Posted at 9:04 am by Jeddarae, on December 31, 2022
Hey strangers! I thought I would resurrect my mostly deceased blog for my annual favorite reads of the year post.
According to Goodreads, I’ve read 164 books so far this year. (I’m still hoping to make that number 166 before the ball drops tonight. Wish me luck!) I read so many good books that it was hard to choose just twenty, so at the end of the post, you’ll find twenty honorable mentions.
For your sanity and mine, I left off all poetry collections and rereads.
Prepare yourself, it’s giving lots of fantasy and celebrity memoirs. But there are some romances and thrillers to balance out the overabundance of witches and A-lister tea.
Without further ado, here we go (in absolutely no particular order–except the five-star reads come first, of course.)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy–published 2022–320 pages–memoir.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel–published 2022–255 pages–science fiction.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young–published 2022–350 pages–fantasy.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R.F. Kuang–published 2022–545 pages–fantasy.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher–published 2022–245 pages–fantasy.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Ghosts by Dolly Alderton-published 2020–352 pages–contemporary fiction.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson–published 2022–256 pages–contemporary fiction.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
I’ll Show Myself Out: Essays on Midlfe & Motherhood by Jessi Klein–published 2022–288 pages–nonfiction.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister–published 2022–416 pages–thriller.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Cursed Fates (Zodiac Academy #5) by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti–published 2020–886 pages–fantasy/romance.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi–published 2022–288 pages–LGBTQ+ romance.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou–published 2022–403 pages–contemporary fiction.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Golden Enclaves (The Scholomance #3) by Naomi Novik–published 2022–407 pages–fantasy.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Atlas Series Books 1 & 2 by Olivie Blake–published 2020 and 2022–383 and 400 pages–fantasy.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl–published 2021–384 pages–nonfiction.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari–published 2018–372 pages–nonfiction.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González–published 2022–369 pages–contemporary fiction.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston–published 2022–368 pages–paranormal romance.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft–published 2022–384 pages–fantasy.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess (The Celestial Kingdom Duology #1) by Sue Lynn Tan–published 2022–512 pages–fantasy.
After evading COVID for the pandemic’s entirety, I ended up catching it towards the beginning of February. And it kicked my ass for six solid days, so even though I had high hopes about posting more regularly again, the universe once again foiled my plans. I don’t think I actually read a book while I had a fever, let alone wrote any book reviews while sick or even wrote anything for a couple of weeks after because I could barely think. So here’s some barely coherent book reviews. =)
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae–published 2015–memoir–224 pages–audiobook–three stars: A decent audiobook and decent essays. Nothing particularly wow-worthy. I found myself zoning out in places.
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
The Siren of Sussex (Belles of London #1) by Mimi Matthews–published 2022–historical romance–400 pages–ebook–two stars: Wannabe Bridgerton but chaste and full of horses and sartorial argot. Without giving any spoilers, all I can say is I am disappointed in the overplaying of the Old Maid card. And unless I was a terrible reader, the whole titular “siren” part didn’t even get mentioned until the book’s end and shouted Mimi-Matthews-likes-alliteration-so-lets-make-siren-happen. Speaking of Bridgerton, doesn’t season two come out soon? Thank whatever Regency god I need to pray to because these historical romances aren’t doing it for me like Daphne and Simon do (hears classical arrangement of “Wildest Dreams”–Ah-ah-ahhhhhhhh.)
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Other People’s Clothesby Calla Henkel–published 2022–thriller–320 pages–ebook–four stars: Have you ever had several library e-books that you’ve had on hold for weeks come in at the same time and thought you clicked on a YA fantasy novel but you actually clicked on a thriller instead, and you were 20 percent deep into what you that was the YA fantasy novel and you were like—-uhhhhh, when is this fantasy part going to kick in? And then you’d forgotten the name of the alleged YA fantasy book that you were reading so you clicked back into your Kindle library and realized that you’re actually reading a mystery instead? Yeah. So that’s what happened here. I digress. Scene: Berlin around the time of the Amanda Knox trial. Plot: Zoe and Hailey, study abroad roommates who develop an unhealthy friendship, discover that their landlady, an author, has been spying on them for her next novel’s storyline. The girls decide to up the ante by throwing elaborate house parties, gaining the notice of the papers in the process. If you’re looking for gorgeous sentences, this thriller, a thriller I tell you!!!!, has them. I found myself stopping frequently to highlight, in particular, character-descriptor gems like: No, she inhabited a stranger space–she had the smile of the debutante in dirty pictures, a Midwestern mall model, an actress whose lines were written on her hands and He was one year older than me, a cynical computer dork with an intense MacBook stare–whenever he’d launch into talking, his turtle-green eyes would get a dark zoom while he rummaged for words, like a hand silently dipping into a Scrabble bag, feeling for the next word. There were other sentences I highlighted too, but aren’t necessarily Mrs. Ram’s Jams blog-appropriate. I loved how the symbolism of the title was nuanced and layered throughout the narrative too. And the book’s last sentence still has me reeling.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey–published 2020–memoir–308 pages–audiobook–four stars: Con 1: obvious pontificating that’s softened by his charming southern drawl. Con 2: Was nobody else taken aback by the chapter where he describes his parents’ physically abusive relationship with something along the lines of “that’s just the way they loved each other” (that’s not an exact quote but a gist)? Con 3: The three separate wet dreams. Pro 1: HIS POEMS. Pro 2: HIS POEM ABOUT NEW ORLEANS.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess (The Celestial Kingdom Duology #1) by Sue Lynn Tan–published 2022–YA fantasy–512 pages–ebook–four stars: Hey, remember when I was reading a mystery that I thought was a YA fantasy and then discovered I was actually reading a mystery instead of a YA fantasy? This was the YA fantasy that I thought I was reading then. And it’s equally as good, but in a different way, as that thriller. Did I know a damn thing about the Chinese legend of the moon goddess before going into this novel? Hell no. Doesn’t matter. I’m hooked. THERE BE DRAGONS HERE. And cloud travel. And a love triangle. And a whole bunch of unanswered questions at the end. I also love that this is a duology, so I know I won’t lose interest in a series that’s only being drawn out to sell more books (which seems to be the going trend these days–i.e. I’ve always been sucked into a Sarah J. Maas series-hole like ACOTAR or Throne of Glass, but I’ve managed to escape the Maas-hole without completing the series because I got bored.)
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The PIcture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde–published 1890–classics/horror–272 pages–ebook–four stars: I’m cringing at myself for reading a book on my phone that was written over 130 years ago, but I can’t help but ask myself, what would Oscar Wilde think of that? That Lord Henry can deliver a zinger, huh?
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Fiona and Janeby Jean Chen Ho–published 2022–LGBTQ+ contemporary fiction–288 pages–ebook–three stars: Maybe closer to three and half stars? But I’m still feeling mostly lukewarm about this novel.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson–published 2022–contemporary fiction–400 pages–ebook–three stars: Unpopular opinion–A cool concept but it had too many perspectives and tried to be too many genres at once.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Philipps–published 2018–memoir–321 pages–audiobook–four stars: Loved Philipps on Freaks and Geeks and Cougar Town and loved this memoir.
