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3.82
| 7,701
| Oct 05, 2021
| Oct 05, 2021
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really liked it
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*As always, spoiler warning!* Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things is my latest foray into Amanda Lovelace’s fairytale and folklore-inspired poetry. While *As always, spoiler warning!* Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things is my latest foray into Amanda Lovelace’s fairytale and folklore-inspired poetry. While this volume was on the shorter end, I still enjoyed it and found that many of its poems resonated with me.
[image] The main mythology Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things draws from is the story of Persephone (also known as Kore), the goddess of spring and of the underworld. (view spoiler)[A complex and fascinating dichotomy, Persephone’s story is one of my favorites from Greek mythology, and I was thrilled that Lovelace was channeling Persephone in her poetry here. (hide spoiler)] [image] The symbolism here is fairly obvious in that spring can be associated with the traditional notion of femininity, that of being beautiful, yet delicate. Yet, Persephone also has a tougher side of her, in that she helps to oversee the underworld, no doubt getting a full look at death in all its forms. There’s a bunch of dualities here, whether it’s in Persephone having her toes both in feminine and masculine realms (her husband, Hades, is the king of the underworld and the primary god of death) and in the creation of life and its death. She is part of the cycle from beginning to end.
[image] I have really come to enjoy Lovelace’s modern take on classical mythology and folklore. I think the main message here is that—surprise, I know—women are complex people, defying the simple nature often ascribed to them by misogynistic views of traditional femininity. Happy reading! -Cora Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 26, 2023
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Jan 26, 2023
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Jan 26, 2023
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Paperback
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1532913680
| 9781532913686
| 1532913680
| 3.83
| 146,894
| Apr 23, 2016
| Apr 23, 2016
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really liked it
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*Spoiler alert!* I have been meaning to get back into poetry for a while now. The Princess Saves Herself in This One is the first entry of poet Amanda *Spoiler alert!* I have been meaning to get back into poetry for a while now. The Princess Saves Herself in This One is the first entry of poet Amanda Lovelace’s “Women Are Some Kind of Magic” series. This volume was the perfect segue back into poetry for me, and like Amanda Gorman (another awesome poet who happens to share the first name of the author of the book I’m discussing), it will definitely stick around in my brain, hopefully planting seeds of inspiration for my own writing, poetry or otherwise. [image] Why do I have the feeling that this book left a mark on me? Well, for starters, Lovelace tackles her own inner experience, whereas Amanda Gorman’s poetry tackles the collective trauma of a whole nation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying economic downturn. Both explorations of the internal and external are equally valid and powerful. Both explore complex topics and make the reader think. Really think. [image] The Princess Saves Herself in This One is an incredibly brave and vulnerable look into Lovelace’s life, where she experiences sexual assault and the neglect inherent in her upbringing. Things no child should have to go through. (view spoiler)[Her mother dies of cancer and another sister perishes by her own hand—all of this happened to her before the age of 19. (hide spoiler)] So heartbreaking. [image] But this book is also about hope. This volume’s very existence is a testament to the author’s healing. [image]
By the end, the princess has escaped her tower and slain (most of) her dragons. [image] While no one should ever have to suffer to grow, that’s what happened to Lovelace, and she’s moving forward. She can’t change her past, but she uses what she’s learned—particularly self-love—to turn the tables on her trauma, which wants her to believe life isn’t worth living, that she deserves a good life.
This volume really resonated with me, and I can’t wait to read the next two books in this series! Happy reading! -Cora Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 25, 2023
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Jan 25, 2023
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Jan 25, 2023
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Paperback
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0316366749
| 9780316366748
| 0316366749
| 4.13
| 1,916
| Sep 06, 2022
| Sep 06, 2022
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really liked it
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* Spoiler alert! * This is what happens when I get really into a new book series: I finish the first two books in quick succession and then have to wai * Spoiler alert! * This is what happens when I get really into a new book series: I finish the first two books in quick succession and then have to wait for the third book that isn't coming out until later this year! (And of course there was quite the cliffhanger after the latest one, and I have to sit here and stew about what might happen next in the concluding volume.) Why am I like this?! [image] I found Blood of Troy, the second entry in Claire M. Andrews' "Daughter of Sparta" series, to be better than the first (and I thought the first book was good). In Daughter of Sparta, we see Daphne go on a quest to save Olympus itself and narrowly succeed. A year later, she continues to build a hero's reputation for herself (despite being a non-Spartan-born citizen, a mothakes) through her fighting prowess, overcoming opponents twice her size on a regular basis. [image] Although, Daphne remains haunted by the trauma of her quest a year ago, so she's a bit off, and the people who care about her are concerned and try to help in their own ways. Of course, we know that the gods aren't done with Daphne. Early on in Blood of Troy, they command her to become personal guard to Queen Helen of Sparta, a seemingly innocuous errand. (Yes, that Helen, "the face that launches a thousand ships," etc. We'll get to her in a bit.) [image] (view spoiler)[ Anyone who knows Greek mythology knows the gods are fickle and cagey when it comes to their secrets, so the reader and Daphne both know that there's something more to Daphne's new mission. People like myself (a huge mythology nerd) who are familiar with stories of the Trojan War may have better-educated guesses. Hint, hint! (hide spoiler)] Before I get ahead of myself, Daphne must prove herself worthy in a contest of athleticism and wits, retrieving a prize before anyone else in order to gain herself the job of Shield of Helen. (Spoiler alert, she does!) That title secured, to the detriment of her brothers' pride, (view spoiler)[ (I became very annoyed with Daphne's brothers in this book, as it seemed like a woman being ambitious, even if it was their (obviously) skilled sister, was this truly awful thing and reflected poorly on their honor) (hide spoiler)] she finds that things aren't what they seem between King Menelaus and Queen Helen from day one. (Fun fact, King Menelaus is a foreign-born king. Helen is the one that's a born Spartan.) [image] Andrews is very sympathetic to the character of Helen (rightly so), who seems to be remembered primarily as a pretty prize to be fought over and won by men. I have this bone to pick not only with the story about Helen, but most other classical Greek mythology as well in how girls and women are frequently treated. So, in Blood of Troy, we see a very unhappy, abusive marriage, with Helen on the receiving end of verbal and physical abuse. (view spoiler)[ Daphne herself gets whipped as punishment at one point in the book when the two sneak away from the palace. (hide spoiler)] [image] Spoiler alert: Menelaus is an awful person, not treating Helen with the respect she deserves. I think Helen might've left the marriage if not for the daughter they have together, Hermione. As a result, Helen frequently finds ways to assert herself and enjoy life when she feels that the palace she lives in is her prison. I loved the friendship that develops between Queen Helen and Daphne, both strong women in their own right. Daphne becomes very protective of Helen, both inside and outside her capacity as Shield. Anyways, a big meeting between King Menelaus and other Grecian monarchs goes predictably sour, and Daphne finds herself fleeing with Queen Helen and the Trojan envoy after one faction tries to kill them. [image] So, the city of Troy becomes Helen's and Daphne's new home, just as the war drums start to beat. Ostensibly, it's about punishing troy for "kidnapping" Helen, but there are various dark forces at work here. (See book one for more details.) [image] As war comes to Troy, Daphne is recast as "Traitor of Sparta" as she fights to protect her queen in the midst of a war that is more than it seems. The gods are always playing games, and there's a price to be paid. [image] I won't say anymore, because I don't want to ruin the cinematic reading experience that is Blood of Troy, and its predecessor, Daughter of Sparta! [image] Greek mythology nerds and general readers alike will enjoy this series. Just give it a try! Happy reading! -Cora Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 17, 2023
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Jan 17, 2023
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Jan 17, 2023
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Hardcover
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4.46
| 1,143,646
| Aug 09, 2022
| Aug 09, 2022
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it was amazing
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4.5/5 stars *Spoilers alert!* This book will be our Goodreads Book Club selection for January. To secure a copy and read along with us, please look for 4.5/5 stars *Spoilers alert!* This book will be our Goodreads Book Club selection for January. To secure a copy and read along with us, please look for the book within our catalog or Libby. Happy reading! To discuss the book with us: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... Considering the subject matter of I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, I feel like saying I “enjoyed” the book isn’t as appropriate as I found the book heartbreaking and heartwarming in equal measures. This book won the 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards in the biography category, and I can see why, as I’m Glad My Mom Died is a powerful, poignant read. Jennette McCurdy is most well-known for her roles as a child actress in iCarly and Sam and Cat. I remember watching iCarly when the show was running, and it was one my favorites at the time. McCurdy’s Sam was one of my favorite characters, and I truly had no idea what was going on behind-the-scenes. I’m Glad My Mom Died reveals Jennette’s struggles with acting, when she felt like she was only in the profession because it was her mother’s dream, not hers. (view spoiler)[At the time, McCurdy’s mom had cancer and was dying. (hide spoiler)] Jennette loved her mother and allowed herself to be started on the path to stardom at the age of six, to make her happy and gain her approval. Seeing her mom happy at her success was supposed to be enough.
