Rita

I was so looking forward to reading this and I was not disappointed! It gave me everything I wanted and more I didn't even think of. I knew the bones of Haymitch's story from reading the original trilogy of course, yet reading it was still engaging, emotional, and surprisingly surprising. It was fun seeing people we know in District 12, and later in the Capitol, though I do wonder if maybe there were too many once we got into the games. Spoilers on who they are here, but seeing how involved Beetee, Wiress, and Mags were in Haymitch's games makes me wonder if most of the reaping done in Catching Fire was completely rigged, since Haymitch would have gone in if Peeta hadn't volunteered, or if their inclusion here was mostly fanservice. If it was rigged, that's pretty cool. If it's fanservice, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Also, I want to read an entire book on Mags' life please.

I only knocked down half a star because of the overuse of "The Raven" throughout. At first, it was cool to see where Lenore Dove got her name and she symbolism of the lost Lenore who would haunt Haymitch forever, but by the end (where it was used A LOT) I completely skipped reading the poem parts in the middle. I think it would have been fine to maybe throw in a short quote in there once or twice, but we didn't need as much of the poem as we got, and I say that as someone who LOVES "The Raven."

Bring on any more sequels Suzanne! I would read 71 more books of each Hunger Games we haven't seen.

A lot of interesting ideas here, though listening to it as a child of a parent with undiagnosed Autism, an adult who myself was undiagnosed until I was 35, and an now a parent of kids with Autism, I have to wonder if a lot of these "emotionally immature" parents aren't simply neurodivergent. Not that it excuses crappy parenting - it doesn't. But it might be an explanation for why there are so many of these types of parents.

Entertaining and somewhat education in parts, Kjerstin goes on a journey to discover herself by not looking in the mirror. It come across as part memoir, part research paper. An entertaining read, but I can't help but wish it delved further into the project.

A good read about a a relationship between a mother and a daughter. It was a little difficult to get into at first, but after a while, I was emotionally invested. The book follows what happens as the Mother's health deteriorates, and is at times funny and at times heartbreaking. The asides about cooking and the recipes seemed to fit in in certain parts, and in others sort of distracted from the story. All in all it was a good read.

Overall I think the book was pretty entertaining. It did seem a bit disjointed in parts though. I am a fan of memoirs of all kinds and I did enjoy this book. I don't think I would recommend it to anyone who didn't have an interest in martial arts.

On the Rocks is a light and fun read. The characters often said things that had me laughing out loud. I thought it was heading for a predictable ending, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Mommy Man is a story about the making of a family. It is, for the most part, a funny and touching book and I thoroughly enjoyed almost all of it. There are a few times in the story where the author seems to look for instances of homophobia that aren't really there so that he can make a point or make a political sort of statement, and then mention how the person wasn't discriminating after his lifestyle choices after all. I'm not sure if it's because of how those sections were written or if it because for the most part he was defending himself from slights that were imagined, but it took me out of the story a bit. Many families do go through this type of discrimination, but his family did not, and the story did not need the extra drama added to it. The story was beautiful on its own because of the struggles they overcame to become parents and the cast of characters that made it possible.

In Old Age, Michael Kinsley writes with a great deal of humor about a subject that many people do not find very funny. It was a quick and enjoyable read and although I am not from the Boomer generation, it made me think a lot about illness, old age, and what the ultimate goals.in life should be.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Went back and forth a lot about whether I liked June or not, whether I wanted her to get away with what she did or get caught. Fun read for sure.

Gary Soto, even when he is writing essays instead of poetry, has a wonderful way with words. This collection of essays containing various musings on his life is a joy to read. It had me laughing out loud in parts. Mostly though, it was just a very enjoyable read for someone who loves the written word. I would highly recommend it.

When I read the title and description of this book, I expected a comical take on what it means to be a man today. What I got was comical in parts, but was overall a more serious look on what being a man really is. Heimbuch speaks of his feelings freely and at times I even got choked up reading about his struggle to define his manhood when basing on the definitions of the men in his family. The book had a lot more heart than I was expecting, and that was nice surprise. I am recommending it to my husband and I would recommend it to any young husband/father who is a little unsure of his manhood.

