Amy's bookshelf: 2021-read en-US Wed, 18 Dec 2024 02:52:19 -0800 60 Amy's bookshelf: 2021-read 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Mexican Gothic 52873094
Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.

And NoemĂ­, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.]]> 304 Silvia Moreno-Garcia Amy 5
The story starts with Noemi receiving a very uncharacteristic and disturbing letter from her cousin Carolina. Carolina has recently moved away from Mexico City to live with her new husband in a small, former silver-mining town. With great concern, Noemi travels to her cousin's moldering mountaintop Victorian mansion to try to help her.

Noemi arrives to find Carolina asleep or drugged most of the time. Carolina's new family is very English and very strange. There is to be only quiet and dark in the house. The carbuncled old patriarch is obsessed with eugenics, the husband is cruel and acts indecently toward Noemi, the aunt is rude, the family doctor seems to be a quack, and the servants remain in silence. Noemi begins to have strange dreams about the ghosts of the mansion. Only Francis, the young mycologist, is kind and seems to want to help.

The writing is engaging from the beginning. I found myself waking up early from insomnia two days in a row and immediately grabbed this up to read. I was definitely turning the pages toward the end.

There was a point at the beginning of the book where the author describes a feature of the Victorian mansion, and I thought it would be interesting if someone wrote a book exploiting that feature. It turns out that the author did, much to my delight. And then she ends the horrors of the book in the way I hoped she would. It's not to say that it was predictable, but there is some foreshadowing in some of the themes that I latched onto right away because of some of my personal interests.

Anyhow. It's a great book. I'm glad it won the GoodRead's Reader's Choice award for horror books in 2020. It definitely deserved to.]]> 3.76 2020 Mexican Gothic
author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
name: Amy
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/01/23
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: 2021-read, gothic, horror, mexico, mycology, favorites
review:
This was a perfectly perfect horror story. And it really hit all my favorite themes being set in a Mexican Victorian mansion, featuring a foggy cemetery full of mushrooms, and having a ghost-white boy who collects mushrooms and makes spore prints. Not too many books manage to have an amateur naturalist and mycologist, and I liked him immediately. Of course. I would have read this ages ago if I'd known.

The story starts with Noemi receiving a very uncharacteristic and disturbing letter from her cousin Carolina. Carolina has recently moved away from Mexico City to live with her new husband in a small, former silver-mining town. With great concern, Noemi travels to her cousin's moldering mountaintop Victorian mansion to try to help her.

Noemi arrives to find Carolina asleep or drugged most of the time. Carolina's new family is very English and very strange. There is to be only quiet and dark in the house. The carbuncled old patriarch is obsessed with eugenics, the husband is cruel and acts indecently toward Noemi, the aunt is rude, the family doctor seems to be a quack, and the servants remain in silence. Noemi begins to have strange dreams about the ghosts of the mansion. Only Francis, the young mycologist, is kind and seems to want to help.

The writing is engaging from the beginning. I found myself waking up early from insomnia two days in a row and immediately grabbed this up to read. I was definitely turning the pages toward the end.

There was a point at the beginning of the book where the author describes a feature of the Victorian mansion, and I thought it would be interesting if someone wrote a book exploiting that feature. It turns out that the author did, much to my delight. And then she ends the horrors of the book in the way I hoped she would. It's not to say that it was predictable, but there is some foreshadowing in some of the themes that I latched onto right away because of some of my personal interests.

Anyhow. It's a great book. I'm glad it won the GoodRead's Reader's Choice award for horror books in 2020. It definitely deserved to.
]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Koli (Rampart Trilogy, #1)]]> 51285749
Koli has lived in Mythen Rood his entire life. He knows the first rule of survival is that you don't venture beyond the walls.

What he doesn't know is - what happens when you aren't given a choice?

The first in a gripping new trilogy, The Book of Koli charts the journey of one unforgettable young boy struggling to find his place in a chilling post-apocalyptic world.]]> 416 M.R. Carey 0316477532 Amy 5
Only a few pieces of old technology are left in these small villages and are only in the hands of one family. During your 15th year, you're allowed to try out a piece of tech to see if it will wake to you, but it seems that only one family has been able to wake the tech for as long as anyone can remember. But Koli learns some secrets and thinks he can also wake one of the old machines. If he can, he can change his name to Koli Rampart and go live in the house where all the other people who can wake tech live.

I love reading books set in the future of our world with different cultural traditions. The characters are very well fleshed out and make the book come alive. I find it interesting, though, that the characters are in England yet talk like someone in the backwoods of the deep South of the USA. I keep hearing an American Southern accent when I'm reading the book.

I enjoyed this book so much that I immediately had to get the 2nd book in the series when I finished. ]]> 3.99 2020 The Book of Koli (Rampart Trilogy, #1)
author: M.R. Carey
name: Amy
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/03/28
date added: 2023/02/03
shelves: book-club-pick, post-apocalyptic, favorites, 2021-read
review:
Imagine a far-future world where people once again live in small villages because they're afraid of trees. Genetic engineers created trees that are mobile, and when the sun is out, the trees are bent on crushing people and using them as fertilizer.

Only a few pieces of old technology are left in these small villages and are only in the hands of one family. During your 15th year, you're allowed to try out a piece of tech to see if it will wake to you, but it seems that only one family has been able to wake the tech for as long as anyone can remember. But Koli learns some secrets and thinks he can also wake one of the old machines. If he can, he can change his name to Koli Rampart and go live in the house where all the other people who can wake tech live.

I love reading books set in the future of our world with different cultural traditions. The characters are very well fleshed out and make the book come alive. I find it interesting, though, that the characters are in England yet talk like someone in the backwoods of the deep South of the USA. I keep hearing an American Southern accent when I'm reading the book.

I enjoyed this book so much that I immediately had to get the 2nd book in the series when I finished.
]]> <![CDATA[The Annual Migration of Clouds (The Annual Migration of Clouds #1)]]> 56996758
The world is nothing like it once was: climate disasters have wracked the continent, causing food shortages, ending industry, and leaving little behind. Then came Cad, mysterious mind-altering fungi that invade the bodies of the now scattered citizenry. Reid, a young woman who carries this parasite, has been given a chance to get away - to move to one of the last remnants of pre-disaster society - but she can't bring herself to abandon her mother and the community that relies on her.

When she's offered a coveted place on a dangerous and profitable mission, she jumps at the opportunity to set her family up for life, but how can Reid ask people to put their trust in her when she can't even trust her own mind?]]> 158 Premee Mohamed 1770415939 Amy 3 2021-read 3.68 2021 The Annual Migration of Clouds (The Annual Migration of Clouds #1)
author: Premee Mohamed
name: Amy
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/12/31
date added: 2022/01/01
shelves: 2021-read
review:

]]> The Last Beautiful Girl 56628266 BLACK MIRROR meets Darcy Coates in this exploration of the dangerous, dark side of beauty in the digital age, with a gothic, haunted-house setting.

When Izzy is dragged from Brooklyn to a tiny town for her parents' new job, she's not thrilled. The silver lining is the gorgeous old mansion she's moved into: the former home of an artist's muse who died tragically in a fire. But the house has its quirks: whole floors are closed off, paintings are covered up, and cell reception is nonexistent.

Izzy throws herself into starting an Instagram fashion account using the gowns and jewelry she finds hidden away in the house. She looks perfect in the photos--almost unnaturally perfect--and they quickly go viral. Soon she's got a new best friend, a potential boyfriend, and is surrounded by a group of girls who want the photoshoots and fame for themselves. But there's a darkness in the house, and a darkness growing in Izzy, too. When girls start dying, it's clear that something--or someone--in the house is growing in power, with deadly intentions.]]> 348 Nina Laurin 1728229081 Amy 2 2021-read 3.31 2021 The Last Beautiful Girl
author: Nina Laurin
name: Amy
average rating: 3.31
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2021/12/31
date added: 2022/01/01
shelves: 2021-read
review:

]]> Blue Skinned Gods 56080525 From the award-winning author of Marriage of a Thousand Lies comes a brilliantly written, globe-spanning novel about identity, faith, family, and sexuality.

In Tamil Nadu, India, a boy is born with blue skin. His father sets up an ashram, and the family makes a living off of the pilgrims who seek the child’s blessings and miracles, believing young Kalki to be the tenth human incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. In Kalki’s tenth year, he is confronted with three trials that will test his power and prove his divine status and, his father tells him, spread his fame worldwide. While he seems to pass them, Kalki begins to question his divinity.

Over the next decade, his family unravels, and every relationship he relied on—father, mother, aunt, uncle, cousin—starts falling apart. Traveling from India to the underground rock scene of New York City, Blue-Skinned Gods explores ethnic, gender, and sexual identities, and spans continents and faiths, in an expansive and heartfelt look at the need for belief in our globally interconnected world.]]> 330 S.J. Sindu 1641292423 Amy 4 2021-read 3.88 2021 Blue Skinned Gods
author: S.J. Sindu
name: Amy
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/12/31
date added: 2022/01/01
shelves: 2021-read
review:

]]> The Twin Paradox 55148623 ___________________________________________________________
Soon to be a Major Motion Picture

With ten years passing for every three minutes on a remote stretch of Texas coast, planes fall out of the sky, evolved species are on the hunt, and people die inside one of the most vicious ecosystems ever grown—all a result of the government’s efforts to slow down time.

