Recent reads
10/25/25. Almost gave up after part 1, but then part 2 started to get more interesting. I would've liked it more if it was shorter, and I care nothing about fashion, so I'm not even sure why I listened haha.
10/19/25. Gave her another try and I liked this more than Chocolat but was still unimpressed. Fairy tales are hard to mess up but it was weirdly sexist??
10/15/25. This was a lot of fun. Definitely triggering for disordered eaters but otherwise sweet and delectable and more than a little sexy.
10/8/25. This is a reread and I liked it well enough the first time around, but absolutely loved it this time. A beautiful novel about love, sex, loss, and so much ecology. She's such a wonderful writer.
9/24/25. Didn't really love this one - thought the detective was a little too high and mighty, not to mention ageist and fatphobic. But the mystery was engaging and I didn't see it coming.
9/21/25. Harrowing and exceedingly clever. Even though I somehow never read Huck Finn, I couldn't put this book down. I'll be thinking about this for a long time.
9/20/25. This was an utterly delightful coming-of-age novel. Funny, sweet, and genuine, darling Mary Jane learns about sex, drugs, and rock and roll all in one summer. A really fun audiobook as well.
9/9/25. Not at all what I expected. I thought this would be a lot more titillating, but instead it was philosophical, though fell flat for me. I didn't like any of the main characters and the premise just never made any sense.
9/3/25 - Absolutely absurd book, laugh out loud funny, while sometimes poignant and even sad. A treatise on what it means to lose everything, do nothing, and take a hell of a lot of drugs.
8/27/25 - Utterly fun, and as I'm learning about Hiaasen, satisfying in the way that only novels can truly be.
8/19/25 - A fabulous read by an old friend from college (!!). A total gut punch, hit a bit close to home, and really excellent writing.
8/18/25 - Loved this immensely. A fun mystery (that I guessed! but not because it was too easy) and great writing with breaking the fourth wall. Delightful.
8/12/25 - I always have high hopes for Okorafor but I just don't love her characters. The story was meaningful and thought-provoking though.
7/31/25 - I love Colson Whitehead but this book just took me forever to read. It was basically a hundred or more vignettes, so while the writing is excellent, it never captured my interest for more than a few chapters at a time.
7/28/25 - A great recommendation from my aunt. Good mystery, interesting suspects, wonderful detective.
7/19/25. Very fun and laugh-out-loud absurdist picture of modern day America, only the bad guys actually get what's coming to them, making it more of a fantasy than reality. Read it in just a few days and definitely needed the laugh.
7/18/25. Very strange, almost stream of consciousness writing about the history of murderous science, physics, and strange and smart men.
7/12/25. Not my favorite nature book, but a lovely treatise on finding life in your own backyard in the middle of a planet on fire.
6/9/25. Fun at first but a little too black and white - church bad, witch good. Never saw the movie and honestly probably won't now.
6/7/25. Very strange book about an aging assassin. Interesting insight in what it means to be an old woman in society, with a bunch of action. The characters weren't super well developed but it was a fun listen.
6/2/25. Not my preferred style of writing and I wasn't crazy about the characters or their paths, but I learned a lot about Malaysia and the Japanese during WWII. Ultimately very sad, unsurprisingly.
5/25/25. A beautiful little fairy tale about love and grammar and family. Lovely illustrations as well.
5/20/25. Another Libby find and extremely unsettling, without a real resolution. Excellent creepy novella.
5/13/25. A surprise find from Libby with climate apocalypse mixed with pandemic. Powerful, extremely sad, sweet, hopeful at the end.
5/3/25. One of his earliest books and wow has he become a better writer. Not the hugest fan of the characters or main story, but I liked the history.
4/24/25. A bit over-the-top but fun with some real character growth. Loved the focus on friendship!
4/20/25. A real gut punch, phenomenal writing, very beautiful and poignant and sad. But not without hope or humor, at least. Very much like life.
4/9/25. One of the most influential books I've ever read - totally upended so many ideas and beliefs about dieting, fatness, weight, and our society. A must read if you've ever eaten or thought about food before, especially if you're raising children.
4/4/25. Funny and fun albeit very silly and a little predictable. Overall a real romp!
3/15/25. Not my favorite Allende, but an important read for today's world. Covid, refugees, immigration policy.
3/15/25. Zadie Smith is a difficult writer. Lots of playing with time and characters with little exposition. Took me a long time to finish but ultimately a pretty stunning book.
2/24/25. A sweet space opera. Not thrilling, but light and enjoyable. Clearly influenced by The Expanse but not nearly as good. Will still likely read the rest of the trilogy because we all need a little more levity right now.
2/22/25. A real delight. My cousin recommended it before she died last year and it was almost like we got to have a conversation again through this absurd and very funny book about onlyfans and family and motherhood. While it wasn't all so believable that didn't really matter, because I laughed out loud a whole lot.
2/8/25. Required reading for parents, especially white parents.
1/31/25. Somehow had never heard of Muriel Spark before a friend mentioned her in response to last year's reading list. Doesn't always hold up but laugh out loud funny. Looking forward to more of her books.
1/26/25 - Not even close to my favorite Murakami, but still a quiet, thoughtful, read. Makes me want to revisit all of my old favorites.
1/9/25 - I think I'm just not a Blake Crouch fan. Too rote, too predictable. Only one real plot twist for me and even that was too oddly violent.