Review: Vacationland

Vacationland
Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoy Meg Mitchell Moore’s stories. I like her characters, I like the way the books make me feel and I like getting to know the worlds and people she creates. This one was no exception.

View all my reviews

Review: The Appeal

The Appeal
The Appeal by Janice Hallett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

this was an interesting book, a tough one to listen to in audio with the large number of characters and large number of permutations of what might have happened that the two detectives discuss. I still liked my time with it and enjoyed reading it.

View all my reviews

Review: A Shoe Story

A Shoe Story
A Shoe Story by Jane L. Rosen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

this was a pleasant surprise. with it being called shoe story, i thought it was going to be super fluffy but it was delightful.

View all my reviews

Review: Metropolis

Metropolis
Metropolis by B.A. Shapiro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Loved this book of characters who are all interconnected through a storage depot in Boston. It was relatively light but still fun and enjoyable. Read it quickly and it kept my interest the whole time.

View all my reviews

Review: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. I know many thought it was too long and it was too much about video games. I didn’t. I am not a huge gamer but I did know most of the games mentioned in the book and I am a programmer so that part didn’t scare me.

But this book wasn’t about that in the end. It was about the deeply layered, flawed, interesting, and complex characters and how they changed each others lives. I loved every one of them and I could not stop listening to it once I started. It did not feel long to me at all.

Loved it.

View all my reviews

Review: Crying in H Mart

Crying in H Mart
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book took me forever to read. I started it at least ten times. It felt too depressing each time so I put it down. After months, I finally picked it as my book club pick so I would make my way through the book. Even then, it took me days to finish.

I can’t put my finger on exactly why this book didn’t have as profound as effect on me as it seems to have on many others. The writing was totally fine and I did love the food and all the evocative scenes.

But I think in the end, it felt like the story was about grief, yes, but not about growth. Not about what she learned. Such it made it an interesting and very sad story but harder for me to relate to it and make it my own.

Still I am glad I read it and grateful for more stories of grief out in the world.

View all my reviews

Review: The Long Answer

The Long Answer
The Long Answer by Anna Hogeland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this quiet but textured book with stories around infertility, family, sisterhood, and how we and our stories help each other.

View all my reviews

Review: Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope
Kaleidoscope by Cecily Wong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Heartfelt and beautiful book about family, sisterhood, loss and love. I enjoyed this story and recommend it.

View all my reviews

Review: I Let You Go

I Let You Go
I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Ok I know I am in the minority but I disliked this book. I found the characters stupid and despicable and I really felt awful by the time I was done reading it. I gave it two stars because I did keep reading it and some of the twists were interesting but I was of course able to guess the biggest ones and honestly, I was so unhappy by the end that I am sorry I read this book.

View all my reviews

Review: Naughts & Crosses

Naughts & Crosses
Naughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.5 stars

I am in the minority on this one or maybe I’ve read too many dystopian YA books by now that this was not interesting, not different or unique in any way except for the small twist of switching skin colors which was clever and interesting but not enough to make the book worthwhile for me. It might be the audio which I thought was terrible.

View all my reviews

Review: After You’d Gone

After You'd Gone
After You’d Gone by Maggie O’Farrell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5 stars

Maggie O’Farrell is such a wonderful writer and this, her first novel, is no exception. This is the story of Alice who takes the train to visit her sisters and while there sees something so shocking that she has to turn around and go right back home and then walks into traffic and ends up in a coma.

The novel unwinds in bits and pieces from there and shows us Alice and her family members, each with their own stories and bits and pieces of life until it all comes together. This is a rich, multi-layered story with wonderful characters. Highly recommended.

View all my reviews

Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray [Penguin Twentieth Century Classics]

The Picture of Dorian Gray [Penguin Twentieth Century Classics]
The Picture of Dorian Gray [Penguin Twentieth Century Classics] by Oscar Wilde
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I know this book and story are very famous and I can give it 5 stars for the concept but overall I didn’t think the story was as compelling or interesting as the 250 pages warranted. Maybe it would have been a more interesting short story.

View all my reviews