Of course, when you’re not in the job you want, you can’t stuff down the negative feelings forever. McCurdy came to resent the hold her mother had on her and their increasingly toxic relationship as mother and daughter. She increasingly becomes anxious, shameful, and self-loathing as she struggles to tell her mother that acting isn’t what she wanted to do with her life. These feelings manifest in various self-destructive behaviors like eating disorders, addiction, and risky romantic relationships.
The book starts with Jennette in her mother’s hospital room, where she lay dying from cancer, and Jennette then recounts everything that led up to that point. I’m Glad My Mom Died is heartbreaking, full of dark humor, but also cautiously optimistic, as Jennette discovers therapy and is working towards getting better. [image] As someone who struggles with mental illness and is in therapy, I’m Glad My Mom Died is incredibly refreshing for its candor, which is telegraphed from the start by the book’s title and cover design. I wish McCurdy the best in her healing journey. -Cora Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 04, 2023
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Jan 04, 2023
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Jan 04, 2023
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ebook
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4.15
| 1,025,351
| Jul 05, 2022
| Jul 05, 2022
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it was amazing
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This book is our Goodreads Book Club selection for February. To follow along with us, find this book within our catalog or Libby. Happy reading! A link This book is our Goodreads Book Club selection for February. To follow along with us, find this book within our catalog or Libby. Happy reading! A link to the discussion board: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... 4.5/5 stars *Spoilers warning!* Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin won the 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards in the fiction category, so I had to see for myself if I enjoyed it. (Spoiler alert: I did!) This book has the most compelling exploration of love in all forms, whether it is friendship or a romance. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is primarily about three people that came together to start a video game company. [image] The book tracks the progress of these three friends, who develop deep and meaningful relationships with each other as they design and promote video games over a span of thirty years. There is something special that comes with a collaborative art project of any kind, whether it is in video games or painting or writing or any kind of art. Zevin does a good job of showing us how bonds can be forged within and outside of the creative process. Two of the three co-founders met as kids in a Cambridge, Massachusetts hospital. Sam was in the hospital because a car accident (view spoiler)[that took his mother’s life (hide spoiler)] left him with a crippled foot that needs constant surgery. Sadie encounters Sam in the hospital’s video game room (view spoiler)[Sadie is there with her family because her sister, Alice, is being treated for cancer (hide spoiler)] and the two become fast friends. However, just as fast as the two strike up a friendship, things go south, leading to a separation that lasts for years. (view spoiler)[ It is revealed that Sadie used her time with Sam at the hospital playing video games to also count towards her community service project. Not surprisingly, Sam is hurt by this, and he cuts off all contact between the two after he finds out from Alice about Sadie’s timesheets. (hide spoiler)] [image] Sam and Sadie don’t encounter each other again until they both are in college, at a train station in a very lucky chance meeting. (view spoiler)[ I don’t know about you, but this seemed a bit cliché, like a scene from a rom-com. (hide spoiler)] They rekindle their friendship and embark on a dream project of theirs: to create their own video game. [image] Sam’s roommate, Marx, becomes their manager, dealing with practical matters, while Sam and Sadie are set free to be game designers. Over a tense summer, requiring personal sacrifices on all fronts, they complete their first video game, Ichigo, and are catapulted into sudden fame. At 25 years old, Marx, Sam, and Sadie have their own company, Unfair Games, and are rich beyond their wildest dreams, and overjoyed to have more resources at their disposal to create the video games they have always wanted to.
This is where it gets interesting, because just as they are achieving fame and high status, Sam and Sadie start to clash over the creative vision of the company. Both are highly ambitious, Sadie especially, because the video game industry doesn’t have too many women in leadership positions. (This remains the case.) Things deteriorate between the two, providing the underlying emotional conflict that drives the characters as they are navigating life changes, from fame to romance to moving to start again somewhere new. [image] California, naturally, is where their game company is headquartered (Silicon Valley, anyone?), and is the location in which most of the emotional and relationship drama takes place. It truly hurt to watch Sam and Sadie have constant miscommunications that drove them apart for significant portions of the book, even though the reader knew how much they continued to care for each other even as they were apart. Marx, ever the peacemaker, tries to get the two to reconcile, with mixed results. Not only does he care about both Sam and Sadie, but their conflicts are putting Unfair Games in jeopardy. [image] A compelling story with compelling characters, one does not need to know much about video games to enjoy Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. Zevin is mostly exploring here the emotional connections and life journeys of each character, and only cursorily goes over the creative process in video game designing in a way that is not overwhelming. I won’t reveal anything else to allow others to read the book and come to their own conclusions. Happy reading! -Cora Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 03, 2023
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Jan 03, 2023
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Jan 03, 2023
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Hardcover
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0374605955
| 9780374605957
| 0374605955
| 3.93
| 23,350
| Oct 04, 2022
| Oct 04, 2022
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really liked it
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Two staff members wrote reviews for this book. Happy reading! Jeremy's review 3.5/5 stars “…[S]pecies of hyperintelligent octopus…”Two staff members wrote reviews for this book. Happy reading! Jeremy's review 3.5/5 stars “…[S]pecies of hyperintelligent octopus…” This phrase, from the first sentence of the publisher’s marketing description, was all I needed to know in order to decide that I needed to read this book. I’ve been fascinated by octopuses (yes, that is the correct plural form, feel free to @ me) ever since doing a report on them in a grad school level course I audited a number of years ago. An unfortunate side-effect of this, however, was that I kept finding myself wanting to love the book more than I actually did, despite coming away with a sense that I would greatly enjoy having a conversation with the author. The story is set in an undefined but relatively near future, in which the line between nation-states and corporations has all but completely disappeared and applications of artificial intelligence (AI) are both widespread and varied. There are three primary point-of-view (POV) characters, each in a separate plotline: Dr. Ha Nguyen, a marine biologist hired to study the octopuses; Rustem, an AI hacker, and Eiko; formerly an aspiring programmer, now a slave worker. Additionally, each chapter opens with an excerpt from one of two books written by two of the characters: Dr. Nguyen or Dr. Arnkatla Minervudottir-Chan, who had created the world’s one and only extant android, Evrim. It has been written of octopuses that they are the nearest thing to intelligent alien life that we can meet on this planet, and this book runs with this idea. While this sort of ‘first contact’ is used to examine philosophical concepts such as consciousness, the same themes are simultaneously put to the test through the human interactions with varying levels of technology: drones, AI, and Evrim. And therein lies both the strength and weakness of this novel – this sort of intellectual food-for-thought is compelling enough for some of us (raises hand), but while stuff does happen, nobody would describe this as plot-driven storytelling. Could provide plenty of fodder for a very particular sort of book discussion group, but I do wonder about its broader appeal. Cora's review *Spoiler alert!* My heart already wants a sequel to The Mountain in the Sea, but my head says that maybe it's better as a stand-alone. This conflict will continue for some time, because I truly enjoyed The Mountain in the Sea. [image]
My co-worker read this book out of his fascination for the octopus. His review, plus the concept reminding me of Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Ruin, (view spoiler)[featuring a species of sentient, space-faring octopus (hide spoiler)] sealed the deal for me. [image] The Mountain in the Sea takes place in a very plausible future, filled with AI, political intrigue, and conflicts over how best to preserve precious ecosystems from destruction. This book probably isn't for everyone, as it's not as plot-driven as space-opera sci-fi as much as food-for-thought, philosophical sci-fi. I enjoy me some philosophical sci-fi that makes me view the world differently after I finish reading it, seeing humanity reflected in the eyes of another species, android or otherwise. [image] (No, not that kind of android!) Not that the story isn't interesting, but I thought I'd be honest about the kind of sci-fi we're dealing with here. Also, there's a bit of time-switching between characters, so that may be disorienting, but I promise that the story manages to fit together decently. Despite these caveats, the characters were interesting and well-developed, particularly the villain, (view spoiler)[ a militant environmental protection group, very much anti-humanity (hide spoiler)] and that's why I kept reading. It ended up being a fascinating what-if scenario of what happens when humanity encounters another self-aware species, and how we'd react, particularly considering the context we and this book live in, the climate crisis and political instability. Based on the story, I'd say the results are definitely mixed! [image]
