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MelissaSue81

MelissaSue81

Joined May 2016

Mom. Academic Librarian. WNY
review
MelissaSue81
Slow Dance: A Novel | Rainbow Rowell
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Pickpick

I was so excited to get this ARC and it did not disappoint. Sometimes I feel like RR writes her stories just for me. Loved every minute. Loved the characters (flawed but still lovely). Loved the nostalgias

35 likes1 stack add
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MelissaSue81
Untitled | Unknown
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I have been so bad about posting here!! But this is what I read in September!! I loved the Rachel Incident SO much!

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MelissaSue81
Untitled | Anonymous
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Here‘s October‘s books. LOVED Black Cake. Really liked A Quiet Life and liked To Paradise. The others were decidedly “meh.” School for Good Mothers was a “trying way too hard to make a statement” dystopian. Razorblade Tears was a crime drama with tons of graphic violence. Full Flight had lots of potential as a YA romance (about band kids? Yes please!) but then took a turn at the end that completely changed the story and I didn‘t like it one bit.

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MelissaSue81
The Winners | Fredrik Backman
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Well first off.. I have to apologize for abandoning Litsy. I just don‘t have the time and energy to read and review like I used to. But I have to share this with you all. Last week I got to meet my absolute favorite author Fredrik Backman and have him sign my copies of the Winners and A Man Called Ove. He is every bit as funny and real as you‘d imagine and it was the best!!

Amiable I love his books! So glad to hear he‘s a nice person as well as a wonderful writer. 1y
IuliaC Wonderful!👍I've enjoyed his books so much 1y
CarolynM Nice to see you🙂 Hope all is well. 1y
45 likes3 comments
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MelissaSue81
Carrie Soto Is Back | Taylor Jenkins Reid
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Mehso-so

About 80% of this book is play by plays of tennis matches.The good news is, I could skim those pages so this was a super fast read!
What this book did well was Carrie‘s relationships with her father, her love interest, and her main rival. Carrie was pretty one dimensional and unlikable herself, but I think the change in her throughout the book was satisfying. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #hopeyouliketennis

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MelissaSue81
French Braid | Anne Tyler
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Pickpick

I love family dramas and especially those that span generations. told through a series of vignettes from family members from 3 generations. A family who loves one another despite some dysfunction and stressed relationships. I definitely saw parts of my own extended family reflected here and I am sure most families will see something they relate to. I felt like I wanted just a **little** more from the ending but am satisfied with it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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MelissaSue81
Daisy Darker | Alice Feeney
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Pickpick

Excellent atmosphere where a family is “trapped” due to the tide being in on an island. Family members start dying one by and no one sees it happening. A creepy poem appears narrating the killings.There are also flashback scenes to what happened when the now adult grandchildren were children and teens. There is a BIG twist that comes pretty late but I didn‘t expect it. it wasn‘t really what I wanted, but it was well done nonetheless.

DGRachel Trapped on an island is one of my favorite tropes. Stacking this one for sure! 2y
LittlePixels OMG, I got to the twist in the wee hours, and my “just one more chapter” turned into me finishing the book and almost seeing the sunrise. 😄 2y
52 likes1 stack add2 comments
quote
MelissaSue81
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““No one talks about that—at least not to dads. Maybe moms talk about it more—I bet they do. But no one ever talked to me about it, that‘s for sure—what it feels like to love someone so much, and then have them change into someone else. You love that new person, but it‘s different, and it all happens so fast, even the parts that feel like they just last for fucking ever while they‘re happening.”

This book hit me right in the feels

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MelissaSue81
The Winners (Beartown #3) | Backman Fredrik
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Mehso-so

I loved Beartown and the characters and the writing. I wish we could stick with the original characters only. A LOT happened in this book, but it didn‘t really follow a plot. Similar to Beartown, we are told the ending at the beginning and are left to figure out how we get there, but it didn‘t really seem like all of the events had any bearing on the outcome. A lot of waiting.
I kind of wish that we had just stopped after book 1 of this series.

