Lauren
This was a quick, cute read about two teenage boys and their friendship and possibly more romantic relationship. I definitely got some mild Heartstopper vibes from this.
I felt a bit lost/confused with Wataru's reactions and thoughts a lot of the time, and it would have been great to get a bit more introspection on how they were feeling since the story was essentially from their point of view.
If you are into queer, highschool, friends to lovers stories, then this will be right up your alley.
***Thank you to Kodansha Comics for providing me with the e-ARC for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.
I loved EAT & RUN and listened to the audiobook multiple times while training for a half marathon.
For well over a decade I've been interested in hiking the AT and followed Scott's journey back in 2015.
As excited as I was to read this, I ended up putting it down for a few years because it just wasn't gripping me the same as the first book.
It was interesting to hear the dual narration between Scott and Jenny. I hadn't realized that at the time of tackling the speed record that they were both processing a lot of grief and how impactful this journey was to both of them individually and as a couple.
While this one didn't capture my heart as much as his first book, this is a powerful, intense read about the endurance and capacity of the human body and spirit.
I wanted to love this since I, like the author, consume a lot of true crime media.
The parts about it that I found the most interesting were the timelines of when different cases happened and how the true crime genre has evolved.
It's a funny read and if you enjoy true crime you will probably find a lot about this book very enjoyable.
The thing that didn't work for me about the story telling was the memoir aspect. I just wasn't that interested in the repetitive nature of figuring out why she so intrigued by true crime or the fake conversations with people to move the narrative along.
I really just wanted more talk about true crime cases.
This is just wonderful. My 4 year old has been very interested in learning more about Hawaiian culture ever since hearing the music from MOANA, and this is a delightful, age appropriate book to introduce her to it. She's asked to listen to this multiple times, and I expect it will be a regularly requested audiobook from her.
The book teaches young readers about the native Hawaiian tradition of making poi and coming together for an Ohana Luau in the style of THIS IS THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.
One of the things I love about the audio version is being able to hear native Hawaiians speaking the words, especially with the glossary. It's a very enjoyable listen, and fully produced with not just audio, but also SFX and music.
We also got the physical book from the library which has beautiful illustrations and I fully expect we will add it to our family library.
***Thank you to Publisher Spotlight Audio, Live Oak Media for providing me with the audiobook for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.
I understand the literary merit and significance of this book and my rating in no way is meant to imply I don't think this wasn't a good book for a certain reader.
But my experience of listening to the stream on consciousness writing style as an audiobook was not enjoyable. I didn't care about anything I was listening to and probably should have DNF'd
It's worth checking out to see if you vibe with it. The concept is really intriguing, it just didn't work for me.
What I did enjoy was the concept: how the familiar characters and places were revealed and the nice backdrop that was built for a modern retelling. I'm sure there is a demographic of young readers that would enjoy this, but I just didn't resonate with this book. I don't think YA romances is a genre I can enjoy, even if it's a retelling of one of my favorites.
I loved Georgiana in P&P, but in ACCOMPLISHED she's all consumed with navel gazing, self martyrdom, and low self esteem. She's completely oblivious to her privilege, judgmental thoughts, and complete self absorption that she can't even remember simple details about her “friends.” She blames all her problems on this situation with Wickham, rather than realizing that a huge part of the reason she's a social outcast is her own behavior.
At the end I was left with a sense of whiplash since it's not until the last few chapters when Georgiana finally has her character arc and begins the process of realizing and changing all the behaviors I previously mentioned. Her growth is at warp speed and appears to come overnight, which is always a frustrating thing for me as a reader.
I also couldn't stand the depiction of Fitz in this either. I didn't see any parallels between this modern sibling relationship with what I saw in P&P. The characters don't match the personalities I have in mind of the original story. Overall, this story just didn't do much for me and which is disappointing because I really wanted to like it.
***Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Wednesday Books for providing me with the audiobook for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.
A great collection of essays from Black scholars and experts discussing ideas from a policy-oriented standpoint on real world changes we can implement in economics, education, health, climate, and technology that would make real, lasting change for Black Americans and the rest of the country.
This book very consumable from a lay person's standpoint, and the essays kept the pace quick. It felt like a fast read because of the structure of each piece. Lay out the problem, back up with facts, and then propose actionable solutions.
Highly recommend to anyone who is looking to take next steps and focus their time and energy on moving the country forward in a meaningful and realistic way.
A vivid, and powerful memoir that tells the story of a young Chinese girl who immigrates to America, but discovers terror and struggle that comes with being undocumented in a country whose language you do not speak and who does not provide resources or safety to those in her family's position.
Seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York City in 1994, after her father has escaped China 2 years before. Her parents were highly educated professionals, but in America they were reduced to working in sweatshops and other low-paying jobs that allowed them to remain in the shadows, with the constant fear of their illegal status being discovered hanging over them. Over the next 3 years, the stress and living conditions that their toll physically and mentally on everyone in the family.
This is a story of how secrets destroy families, how little is done to acknowledge or help those living in horrific poverty in the United States, the struggles that people of color have finding/keeping/discovering their identity in a country that holds whiteness as the ideal, and the resilience and persistence of those who work their whole life to break free of the outside forces that hold them down.
***Thank you to Doubleday Books for providing me with the e-ARC for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.
The title delivers on its promise...a quick and easy guide to Asexuality.
If you haven't taken the time learn more about the ACE spectrum, this is a great place to start.
The basics are all laid out for you it a very consumable and the perfect jumping off point to start the conversation. There have been quite a few great Asexual books that come out in the last couple years that will give you more insight to the nuances once you've gotten the foundation from this quick read.
