I listened to the audiobook and she‘s so great - such a natural performer and so talented. Her story is stunning, sad, and beautiful. I‘m so grateful to her for sharing her life with us all. If you read the text, the audiobook is definitely worth a listen.

I picked this up on vacation without knowing a thing about it. I liked the author‘s writing style. I wanted to like it. But the story just didn‘t connect for me at all. I‘d give it a pan but I really did enjoy the writing, and I didn‘t feel like I was forcing myself to finish it. But I wouldn‘t recommend it. This copy is going to a neighborhood Free Library.

I used to almost exclusively read true crime, which, makes me sick now, but knowing a gross amount about Ted Bundy added to this story for me. I appreciate the fresh perspective and focusing on the bright young women versus sensationalizing a serial killer. It‘s as close to true crime as I‘m willing to get these days.

This is a story about a postman that is dying and makes a deal with the devil to make one thing disappear from the world in order to live one extra day. I like the devil aspect and feel connected with the author‘s style of imagination. There was only one part about time that got a bit redundant, but the rest I enjoyed immensely.

Read this one because it‘s the most challenged book in the states. George shines a bright light on the lack of sex education for queer youth which underscores the absolute need for this book to be available in libraries. Hiding information from children and teens only puts them at risk.

This book reads like YA fiction, which isn‘t bad, but not what I have come to expect from translated Japanese. It‘s simple writing, but it is absolutely charming and I almost want a copy for myself just for the recipes.

Danny Trejo‘s life is unbelievable. I began listening to the audiobook but I couldn‘t get into rhythm w/ Danny‘s reading so I switched to text (obv bc the story was already gripping me). I‘m so glad I did. The book includes photos & you can still read it in Danny‘s voice in your head. This book will make you want to be a better person. It will fill you w/ gratitude & awe. He is humble & honest. He is a gift to this world. Put Trejo on your list.

It‘s no Kitchen but I don‘t regret reading it. I didn‘t connect with the short stories as I hoped I would but that could be because Kitchen left me with unreasonable expectations.

I love that she dedicated the American version to Kurt Cobain.

Jessica Simpson was honest and open, true to the book‘s title. I gave this book 3.5/5 stars on Fable, which is so-so for me. I can‘t say I would recommend the book unless to a real fan (which admittedly, I couldn‘t name a single song of hers before reading and I‘ve possibly already forgotten the names of her hits). I will say, I never liked John Mayer before, but now I have reason to dislike him. What a misogynistic kook.

This is a quick read and a great read. I bought two copies when I was only halfway finished - one for me and one for my best friend. I‘ll come back to this book time and time again.

Throughout this book I considered not finishing it. It was slow. Enjoyable enough to hang on but I doubt it will be memorable (if it turns out it is, I‘ll revise my rating). At times, more in the first half than the second, the cadence would completely mind fuck me and I‘d have to reread a sentence several times to understand it. I never truly understood why the cadence would change, but it was annoying to say the least.

I loved listening to Sinéad read her memoir. At times she giggled & it was the most heartwarming thing to hear. Before reading, I knew maybe one song & that her head was shaved. Now I‘m quite sad cos we lost such a beautiful soul & she won‘t be reading more audiobooks. At first I was shocked by how old she sounded, like a grandmother (she was!), & I wasn‘t sure if I could keep listening but 7 minutes in I was hooked. Her life, my god.

I picked this book up on the cheap at a secondhand bookstore with the intention of having a lightweight book that I wouldn‘t be sad to part with on vacation. I didn‘t read it quickly, so it made it home with me. The first 2/3 is slow, but I love Isabel Allende so it didn‘t bother me. It was actually nice to have a book on vacation that I didn‘t mind putting down. The last 1/3 was epic. Allende delivered. Not my fave by her but still a pick.

I appreciated Busy‘s honesty throughout the book. She wrote this pre-covid, pre-overturn of RvW, and pre-Trump‘s reelection. I would enjoy a second memoir from her with the last 7 years packed in.

Picked this copy up on the cheap at Rose City Reads and I‘m leaving it in an Airbnb in Tokyo ✨ Definitely not my usual genre but it was low stakes and enjoyable.

