This is another book I adopted from the break room ARC cart awhile back. Someone else had clearly taken it home for awhile (this came out in 2013), anThis is another book I adopted from the break room ARC cart awhile back. Someone else had clearly taken it home for awhile (this came out in 2013), and a few recipes had dog-eared pages (shocking for someone who works in a library, the shame! J/k, I used to do that alllll the time), but I couldn't tell if whoever had it before me made anything from it or not (if it was someone I'm friends with on here, tell me what you made and if you liked it!). Anyway, I'm totally thankful to whoever didn't want it anymore, because I love this thing!
Everything is super easy, there aren't a bunch of weird ingredients, and even though there are no photos (I know, whaaat?!?) I don't even care because the recipe names are descriptive enough to make me totally hungry for pretty much every single thing in it. I like that Robertson includes suggestions to change things up using different ingredients you might have laying around, and shortcuts, and cheaper ways to make things at home that are kind of expensive to buy in the store. And it's just my style of cooking--fast, easy, pasta and grain-heavy (mmmm!), and embraces improvisation.
I'm super excited to try some of these ASAP!...more
My husband started listening to a different version of P&P because he'd never read it before, but then I listened to it with him for a bit and told hiMy husband started listening to a different version of P&P because he'd never read it before, but then I listened to it with him for a bit and told him he should get a version with a different narrator (I'd already listened to that version a few years back and was not impressed), so I picked this one out for him, mainly because Alison Larkin does a good Mrs. Bennett. And then I had to go ahead and finish listening to it too, because I love this book and needed to read for a ninth or tenth time or whatever!
Among the many reasons my husband is awesome--he really liked this book and is now listening to The Grand Sophy--Donna, maybe he'll become another Georgette Heyer convert, ha!...more
This series is so much fun! And just...unexpected. Like I can never at all predict how the story's going to go or where in time they'll end up or why,This series is so much fun! And just...unexpected. Like I can never at all predict how the story's going to go or where in time they'll end up or why, and the relationship drama is actually interesting and not super angsty, and I still love the dynamic between Max and Peterson so, so much! There's a huge thing that happens at the beginning of this book that just...doesn't really come up again, but I feel certain Taylor will touch on it again at some point in the future (Or past? Who even knows with this series?). At least she'd better! Will take another quick break before jumping into the third book, but I'm already looking forward to it immensely!...more
Man, I loved this, so unexpectedly! It was a Goodreads recommendation from before the recommendations became completely nonsensical (lately I seem to Man, I loved this, so unexpectedly! It was a Goodreads recommendation from before the recommendations became completely nonsensical (lately I seem to get a lot of stuff like "because you loved this adult science fiction book, allow us to recommend five books for middle schoolers about horses!"--ha, that totally reminds me of Patton Oswalt's TiVo rant!). I'd never heard of this author and didn't know anyone else who had read this and the description didn't really tell me a whole lot, but the ratings are really high so I figured it was worth a shot. And whoa, so good!
I love the way Khanani tells this story--the main character is awesome, I loved the way the world is gradually described and expanded on with no info dumps, there's a lot of action, and a surprising amount of depth for a 131 page novella. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it was over so quickly and now I have to wait for the next book to arrive, and then after that wait for the third one to be written!
I'm definitely looking forward to checking out more of Khanani's stuff. Good job, Goodreads! Can you please figure out how to make appropriate recommendations again?
My awesome friend Laura surprised me with the first four books in this series to help keep me occupied post-surgery. Chazzers is the best!
---A number My awesome friend Laura surprised me with the first four books in this series to help keep me occupied post-surgery. Chazzers is the best!
---A number of hours later: finished! I, um, got sucked in super quick and kiiiind of read the entire thing today. All 322 pages of it. So much fun! I love the humor, I love the relationships (Max + Peterson is the best!), and the time travel aspect is just...I mean, I've read a lot of really lame time travel books, mainly involving romance, and this just is not one of them! I'm super glad to know that I already have three more books in the series lined up and ready to go, although I might take a brief palate cleanser before I leap back in immediately. But not much of one! I am excited to find out what the heck happens next.
