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All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book was sad. Too sad. I put off reading it for a few days and then dove in and I am not sure I should have. It's about two sisters. The main character's sister keeps trying to die and she keeps trying to stop her. It's hard reading. View all my reviews

All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book was sad. Too sad. I put off reading it for a few days and then dove in and I am not sure I should have. It's about two sisters. The main character's sister keeps trying to die and she keeps trying to stop her. It's hard reading. View all my reviews

Everything for You by Chloe Liese My rating: 4 of 5 stars Chloe Liese's books are full of textured and real characters who care deeply, manage to surprise you and worm their way into your heart. This one was no exception even though I do think some bits were wordier than needed. View all my reviews

Twice in a Lifetime by Melissa Baron My rating: 4 of 5 stars 3.5 stars I really dislike it when book blurbs mention well-loved, well-read books in order to get you to buy a book. I feel like it pre-biases the story. I understand why they do it (it's a quick way to tell if this book is your cup of tea) but the thing is, there's so much more to a book than it's plot. Every book about time travel and love is not the same. Every book that happens non-linearly is also not the same. For me, what matters most when I compare books is how they made me feel. How were the characters developed. Did the love feel the way it feels in a different book? Did you find yourself cheering for them in the same way, did you find yourself mourning the same way? When you compare it to another book on some of the plot elements alone, you're losing me before I even read your book because what if the feeling is different (but also lovely?) Now I don't like ...

The Measure by Nikki Erlick My rating: 5 of 5 stars When the library emailed me saying this book was ready, I put the book I was listening to on hold to switch to this one because I'd been waiting for it for so long and I wanted to see if it was as good as I'd hoped it would be. I think the book was beautifully written. The premise is interesting and could have been taking ten different ways and could have been executed in ways that fell short. But this author focused on how the value of a human life is not about its length. It reminded me of the quote by Diane Ackerman “I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.” It's not just the length that matters even though we tend to focus on that more than anything else. The book also is about human connection and how our lives intersect and have a way of intermingling. How people can rely on each ot...

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller My rating: 5 of 5 stars For reasons unclear to me, it took me a long time to read this book. I checked it out of the library over twenty times before I finally sat down to read it. I tried listening on audio and decided it was never going to work out, so I read the book and I am glad I did. It was beautifully written and what a journey to read. Madeline Miller is a talented writer and it absolutely shows in this beautifully told story of Achilles and the Odyssey. View all my reviews

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller My rating: 5 of 5 stars For reasons unclear to me, it took me a long time to read this book. I checked it out of the library over twenty times before I finally sat down to read it. I tried listening on audio and decided it was never going to work out, so I read the book and I am glad I did. It was beautifully written and what a journey to read. Madeline Miller is a talented writer and it absolutely shows in this beautifully told story of Achilles and the Odyssey. View all my reviews

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay My rating: 4 of 5 stars 4.5 stars I haven't read YA in a long time but this was a fast and involving read. So much angst. Drew was my favorite character. He surprised you. He grew. He was funny. View all my reviews

56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard My rating: 4 of 5 stars Not sure why I postponed reading this for a long time but I am glad I finally read it. I didn't see the twists coming really and i really liked them. View all my reviews

Never Coming Home by Kate Williams My rating: 3 of 5 stars I know most people liked this book but it not only annoyed me but it also left me feeling uneasy for a whole day after i read it. This is not really a mystery, it's more like a slasher movie in a novel. Not a lot of time for any of the characters to be developed. It wasn't for me. View all my reviews

Find Your Peace: A Workbook for a More Mindful Life by Kiki Ely My rating: 4 of 5 stars Like others in the series this book is full of exercises to help you connect with yourself, figure out your values and what guides you, figure out how to cope with things that make you anxious or get in the way of your peace and figure out your purpose and goals in life. There are many many different exercises so at least one is bound to appeal to anyone who is on a journey to find and cultivate more peace in their lives. Each exercise is relatively short and impactful. Recommended. with gratitude to edelweiss and quarto group for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review View all my reviews

The Singularities by John Banville My rating: 2 of 5 stars Unfortunately this one wasn't a good fit for me. I know Banville is an excellent writer with an incredible command of the English language. And yet this story was full of unlikeable characters, 2 dimensional women, really long run-on sentences that became indecipherable. It might easily be that I missed something and that this novel is smart on some level that is beyond my understanding. Alas, it did not meet the mark for me. with gratitude to netgalley and Knopf for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews

Small World by Jonathan Evison My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a rich and layered novel with a long cast of generations of characters that span 150+ years and revolve around traveling through the country and a train with passengers connected in seemingly non-obvious ways. There are a lot of characters in this novel and yet they are each layered with rich backstories and it's easy to get attached to each and every one of them. An excellent excellent novel. View all my reviews

