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Together We Will Go by J. Michael Straczynski My rating: 4 of 5 stars "“The reason they’re morons is they spend years, decades, hell, their whole lives regretting or apologizing for things nobody else even remembers. They carry those things around like bags of sand that keep them from going to all the places they could’ve gone and would’ve gone if they hadn’t been so busy thinking about the goddamn sand." This is a unique book. The blurb mentions "Silver Linings Playbook" and "The Breakfast Club" and in fairness, I do see elements of both of them though thinking about either of them too much might take away from enjoying this book itself. I read the whole book in a single sitting. I loved the way it was diary entries mixed with dialogue and narration. "Soldier didn’t need to show me all the time that he loved me. He knew it and I knew it and that’s that. What he was doing was giving me a safe place to put my own lov...

Competitive Grieving by Nora Zelevansky My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars This book was an unexpected surprise. It starts out as a light, funny read and then evolves into something touching and lovely. It's about Wren who finds out that her childhood (and still) best friend has died. She is asked to clean his apartment and has to deal with all the people who are circling his friend's belongings. She's finding out all the things she didn't know about her friend and finding out some things about herself in the process. View all my reviews

Morningside Heights by Joshua Henkin My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a real and touching story about a well-loved Shakespeare teacher a Columbia who gets early onset Alzheimers. It's also a story about a complicated family with ex-wives and step-children and abandonment and love and belonging. It's also a love letter to New York City and its people. I've lived in New York for all of my twenties and the characters in this story jump off the paper and are real and textured. They try, they fail, and they try again. They let each other down, they love each other fiercely. They take care of each other. They stand by each other. They show up for each other. Each character in this book is unique and familiar and it's not possible not to fall in love with them. with gratitude to netgalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews

That Summer by Jennifer Weiner My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is definitely not Weiner's typical type of book. It's not light and a beach read. Which is totally fine but I do wish they would change the covers so it doesn't look like it's a light and breezy book. I wasn't expecting the plot to be what it was and while I did like the book, I would have liked to know what I was getting into. View all my reviews

How to Save a Life by Eva Carter My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars. Somehow this book ended up being different than what I thought it was going to be. It was a lot longer than I thought it needed to be and it was serious with a lot of serious subject matter and yet a romance, sort of, maybe in between genres? I did like it but I somehow didn't love it. I sort of knew where it was going and lost patience in the middle when it took way too long to get there. View all my reviews

What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins My rating: 4 of 5 stars I loved this book. It reminded me of "Plainsong" which was my favorite read from two years ago. I was quiet and sad and also beautiful. Even though it was a "mystery" there wasn't much mystery to most of the story. It was character driven and each of the characters was textured and layered and i loved them each a little bit. View all my reviews

What You Can See from Here by Mariana Leky My rating: 4 of 5 stars I decided I would marry Martin one day because I believed that someone who would spare you from having to watch the world take its course had to be the right person. It took me forever to read this book. I started it and then there were so many characters that I just couldn't get into it. They were each interesting but none of them were interesting enough to keep my attention for some reason. Maybe because I was distracted and my attention kept wavering. “No, Selma, I mean as a couple,” my mother had insisted. “I mean have you thought of being a couple with the optician?” Selma had looked at my mother as if she were a cocker spaniel and said, “But I already had my couple.” But I wasn't willing to give up on it. I put it down and then picked it back up many, many times. I grew frustrated with myself. I grew frustrated with the book. Why couldn't i just read it and enjoy it?...

Girls with Bright Futures by Tracy Dobmeier My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars I thought I wasn't going to like this book. I live a few blocks from Stanford and too many of the parents in this book are slightly over the top versions of parents around me. It was a bit close to home but I still enjoyed my time with it and really liked some of the subplots. View all my reviews

Life's Too Short by Abby Jimenez My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars. Read this one in one sitting. It was fun, uplifting, engaging and a joy to read. I will likely forget most of it but it doesn't matter, it gave me joy while I read it and that's really all I seek from books like this. Recommended. View all my reviews

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave My rating: 4 of 5 stars I loved this book. It was a super-fast read for me and I really really liked the main character. It's sort of a mystery and sort of about parenthood, family, choices we make and the consequences we have to live with and what sacrifices we're willing to make. I really liked it. View all my reviews

Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau My rating: 3 of 5 stars Ok so this was neither like Daisy Jones nor like Almost Famous. I feel like blurbs like this just do a disservice to the book since it sets the readers mentality into a particular expectation. Why would you do that when it will annoy the reader and then get your book lower ratings? If you put those expectations aside, this was an interesting book. It's about a 14 year old girl who takes a babysitting job with a family in her neighborhood. This family is very different than hers and opens her eyes and mind in a lot of ways. I think there are several scenes that border on neglect and abuse and I had to suspend disbelief quite a bit, but I still found the story interesting and engaging. View all my reviews

The Perfect Daughter by D.J. Palmer My rating: 3 of 5 stars This was a perfectly acceptable fast-paced mystery with a slight twist which wasn't a huge shocker (to me) but still interesting, especially exploring the multiple-personality disorder. It also covers topics around adoption, family dynamics, motherhood, etc. View all my reviews

