the next one because they're so much emotional work. I didn't really care for My Brilliant Friend (I know, sacrilege) and only read the second one because I forgot my book at my lunch break and, like, I work at a library but nothing I really wanted to read was checked in. And The Story of a New Name FUCKING WRECKED ME. So it took me a while to read Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, which FUCKING WRECKED ME. The last one is good but, surprisingly given the subject matter, didn't really get into my head like those middle two. But I couldn't not finish the story. And of course it was totally not satisfying because life is like that.
Library of Souls, by Ransom Riggs - eh. I mean, any book is better if it's all you got and the night is dark and full of terrors and mosquitoes. It was a pretty good, if pat, end to this good-but-plotty series.
Born a Crime: Stories of an African Childhood, by Trevor Noah - I really feel meh about the guy on The Daily Show but I loved his book. I don't usually do celebrity biography but I had to read one for Read Harder and it's legit great. Funny, heartbreaking, educational - I hear the audio is fantastic but we only have it on CD here and who listens to CDs anymore?
Comments
Post a Comment