Mercer
This was very cheesy and I don't think I'd recommend it. 3 stars because the premise was interesting and there was great representation.
Some of this was excellent. Some of it was tiring. I used to rank Klosterman as one of my favorite authors, but now I just find him exhausting. It must be SO HARD to be SO COOL.
The difference between Klosterman and, say, Malcolm Gladwell, is that Gladwell surprises me with the things he links and the craftiness with which he does so. Klosterman just bludgeons readers over the head with his own opinions and oftentimes the chapters just feel like disjointed rants.
Really torn between two and three stars.
I loved TA6 so much that I feel sad giving this 2 stars, so 3 it is. Just mostly out of loyalty.
Dang. What happened in this book? Why are all the characters so flat and annoying? They were so dynamic and lovely in the TA6 with so much interesting commentary on the politics BEHIND magic. If you loved that too, do not come looking for it here.
Super disappointed.
From what I hear, this is very true to life for Muslim folks near Mojave. This was a touching story. So much was unpacked, but perhaps just as much was left unclarified. Very human, and beautiful.
This book absolutely wrecked me. Great commentary on what the world expects of us as mothers and how impossible it is to live up to the expectation. Deeply triggering and moving.
This was such an excellent read. Loved the historical piece of this, the music theory piece of this and, of course, everything about Dilla.
The author writes “KPS is not a brooding symphony of a book. It's a pop song. Light and catchy.” And too right!
I loved this silly little book and I think everyone should read it. Not because there are any truly meaningful takeaways, but because it is well-written, thoughtful, inclusive, creative and delightful.
This was written in the vein of hard SF with a lot of scientific research going on behind the scenes and provided, but just tongue in cheek enough for me to know it didn't take itself too seriously.
Honestly, this was just perfect. Cannot recommend it enough.
This was good. Significantly better than Elektra, which I appreciated. There were moments later in the book where the dialogue felt much more modern than expected, but overall the story was well-executed and fleshed out.
How lucky have I been to finish this year out with so many amazing 5 star books? I feel like I never rate 5 stars anymore, but this one certainly merits it.
I'll start by saying that in the beginning this book is work. There is unpeeling to do, and a lot of attention that needs to be paid. However, it picks up momentum and by the end I couldn't put it down.
This was lovely and tender. Inspired and inspiring. It felt like books within a book about books. I loved it.
I know very little about ww2–enough to be dangerous but by no means an expert. As always, Gladwell takes a complex topic, the shift in bombing strategy regarding Japan, and makes it accessible. This is a morally and historically interesting read.
I really wanted to like this. It was recommended to me alongside books I loved like Circe and Clytemnestra, but setting was all that the three had in common. I ended up DNFing it at around 65% when I realized that was the case.
I gave it three stars because perhaps I would have liked it if this brand of historical fiction was up my alley, but it's not and that's on me, not the author.
I will say the plot was essentially nonexistent with nothing keeping it together but the characters. This was essentially just a very long series of vignettes into what life as a concubine in Pompeii would have been like, but there was no advancement of plot or story. So, interesting but not compelling for the length.
Excellent. I do not identify as Latinx, and so I questioned if this book was for me. It was. It's so important as a ally to know what's going on, and this book did that for me. Excellently written, educational, powerful. We need to do better.
Great food writing. Not too precious, very engaging. The author wasn't trying to prove his knowledge—it felt coconspiratorial rather than preachy. Big recommendation for anyone interested in food, or curious about truffles.
This was great. Less trite than it could have been and much more honest. I got a better picture into Anthony bourdain's personality. However, it did feel primarily like a processing device for the author.
This was...weird. I'm between a 3 and 4 here. There were three separate story lines and I'm not sure that really any came to a meaningful or satisfactory ending. That said, the characters themselves were beautiful and their stories engaging. I appreciated the craft with which the author portrayed anxiety, but/and I would love to hear a trans person's take on how that experience was portrayed. It felt like sometimes the author was making assumptions about experience or playing a bit too hard on certain points or aspects, such as dysphoria and abuse, but not as much on moments of gender euphoria or uplift.
Anyway, a fine book—certainly a unique one—but not one I'd recommend to many people.
I love Emily oster's books, and felt this one was the most helpful for me. It gave me a picture into my future in a way that the other books do (I imagine) for other parents.
Many of her tips, like using business productivity software for family-running (sup, Trello?) were not new to me, but I loved the data aggregation piece. Great for thinking about the early school years that I'm currently looking down the barrel of, and was free from the self-excusing bias/drive that I feel clouds her other parenting books.
The first two parts of this book were so relatable to me. A visceral, triggering reminder of what it was like parenting my two young boys during thunderdome. The third part of the book, I thought, was an excellent metaphor for what we are all trying to do, and what a spectacle the experience of motherhood has become. Everyone is always watching. Everyone always has an opinion. Everyone gets uncomfortable but no one looks away.
Anyway, this book was great.
Eh! Some good moments, but also some problematic moments. I think sometimes she still tries too hard in a way I used to find endearing but now find obnoxious.
This gave me much more of what I wanted than the first. Felt much more enjoyable and compelling. And now, of course, I must wait for the next to find out what happens.
Meh. Right now I am feeling like everything in the book resolved a bit quickly and with very little reflection on how/why. I also struggle with actually being able to make an impact with what I learned in this book. It feels like it is missing the “how” though it is abundant with “why” reasoning. A good primer, I suppose, but not for anyone who wants to implement anything meaningful or tangible.
I didn't think I'd ever give 5 stars to a romance novel, but here we are. In between the books I'm reading for work and doula school, I needed something a little light to read.
This book is...so delightful. It's between a support agent and an angry customer troubleshooting her website. As someone who has worked in support, I actually felt SEEN in this book, versus having the support agent be one dimensional and dimly defined. The characters were endearing, the premise of one long phone call for the whole book was delightful. I finished it in less than 24 hours because of how cute and rom-commy it was. Excellent.
Stanley Tucci is a gift. I listened to this book, read by the author, and it was a delight. I will likely buy the book just to have the recipes, because they all sound delicious.
This left me even more endeared to a public figure that I didn't believe I could be more endeared to.
Excellent. Was it a surprise to open up the pages and see the names of people that I've worked with/for in the fitness industry?...a little bit. However, I loved the approach to understanding “cultish”ness through linguistics.
A good book, a short and not-too-dense read.
This was good. I love that it focused on the interpersonal family drama so typical of the Greek deities instead of on magical aspects. I am glad this wasn't more like American Gods, though I love that book.