Fiona

Clear and concise examination of the legality of dealing with lies and the pitfalls involved in making people stop lying, particularly on social media platforms. Much more lawyer-y than the cover art would suggest, which belies its pedigree as an Oxford University Press product.

Mediocre. I would have thought there would be an attempt to order the tales historically or something but nope, just stick ‘em in a book as though nobody's ever compiled Irish traditional tales before. Scott's half-assed approach to this project reinforces my not wasting time on his fiction in the future, despite the publisher's blatant attempt to drive sales of his Alchemyst series by printing the first chapter at the end of this book.

I'm disappointed in the lack of unifying thread or theme to the retelling of these traditional tales; Scott just recants without elevating.

Bryant plods through the U.S. presidents from Regan, pointing out the slowly eroding dignity of the office. I like the fact that this Brit has no bias for either side but the writing is dull and the structure boring.

So wonderfully absurd as to be hilarious. I'm not sure if it was intended to be satirical when first published but given that the heroine is described as “ridiculous” on multiple occasions, I can reach no other conclusion.

Interesting but Very academic (not surprising given its published by a university press) and not what I was looking for but I now have a clearer understanding of the evolution of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

DNF because I am unable to ignore the weird condescending ignorance of this book, as though the author lives in fluffy bunny land and doesn't understand government brutality and oppression, or what war actually means to those caught in it. I threw in the towel when it was intimated that Sergei Korolev, a Soviet scientist (who had, the book tells us, just spent 6 years in various gulags where he had been subjected to beatings that resulted in him no longer being able to fully open his mouth and living conditions which caused him to develop life-long heart issues) should simply have refused to co-operate with his government. Also, he didn't immediately return to his family when he was released “for reasons that remain unclear”, completely ignoring real life in Communist Russia in the mid-twentieth century, especially for someone with Korolev's skills and knowledge.

Not recommended, at all.

A bit vague ultimately; like all treatments promising solutions to a wide array of issues, there's lots of obvious advice about eating right and sleeping well. The actual advice on vagal nerve stimulation was depressingly short.

I got less than a hundred pages in before I was bored out of my skull. Predictable plot with a boring-ass MC: why bother? Anyway, I read the last two chapters and skipping the middle three hundred pages was absolutely the right decision.

A philosophical treatise on the heart, which is basically a cardiac surgeon learning to see things more holistically and how that makes him a better doctor. It's kind of boring honestly; the fact that this guy was not in touch with his emotions and needed to learn about empathy as an adult strikes me as sad, although I guess it was meant to be inspirational. But it's not badly written and the medical stuff is compelling.

I received this book free from the publisher for review.

Cute enough but not memorable. The English/Spanish speech bubbles annoyed me and the pacing/characters didn't flow together (I think 4 protagonists would have been adequate and the structure ending up restricting the pace).

Quite thorough, if tedious, and not tainted by any kind of obvious political bias. However any book about misinformation ought to have proper citations and not just a list of “further reading” at the end.

Having been written in the 1930s, there are certain aspects of this book which have not aged well. There is a distressing use of the term “ni**er minstrels” in the first chapter, although only by the least sympathetic characters; Jeeves and his erstwhile employer both employ the enlightned-at-that-time “Negro minstrels” to describe this group which never actually makes an appearance in the book but who's existence provides an impetus for two characters to don blackface. Kind of an interesting historical study of how such things were viewed by the upper crust.

Absurdist fluff but de la Cruz does it so well.

Artwork is pretty (if mundane) and the plot is confusing (in a boring way, not like “ooh, what's going on here?”) DNF.

I always feel bad when a publisher sends me a book and I hate but here we are. It didn't start out very strong; any book that needs a prologue to draw the reader in makes me wary. The actual opening scene was weak and the MC has no personality, other than she thinks she's different and the other kids are “sheep, all of them.” (Cue eye roll.) Then the accident happens, which did nothing to actually propel the plot forward, despite my optimism. The story drags endlessly and eventually there's a conclusion that made little sense to me (although in retrospect, it sets it up for a sequel). McFall's writing isn't actually bad but the characters are formless and the story premise is thin, consequently its not what I consider readable.

I was sent a free copy of this book for review by Walker Books.

An easy read that had me up way past my bedtime. I don't know what the point of the plane ride was though; it seemed superfluous. And I would have liked a little more resolution on the Alicia situation.

A big thank you to Candlewick Press for the free review copy. And to Mrs. Paterson for still churning them out at 89: you're an inspiration!

I hadn't realized how much of the humor in these books relies on Bertie Wooster's first person (and fat-headed) narration until it was removed from the equation. Definitely my least favorite Jeeves tale and I suspect it should have been left as a play rather than adapted into novel form.

I really enjoyed The Inconvenient Indian but this failed to engage my interest at all.

DNF. This is not proving one of Korman's better works so I'm noping out after 100 pages; my nightstand runneth over with books.

This is one of those whimsical books steeped in absurdia which requires the right reader. Usually, when I finish reading a book I like as much as this one, I give it to someone else to appreciate but I am stumped who I would choose because its such an odd little tale.

This book is specifically targeted at Kendrick Lamar fans and I, as a general aficionado of hip-hop history and culture, didn't get much out of it. The author inserts himself and his experiences into the book far too often for my taste and spends the rest of the time dissecting lyrics and interpreting supposed influences. Usually, I'm all for books that are secretly love letters but this feels more like a test of pre-existing knowledge on said rapper than a reason to fall in love. Artwork is kinda cool though.

I was sent a free copy of this book for review by the publisher.

I would recommend this to a student doing a project on NYC but if they wanted to read an interesting book, I wouldn't because this is a slog through everything but the kitchen sink. Mr. Aronson covers the history from indigenous people to present day very thoroughly with plenty of visual supplementation like maps and photots; there is also bonus content to be accessed online. But it is a large heavy tome and what I would describe as an intellectual exercise rather than a good read.

A big thank you to Candlewick Press for sending me an advance copy to review.

Enjoyable but very predictable. This book feels too much like set up for the rest of the series (with an intriguing and clever premise, albeit) but not enough story in its own right.

Didn't suck me in quick enough so I'm admitting defeat for now as I have too many new books that are due back at the library soon.