I won't say too much more about The Mountain in the Sea, except for, if you're a sci-fi fan, I think you'll enjoy this one, and maybe think about humanity and our world differently. For better or worse. Happy reading! -Cora Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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Dec 31, 2022
Dec 09, 2022
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Jan 09, 2023
Dec 09, 2022
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Dec 29, 2022
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Hardcover
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0399592555
| 9780399592553
| 0399592555
| 4.32
| 82,330
| Nov 30, 2021
| Nov 30, 2021
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really liked it
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4/5 stars *Spoilers warning!* 4/5 stars *Spoilers warning!*
Atlas of the Heart is a 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards winner in the category of nonfiction. Upon it winning the category, I was curious as to why it had received the most votes, and now I know why! In a time of climate crisis, ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and economic woes, society has made talking about mental health somewhat mainstream. Although much stigma remains for those who suffer mental health conditions, I think perhaps that we might be in a time where we want to explore the domains of emotional and mental health. As in, I think we all want to rediscover how to connect with people, after a few years of being physically isolated from one another. [image]
After all, no matter if you're extroverted or introverted (raises hand) or somewhere in between, humanity is a social species. Personally, I find myself re-evaluating the relationships in my own life, and I think that was part of what I really liked about Atlas of the Heart. I could use some more emotional intelligence, and I genuinely learned a great deal from the book. I listened to the audiobook version of the book, and the author I think did a great job, making sure to repeat passages that she thought were key. As I was listening, I was often doing chores and sometimes my mind can wonder during that process (because I often find chores just so boring and mind-numbing), so that repeating and emphasis was very helpful and much appreciated. She did her best to bring psychological terminology down to earth, but I admit I really needed the repeats and the asides, so that I really understood what she was saying before moving on to the next chapter, because they definitely built on each other. So, there are 87 emotions that humans experience. (view spoiler)[I think I know of at least 10 emotions, so this large number surprised me (hide spoiler)]. However, the 87 emotions are grouped together into categories by how similar they are, with unexpected nuances in related emotions, such as envy and jealousy, or empathy and compassion. [image] Brown puts names to experiences I have had that mix a variety of emotions. Names and language in general provide useful anchors, and I think Brown recognizes this and puts it to great use. I also think that language intercedes to make the mysterious less scary, and there's nothing more scary for me than peering at the dark side of my emotional life. Emotions like anger, contempt, and disgust that I tend to shove down. But bringing them to the table and examining them makes them less scary and alien, and they are good indicators of when you need to make some sort of change. [image] This whole discussion was made more relevant and relatable by talking about her own process of learning as she conducted research over the years in topics such as empathy and connection. It made me feel less alone in my learning journey, as there were places where I got overwhelmed by the scope of emotional experiences covered here. Brown is a gentle, patient, and understanding guide as we navigate uncharted waters. [image] I think this may be a book that I will end up buying in its print edition, because of how good a reference this is. I also have heard how good the illustrations are in the regular book, and I wish to experience those as well. Happy reading! -Cora Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 27, 2022
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Jan 03, 2023
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Dec 22, 2022
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Hardcover
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0063074958
| 9780063074958
| 0063074958
| 3.97
| 1,026
| Nov 16, 2021
| Nov 16, 2021
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it was amazing
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*Spoiler alert!* As a proud Midwesterner (born in Michigan and currently living in Wisconsin), I will admit that my review is a bit biased. However, Th *Spoiler alert!* As a proud Midwesterner (born in Michigan and currently living in Wisconsin), I will admit that my review is a bit biased. However, The Midwest Survival Guide by comedian and podcast host Charlie Berens, is an absolute gem! With contributions from many writers and inspired by Charlie's trips around the country, everything from Midwestern culture to its hidden travel gems are explored in humorous detail. [image] You could tell that this book was proudly Wisconsin-centric, as many jokes were made about the state of Illinois, and its professional football team, "da Bears" (the Chicago Bears), chief rival to the Green Bay Packers. (As a Packer fan, I especially enjoyed this.) I didn't listen to this one on audio, but having gone to one of Berens' shows in La Crosse, I could definitely hear his accent as I read it. (I had a grand time!) [image] [image]
(This quote comes from a section titled: "The Weather: Like a Box of Chocolates") I felt especially seen when the unpredictable weather of our part of the country was brought up. I can attest to having to wear (or bring with me in the car) multiple layers in case it starts getting hot or starts to rain or sleet. In the winter, I make sure to pack snowpants and winter boots, and always have an umbrella in my car ready to go. I don't put away the snow and ice scraper back into the trunk until May. Matching your clothes becomes less imperative in the face of unpredictable meteorological conditions. [image]
(Quote from a section titled: "Midwest History") Every the history nerd, another part of The Midwest Survival Guide that I really enjoyed was the section on Midwestern history, starting with that gem of a quote from 2,462,000 BCE, when the landscapes we know and love in Wisconsin and elsewhere were shaped. From the indigenous peoples that originally inhabited the land to the present day, I learned a considerable amount of history not covered in detail in school, such as the first Midwestern city. Established in 1144, this first city, named Cahokia, was inhabited by 20,000+ Native American people. The illustrations made the reading experience even more enjoyable for me. I picked up on the various bottles of ranch hidden on page corners or within much larger images throughout the book, in a humorous nod to the omnipresent, all-purpose condiment that's not just for salads, mind you. While The Midwest Survival Guide leans hard into Midwestern stereotypes, it is done in a way that's not condescending to either Midwestern or non-Midwestern people. It gave me greater understanding of the cultural context my siblings and I were born into, explaining family gatherings in a way that confirmed I wasn't crazy that goodbyes took hours or that "uff-da" is a valid, multi-purpose exclamation of frustration or even sympathy with peoples' bad luck. [image] If you need a laugh and a break from the 24/7 bad news flood, The Midwest Survival Guide is your book! Happy reading! -Cora Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 27, 2022
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Jan 09, 2023
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Dec 21, 2022
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Hardcover
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0316540072
| 9780316540070
| 0316540072
| 3.80
| 8,336
| Jun 08, 2021
| Jun 08, 2021
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really liked it
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*Spoiler alert!* Daughter of Sparta is the first entry in Claire Andrews' "Daughter of Sparta" trilogy. It takes the classic Greek tale of Daphne and A *Spoiler alert!* Daughter of Sparta is the first entry in Claire Andrews' "Daughter of Sparta" trilogy. It takes the classic Greek tale of Daphne and Apollo and gives it a bit of a feminist spin, recentering Daphne as a Spartan-trained warrior called upon by the gods to save Olympus. [image] Nine mysterious objects of importance have been stolen from Olympus and the gods' powers are fraying as a result. (view spoiler)[ Turns out the nine "objects" are actually the nine Muses. (hide spoiler)] Daphne is tapped by Artemis to recover these nine artifacts before it is too late, and Apollo is to guard her on the quest. Unable to refuse the gods, as they hold the fate of her best friend (Lykou) and her brother (Pyrrhus) in their hands (view spoiler)[Pyrrhus has been transformed into a deer, and Lykou, into a wolf (hide spoiler)], Daphne must use her fighting prowess and wits to overcome the odds stacked against her. [image] I have to confess that I was not familiar with the tale of Daphne and Apollo, but after I finished reading Daughter of Sparta, I did a little Internet digging! I am glad the author put a more feminist spin on the tale, as Greek myths like these tend to end badly for women caught up in the cruel games of the gods. The original myth of Daphne and Apollo is no exception to this rule. As someone who enjoys Greek mythology (among many other mythological stories), I have always had this bone to pick with its treatment of girls and women. [image] Daughter of Sparta does have the common YA tropes of enemies-to-lovers and "chosen one," but I think they were handled decently here. Daphne gets to shine here as the main heroine of the story, and I enjoyed watching her kicking ass and taking names in Greece, where women don't have as many rights as their Spartan counterparts and must wear veils in public. (I guess too much hasn't changed in that regard, as misogyny still remains rampant, despite the progress we have made since Ancient Greece.) [image] As previously mentioned, I grew up reading and truly enjoying the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" and "Heroes of Olympus" series by Rick Riordan. (The movie adaptations of the books I refuse to speak about.) I am happy to announce that I discovered another Greek mythology-steeped story with a kick-ass hero(ine) at its center in Daughter of Sparta. I look forward to reading the next two entries in this series! [image] Happy reading! -Cora Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 12, 2023
