graywild's reviews
575 reviews

Bookish People by Susan Coll

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

1.5

Story about a DC bookstore.  Part of the story centers on the owner, a 50ish widow.  Part of the story centers on the events coordinator for the book.  A section of the story surrounds a book event with a controversial author.  The author seems to struggle with how the want to tell the story.  Part humor. Part general story with no pure direction.  Just couldn't get into it.
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

This story is about how books can bring together people that maybe you would never think could become friends.  Mukesh is a widower who is not really a reader.  He enjoyed watching his wife read but never really got into it himself. Aleisha is a young college student who has a summer job at the local library.  She is not an avid reader other than what is needed for school.  She helps take care of her mentally ill mother with her brother during her off time.  Aleisha finds a list of books recommended "in case you need it" and she and Mukesh start off on an adventure of discovering books.  I like how each book brings out a spark in each.  Not just living through the characters but learning about themselves.  You don't have to be familiar with each book to understand the story but I think if you have read each one it brings so much more the emotion.  I have 2 to read and then I will come back and re-read this story.  The list you should read 1st to get the full love of the story - A Time Traveler's Wife (not on the list but important to the story), To Kill a Mockingbird, Rebecca, The Kite Runner, Life of Pi, Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, Beloved and A Suitable Boy.  Recommend (I am sure I will adjust by rating once I re-read)
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci

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emotional funny informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

Stanley Tucci's self described food memoir.  Though this memoir you learn about Stanley's life through his love of food.  Scattered throughout the book are some of his favorite recipes. The chapter at the end where he talks about his tongue cancer is especially hard to read because he talks about how he lost his sense of taste and smell during treatment and you can feel how he lost part of his identity during that time. 
Educated by Tara Westover

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.25

between a 4 and 4.5 star rating.  Tara grows up in Idaho with extremist parents.  They are Mormon but definitely lean to paranoia types.  Her father thinks public education will only lead to corruption by the government so Tara is never sent to public school (the same for her siblings).  There are so many wild stories in this book that are just written like it is totally normal.  Tara gives an interesting insight into growing up in this type of environment and what it does to your own beliefs.  Tara is able to eventually get into BYU and eventually Cambridge and Harvard.  Going to college exposes her to so many different ways of thinking about the world that she starts to question some of her core beliefs.  It was a tough read because as a reader you are constantly saying WTF while you can see she is struggling with her own truths.
The Spite House by Johnny Compton

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I give this a solid 4 stars rating, maybe even a 4.5.  Haunted house story that made me want to read to find out more.  Eric Ross is traveling the country with his 2 kids trying to avoid being caught - you don't really find out why until much later.  Eric is hired by a rich lady in Texas to live in a haunted house and record what he experiences in a journal.  I like the overall story and the subplots also kept me engaged.  Its a relatively short book at 260 pages.  Recommend for those who like a good haunted house.
Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

Series of short stories - sci/fi and dystopian.  I really only liked the longer story - Ganger.  All the other stories either didn't appeal to me or they were not fleshed out enough.  I love short stories but they need a bit of a beginning and end.  Alot of these stories almost seemed like short chapters in a book.  Stories just didn't have enough to them for me.
Totality: The Great North American Eclipse of 2024 by Mark Littmann, Fred Espenak

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informative inspiring fast-paced

4.0

I got this book to prepare for the upcoming eclipse in April 2024 which is a 30 minute drive from my house.  The 1st part of the book centers on the history of eclipses throughout observable time.  It also touches on some scientific discoveries, including proof of Einstein's theory of relativity during the 1919 eclipse.  The later half talks about how to observe an eclipse, what to bring, how to photograph, etc.  There are appendices in the back that show maps and details of the next eclipses that will take place around the world.  I found this book to be informative and interesting to read.  Highly recommend especially if you have an interest in astronomy.
The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3rd book in the series - go back and read the other books or you will be confused.  This story follows Percy, Thalia and Grover as they go on an adventure to save Annabeth and Artemis who have been kidnapped by the growing followers of Kronos (he is a Titan). The pace of the story is good thought I am not sure it follows a specific Greek mythology story as such.  Recommend for fans of mythology.
The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

3.5

I received this as an ARC from a Goodreads giveaway.  The story revolves around 2 characters - Snow, the fox wife, and Bao an investigator that can tell when people lie.  I know nothing of the fox mythology from China so this story was a good introduction to the fox cult where people worship foxes and foxes can take human form.  The basic story is Snow seeking revenge for a lost child and Bao trying to track her down as he investigates another death.  At times the story lags but overall it was interesting.  Plenty of other characters (and foxes) intermingle in the story.  Overall recommend.
Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

3.0

This is actually a good haunted house story centered on Daisy (and her mom).  Daisy by the way can see dead people.  This part of the story for me is at least a 4 star rating.  There is another story parallel in this book about Brittney.  She is an investigative reported who has a YouTube like channel that investigates haunted places.  Many years after the Daisy portion of the book Brittney comes to investigate the house.  She interviews many people who were involved.  The book is over 500 pages.  I think the Brittney part could have been eliminated and still would have been a great story.  This brings the rating down to a 3 star for me.