 Icelandic cafe decor. These are color coordinated books that look cool, but the books have been cut away about 3 inches from the spine so that they can be displayed. The bookshelves don't need to be full sized this way, but the books are unreadable.
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 Climbing with Mollie. William Finnegan. 2019. Climbing with Molly. A book by a dad about learning to climb when his daughter takes up rock climbing, this book is relatable for parents trying to connect with their kids by taking up things they are interested in. Having done this countless times, I found this story trite. Rather than a heartwarming story about parent-child connection, I thought the dad was trying too hard, missed a lot of opportunities to relate to his kid, and his attitude towards climbing in general just did not resonate with mine. Skip.
 The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. Abbi Waxman. 2019. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. This was a fun little story, not quite a romance, not quite a novel, not quite a comedy. The protagonist is a smart, introverted, book lover who works in a bookstore. She is really likable and this story about family--chosen and not--is just charming. Recommend.
 The Five. Hallie Rubenhold. 2019. The Five. I read this because I wanted to take Susan Shaw;s online adult ed course through OSU, which I did the first week of before my life got out of control and I didn't get to finish it after all. I did finish the book, though, which was really interesting. It is the true story off Jack the Ripper's victims. The research that went into this book is remarkable. It was so detailed. Rather than focusing on the typical narrative about the identity of the notorious serial killer, the book told the story of the women who were killed. Poverty, sex work, and survival sex in London, but without any sensationalism meant it was a bit dry, reading like the history book that it is rather than a fictionalized version of the story. If you are a true crime fan, I suspect you would like this one, but it isn't on my recommend list.
 Carnival Row. Stephanie Smith. 2019. Carnival Row: Tangible in the Dark: I probably shouldn't have waited a month since finishing this to write about it since it was so unmemorable that I cannot even come up with something worth saying about it. There were fairies, sex workers, a war, and whatever. The writing, story line, and character development were all mediocre at best. Skip this one.
 Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars. Kai Cheng Thom. 2016. Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars. Yes, I know I swore off memoirs a few months ago after a series of mediocre to terrible ones, but I saw this recommended on Kieran's FB wall and decided to read it. It is described as a memoir, which I typically count as non-fiction in my quest to alternate between fiction and non-fiction, but this quirky book probably ought to be considered fantasy as it weaves stories that appears to be plausible in with dreams, tall tales, and imaginations such that it is not possible to tell where exactly the memoir fades into fiction. The stories about savings mermaids and killing a cop whose body is swallowed up by a ghost of a murdered trans woman in a fountain were obviously (maybe) imagined, but other vignettes were harder to deconstruct. I say maybe because I felt like I was sucked into the narrator's world where bees can fly into your mouth and nose to take up residence and a gang of trans women vigilantes protect each other on a Street of Miracles.I know I am on a roll here, but this is another recommend. I was in a rut there for a while, but am happy to report that things have been looking up on the book front lately. RECOMMEND.
*** Comments Chris: I don't recall seeing them on your wall, but what were the string of mediocre to terrible memoirs. Which ones should I avoid? Me: 7, 9, 11, 23, 53, & 64. Chris: OMG. I lost track of what was happening in this thread. You should probably morph this into an e-book. Me: I was thinking about a searchable blog, but haven’t had the time to look into how to do that!  The Victory Garden. Rhys Bowen. 2019. The Victory Garden. I started this book at least once before and found it difficult to get into, but I was out of credits and only had unread non-fiction in my unread queue, so I went back to this one and this time made it through the very slow start and found quite a delightful story with some twists and turns, some predictable and some not so much. I am not a fan of the "happy ending" with all the loose ends tied up, which really never feels like life to me, but other than that it kept my interested. If you are doing a book list that needs a story-within-a-story, this also covers that category nicely. I'm somewhere between neutral and a soft recommend because the start really was too slow for me and the ending too trite.
 I'm Afraid of Men. Vivek Shraya. 2018. I'm Afraid of Men. I love this very short book. No, I really loved it. It reads more like an extended essay, rather than a book, so I read it basically in one sitting. Narrated by the author, it is an essay about all the horrible things than cis men have done to her, despite the title and content, it wasn't dark at all. In fact, I found it to be an incredible story of resilience and hope and finding ones way in a binary world that excludes trans people who do not "pass." Powerful, painful, poignant, and beautifully written. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
 Besieged. Diana Gabaldon. 2017. Besieged, A novella in the Outlander series about one of my favorite Outlander characters, Sir John Gray, this short book is average. I have a love-hate relationship with the series in general, having never gotten over the wedding night rape at the beginning of the series and always wishing it had been written the way it was portrayed in the show. If you are a fan of the series, this is added back story for Gray, but I didn't feel like it added to the overall story line or that it was particularly well written. Unless you are a hard core fan, skip it.
 Know My Name. Chanel Miller. 2019. Know My Name. You certainly know her as the "Standard rape victim" instead of as Chanel Miller. This is a powerful memoir that is very readable. She is a talented and readable writer and she takes her readers on her emotional roller coaster, giving us a glimpse behind the scenes of the botched Brock Turner rape case. She is raw, funny (did you know she does stand-up comedy?), and insightful. Her description of her SANE exam (rape kit) is probably the best writing on the topic I have seen. As readers of my reviews know, I am a fairly harsh critic of memoirs, but this is one worth reading. Unlike What is a Girl Worth, that I think is directed towards non-survivors who do not understand how abuse can happen or what can be done to stop or who just don't believe that it is widespread, this is a memoir written for survivors. At times, Miller is angry and rages at the system in related ways that do not paint her in a positive light. At other times, her tenderness shines. I was particularly touched by the section that talks about reading letters and online comments from other survivors. This is a must read for sure. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
 Love and Death Among the Cheetahs. Rhys Bowen. 2019. Love and Death Among the Cheetahs. I think this is the 14th book in the Her Royal Spyness series. I came in skeptical, having loved the first twelve books and then finding Four Funerals to be just absolutely terrible. I wouldn't say this one lived up to the first ones, but it was well worth reading in the same vein as the first dozen. Fun, light, with just a hint of romance gone wrong. If you have gotten this far in the series, it is worth it to read this one. But I still recommend skipping Four. RECOMMEND for folks already into the series.
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AuthorI'll read anything a friend recommends & I love telling people what I think about it. Every year, I read 50 books recommended by 50 different friends. Welcome to My 50 Bookish Friends Blog. SearchCategories
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