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan–published 2022–dystopia/science fiction–ebook–336 pages–two stars: Frida, who has what she calls one very bad day, leaves her toddler home alone while she runs to work to grab a file. Of course, Frida gets caught, and instead of getting a slap on the wrist, she gets sent away for a year long program to be taught how to be a good mom. At the school, which is more like a correctional facility, Frida and bad mothers like her have to mother creepy robot dolls and are monitored over all aspects of parenting. I get the premise behind this book, but it read list-y in places and tried to hit too many social topics. At first I was drawn into Frida’s story but around the thirty percent mark I lost interest. The ending frustrated me.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Girls Dancing by Kylie Brant–published 2018–thriller–ebook–370 pages–three stars: A missing girl. A potential serial killer. A sleepy community up in arms desperately trying to find the girl before it’s too late. Side plots and the story of another girl who went missing years ago. I normally wouldn’t have even picked up this book, but it’s the March read for a book club that I’m joining. The tropes and the plot line are pedestrian, at least I didn’t quit it or hate it? At least it wasn’t written by Karin Slaughter?
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Dawnshard (The Stormlight Archive #3.5) by Brandon Sanderson–published 2020–high fantasy–ebook–171 pages–three stars: This is the weakest book in the series. I know it’s only a novella, but the characterization is lackluster. Lopen wasn’t as funny as he normally is. The book’s focus character is Rysn, and I was disappointed by Sanderson’s flat portrayal of her when he really could have made her shine here. Even Chiri-Chiri couldn’t save this book. I’ve been putting off Rhythm of War because I felt like Oathbringer dragged, and this read is making me consider quitting the series.
Posted at 11:35 am by Jeddarae, on February 6, 2022
In true me fashion, I:
Forgot that I needed to write book reviews as I finished reading.
Forgot that I had a blog.
Whoops. Without further ado, here’s what I read in January.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Verity by Colleen Hoover–thriller–published 2018–324 pages–four stars: Lowen (asks herself, what kind of name is Lowen?), an author facing apartment eviction, is shocked when she’s offered half a million dollars to finish writing a book series that the original author, Verity (asks herself, what kind of name is Verity?), cannot complete because a terrible accident has left her incapacitated. Even though she’s reluctant to accept, Lowen caves when Verity’s handsome husband, Jeremy (tells herself, look a common name!), convinces her to take the job. Lowen stays at Jeremy and Verity’s house to go through Verity’s research and notes, stumbling across Verity’s unpublished autobiography in the process. What she discovers within the manuscript leaves Lowen with more questions than answers and a growing suspicion that nobody is safe in the house. I totally understand the hype now. The autobiography snippets included in the book are disturbing and engrossing instead of falling flat like a lot of books within books do. I couldn’t handle the two main characters’ names though. I kept asking myself: Lowen? Lowen? Was Highen considered? And Verity? Obviously, there’s some kind of symbolism or irony there–but the rest of the book wasn’t very nuanced with any obvious major literary devices. I was expecting my mind to be blown at the end because BookTok decreed it, and while it was an unconventional twist, it didn’t leave my head spinning. I also thought the whole it’s-perfectly-normal-for-a-wealthy-person-who-has-a-small-child-to-invite-a-stranger-to-stay-at-his-house-while-his-wife-is-immobile-upstairs plot device was a stretch.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
The Simple Wild (Wild #1) by K.A. Tucker–romance–published 2018–390 pages–three stars: A Toronto woman flies to Bangor, Alaska, to reconnect with her estranged father and falls in love with one of her father’s pilots. Another BookTok book? Yep. But one set in Alaska? How could I say no? I have a soft spot for romances set in Alaska. Blame it on The Great Alone and Kristin Hannah. This is a perfectly acceptable romance that’s not overly spicy, featuring an enemy-to-lovers trope, small airplanes, and the standard this-book-is-set-in-Alaska-so-there’s-a-wild-animal-that-is-more-like-a-pet. You know I’ve got to say it–it’s sixty pages too long. While I did enjoy this book, I won’t be continuing the series. Book two clocks in at over 470 pages.
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
The Holiday Switch by Tif Marcelo–YA romance–published 2021–272 pages–two stars: I might be judging this book a little harshly, but it’s just so snowflake-shaped-marshmallows-floating-in-hot-chocolate fluffy. Picture it: an inn that’s been featured in a popular movie, now a tourist attraction. Lila, a senior on her way to Syracuse with a secret blog who works in the gift shop. Teddy, the innkeeper’s nephew who attends Syracuse with his own secret who shows up to work the holidays. Cute, niche shops in a small town of 14,000. Writing sprinkled with holiday-themed metaphors. If you like Hallmark Channel Christmas movies, you’ll probably like this book. But I thought So, This Is Christmas, another YA holiday romance, was marginally better than this. Both books also have eerily similar plot lines and settings as well.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari–nonfiction–published 2018–372 pages–four stars: Equal parts fascinating and frightening. It’s too bad this book was published before the pandemic; I’d love to see an updated version with a new foreword that addressed Harari’s thoughts about COVID’s global impact.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Open Book by Jessica Simpson and Kevin Carr O’Leary–memoir–published 2020–416 pages–four stars: This was the perfect book to listen to as I worked on a 1,000 piece Harry Potter puzzle that Little Thing got for Christmas and abandoned quickly after sorting out the border pieces. Who knew John Mayer was such a gaslighter? I sobbed with Jessica as she relayed the story of her cousin’s death. Jessica mesmerized me with her dishy tales about celebrities, her strength, her honesty. Listening to the audiobook made this book work for me. I don’t know if I’d feel the same way about the book if I hadn’t heard her narrate it.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Tokyo Ever After (Tokyo Ever After #1)by Emiko Jean–YA romance–published 2021–336 pages–three stars: Izumi lives in Mount Shasta, California, with her mom and wonders about the father she’s never met. Turns out Izumi’s dad is the crown prince of Japan, and he doesn’t know that she exists until she reaches out to one of his old friends once her mom fesses up to Izumi’s royal lineage. A very predictable trip to Tokyo to meet her father ensues, replete with evil twin cousins, and a SNACK of a bodyguard who just so happens to be her age. If you’re thinking an enemies-to-lovers trope is ahead, you’re right. Don’t get me wrong, the writing is fresh and cute, but this The Princess Diaries and The Bodyguard mashup plotline just didn’t do it for me.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes–nonfiction–published 2016–352 pages–four stars: Rhimes shines in this book. I felt empowered at the end and overwhelmed by her talent. The only thing I dislike about this is she includes at least three separate speeches that she gave in the past, and in the audiobook, it includes the original audio of those speeches, and to me, it kind of felt like filler in an otherwise awesome book. The speeches are funny, insightful, and well-written, but just out of place.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon–romance–published 2022–352 pages–four stars: And this was the point in the month where I lost track of writing reviews as I finished each book. So what do I remember? Weather girl falls for the sports guy. Sports guy has a theater-kid daughter and he’s super overprotective. He’s also not your standard, chiseled romantic lead but has a dad-bod. This read was cute enough, and I liked it more than Solomon’s The Ex Talk.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao–YA romance–published 2021–304 pages–three stars: After Julie’s boyfriend Sam dies, she can still call him and talk to him. Y’all. This book was so repetitive with the whole “why did this have to happen?” conversation back and forth. I found this really boring.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Bibliolepsy by Gina Apostol–literary fiction–published 2022–2016 pages–three stars: I had no idea what was happening in this novel and had to look up what every other word meant.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2) by Seanan McGuire–YA fantasy–published 2017–187 pages–four stars: Yes. 1,000 times yes. In book two, McGuire gives the story of twins Jack and Jill before they make it to the Home for Wayward Children. Absolutely stunning and I liked this more than book one.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick–memoir–published 2016–275 pages–four stars: I’ve had my eyes on this autobiography for years, but my library didn’t have a copy. And finally, I was able to find it as an audiobook through the Libby app. I had no idea Kendrick was a child Broadway star. Kendrick’s pretty darn funny too, which I wasn’t expecting. Also, I kind of love that she and Bill Hader are now dating. That seems like a pretty good match.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Brown Girlsby Daphne Palasi Andreades–contemporary fiction–published 2022–224 pages–three stars: Took place over too long of a time frame for such a short book. I thought the collective point of view was a bit confusing as well.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur–poetry–published 2014–204 pages–four stars: Beautiful and raw. I’m not sure why I put this one off for so long.