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Jan 17, 2023
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Nov 30, 2022
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Hardcover
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0744056284
| 9780744056280
| 0744056284
| 3.85
| 911
| Aug 23, 2022
| Aug 30, 2022
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really liked it
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Update on the Jamestown Township library: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-wa... See also: Fantastic resources from the American Library Association Update on the Jamestown Township library: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-wa... See also: Fantastic resources from the American Library Association (ALA) related to book banning, censorship, and intellectual freedom I think I was drawn to this book because of just all the news lately about worrying trends in book bans nationwide. (Although, this is an issue worldwide as well!) [image] I was sad to see a story in the headlines recently about a small-town library in Michigan (Jamestown Township, MI) potentially having to close because fiscal year funding for its operation was voted down. This got me thinking about books even more than usual, about what censorship and restricting access can to do a community. On a personal note, as a child, libraries were always my sanctuary, wherever I went. I can't imagine not having had libraries growing up. [image] Banned Books: The World’s Most Controversial Books, Past and Present is an accessible, illustrated handbook to books that have been banned for one reason or another from classical fiction to contemporary fiction and nonfiction. Divided into different historical eras, each book features an image of its cover and an explanation as to why the book was banned or contested in its time. Its central message, encapsulated in the introduction, is that censorship tends to do more harm than good. Part of learning is critical thinking, in which one considers all the views on a subject and comes to an informed position. This is hard to do when books are banned or restricted. [image] Not to mention, an informed electorate is crucial for any democratic system of government! My experience of working in a library and seeing diverse groups of people come through on any given day is that books are critical not only for the accumulation of knowledge (you know, occupational or school learning, or just for curiosity), but for seeing each other (that is, people of other backgrounds/experiences) and seeing yourself. [image] I think this is especially true for marginalized groups, such as women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals. Content geared for these groups are seeming to come under increased scrutiny, for ideological, political, or religious reasons. [image] The problem is if people don’t see books representing their lived experience on the shelves or in a digital resource collection, that just helps to further marginalize and Other them. (Okay, I’ll step down from my soapbox now.) While I wished that some of the history was fleshed out a bit more, Banned Books not only gives an important primer on the history of banning books and censorship, but a new reading list for its readers! It’s a great, quick read for a general audience. [image] Happy reading! [image] -Cora Find this book and other titles within our catalog. See also: Fantastic resources from the American Library Association (ALA) related to book banning, censorship, and intellectual freedom ALA's 2022 State of America's Libraries Report From the report: [image] Credit: ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 08, 2022
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Nov 14, 2022
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Nov 08, 2022
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Hardcover
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0593241312
| 9780593241318
| 0593241312
| 4.59
| 10,503
| Sep 28, 2021
| Nov 02, 2021
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it was amazing
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[image] I think it’s safe to say that
[image] I think it’s safe to say that all of us to some degree, since the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020, have an elementary knowledge of immunology (the study of the immune system). Terms often tossed around in the news were (are) “antibodies,” “antigen,” “immunization,” and even “cytokine storm.” [image] The book Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System that Keeps You Alive is a gorgeously illustrated cliff-notes lesson on the immune system that will help you make connections between the latter word-salad from above, such as:
Meaning that artificially inducing immunity through vaccination introduces your body to say, the COVID-19 virus antigen (its unique molecular signature), so it can prepare defenses against the virus when you encounter it in the wild. (One of the most amazing things to me about the immune system is that it produces “memory cells” after an infection or vaccination, that “remember” a very specific antigen and can help the immune system respond more effectively next time.) [image] Or, you may have heard “antigen” in the context of the early COVID tests, which look for viral antigens from your nasal swab to determine if you have COVID and you must quarantine for a while. (I gotta say, some of those sampling techniques are like having your brain poked. Not fun!) To counter antigens and build up defenses against intruders, the immune system uses “antibodies,” which are just proteins with chemical puzzle pieces that match up to a specific antigen in an enemy (bacteria, virus, parasite, etc.) in order to destroy it. [image] So, I ended up coming out of the book with remembering “antigen” and “antibodies” in the context that they are adversaries, e.g., antigens=bad guys; antibodies=good guys. When the book was discussing how your immune system responds to viruses, I couldn’t help but continue to think of COVID, and how if the immune system responds too strongly to a virus, it could kill you. (I was glad that the book had its own chapter devoted to COVID-19.) [image] I think that’s a strength of Immune, that it helps readers to get an overview of important concepts like immune responses, without getting too much in the weeds and overwhelmed, by using accessible, scientific language combined with the exploration of real-life (relevant) cases. Because the book is so engaging, once you got past some of the essential vocabulary surrounding the cellular players in the immune response, I couldn’t stop reading it. (Well maybe that’s just me nerding out. But still!) [image]
[image] The above quote recognizes the extremely fine balance the immune system must walk. Immune cells (like T cells or macrophages) release “cytokines.” (Yes, I wasn’t about to forget cytokines. They’re an important piece of the puzzle.) Cytokines basically are released by whatever immune cells are responding to an infection, leading to inflammation, which is basically a chemical signal for reinforcements, attracting the big guns needed in serious fights (such as Killer T Cells, a satisfyingly simple and logical name given to a cell whose purpose is, well, to kill invading enemies). [image] Basically, the immune system is made up of a whole bunch of non-thinking parts of you (cells, proteins, molecules, etc.), that use various cytokines to communicate with each other. The more cytokines released, the more urgent the cells picking up the cytokine signal react, revving up the immune response. Okay, this is where I get to the other term I mentioned in the beginning: “cytokine storm.” [image] In certain severe cases of COVID-19, an excess release of cytokines kicks the immune system into overdrive against the virus. The immune system is very powerful, but is usually good at tempering its reactions, so as not to accidentally kill you. However, not everyone has the exact same immune systems, and some are more predisposed to overreacting to a viral infection for whatever reasons (scientists think genetics is part of it, but not the complete picture) not understood too well currently. (view spoiler)[ Viruses are sneaky little things, and will use your cells to disguise its presence, forcing the immune system to target any of your cells that are carrying the virus. Out of all disease-causing organisms mentioned in the book, viruses scared me the most. They’re fascinating, but mostly terrifying! (hide spoiler)] When the immune system gets too revved-up, its more likely to cause life-threatening complications. [image] COVID-19 usually infects the lungs. So, that can lead to difficulties breathing (inflammation releases fluids into the infected area) as some areas of the lungs are swamped with fluids, and eventual organ failure. All very, very horrifying, and awful. Overall, I experienced more excitement and wonder than dread when learning about the immune system in Immune. It makes me even more thankful for my own immune system and appreciative of the heavy lifting it does to keep me alive (it may be the most graceful part of me, a very, very clumsy person), with a crucial assist from vaccines. (Shout-out to both!) [image] Give Immune a try! It’s a fascinating look into a system whose herculean work you don’t have to think about often when it’s going right. [image] Happy reading! -Cora [image] Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 27, 2022
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Nov 2022
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Nov 01, 2022
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Hardcover
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0593158687
| 9780593158685
| 0593158687
| 4.21
| 578,570
| Aug 30, 2022
| Aug 30, 2022
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it was amazing
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We have two reviews for this book
