Michelle

A story of love and loss after a school shooting told from the point of view of a 6-year-old boy. Many passages moved me to tears. It's becoming clear that (the real and the fictional) children shall lead us on this issue.

Ani is initially very hard to like. She's brittle, mean, a snob, and social climbing. She never becomes completely likable, but who is? We need to stop demanding that. Over the course of the novel, we read about some of how she became this brittle woman. The ways she was hurt, let down, traumatized, betrayed, misunderstood, and abandoned molded much of who she became, and made her story compelling. We're still letting down girls and women in many of the same ways.

When I mentioned in a book group I was reading it, someone pretty much responded “That second half!” The second half is the fulfillment of the slow burn first half, it's true.

After the novel, the author included an essay on what she has in common with Ani. If this is in your copy, please read it! In it, she writes: I know that I made the mistake of thinking that living well is the best revenge. That I figured out, eventually, that the appearance of living well is not the same thing as actually living well.

I think a lot of people make the same mistake, and this is what makes Ani (and the author) so relatable – the way she strive in the wrong ways to heal festering wounds. Ani sometimes drinks a lot of water, and is fixated in food, because she starves and thirsts to get her basic needs met. She thinks if she acquires enough outward success that she can show the people who've harmed her, can show herself, that she is worthy – and even more importantly, that she is safe.

While I really kinda hated the New York engagement modern day stuff, I loved the material with young TiFani, and that made the book worth reading. (That name, though?)

I've discovered while reading Nigerian authors that the vibe is really different from the books I'd read prior that are written from more Eurocentric schools of literature. The style is more matter of fact and deadpan, and the reader most look to nature and symbolism to extract the full intended meaning.

Okonkwo beats his wives, he can't express love, he can't give the child he loves most – his daughter – her due, and he betrays someone who trusts him. All he knows or understands is his place in his village and his need to be traditionally masculine.

I didn't like him much, but in the end I felt compassion for him. Everything changed that he relied upon to be constant, all the respect he valued was lost to him, the people he felt he could count on – in his mind – let him down. And after having a place, a life, an understanding of the world, and story enough to fill a novel, someone who can't begin to know him proclaims him worthy of perhaps an interesting paragraph. In his native land, a stranger dismisses the value of his life, and instead replaces him as the center of attention.

It made me wonder about all the ways that we are able to love each other and how movies and TV make it seem like you have to discard people once they break your heart or once the love disappears. Maybe that was a horrible lie, a complete disservice to real love.

JTaB is about a Puerto Rican lesbian girl attracted to feminism through a white woman's book. She learns all the problems with white lady feminism, while still coming to a place where she could appreciate her mentor. She knows that she has to find her own way with the help of people who truly get her and love her for who she is.

3 stars because Harlowe – the white feminist – was a lot.t.t. for even a white feminist to suffer through, although I loved her period ritual which involved a hot, wonderful smelling bath, and crawling between clean sheets. :)

The best parts were when Juliet was with her family.

This was a pretty good listen, but fell down a little at the end. Most of the book was the years leading up to rehab/detox, a little time in rehab/detox, and then the follow-up was a blur. I think I was expecting a little more of her making amends to friends and family, and this seemed to be something she wasn't willing to share. This is someone's real life, and so I don't think the author is obligated to share everything. At the same time, this doesn't stop those choices from detracting from the quality of the reading/listening experience. (The narrator did a nice job.)

This is the best, most touching and remarkable, book I've read in forever! Beautiful. I borrowed this from the library to read on my Kindle, and I'm going to return it right away for someone else to read, and I hope they get as much out of it as I did. I'm thinking I need my own copy.

Marmee tells Jo she has a temper too, but she???s learned to hide it. Her husband trained her to suppress her anger by putting his finger to his lips every time she flared up. One day, she hopes to control her temper so much that she won???t even feel it. Jo ends this heart-to-heart hoping she too can learn ???the sweetness of self-denial and self-control???; I end it thinking if I ever marry a man who stops me expressing myself, I???ll be out the door.

I'm mellowing in my old age. I had a tough time giving this an honest 3 stars. Time was, I was merciless in my opinion under the belief that readers needed honest reviews. Now I own a restaurant, and the occasional negative review stings.

If I AM being honest, this was 2 and 3/4s. I liked reading another opinion of some of my favorite books, and I now have a list of mentioned books I wouldn't mind reading at some point, and I appreciated the author's open heartedness ... but I had a tough time making it through. I rarely became completely engaged.