And here are allllllllllllllllllllll the books I DNF’d in January:
Sorry for the unannounced blog silence, but y’all the end of August and the entire month of September. Were. The. Dooziest. of Doozies.
For those of you who don’t know me IRL and just follow my blog, here’s a brief synopsis of my life since my last post: Hurricane Ida fucked up South Louisiana, my house suffered minor damage (thank goodness, but still), we were without power for 11 days and had to live at my in-laws for 10 of them, school was canceled for 7 days, I was in a wedding in Wisconsin (the bright spot of a five-week dumpster fire), I tried to go to Brewers/Cubs game by myself in Milwaukee but had to leave immediately after the national anthem because I needed to eat and couldn’t find anything in the stadium that my stomach could handle, I caught the strepiest of strep throat this week and missed two more days of school, I hit a garbage can with my car and destroyed the passenger side in two different places, I got an email from parent that made me cry three days ago (and not in the-you’re-doing-such-a-good-job-thank-you-for-all-you’re-doing-for-my-child kind of happy crying way but more of the I-don’t-like-you-and-you-know-nothing kind of you’re-terrible-at-your-job devastated-make-me-want-to-quit-my-job crying way)–so. Yep. That’s why I’ve been ghosting you.
I’ve also been ghosting books and not because it’s finally spooky season and ghosting is appropriate (not) during the month of October (mental note find spooky season appropriate books to scare the hell out of myself this month), but because–did you see my comma-spliced ramble above? Normally I can use reading as an escape, but I’ve been so mentally drained by everything that I’ve had a hard time cracking open a book.
ANYWHO,
Here’s what I read during August and September sans book reviews because my bandwidth is thinner than a band that’s two members short.
At least I rated them? And remembered that I do have a blog and that I normally post once a week and that I should get back to that?
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi–published 2021–256 pages–YA/historical fiction.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Sweet & BitterMagic by Adrienne Tooley–published 2021–368 pages YA/LGBTQ+ fantasy.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
China Room by Sunjeev Sahota–published 2021–256 pages–historical fiction.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
The Hunting Wives by May Cobb-published 2021–368 pages–thriller.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides–published 2021–352 pages–thriller.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
The Husbands by Chandler Baker–published 2021–352 pages–thriller.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia–published 2021–289 pages–historical fiction/mystery.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Love People Use Things: Because the Opposite Never Works by Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus–published 2021–336 pages–nonfiction.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller–published 2021–289 pages–literary fiction.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange–published 2021–288 pages–contemporary fiction.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Daughter of the Pirate King(Daughter of the Pirate King #1) by Tricia Levenseller–published 2017–311 pages–YA fantasy.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Dreamfever (Fever #4) by Karen Marie Moning–published 2009–386 pages–urban fantasy.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau–published 2021–320 pages–historical fiction.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Daughter of the Siren Queen (Daughter of the Pirate King #2) by Tricia Levenseller–published 2018–341 pages–YA fantasy.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
The Storm is Upon Us: How Qanon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything by Mike Rothschild–published 2021–(no data for how many pages this book isbecause Goodreads has failed me–political nonfiction.
And sorry Stephen King, but I DNF’d your newest. I feel like the worst fangirl (I stan hard for 11/22/63, The Stand, and Insomnia) on the planet. I trudged through your last one, which I didn’t like very much, and just couldn’t hang with Billy Summers because even though I kind of liked what I read, I felt like I couldn’t make any progress with it at all.
Which one of these would I most blanket recommend to people? We Are The Brennans for sure. But I loved Unsettled Ground–it’s a bit more on the literary side and vibes Rebecca. And if you’re looking for something FUN, look into Daughter of the Pirate King.
What did you read while I was being overwhelmed by the universe?
Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive #3) by Brandon Sanderson—published 2017—1,246 pages—high fantasy—four stars: Curls into a little ball and covers her head out of fear for what she’s about to say—this isn’t nearly as good as the first two. Oathbringer starts slowly, focusing on Dalinar and flashbacks to flesh out the wife that he can’t remember. Shallan doesn’t appear until around the 70 page mark. Bridge Four isn’t featured enough, and because of this, Oathbringer lacks major comic relief to break up the monotony of the drawn out storyline and the focus on so many characters. Wit and Lift, who also add humor, barely grace the pages. Even though I thought the Szeth narrative was over, he made quite a dent in the book, as did his sword (who DID offer some funny bits). Three angry emojis, huffing puffs of air out, light up over my head every time I think of Moash. He broke my heart. Why hasn’t he been exiled to Shadesmar yet? I feel like a different major character should have died. Is Sanderson, unlike George R. R. Martin, afraid of killing off major characters? Teft’s character arc was also surprising, but beyond welcome. I’m looking to become a Radiant myself. Can I bond a winespren? The book’s last twenty percent picked up the pace, alternating between characters’ POVs more quickly building suspense, but the narrative had gaps because of it. I often read a passage and then had to reread it immediately because it wasn’t clear to me what had happened. AND I AM NOT OKAY WITH HOW THE LOVE TRIANGLE ENDED UP. Where was the ending cliffhanger? Book two’s cliffhanger made me want to start Oathbringer right away. And you knew I was going to say it—it’s too long. But only by about 300 pages—you know, like enough to fill a whole other book.
