Ivy
Read this one a while back but wanted a reread. I'd forgotten how genuinely stunning and heartwrenching this book is. Also it's impressive to get me to hate So Many Fictional Characters, so props for that! I don't think I actually realized on my first readthrough that it was the same author who wrote Room, but on rereading I remembered that and could really tell. Donoghue has a talent for like, low grade creeping horror, and revelations that hit the reader as the same time they hit the characters and you find yourself utterly horrified by what this character just told you.
Couldn't remember the title when I was trying to find this to reread it, so I typed in what I could remember into Google:
“girl child saint book fiction incest starvation manna”
Turns out multiple people have actually done academic articles on this book!
Fair warning I was caught Very off guard by the super super aggressive racism about the Irish! I'd entirely forgotten that. I know it's accurate to the time and it makes a ton of sense for the character but also, yikes, I was actively unprepared for the main character to just be moaning about how awful this entire country and all her people are!
This book is very strongly aimed at people in office jobs, not retail. That's not necessarily a critique, but it is a factor in how much I got out of it. I don't have regular meetings to prepare for, and my exercise comes from being on my feet all day, rather than a brisk walk to and from the office building. Outside of that, I did genuinely enjoy this and I feel like I got some good stuff from it. There's a few things that I read that I do already, like framing how I view my work or trying to be around people who are happy, and there were plenty of things that I'm intrigued by and would like to try to incorporate into how I do things. I read this as an ebook, but if it sounds interesting, I'd suggest getting a physical copy so you can actually refer to it and like, highlight and sticky note things.
That was sweet! I've read this one a dozen times before, but I enjoy it. I don't think I've encountered many stories where the second book picks up maybe half an hour after the first one ends! I'm glad to finally have context on Jim's backstory so I could enjoy it properly.
I finally get to read the first book in this series!! I've read other stories, but I never actually knew how the main characters met each other or anyone else. A great example of how, in older kids books, any random group of kids just start solving mysteries if they get a full series. I must've been born too late, cause clearly in Ye Olde Times, adults just turned to the nearest preteen and had them solve whatever weird thing was happening.
I love Book so much, ugh, he's great. And Inara. Pretty much everyone except Jayne, but I feel like that's everyone's read.
The characterization in these books is great. I will say I liked the other Firefly novel I've read better. I wanna say that's just because I encountered it first, but I like the whole gang being together, rather than being split up and chaotic. They can be chaotic together just as well.
I read this because I've seen a quote making the rounds online, and it was funny, and it was sourced to this book. So, why not try the book? And now I still think this author writes well, and there's humor, and at the same time she's saying a whole lot of things that would be painful to confront, I guess, if I hadn't been growing up in this country and marinating in all of the awful for 29 years and have long since confronted these things.
Been meaning to read this one for a while now and finally caught it in ebook format. It's a great story and I love that it's based in a true relationship. At the same time, could we get some well known books with Jewish characters that aren't about the Holocaust? It's not something to forget, but maybe we could have stories where these folks get to just exist?
I was so delighted to get this one right when it was released! And then of course I was still finishing another book and couldn't start it right then. But it was absolutely worth the read. It didn't break my heart in the same way the first two Wayward Children books did, but it was still lovely.
Comfort reread. I LOVE that Weir can make a hard science book that I actually comprehend and don't just substitute in ‘magic' every time a sciencey thing happens.
Rereading! Because everything with Sarah and Nan is delightful. Also, the canonical trans character who gets gender reassignment and has their pronouns recognized is just. My favorite.
The never-ending game of “oh my god THIS is the book I've remembered for years!” Can't believe I actually found it. It's a good variant of a post apocalyptic novel, and apparently there's a sequel, which I had no idea.
One of the few books I'm rereading, not because I just love it so much, but because it needs a second read just so you actually understand what the heck is even happening. I liked it on first read, but that doesn't mean I actually understood much. I keep getting Umbrella Academy vibes from this one, if mr terrible garbagesack had wanted to give normal kids both trauma AND magic, rather than just find some kids with magic and skip straight to traumatizing them.
Reread for comfort, because sometimes you need a charming little magical love story. I deeply enjoy the love interests, purely as a concept of ‘butthole is under a lot of stress and has never tried being a people before but is fully capable once someone smacks some sense into him'. It's not necessarily a good trope in the real world, but in fantasy world, reformed butthole is bumbling and delightful once they get over themselves and start learning how to be a people.
Another Nora Roberts reread. I enjoy her character development so much. You can see it really well in the J D Robb books, since those follow the same characters, but even in a standalone novel the characters are great. The side characters have their own lives and motivations, and while we might not see all of that in the book we still have the sense that it's there. These people exist outside of the main character.
Oooh, magical sad pretty ghost story! I'm not generally much of a ghost story person, but I do enjoy McGuire's other books, so I figured I'd give this one a try when I saw it. I have the next two checked out from the library now, started on the second one today. Rose is a great character and I love her, and I'm a big fan of the entire myth world that McGuire has created around her.
Book 1 of 2018 done! Reread the Hyperbole and a Half book because it came across the check-in counter when I was working and part of the tagline was “flawed coping mechanisms”. And I went “Hey, I have those!!”. So I blew through it yesterday and today and just sent it on to the person who already had it on hold.
Pretty much any time I read a Nora Roberts book, I find myself impressed. The plotting is good, the pacing is good, and it's a charming book. About a mass shooting event and a serial killer. There's a lot of balls to juggle in that concept, and it's handled well.
Rose has officially seen Bake-Off and enjoyed it, I can rest happily. Outside of how absolutely miserable she and her boy were this whole book, it was very sweet. I actually really enjoy Laura as an antagonist, and her realization of who the Boy is was great. I'm glad I've finally gotten ahold of this series, and my only problem is I'm gonna run out probably sometime this week.
I'm super behind the times, I completely forgot this one was coming out until I saw it on someone else's post! But I managed to get it at the library without a wait. I remember enough for the entire story to make sense, and it was sweet to get the little behind the scenes bits. Not necessarily my favorite thing, but a good fluffy read.
The ongoing tale of poor Murderbot catching feelings over dumb humans. I love them so much.
I loved this story on my first reading, but dear god does it make more sense on the second read! I love having read Over the Woodward Wall as well, the bits where I can see them bleeding together are wonderful.
Loved this one since forever, of course, because it's about books. Or more specifically, one book. I wish the book Ryter was working on was available, because he's such a great character and I'd love to know who he was before we met him.
Read this probably 20 years ago, and it was my first actual introduction to the Holocaust, beyond “bad stuff happened, people were killed, America came and saved everyone”. And then I promptly forgot the title for years until assigned it in high school. I have a fondness for Jane Yolen's books purely from remembering reading this one.
This was lovely, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There's some bits where the concept gets a little tiring-dad speaks mostly in Shakespeare references and the characters hammer in their love of books at least once every few pages, but overall, this was a gentle novel of siblings growing and learning about themselves and each other and mutually supporting one another, and it's nice to read.
