DNF. Didn‘t hold my attention.

Really charming and fun! I thoroughly enjoyed reading about this quartet of elderly sleuths.

DNF. Great potential but I wanted to like it more than I did.

DNF. I couldn‘t force myself to keep reading.

I think I wanted to like it more than I did. I went on too long to hold my interest.

Great atmosphere. You grow more and more unsettled as you read.

I really struggled to finish. I generally love Foley‘s work so I was surprised. I think the characters were just not interesting.

Another Miss Marple. Good stuff.

This one was a bit more confusing. I think because there were so many people to keep track of. But it‘s Christie, so you know it‘s good.

It was interesting but not my kind of book. Kind of soap opera-y.

Touching, poignant, absurd… I loved it.

Christie is my go-to comfort mystery writer. I can‘t help but love being stumped by her.

I‘ve become a big fan of Ishiguro‘s books. They‘re quiet, observant, and have a lot of heart, rather like Klara. The book did not go in the direction I expected at all but I was still left with a wistful longing and sadness at the end.

I read a review that said that this would work much better as a movie than a book and I agree. Unless you‘re a diehard horror fan- and I am- you‘re going to struggle a bit with the characters. Even as a huge fan, I got confused at times. But the story is interesting. I would love to watch it.

Evelyn is an interesting character. Calculating and hungry but also fiercely loyal. She knows who she is and how she‘s perceived and uses that knowledge to her tactical advantage. I like juicy characters like her. Other characters in the book weren‘t as interesting to me, unfortunately. But it was still a good book, over all.

I saw dark academia and Greek mythology and grabbed this right up. It‘s quite good. I felt some parts were unnecessary and the ending a bit rushed but was satisfied.

DNF. The concept seemed to hold promise but it was incredibly dull and insipid. I couldn‘t force myself to finish it.

Powerful and brutal. Not perfect but definitely raw and emotional. I only wish it hadn‘t ended so abruptly.

A very touching short story about Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and their animals.

Relatively short and written in test format, it certainly packs a punch.

I really loved Ready Player One so this was quite a big disappointment for me. It tried too hard to replicate the magic of the first and flopped.

I liked the book well enough. It was interesting but I expected more science. I‘m into metaphysics. It should have clearly stated it‘s a metaphysics book. This suggested more of a scientific lean, hence the slight disappointment.

I give some points for research. But the writing was melodramatic and often repetitive. It became tedious to slog through. This took me years to finish because I had to keep putting it down and almost nearly gave up. Which is unfortunate because it really could have been a good book.

It was an interesting retelling of The Handmaid‘s Tale but I was left wanting more. I felt very unfulfilled by the ending.

The first Miss Marple book. It‘s interesting to see how the character started and know how she later developed in the series (as I‘ve read other books in the Marple series). This was narrated by the vicar and was rather well done.

I mean, it‘s Ram Dass. I don‘t think I can really say more/

The story is fascinating and tragic. There were a lot of interesting facts about mental illness in general and schizophrenia specifically. I was frustrated a lot of the time reading this. I realize at the time that mental illness wasn‘t discussed but amongst their own family? When they saw that so many of their other children were being affected by it? I just wanted to shake some sense into the parents.

I went into this expecting a how-to book but this isn‘t it. But it was very interesting. He talks about how the application of holotropic breath work, rather than talk therapy, has helped people significantly process trauma and heal.

I loved this for the nostalgia alone. Being of the same generation as Halliday, I grew up with the same things he grew up with and loved them. I spent so much time in arcades as a kid and obsessed over movies, tv shows, and music. So this was kind of up my alley.

There‘s so much to say about this book: The expectations we put on each other, transactional relationships, living vicariously through our children.. And I‘m sure others can speak upon these things more eloquently than I. This book left me with a lovely melancholy ache when I finished. If you love books that do that, as I do, then you‘ll love this.

It was okay. A bit dry at times, interesting at times, and not completely accurate at others. I don‘t know if I‘d recommend it exactly. There are better science books out there.

The thing I like about Christie is trying to figure out which clues are important and which are red herrings as I go along. It‘s fun trying to solve the mystery along with the people in the book.

