I‘m not much for “cozy mysteries” but considering the seriousness of this plot, it didn‘t feel cozy. Much of the seriousness felt tossed off with food descriptions and attempts at sarcasm or flippant humor. It was hard to take any of it as a light read, the lead character in particular. I‘m definitely not this genre‘s prime demo….but this wasn‘t for me.

The hype is real - esp if you‘re an only child/close with your mother. A tear jerker. TW: cancer, family death

I can‘t recommend this title enough - it was fantastic. Gritty & intense for YA — it follows a young Native woman who agrees to become an informant after two local tragedies regarding meth addiction happen in her community. It‘s a thrill ride and even tho it‘s long, no detail is superfluous. Also expanded on Native traditions & culture. TW: death, addiction, rape.

This was Top Choice of Mysteries per Goodreads for 2021 and I‘m throughly underwhelmed. Way too simplistic of a plot for a mystery (in my opinion). That being said, the writing was good and kept me listening. Just wish the plot was twister. Not my jam, per say. The final third was a big misfire - but until then I was pretty on board.

This is equal bits Handmaid‘s Tale & The Hunger Games, with a magical twist. A part of me wishes it was less about a love story, because it diminishes the feminist theming to a degree. But for YA, it‘s fast paced, honest, sometimes quite gory. 🌺

If you loved Bunny (as I did), I think you‘ll like this. Not as left-field bizarre but heavy on the “what” and “is any of this really happening” that Awad does so well.

Definitely liked this more than the play it pays homage to - All‘s Well That Ends Well - but I think it makes sense to read/get the gist of that play before reading. Odd? Yes. Satisfying? In its own way. #ShakespeareReadalong

About to start my 100th (& probably final) book of 2021. What a crazy year. 🙈🤷🏻‍♀️😂

Wildly inventive & totally unrealistic YA novel about two kids on an expedition in the Amazon. For YA, it does speak on topics of drugs, death, and treachery in a pretty matter of fact way, but that could be the translation. Overall, wasn‘t really my thing. #AuthorAMonth

The first pick for the brand new book club at my workplace. I thought this was a tad overhyped — but would probably work best as a movie.

Like a lot of folks, I discovered Schitt‘s Creek during the quarantine. It was such a reliable source of joy, I didn‘t want the series to end. This coffee table style book is full of bts photos and interviews with the cast — very cute if you love the show.

I really wanted to love this bc the concept of monsters living amongst us juxtaposed with current events is such a good idea. But the shifting POV made the narrative really difficult to follow.

I really enjoyed this. It felt like a spooky episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark or Goosebumps with actual real life consequences. May need to find the rest of the series now….. #AuthorAMonth

I love Moriarty‘s books. Even when the plot is a bit meh (the case here), the writing and characters are so warm and real, it‘s easy to get lost in her little melodramas.

Sondheim is a mad scientist genius. 🥧 🔪 🐦 🇬🇧

I feel like the hype around this was overblown. It felt repetitive, confused, and rife with plot holes. While the plot‘s base is sufficiently creepy, so much is unexplained with any kind of real richness. The characters are super one-dimensional. I kept expecting a twist and it never came. This wasn‘t for me, but as a Halloween-week read…meh. 🍄 🏠 🌹 🐍

Plot wise, this had a lot of info that didn‘t lead anywhere — but Jewell‘s writing sucks you in turning this into a super fast read. Even when I knew where the story was going, I was still excited to hear how this ended. I could read all of this authors work. 💍 🚌 🚲

This was a quick read so I wouldn‘t call it very in-depth — more like an overview of different modern cults & “cult adjacent” and the language they use to draw people in. It was definitely interesting and presented in an easily understandable way.

I vacillated back & forth about how I felt on this book. Ultimately — it was far too long and the parts more about Henry felt far more heartbreaking & nuanced than the parts about Addie herself. Much of this read like Phantom of the Opera to me — except the Phantom continued a charade of “choice”. It was difficult to feel empathy for Addie (to me), overall she felt quite selfish. Still, it‘s a pick for Henry/the writing itself. #AuthorAMonth

Seeing this live on Broadway (mere months before the pandemic shut it down for almost 2 years) was truly incredible - in fact I believe it was their first performance after winning a Grammy. Picked up the lyrics book at a shop in Midtown a few weeks back when I made my first return trip to Broadway. 🥀

This short story prequel to The Near Witch didn‘t really shed any new light on Cole…so other than Schwab‘s warm writing, it doesn‘t really add much to the story (beyond the royalty angle, which I wasn‘t expecting). However, if you haven‘t read The Near Witch, I think it spoils it a bit so best to read after. #AuthorAMonth

Photo is from a local Palestinian cafe that just opened a few months ago. It‘s so pretty! 😍

I‘m surprised by the low rating — I loved this as a quick spooky YA read. In my head, I pictured this akin to a Tim Burton/Roald Dahl piece. Spooky but with an edge and a dash of whimsy. I‘m surprised no film iteration came of it — Cole gave me similar vibes to Thackery Binx when I watched Hocus Pocus as a child. 👻🧟‍♀️ #AuthorAMonth

This was my first introduction to Schwab‘s writing — I totally get the hype now. I can already tell this month will be fun. 🎃#AuthorAMonth

There are glimmers of greatness in this but overall it felt a bit like a slog to push through with little payoff. It‘s set up like a mystery but the “misdirect” is obvious and murky at best.