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave—published 2021—320 pages–thriller—three stars: I understand if you adored this story; it has mass appeal, and Reese’s stamp of approval. And there are houseboats (fun!). A Theranos-esque tech scandal! A perfect husband who has a secret past! But, y’all. I know I’ll never be a novelist nor a professional writer, and I write yawn-worthy book reviews and teacher blog posts peppered with run-ons and incoherent rants, but I could not with Dave’s writing style. The Last Thing He Told Me told me nothing. The sentences lacked panache and complexity. Sticky words ran amok. Amok I tell you! Amok! I copied and pasted a sample of the first chapter into an online tool that checks grade level, and that sample came back on a fourth grade reading level. While I realize that section was a small piece, Dave constructs the rest of the book similarly. Comparatively, I ran a sample of Oathbringer through the same checker, and it’s written on an 8th grade level. This review you’re reading now is on a 7th grade level. According to multiple websites, the average popular novel clocks in on a seventh grade level. I need some lively writing anymore, and this was dead on the page.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Other Black Girlby Zakiya Dalila Harris—published 2021—357 pages—thriller—four stars: Wowza. How do I even describe this book? It’s a thriller, but also possesses a light tippity-tap of sci-fi. It’s been described as “Get Out meets The Stepford Wives” and has drawn comparisons to The Devil Wears Prada. I felt it’s more The Firm adjacent (at least I think. It’s been years since I’ve read the novel or watched the movie) except featuring Black women working in New York publishing. Hazel, the antagonist, reminded me of Candace Owens. For once in a thriller, the ending twist surprised the hell out of me. I enjoyed Harris’s writing style. But, I warn you, you might not like this book. The beginning is a little confusing when the different plot lines are still being fleshed out. I thought some of it was satire until the sci-fi element revealed itself. The conspiracy part was uneven. But overall, I enjoyed this read.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz—published 2021—336 pages—thriller—four stars: Two four star thrillers in a row? I’m, wait for it, thrilled! A has-been novelist, now third-rate MFA writing instructor named Jacob writes his former student’s bestselling book idea after finding out that his student is dead. Then the plagiarism accusations slide into Jacob’s inbox after the novel does indeed hit it big, and he realizes that maybe the plot that he thought was fiction actually was a real life thriller. I didn’t even hate the book within the book here y’all.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
This Is Not the Jess Show (This Is Not the Jess Show #1) by Anna Carey—published 2021—304 pages—YA thriller—four stars: Three four star thrillers in a row? I’m questioning life. Even though this novel rips off The Truman Show, I think teens would find it appealing because they’re probably not familiar with the famous film. (Does Gen Z even know who Jim Carrey is? Alrighty then; I’m old.)
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
The Comfort Book by Matt Haig—published 2021—272 pages—nonfiction/mental health—three stars: I want to like this nugget of a book more because who doesn’t love Haig? He’s always so candid about his mental health, and his novels are fantastic. Haig composed this book of lists and snippets and words of encouragement that he wrote when going through dark patches in his life and published it. And while some passages and sentences are beautiful, I couldn’t get it out of my head while reading that this book only got published because it’s Haig. A book like this wouldn’t get published by a no-name author.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix—published 2016—337 pages—horror—three stars: I’m a mixed cassette tape of conflicting emotions here. This 80s-set horror story should tickle my I-grew-up-with-mall-bangs fancy, but the more Hendrix novels I read, the more I get upset that his protagonists are female. I’ve only read two of his novels, but he hyper-sexualizes those women and puts them in rape and unwanted touching situations with demons, and I can’t help but let out “ewwwwwwwwww” and mutter “is this necessary?” every time I see it on the page. And then he sets the stories in the past and is satirizing some aspects of the plot and it comes off to me like he thinks he can just write women that way because “that’s the way it was back then” but if he’s making fun of some parts, then it just comes off as white guy icky to me. I’ve got his newest sitting in my Libby queue, and I don’t know if I’ll be reading it.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Talk Bookish to Me by Kate Bromley—published 2021—317 pages—romance—three stars: Kara writes romance novels for a living. The first draft of her next novel is due almost yesterday, and she barely has anything on the page. Her best friend’s wedding is coupled with her looming deadline. When her ex-boyfriend from college (the one who got away) shows up as a groomsman in the wedding, she has plenty of inspiration for her book, but will her heart get broken again in the process? This book is meh. There’s a book within a book here too, and it’s pretty meh as well.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping by Matthew Salesses—published 2021—256 pages—nonfiction/writing—five stars: Very obviously this book is only going to appeal to a very specific audience, but I loved this book. I’ll never look at a novel the same way again, and I took away great tips for narrative writing and teaching narrative writing from this book. It makes me want to get my MFA in creative writing.
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
Survive the Night by Riley Sager—published 2021—324 pages—thriller—two stars: Finally! A terrible thriller! Is the writing decent? Yes. Are there pretty surprising twists? Yes. But this book took me over six days to finish and suffers from a man writing the female protagonist’s perspective. Charlie’s roommate was murdered, and Charlie, who isn’t coping well, drops out of school and hitches a ride back to Ohio with a man who she found on a bulletin board. Something seems off about him, but Charlie assures herself that it’s all in her head. She sees “movies in her mind” which seem real but aren’t further confusing her. She finally becomes convinced that the man driving her is the serial killer, and she decides she has to avenge her friend’s death. Charlie is an idiot. The end.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Exciting Timesby Naoise Dolan—published 2020—243 pages—contemporary fiction/LBGTQ+–four stars: Bends toward the literary and doesn’t have a conventional plot—so I understand why this is only rated 3.35 stars on Goodreads—but I quite enjoyed Ava’s love triangle with Julian and Edith.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6) by J. K. Rowling—published 2005—652 pages—YA fantasy—five stars: In earlier mini book reviews I didn’t write reviews of Harry Potter rereads because 1. I’ve read every single one a gazillion times and 2. Just saying J. K. Rowling’s name has been as bad as saying Voldemort aloud recently. I was worried if I typed Rowling’s name, Death Eaters would show up at my door. She’s as flawed as Snape, James, and Umbridge, and I don’t agree with her politics, but I love these books. And the reason I’m rereading right now is because I’ve been reading them aloud to Little Thing (before the controversy started), and she’s hooked. The books ARE magic. Watching her reactions to what happens in each book are gifts I will never forget. I’ll never forget how we had to stop reading when Harry used Sectumsempra because she thought Harry was infallible and he devastated her. How she giggled uncontrollably when Ginny and Harry kissed. I’ll never forget her anger at Dumbledore’s fate at the book’s end. I can’t cancel these books.
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix—published 2021—352 pages—horror—two stars: So, I read it anyway. And I hated it. That bloody foldable chair on the book jacket? It’s the best part of the book. I’ll never read another Hendrix book again. Again there’s a female protagonist that’s written in the first person who’s a victim and is fighting to be the last one standing in a group of victims, and Hendrix just needs to stop writing female leads. Much like the last Hendrix novel I read, he tortures women throughout the entire book and then tries to correct all the mayhem and harm in three sentences at the book’s end. So is there something symbolic about that? Maybe? But ugh.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Refugee by Alan Gratz—published 2017—352 pages—middle grade historical fiction—five stars: I read this book for the first time last year while I was hospitalized during a U.C. flare and rated it four stars. I am not in the habit of rereading and rating a book higher than my initial reaction (And I reread it because I chose it as a new summer reading book for our 8th graders.) but. This. Damn. Book. Y’all. THIS DAMN BOOK. It’s so well done. Gratz tells the harrowing stories of three different children who are refugees. Isabel is escaping from Castro’s Cuba. Josef is escaping from the Nazis. And Mahmoud is escaping from Syria. And by the book’s end, all three stories come together. This is the kind of book that builds empathy in young minds and should be required reading.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin—published 2021—256 pages—contemporary fiction/LGBTQ+–four stars: Gilda, a lesbian atheist fixated on death, accidentally becomes a secretary at a Catholic church. Ohhhhhhhhh, this one. I love it. Gilda also accidentally dates a man because she’s too nice to turn him down. This book is FUNNY while being awfully serious about mental health. If you like books by Jenny Lawson, T. J. Klune, or Fredrik Backman, you’ll love this book.
