Fiona

The historical aspect is well done, the plot is interesting and the pacing is good but the writing is choppy which prevented me from actually getting into the story. I found the characters rather flat and I feel no desire to read the other books in the series.

Thank you to whatever nice publisher it was who sent me the ARC for review.

I like seeing how an illustrator develops. Some cute stories but nothing noteworthy.

I enjoyed the structure and the story itself but I could have done without all the bloody philosophizing. I'm not reading any more Backman no matter how many people tell me to.

A lovely bit of Wodehouse fluff.

Opting out at chapter 6. I found Kavita annoying in the first book and I need soothing reads rn.

Cute enough but I was expecting more.

Definitely Barry's weirdest book that I've read and probably the most depressing. A 4 star read but I'm annoyed that the previously unpublished strips were sequestered at the end instead of being part of the original narrative.

Very simplistic art but I liked its minimalism. More conceptual than narrative and definitely not my thing cause I like plots.

A very interesting read.

The art is pretty and dream-like. Plot-wise, I was unimpressed.

Explains things adequately but amateurish and in need of an editor. Far too many pointless asides and quotes from historical figures; this book would have been much more useful and accessible without such filler. The recipes are not terribly well-written either.

Fairly standard YA fantasy romance. The world-building felt laboured, particularly with regard to language and the glossary was inadequate (usually I'm a fan of such things but half the time the word I was searching for wasn't even present). The characters, pacing and plot are quite satisfactory and make for an enjoyable read but none of it is particularly memorable.

Thank you to whatever nice publisher it was who sent me a free copy for review.

Readable but pretty meh. I'm a fan of Porter and enjoyed hearing her political experiences but I get the feeling this book is more about making some extra ducats than having a message or story to tell. It's a bit disjointed and jumps around unexpectedly.

Really pretty artwork and very effective use of colour to tell the story. The story is very simple and sweet, about sharing stories with loved ones. Definitely want to read more by Guojing.

The content is interesting and the narrative is structured well. But I find Egan's writing irritating and I don't think I'll be reading any other books of his on purpose.

This could have been an enjoyable read but instead I spent two-thirds of the book wondering when the story I had been promised was going to start as the back of the book presents it as: in 1991, a girl from Dubai moves to Dartmouth with her family. The first third of the book takes place in Dubai, the second in Pakistan where they go to visit family, and the last third, the family finally (at long last!) arrive in Canada. I guess this is mostly autobiographical and a reflection of the author's own life but from a narrative perspective it just drags. That being said, Mona is an entertaining character; the book is basically The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole meets Are You There God? Its Me Margaret and its fairly amusing.

Thank you to Tundra Books who kindly sent me a free copy for review.

I got to the end of the first section and found myself bored. The premise is sound and interesting enough but it's one of those “everything but the kitchen sink” books, where the authors include every single thing they know rather than paring it down to the most essential and deliver the clearest message. (Perhaps with three authors, they thought it needed to be three times as long?) Consequently, I decided to listen to the podcast and I found that to be a lot of pointless chatter in between relevant points (as many podcasts are, imo) but, frankly, it was more engaging. So, in conclusion, I wouldn't recommend this book but the podcast is interesting enough that I will be listening to it occasionally.

Thank you to whatever publisher it was that sent me this advance copy for review.

The pacing and story arc of these little tales is rather inconsistent and the resolutions are sometimes unsatisfying. I quite enjoyed the one about the ugly policeman and it was fun to see Wodehouse write female narrators.

An easy read that tripped along effortlessly and I was surprised to come the end so quickly. Its not spectacular though and I'm surprised it won a Newbery.

Boring in a soothing kind of way, rather like Ford himself (apparently). While I appreciated this as primary history since Rumsfeld was there for these historical events, he is a shit writer and his modifiers are more than misplaced (“importantly” is not a word to be inserted willy-nilly into a sentence).

I'm finding this way less interesting than I expected so it's going back to the library half-read.

Sweet little story that trips along at a good pace. Definitely a book for kids who like books

A easy and fairly quick read with short chapters and brisk pacing. Rodney is a sympathetic enough narrator to make his willful ignorance understandable (if annoying as embodied by his sister's anger about his head-in-the-sand attitude). The underlying issues around his father's lecherous behavior come to a head when the other kids find out and Rodney's treated like he's guilty of the same thing, but this passes quickly thanks to the new friends our narrator has made. The book offers a good starting point for discussions of sexual assault and who gets believed but overall is about being brave in both trying new things and speaking up for yourself.

Thank you to Tundra Books who kindly sent me a free copy for review.

Charming historical fluff that was exactly what I needed. (And I love it when I pre-order a book and it arrives before the release date.)

3.5 stars. A sweet story about being normal but I felt like the resolution was too swift.