A lot can happen in ten years. That’s the point. Governments are always racing for supremacy, for scientific breakthroughs, for technological advantages—and these things take time.

Until something goes wrong.

With the grounded yet massive world-building of READY PLAYER ONE , thrilling scientific questions of JURASSIC PARK , and the time-bending teen drama of BEFORE I FALL , Wachter’s THE TWIN PARADOX is a brilliantly plotted tale that is both intimate and massive, relentless yet deliberate, and explores the themes of self-acceptance, self-confidence, and natural selection in a richly hued and unforgettable world. Ultimately the eternal question of Nature versus Nurture is boiled down into this fast-paced thriller told over the course of five days and culminates in one single

Do we get to choose who we are?]]> 384 Charles Wachter 1735361224 Amy 3 2021-read 3.55 2020 The Twin Paradox
author: Charles Wachter
name: Amy
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2021/12/31
date added: 2022/01/01
shelves: 2021-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[You and Me at the End of the World]]> 54776573 This is no ordinary apocalypse...

Hannah Ashton wakes up to silence. The entire city around her is empty, except for one other person: Leo Sterling. Leo might be hottest boy ever (and not just because he's the only one left), but he's also too charming, too selfish, and too devastating for his own good, let alone Hannah's.

Stuck with only each other, they explore a world with no parents, no friends, and no school and realize that they can be themselves instead of playing the parts everyone expects of them. Hannah doesn't have to be just an overachieving, music-box-perfect ballerina, and Leo can be more than a slacker, 80s-glam-metal-obsessed guitarist. Leo is a burst of honesty and fun that draws Hannah out, and Hannah's got Leo thinking about someone other than himself for the first time.

Together, they search for answers amid crushing isolation, but while their empty world may appear harmless . . . it's not. Because nothing is quite as it seems, and if Hannah and Leo don't figure out what's going on, they might just be torn apart forever.]]> 368 Brianna Bourne 1338712632 Amy 5 2021-read 3.87 2021 You and Me at the End of the World
author: Brianna Bourne
name: Amy
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/12/31
date added: 2022/01/01
shelves: 2021-read
review:

]]> How to Mars 55369627
For the six lucky scientists selected by the Destination Mars! corporation, a one-way ticket to Mars—in exchange for a lifetime of research—was an absolute no-brainer. The incredible opportunity was clearly worth even the most absurdly tedious screening process. Perhaps worth following the strange protocols in a nonsensical handbook written by an eccentric billionaire. Possibly even worth their constant surveillance, the video of which is carefully edited into a ratings-bonanza back on Earth.

But it turns out that after a while even scientists can get bored of science. Tempers begin to fray; unsanctioned affairs blossom. When perfectly good equipment begins to fail, the Marsonauts are faced with a possibility that their training just cannot explain.

Irreverent, poignant, and perfectly weird, David Ebenbach’s debut science-fiction outing, like a mission to Mars, is an incredible trip you will never forget.]]> 256 David Ebenbach 1616963565 Amy 3 2021-read, netgalley
I suppose the book is an interesting thought experiment, but I find myself not having much to say about it. There were some confusing bits that I never figured out. There was something called "The Pattern" that they talked about that seemed like it could something interesting, but the idea just petered out. And one character starts to hear voices, but we never really learn anything about those either.

The book really feels unfinished. It feels like it wanted to be 3 or 4 different things but decided to have a rush ending suddenly telling about the life of the first person born on Mars in a few paragraphs. This book was going somewhere other that! Wasn't it?]]> 3.45 2021 How to Mars
author: David Ebenbach
name: Amy
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/06/08
date added: 2021/06/10
shelves: 2021-read, netgalley
review:
Much like the subject of this book, living on Mars, the book feels experimental. It jumps between being a narrative about a group of people living on Mars and being a quirky but useless instruction manual about how to live on Mars. The author says that he first envisioned it as a story about the first child born on Mars.

I suppose the book is an interesting thought experiment, but I find myself not having much to say about it. There were some confusing bits that I never figured out. There was something called "The Pattern" that they talked about that seemed like it could something interesting, but the idea just petered out. And one character starts to hear voices, but we never really learn anything about those either.

The book really feels unfinished. It feels like it wanted to be 3 or 4 different things but decided to have a rush ending suddenly telling about the life of the first person born on Mars in a few paragraphs. This book was going somewhere other that! Wasn't it?
]]> The Photographer 52422207 Mary Dixie Carter's The Photographer is a slyly observed, suspenseful story of envy and obsession, told in the mesmerizing, irresistible voice of a character who will make you doubt that seeing is ever believing.

WHEN PERFECT IMAGES

As a photographer, Delta Dawn observes the seemingly perfect lives of New York City’s elite: snapping photos of their children’s birthday parties, transforming images of stiff hugs and tearstained faces into visions of pure joy, and creating moments these parents long for.

ARE MADE OF BEAUTIFUL LIES

But when Delta is hired for Natalie Straub’s eleventh birthday, she finds herself wishing she wasn’t behind the lens but a part of the scene―in the Straub family’s gorgeous home and elegant life.

THE TRUTH WILL BE EXPOSED

That’s when Delta puts her plan in place, by babysitting for Natalie; befriending her mother, Amelia; finding chances to listen to her father, Fritz. Soon she’s bathing in the master bathtub, drinking their expensive wine, and eyeing the beautifully finished garden apartment in their townhouse. It seems she can never get close enough, until she discovers that photos aren’t all she can manipulate.]]> 296 Mary Dixie Carter 1250790336 Amy 3 netgalley, 2021-read
Delta envisions what she wants, photoshops it, obsesses over it, and then does it. She moves into people’s lives to make her fantasy a reality.

I’m really torn after reading this book because I’m trying to figure out the point where Delta crossed a line. Was it dreaming and making it happen or dreaming? Because it seems that the characters in the book think that the dreaming part was the worst bit. Should you just let things fall into your lap without working to get there because wanting it ahead of time is wrong?

I guess the real question is how far to take something. It’s not wrong to want to befriend someone, but you can go too far. And Delta definitely goes too far. She uses photoshopped photos to create a backstory for herself that she starts to believe is true. And she uses them to manipulate other people to get what she wants.

By the end of the book, I went from thinking that maybe the fantasies she has aren’t so bad to realizing that she’s a full psychopath.

I guess the book is an interesting thought experiment, but it’s not a book I want to gush about. I didn’t turn pages frantically, but it was highly readable. I think it could be an “it” book if it’s marketed well enough because it’s an interesting idea to explore.]]> 3.24 2021 The Photographer
author: Mary Dixie Carter
name: Amy
average rating: 3.24
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/05/26
date added: 2021/06/10
shelves: netgalley, 2021-read
review:
We all fantasize from time to time, so why not take it one step further and fantasize with photoshopping yourself into someone’s life? Is that so wrong?

Delta envisions what she wants, photoshops it, obsesses over it, and then does it. She moves into people’s lives to make her fantasy a reality.

I’m really torn after reading this book because I’m trying to figure out the point where Delta crossed a line. Was it dreaming and making it happen or dreaming? Because it seems that the characters in the book think that the dreaming part was the worst bit. Should you just let things fall into your lap without working to get there because wanting it ahead of time is wrong?

I guess the real question is how far to take something. It’s not wrong to want to befriend someone, but you can go too far. And Delta definitely goes too far. She uses photoshopped photos to create a backstory for herself that she starts to believe is true. And she uses them to manipulate other people to get what she wants.

By the end of the book, I went from thinking that maybe the fantasies she has aren’t so bad to realizing that she’s a full psychopath.

I guess the book is an interesting thought experiment, but it’s not a book I want to gush about. I didn’t turn pages frantically, but it was highly readable. I think it could be an “it” book if it’s marketed well enough because it’s an interesting idea to explore.
]]> Raft of Stars 54236133 When two hardscrabble young boys think they’ve committed a crime, they flee into the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Will the adults trying to find and protect them reach them before it’s too late?

It’s the summer of 1994 in Claypot, Wisconsin, and the lives of ten-year-old Fischer “Fish” Branson and Dale “Bread” Breadwin are shaped by the two fathers they don’t talk about.

One night, tired of seeing his best friend bruised and terrorized by his no-good dad, Fish takes action. A gunshot rings out and the two boys flee the scene, believing themselves murderers. They head for the woods, where they find their way onto a raft, but the natural terrors of Ironsforge gorge threaten to overwhelm them.

Four adults track them into the forest, each one on a journey of his or her own. Fish’s mother Miranda, a wise woman full of fierce faith; his granddad, Teddy, who knows the woods like the back of his hand; Tiffany, a purple-haired gas station attendant and poet looking for connection; and Sheriff Cal, who’s having doubts about a life in law enforcement.