LiteraryinLawrence Interesting! I‘m still going to read it (because it‘s Backman and I‘ve read everything by him) but I‘ll be curious if I feel the same way. I don‘t love it when authors make a series out of what could have been a standalone. 2y
MelissaSue81 @LiteraryinLawrence - I also have read all his books and still consider him my favorite author. I did really like the original Beartown, but the second and third were just not my faves. 2y
thewallflower0707 Beartown was sooooo well-written and so many great plot twists, the sequel left me thoroughly disappointed. I held out hope for the third book 🥲 2y
MelissaSue81 @thewallflower0707 - I felt similarly about the sequel. I‘m going to do a reread of it and see if I feel differently. I liked Beartown better the second time around. 2y
bookaholic1 I love his books, but some books should stop at the first one. 2y
48 likes5 comments
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MelissaSue81
The Winners (Beartown #3) | Backman Fredrik
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Approved for this on #edelweiss+ today! So freaking excited!!

LiteraryinLawrence There‘s a third one??? So exciting!!! 2y
MelissaSue81 @LiteraryinLawrence out in October, I believe. (edited) 2y
ErikasMindfulShelf It‘s really good!! 2y
CarolynM I‘m very envious! Enjoy. 2y
42 likes2 stack adds4 comments
review
MelissaSue81
I Kissed Shara Wheeler | Casey McQuiston
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Pickpick

This was a super fun read. I really liked both of Casey McQuistons other two books so I was excited to get this ARC. I didn‘t realize going in that this was a “true” YA so it wasn‘t quite what I expected, but especially if you are into realistic YA fiction, you‘ll enjoy this. A little bit of an Albertalli vibe, but I especially like the mystery aspect in the first half of the book.

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MelissaSue81
Untitled | Untitled
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Here is my December books! 13 for the month. I read liked a lot of these. Landline was a reread for me, an old favorite.
Lost Apothecary and Animal made my top 10 for year list.
Cloud Cuckoo Land, Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, Book of Lost Names were all Solid 4 star reads and I truly enjoyed them.
I really did NOT like Whereabouts.
The rest were all decent.

Susanita Great emoji action! 💃🏽 2y
LaraS Your emoji reviews always make me 😊! 2y
MelissaSue81 @LaraS thanks!! 2y
45 likes3 comments
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MelissaSue81
Untitled | Untitled
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Finished my reading challenge today!!

Ruthiella Well done! 👏👏👏 2y
wanderinglynn Congrats! 🎉👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 2y
sprainedbrain Yay!! 🎉🎉🎉 2y
Jas16 🙌🏽 2y
Kimzey Congratulations on meeting your reading goal! 2y
50 likes5 comments
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MelissaSue81
Top Ten | Alan Moore
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My top 10 books of 2021. A lot of historical fiction for someone who says she doesn‘t like Historical fiction! Also, I found an article by Adam Grant (who wrote my #10 book) picking John Green‘s The Anthropocene reviewed as his #1 book for the year, so I thought that was really interesting.

Chelsea.Poole I think the John Green is my top book of the year too! I also liked Adam Grant‘s so that‘s an interesting tidbit 😊 2y
48 likes1 comment
review
MelissaSue81
Cloud Cuckoo Land | Anthony Doerr
Pickpick

I liked this book WAY more than I expected to. I really had no idea what to expect from this book,
with elements of historical fiction, realistic fiction and science fiction all in one. Somehow it worked! It isn't until about 1/2 way through the book that you start to see how the three stories come together, but then they all do. the historical piece was my least favorite but the present-day and future storylines had me hooked from the start.

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MelissaSue81
Morningside Heights | Joshua Henkin
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Panpan

Originally got this as an #ARC from #netgalley. It sounded like a book that was right up my alley. Family drama over decades with evolving parent child relationships. I was pretty disappointed. There were some great opportunities here to explore the dynamics of this family but too many side plots and characters and it just didn‘t work for me. nothing really happened, nor did the characters change significantly from start to finish. dull. ⭐️⭐️

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MelissaSue81
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Pickpick

Saw rave reviews for this but every time I read the description I went “meh” and put it down. Finally got on the list for it after it won the #goodreads award. I LOVED this. The historical story was completely immersive. Loved Nella and Eliza and couldn‘t wait to hear what happened next. The present day story, seemed a bit unnecessary to the story, but I liked Caroline too and loved the use libraries and librarians in her research! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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MelissaSue81
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I managed 12 books in November (fine, If the Fates allow was a short story, but I‘m counting it.) I really liked a lot of these and really hated a couple. It was a good month, but I need to read 12 for December too to get to 100!