Krystal's Review: Rating: 4 stars I hadn’t read this author before although had seen her books circulate throug We have two reviews for this book Krystal's Review: Rating: 4 stars I hadn’t read this author before although had seen her books circulate through the library frequently and heard from others that she is a good writer. Can’t say this is a book I would have chosen myself as I am not a huge sports fan. This was my book club's pick so I was game. It took me a little while to get into this book as there was a lot of tennis lingo and the main character isn’t that overly likeable. Taylor Jenkins Reid however did a great job of character development and before long I was wondering what was going to happen next. Reid did a wonderful job with her characters and world building. Creating Carrie and all of her rivals, I thought for sure it was based on a real tennis player. While this was a book with A LOT about tennis, it was also a book about determination, perseverance, relationships, social and emotional growth. This book taught me quite a bit about tennis but really made me think a lot with regards to social interaction and relationships. I would definitely recommend this book; it was an unexpected surprise for me. I look forward to reading more books by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Find this book and other titles within our catalog. Cora's review: **As always, spoiler warning!**
Carrie Soto is Back is a comeback story inspired by the lives of Venus and Serena Williams, two real-life tennis champions. [image] While Carrie Soto comes off as an abrasive personality and ruthless competitor—earning her the nickname of “Battle Axe” on the tennis court—I still found her a fascinating character. I loved that she got her own story, because she seemed kind of one-dimensional in Malibu Rising, as the “other woman” cheating with Nina Riva’s husband. That was her only part to play, and it didn’t feel right. Carrie Soto is Back tells what happens when Carrie makes the decision to come out of retirement to defend her Grand Slam titles record against rising star Nicki Chan. She has given her all to be the best tennis player in the world, and is eager not only to protect her record, but also prove that she has not gone soft at age 37 (I guess that’s considered old in professional tennis). [image] To get back into winning shape, Carrie agrees to her coach (and father) Javier’s suggestion to train with her old flame Bowe Huntley, who also has something to prove before retiring from tennis forever. [image] (view spoiler)[ I could see the enemies-to-lover trope coming from a mile away, but Reid makes their budding friendship and eventual romantic relationship interesting, as they both drive each other to their limits, physically, mentally, and emotionally in the quest to be the best. Because of the way Reid executes it, making it more of a side plot, than the main plot (which is way more interesting), it barely disrupted the flow of the narrative. (I even found myself rooting for them to stick together at the end.) (hide spoiler)]
Without spoiling too much of the story, I’ll just say that this novel was a wild ride that kept me on the edge of my seat and rooting for Carrie to prove her haters wrong. It also taught me a bit about tennis, a sport that I do not know much about and do not follow closely like professional football! [image] Definitely worth the read for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid, but also a more general reading audience. Happy reading! -Cora Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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Aug 29, 2023
Oct 11, 2022
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Aug 29, 2023
Oct 17, 2022
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Oct 11, 2022
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Hardcover
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1250819342
| 9781250819345
| 1250819342
| 4.16
| 343,497
| May 10, 2022
| May 10, 2022
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it was amazing
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This book is our online book club's October selection. Please feel free to read along with us by securing a copy either via our catalog, Hoopla, or
This book is our online book club's October selection. Please feel free to read along with us by securing a copy either via our catalog, Hoopla, or Libby. Happy reading!
To join the discussion: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... Two of our staff members wrote a review for this book. Enjoy! Beware of spoilers! Brandon's review: Hidden Pictures is our October 2022 Book Club pick that was chosen by our group members and friends on Goodreads. I was expecting something different than what I got with this book, but I still really enjoyed the book. I also doubled down on these creepy drawings. [image] I won’t bore you with a synopsis of what happens since Cora does it so eloquently below. Though I must you warn that there are pretty big spoilers in her review without revealing the biggest twist. For some reason, I remembered the synopsis being different what is actually printed. Because of that, I missed subtle clues that normally would have been obvious to me, and I was distracted by other red herrings. [image] I enjoyed the one-person narrative without jumping around in time. I enjoyed multiple characters, including our main character, and Russell was such a vibe in how selfless and caring he was. If everyone had a Russell in their life then the world would be a better place. [image] The story grabbed me right away. Everything was easy to visualize with the writing and with the drawings. This book is best consumed in the print version in my opinion because of the numerous pictures included within the book. The creepiness of how they looked like a child’s drawings with an ominous figure always lurking in them set the tone of the story. The pictures noticeably transitioned into these hauntingly beautiful scenes that alerted the reader to a tonal shift. [image] There were a plethora of misdirects and red herrings that keeps you guessing until the end. I felt the ending of the book was also satisfying. I do question some of the choices of characters, but that treads on spoiler territory, so I digress. Some of the pop culture references were mid at best though. Overall, I really enjoyed the book and the mystery at the heart of it. This novel reminded me of books by Simone St. James. [image] Cora's review: Hidden Pictures is our Goodreads book club's October "spooky read." To secure a copy and read along with us, please check out our catalog, Hoopla, and Libby. Happy reading! Hidden Pictures was definitely a mystery/thriller worth reading! Not only is there the added horror aspect, but the main character, I thought, was very well-written, and the red herrings deployed very effective. The horror aspect was evident just from the cover—it is terrifying! Our protagonist is Mallory, a recovering drug addict, who has been taken on for the summer in an affluent suburban neighborhood to babysit a five-year-old, Teddy. Teddy is adorable, and his parents seem well-adjusted and friendly. They have a nice home in a well-off cul-de-sac. I don’t know if the audiobook version of Hidden Pictures describes the pictures Teddy draws, but the book version did. It was apparent from the pictures that something was going on with Teddy, who, while adorable and intelligent, was wary of socializing with other kids and didn’t have many friends. He often draws himself, Mallory, and his family accompanied by an unseen imaginary friend. (view spoiler)[ His imaginary friend appears in the creepiest way possible, and the childish way it is drawn in makes it more sinister to me. It appears the imaginary friend, Anya, is trying to warn Teddy about something that happened at the house in the past: her murder. How a child could normalize this, a haunting by a vengeful spirit, is beyond me. (hide spoiler)] [image] Soon after that, a “story” from Anya begins appearing in these drawings, appearing to show a violent crime, involving a man and a woman, presumably Anya. This is where the author effectively deploys various red herrings, which fooled me for most of the book, even if my subconscious was warning me that this simple explanation for Teddy’s drawings wasn’t the whole story. It seems like the pieces were put together way too easily. (view spoiler)[ Anya is the Russian version of Annie, whom Mallory ties with the drawings appearing to show a murder of a woman at the hands of a mysterious man. The Annie episode exposes the racist past of the neighborhood, where Annie supposedly had been killed for falling in love with an African-American man. (hide spoiler)] [image] Not to mention how suspiciously Caroline, Teddy’s mother, reacts to Teddy’s Anya drawings. She appears very nervous and agitated, even though she insists that this imaginary friend thing is just a normal phase that kids Teddy’s age go through. (Again, the terrifying cover of the book hints otherwise.) (view spoiler)[Did I mention that Caroline is a psychologist working with addicts like Mallory? Her knowledge of psychology I think told her something was off, even though she was consciously trying to shrug it off. (hide spoiler)] [image] Meanwhile, as Mallory is trying to work through her suspicions, she is beset by curious noises coming through the walls of the guest cottage she is staying at on the property. She dismisses them as animal noises. [image] Time passes in a blur, summer passing quickly. One day, Mallory meets Adrian, who lives with his parents in a house nearby. I thought Adrian was a bit of a too-good-to-be-true character, because Mallory lies to him repeatedly, ashamed of her addictive past, the lies snowballing bigger and bigger as Hidden Pictures goes on. I don’t know if I would have stayed with Mallory had I been Adrian. The lies were just too much and made Mallory a distrustful character to many she interacted with in the book, whom it was crucial to her success to win over. [image] Aside from those quibbles, I truly enjoyed Hidden Pictures. Although, I would read this one during the day, with the lights on! Happy reading! Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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Oct 21, 2022
Sep 21, 2022
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Oct 21, 2022
Sep 26, 2022
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Sep 21, 2022
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Hardcover
| |||||||||||||||
B09R2J1DXF
| 4.45
| 126,177
| 2022
| Sep 27, 2022
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it was amazing
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Major spoilers ahead! (Contains spoilers for the whole "Beartown" series. You’ve been warned!)