The adults track the boys toward the novel’s heart-pounding climax on the edge of the gorge and a conclusion that beautifully makes manifest the grace these characters find in the wilderness and one another. This timeless story of loss, hope, and adventure runs like the river itself amid the vividly rendered landscape of the Upper Midwest.]]> 304 Andrew J. Graff 0063031906 Amy 5 Raft of Stars is a great little book that ticks all the right boxes for me. It takes place in the vast Wisconsin woods, has elements of survival, and features an interesting cast of characters. A baby snapping turtle, poetry in the margins of utility bills, a lost boot, a poacher camp, a skull-decorated raft, worm soup, a shoreline tornado, deadly falls, bear breath ... there were so many little touches in the story that make it into a memorable piece of literature. I want this to be a new classic. When I started out reading it, I thought the author was maybe trying too hard to write "literature." But he did. It's gorgeous, and the ending ties everything up so perfectly.

Two young boys flee into the woods when Fish thinks he's killed Bread's abusive father. They start out on bikes and then make a raft to float the river toward a destination that's not really there. The sheriff (newly transplanted from Texas) feels truly out of his element, tracking them through the woods on horseback with Fish's grandfather. Fish's tongue-talking, denim-dress-wearing mother is also in pursuit in a canoe, along with a purple-haired lady who is secretly in love with the sheriff and has just lost his dog.

I love a story with well-fleshed characters. Even though the book starts out following the two young boys, it's the sheriff who changes most in the story, so perhaps he's meant to be the main character. I imagined him as the sheriff from Stranger Things (David Harbour). And, in my mind, Tiffany was Stevie from Schitt's Creek (Emily Hampshire).

I'm sure there's supposed to be some type of Biblical parallel with the kids being named Bread and Fish. Did they ultimately end up feeding everyone like the bread and fish from the Biblical story? Maybe.

I hope this book ends up on the radars of the right people because it deserves a place in the sun. It's just lovely. I'm glad the publisher gave me a chance to read it free through Netgalley. I'm also glad I got to spend time in the forest with these characters.]]> 3.69 2021 Raft of Stars
author: Andrew J. Graff
name: Amy
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/04/17
date added: 2021/05/03
shelves: favorites, 2021-read, adventure, just-good-literature, netgalley, survival, forest
review:
Raft of Stars is a great little book that ticks all the right boxes for me. It takes place in the vast Wisconsin woods, has elements of survival, and features an interesting cast of characters. A baby snapping turtle, poetry in the margins of utility bills, a lost boot, a poacher camp, a skull-decorated raft, worm soup, a shoreline tornado, deadly falls, bear breath ... there were so many little touches in the story that make it into a memorable piece of literature. I want this to be a new classic. When I started out reading it, I thought the author was maybe trying too hard to write "literature." But he did. It's gorgeous, and the ending ties everything up so perfectly.

Two young boys flee into the woods when Fish thinks he's killed Bread's abusive father. They start out on bikes and then make a raft to float the river toward a destination that's not really there. The sheriff (newly transplanted from Texas) feels truly out of his element, tracking them through the woods on horseback with Fish's grandfather. Fish's tongue-talking, denim-dress-wearing mother is also in pursuit in a canoe, along with a purple-haired lady who is secretly in love with the sheriff and has just lost his dog.

I love a story with well-fleshed characters. Even though the book starts out following the two young boys, it's the sheriff who changes most in the story, so perhaps he's meant to be the main character. I imagined him as the sheriff from Stranger Things (David Harbour). And, in my mind, Tiffany was Stevie from Schitt's Creek (Emily Hampshire).

I'm sure there's supposed to be some type of Biblical parallel with the kids being named Bread and Fish. Did they ultimately end up feeding everyone like the bread and fish from the Biblical story? Maybe.

I hope this book ends up on the radars of the right people because it deserves a place in the sun. It's just lovely. I'm glad the publisher gave me a chance to read it free through Netgalley. I'm also glad I got to spend time in the forest with these characters.
]]> <![CDATA[Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)]]> 44421460 What would you change if you could go back in time?

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer's, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.

But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?]]> 213 Toshikazu Kawaguchi 1529029589 Amy 3
I'm imagining time traveling in a chair in the Gypsy coffee shop where I met my husband. What day would I even choose? I think I'd just pick a random open mic night when he was there before I met him so I could just slyly spy on a younger him and see all the characters who used to hang out there. It would be more of a voyeuristic time travel adventure than one that had any real goal. Come to think of it, that's the main reason I ever went there back then anyway: to watch people.

The book follows the stories related mainly to characters who frequent the cafe enough that a lot of their lives play out there. Thus, it's mainly the regulars who end up eventually finding a reason to use the chair for time travel: to say things that were left unsaid, to retrieve a letter that wasn't given, to see someone that had died, etc.

I had a hard time following which characters were which at the beginning. There was too much of an info dump where it wasn't needed rather than introducing the characters organically into the story. Plus, there were some plot points I missed because of the wording of sentences: who was married to whom, whether someone was pregnant or not, and whether someone was alive or dead. Since the book was originally written in Japanese, these issues were possibly a product of the translation because I reread those sentences several times to try to determine exactly what was happening.

Overall, it was an entertaining read. The next book in the series comes out in English in October 2021. I'm not sitting at the edge of my seat waiting for it, but I think it will still be an enjoyable read. It's already more highly-rated than this one, so I'm hopeful.]]> 3.66 2015 Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)
author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
name: Amy
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2021/05/01
shelves: time-travel, 2021-read, book-club-pick
review:
There's an urban legend that the Finiculi Finicula coffee shop cafe has one chair in which you can time travel. However, the chair is only available for travel once a day and you have to stay in the chair when you time travel. You can only meet people who were in the cafe on your destination day, and it's impossible to change anything in the present. Cell phones don't work in the cafe because it's in a basement. Also, you have to end your visit before your coffee gets cold. With these strict rules, there's no big line for people to time travel.

I'm imagining time traveling in a chair in the Gypsy coffee shop where I met my husband. What day would I even choose? I think I'd just pick a random open mic night when he was there before I met him so I could just slyly spy on a younger him and see all the characters who used to hang out there. It would be more of a voyeuristic time travel adventure than one that had any real goal. Come to think of it, that's the main reason I ever went there back then anyway: to watch people.

The book follows the stories related mainly to characters who frequent the cafe enough that a lot of their lives play out there. Thus, it's mainly the regulars who end up eventually finding a reason to use the chair for time travel: to say things that were left unsaid, to retrieve a letter that wasn't given, to see someone that had died, etc.

I had a hard time following which characters were which at the beginning. There was too much of an info dump where it wasn't needed rather than introducing the characters organically into the story. Plus, there were some plot points I missed because of the wording of sentences: who was married to whom, whether someone was pregnant or not, and whether someone was alive or dead. Since the book was originally written in Japanese, these issues were possibly a product of the translation because I reread those sentences several times to try to determine exactly what was happening.

Overall, it was an entertaining read. The next book in the series comes out in English in October 2021. I'm not sitting at the edge of my seat waiting for it, but I think it will still be an enjoyable read. It's already more highly-rated than this one, so I'm hopeful.
]]> <![CDATA[Gone: A Search for What Remains of the World’s Extinct Creatures]]> 50998264
'Really, really well written' Ìę – CHRIS PACKHAM
Ìę
Inspired by his childhood obsession with extinct species,Ìę Blencowe takes us around the globe Ìę– from the forests of New Zealand to the ferries of Finland, from the urban sprawl of San Francisco to an inflatable crocodile on Brighton’s Widewater Lagoon.Ìę Spanning five centuries , from the last sighting of New Zealand’s Upland Moa to the 2012 death of the Pinta Island Giant Tortoise, Lonesome George, his memoir is peppered with theÌę accounts of the hunters and naturalists of the past Ìęas well as revealingÌę conversations with the custodians of these totemic animals today .Ìę
Ìę
FeaturingÌę striking artworks Ìęthat resurrect these forgotten creatures, each chapter focuses on a different animal, revealing insights intoÌę their unique characteristics and habitats ;Ìę the history of their discovery ÌęandÌę just how and when they came to be lost to us .Ìę
Ìę
Blencowe inspects the only known remains of a Huia egg at Te Papa, New Zealand; views hundreds of specimens of deceased Galapagos tortoises and Xerces Blue butterflies in the California Academy of Sciences; and pays his respects to the only soft tissue remains of the Dodo in the world. Warm, wry and thought-provoking,Ìę Gone Ìęshows thatÌę while each extinction story is different, all can inform how we live in the future . Discover and learn from the stories of Ivell’s Sea Anemone . A see-through sea creature known only from southern England.Ìę
Ìę
A modern must-read for anyone interested in protecting our earth and its incredible wildlife,Ìę Gone ÌęisÌę an evocative call to conserve what we have before it is lost forever .
Ìę]]> 192 Michael Blencowe 0711256756 Amy 5
Michael grew up and traveled the world looking for what remains of the extinct creatures he's obsessed over most in his life and only seen in books. He visits natural history museums that have bones or stuffed bodies of extinct creatures, visits the last place extinct creatures once lived, and even goes searching for the animals themselves in places they were rumored to have last been seen alive.

The creatures featured in this book include several birds: the great auk, spectacled comorant, upland moa, huia, South Island kokako, and the dodo. Featured mammals include Steller's sea cow, and Schomburgk's deer. He also talks about the Xerces blue butterfly, Pinta Island tortoise, and Ivell's sea anemone.

