Astrology novel. Getting shades of less gross Otessa Moshfegh and Melissa Broder.

A good, solid read but this wasn't a favorite. I can't precisely put my finger on what made this a 'fine' read versus an amazing one because it has everything there. But it took a while for sexytimes and then, I don't know, it felt oddly rushed. And both main characters take a while to open up with their secrets so we're waiting a long time for that. And Sebastian is such a stellar writer that the great books are SO GOOD.

It's here!!!! Got the 3rd and final volume of Sangu Mandanna's uh-mah-zing space opera and it will be sheer agony waiting until lunch to resume reading! This trilogy is a retelling of the Mahābhārata set in space and the best way I can review it is just with flappy muppet arms. Start these if you haven't already!

Hardy, then experience, taught me that sheep can die so easily. We'll see if this book proves to be too much or just right...

Rereading Sangu Mandanna 's A SPARK OF WHITE FIRE & I think it might be a perfect novel. My heart is crumpling as I reach the end. Thank goddess I have the 2nd book handy.

Looks like a cat had lunch while I had lunch!

Starting this. So delighted it's available as an audiobook.

Do you plan on watching? I probably won't as I can think of a dozen authors I'd rather see get the 6-hour documentary treatment.

This book is a very fine horror thriller but nothing exceptional. There are two monsters: the one in the woods mutilating things and the one who hurts her relentlessly. Mattie has to decide which monster she fears more, esp as surviving one exposes her to the other. This is a quick read w a a very cinematic feel; it hews closely to the standard horror movie formula. But the quick clip means there's not enough space to breathe into the story.

Our narrator Liz Lighty is just ... omg, adore her. Liz's desire to become prom queen starts because of the scholarship it comes with, but as she begins the process of drawing attention toward herself, navigating that very painful and complicated journey of adolescent social interactions, and trusting that she deserves every happiness presented to her, the prize at the end of all this represents something else entirely.

Good morning! I have never been so invested in the results of a prom court before. The rom is killing me w the cute. alternating btwn reading the book & listening to the audiobook- which is wonderfully done- & I wish I was commuting & my train was late so I could keep reading!

Just got to the declaration of the love -- and it was so unexpected and also completely in character -- and I completely shrieked out loud.

This is a real quote in this terribly toxic "romance":

Mother, of her boyfriend: "Hitting you was unforgivable."

Her son, our romantic lead: "It doesn't have to be."

WHAT THE ACTUAL ****?!!? Anyway, this book is crap.

A surprising, heartfelt, intimate memoir. In a non-linear manner, Lakshmi explores her identity as an Indian-American woman, a model who loves food, a devoted reader yearning to exercise her mind more. She opens with her meeting and marriage to Salman Rushdie, then dips back into her childhood. Asides bloom into episodes of luminous musings before returning to the more mundane '...and then this happened...' narrative.

Today has a real feel of -11 so I'm daydreaming about my garden and juggling two reads: ME AND WHITE SUPREMACY and THE HEIRESS GETS A DUKE. I plan to start seedlings this weekend and I cannot wait. What are you reading this weekend?

This is how curses are made: someone does something to another, and traps that person in a web with threads so fine they can hardly be seen. There is no escaping that web.

The key to this novel's almost shameful deliciousness is in Bruce's careful humanizing of Belle Gunness. Born Brynhild in a rural village in Norway, her life is marked by violence, lack of care, and cruelty. One act causes Brynhild to wrest what could be righteous revenge, but as Brynhild becomes Belle, and then Bella, things grow increasingly more grotesque, more suspicious, more terrifying, and it becomes impossible to ignore the monster.

The cover doesn't translate well in black and white, but I'm loving IN THE GARDEN OF SPITE. The story of a 19th century serial killer, it's not my typical fare, but Bruce is balancing salacious with empathy. It's pretty goosebump-inducing!

Picked up THE EDNA LEWIS COOKBOOK for #ReadingWomenChallenge & I'm loving it. Learned some fascinating tidbits abt poultry & found three menus I'm determined to cook. Def going to search for a bio of her!

Starting this audiobook as part of #readharder2021. I've long had a soft spot for Padma Lakshmi, and the only reason I can't concentrate on this book is from politics-related stress. But I love listening to her talk.

Knitting and listening to this romance. Good way to close out Monday!

This weekend I'm starting Laura Lam's Goldilocks, a sci-fi-dystopia-maybe where an all-female space crew steals a shuttle when denied the mission. I feel like it's going to fit my mood of constant low-grade outrage.

What are you reading this weekend?

Sadly, I didn't love this debut as much as I wanted to; I thought it wouldn't be an issue but I actually ended up being really squicked out by the supervisor-employee relationship with the two leads. (Totally a personal thing; Wilsner really works hard to address that and make sure that Emma, as the employee, has a lot of agency and doesn't have her work compromised because Jo's feelings toward her.) See my entire review at my blog.

Made a gross cocktail and started a lesbian romance.

Queer librarian spies on horseback. Need I say more??? What are you reading this weekend?

Closing the weekend with Framboise, fire pit, and a romance.

I've not been so madly in love with a heroine in a long time as I am with Anna Blanc. I gushed about her in my review of Kincheloe's first book, The Secret Life of Anna Blanc, and this second historical mystery featuring our plucky, daring, poised, naive, sweet, reckless girl was so satisfying and exciting.

This season's first orphan piglet. The cats are fascinated.

