There is always something powerful about seeing part of your experience in a book, that acknowledgment that your story isn’t weird or bad or shameful, that you aren’t alone. Tara’s story isn’t my story. But there is enough overlap to make me feel less ashamed of my life and childhood and the choices I’ve made as an adult. She gives me hope for a future of peace and rest.

Not a fast favorite but not bad. It took me about 100 pages to get into it - reading about isolated people in the Kentucky mountains maybe wasn’t the best choice in quarantine. But I always enjoy books about books and I liked learning about the blue people of Kentucky and the Book Women! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

A funny little read about all the weird things people say and do at their public library, which is extremely relatable if you have worked in any sort of customer service/retail. Humorous and touching, it’s a reminder of just how valuable libraries are. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In Week 8 of quarantine, I started craving wordy, lovely, thoughtful books. Books about real people with hurts that feel like mine. Words to wrestle with that don’t go down easy. Cisneros’s story was short but weighty, engaging, and delightful. A new favorite. Exactly what I needed. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A really sweet story about being kind to others no matter they look like. As a sister to someone with a disability, I especially appreciated Via's perspective. Perhaps a bit trite, but a heartwarming story.

This book is definitely informative! Less true crime and more academic religious exploration. I learned so much about Heaven's Gate as a religion and the culture it emerged out of. However, because it's academic, it could be extremely difficult to read/understand. I enjoyed learning, but probably won't revisit.

I feel like I'm starting to really get into this series! The beginning was a bit slow as the four different perspectives - Mannon, Celaena, Dorian, and Chaol - work to solidify and find their connection to the overall plot of the series. After about 30-40% of the way through, I felt attached to the characters and equally enjoyed each of their separate stories. However, managing four viewpoints was a lot and I'm hoping to see that condense a bit in the next book.

A solid meh from me. Not remarkable or memorable. It kept me turning the pages but that’s the best thing I have to say for it. Nothing about Alex Cross compels me to continue the series. Glad to finally scratch it off my TBR after 7 years of sitting! 😳 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Delightfully unsettling. A blend of Grimm fairytales and domestic noir, with a heavy dose of unreliable narrator, Golding weaves a tale of the horror of motherhood. Is a mysterious woman trying to steal Laurens twins or is she wrestling postpartum, depression and exhaustion playing tricks on her mind? A gripping, compelling story.

While this thriller certainly didn’t bring anything super new to the table, with all the domestic noir out, it was refreshing to read a thriller with a reliable narrator and no flashbacks! An easy breezy summer read.

This was simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming. Orlean tells the story of library people—how they fight to create spaces for learning and living and how they rise stronger from tragedy. If you ever felt at home in a library, even once, you need to read this book.

I’ve had this for years and I’m glad to finally get it read. I don’t know if I understood the ending fully but I enjoyed this much more than I expected. An exploration on families, choices, and the desire to belong. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Yeah this one was lackluster for me. I liked the premise a LOT and the middle was really strong. The beginning was a weak set up and the book seemed to abruptly end on a weird note. If you want pregnancy dystopia, go to FUTURE HOME OF THE LIVING GOD instead.

This book was allll over the place. The twist was sudden, but not well set up. The various pieces of the book—mother/daughter conflict, mysterious intruder, unknown flashbacks—didn’t mesh well together and ultimately just weren’t cohesive. An interesting idea that just didn’t work.

What if fairy tales were real? What if Cinderella really existed and her famous dresses had to be hidden and kept out of the hands of the evil stepsisters? And what if they eventually found their way from Poland to NYC in the 1940s? Slayton’s writing is vivid and her plot makes perfect sense. This is a wholesome story about true love, belief, and family. There are three more books in the series. 👗👗👗👗👗

Wow. I loved Ng’s first book and I loved this one more. Her character are dynamic and her writing is beautiful and thoughtful.

I always have a hard time with procedural mysteries, simply because I don’t read many of them. It takes me too long to slip into the role of detective for it to be enjoyable. I find I like more action than speculation/ruminating. HOWEVER. I AM a sucker for a Christmas murder, so ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me.

The stunning feature of IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE is its characters. Bridget, Finn, and Jarrah leap off the page, their narration raw and honest, drawing the reader into the process of grieving the unimaginable. Some subplots felt a bit underdeveloped, but I don’t think the story suffered much for it. 5⭐️ #netgalley

I wanted to like this, but I just couldn’t get invested enough in the main character to believe her actions, motivations, or any of the twists and turns of the plot. She seemed kind of shady and the ending felt a little bit unfulfilling. Ultimately, there was too much happening in the plot for any of it to work for me.

Nina sees the Thief every night in her dreams. Unable to keep his secrets anymore, she travels to New Mexico with her former best friend Warren to stop the Thief in his tracks. But, of course, nothing is as it seems.

THE KILLER IN ME is a delightfully suspenseful tale examining the power of family and dreams. This book kept me up at night and stayed with me long after I closed it. This is a book to keep you up until 3 am because you can't sleep until you know what happens next. I can't wait to see what Harrison writes next.

I was excited about this book as I was skeptical. The premise seemed so intriguing, but I was worried that it would go horribly, horribly wrong. However, I finished the book and was completely spooked. The maps, ads, flyers, coupons, and product descriptions scattered throughout the book get eerier and eerier, raising the stakes chapter by chapter. They also add the perfect amount of authenticity—just enough to make you wonder if Orsk is actually real. This technique is very reminiscent of The Princess Bride.

This book demands to be read more than once. I know that I missed so much in my first reading and I definitely need to go back with a pen now that I know how the story ends and won't be AS terrified. Highly recommend.

This was a challenging and complicated book. I can’t sum it up in a review. So I will say this: Morrison is a delight. Her writing is beautiful and thoughtful, never dehumanizing, never justifying, always examining. Her measured writing is a unique experience and I will never tire of her catalogue.

This was not good. The book felt purposeless: no real introduction (just an isolated overview of the 5 love languages) and no conclusion. The book has 52 date ideas (none of which implied unwinding, but rather going places and spending money) each followed by a devotion. The devotions felt slapped onto the end, more of an end-of-the-date-debrief than a moment of connection with God. None of the date ideas seemed remotely interesting to me, though your mileage may vary. You’d be better off to read The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman and then come up with your own date ideas tailored for your spouse. #netgalley

I absolutely loved this book! Cute and heartwarming and a good post-Christmas read. It’s a good reminder that there is always more going on behind closed doors and that families can be hard. I needed to be seen that way this Christmas.

First book of 2020 complete! It’s a holdover from last year and an amazing read. The characters and interesting and enjoyable to be with. Lahiri ruminates beautifully on what it means to be named and the legacies we carry with us from our families, from our families, from the ways we choose to live. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I found myself enjoying this much more than I thought. It’s not a book I would have liked a kid, but it really resonated with me as an adult. L’Engle hints at gray spaces, where we don’t have answers or things aren’t clear and easy, yet we must press on anyway, which really sings to me at this moment in my life. Read it, no matter how old you are.

Jim Kay is fab and that is all.