I have to admit that the only one I'd heard of before was the dodo. But it turns out that I once owned what I'm pretty sure was a Xerces blue butterfly collection I picked up in an antique store. I had no idea it was a collection of extinct butterfly wings arranged artfully behind glass on an Art Deco tray. When people were catching these beautiful bluish-brownish-purplish-rainbowish butterflies on a beach in San Francisco to add to their collections or turn into art, they had no idea that the butterflies on that beach were the only ones anywhere in the world. And when their habitat disappeared from urban development in the 1940s, so did the butterflies. I truly regret accidentally leaving my Xerces blue butterfly serving tray behind when I left my ex. It feels like I dishonored their extinction by not treasuring them forever.

If there's any theme to the stories of the extinct animals in this book, it's one of collectors and hunters not fathoming the idea the animal they were killing could go extinct. Find a bird with nice feathers or an animal with great fur? Kill as many as possible. Find a big animal that's tasty? Let the slaughter begin. Find a new animal? Kill as many as possible so that collectors can have them.

The late 1700s was the first time the concept of extinction was even introduced in the scientific world. Before then, the world seemed big enough that perhaps that one we haven't seen for a long time might be hiding somewhere. They all should have hidden better. Humans even kill their own species in wars that claim millions.

One thing that really strikes me is that I didn't know about most of the extinct animals in this book. They're gone and only extinction-animal-obsessed people like this author remember them. We might see such animals in a natural history museum, but most of us then forget about them and go on with our lives. I'm not sure what I can do as an individual other than plant flowers and trees to attract and feed the animals that are still with us. But I think perhaps remembering the animals that are already gone and their stories is something important, too.]]> 4.36 2021 Gone: A Search for What Remains of the World’s Extinct Creatures
author: Michael Blencowe
name: Amy
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/04/29
date added: 2021/04/30
shelves: netgalley, natural-history, 2021-read
review:
Remember when you use to be obsessed with that one thing when you were a child? Dinosaurs? Egyptology? Greek gods? Now, imagine that you never stopped having the same wonder for them as an adult. That's Michael Blencowe and his awe and fervor level for extinct creatures. He idolizes extinct animals and personalities related to them like other people idolize movie stars or rock stars.

Michael grew up and traveled the world looking for what remains of the extinct creatures he's obsessed over most in his life and only seen in books. He visits natural history museums that have bones or stuffed bodies of extinct creatures, visits the last place extinct creatures once lived, and even goes searching for the animals themselves in places they were rumored to have last been seen alive.

The creatures featured in this book include several birds: the great auk, spectacled comorant, upland moa, huia, South Island kokako, and the dodo. Featured mammals include Steller's sea cow, and Schomburgk's deer. He also talks about the Xerces blue butterfly, Pinta Island tortoise, and Ivell's sea anemone.

I have to admit that the only one I'd heard of before was the dodo. But it turns out that I once owned what I'm pretty sure was a Xerces blue butterfly collection I picked up in an antique store. I had no idea it was a collection of extinct butterfly wings arranged artfully behind glass on an Art Deco tray. When people were catching these beautiful bluish-brownish-purplish-rainbowish butterflies on a beach in San Francisco to add to their collections or turn into art, they had no idea that the butterflies on that beach were the only ones anywhere in the world. And when their habitat disappeared from urban development in the 1940s, so did the butterflies. I truly regret accidentally leaving my Xerces blue butterfly serving tray behind when I left my ex. It feels like I dishonored their extinction by not treasuring them forever.

If there's any theme to the stories of the extinct animals in this book, it's one of collectors and hunters not fathoming the idea the animal they were killing could go extinct. Find a bird with nice feathers or an animal with great fur? Kill as many as possible. Find a big animal that's tasty? Let the slaughter begin. Find a new animal? Kill as many as possible so that collectors can have them.

The late 1700s was the first time the concept of extinction was even introduced in the scientific world. Before then, the world seemed big enough that perhaps that one we haven't seen for a long time might be hiding somewhere. They all should have hidden better. Humans even kill their own species in wars that claim millions.

One thing that really strikes me is that I didn't know about most of the extinct animals in this book. They're gone and only extinction-animal-obsessed people like this author remember them. We might see such animals in a natural history museum, but most of us then forget about them and go on with our lives. I'm not sure what I can do as an individual other than plant flowers and trees to attract and feed the animals that are still with us. But I think perhaps remembering the animals that are already gone and their stories is something important, too.
]]> The Memory Police 37004370
When a young woman who is struggling to maintain her career as a novelist discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards. As fear and loss close in around them, they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past.

A surreal, provocative fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss, The Memory Police is a stunning new work from one of the most exciting contemporary authors writing in any language.]]> 274 Yƍko Ogawa 1101870605 Amy 4
The rules for forgetting are kind of strange. One day, the whole island wakes up and realizes that something should be erased. Perhaps it's boats, fruit, or calendars. Whatever it is either disappears or people have to get rid of it. If they don't, the Memory Police punish them. Later, when the people see an erased object, like an emerald, they don't recognize it. Boats have been erased, yet the old man in the book lives on a decommissioned ferry, which they call a boat.

Only, for some genetic reason perhaps, the memory erase event doesn't affect everyone. And those people go into hiding. It's hard for them to understand how people can forget about the missing items and go through life without missing them.

I'm not sure exactly what metaphor the author had in mind when she was writing the book. But, since I was reading a book about extinction at the same time, I read it through that lens. Animals and plants go extinct, and we go through our day like nothing has happened.

Here are some quotable parallels:

I mean, things are disappearing more quickly than they are being created, right?

If it goes on like this and we can’t compensate for the things that get lost, the island will soon be nothing but absences and holes, and when it’s completely hollowed out, we’ll all disappear without a trace. Don’t you ever feel that way?

I’ve lived here three times longer than you have, which means I’ve lost three times as many things. But I’ve never really been frightened or particularly missed any of them when they were gone.


I think, though, that this is perhaps my favorite passage that touches on human extinction:

But what if human beings themselves disappear?” I asked. This was the question that had been on my mind. The old man swallowed and blinked again. “You have to stop worrying about things like that. The disappearances are beyond our control. They have nothing to do with us. We’re all going to die anyway, someday, so what’s the difference? We simply have to leave things to fate."

Oh, yeah. All those species are going to die anyway one day. Why care if they go extinct? Nobody will miss them.

Anyhow, that's my takeaway. I'm sure there are other ways to read this book.

I feel like I could have given the book 5 stars if I were sure of the message the book was trying to give, without adding my own spin to it. The book is really a work of art and deserves reading.]]> 3.72 1994 The Memory Police
author: Yƍko Ogawa
name: Amy
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1994
rating: 4
read at: 2021/04/26
date added: 2021/04/27
shelves: 2021-read, book-club-pick, speculative-fiction, japan
review:
It seems like 4 stars is the standard rating for this book. I think that perhaps it's because there's never an explanation about why people (and even animals) on the island start "forgetting" things.

The rules for forgetting are kind of strange. One day, the whole island wakes up and realizes that something should be erased. Perhaps it's boats, fruit, or calendars. Whatever it is either disappears or people have to get rid of it. If they don't, the Memory Police punish them. Later, when the people see an erased object, like an emerald, they don't recognize it. Boats have been erased, yet the old man in the book lives on a decommissioned ferry, which they call a boat.

Only, for some genetic reason perhaps, the memory erase event doesn't affect everyone. And those people go into hiding. It's hard for them to understand how people can forget about the missing items and go through life without missing them.

I'm not sure exactly what metaphor the author had in mind when she was writing the book. But, since I was reading a book about extinction at the same time, I read it through that lens. Animals and plants go extinct, and we go through our day like nothing has happened.

Here are some quotable parallels:

I mean, things are disappearing more quickly than they are being created, right?

If it goes on like this and we can’t compensate for the things that get lost, the island will soon be nothing but absences and holes, and when it’s completely hollowed out, we’ll all disappear without a trace. Don’t you ever feel that way?

I’ve lived here three times longer than you have, which means I’ve lost three times as many things. But I’ve never really been frightened or particularly missed any of them when they were gone.


I think, though, that this is perhaps my favorite passage that touches on human extinction:

But what if human beings themselves disappear?” I asked. This was the question that had been on my mind. The old man swallowed and blinked again. “You have to stop worrying about things like that. The disappearances are beyond our control. They have nothing to do with us. We’re all going to die anyway, someday, so what’s the difference? We simply have to leave things to fate."

Oh, yeah. All those species are going to die anyway one day. Why care if they go extinct? Nobody will miss them.

Anyhow, that's my takeaway. I'm sure there are other ways to read this book.

I feel like I could have given the book 5 stars if I were sure of the message the book was trying to give, without adding my own spin to it. The book is really a work of art and deserves reading.
]]> Defekt (LitenVerse, #2) 53261640
To test his commitment to the job, Derek is assigned to a special inventory shift, hunting through the store to find defective products. Toy chests with pincers and eye stalks, ambulatory sleeper sofas, killer mutant toilets, that kind of thing. Helping him is the inventory team — four strangers who look and sound almost exactly like him. Are five Dereks better than one?]]> 170 Nino Cipri 1250787505 Amy 3 2021-read, bizarre, netgalley
The store is like an upscale IKEA, selling $3000 egg chair toilets that, coincidentally, later becomes a character in the story. Yes, the furniture comes alive and rearranges itself in LitenVĂ€rld. The store keeps losing customers through wormholes. And it turns out that the members of the night crew are all variations on Derek.

