heathero621's reviews
685 reviews

How to Read a Book by Monica Wood

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emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book follows three characters: Violet, Frank, and Harriet.  Violet is a young woman that is just coming out of prison for killing Frank's wife while she was drunk driving.  Harriet is a woman that started a book club at the prison that Violet was at.  All three of these characters form a friendship and the book follows them in their lives.  This book was a very sweet book, even with heavy themes.  It was enjoyable and all about forgiveness. The characters are nice and ones that you root for.  There were some choices that the author made in this book that I didn't particularly care for (Frank's story with his wife and Violet's story with her boss).  I had also wished that there was more written about the book club or bookstore because from the cover that is the impression that I got from the book.
Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball by Keith O'Brien

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informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

This book is a nonfiction look at Pete Rose.  It delves into his life starting as a young boy and goes until close to present day.  I am not a big baseball fan, but this book got good reviews and I knew of Pete Rose and especially his gambling on the sport, but that was about it.  I thought that the author did a very thorough job at letting the reader know all about Pete.  I found his story to be fascinating.  I listened to the audiobook and a woman read it and I thought that she did fantastic!  If you are into sports books or baseball, I think that you will really like this one.
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner

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adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book is about a female secret agent "Sadie" that goes to France to infiltrate a local commune.  While with the group she gets acquainted with the writings of a mysterious man named Bruno Lacombe who is a mentor to the group.  The book is super easy to read and flew by very quickly.  I was interested in all of the characters, but especially Sadie and Bruno.  The information about the Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens was very interesting.  I don't think that this book will be one that stays with me in the long haul, but it was a good escape.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

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dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Conor is a middle school aged boy who keeps having these nightmares since his mom got sick and then those nightmares turn into the Yew tree in his yard visiting him and telling him three stories that will relate to what he is going through.  I picked up this book because someone on IG asked a person I follow that they wanted a book recommendation for one that would make you cry and she put this one. I like reading sad books and seeing if they will actually make me cry.  This book did not make me cry, but I got a little teary and I can see how it can make someone cry.  This book is a book about grief and going through the process of losing someone (especially to cancer).  It is billed as a middle grade/YA novel, but I thought that it would be good for any age. 
Group Living and Other Recipes: A Memoir by Lola Milholland

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funny informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.25

This is the author's memoir about group living.  She shares her family home with multiple people and then her parents and aunt and uncle have all lived in communal homes/communities and she discusses those.  I was especially interested in reading this book because the author is from Portland, OR and much of it takes place here, which is always fun to read about places you know.  Group living sounds interesting and something that would have been fun when I was younger, but definitely not now.  I found the book the most interesting when she was talking about her house, The Holman House, and what was going on there.  There's a big portion of the book that takes place at her Aunt and Uncle's house and I found those parts to be a little boring and wished that it would have been edited down.  I liked that there were recipes in the book that go along with the story.
What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

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challenging funny informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This book is about climate change and what happens if we don't get it right and what happens if we don't get it right.  Ayana talks to many various people about what is currently going on with the climate and environment and then asks each person what would the world look like if we get right.  There are a lot of depressing things happening regarding climate change, but there are also a lot of hopeful things and I think that this book does a great job at detailing what those hopeful things are.  I listened to the audiobook and I highly recommend consuming it that way.  All of the interviews are actual interviews in the audiobook.  It is super long, but well worth it.  I learned a lot of new things and I hope that there will be some action to change where the world is headed.  My biggest bummer about this book is that the book came out last year before the election and many of the interviews were hopeful about what the Biden administration could do and what a future administration could do.  Now with Trump about to be President, I don't think that there will be much progress on this front :(.
Private Rites by Julia Armfield

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

This book is about three sisters, Irene, Isla, and Agnes that all come together once their father dies.  The book follows each of them and how they are reacting to the news of his death.  I just read that this was a retelling of King Lear, which I did not know (I'm also not too familiar with that play).  I only thought that the book was okay.  The premise sounded great, but I think that it fell a little short for me.  I had a really hard time telling Irene and Isla from one another, so they just became like one person to me.  Agnes was easy to distinguish from the others.  They really weren't all super likable.  The ending was very weird to me and I had no idea what was going on and why the author went this way.  
Mayluna by Kelley McNeil

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emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

This is the story of Carter, a famous rock musician, and Evie, the woman that was covering their band when they were first getting started.  Both of them end up falling in love and the book details their love story.  The story is told in interview form from both of their perspectives.  I enjoyed the book.  It actually reminded me a lot of Daisy Jones, but that book was a lot better than this book to me and I kept making comparisons in my head.  It was a good love story and there are some sad parts (not enough to make me cry).
My Friends by Hisham Matar

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This book is about friends in exile from their native country Libya.  Khaled is a young man from Libya that moves to the UK in the 80s.  He meets up with another kid named Mustafa and they form a friendship and then participate in a protest and after that cannot go back to their country.  They also form a friendship with a man named Hasam who has also been critical of the government and is in exile too.  I can see why this novel was nominated as one of the best books of the year.  It was really good and captivating, but not boring, which I find some literary books can be.  I learned more about Gadaffi and that time period than what I knew.  The reading for this book was quick and that might be do to the shorter chapters.  
The Most by Jessica Anthony

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reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This book is a short little novel about a woman named Kathleen that goes for a swim in her apartment complex in November while her husband and sons wonder what she is doing and look on at her.  She reflects on her life and her husband Virgil reflects on his.  This is very much a character driven story with not a lot of plot.  It is a small novel (almost novella size) and goes slowly, but I didn't mind it.