Mercer

I love verbal histories, and the cast of this particular one was excellent. Similar in style to “Please Kill Me” I did think this book focused more on the strokes than I expected. That being said: I love the strokes and it was an excellent window into the scene.

Some good stuff, some very appropriative stuff. There are a few tactics in this book that I think I'll implement, but there were also several that I was somewhat side-eye-y about. Either way, though, it promoted thought about how I currently parent and why.

All Bulger books cover, essentially, the same things. So, did I learn anything new from this book? No. I did gain additional insight on the trial process, though, and thought the take on the guilt of the US government was interesting. A bit rambly in parts, but overall fairly well-written.

My kid enjoyed this book and it was entertaining for me to read to him. Not much more I can ask.

My son laughs out loud at this book in a deeply endearing way. Love this series.

I love the otter aliens! I will say reading this really reminded me of just how different “classic” SF is from modern SF. It reminds me so much more ofStar Trek: a study of an alien population. Details of their language and culture. Realizations from the human protagonist that we, as humans, are flawed and need to do better.

In fact, Project Hail Mary, which I read recently followed a similar formula, which may be why I found it so refreshing? Either way, this was enjoyable, if simple, to read.

I enjoyed this. Torn between a three or four. This made me question many of my own opinions around death, and I appreciated that. I learned a lot about The death industrial complex that horrified and intrigued me.

I skipped over the chapter on infants.

I was...unsure about this book, to say the least. It felt like a bizarre mixture between Cats and Stardust. Ultimately, though, the threads came together and the plot became compelling. Butcher's treatment of women is still one-dimensional and problematic, but I appreciated the characters nonetheless.

I do feel like the book suffers from a bit of telling and then not showing—ie, phrases being used or inferred and never explained, but the universe is fairly simple and most things can be deduced from context.

A quick read, for its length. Excited for the next one.

This was absolutely wild. In parts more poetry than prose, honestly. It felt like a trip and so well encompassed the fears of childhood. That said m, it was realllllly weird.

I am slowly making my way through my “want to read” list on here. I think I added this to my list in 2014? Either way, this isn't quite my vibe now, but it's well-written and I love Emily V Gordon.

There was a takeaway that I appreciated here: there are two types of ways people handle emotions. Like Vision, and like Hulk. I appreciated that.

I am so glad to be rereading these ahead of lightbringer. Damn this series is just so good. So many turns that I don't see coming. Such great world building.

Technically a book for middle schoolers, but my 5 year old and I read it together. This book made me laugh out loud, and made my son laugh out loud too. I appreciated that there was less language like “stupid” and “dumb” which I tend to see a lot of in middle-school-age books, and the premise was funny!

I also loved the cows. So many cows.

A beautiful study on humanity. Mostly very sad, the stories in this book were artfully crafted. Perhaps because of the style or maybe because of the setting (Boston) this reminded me of graduate school.

I don't know if I'd recommend this as it feels like a very specific flavor for a very specific type of person. I think you have to decide to read it on your own.

I love Gaiman, so it came as no surprise that I loved this as well. That being said, I did find some of the selections dry, and wish I'd known that it was a book full of speeches and introductions, rather than nonfiction. Only the last segment is technical nonfiction.

My son loves this book. It raises interesting questions around life and death, but also has some good lessons around love, loyalty and friendship.

An interesting look at pedagogy when teaching English/writing. I'm not sure that this would be of interest to someone who hadn't or wasn't planning to teach English language in the future, but I thought it was a delightful study on different teaching methods and how they effect interpretations of a text.

I've always liked Felicia Day. This book felt slightly dated—but that's more on me waiting too long to read it than any authorship. I liked hearing more of Day's personality, loved her comments on WoW (“it's so we could get cooler outfits to dance on mailboxes in game.”) and appreciated hearing more about the birth of The Guild.

I really love how simple and unique the premise of this is!

I love this series. Mostly out of nostalgia, but rereading has confirmed they still slap.

This was excellent. Like Name of the Wind and Anne Rice had a baby. I think that I could have done without the artwork, but it didn't detract from the story. I can't remember the last time I read a 700+ page book in 5 days.

The story is original and compelling. The magic and lore are entertaining and unique. I wish the second book was already out.

Less a comedy book, more a research book written in Aziz's signature tone–I could definitely hear everything being said in his voice! This was informative and interesting, especially as an outlier as far as modern romance goes. I loved the addition of graphs and text messages!

This was good. Extremely slow to start, but it picked up momentum as it went along.

These are alright—very silly, obviously. All of them follow the same plot and it's getting tired for me. Perhaps don't read them all back to back as I have done, and it will feel more enjoyable. There's apparently like, 4 more in the series that I am choosing not to continue onto at this time.

Also, this is so much less risqué than the cover looks. I feel embarrassed having it show up on my TL! If you're looking for some kind of really erotic fiction, this is not it.

A quick, simple book filled with easy vignettes of depression and recovery. While it feels a bit trite to me now, I could see it being very valuable (though perhaps triggering?) when depressed. There are some beautifully shareable quotes as well.

Good! I learned somethings, but there were definitely chapters where I thought I'd read it before.