The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson My rating: 0 of 5 stars I tried but finally DNF'ing at 39% so I will not rate this one. While some of the ideas in the book are interesting and welcoming to me, the style in which this is written is really hard for me to follow and causes the ideas to lack depth in a way that makes my mind meander. View all my reviews

Wilderness Watercolor Landscapes: 30 Eye-Catching Scenes Anyone Can Master by Kolbie Blume My rating: 4 of 5 stars I discovered Kolbie Blume randomly on Pinterest and fell in love with her art and her videos. I then signed up for her two 10-day challenges which was life changing and filled up all my days with beautiful art. And then I finally tracked down her books and got them. I think doing it in that order was actually the best fit for me and allowed me to hear her voice as I read the book and completed the projects in this book. I highly recommend doing it this way. I liked the seascapes one a little more than this one, just for the projects but both of Kolbie's books are awesome. View all my reviews

The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen My rating: 5 of 5 stars One of my absolute favorites for 2022 by a long, long mile. This clever, funny book is unlike anything I've read in a long, long time. I loved every moment I spent with it and even though I thought the ending bordered on the absurd, I still laughed out loud for most of this hilarious and smart book. Highly recommended. View all my reviews

Stunning Watercolor Seascapes: Master the Art of Painting Oceans, Rivers, Lakes and More by Kolbie Blume My rating: 5 of 5 stars I discovered Kolbie Blume randomly on Pinterest and fell in love with her art and her videos. I then signed up for her two 10-day challenges which was life changing and filled up all my days with beautiful art. And then I finally tracked down her books and got them. I think doing it in that order was actually the best fit for me and allowed me to hear her voice as I read the book and completed the projects in this book. I highly recommend doing it this way. Love love loved this book. View all my reviews

Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars. Not terrible but also not amazing. Sarah Pinborough's books are always unusual and require a suspension of disbelief. This one is no exception. But it's still interesting, engrossing and worthwhile. View all my reviews

Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen My rating: 4 of 5 stars 4.5 stars. Jonathan Franzen can write. He also can create 3dimensional characters that jump out of the page and stick with you for a long, long time. I put off reading this book because it was so long and I wasn't sure if I wanted to commit to a book for this long if it wasn't going to be excellent. But alas it was quite excellent. I loved each of the characters in their own ways and their imperfections and their willingness and ability to grow. I cannot wait to read the next one. View all my reviews

The Great Book of Journaling: How Journal Writing Can Support a Life of Wellness, Creativity, Meaning and Purpose by Eric Maisel My rating: 4 of 5 stars I've been journaling since I was in third grade. I remember (and still have) my first diary. I still find journaling to be the most useful tool to help ground myself, to understand my thoughts and to figure out a path forward for myself when I am stuck. This book has a collection of chapters by different contributors, each telling you a different kind of journaling or a different place, way, goal to journal. I found it to be incredibly inspiring and I can't wait to sit and try some of these other methods that I don't usually do. If you're into journaling, or have wanted to journal, this book is guaranteed to inspire you. with gratitude to edelweiss and Mango Publishing Group for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews

In the Weeds by B.K. Borison My rating: 5 of 5 stars I think I liked this one even more than the first one. Beckett is such a great character and it was just so lovely to get lost in his world for a few hours. Love the kittens, the duck, the sisters. I love everything about these books. View all my reviews

Can't Look Away by Carola Lovering My rating: 3 of 5 stars This was an okay story, moved fast but went nowhere. No major twist (I guess one small one which I will admit I didn't guess.) Interesting premise but not sure where it went in the end. View all my reviews

Loving the Dead and Gone by Judith Turner-Yamamoto My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3,5 stars. This is the story of two different women at two different times in history. Both dealing with loss and pain and how their lives intertwine in an unexpected way. I really enjoyed the writing and the resilience of the women who have learned to move forward and do what's needed regardless of the pain they endure. with gratitude to edelweiss and Regal House Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews

Aurora by David Koepp My rating: 4 of 5 stars I enjoyed this fast-paced story about a different disaster around the electric grid that comes a few years after covid. As we've learned in the last few years, some people take it better than others and for some it brings out the best in them and they help each other out, and for others, well it brings out the worst. View all my reviews

Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen My rating: 4 of 5 stars A fast-paced fun and light read about two women who start a business returning counterfeit bags and selling the real ones on ebay. There a few little surprises but for the most part it's just a fun story. View all my reviews

Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars. An interesting story about a graduate student who uncovers a big deception as part of writing her thesis. There's a lot around being Asian and racism and literature and even educational institutions in this interesting and layered story. It was a bit longer than it needed to be. View all my reviews

A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley My rating: 4 of 5 stars I've always enjoyed Jane Smiley's writing and "A Dangerous Business" is no exception. This is the story of Eliza Ripple who lost her husband in a fight and now has to learn how to make it on her own in 1851 California. She works at a brothel and when women in the town start getting murdered, she and her friend, Jean, decide to solve the mystery of who's hurting the women. The characters in this story are all three dimensional and Eliza is a funny and there are a lot of interesting bits about working at a brothel, being a woman in California at the time, the gold rush, the beginnings of Civil War talks and slavery and even women who work at brothels for women. I enjoyed the writing and this unusual story. I felt like the ending was more abrupt than I thought it would be but, for me, the mystery was secondary to this character-driven story. with gratitude to netgalley and...