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry My rating: 4 of 5 stars I know many people loved Henry's previous novel, which I liked too but I loved this one so much more. I loved all the little bits of vacations over the years, I loved the two characters. I loved going back and forth in time. I just really enjoyed my time with this story. Wonderfully delightful. View all my reviews

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir My rating: 5 of 5 stars I did not love Weir's second book but with this one, he won my heart back! What a fantastic story, great humor, super fun science. I enjoyed every single minute I spent with this story from beginning to its unpredictable end. Love love loved it! View all my reviews

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book absolutely blew my mind. I don't even like reading nonfiction but I could not put this down. It was a completely insane story, told incredibly well, and I have been recommending it to everyone I know. Absolutely amazing. Mind-blowing. Sad. Surreal. View all my reviews

Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny My rating: 3 of 5 stars What an unusual story this was. It felt like it was about nothing, just a slice of life and relationships and interesting characters that I slowly fell in love with a little bit. I enjoyed the time I spent with this novel but I can't say I loved it. It was comforting, sweet, and quirky. View all my reviews

The Finish Line by Kate Stewart My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars This took me the longest to read. I think I was partially done with the series after book two. But once I got into it, it was fast and enjoyable and did its job helping me numb the sounds in my head. I enjoyed all of this series. View all my reviews

One Two Three by Laurie Frankel My rating: 4 of 5 stars 4.5 stars Laurie Frankel creates the most beautiful and memorable characters. She writes stories that stay with you long after you finish the book. Her characters care so deeply and profoundly that it's impossible to read her books and not feel the same way. "This is How it Always is" was my favorite book the year it came out so I was incredibly excited to get to read One Two Three and it absolutely did not disappoint. This story is about triplets Mab, Monday, and Mirabel who live in the town Bourne where a terrible tragedy occurred seventeen years ago and the town is still reeling from it. The girls' mother will not stop fighting for justice. A new family moves into town for the first time in a long time and things start taking a most unexpected turn. The story is told from the perspectives of the three girls, each of whom have a unique and memorable voice. The audio version o...

Exodus by Kate Stewart My rating: 3 of 5 stars I enjoyed this one a little less. The beginning was a lot like the Twilight book where Edward is gone and all Bella's doing is mourning and sulking and there was much of that here. Then a bunch of stuff happened and then a lot of time passes so the pacing was a bit weird, too. But it still managed to numb me just fine. View all my reviews

The Last Goodbye by Fiona Lucas My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars. I really enjoyed the premise of this book. Anna loses the love of her life, Spencer, and then one night randomly calls his cell phone to hear his voice. The number is reassigned so she gets a different person and then they start talking. That person has also endured a big loss so they connect through that and end up chatting without meeting each other for a long time. The story was deep and meaningful and the ache of loss was well presented. I really enjoyed the narration as well. with gratitude to netgalley and Harper Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews

Flock by Kate Stewart My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars I had been feeling tired and overwhelmed and unable to find any books that held my interest when I saw this book and the many, many raving reviews on amazon. I am not sure why I hadn't heard of it but it was the perfect book to help me numb a bit of what's going on in the world. It's fast pacing, light, and one of those books you fall into. If you mind explicit sex scenes, extreme behavior and over the top plots, and if you are bothered by writing that's not excellent, this one won't be for you. View all my reviews

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton My rating: 0 of 5 stars 3.5 stars This novel has exceptional narration. The story has so much life, so much history, so much political education for me as a reader. I really enjoyed each of the characters in their own unique way. I felt like there were parts that dragged and pulled me out of the story and characters at times (especially when the writer was narrating what was going on) but that's only because the other characters were so rich and so deep that the difference was noticeable. It's a great book that is both relevant and richly told with unforgettable characters. View all my reviews

Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars I really had fun reading this sweet story of a woman who basically has put her whole life on hold, living in a routine life and dead-end job that comes with an expiration date. She then meets a man who slowly but deeply starts to wake her up and change her life. And, of course, she changes his, too. Sweet, fun, lovely. View all my reviews

When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars This is a beautifully told character-driven story of a detective who goes back home to recover from her own tragedy and then is recruited to help with an ongoing case. It's not your typical twisty thriller that goes at a breakneck pace. It's slow, intentional, deep and well-written. I enjoyed my time with it. View all my reviews

When I Ran Away by Ilona Bannister My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars This was a heart-wrenching portrait of Gigi who loses her brother during 9/11 and then moves to London ten years later to be with the man who helped her on that fateful day. Even though the story starts with 9/11 and the grief and shock of losing her brother, almost all of this story is about post-partum depression. She is far away from her family, her culture, her support system, her husband is working all the time and she is coming undone. One day, she decides to walk out and check herself into a hotel which is where the story is told from as it unwinds back to the steps that make the story unfold. It was angry, devastating, and a raw portrait of life. Powerful. View all my reviews