This book definitely reminds me of ±áŽÇ°ù°ùŽÇ°ùČőłÙö°ù. I think it would certainly suit fans of ±áŽÇ°ù°ùŽÇ°ùČőłÙö°ù.

I think perhaps I wasn't in the mood for a bizarre, absurdist book when I dug into this one. I also didn't realize it was #2 in a series when I agreed to review it for Netgalley. However, it does stand alone pretty well. It just wasn't my full cup of tea. However, I did appreciate the message of not being willing to sacrifice your all for a crappy job that really doesn't care about you.]]> 4.08 2021 Defekt (LitenVerse, #2)
author: Nino Cipri
name: Amy
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/04/19
date added: 2021/04/19
shelves: 2021-read, bizarre, netgalley
review:
Follow the rules, make the customers happy, and report any signs of hemorrhaging to corporate. To Derek, the job is easy enough. It's almost as if he was made to do it. He doesn't remember anything before November, doesn't really have any friends, and lives in a shipping container behind the store.

The store is like an upscale IKEA, selling $3000 egg chair toilets that, coincidentally, later becomes a character in the story. Yes, the furniture comes alive and rearranges itself in LitenVĂ€rld. The store keeps losing customers through wormholes. And it turns out that the members of the night crew are all variations on Derek.

This book definitely reminds me of ±áŽÇ°ù°ùŽÇ°ùČőłÙö°ù. I think it would certainly suit fans of ±áŽÇ°ù°ùŽÇ°ùČőłÙö°ù.

I think perhaps I wasn't in the mood for a bizarre, absurdist book when I dug into this one. I also didn't realize it was #2 in a series when I agreed to review it for Netgalley. However, it does stand alone pretty well. It just wasn't my full cup of tea. However, I did appreciate the message of not being willing to sacrifice your all for a crappy job that really doesn't care about you.
]]> <![CDATA[The Fall of Koli (Rampart Trilogy #3)]]> 54616608 The Fall of Koli is the third and final novel in the breathtakingly original Rampart trilogy - set in a strange and deadly world of our own making.

What will the future hold for those who are left?

Koli has come a long way since being exiled from his small village of Mythen Rood. In his search for the fabled tech of the Old Times, he knew he'd be battling shunned men, strange beasts and trees that move as fast as whips. But he has already encountered so much more than he bargained for.

Now that Koli and his companions have found the source of the signal they've been following - the mysterious "Sword of Albion"—there is hope that their perilous journey will finally be worth something.

They're searching for a way to help humanity fight back against nature. But what they'll find is an ancient war that never ended . .]]> 577 M.R. Carey 0316458708 Amy 5
The hero gets the treasure, but the treasure ... Agh! Anything I can say is a spoiler!

And they live happily ever after.

But that's not quite right either.

And the reader gets Rick Rolled one last time. There ya go. You've been warned.

I guess I'll just leave this trilogy with a list of things I liked about it rather than a synopsis:

*Far future, post-apocalyptic, small village setting
*Deceptive leadership system that needs overthrowing
*A forest alive with moving trees, deadly seeds, and vicious animals
*Tech and robots from the past with human-inspired personality
*A commentary on how AI can be used for bad and for good
*How a lack of education and reading can create myths and theisms out of history
*A hodge-podge cast of characters, varying in race, humanity, and genderedness
*Extremely strong character and setting development
*A noble vision for the future

This is one of the better series books I've read. I wanted to get to the end, but I wanted to stay in the world of the book as long as possible at the same time. I stayed in Koli's world for 25 days and 1389 pages. While I hate to see Koli's world go, the ending is satisfying enough that I don't need to be there anymore.
]]> 4.55 2021 The Fall of Koli (Rampart Trilogy #3)
author: M.R. Carey
name: Amy
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/04/11
date added: 2021/04/11
shelves: post-apocalyptic, futuristic, series, 2021-read
review:
Wow. What a perfect trilogy ending. Halfway through the book, I thought I knew where it was going, but it surprised me at least three times. I feel like talking about any of it would be a spoiler for the whole series, so let's talk in riddles.

The hero gets the treasure, but the treasure ... Agh! Anything I can say is a spoiler!

And they live happily ever after.

But that's not quite right either.

And the reader gets Rick Rolled one last time. There ya go. You've been warned.

I guess I'll just leave this trilogy with a list of things I liked about it rather than a synopsis:

*Far future, post-apocalyptic, small village setting
*Deceptive leadership system that needs overthrowing
*A forest alive with moving trees, deadly seeds, and vicious animals
*Tech and robots from the past with human-inspired personality
*A commentary on how AI can be used for bad and for good
*How a lack of education and reading can create myths and theisms out of history
*A hodge-podge cast of characters, varying in race, humanity, and genderedness
*Extremely strong character and setting development
*A noble vision for the future

This is one of the better series books I've read. I wanted to get to the end, but I wanted to stay in the world of the book as long as possible at the same time. I stayed in Koli's world for 25 days and 1389 pages. While I hate to see Koli's world go, the ending is satisfying enough that I don't need to be there anymore.

]]> <![CDATA[The Trials of Koli (Rampart Trilogy, #2)]]> 51829857
Beyond the walls of Koli’s small village lies a fearsome landscape filled with choker trees, vicious beasts and shunned men. As an exile, Koli’s been forced to journey out into this mysterious, hostile world. But he heard a story, once. A story about lost London, and the mysterious tech of the Old Times that may still be there. If Koli can find it, there may still be a way for him to redeem himself – by saving what’s left of humankind.]]> 445 M.R. Carey 0356513491 Amy 4 4.23 2020 The Trials of Koli (Rampart Trilogy, #2)
author: M.R. Carey
name: Amy
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/04/05
date added: 2021/04/05
shelves: 2021-read, post-apocalyptic, futuristic, series-book
review:
This book prolongs the hero's journey. In the last book, Koli left home and gathered new friends in seek of the "treasure." And onward he goes. The first 13% was a rehash of book #1. Half of this rest of book #2 is a layover in a seaside village, while the other half allows us to find out what's been going on in Koli's old village since he left. So, only about 40% of this book really furthers the story. But that's okay. It still immediately made me buy book #3 so I can find out what happens. Silly cliffhanger.
]]> Sorrowland 48915089
But even in the forest, Vern is a hunted woman. Forced to fight back against the community that refuses to let her go, she unleashes incredible brutality far beyond what a person should be capable of, her body wracked by inexplicable and uncanny changes.

To understand her metamorphosis and to protect her small family, Vern has to face the past, and more troublingly, the future - outside the woods. Finding the truth will mean uncovering the secrets of the compound she fled but also the violent history in America that produced it.]]> 355 Rivers Solomon 0374266778 Amy 5
Vern has grown up in black power utopian cult that lives off the land, only she's starting to see the huge cracks around the edges. When you're a teenage girl with a mind of your own and you find a way to escape into the woods, you do so. Only now, she's given birth to twins in the woods and is being hunted by a sadistic fiend who seems bent on her destruction.

Being an albino and being able to raise toddlers in the forest without modern conveniences are not the only things that are different about Vern. She seems to be experiencing some sort of transformation that she doesn't understand. She sees people who aren't really there, she is getting stronger, and she is growing something similar to an on her back. Eventually, she becomes so sick that she has to seek help from civilization.

I can't believe I haven't read anything by Rivers Solomon before. Her identity and the main character's identity as a black lesbian is definitely at the forefront of the book.

The genre of this book runs somewhere between literature, speculative fiction, and horror. As a fungi enthusiast, I really appreciate the mycelial threads that run through the book (pun intended). That concept alone would have been worth the read. I always enjoy when authors speculate about the what-ifs of our world and bring those ideas to life in a big way.]]> 3.82 2021 Sorrowland
author: Rivers Solomon
name: Amy
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/03/16
date added: 2021/03/17
shelves: netgalley, 2021-read, mycology, speculative-fiction, takes-place-in-a-forest, survival, favorites, horror
review:
I have a feeling that this is going to be one of the star books of 2021. The ideas and writing feel unique and raw, while the subject matters are contemporary and relevant. It's a dark book with the ability to draw you in completely.

Vern has grown up in black power utopian cult that lives off the land, only she's starting to see the huge cracks around the edges. When you're a teenage girl with a mind of your own and you find a way to escape into the woods, you do so. Only now, she's given birth to twins in the woods and is being hunted by a sadistic fiend who seems bent on her destruction.

Being an albino and being able to raise toddlers in the forest without modern conveniences are not the only things that are different about Vern. She seems to be experiencing some sort of transformation that she doesn't understand. She sees people who aren't really there, she is getting stronger, and she is growing something similar to an on her back. Eventually, she becomes so sick that she has to seek help from civilization.

I can't believe I haven't read anything by Rivers Solomon before. Her identity and the main character's identity as a black lesbian is definitely at the forefront of the book.