Alert Alert Alert: This list contains two “it” books that were huge misses for me, two fantastic LGBTQ+ books, and a Bill Gates-does-not-understand-farmers tangent.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman—published 2017—368 pages—chick lit—two stars: Lilian, a widow of four years, isn’t ready to look for love again, but her family keeps encouraging Lilian to date. When Lilian’s boss forces Lilian to attend a beginning gardening class, her attraction to the class’s instructor blindsides her. Gah. That’s not a good gah. I love Waxman’s The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, and The Garden of Small Beginnings just doesn’t compare to how good Nina Hill is. The Garden of Small Beginnings is a garden that was planted without a plan. Waxman cultivates sprouts of funny writing in between the storyline’s confusing bramble of weeds though.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown—published 2018—185 pages—nonfiction—four stars: Another important, enlightening social injustice read, but this time through Channing Brown’s eyes as a Black Christian working for evangelical nonprofits.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Where the Grass Is Green and the Girls Are Pretty by Lauren Weisberger—published 2021—368 pages—chick lit/contemporary fiction—three stars: Not my favorite Weisberger novel? Weisberger stole the plotline right from the college admissions scandal, but instead of a Desperate Housewife as the protagonist, there’s a female morning news anchor, a terrible mash-up of Felicity Huffman and Matt Lauer. When I think of Weisberger novels, I think of overindulgent New York City glitz and glam, snappy dialogue, and subtle critiques of the upper echelons, melding together for a guilty pleasure read. Weisberger attempted all three here again, but the book tripped over its six-inch, red-soled Louboutins and fell flat on its botoxed/lip-fillered face on a sidewalk. The only highlight was me screeching “Take. Me. Home. Yeah-e-yeah” off-key and on repeat while reading.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid—published 2021—369 pages—historical fiction—three stars: Unpopular opinion alert. This book didn’t impress me. It’s The Great Gatsby but set in the 80s and on the opposite coast with California surfers and Hollywood A-listers. I wanted to face punch every character, except for Tarine—because she DOES face punch a chauvinistic cop, my favorite part. The entire story was overdone and underdone simultaneously. All the familial revelations unravel on the same night at a cocaine-fueled party. Overdone. Chandelier swinging. Overdone. Mick. Overdone and predictable. And the underdone part? I guess that boils down to the third person omniscient narrator. Don’t get me wrong, Reid nails it, but she covers too many characters over too long of a time frame. It made the story feel underdone to me? Too sweeping without enough development. Definitely my year’s biggest reading disappointment. Will it be some people’s jam? Sure, but not a Mrs. Ram’s jam. Sidebar: Am I the only person who throws up a little in her mouth every time she thinks about how books set in the 80s fall under historical fiction now??????
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Darkfever (Fever #1) by Karen Marie Moning—published 2006—309 pages—urban fantasy—three stars: After Mac’s sister is murdered while studying abroad in Dublin, Mac hops on a plane to investigate her sister’s death against her parents’ wishes. At first she doesn’t uncover many answers, but she soon finds herself in over her head when she discovers monsters lurking beneath human exteriors. When a hyper-masculine, dangerous man named Jericho learns Mac is poking her head around Fae matters and that Mac possesses special powers of her own, Jericho shelters her and makes her help him seek Fae objects of power. So real talk, I could easily rate this a four because it’s super engrossing and Jericho and Mac have ample chemistry, but 1. This urban fantasy didn’t age well—Jericho, when trying to warn Mac off, essentially tries to scare her off by using physical force, bruising her ribs, but also there’s sexual chemistry there? Did this type of thing really work in 2006? It sure as hell doesn’t work now, but also, I liked it? So? What does that say about me? And 2. Moning frequently describes parts of the story before she identifies what’s happening in the story. Does that make sense? I know it makes little sense, but it should.
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser—published 2021—448 pages—romance—two stars: Thea’s world is shattered. She’s been sacked from her job. Her husband of nearly twenty years has been cheating on her with one of her friends. Forced out of her own home, she rents a flat and is about to move when she inherits a handsome sum of money and a house from a distant relative in Scotland. After Thea and her friend drive there to sort through Thea’s inheritance, she stays for the summer to sort through the mess of her life, too. She takes a job at a bookstore despite the boss, Edward, being a grump and normally unwilling to hire women—because he either falls in love with them or they fall in love with him. (Like, for real before he hired her he had a sign posted on the door that was basically the Little Rascal equivalent of the “He-man Womun Hater’s Club” sign.) She assures him that neither of those scenarios will happen—but guess what, it’s a romance so it does. I wish I could be glowy about this book, but it’s so terribly bland. I didn’t laugh once or find a sentence that I found endearing. Edward is estranged from his duke brother because Edward slept with every single one of his brother’s girlfriends and both of his wives for revenge for a teenage slight. TF? There are pages of literally nothing happening with lots of tiny words making up sentences—which I guess is why it’s a whopping 448 pages? This book is easily 150 pages too long.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Guncle by Steven Rowley—published 2021—336 pages—LGBTQ+ fiction—four stars: When his best friend/sister-in-law passes away, Patrick, aka GUP which stands for Gay Uncle Patrick, takes in his niece and nephew while his brother sobers up at at rehab center not too far from Patrick’s Palm Springs home. This book is adorable and hilarious. It has a The House in the Cerulean Sea vibe sans the fantastical elements. Ultimately it’s a novel about overcoming grief. It made me sob in three different places. Also, I will now forever be stealing and quoting this line from the book: You can’t spell nemesis without me sis. I need this on a T-shirt, stat! Who’s got a Cricut?
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Real Life by Brandon Taylor—published 2020—329 pages—LGBTQ+ fiction—four stars: Literary. Beautifully written. Doesn’t have a conventional plot, as in there’s one, and it’s vague, but it works. My eyes glazed over every time the scientific experiment descriptions happened. There’s hard-to-read gritty, graphic violence. Be prepared to be uncomfortable, but that’s real life, and the book’s point.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston—published 2021—422 pages—LGBTQ+ romance—three stars: (And at this point it will become obvious that I forgot I was supposed to write book reviews. Whoops. Taking that blog hiatus made me forget my process.) I feel like a lot of rotten tomatoes are about to be thrown my way, but I’m not a huge fan of McQuiston’s latest. August moves to New York City to finish her education and escape her wannabe private detective mother. A girl, all beat up leather jacket and 70s retro cool, snags August’s eye on the train, and the girl, Jane, magically is on every single train that August catches for her commute to school. After Jane turns August down for a date, August finds a picture of Jane from decades earlier, looking exactly the same as she does now, at August’s own workplace (hello happenstance!). Then August races against the clock to save Jane from being stuck in time. The writing charms and shines just like in McQuiston’s earlier novel, but the witty writing hides a whole lot of fluff. And I know I write this ad nauseam, but it was too long. And the plot was overly tied together. (I know, #brokenrecordstatus with this point, too.)