Not my fave dystopian novel but holy hell if it isn‘t good. There‘s so much in the book to unpack. The notion of not moving backwards, but keeping time frozen. The Thought Police. The disappearings.

My best friend gave me this book and it‘s pure gold. Breaks your heart straight up.

I listened to 4 hours, eighteen minutes and thirty-two seconds of so-called humble bragging and I could not for the life of me continue. This is the first celeb memoir audiobook that I am bailing on.

This book contains 2 stories: Kitchen & Moonlight Shadow. I loved them both. Yoshimoto writes about losing loved ones, that unbearable pain that consumes us, unlike anyone I‘ve ever read before. These stories are beautiful and melancholy and they make my chest tremble as I let it ache for all those I‘ve loved and lost. Contender for best 2025 read.

The writing in this book was so original. It‘s a quick read, but the stories are going to stay with me for a long time. I‘m looking forward to reading more by Julie Otsuka.

I read 50% but the story circled around Greenwood and never got there. Maybe the second half of the book is what I wanted, but I couldn‘t get myself to pick it back up again after 2 months.

I will say that the first half was mind-blowing and included a lot of history that I knew nothing about and I learned how historical policies benefited my family while stealing from Black Americans. So absolutely worth the read but the writing lacked for me.

Ah, I revisited this read because of a reading challenge my cousin gave me to reread a book I hated in HS. How could I possibly have understood this book when I was 14 or 15?! And my god, I love it now. It was incredibly well researched, the writing was brilliant, and the storytelling style was original and fresh. It‘s a contender for best read of 2025.

Ok, so I‘m on a celebrity memoir, author-read audiobook tour (of my own making) and I had no idea what I was getting myself into with this book. Paris is unbelievably honest and vulnerable. There is so much to unpack and I don‘t know where to begin unpacking. I wish I read this as part of a book club.

Good grief.

I listened to the audiobook and loved it because Pamela read it. I‘ve always been a fan of her, always, so maybe I‘m biased. I also just saw her in The Last Showgirl and that was fantastic. She‘s an incredible woman and I feel so lucky that she shared her memoir with us.

I chose this book to satisfy a reading challenge that my cousin gave me - it counts as a graphic novel, yeah? I‘ve seen the title pop up on banned book lists and like most banned books, I think this ought to be mandatory reading. I‘m not usually one for graphic novels or comics, it‘s just too much visual clutter for me, but this book was absolutely brilliant and the images were essential. Definitely tore my heart out a thousand times.

I loved this book. Totally not a typical read for me but it was fun and entertaining and a great story.

I didn‘t care for the self help aspect of this book but I love listening to her books, so I give a Pick to the audiobook.

There are better books out there but this book was entertaining enough for me to finish it. I wasn‘t in love with the writing or the characters, but it was a quick read and lighter than other material I‘m making my way through right now so that‘s why I kept it in rotation. It was recommended by Scout (the Fable AI bird) and hit the mark for my prompt.

My mom said Pachinko was a MUST READ and it‘s been on my TBR list for about a year now. Recently I‘d asked Scout (the AI Fable bird) for books based in Japan and this book overlapped as a suggestion. I just finished it and my heart is in my throat. It is beautiful and sad and tells a history that is not well-known. It‘s a lot to process but while I sift through my thoughts, I already know this book will remain as one of my top favorite reads.

I‘m giving this a pick because it was entertaining but I did find myself snapping back at the audiobook, primarily with Kate‘s story. Her character was frustrating to me because she felt so flat at times. I think the author spent a lot of time on the drama but it detracted from the believability of the characters.

I listened to the audiobook so maybe I would have felt differently if I read it but many stories followed the same pattern (I‘ve lived my whole life accustomed to racism but then an incident happened and it bothered me). My favorite story was P‘s Parties but I had read it before in Interpreter of Maladies. I also like The Boundary and Dante Alighieri.

Omg I loved this book - it‘s beautifully written and the story is real yet unexpected. The AI bird on Fable (I think its name is Scout) recommended it when I searched for translated fiction set in Japan.