Major spoilers ahead! (Contains spoilers for the whole "Beartown" series. You’ve been warned!)
The Winners is the third and final entry of the “Beartown” trilogy. It does a bit of a time jump to two years after the tumultuous events of the first two books: Beartown and Us Against You. See below for a (spoiler-filled) recap of the events that have led up to this book, summed up by Backman himself in The Winners:
Sorry about that text block there, but that's how it all appears in the book, and I think it's a helpful reminder of the events of the first two books. [image] The Winners takes place over two weeks, and it doesn’t take long for this uneasy truce between Beartown and Hed flare up again. [image] Maya journeys home from music college to find Beartown and nearby Hed devastated by a horrific storm, trees down everywhere, and lives disrupted. She is coming back for a funeral (view spoiler)[ (Ramona’s funeral) (hide spoiler)] and runs into Benji, who has also returned from two years trying to find himself in Asia. [image] Meanwhile, a reporter and her father are investigating the sketchy finances of Beartown Ice Hockey, and uncover a whopper of a scandal, of the magnitude not seen in two years. A boy who lost his sister to a drug overdose plans revenge on those who targeted his sister, Ruth. (view spoiler)[Around the time of Maya’s rape, Ruth also gets raped by a Beartown hockey player, and of course, the investigation goes nowhere, and her story gets buried. (hide spoiler)] [image] All of these threads weave together and snowball until lives are threatened at the annual Beartown-Hed junior hockey game. [image] I must say that of all the relationships depicted in the series, I absolutely adored the one between seven-year-old Alicia (aspiring hockey player) and Benji. Also, the one between Maya and Benji. (view spoiler)[The part about how, in the future, when Alicia is a big hockey star, she lies down in the center circle of the rink and looks up at the ceiling, just like she did with her best friend Benji, really got me. Of course, Benji’s not there. Perhaps in spirit though. He doesn’t survive the events of this book. Then, of course, there's how Maya pays tribute to Benji when she is a famous singer. Gah, I was a fountain by then! (hide spoiler)] [image] The relationships between the people are at the heart of this trilogy, and these relationships are tested in the conclusion to the “Beartown” series. This series is, I think, a must-read, even for those who are not that into sports. Just make sure to have a tissue box or two by your side as you read The Winners. While I am not ready to let go of what has become one of my favorite series to date, I think the conclusion does the story justice. It's a beautiful story. Happy reading! -Cora Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 11, 2022
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Oct 24, 2022
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Sep 07, 2022
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Kindle Edition
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1501160796
| 9781501160790
| 1501160796
| 4.36
| 208,606
| Aug 21, 2017
| Jun 05, 2018
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it was amazing
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As always, beware of spoilers if you haven't read this book! Contains spoilers for both books one and two in the "Beartown" series.
Us Against You As always, beware of spoilers if you haven't read this book! Contains spoilers for both books one and two in the "Beartown" series. Us Against You is the second book in one of my new favorite series, where hockey is nothing and everything for the small town of Beartown.
The fallout from the last book, Beartown, continues. Beartown’s ice hockey club is on the verge of bankruptcy, and general manager, Peter Andersson, is desperate to find a way to save it. This leads to somewhat shady dealings with a local politician, to counter the huge investment in rival town Hed’s hockey club—where some of Beartown’s best flocked to a club they felt would give them the most chance of future success. However, these shady dealings come to haunt Peter. But one of his great loves is hockey, and he knows hockey is the heart of the community when everything else seems on a downward spiral. (view spoiler)[ The political machinations eventually force Peter to resign as general manager. (hide spoiler)] [image] Once the finances are taken care of, the next goal is to build a team. Elisabeth Zackell is brought in to coach a team that is centered around Amat (like Dash from The Incredibles, he is very fast), Benji (one of the more intense hockey players on the team), and Vidar (formerly stayed in juvenile detention/drug treatment, but is a stellar goalie). [image] I have to say that I really enjoyed the dynamic Coach Zackell had with the team, once the pearl-clutching about her gender passes amongst the team members (like other fields, women are underrepresented in hockey leadership roles). She is intelligent, tough, and uncompromising, reminding me very much of Kira in a way. [image] While the new Beartown team is gearing up for the big game with Hed, the tensions between the two towns and rival hockey teams are coming to a slow boil. But once the boiling water overflows, it really overflows. (See Beartown for a similar dynamic.) There are various juvenile pranks, most of which result in the various defacings of the flags of both teams. [image] Because both towns’ identities are heavily intertwined with hockey—hockey is practically a religion—these things snowball into a disastrous event that leaves Beartown’s hockey team down a player. (view spoiler)[ Vidar is lost in a tragic car accident. (hide spoiler)]
Will Beartown prevail in the game? Can Beartown and Hed come to some sort of peace? [image] No spoilers! I’ll let you read and find out for yourself! As always, buckle up, because things are as intense as ever. I would talk more about the great character development, but those dynamics could help spoil the story also, so I'll omit that discussion in this review! (I’ll be reading the last entry in the series, The Winners, ASAP, because I need to know how things end up!) Happy reading! -Cora Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 03, 2022
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Oct 10, 2022
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Sep 07, 2022
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Hardcover
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1538754150
| 9781538754153
| 1538754150
| 3.53
| 1,259
| Aug 16, 2022
| Aug 16, 2022
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really liked it
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This is no ordinary autobiography! I was not sure how anthropomorphizing our home galaxy, the Milky Way, would work, but I think author Dr. Moiya McTi This is no ordinary autobiography! I was not sure how anthropomorphizing our home galaxy, the Milky Way, would work, but I think author Dr. Moiya McTier did a decent job with this in this intriguing science book! [image] The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy is first and foremost a popular science book, but that doesn’t mean that the author condescends to non-scientist readers who don’t have the astrophysics and folklore background that Dr. McTier does. Nor does the book dumb it down too much. (view spoiler)[(Even if the latter is the personality chosen to represent our Milky Way, trying to communicate to entities—humans—that are much smaller and less knowledgeable than it, but nevertheless live within the body of the galaxy. I guess that would be a frustrating communication experience, but I wouldn't know!) (hide spoiler)] Readers can see that Dr. McTier is clearly having fun telling our home galaxy’s story in an engaging way. One example of this is the fact that our galaxy finds it rude that human scientists succeeded in figuring out its true age, more or less! [image] Our Milky Way formed roughly thirteen billion years ago, and its past is turbulent, as its first stars light up from the vast compressed gas cloud and gradually acquire their own planets. (For comparison, scientists have estimated that the universe itself is around 13.7 billion years old.) [image] However, humanity doesn’t enter the picture until much later in the galaxy’s formative years, and it clearly communicates to readers just how small humanity is in not only the big picture of our home galaxy, but the much larger big picture of the universe and spacetime. I find that both awesome and terrifying, a combination I do not think will ever go away for me. Despite how annoyed the galaxy seems by humanity’s lack of knowledge; it nevertheless has a soft spot for humanity proved by how it affectionately tells of our ancestors and the myths they made up around the Milky Way. Not to mention how humanity also closely watched the stars to navigate and to plan harvests. The galaxy laments at the knowledge lost in our modern age, as light pollution makes seeing the stars very difficult. [image] I found this folkloric exploration a fascinating, yet important sidebar, helping readers to anchor humanity in our galaxy’s larger story. Not only does the galaxy tell of its past and present by way of the discoveries astronomers have built up over centuries in an accessible way, but also gives us a glimpse into the galaxy’s and universe’s future and ultimate fate. For science nerds like me and for general readers alike, The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy is a very fun read. I hope you enjoy it! [image] Happy reading! -Cora Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 17, 2022
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Oct 24, 2022
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Sep 07, 2022
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Hardcover
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0393609014
| 9780393609011
| 0393609014
| 3.94
| 1,116
| Jun 12, 2018
| Jun 12, 2018
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really liked it
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I am back on a nonfiction kick, and my latest read is Light of the Stars: Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth. Forget the bird’s-eye view! Light of