The genre of this book runs somewhere between literature, speculative fiction, and horror. As a fungi enthusiast, I really appreciate the mycelial threads that run through the book (pun intended). That concept alone would have been worth the read. I always enjoy when authors speculate about the what-ifs of our world and bring those ideas to life in a big way.
]]> <![CDATA[The Tree of Knowledge (The Tree of Knowledge, #1)]]> 56817071
It is said that the greatest chess masters can envision a match’s outcome ten moves before it occurs. Imagine a person who can visualize ten steps ahead, not simply in the game of chess, but in every human interaction.

Imagine a person who could anticipate what you say before you said it, who could see a punch before it was thrown. Imagine a person who could see the chess game of politics, economics, and power itself unfold long before it happens.

Imagine a secret that could make all of this possible.

Mathematics professor Albert Puddles is such a person, and as he is thrust into a murder and burglary investigation on the Princeton campus he finds that there is such a secret buried within an obscure cipher. The discovery leads Albert to team up with an aging mentor, a curious graduate assistant, and an unusual “book club” on a frantic chase across the country to recover the secret and clear his name.

Through this adventure, Albert rediscovers a woman from his past and is forced to confront his own understanding of love, rationality, power, and the limits of the human mind.

The #1 Bestseller and BookLife Editor’s Pick

“The Tree of Knowledge is a dynamite read... reminiscent of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code but smarter, sharper... A thrill ride with no seatbelt but what an incredible view.”—Junot Díaz, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize]]> 295 Daniel G. Miller Amy 1 netgalley, 2021-read
Some examples of bad storyline logic:
*The villain disables a police station by cutting the electricity.
*Police walkie-talkies suddenly don't work without electricity.
*The villain powers up a desktop computer with a portable charger while the electricity is out (said charger would have to be the size of a toaster oven).
*The villain got into the police network while the electricity was down.
*The female villain assaults a police office worker and demands the computer password. Later, she pins the break-in on a male because he was seen in videos entering the building. But the female villain should have been the main suspect because she actually demanded passwords.

The book feels like a bad attempt to parody late 1990s, early 2000s thrillers. The book really lost me when a random group of characters that call themselves the Book Club (because of their study of the famed logic book) decide to train a professor and his jolly Chinese female assistant. That's 2 weeks of intensive logic and fighting training to fight professional baddies. Oh god, make it stop. Please. The reader has to endure pages and pages and pages and pages and pages and pages of this horrible training that starts with paint guns and ends with pink feather boas at a bar.

I ended up speed reading the last 25% because I just couldn't handle reading it slowly anymore. It never got any better. I think maybe the ending was supposed to be a setup for a sequel. Please, no.

I got this book free from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I feel bad being so honest, but it kinda sucked. Now I'm afraid to read any more Net Galley books any time soon lest they be 1-star bad.]]> 3.57 2021 The Tree of Knowledge (The Tree of Knowledge, #1)
author: Daniel G. Miller
name: Amy
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2021
rating: 1
read at: 2021/03/02
date added: 2021/03/03
shelves: netgalley, 2021-read
review:
This is the worst book I've tried to read in a long time. The premise is that the bad guys want access to a book that will tell them how to use a logic tree to get anyone to do what they want them to do. But for a book about logic, the storyline isn't very logical.

Some examples of bad storyline logic:
*The villain disables a police station by cutting the electricity.
*Police walkie-talkies suddenly don't work without electricity.
*The villain powers up a desktop computer with a portable charger while the electricity is out (said charger would have to be the size of a toaster oven).
*The villain got into the police network while the electricity was down.
*The female villain assaults a police office worker and demands the computer password. Later, she pins the break-in on a male because he was seen in videos entering the building. But the female villain should have been the main suspect because she actually demanded passwords.

The book feels like a bad attempt to parody late 1990s, early 2000s thrillers. The book really lost me when a random group of characters that call themselves the Book Club (because of their study of the famed logic book) decide to train a professor and his jolly Chinese female assistant. That's 2 weeks of intensive logic and fighting training to fight professional baddies. Oh god, make it stop. Please. The reader has to endure pages and pages and pages and pages and pages and pages of this horrible training that starts with paint guns and ends with pink feather boas at a bar.

I ended up speed reading the last 25% because I just couldn't handle reading it slowly anymore. It never got any better. I think maybe the ending was supposed to be a setup for a sequel. Please, no.

I got this book free from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I feel bad being so honest, but it kinda sucked. Now I'm afraid to read any more Net Galley books any time soon lest they be 1-star bad.
]]> Let Me In 7911377 472 John Ajvide Lindqvist 0312656491 Amy 3 2021-read, horror, vampires
What I want to know is why the vampires in this book don't rob a blood bank rather than kill victims to get their blood. They establish that the blood has to come from a living person and that it can be transported and doesn't have to be consumed fresh off the victim. So why not get a job at a blood bank or hospital or rob one of those places? Right. There'd be no plot then, would there?

This book is just far too gut-wrenching, and I'm kinda worried about those randos that dropped in to like that I was reading this.]]> 3.83 2004 Let Me In
author: John Ajvide Lindqvist
name: Amy
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 2021/03/02
date added: 2021/03/03
shelves: 2021-read, horror, vampires
review:
Seven people that I don't even know liked that I was reading this book. Why? This book is so ... full of creeps. The main villain is a pedophile serial killer who murders people for the 12-year-old vampire in his care. The "hero" of the story has the potential to become a serial killer and is egged on by the increasingly evil antics of the school bullies. The vampire is definitely a serial killer. Everyone else is a druggie or a drunk or a wife beater. There are also way too many pedophilia scenes in this book. The only characters that are halfway decent human beings have violent ends.

What I want to know is why the vampires in this book don't rob a blood bank rather than kill victims to get their blood. They establish that the blood has to come from a living person and that it can be transported and doesn't have to be consumed fresh off the victim. So why not get a job at a blood bank or hospital or rob one of those places? Right. There'd be no plot then, would there?

This book is just far too gut-wrenching, and I'm kinda worried about those randos that dropped in to like that I was reading this.
]]> Oona Out of Order 49931447 It’s New Year’s Eve 1982, and Oona Lockhart has her whole life before her. At the stroke of midnight she will turn nineteen, and the year ahead promises to be one of consequence. Should she go to London to study economics, or remain at home in Brooklyn to pursue her passion for music and be with her boyfriend? As the countdown to the New Year begins, Oona faints and awakens thirty-two years in the future in her fifty-one-year-old body. Greeted by a friendly stranger in a beautiful house she’s told is her own, Oona learns that with each passing year she will leap to another age at random. And so begins Oona Out of Order


Hopping through decades, pop culture fads, and much-needed stock tips, Oona is still a young woman on the inside but ever changing on the outside. Who will she be next year? Philanthropist? Club Kid? World traveler? Wife to a man she’s never met?

Oona Out of Order is a remarkably inventive novel that explores what it means to live a life fully in the moment, even if those moments are out of sequence. Surprising, magical, and heart-wrenching, Montimore has crafted an unforgettable story about the burdens of time, the endurance of love, and the power of family.

]]> 329 Margarita Montimore 1250236592 Amy 5 Replay. In fact, it has really strong Replay vibes with its constant references to music and a few other similarities.

If you enjoy time travel tales, this is one with a unique twist. There are plenty of time travel novels where the protagonist jumps into their body at different ages, but this is the first one I've seen where the character actually lives her years out of order.

Every year on her birthday, which happens to be January 1st, Oona jumps to a completely different year. She starts out as a 19-year-old jumping into her 51-year-old body. She finds herself in a NYC mansion with a young assistant to explain what's happened to her. Only her mom and assistant know the true story of Ooona's jumps, and she's happy to have them to confide in during her weird life.

Some years are sex, drugs and rock and roll. Others are filled with travel or relationships and family. But every year is unique. And living life out of order helps her to appreciate the time that she has with everyone as they cycle in and out of her life. She tries to avoid "spoilers" of what her personal life will hold in various years, but of course, she sets herself up for monetary success. Eventually, she stops trying to change the future or the past and just lives life.

It's really just the perfect time travel tale. The character never knows what's around the corner, and neither does the reader. While we don't get to experience all of Oona's years with her, we get to experience her first 7 jumps which gives a wide view of what's to come. The ending is really a perfect wrap-around that gives nice closure to both Oona and the reader because we understand now how most of the pieces of her life fit together and can see where it's heading.

I highly recommend this to any lover of time travel. But I think it's a good crossover genre novel as well for those who don't normally read the genre. I just really wish they'd issue a different cover: maybe one featuring her guitars, souvenir collection, and her mysterious tattoo. The author has a previous novel that looks intriguing, but it's unfortunately out of print. I'd be the first to snatch up any of her future books though. If she can pull off this idea, she can pull off anything.

(heavy on Velvet Underground and Kate Bush and lasting about as long as it will take to read the book). :-)]]> 3.92 2020 Oona Out of Order
author: Margarita Montimore
name: Amy
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/02/10
date added: 2021/02/10
shelves: page-turner, time-travel, 2021-read, favorites
review:
I avoided reading this book for a year because the cover art was offputting. And I completely regret it. This is one of the best time travel books I've ever read (and I've read at least a hundred). It's up there with Replay. In fact, it has really strong Replay vibes with its constant references to music and a few other similarities.