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Bloodfever (Fever #2) by Karen Marie Moning—published 2007—303 pages—urban fantasy—four stars: What is wrong with me? I like book two better than book one. I texted a friend, who has read the series, and told her I felt deep book shame for compulsively reading this terrible series. Gah. On to book three?
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner—published 2021—371 pages—LGBTQ+ fantasy/historical fiction—three stars: The title? Badass. The cover? Same. Delly the protagonist? Hilarious, unassuming, and brilliant. She calls her mouth a gin hole and another character a foot cramp and makes up words that sound fancy and thinks things like: Not that she didn’t say worse six dozen times a day herself, but she’d always been under the impression that young ladies weren’t supposed to know what knickers were, even while they were putting them on in the morning. And Buttons the skeleton mouse that’s really an old wizard? He’s legit. But the storyline though? Bizarre, which sucks because it breaks the book.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Faefever (Fever #3)by Karen Marie Moning—published 2008—327 pages—urban fantasy—three stars: Well, I’m taking a pause from the series after reading book three. The ending twisted unexpectedly and graphically.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need by Bill Gates—published 2021—272 pages—nonfiction/science—three stars: Bottom line—I learned some startling information about climate change (like, I really had no idea about cement), but the. Writing. Was. Drier. Than. A. California. Drought. (Is this an inappropriate comparison to draw when reading a book describing an impending climate disaster? Yikes.) Also Mrs. Ram grew up on a farm, not because she is a ram, but because her family raises Angus beef cattle and performs other agricultural magic, and I (I’ll stop talking in the third person now thanks) thought while Gates tried to be nice about farmers and farming, he missed the mark when he says this: Imagine you’re a prosperous young farmer raising corn, soybeans, and cattle in Nebraska in 2050. (Excuse me while I transform into a battering Ram here.) I realize many prosperous farmers exist in America, but I know a cow-manure ton of farmers, and the humble, hard-working farmers I know would never describe themselves as something as pompous sounding as prosperous. Furthermore, many small farms have been struggling for decades, the antithesis of prosperity. And young and prosperous together? Where does he think these speculative young farmers are getting this land required for farming prosperity??? And I hate to break it to him and I know he set his hypothetical in 2050, but according to salary.com, the average Cornhusker farmer’s salary in 2021 is $40,033. What a prosperous sum to live on!!!!!! (Disclaimers: 1. I’m not attacking his sound argument that he’s making in the book about how to avoid a climate disaster. I’m just aggravated over this one sentence and needed to vent about it. Even if it is a hypothetical. 2. I also have never claimed to know anything about farming or cattle. I leave that to my dad, my siblings, and nephews. If anything, I’m farmer-adjacent and bovine-avoidant and always have been.)
Because of my temporary blog hiatus during the end of the school year, I shut down ALL writing, so I have no mini book reviews for April and May. But, that doesn’t mean I can’t share with y’all what I read and how I rated each book.
I had six five-star reads, which I know seems a little excessive on the five-star ratings, but you can fight me on those ratings. I’m fully prepared for fisticuffs.
And one of those five-star ratings is more than likely my favorite fiction read published in 2021.
There are two solid beach reads on this list, too.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Fable (Fable #1) by Adrienne Young—published 2020—357 pages—YA fantasy-ish—three stars.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Later by Stephen King—published 2021—248 pages—horror—three stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros—published 1983—110 pages—YA—four stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive #2) by Brandon Sanderson—published 2014—1,087 pages—high fantasy—five stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant—published 2021—307 pages—nonfiction—five stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Broken by Jenny Lawson—published 2021—285 pages—humor/memoir—five stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma Oluo—published 2020—304 pages—nonfiction feminism/race—five stars.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain—published 2021—415 pages, mystery—three stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke by Rainer Maria Rilke—published 1989—356 pages—poetry—four stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archives #2.5) by Brandon Sanderson—published 2017—272 pages—high fantasy–four stars.
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
Dial A For Aunties by Jesse Q. Suntanto—published 2021—320 pages—romance—two stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Tell Me My Name by Amy Reed—published 2021—336 pages—YA retelling—four stars.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas—published 2021—384 pages—YA retelling—three stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan—published 1989—288 pages—historical fiction—four stars.
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
Arsenic and Adobo (Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery #1) by Mia P. Manasala—published 2021—336 pages—mystery—two stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Namesake by Adrienne Young—published 2021—360 pages—fantasy-ish—four stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks by Jason Reynolds—published 2019—204 pages—middle-grade fiction—four stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost—published 2020—336 pages—memoir/humor—five stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry—published 2021—384 pages—romance—four stars.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Teacher Misery: Helicopter Parents, Special Snowflakes & Other Bullshit by Jane Morris—published 2016—245 pages—nonfiction/education—three stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir—published 2021—476 pages—science fiction—five stars.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
That Summer by Jennifer Weiner—published 2021—432 pages—contemporary fiction—three stars.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams—published 2021—384 pages—legal thriller—three stars.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley—published 2021—368 pages—romance—three stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand—published 2020—432 pages—romance—four stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis—published 2003—243 pages—historical fiction—four stars.
So the key takeaways? Any of those nonfiction reads that are five stars are outstanding, but fiction-wise, GO READ PROJECT HAIL MARY RIGHT NOW. I guarantee it’s one of the “it” books this year.
Looking for the best beach read? Check out People We Meet on Vacation.
Mini book reviews will be back next month!
(Also, know how I mentioned fisticuffs earlier? Yeah, well I’m about to duke it out with WordPress right now. I apologize for all the weird formatting going on with this post. Get it together WordPress!)
Waiting for the Night Song by Julie Carrick Dalton—published 2021—336 pages—contemporary fiction/mystery—three stars: This screams wannabe Where the Crawdads Sing and Where the Forest Meets the Stars. Dalton writes on the literary side with pretty prose in places like when describing rural New Hampshire forests but stumbles when trying to build suspense regarding the mystery surrounding a murder that Cadie, now an entomologist, helped cover up during her childhood. Cadie got away with tons of illegal crap—hello white girl privilege.
Shipped by Angie Hockman—published 2021—336 pages—romance—four stars: Henley works in marketing for a cruise company based in Seattle and is full of ambition and good ideas. When she’s up for a promotion, her no-good, woman-hating boss informs her that her nemesis Graeme, who she’s never met in the flesh because he works remotely from Michigan, is up for the position, too. Henley hates Graeme because he took all the credit for a viral video she created, but he posted. Their boss sends them on a company cruise to the Galapagos Islands as a competition to see who can come up with a new, innovative marketing campaign. Whoever wins gets the promotion. Henley’s sister, showing up on Henley’s doorstep after a bad breakup, tags along to help offer insight. When Henley figures out Graeme isn’t a conniving butthole after all, she struggles between her growing feelings for him and wanting to win the competition. I’m not going to overthink this romance review. I enjoyed reading it—hence the four. Other people will probably disagree with me. I liked the little twist at the end. I really did think the names “Henley” and “Graeme” were cringe-y, but everything else worked.
