I inherited this amazing plant. I think it is a swiss cheese philodendron. My last book post was for 3 months and it was too many books in one post. This is only 2 months, much better :)
-by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
This is How You Lose the Time War: Time traveling war/love story/poetry. Totally worth your time if you like any of those genres.
-by Louis Sachar
There is a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom: From the author of Holes. This is just okay, nice idea and good writing, just not memorable.
One day I saw it had this happening!
-by Liane Moriarty
Last Anniversary: Oh no! This is the last one, I've now read all her books. Just as good as all the others.
-by Shannon Hale
Austenland: For folks who love Jane Austen/Pride and Prejudice. Modern women obsessed with finding a Mr. Darcy goes on a vacation that takes place in a recreation of Pride and Prejudice. Idea is fun, execution is pretty good. Her writing is always amazing, but it felt a bit repetitive and prudish? I think I will stick to her YA writing.
Turns out it is just a new leaf :)
-by Helen Oyeyemi
White is for Witching: Neo-gothic/spooky story. The writing is excellent at setting a scene, the category is not my fave, but I've got some of her other books on hold.
-by Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl: Meh. This whole series had some popularity and I can see how it has some appeal. Too many of the characters relied on snarky comments as a personality. It is aimed at the younger set. Would have dropped it if it wasn't so short.
-by Helen Oyeyemi
White is for Witching: Neo-gothic/spooky story. The writing is excellent at setting a scene, the category is not my fave, but I've got some of her other books on hold.
-by Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl: Meh. This whole series had some popularity and I can see how it has some appeal. Too many of the characters relied on snarky comments as a personality. It is aimed at the younger set. Would have dropped it if it wasn't so short.
-by National Geographic Kids
Scrapes with Snakes! I read this because my nephew wanted to hear from me about snakes :) This did the job, quick story with lots of info about snakes.
-by James Clear
Atomic Habits: Many of these ideas have been written out before, but there is something better than average about the delivery. Current take-away that I am trying is when you want to start a new habit, break it down into manageable bits (the the couch to 5K over 12 weeks) and have the first thing you do be so incredibly easy that there is literally no excuse for you not to do it.
-by Tamsyn Muir
Gideon the Ninth: Necromancers play the Westing Game. Tons of folks love this one and while it got a bit graphic in the gore department, I love the characterizations and I'm up for follow on books.
-by Dr. Gregor
How Not To Die: A dramatic title. Advocates for a plant-based whole food diet. So much of the book is referencing studies that say to eat more plants, less (none!) animal products and whole foods, not processed to live a longer healthier life. It is a really long book to get this point across. But I do like the 10 things he aims to eat every day. He does not say never eat x, y, or z, instead, compare it to what else you could be eating. If you are starting from a truly terrible diet, than even eating a vegetable a day is an improvement.
-by Ben Aaronovitch
Whispers Underground: His first book was fantastic, this was just ok and hard for me to get into. That might be the timing, so I will not rule out reading more.
It uncurls a bit each day.
-by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba
Umbrella Academy (1 and 2): This series has become super popular recently, but they have been on my To Read list for awhile (love the artist). It was fine. I was not as blown away with the story, maybe my expectations were too high. Too many characters with not enough time to develop them all. And I don't really like any of them. But they are short and the art is excellent.
-by Samantha Shannon
The Priory of the Orange Tree: Picked from a book challenge, or I might not have finished (could have used an editor, imho). It is classic fantasy genre with palace intrigue, dragons, epic monsters to fight. A couple of story lines that come together nicely.
-by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba
Umbrella Academy (1 and 2): This series has become super popular recently, but they have been on my To Read list for awhile (love the artist). It was fine. I was not as blown away with the story, maybe my expectations were too high. Too many characters with not enough time to develop them all. And I don't really like any of them. But they are short and the art is excellent.
-by Samantha Shannon
The Priory of the Orange Tree: Picked from a book challenge, or I might not have finished (could have used an editor, imho). It is classic fantasy genre with palace intrigue, dragons, epic monsters to fight. A couple of story lines that come together nicely.
And then just fwings! open
-by Graeme Simsion
The Rosie Effect: Book 2 in a series of 3. I was so excited when I saw it became a series. I read the first on a plane and laughed so often my seatmate had to find out what I was reading. While this one was not quite as good as the first I devoured it in less than a day. The protagonist is on the spectrum and his thought process leads to situations that take an unexpected turn that hilarious.
-by Noelle Stevenson
-by Graeme Simsion
The Rosie Effect: Book 2 in a series of 3. I was so excited when I saw it became a series. I read the first on a plane and laughed so often my seatmate had to find out what I was reading. While this one was not quite as good as the first I devoured it in less than a day. The protagonist is on the spectrum and his thought process leads to situations that take an unexpected turn that hilarious.
-by Noelle Stevenson
Nimona: Super cute graphic novel where people are not good and evil but come in shades of gray. She worked on Lumberjanes and I love the art style.
-by Maggie Stiefvater
All the Crooked Saints: Our world, 1960 Colorado, but with miracles. The book is all about a family of saints. All about their relationships with each other and the pilgrims who come to them for miracles. I loved this, flew through in two days. Would totally read more from Maggie.
Looks great!
Didn't finish
-by Carol Burnett
In Such Good Company: It was good, but not amazing for the amount of time it would take to finish. I got it as an audiobook which was lovely to listen to, it works to speed it up. If I have a long drive I would maybe check it out again.
-by Min Jin Lee
Pachinko: I just couldn't get into it enough to finish before my time ran out in the e-library. It is quite a popular book, award winning, well written, seems to be going somewhere, but just not the right time for me.
Looks great!
Didn't finish
-by Carol Burnett
In Such Good Company: It was good, but not amazing for the amount of time it would take to finish. I got it as an audiobook which was lovely to listen to, it works to speed it up. If I have a long drive I would maybe check it out again.
-by Min Jin Lee
Pachinko: I just couldn't get into it enough to finish before my time ran out in the e-library. It is quite a popular book, award winning, well written, seems to be going somewhere, but just not the right time for me.
In the beginning it was sitting in full sun and I fried it a little, but it was really dark green. At least I didn't kill it!