The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz My rating: 5 of 5 stars What an absolutely fantastic story about a family with triplets who do not feel connected to each other and a family that can never feel or behave like a family until the daughter born many many years later finally brings them together and shows them what it means to be a family. This character-driven story is absolutely magnificent. Thanks to my friend Lauren who recommended it! View all my reviews

Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley My rating: 4 of 5 stars What a sweet, tender book about unexpected friendship and how strangers can save your life. I loved each of the characters and how they rallied for each other. If you want something light and sweet and uplifting, this will be one you like. View all my reviews

Heartstopper: Volume Four by Alice Oseman My rating: 4 of 5 stars I love this series. This one was much more about the eating disorder and getting help than the others have been and it's still so sweet and uplifting and tender. View all my reviews

Delphine Jones Takes a Chance by Beth Morrey My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars I liked this character-based story about a single mom who slowly starts putting her life back together. It's a slow but sweet book. View all my reviews

A Quiet Life by Ethan Joella My rating: 5 of 5 stars "She brought all this texture into their lives, and he never needed to be creative or experiment with new personas. He was like an evergreen next to a tree that transformed itself brilliantly every season—he looked good because she was near him." Ethan Joella is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. The characters he creates are so layered and real and deeply human that it's not possible to not fall in love with them. This is the story of three people: Chuck, Ella, and Kirsten, each of whom is struggling with a loss. One lost his wife, the other her father, and the third her daughter. They are all suffering and learning how to build their life forward within this grief. As their lives overlap and interweave in unexpected ways, they help rescue each other in ways that only strangers can. This book is full of heart and it will stay with you long after you finish it. I cannot reco...

Find Your Calm: A Workbook to Manage Anxiety by Jaime Zuckerman My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book has specific and helpful exercises to work with your anxiety. It has different parts focusing on different areas like being with your body or sitting with the hard things. I have found some of the exercises to be tremendously helpful and others to be not as significant but that's what's so great about the book: you can use the items that are helpful to you and you do not need to read it sequentially for it to be beneficial. If you suffer from bouts of anxiety, I am confident you will find some of these exercises to be beneficial. with gratitude to edelweiss and Wellfleet Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews

The Urban Sketching Handbook Spotlight on Nature: Tips and Techniques for Drawing and Painting Nature on Location by Virginia Hein My rating: 4 of 5 stars I love the Urban Sketching books and this one is no exception. This particular one focuses on drawing nature. It has different sections focusing on incorporating nature into your sketches, teaching you how to draw specific elements of nature and then lots of inspiration and examples. It has a lot of technical examples and walkthroughs for drawing different trees, etc. As someone who really enjoys drawing nature, I've loved having both the inspiration and the technical instruction in this book. with gratitude to netgalley and Quarry Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews

The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang My rating: 5 of 5 stars "Because I hate my hair." Like most teenage girls, she meant herself, but hair is easier to change. I read and loved Ruth Emmie Lang's previous novel so I was really excited to read this one and it did not disappoint. This is the story of two sisters, Zadie and Finn, who go in search of their mother, Nora, who went missing five years ago. Finn is about to go to college, and has decided that she needs to go searching for her mother before she can make a final decision around her adoption and convinces Zadie to take this unplanned trip across the country. Finn and Zadie both have abilities that make them a bit unusual. Finn can see/feel bits of people's discarded memories and Zadie can sense things that haven't happened yet. The magical realism in this book was wonderful and created some lovely characters and texture and depth that I really enjoyed. I loved the sibling rel...