Lore by Alexandra Bracken—published 2021—480 pages—YA fantasy—three stars: Orphaned after her entire immediate family is murdered,Lore is the last remaining mortal descendant of Perseus and the only person who can wield the aegis, a hidden ancient weapon that holds the secret to ending the Agon. Every seven years, the remaining descendants of the ancient Greek gods hunt new and old gods during the Agon, when the gods lose their immortality and whoever kills them becomes the new god. Lore has tried to leave her past behind her, but when a wounded Athena shows up on Lore’s New York City brownstone’s steps, Lore decides to join the hunt to avenge her family’s murder. Lore has been described as “Greek mythology meets The Hunger Games,” and I agree, but it also has notes of Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and even The City We Became. It’s also just not as good as any of the previously mentioned books. Things move from one thing to the next too quickly, making the story hard to follow. It could have benefited from being told from Lore’s first-person perspective. There was little character development. I read this as an ebook, and I’ve never seen an ebook, that wasn’t self-published that is, as poorly formatted as this one. In several spots in the middle of a line, a new line was started. In other places, words should have been capitalized that weren’t. Bracken can end a chapter on a cliffhanger, though.
The Echo Wifeby Sarah Gailey—published 2021—256 pages—science fiction/thriller—four stars: Y’all. I totally forgot to write book reviews as I finished each book, starting with this read right here. Be prepared to be underwhelmed with all subsequent reviews. When Evelyn Caldwell’s clone, Martine, created by Evelyn’s ex-husband in secret to become his submissive version of his brilliant ex-wife, kills Evelyn’s ex when he tries to murder Martine and their unborn child, the two decide to make a clone of him to cover up the murder. This is so twisted and messed up. I’m a huge Gailey fan.
A Pho Love Story by Loan Le—published 2021—416 pages—YA romance—three stars: Bao’s parents own a Vietnamese restaurant, and Linh’s parents do too, directly across the street from Bao’s family restaurant. The two families hate each other in the Romeo and Juliet fashion. When Bao helps out Linh at her family’s restaurant unbeknownst to Linh’s parents on a busy night, Bao and Linh can’t help but become friends. They partner together through their school’s newspaper to review other restaurants in the area, keeping it a secret from both their families. Bao writes the articles and Linh sketches the restaurant. Bao discovers he loves writing. Linh wants to pursue art, but her parents make it loud and clear that becoming an artist isn’t a viable career option. This is a perfectly acceptable YA romance, but it was pretty boring. And about 100 pages too long. It did make me terribly hungry while reading it.
Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen—published 2020—288 pages—nonfiction—four stars: Totally fascinating. All millennials would gain something by reading this book. Boomers should probably pick it up too.
The Survivors by Jane Harper—published 2020—384 pages—mystery—two stars: My least favorite read ever by an author who I’ve consistently loved. This vibes more whodunnit compared to her other books. There’s zero character development and just, ughhhhhhhhh.
Black Buckby Mateo Askaripour—published 2021—400 pages—contemporary fiction/humor—three stars: Buck is more than comfortable working at Starbucks forever, despite graduating as the valedictorian from a prestigious NYC high school. When a white start-up entrepreneur recognizes Buck’s talent, he offers Buck a job. Buck is the only Black person, and one of the other bigwigs oozes Neo-Nazi from his preppy, privileged pores and targets Buck from day one. Buck ends up saving the company from going under. Once this happens, he launches an underground society to help Black people and other racially diverse people become as successful as he is. But when white people start noticing what’s happening, they launch a white-nationalist counterattack against the group. This book had moments of greatness like these lines when Buck is discussing losing a game of pool: “This game’s fixed,” I said, after he whooped my ass. Any game where one white ball can beat the crap out of every other nonwhite ball on the table has to be rigged. But ultimately, the storyline got super bizarre, and I love an unconventional storyline, and made it really hard to connect with this book.
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner—published 2021—320 pages—historical fiction—three stars: Caroline travels to London for her wedding anniversary by herself after discovering her husband has been having an affair. One afternoon she stumbles upon a gentleman who leads groups of people on excursions to find items along the banks of the Thames. Caroline finds an old apothecary bottle and unravels the mystery of the bottle while coping with her husband’s infidelity. While Caroline’s narrative is happening, the apothecary’s and a young girl’s story, set in 1791, unfolds. The apothecary, who sells poison to desperate women to help them murder men, finds herself in an unsavory situation when one of her well-to-do patrons wants a concoction to poison her husband’s lover. I didn’t feel like this was very “historical.” I didn’t really learn a lot about the time period by reading this novel. I disliked how parallel Caroline’s and the apothecary’s stories ended up being; it’s a SUPER annoyance of mine.
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot—published 1939—56 pages—poetry—how can I rank something so overtly racist—zero stars: So, I’ve had this book for ages, but I’d never opened it. Poetry about cats? Why wouldn’t I love this book? Sounded right up my alley (cat, sorry, couldn’t help myself). But as I read, I was seriously disturbed by the racist language in several of the poems.
A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers, #3)by Brigid Kemmerer—published 2021—408 pages—YA fantasy—three stars: I didn’t have high hopes for the ending of this series so I wasn’t disappointed when the ending was lackluster. Thirty percent of it is fluff, and the ending, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, was. So. Freaking. Rushed. And Rhen. Rhen. Rhen. Rhen. But, ugh, I can’t give you any spoilers, but Lilith could have been dealt with in so many other ways. Harper was pretty much ignored towards the book’s end. Isn’t this supposed to be a trilogy? Kemmerer left it wideeeeeeeee open for a spin-off or a prequel or another book or 15.
(I also reread Romeo and Juliet this month for the zillionth time.)
These Violent Delights (These Violent Delights #1) by Chloe Gong—published 2020—YAL fantasy/retellings—three stars: I have a love/hate relationship with retellings. I have an even stronger love/hate relationship with Romeo and Juliet. So a retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in Shanghai during the 1920s sounded torturous. Perfect! There’s even a water monster! And gangs! And Cabaret! A beautifully written first chapter starts the book, and Gong weaves in some of the play’s original motifs like day vs. night and birds. However, I couldn’t handle the fluff between the first chapter’s end and the book’s last twenty-two percent.
Enjoy the View (Moose Springs, Alaska #3) by Sarah Morgenthaler—published 2021—romance—four stars: Have I read the first two books in this series? No. But the cover and the blurb begged me to read it. The beginning confused me, but the storyline drew me in. River, a Hollywood actress who’s looking to make the switch to behind the camera, is on the side of a road hauling a suitcase of rocks on the outskirts of Moose Springs, Alaska, attempting to shoot footage for her documentary when Easton—gargantuan, bearded, and man-bunned—pulls over to offer her help. Furious that her shot is ruined, she enlists him to hold a pizza box sign that will deter other good samaritans from ruining footage. Sparks fly between the two. When the Alaskan Tourism board sidelines her documentary because she can’t get any filming permits signed because Moose Springs hates tourists, she takes her chances and her documentary outside the city limits and up a mountain, with a gargantuan, bearded, and man-bunned Easton as her guide. I had too much fun reading this. Easton and River’s banter was cute. A marmot thinks Easton is its soul mate and follows them up Mount Veil. Once my Libby queue dwindles, I’ll read the series’ first two books.