Although there were moments when I wished I could talk about books with the author.

I honestly don't know what the issue was – maybe dwelling on certain books too much, maybe I was jarred by the autobiographical moments when I wanted to read about book heroines?

I don't know.

I love watching interviews with the author, and loved her essay on feminism. This is my first novel by her, and I enjoyed it without being over the moon. I know a lot of people felt the comments on race in America were too heavy handed, but I enjoyed those portions. I don't think white Americans, even liberals, do well with criticism. :)

My issue, I suppose, was that I never invested in Ifemelu reunion with Obinze. I wanted Ifemelu to be happy, or happier, but was almost neutral on how Obinze fit into that happiness.

I struggled with many of the names. but that's not the author's fault, other than perhaps in the sense there were a lot of characters, few that were on the stage for long. Because the names were unfamiliar, the x-ray feature on Kindle helped a lot.

I love this series!I can't say that Confection – that's the name, right? – was my favorite world, but that was interesting in and of itself, because it taught me about myself, my basic make up. As much as this world bothered me is how much I loved The Moors, the world in [b:Down Among the Sticks and Bones 31450908 Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children, #2) Seanan McGuire https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1473685781s/31450908.jpg 47411892]. Seanan McGuire does a tremendous job with diverse characters, and this time the point of view character was Cora, a girl made to feel self-c0nscious about her weight in our world, but had discovered a world and returned from a world where she felt at home as a mermaid. I get the feeling the author has tremendous compassion for all of her characters, and that she's rooting for them to make their way back to their homes. I love that. I don't think they ARE all guaranteed to make it back, sometimes things things are out of an author's hands – :) – but she wants it for them. If there was anything that bugged me, it's that we got so little time with a character from the first book who we meet again in this book. She was there for the book, and yet sort of not there, and without spoilers, that was a bummer. Since – no spoilers! – she couldn't talk for most of the story, the people who knew her could have told stories about her. Just a thought.

Too short for what I believe Koontz wanted to do. The interactive feature took a while to download, but was cool! Yay, Golden Retriever.

I'd call this a pleasant read. Impressed me while not completely knocking my socks off. Some errors. Would read more in this series.

I liked this book so much I'm giving it 5 stars, but that's not the same as saying it's flawless. I was touched by the characters and events, but at the same time a couple characters we're supposed to like had some dialogue I found racist or ableist. One character was supposed to be a mean old lady, but we find out there is more to her – but she is not a protagonist. The other character was not the main character, but next to it, and meant to be liked. I think some of the tone is based on the original publication date being 1988, and we're moving so fast as a culture that most books more than a handful of years old have moments that are discordant. One of the main theme of the story was about the power of kindness and connection, and a rejection of racism.

Ultimately, I'm very glad I read this book, and reminding myself that if I stopped reading older books that would be my loss, and I can only work to put it all in perspective. Characters can be flawed and still be worth knowing.

Ultimately, I was entertained and engaged, but found the sexism reprehensible and short-sighted. I had to do 4 stars out of admiration for the concept and execution, which I couldn't deny, but I'll be damned if I give it 5 stars.

2 female characters, one is the love interest and the other is believed to be a male until almost the end, and then the main character still sees her that way and uses male pronouns anyhow. We are told that few girls/women are gamers in the future, just as we're falsely told few are gamers now, and so Wade falls for Artemis since she is a real girl and a real gamer, and her prowess is on display. If her prowess had not been on display, I am sure he would have tested her to prove she was real, harkening back to, oh, today, when all females around geek culture are assumed to be attention seekers rather than fans.

Wade asks her (paraphrasing) if she is a real girl, making clear trans girls don't/won't count. I mean, the future is painted as a hellscape, but this is presented as a reasonable, normal, funny?, thing to ask.

On a discussion board talking about Matt Lauer, I wrote:

Straight white guys have empathy for other straight white guys, which is how they can argue a guy shouldn???t lose everything for an assault/assaults that only lasted for a short time. They can relate to this other man more than the woman he???d assaulted because they???ve rarely to never been asked to imagine being anything else other than a cis white man. In their minds, they???re always the dude over the unconscious woman. Never, ever the woman, or the trans person, or the PoC just wanting to make it home.