***Thank you to Oni Press, Limerence Press for providing me with the e-ARC for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.
A few years ago I probably would have rated this higher. It reads like a film storyboard, and the illustrations are great, and the story while having a fairly predictable ending delivered on the Coming-of-Age crime story promised in the title.
I am not a huge fan of the cover art because to me it reads as Native American imagery, and it feels a bit appropriated. I don't know for certain whether Greg Ruth or Ethan Hawke have Native American ancestry, but I am very hesitate to support anything that alludes to any kind of Indigenous movement, spiritual beliefs, or characterizations that isn't written by an Own Voices author.
As for the story, if you are a fan of Tarantino, or slow burn western-esq action films that make a fast turn into violence then you will probably enjoy the arc of this book. It felt like it may have been aimed toward a younger audience, but I would recommend a parent read this before letting a younger teen read it.
***Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with the e-ARC for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.
This would have been a 4 star read if it weren't for the elitist tone of the author.
I truly appreciated the journey around Japan to see all the different facets that go into the art of sushi, from how the fish is caught and prepared, to the creation of sake and shoyu, and all the varieties of rice grown. It was really interesting to see everything from a 3 star michelin sushiya to the everyday Kaiten and homemade sushi.
However, as I previously mentioned the author had a very privileged, classist tone when talking about anything other than the most expensively prepared meal, with a highly trained sushi chef. The majority of people will never have access to that type of dining experience, and to look down at a more accessible variety of sushi was very off putting.
Sure, be mindful of whether restaurants are sourcing their fish locally. Whether it's ocean vs. farm fished. If preparing sushi at home, be aware of the practices involved in preparing dishes safely. But there was shaming tone used when talking about more affordable sushi options and I just didn't care for it which unfortunately took away from my rating of the book.
I would still recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick and easy way to learn about sushi. It certainly has peaked my interest to seek out more in depth reading about it.
***Thank you to Papercutz, NBM Publishing for providing me with the e-ARC for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.
This was a fun, horror romp, featuring a diverse cast of characters and lots of bad ass young ladies.
Very interesting world building for a standalone, that didn't stall the plot. Loved the humor and how it felt like a campy, teen movie.
It features a main character struggling with anxiety, and lots of positive LGBTQ+ rep and commentary.
Highly recommend for those out there like me, that don't tend to reach for horror, but who like clever, storytelling in the vein of teen sleep away camp comedies, but sprinkled with monsters.
Thoroughly enjoyed Frankie Corzo's narration. Look forward to hearing more from her.
***Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing me with the Audiobook for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.
Super cute middle grade, paranormal graphic novel about a young Bi girl feeling nervous about leaving behind her childhood and transitioning into becoming a teen.
I think my favorite thing about this book is how the main character is Bi and it's a complete non-issue.
For me this is a 3.5 star read because as an adult I'd prefer something a bit longer and fleshed out, but for a middle grade reader definitely a 4-4.5 star read.
This is a great middle grade graphic novel.
Wonderful illustrations, with a charming, determined main character who learns to love her hair despite all the negative messaging she is bombarded with about it. She faces many obstacles including anti-blackness, unsupportive family members, and bullies at school.
Luckily, she has a small support system that shows her how things can be and is guided towards self acceptance and self love.
Highly recommend this to young readers, and look forward to seeing more from this author.
***Thank you to First Second Books for providing me with an e-ARC for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.
Since this is not written by a trained mental health professional, it's hard for me to recommend this book to anyone. If you decide to read it, it's a decent primer to the topic, but you definitely should read more from those who work in the field of psychology and directly with people who have NPD.
The 2nd third of the book about collective narcissism was not very helpful in dealing with interpersonal relationships, and honestly, read very much just like the author letting off steam about how they don't care for social media, like one of those viral Facebook posts that sounds profound, but really is just griping about how kids these days are ruining society. I think there is validity in exploring the traits of narcissism within the culture, but this approach felt very judgmental, rather than a critical analysis.
In the last third it focuses on parenting and again, these are all the authors opinions who is not a trained professional on parenting. While there is certainly room to critique parents, the author makes a lot of generalizations that group those who follow a more conscious parenting approach, in with a small percentage of parents who may be making choices that don't enforce boundaries. By not defining the difference between any parenting modalities or citing anything other than anecdotal research, he ends up implying that anything less than an authoritarian style could result in raising a narcissist., despite the mountain of research that shows the benefits of a more emotional intelligence parenting approach. The author makes no distinction, which makes me think they either aren't familiar with different parenting techniques and the research behind them or doesn't think they are valid. Regardless, this book is presented as an expert view point but the author has no credentials in the field of family psychology.
I am reading this from an American perspective while the author is Swedish, so that definitely influences our differing opinions on how this topic is discussed, but at the end of the day this was written by someone outside of the mental health field. The author is a motivational coach and public speaker who has found a niche they can write about and market in a very appealing way.
So to really drive home my main feeling: I caution anyone picking this up. Do not take this as the be all and end all of NPD and I encourage you to read one of the many books on this topic authored by someone with a degree in counseling and treating mental health issues.
***Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing me with the Audiobook for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.
A very well written narrative about what many people consider to be the first recorded mass shooting in America.
Considering everything that's been happening recently, the release of this book is very timely.
It's a well researched book, with many perspectives and opinions that will paint a very detailed picture of all sides.
The discourse around events like this hasn't changed much since 1949 and very little has been done to stop these acts of violence from continuing.
John Chancer's narration is compelling and drew me into the story.
***Thank you to Bookouture Audio for providing me with the Audiobook for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.