Thank you, Chazzy! This really was the perfect gift!...more
I loved this look at psychiatric service dogs, and the idea of training dogs considered unadoptable due to age or medical problems. I found myself thiI loved this look at psychiatric service dogs, and the idea of training dogs considered unadoptable due to age or medical problems. I found myself thinking about my own rescue dogs while reading this and about how they might respond to the sort of training needed to become a psychiatric service dog (Sassy might actually be really good at this; Quigley not so much). Susannah Charleson is kind of amazing, and I love that she's spent so much time and energy advocating for both service dogs and the people who can really benefit from them (and that benefit really goes both ways if you're training shelter dogs). ...more
Man, why'd I put off reading this for so long? Oh yeah, it's because I didn't like Imaginary Girls, but now I'm wondering if I need to give it anotherMan, why'd I put off reading this for so long? Oh yeah, it's because I didn't like Imaginary Girls, but now I'm wondering if I need to give it another shot because this one and The Walls Around Us are so so good! I'm really halfway convinced I must just be WRONG about Imaginary Girls entirely.
Aaaaaaanyway, this is definitely one of those books where you think you know what's happening, only then it turns into something else entirely, and it's so weird that I was reading (view spoiler)[
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness(hide spoiler)] at the same time because whoa. Different outcomes, but so much in common.
A very smart, challenging, beautiful book. I'm officially back in love with Nova Ren Suma!...more
I wonder if I'll still like this one as much on second read as I did on the first? I remember it being kind of ridiculous, but still super enjoyable. I wonder if I'll still like this one as much on second read as I did on the first? I remember it being kind of ridiculous, but still super enjoyable. I'm definitely in need of something dumb and addictive right now, so I'm hoping this will do the trick!
Aaaand, yeah. This series is kinda like Firefly meets...um, what was that one show* with Claudia Black and that puppet alien Rigel (I loved him!)? And also like, I dunno. Something full of angsty romance and battle suits? Silly, but so entertaining!
* Oh yeah, Farscape! That's what it was! It's been awhile.
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Soooooo, totally fun. I wasn't really expecting that. Yes, the romance is a bit cheesy, as is the ending, a bit, but I just don't even care. At all. I'm actually pretty mad that the next copy of book two available at the library isn't due back for a couple of weeks and that the paperback is $15.00 on Amazon because I want to start reading it NOW!
Anyway, this is definitely not hard-core sci-fi. It reads more like an urban fantasy with a sci-fi setting, but without the typical obnoxious, hulking, alpha male love interests (Well...maybe? Kinda? If you look at things a certain way? But it works!), or werewolves or vampires, but with aliens. Lots of action, some very interesting mysteries...just, a lot of fun. For real.
Guuuuuuuuh, book two, why are you playing hard to get?!? Sigh!...more
This is the horribly sad and sometimes really beautiful story of a girl raised by her single gay father in San Francisco in the 80s during the outbreaThis is the horribly sad and sometimes really beautiful story of a girl raised by her single gay father in San Francisco in the 80s during the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic. Abbott writes well, and I was pretty much immediately sucked in. She describes her father and her relationship with him, his boyfriends, his work, and the places around the city they frequented and called home, as well as her struggles with her father's sexuality and with the way they lived with such clarity and honesty... I totally finished this book in tears. It's a quick read, though certainly not always an easy read. I just happened across it while sorting at the library and was drawn to the cover, not knowing anything at all about it. I'm really glad I brought it home with me though. ...more
I'm not really a football fan--I always say that I was born with only one tiny little piece of my heart free for football (or sports of any kind, realI'm not really a football fan--I always say that I was born with only one tiny little piece of my heart free for football (or sports of any kind, really). The thing is, that one piece is entirely taken up by the Pittsburgh Steelers. One of my very earliest memories consists of being held by my dad on one hip, my little brother on the other, wearing the Steelers stocking hat I received upon birth, and watching the Steelers play. I got my first kiss wearing that hat fifteen or so years later. I still have that hat and even though I couldn't care less about football in general, it's one of my prize possessions and if I ever happen to hear that the Steelers are playing, I root for them (even though my mom disowned me one year for saying I hoped the Steelers would beat her current team, the San Diego Chargers). So yeah, I definitely drank the Kool-Aid as a Pittsburgh baby.