I am back on a nonfiction kick, and my latest read is Light of the Stars: Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth. Forget the bird’s-eye view! Light of the Stars is a book about Earth and its life, set in the context of the broader universe, a scale that my mind can’t quite grasp, but which makes you humble. [image] Adam Frank takes his readers on a quite the journey. The possibility of alien life and advanced civilizations on other worlds has taken awhile to be taken seriously by the science community—Francis Drake only came up with his famous Drake equation only in the early 1960s and that is about the time that the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) started popping up in the science mainstream. [image] The Drake equation helped to narrow down the various conceptual issues with quantifying the number of advanced civilizations that have been or currently are. Then further study could be done on each of the factors to advance our knowledge on these “exo-civilizations” overall. The Drake equation is made up of many parts, so let’s break it down, because it looks intimidating as a whole! See the helpful visual aid (credit: Business Insider) below: [image] [image] Whew! Thanks for bearing with me on that, but I think it’s important to look at each part of the equation because it really gets at how difficult it will be to get a precise answer on the big question of “Are we alone?” However, after considering what the author brings up throughout the book, I tend towards the more optimistic side when it comes to, simply, how many planets out there could have life. I also think it would be extremely self-centered of humans to think we’re the only ones who have ever been, are, or will be in the universe. It’s kind of a callback to the days where many scientists (and religious leaders) considered Earth to be the center of everything, and anyone suggesting we weren't tended to get burned at the stake. [image] As science has advanced, we have been able to better estimate the number of stars out there and are spotting other planets (exo-planets) with increased frequency, especially those that are part of their own solar system. [image] With our newest and most advanced eye on the galaxy now operational, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) hopes to spot more of these exo-planets and stars during its operational mission. (I believe it has already found at least one new exo-planet previously unknown to science via its capability to “see” things in infrared—e.g., the heat energy that objects radiate into space at a wavelength our eyes can’t see.) [image] I can’t wait to see how the JWST advances our knowledge on this front. (Perhaps Frank will eventually have to write an updated edition of this book!) Moving away from that tangent, Frank is trying to get people to view the climate change problem as part of the bigger picture. In other words, if there have been civilizations like ours, it is likely that the process of technological development has led to world-threatening challenges like climate change. Many civilizations may have or have not made it to this stage, but that doesn’t mean we should not try. [image] But the first step towards that is recognizing that humans, like any other advanced species out there, have an impact on their planet and the entirety of its ecosystem whenever it reaches a developmental or technological milestone. For example, the production of energy seems to be the big driver of climate change on our planet, and likely others (based on observations of, say, Venus, a planet fallen victim to a runaway greenhouse effect), and people will make an impact no matter what we do. What it comes down to is humanity producing enough energy to sustain itself with as little an impact on the planetary system as possible. (The author used a term like "civilizational coming of age" or something similar to describe a civilization successfully transitioning to a lower-impact society.) [image] While Light of the Stars is not ultimately what I thought it was going to be based on its blurb, it still was a treat to read, especially for those fascinated with the possibility of life on other worlds. The science can be above some readers’ heads, like my own (perhaps requiring some googling along the way!), but is one of those books that makes you think differently on some of the current crises humanity is grappling with, so I think it's worth the read! [image] -Cora Find this book and other titles within our catalog. See also: https://webbtelescope.org/resource-ga... (James Webb Space Telescope) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 15, 2022
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Sep 06, 2022
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Aug 15, 2022
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Hardcover
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0525555218
| 9780525555216
| 0525555218
| 4.36
| 137,682
| May 18, 2021
| May 18, 2021
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it was amazing
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I recognize that the five-star rating system is very subjective, but I felt that John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed was the right book at the righ
I recognize that the five-star rating system is very subjective, but I felt that John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed was the right book at the right time for me.
[image] The Anthropocene Reviewed is a collection of essays on a wide array of topics written during the COVID-19 pandemic by John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska, among a few of his bestsellers. [image] The overarching theme of the collection is looking at the different ways people have shaped the world, and in turn, how the changing world has shaped them. Many essays are personal, from Green’s perspective, but alternate between the personal experience and the larger picture of the world around him.
As I was reading, I could not help but feel that The Anthropocene Reviewed was just as therapeutic for John Green in writing it as it was for me reading it. Not only does he write in a highly relatable way, like him and the reader are in an interesting face-to-face conversation, but there is also an undercurrent of urgency to all the essays. [image] For me, they were powerful, even if written in a very down-to-earth style. I can tell he likes to learn and likes to convey to others through his writing the simultaneous joy and dread and wonder of living in the Anthropocene. [image] One of my favorite essays talked about the history of the popular board game, Monopoly, that ended up being part of a larger discussion of the economic forces shaping our current moment, particularly income inequality and the wealth gap.
[image] Ultimately, I found myself stunned that the game started off way different than it is played today, where players are ruthless in their pursuit for properties and wealth. It was almost like the game went through a game of telephone that ended up distorting the original message beyond recognition. I also found myself remorseful at how easy it is to get sucked in to such a mindset of a win-at-all-costs, zero-sum mentality. It is all too easy for me to end up in that trap, as I am a fiercely competitive board-game player.
I think part of what made Green’s writing so relatable for me was his description of anxiety, particularly as it intersected with the COVID-19 pandemic. As someone who struggles with anxiety, it was refreshing to see an author fearlessly talk openly about mental illness and the struggles that come with them, especially as all these things intersected in the pandemic. [image] I think general readers will enjoy The Anthropocene Reviewed. It is a volume full of topics bound to resonate deeply with all sorts of readers. Happy reading! -Cora Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 15, 2022
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Aug 29, 2022
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Aug 15, 2022
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Hardcover
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1645383148
| 9781645383147
| 1645383148
| 4.67
| 736
| Apr 30, 2022
| Apr 30, 2022
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really liked it
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Tailspin will be our book club's December selection. We are always on the lookout for local authors! To find a copy of the book, please check out our
Tailspin will be our book club's December selection. We are always on the lookout for local authors! To find a copy of the book, please check out our catalog, Hoopla, or Libby. Happy reading! To join in the discussion: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... 4.5/5 stars Tailspin is one of those nonfiction books that grip you like a thriller novel. Let me explain. [image] This is a WWII story centering around Wisconsin-born tail gunner Gene Moran. The story told in newspapers was that he survived falling four miles to the ground when his plane, the Rikki Tiki Tavi, was shot down over Germany. Mind you, he fell without a parachute in the tail section of the plane, which had separated from the rest of the aircraft, and survived! Tailspin catches us up on the events leading to the plane being shot down and Gene’s travails afterwards. [image] What the newspapers didn’t cover was the immense trauma Gene experienced throughout his time in military service. (The fall alone is incredibly traumatic.) He survives when he is patched back together at a German prisoner-of-war (POW) camp, one of three the Germans shuffle him and his fellow prisoners around to as the Allies gradually advance from the west. [image] Even though Germany ostensibly signed up to the Geneva Convention and had to treat Allied POWs with care, conditions in these prison camps were awful. Diseases spread rapidly among prisoners that already were not at their best, having been caught during combat missions in or over German territory. (The Soviet Union had not signed on to the Geneva Convention. The brief descriptions of the Soviet prisoners in these camps, however, were even more chilling, as Germany treated them as subhuman.) Often, the prisoners were evacuated as bombings were in progress, cruelly snatching away what they thought was their freedom, only to have to march at a merciless pace in awful weather to whatever place was next. For people in already bad shape, this led to further deaths from disease, exposure, and starvation. There was a considerable amount of gallows humor, but that is understandable. Camaraderie develops almost immediately between prisoners caught in the same horrible circumstances, leading to Gene developing some friendships that lasted long after the war. [image] Gene is much braver than I will ever be. May he rest in peace. But Gene’s story is only part of Tailspin, believe it or not. At the time Wisconsin-based historian and author John Armbruster is interviewing Gene for the book, his wife, Carmen, is suffering through metastatic breast cancer that has spread to her brain. Despite relentless chemotherapy, the brain tumor keeps recurring. Armbruster gracefully interweaves these two narratives, his wife’s declining health and Gene’s WWII survival story. [image] Throughout Tailspin, both men work out their trauma with each other during their “Thursdays with Gene” interviews. This process is incredibly moving, watching both become the best of friends during and after the interview process. (view spoiler)[ The story of Gene and his family trying to hold things together as Gene struggles with his mental health will just break your heart. (hide spoiler)] Tailspin is a great read. However, make sure to have a box of tissues next to you! If your reading experience is anything like mine, Tailspin will stick with you long after you finish the story. Happy reading! Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 13, 2022
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Sep 19, 2022
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Aug 11, 2022
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Paperback
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0593183193
| 9780593183199
| 0593183193
| 3.60
| 310,965
| Jun 06, 2022
| Jun 21, 2022
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really liked it
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Two staff members reviewed this book. Enjoy!