Gladwell explains why we‘re often bad at reading a stranger‘s true intentions and lays out his reasoning well enough. However, I feel he oversimplifies a few serious- and well known- cases of out-right brutality. I don‘t think we can say those came down to misreading cues and miscommunication.

It‘s okay. The book is about being open to new information and rethinking your ideas. Great. But it goes on a bit too long and becomes tedious.

Written after his stroke, these are stories of saints and their journeys, as well as his own journey woven throughout. It‘s meant to be a sequel to Be Here Now, however, I think it stands well on its own.

I have dealt with a few sociopaths in my time, unfortunately, and I felt the book showed classic examples of the types you‘re likely to meet. People may think they‘re caricatures of people but they aren‘t. This confirmed things that I saw, things that I felt, and made me grateful that I‘m not dealing with that anymore. So, if you think it‘s full of shit, you‘ve lived a pretty lucky life. Thank your lucky stars and read something else.

Short but thoroughly enjoyable talk on a pretty heavy subject. Yet it was done in such a lighthearted and down to earth way that makes it accessible to all.

You know a book is well written when you cannot stand a character- or two- and, still, you can‘t stop reading. You know it‘s even better when you can empathize with the characters a bit. This is one of those books.

Very thorough but came off a bit dry in parts. I wanted something a bit more readable and this seemed a bit more like a reference book. It‘s excellent and well researched but, let‘s be honest, you‘re here for the Christie and not the science.

This is an immensely relatable and readable book. I finished it in one sitting. I think everyone has had regrets. We all wish we had done this or hadn‘t done that or wonder if life would have turned out if we had made a different choice. And, in this Midnight Library, you can try on all of these lives and see if you like them better than your own. But is it you?

Another clever book within a book by Horowitz. I like Ryeland and I like Pund. Both books are distinctive and well written. It‘s easy to forget about Ryeland‘s world when you‘re reading about Pund‘s. To write two distinct books and then weave them together so seamlessly… It‘s impressive, to say the least.

From the title and description I had expected a ghost story. And, in a way, it is, I suppose. But it goes a little deeper…a little weirder. I think this is one of those books that people will either love or hate. I happened to be quite fond of it.

I got about half way and just couldn‘t bring myself to finish. It was whiny, self-indulgent, privileged, and boring. Just ugh.

A futuristic utopia where there is no aging, no disease, plenty of food and housing for all. But at what cost?

I‘ve noticed a theme with Moshfegh‘s main characters: They tend to be unlikable, fat-phobic, classist, and have parental issues that would make Freud giddy. Nevertheless, I finished the book. On the whole it‘s okay but has moments well enough written that it elevated it for me. I don‘t love it but I couldn‘t stop reading it.

This is partly a memoir and partly a way to inform the public about death. To erase the mystique and make it less scary for everyone. It was at times touching, humorous, and thoroughly fascinating.

This was an incredibly poignant, at times funny, and- oddly enough- relatable story about a woman who suddenly finds herself caring for two children that have a strange condition. They have this tendency to combust when they feel deep emotion. You genuinely feel for these people and root for them. You want them to have a happy ending and worry that they might not..because how often does the world give the underdog a happy ending?

I‘m generally a fan of Ware‘s books but this one was not a favorite. I guess we don‘t really need another reiteration of The Turning Of the Screw. I knew how the story kind of would go and didn‘t feel that much had been added to it. What had been added was unnecessary and often lead nowhere. The characters were mostly unlikeable and, worst, uninteresting. I found myself wanting to like it more than I actually liked it. It wasn‘t bad, just dull.

I really liked this. I enjoy how Foley jumps through different perspectives in her books so you can see the same story through different eyes. It gives you a more well-rounded tale. It did feel a bit rushed at the end. I felt like more time could have been spent on a few of the arcs, fleshing out details, but I understand why pared it down a bit. Foley‘s books are so engaging that I can read them in one sitting.

There‘s so much I‘d love to say about this book and so little space. It‘s thought-provoking, definitely. You see how frustrating it is for women, especially housewives in the south, to be treated with equality and respect. You see how systemic racism plays out and that‘s frustrating as well. The characters are so well written and relatable. There were a few issues but they were minor and spoilerish so I won‘t talk about them. Good book!