Yeah this one wasn‘t great but I do enjoy listening to her read. I‘ve been in a rut with narrators lately so that‘s why I‘m burning through her audiobooks.

“When money triumphs over morals, equality loses.”

I chose this book (before reading it) for my company‘s DEI book club February meeting in observance of Black History Month. I want to blow this quote up on the Zoom screen. I want the whole firm to read it.

It‘s simple. It‘s so f*cking simple.

I‘m a huge fan of Rick Steves and I put his book on hold at the library without actually reading what it was about - just knew that it was something he‘d written. What a splendid surprise. It‘s his journal from when he was 23 and he traveled with his friend from Istanbul to Kathmandu. Even 23 yo Rick was as precious as the Rick Steves of today. 10/10 definitely recommend.

I‘m glad I listened to this because Chelsea read it and I don‘t think I would have enjoyed it quite as much as a physical book. Def recommend the audiobook. It‘s also so dated omg.

I can‘t believe this book has such a low rating! I enjoyed it. It didn‘t grip me in that way that I had to read it in a weekend but I was never bored. It was also out of the ordinary for me - a bit of a western almost. It was a great story though and I‘d recommend it.

There were a few good essays in this mix but most bored me to near death. I bailed on more essays in this collection than I think I ever have in an essay collection. They just weren‘t interesting. I don‘t know, maybe I‘m just not in the mood for nonfiction, but the opening essay was so good, and then it was a fairly swift downhill from there.

There needs to be a rating above Pick for a book like this. Morgan Talty‘s writing is soooooo good. Even though he writes about painful topics (like dementia, alcoholism), it feels like a gift to be able to read his words. Fave read of 2025 and the bar is set high.

Started yesterday and finished today. I loved this book. It underscores the bittersweet nature of sisterhood and it feels authentic.

I feel like this book had the opportunity to be great but it left me cringing. All the bits about her mother and father‘s lives were interesting but the author‘s self-help journey was repetitive and not… Interesting. I think when she listed her coveted status symbols, I should have DNF‘d because I was like ok this lady and I would never be friends. But I finished so I could firmly not recommend this book to others.

Ah, I liked this one. It moved along and the characters were deep. A plot twist was predictable but then another wasn‘t. The only other Louise Erdrich I‘ve read is The Night Watchman and this book is not that. The Mighty Red is far more mellow and I can‘t say more without spoilers.

I thoroughly enjoyed this short story collection. I wouldn‘t want to read it in warmer weather though. I read her book Small Things Like These on the beach and it did not fit the mood at all but the story has stayed with me and I appreciate it more now than when I read it. Moody winter was the perfect location for this collection. I‘d read each story again.

It‘s no Joy Luck Club but I did enjoy it. There were a few parts where I lost interest but then it picked right back up.

I chose this book because my cousin gave me a reading challenge for Christmas. It‘s like an advent calendar with little gifts but each door has a challenge. This book satisfies having been untouched on my shelf for over a year. I picked it up at a thrift store near our house and I‘m at least the third owner. I love used books.

“This is not true, she has a good heart. It‘s only her mind that is rotten.”

Ahhh, applicable to so many!

Tfw you finish a book that you wish you hadn‘t… The first third was pretty good but then it just got annoying. I kept thinking the author might be able to bring the magic back but it never got there for me and the ending was kind of like a slow fart. I wouldn‘t recommend it.

I loved the first third of this book and was angry at myself for being so late to the game (it‘s been on my tbr list forever ever). The last 25% had me thinking that it ought to have ended sooner. I get that she wanted to wrap a loose thread, but I think it could have been left loose because it lost its believability for me by tying it up. Still a pick, still thoroughly enjoyed it.

So good! So many questions unanswered! But in that way that you can fill in the gaps to your personal pleasing.

My shelfie from Fable. I can‘t stop thinking about Slow Noodles! I had never heard of Khmer Rouge until I read Anthony Veasna So earlier this year, and it blows my mind. I love reading. There‘s so much to learn and books bridge worlds.