Getting Over Mr. Right by Chrissie Manby is one of the funniest books I have read in a while. I found myself laughing out loud as the heroine Ashleigh went from one crazy scenario to the next even crazier one. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a light and funny read, and especially to anyone who has ever been through a rough break-up. Hilarious.

More Like Her, by Lisa Palmer grabbed me from the first sentence on the first page and didn't let me go until the very end. Even though a major plot point is revealed both on the back of the jacket in the description and in the Prologue, it still shocked me when it happened because of how well it was written. The story of what these friends go through before and after the event is at times gut-wrenching, and at times hilarious. Highly recommended.

Amy Ephron's voice is sometimes sentimental, sometimes hilarious, and always entertaining in this book. The short stories from her life's experience weave together an interesting story even though there is no concrete narrative. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to hear a friend tell stories over dinner, as this is what the stories in this book remind me of.

Critical Care is a memoir about a new nurses first year on the job. It is a mix of touching, sometimes heart-wrenching scenes and funny anecdotes. I didn't think there was much or a story to it, but I liked the book overall. There were parts of the book that made me very emotional. It gave me a new understanding and respect for what nurses do. It was well written and a quick read, and I enjoyed it very much.

I just finished Famous Baby and before I say anything else, I have to say that I thoroughly loved it. The story is told from multiple perspectives and each voice is distinctive. Being both a mother and a daughter it is easy for to understand both characters, Ruth the slightly unhinged mother, and Abbie, the daughter longing for privacy. It raises the question of the oversharing that parents do on social media about their kids. Something I think about every time I scroll through my news feed. Great book. Highly recommended!

My Confection is a memoir that spoke to me much more than I expected it to. Written in a style that is hilarious and gut-wrenching at the same time. Kotin's sentences thoughts flow in a string of contradictions that seems like a small window directly into her mind, and the strange thing is how much her mind sounds like mine. I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever suffered with an eating disorder, or any kind of addition. I absolutely loved it.

Sometimes I Feel Like A Nut, is filled with the hilarious musings of Jill Kargman. I often found myself laughing out loud and having to read passages to others so that they could share in the laughter with me. Kargman writes in a stream-of-consciousness style that makes for highly entertaining reading. Recommended to anyone looking for a quick and funny read.

This book had me from the very first line and it did not let me go until the very end. Mathilda is such an engaging character and the "voice" of her narration throughout the book is mesmerizing. I have already recommended this book to a few people and I will continue to do so. It was funny and heartbreaking all at once.

I've read a lot of murder mysteries and this is one of the funniest ones I've ever read that was also still riveting and managed to surprise me. The constant breaks in the 4th wall were very well done.

The Way Out has some very interesting ideas about healing chronic pain. Even people with structural reasons for their pain, as opposed to the neuroplastic pain the book focuses on, might find some good techniques to help relieve their symptoms. I have a little bit of both, and while I haven't used all the tools in the book yet, it has been helpful even just giving me things to think about and discuss with my doctor at my next visit. I listened to the audiobook, which was read very well. Recommended for anyone dealing with chronic pain who has an open mind.

Three stars only because it was a little short and while the techniques are discussed, I would have liked more detail about how to actually do the work needed to treat the pain.

Some really good questions in here. Great conversation starters for sure.

I started out thinking this ending to the trilogy wasn’t as strong as the first two, but by the end it completely hooked me. And that end!

Funny and irreverent. Great for fans of sci-fi or comedy, but ideal for those who love both. As with the first two, I listened to the audio book read by the author and it made it way better.

Great storytelling wrapped up in Angelou's poetic and lyrical phrasing made for a great listen, especially since the audiobook is read by the author herself.

Fun and funny horror. It took a while to really get started, but once it did, it was pretty good. It's a little long and meandering in parts, which led to a definite drop in any suspense that got built up. Adding an extra half a star for the Audiobook version. Hearing Pipkin's voice upped the creepiness factor, for sure.