As if this isn???t advantage enough, everyone who isn???t a cis white man has also spent a lifetime being asked to relate to the cis white guy through books, movies, etc. It becomes second nature for ???the other??? to do this in a culture that limits portrayals of someone who better represents you.

token gay representation/minor surprise.

I find these books so deeply flawed, and yet I'm entertained. I had to take away a star for what I feel was a cop out. I think Feyre and Gang are too fortunate too much of the time, which lowers the stakes. I care about them, and so I don't want bad things to happen, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't still happen. Joss Whedon once said that he doesn't give the viewers what they want, he gives them what they need.

What I'm saying is that I hated like hell that Amren died, and cried, but I felt the death was "fair." That raised the stakes. Only Maas "took back" the death, making me feel cheated over the reversal of something that made me sad. She did the same with Rhys, but I get why that one didn't stick. Next time, I'll be slower to cry or care.

I also think the relationship with Rhysand is too perfect. Mates or no, they need to argue. He will tell her she makes her own choices (even when her choices are really dumb) and then be angry at someone else for choices that are a whole lot smarter (and no more risky) than those of his mate. Within paragraphs of one another.

I gave this 5 stars because I was wildly entertained a good portion of the time, and excited for the third book when I finished. This isn't to say that Sarah J. Maas doesn't do messy things as an author, and the Feyre isn't a total Mary Sue, and beyond insufferable. Also, come on on Rhys being that effing perfect, with every act always having been for the greater good.

That said, I found myself buying that he was the better choice for her, and acknowledging Tamsin was always a control freak, and the events in the first book only made that worse. Feyre could have genuinely loved him in the first book and have processed it all in a way that makes them a bad fit in ACoMaF. I believe she has a healthier relationship with Rhysand because he allows her to chose.

Short and entertaining enough. Also occasionally racist and antisemitic, which keeps the reader awake. “Did that just say– Oh, God, no!” But, yeah, if you put that aside, which you pretty much have to do if you want to read any older books and not be sick to your stomach, it was interesting to read the first story with Hercule Poirot, and to have it be so text book on the whole gathering everyone in the salon or drawing room, etc.

“Chickens, no doubt, have pluck.”

I've heard the author speak twice, and her husband speak once. Their story is of interest for anyone who dreams of starting their own business, or who is thinking of chicken/egg farming, or is interested in/concerned with where food comes from and what's in it.

Lucie is funny, which makes a lot of these a breezy read, and her descriptions on her interactions with her husband, what goes into a long term marriage, and the nature of knowing when to compromise and knowing when to stand your ground, seemed so relatable.

This was okay. I laughed out loud once toward the end.

One of the strongest, I'm assuming inadvertent, messages is about the racism you don't see in yourself. Most people know that Atticus turns out to be racist in this sequel (even though it was written first) to To Kill a Mockingbird, but Jean Louise, even as she is appalled by her father had her own bigotries.

Jean Louise has to grapple with her father falling from his pedestal. The struggle for civil rights finds Atticus scared, opposed to the idea of black people gaining too much power. Jean Louise is angry and disappointed, but she also thinks black people are sorta childlike and base, and she doesn't seem to disagree with her father saying that if “they” organize and vote, it'll be a mess because they're not ready for the responsibilities. She just seems to think they might be able to evolve and grow. And she only seems to dislike the NAACP only slightly less than her dad.

This book was written a long time ago, when Jean Louise would be seen as a lot more progressive, but still one of the take aways is that Atticus is meant to be seen as bigoted, but Jean Louise's (now outdated) views are portrayed as simply factual.

Still, I really found a lot of this timely. We still have people who are scared of progress, scared of different racial groups gaining too much power. And we are also currently grappling with seeing heroes topple as every day seems to yield one or two new stories about successful people (directors, actors, producers, agents), people we'd admired, turning out to be flawed. Ironically, when this book was published a couple years ago, so many fans of TKaM had to go through a lot of the emotions Jean Louise went through – she was disappointed in her father, while a lot of people were disappointed in the same person as this great, noble character in literature/cinema.

The portion where Jean Louise finds a racist brochure and then eavesdrops on the racist meeting Atticus and her boyfriend were attending almost read like a horror novel or movie along the lines of Get Out, Rosemary's Baby, or Stepford Wives. There is something so perverse and horrifying about thinking you know someone and finding out there is something malignant under the surface.