In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3,5 stars. Interesting but also a bit predictable. Ok mystery. View all my reviews

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd My rating: 4 of 5 stars Interesting and engrossing read. View all my reviews

Nevada by Imogen Binnie My rating: 4 of 5 stars Loved this story of a transgender woman, Maria, who decides to take a cross-country trip after losing both her job and her relationship in one day. It's an excellent look into some of the issues transgender folk experience, told in a clear, engrossing style. I loved it. View all my reviews

Nuclear Family by Joseph Han My rating: 4 of 5 stars What an interesting book. This is about a dysfunctional Korean family who is running a restaurant in Hawaii. their oldest son runs into the demilitarized zone when he's in Korea (while inhabited by his grandfather's spirit) and it wreaks havoc with the family. So much about the history of Korea and Hawaii. This was a very interesting and engrossing read. View all my reviews

The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle by Matt Cain My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars. Sweet, touching story of Albert who finally decides to open up and live the life he wishes he had been brave enough to live. Wonderful, sweet story. View all my reviews

Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan My rating: 5 of 5 stars I read this in one swallow. It was super fun, lighthearted but sweet and just a really enjoyable summer read. If you want something light and fun, I highly recommend this one. View all my reviews

Billie Starr's Book of Sorries: A Novel by Deborah E. Kennedy My rating: 3 of 5 stars Billie Starr’s mom has made a lot of mistakes in her life. She's always saying she's sorry. She's trying to make better choices but keeps getting caught up in things she doesn't mean to. There was parts of this book that I really enjoyed. I liked Billie Starr and wish there was a bit more of her in the story. I liked the best friend and the next door neighbor. But some of the story didn't make sense to me. Why would she not have gone back for her raincoat this whole time? Even though I understood how that circled back in the end, I couldn't understand someone who wouldn't go back to get her things. She just seemed to be jumping from one unwise decision to another. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and many of them didn't feel as fleshed out as they could have been. Similarly the sub-plot lines came and went and didn...

Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro My rating: 5 of 5 stars "By here, he means somewhere on the western edge of the United States. It’s possible to grow up in the wrong house, on the wrong street, in the wrong town, in the wrong part of the country. It’s possible to go to the wrong school. To have the wrong dad. To be pushed to do the wrong things. But it is also possible to survive all these psychic indignities if you have one, maybe two people who recognize you for who you are. His mom saw him. By seeing him, she saved him." I loved this book. Shapiro's latest explores two families, going through tumultuous times, as she weaves back and forth in time to show us how they ended up here and the journey they took both in the past and into the future. The book opens up with three teens in a car accident, where one of them dies. And of course, that moment changes the lives of the parents (and the kids) forever. Then it shows the neighbors next doo...

The Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars I think the only reason this doesn't get more stars from me is because I enjoyed the first book so much and this one wasn't as interesting, to me, comparatively. If I hadn't read the first one and read this as a standalone I am confident I would have loved it even more. View all my reviews

Meant to Be by Emily Giffin My rating: 3 of 5 stars This was a quick read but since I am not particularly a fan (or not) of JFK Jr. this didn't really speak to me. I liked the audio and the voice of both of the characters but I found the book to be mostly boring to be honest. View all my reviews

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover My rating: 1 of 5 stars I think I might be done with Colleen Hoover. This one just felt lazy to me. Both of the stories felt super dragged out just to make a book. I thought all of the characters were not well developed and the plot was way way too contrived. This one wasn't for me. View all my reviews

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf My rating: 4 of 5 stars This was a well-written and unexpected mystery. I liked the fast pace and I actually quite liked the twist, too. I enjoyed the time I spent with it. View all my reviews

Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson My rating: 5 of 5 stars "But Zeke needed to know. You had to choose sides. And you always chose the person who didn’t fuck everything up. You chose the person who was stuck with you." What an incredibly unusual story. This is the story of Zeke and Frankie who spend a summer together making a poster that has Zeke's art and Frankie's words on it. They then plaster the poster all over town. Next thing you know, it gets enmeshed with a story some teens make up to get out of trouble and things get out of hand and copies start appearing all over the world. It becomes a phenomenon. Crazy things happen. It gets out of hand. And the whole time, no one knows they started it all. "I thought that the saddest thing that could happen was that something inside your head worked so hard to make it into the world and then nothing happened. It just disappeared. Now that I’d put those words into the ...

Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang My rating: 4 of 5 stars I think this was a 3.5 star read for me but I bumped it up because i learned a lot about history while I was reading it and I felt grateful that this book is out there. It's a tough subject and I will say that much of it was tough to read but I am still glad I read it. View all my reviews

The Winners by Fredrik Backman My rating: 5 of 5 stars "It’s a terrible moment for all kids when we realize that our parents can’t protect us. That we won’t be able to protect our own. That the whole world can come and take us whenever it likes." I have loved every book Backman has written. I have loved the Beartown series so very much and I wasn't sure I was prepared to read another book on it and I also wasn't sure I was prepared for it to end. I loved this small town with its broken and violent and struggling and loving people. I both wanted to swallow this book up in one sitting and also savor every single moment I spent with it. I wanted to go slowly and yet I couldn't stop reading it. These characters are all so real, they jump off the page and they pull you into their lives. You fall in love with each of them in unique and inexplicable ways. "There ought to be a different word for it once you’ve been married for enou...