The Push by Ashley Audrain—published 2021—thriller—five stars: I never would have guessed that my first five-star 2021 read would be a thriller—but holy shit. The Push. Is. Sooooooooooo. Damn. Good. After giving birth to Violet, Blythe is unsettled by her little girl. Violet screams when in Blythe’s arms, and the baby’s father can only comfort the infant. As Violet grows, Blythe has an even harder time connecting with her precocious child, especially once she witnesses a tiny Violet do something maliciously unthinkable. While Blythe’s story unfolds, the story of her own mother and grandmother, both unmotherly women, is told. You will question Blythe’s sanity and capability as a mother. You will cry. At first glance, the novel doesn’t look well written. The sentences are short, but it’s for effect. It even says in the narrative: Before. After. After felt curt, my sentences abrupt and sharp, like every paragraph could hurt someone. There was so much anger on the page, but I didn’t know what else to do with it. This gave me We Need to Talk About Kevin vibes. READ THIS BOOK!
Faye, Farawayby Helen Fisher—published 2021—time travel—four stars: One day Faye, married to an aspiring vicar and the mother of two beautiful girls, steps into an old box, a relic from her past, in her attic to avoid broken glass, and she crash lands in the seventies at her childhood home. Getting the chance to see her mother again, who died mysteriously when Faye was 8, is a balm to Faye’s soul, but the time travel, which she feels like she can’t discuss with her husband, creates a rift in her marriage. Ultimately, Faye has to decide if she’s going to travel back one last time to save her mother or to leave the past behind to repair her marriage. Ohhhhh this book. I loved it so much, but I hated how Faye talked directly to the reader like she was trying to make the reader believe in her story. I believed her. The choice for the time travel portal to be a Space Hopper box was overkill in its blatant symbolism, too. But, damn—that ending had me misty-eyed.
The Ex Talkby Rachel Lynn Solomon—published 2021—romance—three stars: As an NPR freak, I loved that this book was set at a public radio station, but the storyline is meh. The radio station is floundering and needs a fresh show. That’s where Shay, a self-conscious-about-her-radio-voice producer, and Dominic, a hot-shot newbie who talks about his masters from Northwestern constantly, come in. Their snarky, hate-filled rapport inspires a show called The Ex Talk. As co-hosts, Dominic and Shay pretend to have dated each other (throwing journalistic integrity out the window into the Puget Sound) and explore the ins and outs of dating. I guess it’s a fresh take on fake-enships that run rampant in romances, but it wasn’t a particularly interesting read.
The Projectby Courtney Summers—published 2021—YAL thriller—four stars: Is there another YAL thriller writer out there better than Courtney Summers? Summers, once again, writes a solid thriller. Cults? Mystery? Unlikeable characters? Cringe-y storylines? The Project has them all.
Make Up Break Up by Lily Menon—published 2021—romance—three stars: Why do I keep reading romances???? Both love interests meet at a conference in Vegas and have a steamy fling. Fast forward, and the boy’s company moves into an office next to the girl’s company’s office. She’s trying to launch an app called Make Up, and he has a newly successful app called Break Up. She accuses him of stealing her business idea, and, gah. You know what happens next. They make up, then they break up, then they make up.
From Blood and Ash (Blood and Ash #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout—published 2020—new adult fantasy—four stars: Real talk. Yes, this is a four. No, I will not be reading the next book in the series. I’m over fluffy, drawn-out, commercial fantasy juggernauts. The Maiden, Poppy, is the Chosen One. Secluded and veiled, she must wait until the day she can Ascend to save her people. Throw in a secretive, sexy personal guard and vampires and, BAM, you get new adult fantasy dynamite.
This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith—published 2021—contemporary fiction—three stars: The title describes how I feel about the novel after I finished reading it, which is disappointing because it’s peppered with great writing. But the dialogue broke me. As did pumpkin overabundance. As did the whole there’s a therapist-who-rescues-a guy-from-jumping-off-a-bridge-and-then-lies-to-him-about-actually-being-a-therapist-and-then-brings-him-into-her-house-for-the-whole-weekend concept… HE COULD HAVE BEEN A SERIAL KILLER!!!!!!
You Have a Match by Emma Lord—published 2021—contemporary YAL—three stars: Abby gets her DNA tested through an Ancestry-like company as an act of solidarity with her best friend Leo, who is adopted and looking for clues about his birth parents. While Leo’s results are a wash, Abby discovers she has a sister. Her sister, Savvy, reaches out to her, and they try to unravel the mystery of their parents together while they spend time together at summer camp. Lord can write a damn cute story, but this was just too much. Leo and Savvy have known each other forever from attending the same summer camp. And Leo just so happens to be Abby’s best friend? In the book, it says Abby and Savvy’s story sounds like a Disney Channel movie, and it does—or at least a modern-day,Instagram-heavy The Parent Trap. And Savvy’s parents used to be best friends with Abby’s parents, which is THE mystery to be unlocked, but still… And without giving anything away, things were tooooooooo tied together at the end, and Lord, just like she did in Tweet Cute, wrote an unnecessary sugary-sweet epilogue, #deathtoYALepilogues. At least from reading this novel, I can add “Finsta” and “spon con” to my vernacular.
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah—published 2021—historical fiction—three stars: I almost DNF’d this book at the 20 percent finished mark, but I kept reading because my bestie in Milwaukee said it had redeeming qualities. She also gave it three stars. The book is set during the Great Depression amidst the Dust Bowl, and Elsa Martinelli. Cannot. Catch. A. Freaking. Break. Sheltered, Elsa longs to go to college and feel pretty. When she breaks her family’s rules, she ends up pregnant and has to marry a man whom she desperately loves, but he doesn’t love her. She moves in with his family and raises their children. When times get even worse, the dust forces Elsa to leave Texas and head to California to save her family. Where do I start? Hannah’s writing style with this was mainstream, melodramatic, lackluster. A drunk Italian husband? Hello, trope. A fiery daughter who resents a mother who bends over backward for her family? Hello, trope. A thin blonde woman who thinks herself ugly and unlovable? Hello, what? (This was one of Milwaukee bestie’s criticisms.) Hannah harps on the drama here to exploit hardship after hardship. I had this same issue with Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life. Despite all this, it’s bingeable; otherwise, I would have ranked it two stars.
Posted at 8:23 am by Jeddarae, on December 26, 2020
Happy Holidays from Mrs. Ram’s Jams!
I hope you and yours had a merry merry merry insert-whatever-holiday-you-celebrate-here!
Little Thing came home from school last Friday with a sore throat that progressed to “the bad sneezes” and a cough. So a week later, guess who got a cold and some chapped lips for Christmas? Me!
I’m still feeling under the weather, so I’m not feeling prolific or revelatory in regards to today’s post. . . but I am looking forward to next week’s post–my favorite reads from 2020. I’ve read 176 books so far this year, and I’m hoping to make it to 180 before 2021 hits.
If anyone could help a sick girl out and make a few easy, breezy, heartwarming, or funny book recommendations, I’d appreciate it. I’ll get back into some heavy reads in 2021.
Mrs. Ram's Jams 