Two more to go for this year‘s #ToB23 Tournament of Books.

Liked but didn‘t love this one, like so many of you.

#ToB23

I started this one on audiobook, but it just didn‘t gel for me. I preferred the print which I saw the snarky and sarcastic bits better. The second person point of view didn‘t completely work for me. Liked it but didn‘t love it.

A word of advice: lots going on here, and it takes a minute to meet enough characters to get into this one, so be sure u have a few hours to read several chapters at the beginning. Once I got going, I couldn‘t put this one down. I think this has serious potential for audio. Reading for #ToB23

https://wellreadneck.wordpress.com/2022/12/16/best-of-2022/

I‘m so excited about this year‘s Tournament of Books lineup!!! As it happens, I‘ve read 11 of the shortlisted books and several of the rest were on my radar, so I‘ll definitely be reading All. The. Books!!! #ToB23

Got some great #BookMail from Europa today!! Both of these are May releases.

Fun and fast read. But, there were some unanswered questions at the end and the direction of the final scenes was pretty clear around the halfway mark.

YAAAASSSSS! Absolutely loved this audiobook. Seriously, the BEST author-narrated book I‘ve ever heard. He was off the charts. Increadible All-American/Friday Night Lights Grit Lit. Will almost certainly be a top ten of the year read for me. #ARC #audiobook #Netgalley

A sweet and charming Beauty and the Beast retelling. Thought she did a great job of making the story contemporary. #ARC #Netgalley

Some good steamy scenes, but the story was a bit lackluster for me.

Yaaaaaaasssss! Loved this wonderful mystery novel with a comic book theme. The audiobook was great! And, the β€œcomic book excerpts” (which in the print version are illustrated) played like an old fashioned radio drama.

This is just the absolute cutest! It has all the tropes: grumpy/sunny; fake dating; whoops shared room. So much fun.

A fun, fast-paced thriller with past crime/present crime set up. The past crime takes place at a Blockbuster on New Year‘s Eve 1999, for a little nostalgia. Enjoyed the #audiobook narrated by a full cast.

I adored Dial A for Aunties and this second in a series book delivered more of the same antics. But, that was sort of my rib with it, it felt like the same book and the repeat loses the freshness. #ARC

#LibraryHaul

When it rains, it pours!!! πŸŒ¦β˜”οΈπŸ“š

#BookMail from #LibraryThing #EarlyReviewers

I love how the dandelion in the crack on the front is echoed on the spine. πŸͺ¨πŸŒΌ

Unlike her earlier book, Quiet, this one be done don‘t quite gel for me. Some interesting ideas here, but the organization or something was off for me and it just didn‘t feel like a cohesive whole. #ARC #Edelweiss

Really, no. Lauren Graham narration only seemed to make the protagonist more unlikeable?! And, the plot set up just didn‘t work for me.

Such a fun and quirky mystery with a futuristic, techy plot. Great on #audiobook

Completely enjoyed Moriarty‘s latest. Both a mystery and a dysfunctional family saga. Lots of the same vibes as Nine Perfect Strangers. Listened on #audiobook which was πŸ’―

Interesting premise. But, overly long for me and, welp, we all know how it ends. I didn‘t find this the spookily similar to current events narrative that so many proclaim. #ARC

Loved this book about a man looking back in his life (because he‘s being chased by enforcers for a man to whom he owes $$) of people who served as a Justice League of sorts for Civil Rights in the 1960s.

Enjoyed this unusual serial killer thriller. The story begins with the killer on death row and unravels his story through flashbacks from the points of view of three women in his life: his mother, his sister-in-law; and the detective who caught him.

Super fun sci-Fi. Read in combo egalley and #audiobook. Both were awesome sauce. Snarky and fun!! #ARC #NetGalley

Wow. Powerful short story by Toni Morrison. Zadie Smith‘s introduction (which I highly recommend be read only after u read the story) nails the discomfort that Morrison evokes for the reader. #ARC #Edelweiss

Just meh. Another someone behaving badly novel, but this one didn‘t do much with it. #ARC #Netgalley

Superbly weird. The WildBoyZ is a boy band made up of animal/human hybrids whose back story plays into a murder mystery.

Wow. I adored this strange novel that is part love story, part dystopian tale, part history lesson. Feels like a likely candidate for next year‘s Tournament of Books.

Throughly entertaining Gatsby retelling featuring the ladies. Well done.

Interlinked short story collection from the author of The Resisters. A similar sensibility to the author‘s previous novel. Loved the stories and the characters they contained. #audiobook

A glorious retelling of a 13th c. Poem about a knight who was both a man and a woman. Wonderful and thoughtful take on gender; societal expectations; nature vs nurture; and the wonderful spectrum on which we all live.

Loved the premise and early chapters were solid. But, along the way, the characters became abhorrent and the ending just did not do a thing for me. #ARC #netgalley

Nope.

#Netgalley

Yaaaasss! Listened on #audiobook and the narration is πŸ’― An up and coming Black violinist learned that his instrument, which has been in his family for generations is a Strad. The story is ostensibly about finding the thief, but really speaks to racism and family in profound ways.

Still enjoying this series. This story mirrors the Cinderella tale.

Enjoyed this self-romance book. Cute and empowering.

Great book. Very accessible and the information looks at gender equality in new (to me) ways. #ARC

Pitch perfect short novel. Two former college classmates meet in an airport during a long delay and one tells the other about his life in the intervening years. Lovely storytelling with a biting edge. But, y‘all, this ending!!!! Worth reading for the unfolding alone. #Edelweiss #ARC

πŸ’• Completely adored this contemporary romance novel. πŸ’•

Tried this on #audiobook. Good narration, but so many plot holes I bailed.

Yaaaaaasssss! I loved the author‘s previous novels and Devil House has solidified him as an autobuy for me. This extremely meta novel is satisfying all the way thru, but the ending 🀯 and took this from a campy take on the 198o‘s satanic panic to a strong social commentary. #Netgalley #ARC

True crime with an author‘s memoir mixed in. I really enjoy nonfiction with this sort of genre mash-up (think: The Orchid Thief; The Lady from the Black Lagoon; Why Fish Don‘t Exist). I tried this a couple times in print and didn‘t get into the flow but liked enough to try again. Ultimately, finished (devoured!!) on #audiobook read by the author.

I loved this novel translated from the original French. The plot doesn‘t begin to come together until about 40%, but takes off from there like a rocket. Completely bananapants in all the best ways!! πŸŒπŸ‘–

I liked but didn‘t love this memoir that discusses ancestral trauma from the point of view of a middle class white American woman whose ancestors were racists, misogynists, and slaveholders. #Edelweiss #ARC

Well, there‘s A LOT going on here. Humorous and weird and smart and goofy. But, for me, it was all a bit too much and didn‘t quite feel worth the journey to me.

Good narration on #audiobook. Based on the blurb and cover, I expected (WANTED) a full-blown romance. The love story is in here, but it‘s mostly two parallel stories and the coming together is slow and painful.

Went back to read the first in this series after reading the second. Enjoying this series and will def be continuing!

May be an unpopular opinion, but while I loved the story, it was sooooooo drawn out for me.

Have had this one on my kindle for a while and finally picking it up before watching the recent movie. Completely blown away. Fantabulous ending!!!!

Absolutely loved this #audiobook narrated by the author that‘s partially a memoir about the death of the author‘s father and her falling in love with her partner. But, it‘s also about meteorites and etymology and losing your keys and so much more. πŸ’•