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MelissaSue81
West with Giraffes | Lynda Rutledge
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Pickpick

Why did no one tell me about this book sooner? Why does my public library system only own a couple of copies? This book had it all for me. All the feels plus some adventure and suspense and a cross country voyage. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Nutmegnc Great title! 2y
55 likes1 stack add1 comment
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MelissaSue81
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I finally have a Little Free Library!! I am so excited. I stocked it up more this morning after I took this with Most of my Jodi Picoult collection that I am never going to read, among other things. 😂

jdiehr So exciting! 2y
marleed Oh congratulations! 2y
72 likes2 comments
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MelissaSue81
The Survivors | ALEX. SCHULMAN
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Pickpick

This book is the story of 3 brothers and their parents and alternates from moments in their childhood (moving forward in time) and a single day in their adult lives where they have come together (moving backward in time). The timelines did confuse me a bit. Overall this was a powerful story and a fast read, was able to finish it in a few hours. I expected just a little more than I got from the ending, but still a worthwhile read

63 likes1 stack add
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MelissaSue81
The Therapist | B A Paris
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Mehso-so

A big “meh” on this one. The ending was somewhat predictable, though there were enough alternate theories happening throughout that it did sort of keep me guessing. The MC is distrustful of just about everyone, so they all seem suspicious. The flashbacks to “past” didn‘t really seem to add anything to the story and the title “the therapist” seems an odd choice, given how the book played out. This book was enjoyable, but not fantastic

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MelissaSue81
The Therapist | B A Paris
This post contains spoilers
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There is a huge spoiler right on the cover of this audiobook. The female narrator reads 99% of the book, but they put a male narrator in for basically one scene, at the end. Completely unnecessary and It was a dead giveaway.

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MelissaSue81
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Pickpick

The promo tag for this book was “A Man Called Ove meets A Good Place” so how could I NOT read it? Amazing yet flawed characters, engaging story, authentic romance. I started feeling about 3/4 of the way through that there was no way the book could end “well” and started thinking of which not quite perfect outcomes I‘d be happy with. However, the ending actually ended up being a little too tidy and it didn‘t quite feel right.

61 likes1 stack add
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MelissaSue81
Five Total Strangers | Natalie D. Richards
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Pickpick

Grabbed this #audiobook on #Libby for the #biglibraryread. Definitely kept me interested the whole time. A+ for the creepy atmosphere, and the psychological aspect, but after awhile the whole thing seemed to get pretty unbelievable, and I feel like there were some BIG things that weren‘t really explained in the end. 3.5 ⭐️ rounded up

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MelissaSue81
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Pickpick

I feel pretty lucky to have gotten this ARC from Edelweiss! This didn‘t QUITE live up to the original for me but it was still a great book. Full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4108033834

BookishMarginalia Stacked! 3y
Nutmegnc I‘m so ready!! 2y
52 likes1 stack add2 comments
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MelissaSue81
Malibu Rising | Taylor Jenkins Reid
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Panpan

Am I the only one who really hated this book? I cannot possibly think of a more pointless story. Absolutely no plot development to speak of. The only action in the entire book happens in the last few pages. Just terrible.

Lovesbooks87 I didn‘t like it. I was disappointed. 3y
Prairiegirl_reading I refuse to even try this one! 3y
Hooked_on_books Her books don‘t appeal to me at all, so I won‘t even try it. 3y
See All 6 Comments
MelissaSue81 @Hooked_on_books - I really liked Evelyn Hugo… Daisy Jones was just “meh” to me, but this was just awful. I got to the end and I was like “I read all of that for THAT?” The pacing was terrible.. there were entire chapters about “the party” that had absolutely no bearing on the outcome of the story.. just bad 3y
Lola You are NOT the only one. Soooo disappointing. 3y
Lola @MelissaSue81 Same. I was smitten by Evelyn, meh about Daisy. I might have liked that one better if I did it on audio. 3y
55 likes1 stack add6 comments
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MelissaSue81
The Four Winds | Kristin Hannah
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June update! The Four Winds and Aristotle and Dante were my favorites. Liked This Tender Land and Survive the Night a lot. The rest were not fantastic

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MelissaSue81
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Pickpick

Got this from NetGalley just last week and finished last night. Didn‘t realize til now that today is its release day. This one is getting some mixed reviews and I do see why. It‘s not on par with The Last Time I Lied, but it‘s got the Ultra creepy atmosphere going and it was a page turner.

Alfoster Oh man! I requested it and got declined😢! I love his others too so will wait till this goes on sale!🤞 3y
TEArificbooks So glad it was an add on for Book of The Month. 3y
50 likes2 comments
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MelissaSue81
The Red Address Book | Sofia Lundberg
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Finally getting caught up on my reading challenge and I have found a new “read every book” author in Sofia Lundburg. Really enjoyed a lot of these this month.