If you enjoy time travel tales, this is one with a unique twist. There are plenty of time travel novels where the protagonist jumps into their body at different ages, but this is the first one I've seen where the character actually lives her years out of order.

Every year on her birthday, which happens to be January 1st, Oona jumps to a completely different year. She starts out as a 19-year-old jumping into her 51-year-old body. She finds herself in a NYC mansion with a young assistant to explain what's happened to her. Only her mom and assistant know the true story of Ooona's jumps, and she's happy to have them to confide in during her weird life.

Some years are sex, drugs and rock and roll. Others are filled with travel or relationships and family. But every year is unique. And living life out of order helps her to appreciate the time that she has with everyone as they cycle in and out of her life. She tries to avoid "spoilers" of what her personal life will hold in various years, but of course, she sets herself up for monetary success. Eventually, she stops trying to change the future or the past and just lives life.

It's really just the perfect time travel tale. The character never knows what's around the corner, and neither does the reader. While we don't get to experience all of Oona's years with her, we get to experience her first 7 jumps which gives a wide view of what's to come. The ending is really a perfect wrap-around that gives nice closure to both Oona and the reader because we understand now how most of the pieces of her life fit together and can see where it's heading.

I highly recommend this to any lover of time travel. But I think it's a good crossover genre novel as well for those who don't normally read the genre. I just really wish they'd issue a different cover: maybe one featuring her guitars, souvenir collection, and her mysterious tattoo. The author has a previous novel that looks intriguing, but it's unfortunately out of print. I'd be the first to snatch up any of her future books though. If she can pull off this idea, she can pull off anything.

(heavy on Velvet Underground and Kate Bush and lasting about as long as it will take to read the book). :-)
]]> The Wife Upstairs 53137893 A delicious twist on a Gothic classic, The Wife Upstairs pairs Southern charm with atmospheric domestic suspense, perfect for fans of B.A. Paris and Megan Miranda.

Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates––a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.

But her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie––not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for.

Yet as Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea, an ambitious beauty with a rags-to-riches origin story, who launched a wildly successful southern lifestyle brand. How can she, plain Jane, ever measure up? And can she win Eddie’s heart before her past––or his––catches up to her?

With delicious suspense, incisive wit, and a fresh, feminist sensibility, The Wife Upstairs flips the script on a timeless tale of forbidden romance, ill-advised attraction, and a wife who just won’t stay buried. In this vivid reimagining of one of literature’s most twisted love triangles, which Mrs. Rochester will get her happy ending?]]> 290 Rachel Hawkins 1250245494 Amy 3 2021-read
The author clearly wants this to be a gothic novel (the characters sometimes say it feels like one), but it's not.

It's set in the world of the affluent in Birmingham, Alabama. Jane can't believe her luck when a dog walking job in a rich neighborhood lands her a love interest with Mr. Rochester. Ugh. The names. And the title and storyline immediately reveal that --you guessed it--there's a wife locked up in a hidden room upstairs. Everyone has their own secrets. And at least one someone is a murderer.

Jane tries to fit in with the vapid culture of the neighborhood women who spend their days in expensive yoga clothes and making up useless committees. But she ultimately becomes annoyed and bored with it.

I think it's this judgy woman culture that really annoys me the most with the book. I saw more of it from the stay at home moms from my daughter's public school in a rich neighborhood than I did when I worked in a private school. Although, I was taken aback by the private school moms' spend‐and‐throw‐away culture.

Anyhow, it is a book that I could read and get lost in enough to forget I was reading. But I wouldn't call it a page-turner. It was just okay. I loathed most of the characters. Funny how the character that all the characters disliked most is the one you end up feeling the most sympathy for in the end.

I guess that the connections to Jane Eyre will sell the book, but I feel that it cheapens Jane Eyre by doing so.]]> 3.71 2021 The Wife Upstairs
author: Rachel Hawkins
name: Amy
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/02/06
date added: 2021/02/06
shelves: 2021-read
review:
I know this is probably going to be one of the "it" books of the year. The title of the book and the character names are a call back to Jane Eyre. But that's really where the similarities end.

The author clearly wants this to be a gothic novel (the characters sometimes say it feels like one), but it's not.

It's set in the world of the affluent in Birmingham, Alabama. Jane can't believe her luck when a dog walking job in a rich neighborhood lands her a love interest with Mr. Rochester. Ugh. The names. And the title and storyline immediately reveal that --you guessed it--there's a wife locked up in a hidden room upstairs. Everyone has their own secrets. And at least one someone is a murderer.

Jane tries to fit in with the vapid culture of the neighborhood women who spend their days in expensive yoga clothes and making up useless committees. But she ultimately becomes annoyed and bored with it.

I think it's this judgy woman culture that really annoys me the most with the book. I saw more of it from the stay at home moms from my daughter's public school in a rich neighborhood than I did when I worked in a private school. Although, I was taken aback by the private school moms' spend‐and‐throw‐away culture.

Anyhow, it is a book that I could read and get lost in enough to forget I was reading. But I wouldn't call it a page-turner. It was just okay. I loathed most of the characters. Funny how the character that all the characters disliked most is the one you end up feeling the most sympathy for in the end.

I guess that the connections to Jane Eyre will sell the book, but I feel that it cheapens Jane Eyre by doing so.
]]> <![CDATA[A House at the Bottom of a Lake]]> 53963989 From theÌęNew York TimesÌębestselling author ofÌęBird BoxÌęandÌęMalorieÌęcomes a haunting tale of love and mystery, as the date of a lifetime becomes a maddening exploration of the depths of the heart.“Malerman expertly conjures a fairy tale nostalgia of first love, and we follow along, all too willingly, ignoring the warning signs even as the fear takes hold.”—LitÌęReactorÌęThe story young lovers, anxious to connect, agree to a first date, thinking outside of the box.ÌęAt seventeen years old, James and Amelia can feel the rest of their lives beginning. They have got this summer and this summer alone to experience the extraordinary.ÌęBut they didn’t expect to find it in a house at the bottom of a lake.ÌęThe house is cold and dark, but it’s also their own.ÌęCaution be damned, until being carefree becomes dangerous. For the teens must swim deeper into the house—all the while falling deeper in love?ÌęWhatever they do, they will never be able to turn their backs on what they discovered together. And what they ÌęJust because a house is empty, doesn’t mean nobody’s home.]]> 208 Josh Malerman 0593237781 Amy 5
I ended up telling the entire story to my 10-year-old daughter which had us laughing when we realized we were both looking for underwater houses when we went hiking around a lake later in the day. Disappointingly, we found no underwater houses.

After The Bird Box, I think Josh Malerman has made a name for himself as being an author with interesting ideas who will keep you turning pages well after your bedtime. This definitely didn't disappoint. ]]> 3.39 2016 A House at the Bottom of a Lake
author: Josh Malerman
name: Amy
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2021/02/03
date added: 2021/02/05
shelves: page-turner, fantasy, 2021-read
review:
A guy takes a girl canoeing on a first date, and they find an underwater house in a hidden mansion. And, of course, they have to dive down and explore it. That's all I needed to know about this book to know I needed to read it. It's a creepy page-turner. From reading previous reviews, I knew it was going to have an ambiguous ending, but I liked the ending. Who knows? Maybe that means there's a creepy page-turning sequel.

I ended up telling the entire story to my 10-year-old daughter which had us laughing when we realized we were both looking for underwater houses when we went hiking around a lake later in the day. Disappointingly, we found no underwater houses.

After The Bird Box, I think Josh Malerman has made a name for himself as being an author with interesting ideas who will keep you turning pages well after your bedtime. This definitely didn't disappoint.
]]> Leave the World Behind 50358031
Amanda and Clay head to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they've rented for the week. But with a late-night knock on the door, the spell is broken. Ruth and G. H., an older couple who claim to own the home, have arrived there in a panic. These strangers say that a sudden power outage has swept the city, and - with nowhere else to turn - they have come to the country in search of shelter.

But with the TV and internet down, and no phone service, the facts are unknowable. Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple - and vice versa? What has happened back in New York? Is the holiday home, isolated from civilisation, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another?]]> 241 Rumaan Alam 0062667637 Amy 5
But then there's a late-night knock at their door, and it's the elderly owners of the house who can't reach the 14th floor of their NYC high rise because the power is out in the whole city.

The rest of the book is the unraveling of questions, not knowing what's going on with the world, having no cell phone reception or tv stations, animals acting strangely. What's happening in the world? What's happening to them.

I haven't read a post-apocalyptic book in a while, but they always scratch the same itch. You turn the pages because it's an unknown future, and it could easily be your own. This one is very contemporary and honest. It's the things we think but don't say. It's the worry in the back of our minds that this could be our tomorrow.
]]> 3.13 2020 Leave the World Behind
author: Rumaan Alam
name: Amy
average rating: 3.13
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/02/02
date added: 2021/02/03
shelves: 2021-read, post-apocalyptic, page-turner
review:
Once I got started with this book, I only put it down when my eyes would stay open no longer and when I had to. It's the story of a family who takes an AirBnB vacation a decent distance from their New York City home. A load of vacation-level groceries, days of watching tv or reading, swimming in the pool. Nothing special, just time away.