I know this was basically a first draft, but this didn't bother me too much other than some of the speeches/conversations toward the end felt too unnatural, like no one would use those words outside of a novel, and if the characters were standing on a soapbox.

Beautiful, inspiring photos of a lovely family and historic events. A lot of behind the scenes shots. My favorite, outside of the president with children and Bo getting on Airforce One, was probably in Rio at the giant Christ the Redeemer statue.

I've seen the HBO thing, but still really enjoyed reading this. Very moving ending, and even surprisingly thought provoking.

Lovecraft uses the words “hatefully negroid mouth.” No coming back from that, really. It's a short story, and I drifted off to sleep twice. Joke's on old H. P since I read this to prepare for Victor Lavalle's book, a better writer. (Read Lovecraft many years ago, so feel confident in my assessment. )

I read this because I knew the dog lived. I've tried to focus on horror, because this is October, but the canine and feline death rate was through the roof.

Having decided to read this, though, I had a good time. Open and Shut was a quick read, and the main character was witty.

Needed more dog. ;)

I do have an audiobook in the series that I'll be enjoying at some point.

Really torn on the stars to give – I'd say 3.5.

The premise is good, the characters are likable, but the main character has to spend the book being thick as a brick for the events to happen.

Move into the house where you saw malevolent spirits as a kid? Where your parents were brutally murdered? Where you were convinced your brother was possessed? With all the secret passages? The house you cannot think about without nearly falling apart? Where animals die horribly? Where your incestuous, abusive, crazy aunt still lives? Where the food was often secretly defiled?

Yes, please, because it's a great place to raise kids?

To share the biggest thing he'd have to be stupid not to get would be a spoiler. It's okay, if you read the book, you'll know.

Also, the author really, really hates poodles. :) But likes cats.

Also2, the book being published 20 years ago made some of the stance toward LGBT character seem a tad, er, dated. Not crazy bigoted, just 20 years old.

A tendency toward general repetition that an editor should have fixed. This line was not, um, award winning”

Those houses had perfect paint and perfect yards, not a blade of grass out of place, while he had an award-winning collection of shaggy bushes and award-winning weeds.

The ending was pretty touching, so there's that. I thought of abandoning the book at 17%, but I actually did like the characters and was curious about what was going to happen.

I am proclaiming October the (unintentional) month of Grady Hendrix since I ended up borrowing this novel from the library, after having loved both versions of the cover for a while, as well as having started another book by him last week, and never mentally putting the 2 books together as having the same author. (One version is the yearbook page, with the girl turned away, and the other looks like an old videotape cover.)And every time I did focus on the author name I thought it sounded familiar. I finally realized I'd reviewed a book by him years ago for a site I used to work for. The book was a satirical novel called [b:Satan Loves You 11261906 Satan Loves You Grady Hendrix https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1333896441s/11261906.jpg 16188715], and I loved it, with it's feel of Good Omens and Christopher Moore. So, it really makes sense that I loved My Best Friend's Exorcism, with the fun covers, and the mock ups of 80s ads, news articles, etc. The book was schlocky, funny, and creepy, but the characters weren't sacrificial as they often are in horror, and by that I mean they were real, fleshed out characters as opposed to bags of blood to sacrifice for gross outs and scares. The friendship of Abby and Gretchen, from its beginning on, felt real. The 80s references were deep and on point. And if you happened to be a teen girl back then, it feels like you're transported back to that time. Okay, I'll admit I cried at the end. The end of the occasionally schlocky horror novel. Because, yeah. Lastly, there's a dog in the book. The horror novel. You know where this is going. The dog dies, like they almost always do in horror, and often we get to imagine the dog's feelings of confusion as the person they love betrays them. I respect the effectiveness of this in horror novels -- the demon/serial killer/vampire means business. But at the point when the reader knows with 98% accuracy this will happen when there is a pet in the book, it might be time to do something else. Call me a nutbag animal lover, but as much as I love horror, this trope is the #1 reason I read so little of it. And, yeah, I know I need to take this up with a therapist. Anyhow, Grady Hendricks is a very good writer, as I found out and then forgot years ago, and I can't wait to really delve into [b:Paperbacks from Hell: A History of Horror Fiction from the '70s and '80s 33670466 Paperbacks from Hell A History of Horror Fiction from the '70s and '80s Grady Hendrix https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1504436657s/33670466.jpg 54542087]!