Hooked_on_books I‘m loving your emoji usage in this pic! 3y
49 likes1 comment
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MelissaSue81
Kate in Waiting | Becky Albertalli
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Weekend road trip.. kids playing in the hotel pool. Even though I had to search nearly every hotel in the city to find an open one, life is starting to feel a bit normal again and I‘m even on a bit of a reading streak!!

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MelissaSue81
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Pickpick

I saw Fredrik Backman recommend this book on his Instagram a month or so ago so immediately got in the queue at the library for it. If you like Backman‘s books (I‘m obsessed) I think you‘ll like this. Not as funny (pretty dark and heart wrenching, actually) but a really beautiful story about the meaning of home, family and the events in our lives that shape us and lead us to where we are. this will make my top 10 for the year. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

CBee If Backman recommends it, it must be amazing!! Stacked! 3y
55 likes1 stack add1 comment
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MelissaSue81
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I am about halfway through this book and am loving it.. but the narrator is KILLING me. She is British (the same narrator who did Fredrik Backman‘s 2 Britt Marie books). For some reason the Swedish characters get British accents, but the American characters get really, terrible American accents and voices. So cringey. Also she keeps changing the pronunciation of one characters name, and even mispronounced the MCs name once.

LaraS Ugh, bad narration is the worst! It can totally ruin a book 😐 3y
33 likes1 comment
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MelissaSue81
Friends and Strangers | J. Courtney Sullivan
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Mehso-so

This book was… interesting? I was really interested to see where the story would go, and then it went absolutely nowhere. Characters did unforgivable things and were seemingly forgiven with not much explanation. The story ends abruptly and then the author tries to tie it all together in some nice bow in the epilogue but it didn‘t work for me at all.

LaraS Love the bookmark! 3y
48 likes1 comment
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MelissaSue81
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Pickpick

This was so good! So interesting and thought provoking. This stuff is the reason why I was a psych major, and I still find it so fascinating.

Tamra I forgot to review this one - I agree it was really interesting! 3y
48 likes1 stack add1 comment
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MelissaSue81
One Last Stop | Casey McQuiston
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Pickpick

I loved this book! It sucked me in from the first few pages and didn't let go. It was actually the opposite experience of when I read RW&RB, as that one took me a LONG time to get into, but it won me over in the end. I just loved it with my whole heart. My only complaint was sometimes the scenes with the side characters felt a bit drawn out. The side characters were all lovable and interesting, but I really wanted to get back to Jane and August

62 likes1 stack add
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MelissaSue81
Untitled | Unknown
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March Reads. Featuring the MelissaSue81™️ emoji rating system. I Really loved all of these except I Was Told It Would Get Easier and Wintering.

Riveted_Reader_Melissa Love the rating system! 3y
Hooked_on_books Excellent rating system! 👍🏼 3y
BookishClaire Finlay Donovan sounds really fun 3y
61 likes4 comments
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MelissaSue81
Beezus and Ramona | Beverly Cleary
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The missing two Ramona books ARE in this house somewhere but I can‘t find them. RIP Beverly Cleary. 😢

marleed I love her books! 3y
CBee I WISH I still had all of mine. Most I probably checked out from the library when I was a kiddo. She was a go to for me!! 3y
Scochrane26 I loved her books as a kid & have listened to them as an adult. Esp the Ramona books. I think I went to the library for most of them, too. 3y
62 likes1 stack add3 comments
blurb
MelissaSue81
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My 12 year old daughter‘s birthday gift this year was to create a reading nook in her bedroom. Her grandparents bought her the chair, the rest (excluding the books and baby yoda) came from us. I am so in love with it and I wish I had one too. (I may have had the thought that I can take it over in 6 years when she heads to college.) 🤣. She‘s recently started reading YA in earnest. Top shelf is library books, middle TBR and bottom read and loved.

sebrittainclark How cute! 3y
Ruthiella Lucky kid! 😀 3y
Tamra Adorable - I want one too! 3y
See All 8 Comments
BookmarkTavern How cozy! 😍 3y
LiteraryinLawrence What an awesome gift! It‘s beautiful! 3y
AmyG It‘s perfect. What an awesome gift! 3y
emz711 So great! 3y
Nute Wow! Just right! 3y
78 likes8 comments
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MelissaSue81
Amelia Unabridged | Ashley Schumacher
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February reading report! Amelia Unabridged was my favorite by a landslide. The MelissaSue81 ™️ emoji rating system at work.

