This took me a really long time to read.  It is definitely not something I would have selected on my own. It was a pretty traditional historical biography and while it was not a page turner and at times I would get bored much more quickly than I typically do when reading, I ended up finding it as a whole very interesting.  Thinking about leadership in the context of the WWII bombing raids in England provided quite the juxtaposition to the leadership we have seen throughout the world during the pandemic.  For those of you who like slogging through dense, intellectual text, this is a really good read.  Definitely not what I would bring on vacation with me, but I was glad to have read it.  So, it is soft recommend, so a not not recommended for lack of a clear category to put it in.

This quirky read is a deep dive into the mind of an unreliable narrator going through a depression with a side of hallucination.  It is hard to tell exactly what is really going on in the story sometimes because his inability to face reality warps the story. This unusual literary technique is used to interesting effect.  While I found the storyline depressing, there was something charming about the character and his relationships, both with his dog Lily, family, best friend, and therapist and the writing itself was quite delicious.  I don't think it is a spoiler to say that the entire book is just heartbreaking, both in terms of Lily's physical heath and in terms of the narrator's mental health.  I typically don't like tied up happy endings, but this was a little too heavy even for me--and even with the bit of light at the very, very end.  

Not recommended.  

Basically a war novel in a magical alternative history of the Napoleonic era where dragons who bond to a human at birth fight each other on behalf of their countries.  I couldn't get into the premise at all, despite the fact that this is a well written book.

​Not recommended.

Written like a travel log, this firsthand account of small town Mississippi was  intriguing and insightful.  I loved the interspersed history provided as a backdrop to the traditions and politics of a community struggling to let go of southern values. 

Recommend.  

This is an odd little book that intersperses historical quotations about President Lincoln's ​grief over the loss of his son with the dialogue of spirits-demons-ghosts that are talking to Lincoln and each other.  The style was so unusual, so avant garde, that it just wasn't for me.  Certainly creative and artsy, but not my cup of tea.
​Not recommended.

Super light romance with one of the best meet cute stories ever, this little romance has everything a good beach read needs.  The characters have some depth, the writing is quick paced, and the story is fun.  

​Recommend. 

A light novel about the complexities of workplace mutual crushes, it is kind of fun.  Not so much a romance as a sexual tension story, it is a good enough beach read. Bonus points for centering consent, a lesbian bi-racial couple, and the complexities of sexual harassment in the workplace.  it wasn't strong enough for a recommend, but for a light beach read, it wasn't bad.
​Not not recommended.

The set up for this story is complicated right off the bat, with a lot of characters and threads that seem disjointed for a very long time. About 2/3 of the way through, the pieces start to come together​, but ultimately it took unexpected turns that ended up being a really good story.  There were moments when it felt like the author was trying too hard to set up the loose ends and then tie them up in clever ways.  It ended up being a bit distracting, but the story itself ended up being good enough to draw me in.  

Not Recommend.