Meh. A follow up to FIX HER UP. I was so intrigued by this premise and in many ways, Bailey delivered: she really nailed a marriage that wasn't working but in really tame, boring ways. There was no huge sin or betrayal that caused things to suddenly be cold between Rosie and Dominic; they just stopped being friends. But otherwise, this book felt flat, unsexy, and busy. The side characters can't stop mugging, and the HEA feel unearned.

I looooooooooooved this historical mystery set in 1907 Los Angeles. Our heroine Anna is like Tahani with less sexual experience. She's naive and clever and on the verge of losing her good reputation. Still, she finds a way to be a police matron and meets a wicked hot cop. The audiobook is brilliantly read by Moira Quirk. I'm in love.

Just trying to read...

Austen's novel is well-served by Maria Grace's imaginings of how society would respond to a world with dragons. It's not merely a retelling w lizards thrown in but a story w new threads of tension & complications that make Lizzie and Darcy's dislike of each other novel and real -- and something that must be urgently overcome. The audiobook was a great listen -- and the story ends about a third of the way through - be prepared for a cliffhanger.

Gorgeous designs but lithe women only. Nothing I'd be able to wear - or make for anyone in my life.

https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/red-letter-days/

The horror of the blacklist and trials is depicted in a growing tension breathing down the necks of Hannah and Phoebe; Stratford‘s Author‘s Note makes clear the seemingly unbelievable moments were based in historical fact. A satisfying read with elements that are unnervingly relevant today.

A welcome addition to the thick field of middle-grade historical fiction. She broaches thorny topics of racism and ableism with vulnerability and an awareness of privilege, inviting readers to imagine themselves in the footsteps of those experiencing bias and ignorance. LeZotte is a Deaf librarian and author and cites her yearning for Deaf heroines as the reason for Mary and this novel.
https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/show-me-a-sign/

A new romance to start....

Mug summarizes my mood.

Mandy Lee's cookbook might have mouthwatering pictures and a strong sense of her acerbic personality, but it's also a travel memoir, a biography, a Dear John; or, as the subtitle succinctly summarizes: a survival story.This cookbook is unforgettable, intimidating, and so real. It's really set the bar for future cookbooks, honestly: I want more cookbooks that are honest about the world we're in and the way food is part of that.

Look, the only thing I'd like to cook at seven in the morning -- as I lie in bed with residual resentments from the day before and looming despair about the day ahead --is the people who say they love cooking breakfast. Who are these people? I imagine their breakfasts taste like denial buttered up with overcompensating enthusiasm.

Expanding on his exposé of Theranos, Carreyrou briefly details Elizabeth Holmes' background and her founding of Theranos. The sketchy details that mar the beginning of this endeavor are presented as they develop, and it makes this story even more astounding/horrifying. This book is very readable despite the science behind it (or science allegedly behind it). Carreyrou makes real and human the people who were chewed up and spit out by Theranos.

Captain Eva Innocente loves her ship, La Sirena Negra, and her work: running cargo and passengers around the universe. The characters are charming, funny, interesting -- her sweet, concerned engineer Vakar and her tough and badass doctor Pink (who gave me serious Gina Torres-as-Zoe vibes) -- as well as the completely bananas fish-faced emperor who is obsessed with adding Eva to his harem.

Higginbotham's novel takes the familiar Civil War story of brother-versus-brother and offers a fresh, sad version: sisters Mary and Emily Todd. Mary would marry Abraham Lincoln while Emily would marry a General in the Confederate Army. My only real quibble is the distance from the unpalatable beliefs of Emily (and mostly likely Mary); we rarely get more than an emphasis on 'honor', and issues and beliefs about slavery are barely touched.

Imagine the plot of a Joan Collins-esque penny dreadful, the setting of pre-WWII Europe, & characters from a soap opera. FAREWELL MY LIFE is that book; it's like a froofy cocktail in a bathtub: excessive & fun. My only critique is that this book, which is self-published, could have used a little more polish as there are passages repeated verbatim in various chapters and inconsistent formatting.

Firefly but with a lesbian Mal?!?! Sign. Me. Up.

It's no surprise I'm loving RIBBONS OF SCARLET given the authors; appreciating that much of the story & themes speak to current issues. Even opening paragraphs of 1st chapter make me think abt our responses to border crisis, black lives matter, & people we other.

Biggest cat ever.

Sharing my love for National Geographic with Unabridged Kid thru their 2020 almanac. This beefy book is everything I loved abt the mag: gorgeous photography, empathetic interest in people and the planet. Topics in popular media covered, random trivia, the works. I think this would be a great book to jumpstart homeschool or independent study for kids.

I can love you and want you and still not want that life. I'm allowed, all right, and it doesn't me me a liar; it makes me a man with some infinitesimal shred of self-preservation, unlike you, and you don't get to come here and call me a coward for it.

It's weird to say this about a novel that is wish fulfillment but this book had too much artifice and exaggeration for me to take it seriously. Everything in this book was extreme: emotions, language, pace, characters. McQuiston took an element and streeeeeeeeeeeeetched to the point of caricature. The result was something that detailed the depressing reality of our current political landscape with bubble gum True Love that didn't quite gel.

To stave off loneliness in college, our narrator Roberta takes up cooking. But this isn't one of those sumptuous, charming foodie novels that has your mouth watering; instead, there was something a little gross, slightly dank, and funky about the food. There was an extreme focus on body that reminded me of Otessa Moshfegh and Siri Hustvedt; same with the myopic self focus of our main character.