graywild's reviews
575 reviews

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

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challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

The book tells the story of AJ Fikry, a bookstore owner on a small isolated island community in the Northeast.  He is lonely since the death of his wife and somewhat floating through life.  Through a series of introductions and events he starts to change and open up to his community.  There is also a side story of his sister-in-law and other locals.  The pace of the book was good and I found myself wanted to know more about the characters.  Recommend.
The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis

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

2.5

Historical fiction but it is based around a mystery which is not really my style.  Covers 2 time periods - 1914 Laura and her husband Jack live in the NY Library while he is the superintendent.  1993 - Sadie works in rare collections at the NY Library and is getting ready to open an exhibit.  Underlying story about stolen books but I figured it out relatively early.  Ending was just okay and kinda predictable. 
Elizabeth Taylor: The Grit & Glamour of an Icon by Kate Andersen Brower

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dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

Good biography of the life of Elizabeth Taylor.  Covers all her marriages as well as some movies and some relationships with friends.  Nice section on all the work she did for raising funds for AIDS research when it was definitely not the thing to do.  I learn from this book that her last companion was Colin Farrel, which I did not remember.  Recommended read.
HellSans by Ever Dundas

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

2.5

Dystopian future where part of society is allergic to HellSans (a font) that makes them sick.  Icho is a government scientist working on a cure.  She is infatuated with Jane who is the CEO of The Company.  Of course there is a government conspiracy to get rid of the infected population but also those who might threaten their power.  Underlying story has some interest but there is a main character that is so awful I felt no sympathy for them at all.  Made it difficult for me to get fully into the story because of that.
Eversion by Alastair Reynolds

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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

2.0

I struggled getting into this book.  The first third of the book seems to be telling the same basic story over and over again in different time periods.  Starts with a sailing vessel, then a steam vessel and then a dirigible.  The meat of the story finally becomes clear but it was just ok for me.  It was a fast read but not a recommendation for me.
Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters by John Langan

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

excellent book of horror short stories.  Each one is well written and uses the form of short story to get the narrative moving along.  None are gory. The mummy is revisited in another context.  End of the world story was fast paced and exciting. I would highly recommend for those that love short stories and horror.
Saturnalia by Stephanie Feldman

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

2.5

The book takes place in the near future where climate change is effecting the world and the end of times seems to be coming soon.  The story takes place during one day, the celebration of Saturnalia.  There seems to be a bunch of societies that have formed that you can join.  The celebration seems to have aspects of Mardi Gras but it is a little confusion to me.  The underlying story involves magic and greedy people.  The story had potential but really stalled out for me with some of the relationships.  The ending was just ok for me.
Rock Concert: An Oral History of an American Rite of Passage by Marc Myers

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dark emotional informative reflective fast-paced

3.75

I am a big fan of music so this book definitely appealed to me.  It is an oral history of rock concerts from the 1950s up to LiveAid.  I appreciated the variety of people who the author was able to interview for direct insight into the music industry.  Each section/concert description is pretty short so he covers a wide variety of concerts and artists in a relatively short book.  The only missing concert I wish he included was the The Who tragedy in 1979.  He did cover Altamont so not sure why this one was not addressed.  Overall I would recommend for concert lovers.
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

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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 book is over 700 pages and at times bogged down for me.  It is the story of 3 generations that grow up in a small village in India.  The family has a Condition passed down through the generations of an issue with water.  Many people in this family have drowned.  However that part of the story is not the main focus.  The book explores relationships (good and bad) and intertwines this family with an Irish doctor.  That part of the book took me a long time to figure out why he was in the book.  Overall just an okay read for me.
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? No

3.0

Final battle between the Olympians and the Titans lead by Kronos.  Percy leads the campers against Kronos/Luke and the monsters who are trying to destroy Olympus.  The story wasn't as good as previous book but it was still entertaining.