Recent reads
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.