Suitable for Falloween 😱 This YA horror mystery is the first of a “historical fantasy” series. The main girl is strong & empowered, but the mystery is pretty obvious very early on and there is a lot of “romantic tension” that tends to get repetitive rather than endearing.

This didn‘t click as well as the original. To be honest, if it and the first book, The Devouring Gray, were one novel, I‘d probably like it more. The “twist” was obvious (even for YA) and the stakes were assumed to be so high and yet were easily defeated by children. Very Stranger Things, but in a less fun way than the original.

The perfect touch of autumnal magic in this book to make the slide into Fall feel seamless. Loved this more than Practical Magic, to be honest, because it felt more authentically magical (& feminist).

#AuthorAMonth

Sent these two off for new homes at a brand new Little Free Library near my apartment. This one was started by a former Girl Scout, now in high school who has become a bit of a local activist. You love to see it. 😍 Figured Du Maurier & Ms Elphaba would be welcome. 💪🏻

Cannot believe it‘s been 20 years since that horrible day when we lost so many. But now in our second September of the pandemic, it also feels like this was centuries ago, given how divided our nation is.

Spied the memorial lights last night from Brooklyn Bridge Park. 💖

This was both more whimsical and more sassy/saucy than I was expecting. I think I would have liked it more if the climactic event wasn‘t resolved with ease. I‘ve never seen the film — is it pretty faithful to the novel?

Definitely getting me in the fall/spooky headspace. 🎃 🧙🏻‍♀️ 👻

#AuthorAMonth

This is such a brilliant YA series - a melding of fantasy & modern realism/activism. The first book centered on two best friends, one being a Siren. The second book, this one, is centered around the “mean girl” from the first book, an Eloko. I hope the author continues it with more magical characters.

The narrative is stream of consciousness - and is centered around a social media influencer than comes across as vapid until her life is altered. Perhaps this is a statement on how life is becoming more and more “online”…but it came across half baked to me. Did make me chuckle a few times though.

This sequel to Wicked Fox is less rife with Korean mythology stories, which I missed. But the love story at the heart of it felt less K-drama and more adult/complicated which I appreciated,

Heartfelt poetry that often read like vivid prose.

I got through the first story and felt pretty meh but could only stay awake for half of the second before cutting my losses. I couldn‘t keep straight the plot and the narrator was choosing unsettling cartoon voices for certain characters. No thanks.

Not Sager‘s best….by a long shot. Plays like a tropey bad 90s horror movie (maybe that‘s what he was going for?) & plays fast and loose with gaslighting and mental illness. But a quick read (that honestly could have been quicker, much of the prose was very repetitive) & like all of Sager‘s books, it‘s campy fun.

Just watched a fab Zoom panel with the author thru my local bookstore. This book sounds really fun — a story-within-a-story take on Shakespeare‘s All‘s Well That Ends Well, which coincidentally I just finished with the #ShakespeareReadAlong group.

I loved ‘Bunny‘ so much - I‘m ready to devour all of this woman‘s books. 👻

Not my favorite from the Bard - but definitely a thinker. Literally everyone in this receives the opposite of a “happy end” (except I suppose the King?) — maybe that‘s the irony intended? All‘s well that ends well, so force/fake a happy ending to make yourself believe all‘s well? Hmm.

#ShakespeareReadAlong @Graywacke @merelybookish @GingerAntics

Greek tragedy & short chapters make it a quick page turn but there are a lot of plot holes here…not to mention unresolved gaslighting & everyone seems to want to kiss the main character without her consent. Like…maybe this author doesn‘t know how to write women characters? 🤷🏻‍♀️

I thought The Silent Patient was a little more complex but this was more fun to read. I will say, read Patient first. 💐

This is definitely more middle-grade — the story gets “real” at parts with animal blood and a child falling overboard. But the imagery & culture breathed into this parable really makes it sparkle. #AuthorAMonth

Cute little children‘s story - applicable for all young ages. #AuthorAMonth

Reorganizing my apartment while starting a new read.

I suppose you need to like horror/have a strong stomach — but if you‘ve watched/like The Walking Dead, it‘s about along those lines…but with more cannibalism. An interesting dystopian take on government corruption and the horrors of humanity.

I was pleasantly surprised by how deep this book was. A film actor attempts Shakespeare on Broadway as his marriage implodes and in the end he learns a lot about his own selfish tendencies (or does he?).

It‘s my 3 year #Litsyversary!

Happy anniversary, fellow “Litsy Leo” fam (is that a thing? I‘m making it one.)

While the theme/idea is interesting (sci fi take on preserving your memories, good it bad, by extracting them out of you in the form of a human-like copy of you), the plot felt jumbled & jumped around making it difficult to follow despite being so short.

I feel like I held my breath when I started this and didn‘t let it out till I finished. The type of thriller that borders on true horror, because of its familiarity and how close it knocks on your own door.

This is intense, involves trauma/death of children, and is *not* for everyone. But was incredibly well written.

Critical essays on race as it relates to popular films of the day. I feel I would have gotten more out of this had I seen more of these films but even for the ones I hadn‘t seen, Baldwin‘s essays were impactful.
#AuthorAMonth

So much of this is beautifully romantic prose - juxtaposed with anger, frustration & pain as a result of racism & police brutality. But the ending admittedly felt pretty jarring. Perhaps that was the point. #AuthorAMonth

Elements felt a little too real given the world we currently live in but once the world building was established the story didn‘t go much further and felt very stream-of-counciousness.

This had a slow start & the interview style grated on my nerves (mainly bc people don‘t really talk like this conversationally) — but the political bend/Editorial aspects gave the story real life.