The creative writing scholar in me could point out a lot of structural and narrative flaws in this book, but ultimately it‘s just a damn good story.

Image: cold enough that Lenni let me put a fleece pullover on him!

I‘ve heard a lot of good things about this novella and it did not disappoint. What an odd and wonderful little book.

This author is a peloton instructor, and I will admit the first class of his that I took irritated me. I have since come around, though, taking more of his classes, and when I found out he grew up spending part of his childhood in North Carolina, decided to read this book.

I generally don‘t like memoirs, especially first person nonfiction celebrity memoirs, like this one. That being said, it was a fun read, and his life story is inspiring.

I keep trying to read different kinds of memoirs, first person non-fiction, etc. but I just can‘t get into it and usually bail.

An absolute must-read, giving this book as holiday gifts this year!

Bear in mind that I cannot stand the memoir genre and rarely finish the ones I pick up when I make an exception to my no-memoirs rule.

I didn‘t hate it, and I actually finished it. If you are or were a fan of any of her bands or involved in riot grrl, it might be of interest.

A must-read. I enjoyed the audiobook narration by several contributors, authors, poets.

This author is in my writing group and I read several early drafts of this book.

Creative unique take on vampires, very contemporary, with deep roots in the Long Island setting.

Great insight into leadership and management. I admit I was surprised by how much the author loves working in restaurants. I have never worked in food service but everyone I know who has didn‘t love it and viewed it as a job to pay the bills. This made me see how it could be enjoyable.

I‘ll read any novel this author writes.

Wow, what a script! I hope to see it performed someday.

(Pix: my new rescue kitty Lenni, a senior bengal who had been at the shelter for almost 400 days.)

This script is as good as its buzz. What a good play.

This hybrid narrative nonfiction/memoir is charming and engaging, and vaulted over my reflexive dislike of memoir. If the reflections of a woman who spent the COVID pandemic shearing a sheep, carding/spinning/dyeing the wool, and knitting it into a sweater sounds like your bag, check it out!

Bailing at 19%. I heard so much praise for this author but I can‘t stand the characters and don‘t want to spend more time following their stories.

I love books that use an artifact as a touchstone for exploring history and material culture, and this one is fantastic.

Fascinating and a surprisingly engaging read. The current state of sleep science is interesting to learn about and the benefits of sleep are so much greater than I would have thought. Honestly everyone should read this book, but especially parents and students. Highly recommend.

Wow, what a ride! I perhaps wouldn‘t have picked up this novel just based on a blurb or plot synopsis, but I know the author writes books I love to read and this one is no exception. My heart was captured by the characters, humans and horses. Highly recommended although not for the faint of heart—brutal treatment of humans and horses.

Bailing at 70%. Her life is inspiring and engaging but the book turns into a history of the drama and machinations behind various political events of FDR‘s presidency.

An important book. A lot of white Americans will find this a difficult read and many will dismiss it as hyperbole. Glad I read it although it‘s difficult, especially the details about brutality to enforce caste.

Almost more of a coffee-table art book in format, although it's an important reference volume and will go into the workroom library at my millinery studio.

Highly, highly recommend if you are interested in learning more about this niche topic

A very odd, disconcerting novel. Structurally ambitious and melancholy.

It‘s cool that Oprah Winfrey has partnered with scientific researchers and experts to co-author books on their areas of expertise. I‘m so glad I listened to the audiobook of this.

Helpful insight into her experiences and priorities on many issues. I generally don‘t care for memoirs but the elements of memoir enhance and personalize this book‘s content.

Decent true crime about a grisly USSR mystery.

If I taught contemporary literature, I‘d want to teach this book. It‘s exactly what the title says.

Highly recommended reference volume for millinery studios and couturieres/decorators with an interest in such things. Arranged for type of flower and when they seasonally bloom.

I absolutely loved this author‘s book The Luminaries. This one couldn‘t be more different and although I understand why the author might have chosen to end the story as it does, it makes me regret spending as much time reading it as I did. I should have bailed earlier.

I can‘t begin to describe this book but I‘m glad I read it.

If you liked this author‘s other books, you‘ll probably like this one. I did.

A fun book and a quick read. It gave me an identity crisis because it‘s the first book where I identified with a character clearly coded as “an eccentric old woman,” which I guess I am now.

Bailing—the audiobook narration is not for me.

I‘m bailing on this. My library loan ended before I finished and the line to get it again is so long, I just don‘t have the patience to do it again. Interesting and informative but also very depressing.

I liked this more than I expected to, but it wasn‘t described as “junior high science teacher finds alien life and saves the world” and that‘s basically it.

I love Dolly. I have to get the physical print edition of this but I spotted the audiobook available through my library. Glad I listened to it and I can‘t wait to see the photos.

Absolutely couldn‘t put it down. I admit have a personal attachment to the setting, having been an exchange student in West Berlin before the wall came down.

Bailed at 30%. I keep trying to find memoirs I can get into but they‘re just not for me. I love cats and enjoyed the novels I‘ve read by this author. I‘m sorry for the abuse he suffered as a child. He clearly really loved this cat. If you like cats and memoirs, you might like this.

I bailed at 75%. I was all in even though I hated the narrator—I also empathized with her as a fellow academic and middle aged woman who grew up in a western patriarchal society. But she made a choice in the last section of the book that I found so dumbfounding and reprehensible that I had to stop reading it.

Smart analytical music criticism, love stuff like this and voices other than cishet male are rare.

Listened to the audiobook, illuminating and disturbing.

I have read three of this author‘s books and I am surprised that this one has some ideas I want to bring up at work.

I found this book hilarious and couldn't put it down.

Despite being a generation older than the protagonist and her friends, I empathized with their online-dating exploits.

Recommend even if you aren't generally a fan of what used to be called "chick lit."

I had to stop because the audiobook reader began to attempt various bad British accents as direct quotes from historical figures began to appear, and I just couldn‘t take it seriously anymore.

I don't know what I expected of this book but wow, what a wild ride through history, science fiction, psychological warfare and even alternative libraries. Fascinating, thorough, and one of Newitz's more compelling nonfiction adventures. Recommended for anyone who's lived through recent events and wondered whether they or the world had gone mad.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My new best read of the year. A structural tour de force.

Wow! This book was recommended in a female empowerment workshop I attended and I ran right out and bought it (after reading the sample and watching the author‘s TED Talk). Highly recommended, not only for women with corporate ambitions but honestly any woman who has ever been catcalled by a stranger on the street or hit on by a boss.

Bailing at 80%. Too much brutality and violence.

Thought provoking, a fantastic Covid novel and one that in flashbacks captured the Y2K London art scene in what feels like a ketamine dream. I‘ve read one other novel by this author and I will seek out more.

I read an ARC of this novel from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely couldn‘t put down this compelling graphic memoir. And I generally don‘t stick with a memoir through the whole book but this one is 💯

I wish I‘d read this earlier in life.

Best novel of the year for me. A difficult and disturbing book. Audiobook highly recommended for keeping all the plot threads and characters straight via several narrators. I think it would have been harder to follow if I‘d read it as text.