Spoiler warning! Brandon's review Around this time of year, I always get excited because a n Two staff members reviewed this book. Enjoy! Spoiler warning! Brandon's review Around this time of year, I always get excited because a new Riley Sager book gets released. The premise of this newest book sadly, did not sound that unique, but I’m a sucker for these types of books that take place on lake getaways. I turned my thinking cap on with bated anticipation to see what twists get thrown my way and try to solve as many as I can. Spoiler, I don’t solve them all. [image] Casey is a mourning alcoholic trying to cope with the death of her husband by staying at her lake house. In actuality, she is exiled to her family lake house by her mother after making a drunken scene in front of a crowd of paparazzi (Casey and her family were quite famous in showbiz). Having grown up at the lake house, she knows all of her neighbors until a new celebrity couple move into the house directly across the lake. She also gets surprised when it turns out her next-door neighbors have a dashing stranger house-sitting for them. Casey finds herself spying on the new neighbors while having a drink, frequently. Things go awry when the super model wife goes missing in strange circumstances not long after Casey saved her from drowning. She believes the husband to be complicit. Add to the fact that multiple women have disappeared from the surrounding area over the years means that something isn’t adding up. [image] A lot of Riley Sager’s books change between two timelines almost every chapter, but this endeavor consisted of multiple timelines while mainly following only one with rare switches in-between. It seems that Riley Sager is a bit of a cinephile since there are references to older movies and TV shows in this book, and numerous references in the last book he released. I do like the prose in most of Riley’s books since they grab my attention without letting go through the book. It is simple yet engaging. This book also featured a larger cast of characters that are developed more compared to previous books. Casey’s background though was told instead of shown a lot where she goes on this long inner monologue explaining her own backstory for many pages. [image] Casey is more developed than the previous main characters in Riley’s other books, but at the same time she feels just like all of the other main characters in his novels. Casey did feel more complex with different motivations and traumas that impacted her personality with her biggest flaw being an alcoholic. When I say alcoholic, I mean drinking to keep her demons at bay constantly. I felt that her alcoholism was excessive as it was always brought up with her needing a drink and getting drunk at all times of the day. Again, the supporting cast was well-developed, where I thought Katherine was more compelling of a character than even our main character. Boone though felt like a character trope more than an actual character. [image] There were a couple of red herrings in this book with some more obvious than others. As per usual in a Riley Sager book, there were a lot of twists. The biggest twist for me was only a twist because of the content of the author’s previous works under this pseudonym. Be forewarned, spoilers are ahead: (view spoiler)[ The fact that there was a supernatural aspect in this book took me by surprise as Riley Sager has never included a supernatural aspect before since some other books of his would fit the concept better. I know he has written about the supernatural in books published under a different name, but he never included it under this pseudonym where his twists were always lodged in reality. The whole supernatural aspect felt kind of weird to me in this context. I guessed pretty early on that good old Len actually was involved in the other disappearances. What I didn’t expect was for the local legend that Eli told to actually be true and involved Len in the end. I also kind of figured that Eli either was involved in the actual killing of Len or complicit in helping Casey, but instead he was used as a red herring. Boone and the detective friend of his were obvious red herrings, but I don’t know if I would trust him around stairs as he was caught in other lies (I don’t trust the story about his wife). I was surprised though about Tom at the very end considering what went down in the confrontation at the other house. My running theory was that Katherine was a super fan of Casey’s and had a mental disorder causing a split personality. Nope. The author went with the supernatural route. (hide spoiler)] [image] I did enjoy the book and did like the author’s writing, but I felt this book and his previous book were some of his weaker entries. Certain things such as an aspect of the big twist and the constant drinking of the main character took me out of the story at times. Overall, I had a positive experience and recommend this book to fans of his previous books and fans of horror, thriller, and mystery genres. [image] Cora's review 3.5/5 stars People who know me know I’m a relative newbie to the mystery/thriller genre. I tend to go for nonfiction and sci-fi/fantasy reads. However, I am always willing to try recommendations from friends and coworkers. On the recommendation of Brandon, I gave The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager a try. [image] A decent read, but there were a few quibbles of mine that prevented me from giving it a full four stars. Brandon gave a good overview of the plot in his review, so I won’t rehash that too much here. He’s read a few more of Riley Sager’s books than I have, so he has a better idea of what the author’s writing style is like, and I trust that he gave a good synopsis of the book with that knowledge in mind. Nonetheless, Sager did a decent job of deploying red herrings that kept me utterly confused for about half the book and then dumbfounded at some of the twists. The dumbfounding being bad and good. I figured out some, but there were others that took me by surprise. Speaking of surprises, I did not suspect Casey’s involvement in all of this as much as I should have.(view spoiler)[ Casey was the one that killed her husband Len, who she found was a serial killer that had claimed the lives of three local women. (hide spoiler)] I did suspect every other character in the book, including Katherine herself. That aspect of not knowing who to trust and constantly hunting for clues may be the appeal for many people that enjoy this genre, and I can see why. [image] Now, for the bad. I was a bit disappointed in the supernatural element that reared its head in the last half of the book. To me, relying on this kind of element is lazy, when the more interesting thing is trying to figure out the people involved, their motivations, and how they played their part in the mystery song-and-dance. Getting supernatural elements involved muddies things up too much for me and helps to spoil any of the appealing realism in the story. That probably is just me and my reading tastes here speaking, but I guess I prefer my mystery/thriller without any monsters or ghosts or the like. Lastly, another quibble of mine involves characterization and tropes. (Mostly looking at Boone, here.) Boone felt like a shallowly written character laden with tropes. An ex-cop, in recovery himself, also widowed, and hot (of course). (view spoiler)[ Perhaps I am being a bit unfair on Boone here, but the author playing on reader suspicions that he may have had something to do with his wife’s accidental death was the most depth I saw invested in him. (hide spoiler)] It just seemed like most of his identity and personality followed well-trod tropes, and I would have liked to see his character more fleshed out. [image] Overall, The House Across the Lake was an okay read. Not the worst, but not the best. -Cora Find this book and other titles within our catalog. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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Nov 26, 2022
Aug 05, 2022
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Dec 06, 2022
Aug 05, 2022
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Aug 05, 2022
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Hardcover
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