Lovesbooks87 Amelia was so good! 3y
39 likes1 comment
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MelissaSue81
Mexican Gothic | Silvia Moreno-Garcia
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Pickpick

Right on the edge of a pick and so so. The setting and details were sooo good and creepy af. The storyline of the cousin who is seemingly ill and sees ghosts in the house is excellent. But the explanation of the how and why as it all comes out is just so utterly ridiculous.. Which I guess I didn‘t see coming .

Twainy That was definitely an unexpected twist for me also. 3y
64 likes1 comment
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MelissaSue81
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Sticking with my emoji rating scheme. Got to 9 books this month! Most in many months. Eleanor and Park and Beartown were my comfort rereads. The Obama book is amazing and a must read. I‘m the minority who didn‘t really like The Grace Year (fine, but I don‘t get the hype.) Girl woman other had great parts but sooo many characters to try to keep straight. Migrations was good but again I felt didn‘t quite reach my expectations. The others were meh.

Marni I love your emoji ratings! I may have to steal that idea. 3y
Catsandbooks Such a great idea of emoji ratings! 3y
48 likes2 comments
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MelissaSue81
Beartown: A Novel | Fredrik Backman
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Pickpick

This book was better the second time around! I think I read it 3-4 years ago, and had given it three stars. The sheer number of characters was overwhelming to me, so that seemed better this time around. It‘s strange though because I thought I remembered things happening that didn‘t happen, and forgot some things that did happen. Not sure if I‘m confusing it with Us against You or just hallucinating. 🤣

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MelissaSue81
A Promised Land | Barack Obama
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Ahhh. I so need this.

Chelsea.Poole He‘s so articulate, and yet relatable and down-to-earth! How does he do it?! 3y
BookishMarginalia 💜💜💜 3y
JenReadsAlot I'm listening right now as well! 3y
74 likes1 stack add3 comments
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MelissaSue81
Eleanor and Park | Rainbow Rowell
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I saw some article somewhere suggesting we should only read for comfort in 2021. While I‘m sure I won‘t stick to only comfort, gonna start a good comfort read. I did this book on audio back in probably 2018 and these characters have not left me. Revisiting (also reading to see if i feel it‘s appropriate to share with my nearly 12 year old who has decided she will only read YA now)

AvidReader25 I want to reread this one now too! 3y
Texreader Love this book! Great idea! 3y
81 likes4 stack adds3 comments
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MelissaSue81
The Grace Year | Kim Liggett
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Mehso-so

🤔. So every one of my friends on good reads rated this five stars. I have heard amazing reviews. I tried reading this in print a couple months ago and couldn‘t get into it before my loan was up. Audio was better... but... I really don‘t get the hype. The ending definitely redeemed the book for me but the beginning and middle were really rough. I mean dystopian fiction isn‘t generally my jam but still...

Powered_By_Plants Ahh such a shame . I have also heard such great things about this , I have a copy sitting on my shelf ready to read. Sometimes we have really high expectations hearing other reviews I know I do 😅 3y
72 likes1 comment
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MelissaSue81
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I didn‘t actually like the Sigrid Nunez book that much, but this quote that the book is named for has really stuck with me. 💕💕💕

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MelissaSue81
Clap When You Land | Elizabeth Acevedo
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#sundayfunday @ozma.of.oz
1) tagged book and conversations with friends
2) I‘ve hardly read at all. I hate it.
3) I think Migrations, but I‘m on the look out for more!

BookmarkTavern I have your tagged book on my TBR too! I hope to get to it this year. Thank you for sharing! 3y
39 likes1 comment
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MelissaSue81
Christmas Trees | Robert Frost
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Happy December Littens. I‘m still in a reading slump and probably going to come up short of my reading challenge goal for the first time in a couple years, but it seems to be getting better. Anything new that I absolutely must read? Bonus points if I don‘t have to think too hard.

melissajayne Love your Christmas tree 🎄 3y
Kappadeemom I‘ve struggled this year too. Worst reading year in a long time. 3y
wanderinglynn Pretty tree! 🎄 3y
69 likes4 comments
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MelissaSue81
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Loved Trust and Why We‘re Polarized. Really liked the new Hank Green book. Haaaaated United States of Anxiety