Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Monday, September 25, 2017

Review: Girl Running: Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon

Girl Running: Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon Girl Running: Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon by Annette Bay Pimentel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks, Penguin, for sending along the ARC.

Quick and easy nonfiction picture book about the first woman to run the Boston Marathon, even after being told that women weren't allowed to participate. Perfect girl power book!

And I loved the timeline of the marathon with the elevation levels at the bottom of the pages....I

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Review: Raven Black

Raven Black Raven Black by Ann Cleeves
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love the BBC show (on Netflix!), so I wanted to read the novels to see if I love them, too. And I do, even with all the differences between the book and the tv series. So funny to realize what changed, and what stayed the same between them. I do miss Tosh from the TV series, but Inspector Jimmy Perez is the pretty much the same--awesome.

Read this if you love rural British mysteries, but not if you like the cozy type.

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Review: Down Among the Sticks and Bones

Down Among the Sticks and Bones Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, this little book was creepishly delicious! Twin sisters are born to horrible people, and each are raised the way they ought to be--Jacqueline is the quiet and beautiful princess while Jllian is the tomboy who plays soccer. When the two girls have the chance to enter a magical world, they do so, and finally become themselves.

I didn't read book #2 of this series, and didn't need to--this is the prequel, so now I just want to run out and read the first, Every Heart a Doorway.

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Friday, September 22, 2017

Review: The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hilarious, huge novel about time travel and witchcraft. I wish it had been edited down a bit more, but it was nice to read a book and laugh out loud a lot!

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Friday, September 15, 2017

Review: Before We Were Yours

Before We Were Yours Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Very readable women's fiction about the nightmarish tales of children being stolen from families, bought, and sold at the Tennessee Children's Home Society in Memphis. Rill's siblings are snatched off their Mississippi river boat when their mother is in Memphis having another baby. Years later, a senator's daughter's chance encounter at a nursing home leads to seeing her grandmother in a photograph with other women who look like siblings. Secrets emerge. Quick and easy read!

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Review: Imagine Wanting Only This

Imagine Wanting Only This Imagine Wanting Only This by Kristen Radtke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I finished this book and said, "Hell, no!" after reading the last line. I won't spoil it for you, but, damn, this girl has a bleak outlook on life. The art was amazingly beautiful, but her idea of mourning/sadness/living is awfully bleak and I feel sorry for her.

I'm thankful that I don't have the same outlook on life as this author. And she seems like a "blue."

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Review: The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This audiobook better receive some Odyssey love! I listened to the MP3 with my Odyssey ears and it sounded just about perfect--the only flaw was Haley's voice, but I think her voice was meant to be "annoying valley girl."

I cried and I laughed, which is a sign of a great read. Star's family is wonderful--supportive, yet with flaws, and their love makes this book. So many great topics are covered in this one--blended families, coming of age friendships, police brutality, racism, first loves, black lives matter, activism, and I can't forget Black Jesus.

Can't wait to see how many awards this book and author receive--it's just darn good.

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Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Review: Quicksand

Quicksand Quicksand by Malin Persson Giolito
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

With about 100 pages edited out, this adult mystery translated from Swedish would have been outstanding. But it took almost a week for me to read it, because I was always finding something else to do, and that's not a good thing.

18-year-old Maja is on trial for a school shooting in a ritzy suburb, and the novel is told through transcript-like chapters of the court case (think Monster) and flashbacks. The flashbacks were a bit too long for me--I wanted to know if Maja was guilty or not, and reading about her horrific relationships were distressing. These high school kids in Sweden have better sex than I did in my 20s, and their drug use and lack of parental figures is nightmarish. I had to keep reading to find out what happened, though, which means that I skimmed a lot toward the end. 498 pages was just too long, even though I enjoyed Maja's teen-ish voice--she is hilarious and very observant.

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Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Review: Grief Cottage

Grief Cottage Grief Cottage by Gail Godwin
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Absolutely beautiful cover and the setting is almost a character in this novel. But just not my thing. I stopped on page 169, which was 5- pages over what I wanted to ready, but it was the only book I brought in for my pedicure.

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Review: Tiffany Girl

Tiffany Girl Tiffany Girl by Deeanne Gist
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

I stopped on Disk 3 of the audiobook--I felt like it was going nowhere. Yes, the Flossie was working in the glass factory that the men glassworkers had walked out on (strike for shorter work week and more pay), and, yes, her boss was Louis Tiffany.

But way too many details about the curtains in the boardinghouse's parlor and the princess-like charactier of Flossie for me to like her or care about her. Lots of details in this historical fiction and not much action.

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Friday, September 1, 2017

Review: A Share in Death

A Share in Death A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Lots of information about the place to vacation at the beginning, and the guests, but not much of a plot. Not a good choice to listen to on audio.

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Review: Gather the Daughters

Gather the Daughters Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I rarely stop reading a book because of too much incest, pica, and overall discomfort, but this dystopia was too dystopian for me to read right now. I just didn't want to know what happened next. I stopped on page 84.

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Review: The Great American Whatever

The Great American Whatever The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I want to be Tim Federle's best friend and I could listen to him read his own stories for years. I was on the Odyssey committee when he won an honor for Five, Six, Seven, Nate! and I feel like this, his first young adult book, was the same kid just a bit grown up. Tim's fiction has a unique, sincere, gay kid voice that I love. And I love that now those little kids in his children's books are grown up enough to say fuck a lot in young adult novels now.

Quinn isn't coping well since he recently lost his only sister to a car accident. She was the director to his screenplays and his partner in everything. They had no secrets, right? And so now it's difficult to go to school or eat anything but pizza, or, you know, live. Told with humor and sadness, this novel is Quinn's road to living again, thanks to the help of friends. Adorable tale of first love, too, with the handsome older guy Amir, who may or may not be perfect for Quinn.

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