The highlight of this book was the staying power of Sagan's thoughts on war, environmentalism, human nature, and reaching for the stars.  But actually, the real highlight was LaVar Burton reading the book!  His voice, mixed with the lyrical insights from the author was a powerful mix.  I wish that when they updated the book, they had also footnoted updated science to go with it.  I am a far cry from knowledgeable on this topic, but I felt like there were undoubtedly theories that have changed since this was written.  I felt, even while reading it, that spending time to understand or learn the science might very well mean that I was unlearning things that were correct now that weren't then.  But, with that asterisk, I just put aside most of the more technical sections and focused instead on the philosophical passages.  From that perspective, and in Jordie's voice, this was well worth the time.

Recommend.

Cute, light, trite plot about someone trying to buy the a decoration, but it was sold out and the person who bought the last one...well, you get it. Nothing fancy or particularly memorable.
Not recommended.

I was well over half way through this book before I realized it was a memoir and not a novel. For a book with a co-author, the writing was surprisingly well written.  This is the story of a brilliant kid growing up during a famine in Malawi, who persists against all odds to learn and build things.  The chapters that talk about being hungry and watching people die from starvation were heart wrenching and the descriptions of cholera outbreaks and recurring bouts of malaria put the COVID pandemic we are experiencing in some perspective.  His drive to tinker and invent in order to improve the lives of his family is really powerful, yet the book wasn't written (except for maybe the last few chapters) as a trite inspirational piece. I really felt like this was substantially more than that.  It would make a great summer reading book, as I enjoyed it more, and felt it was better written, then a lot of the STEM based stories I often seen assigned for school.  Recommend.

I was really skeptical about this story, even up until about half way in.  A guru on a mountain that pilgrim wait days or weeks to see gives one to two minute meetings with seekers and their lives are transformed.  Some of the stories of these transformations were trite anecdotes that I typically find fairly irritating.  Oh, turns out the monk the rich guy stole the robe from in order to jump the line was The Holy Man he so desperately wanted to see.  Oh, it turns out that the lesson she needed to learn about patience was taught to her by waiting in line to see him so that by the time she got there, he didn't need to say anything.  Blah, blah, blah.  Well enough written, not uninteresting, but just like many other similar books.

Somewhere along the way, though, the book changed from being about the pilgrims to being about the man himself and by the end of the book, I was sucked into the story of the man behind the guru. In particular, the interactions with one character who did not want enlightenment, who wasn't one of his followers, and wasn't interested in becoming one.  I was captivated by the idea of living in such a bubble, where everyone adore and admired you and where everyone coming to you was coming because they wanted to be a better person and what happens when that is your norm and then someone comes in to disrupt that. This wasn't the main storyline at all, but for me, it saved what otherwise would have been an unremarkable read. I wish the entire story had been about this one relationship.  If it had, I am certain this could have been a strong recommend.

​Not recommended.

Written as the narrative behind the scenes of any one of many video game quests, the premise of the book is creative.  The main character, a "hero" who is leveling up in search of a demon king to slay comments on the world and challenges around her in a way that can be quite funny given that the game world itself makes no sense.  The book was too long for the material, though, and I would have enjoyed it twice as much if it had been half as long.  

Not recommended.

A non-fiction "book" lecture series about Prince Albert, there were certainly facts here that I didn't know, having had very little reason to study the man, but I felt like the facts didn't really tie into a narrative very well and I was left without a real take-away.  I guess just because you were a famous person, doesn't mean that your life had a distinct take-away, though, does it?

No recommended.

A time travel story that holds together with beautiful prose, family history, and story with surprising depth, this was just a delightful read that surprised me with hoe much I liked it.  Recommended for even early chapter book readers, it is heartwarming and sophisticated.  Loved it. It would make a great Battle of the Books book, too.

​Recommend.

 This is a light superhero story that is chalked full of humor, much of which is poking fun at the superhero genre.  Some of the humor felt superficial and forced, but a good amount of it was clever and funny.  There were places I thought it was really strong and I certainly thought in those moments that I was going to be recommending it, but somehow after it was all said and done I really wasn't as enthused as I thought was was going to be at about the halfway point.  There wasn't anything wrong with it, it just didn't hold together all the way through. 

Not recommended.

As my teenager said about Ready Player One, "It is always just so problematic when the misogynistic boy still gets the girl just because he wins some competition."  That pretty much sums this one up.  In the first book, there was at least some explanation for why the protagonist was a narcissistic jerk, but but the time this book takes place, there just really is no excuse or growth.  Even though the entire premise of this book is about openly addressing his problematic behavior, it just doesn't have the same really solid plot the first one had.  It was still a decent read and of course Wil Wheaton's narration is so good it is almost enough, but not enough, to save it.

(I hesitated to mark the box for "trans character" here. Technically, there is one--in passing, for like a nanosecond.  This felt more like the author trying to check a box off for representation rather than genuine inclusion.)
​
Not recommended.

Having continued done the free "only from audible" rabbit hole, I was somewhat skeptical of what seemed like it was going to be sci fi-ish children's book without any depth, but was pleasantly surprised with the twists and scope of the philosophical questions this book presented.  What is a family? Does a brain in a vat have a meaningful existence? Is that existence more or less valuable if they know they are a brain in a vat? 

Added bonus: There may or may not be an actual hero in the form of a social worker willing to put herself on the line for a kid who needs help, which may or may not be kind of cool.

​Recommend.