But then there's a late-night knock at their door, and it's the elderly owners of the house who can't reach the 14th floor of their NYC high rise because the power is out in the whole city.

The rest of the book is the unraveling of questions, not knowing what's going on with the world, having no cell phone reception or tv stations, animals acting strangely. What's happening in the world? What's happening to them.

I haven't read a post-apocalyptic book in a while, but they always scratch the same itch. You turn the pages because it's an unknown future, and it could easily be your own. This one is very contemporary and honest. It's the things we think but don't say. It's the worry in the back of our minds that this could be our tomorrow.

]]> Watch Over Me 50729853 Nina LaCour delivers another emotional knockout with Watch Over Me, the eagerly anticipated follow-up to the Printz Award-winning We Are Okay.

Mila is used to being alone. Maybe that’s why she said yes to the opportunity: living in this remote place, among the flowers and the fog and the crash of waves far below.

But she hadn’t known about the ghosts.

Newly graduated from high school, Mila has aged out of the foster care system. So when she’s offered a job and a place to stay at a farm on an isolated part of the Northern California Coast, she immediately accepts. Maybe she will finally find a new home, a real home. The farm is a refuge, but also haunted by the past traumas its young residents have come to escape. And Mila’s own terrible memories are starting to rise to the surface.

Watch Over Me is another stunner from Printz Award-Winning author Nina LaCour, whose empathetic, lyrical prose is at the heart of this modern ghost story of resilience and rebirth.]]> 264 Nina LaCour 0593108973 Amy 5
Mila has aged out of the foster care system and feels lucky to have been accepted to intern on a Northern California farm with other kids and young adults like herself. During the days, she homeschools some of the kids. On the weekends, she helps sell home-grown produce and flowers at the farmer's market.

But there's something strange about the farm. The farm has ghosts, and nearly everyone can see them.

Mila wants desperately to belong, but she's worried that the one horrible thing she's done in her past is indicative of who she really is.

I really enjoyed the setting of the book and wished a bit that I was living on a farm within walking distance of hiking trails and the beach in northern California. I also loved the way the characters cared for each other with an ability to be there to listen and not pry too deeply, allowing their friends to reveal what they wanted when they wanted if it was helpful.

I also appreciated the physical closeness that the characters had with each other where friends could sit shoulder to shoulder or sleep cuddled together without it being a sexual thing. It reminded me of my always-cuddly roommates and friends when I was in my 20s. Human touch can mean so much.

It's just a nice, warm book. I'm not sure how to categorize it. I say "urban fantasy" because of the ghosts. But, really, it's just a cozy, feel-good read.]]> 3.83 2020 Watch Over Me
author: Nina LaCour
name: Amy
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/01/31
date added: 2021/01/31
shelves: 2021-read, urban-fantasy, young-adult
review:
This is a beautiful story of how the care of others can help make us whole again. But it's also a story of how our past haunts us.

Mila has aged out of the foster care system and feels lucky to have been accepted to intern on a Northern California farm with other kids and young adults like herself. During the days, she homeschools some of the kids. On the weekends, she helps sell home-grown produce and flowers at the farmer's market.

But there's something strange about the farm. The farm has ghosts, and nearly everyone can see them.

Mila wants desperately to belong, but she's worried that the one horrible thing she's done in her past is indicative of who she really is.

I really enjoyed the setting of the book and wished a bit that I was living on a farm within walking distance of hiking trails and the beach in northern California. I also loved the way the characters cared for each other with an ability to be there to listen and not pry too deeply, allowing their friends to reveal what they wanted when they wanted if it was helpful.

I also appreciated the physical closeness that the characters had with each other where friends could sit shoulder to shoulder or sleep cuddled together without it being a sexual thing. It reminded me of my always-cuddly roommates and friends when I was in my 20s. Human touch can mean so much.

It's just a nice, warm book. I'm not sure how to categorize it. I say "urban fantasy" because of the ghosts. But, really, it's just a cozy, feel-good read.
]]> The Hole 51283868 ÌęÌęÌęÌęÌęÌę
One day, while running an errand for her mother-in-law, she comes across a strange creature, follows it to the embankment of a river, and ends up falling into a hole—a hole that seems to have been made specifically for her. This is the first in a series of bizarre experiences that drive Asa deeper into the mysteries of this rural landscape filled with eccentric characters and unidentifiable creatures, leading her to question her role in this world, and eventually, her sanity.]]> 92 Hiroko Oyamada 0811228878 Amy 4 amazon-vine, japan, 2021-read
I was drawn to this book because of its comparison to My Neighbor Totoro. Maybe there are some vague similarities. Critics of the book say that nothing really happens. But I think that's the point of the story. Asahi is living a life where nothing much is happening. Sometimes it's the seemingly ordinary that can turn out to be extraordinary.

I liked the pace of the book and the glimpse into Japanese culture. I also liked how it made me reevaluate what I thought I knew about the story before the ending. ]]> 3.47 2013 The Hole
author: Hiroko Oyamada
name: Amy
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2021/01/18
date added: 2021/01/18
shelves: amazon-vine, japan, 2021-read
review:
Maybe I enjoyed this book more since it's about a Japanese girl who moves with her husband to the countryside and has no job to anchor her. I can definitely relate to that scenario. In the book, it's a very hot summer full of cicadas. The girl has no car, so she's stuck going on foot everywhere. Twice, she follows a mysterious black animal to its hole. Once she falls down one of the animal's holes herself. Both times she meets a mysterious man.

I was drawn to this book because of its comparison to My Neighbor Totoro. Maybe there are some vague similarities. Critics of the book say that nothing really happens. But I think that's the point of the story. Asahi is living a life where nothing much is happening. Sometimes it's the seemingly ordinary that can turn out to be extraordinary.

I liked the pace of the book and the glimpse into Japanese culture. I also liked how it made me reevaluate what I thought I knew about the story before the ending.
]]> Love, Stargirl (Stargirl, #2) 6567041 LOVE, STARGIRL picks up a year after Stargirl ends and reveals the new life of the beloved character who moved away so suddenly at the end of Stargirl. The novel takes the form of "the world's longest letter," in diary form, going from date to date through a little more than a year's time. In her writing, Stargirl mixes memories of her bittersweet time in Mica, Arizona, with involvements with new people in her life.

In Love, Stargirl, we hear the voice of Stargirl herself as she reflects on time, life, Leo, and - of course - love.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 290 Jerry Spinelli Amy 1 2021-read
Reading this book was like trying to read my diary from when I was 12. It was just painful. I sped read through the last half.]]> 4.15 2007 Love, Stargirl (Stargirl, #2)
author: Jerry Spinelli
name: Amy
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2007
rating: 1
read at: 2021/01/14
date added: 2021/01/15
shelves: 2021-read
review:
This book felt as if it were written about a completely different character and by a completely different author. Gone is the quirky homeschooled teen who doesn't know how to act in the world and doesn't do crazy things anymore like playing the ukulele at lunch or cheering for the other teen. She's replaced by an unrecognizably normal girl who does nothing off-kilter and has an annoying entourage of younger-kid friends

Reading this book was like trying to read my diary from when I was 12. It was just painful. I sped read through the last half.
]]> <![CDATA[The Ash-Born Boy (The Near Witch, #0.5)]]> 13643876
Before he came to Near...
Before he met Lexi...
Before they faced the witch...
Who was the boy named Cole?

Follow us to Dale, a city on a hill, where in a matter of days fire will devour everything. Meet the Lord and Lady, and their son, the boy destined to inherit all...until everything turns to ash.

It's time to learn the truth behind the stranger's story.]]> 61 Victoria E. Schwab Amy 3 2021-read 3.76 2012 The Ash-Born Boy (The Near Witch, #0.5)
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Amy
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2021/01/07
date added: 2021/01/08
shelves: 2021-read
review:
Decent prequel to The Near Witch. I liked being able to read Cole's origin story. Of course, I knew how it would end, but the beginning details were nothing I'd expected.
]]> Stargirl (Stargirl, #1) 22232
Leo Borlock follows the unspoken rule at Mica Area High School: don't stand out--under any circumstances! Then Stargirl arrives at Mica High and everything changes--for Leo and for the entire school. After 15 years of home schooling, Stargirl bursts into tenth grade in an explosion of color and a clatter of ukulele music, enchanting the Mica student body.

But the delicate scales of popularity suddenly shift, and Stargirl is shunned for everything that makes her different. Somewhere in the midst of Stargirl's arrival and rise and fall, normal Leo Borlock has tumbled into love with her.

In a celebration of nonconformity, Jerry Spinelli weaves a tense, emotional tale about the fleeting, cruel nature of popularity--and the thrill and inspiration of first love.]]> 186 Jerry Spinelli 0439488400 Amy 5 2021-read, ya
A delightful, quick read.]]> 3.76 2000 Stargirl (Stargirl, #1)
author: Jerry Spinelli
name: Amy
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2021/01/02
date added: 2021/01/02
shelves: 2021-read, ya
review:
The new girl finishes her lunch and then takes out her ukulele to play. She calls herself Stargirl. And that's all you need to know about her to know she's not your ordinary girl.

A delightful, quick read.
]]>