Anyway, that's why I read this book. And I really kind of loved it. This is the first team I watched play, the first players I knew by name, but I didn't know anything at all about who they were as people, what their stories were, before I picked this book up, and I feel like Pomerantz has filled in those blanks really well. Some of the stories are especially sad--Mike Webster's in particular--and the telling of those stories really timely given the recent findings about the brain damage that football players tend to sustain over the course of their careers. I love that Pomerantz has spent so much time with the survivors of this era and that he devotes almost as many chapters to describing what happened to these men after football as he does their rise to fame. It all made me emotional.
Definitely recommended for Steelers fans, native Pittsburghers, or fans of football in general.
Um...this totally made me cry. Ha! It's a surprisingly sweet story about two lonely music and Jacques Cousteau lovers and how they find each other. AnUm...this totally made me cry. Ha! It's a surprisingly sweet story about two lonely music and Jacques Cousteau lovers and how they find each other. And it's the story of a city and how two lonely music and Jacques Cousteau lovers finding each other can change it. The illustrations are great--detailed, but not too detailed, and made up of pencil line drawings and watercolor and collage in a way that's nostalgic, but in a modern sort of way, if that makes sense. They're kind of perfect. Also, after I finished it, I noticed the quote from Markus Zusak on the cover, which just confirmed that I was right in thinking it's awesome. Anyway, it's definitely one of my faves from this year. I sort of feel like it's more for grown-ups than for kids, but whatever. I love it. So there!...more
I was gonna say, how have I not read this book since 2014??? Then I remembered that I just listened to the audiobook last time instead, haha. But I apI was gonna say, how have I not read this book since 2014??? Then I remembered that I just listened to the audiobook last time instead, haha. But I apparently forgot to add it on Goodreads, so this is actually my sixth time reading it! It's a comfort book now. So cozy! ---------------- I love this book! Even better the second time through. And I'm so excited about the second book coming out in October that I might just have to read this one again before then! It just makes me so happy! Heh... ---------------- I really, really enjoyed this one, although it took me awhile to figure out what the heck was going on. It's definitely not one of those sci-fi books that reads like an action movie. It's slow and kind of complicated, and while it's familiar in a few ways, it's mostly really different from anything else I've ever read. It's kind of just as much about fractured identity as it is the main character's quest, and I found the idea of living ships and ancillaries really cool. There are some things left unexplained, and some things left ambiguous, and I never really did figure out what gender anyone really is (that's a cultural thing), but maybe those things are to come in the next book, which I'm most definitely looking forward to. Depending on what happens in the future for this series, I have a feeling it might be destined to become another of my favorites. :)...more
I loved this--Chris Hadfield is amazingly down to earth for someone who has spent so much time with his head full of stars.
I recently read a book thaI loved this--Chris Hadfield is amazingly down to earth for someone who has spent so much time with his head full of stars.
I recently read a book that talked about an astronaut who had a really hard time readjusting to life once he'd been up in space, and it made me wonder how common that is in the profession. According to Hadfield, it's actually fairly uncommon, and that it's all in how you look at things. He himself believes in being prepared, working hard, and not considering only the grand events in life as sucesses, but also the little things that happen every day, and I think that's a pretty great way to live.
Another thing I really appreciated about this book was the glimpses into the little things that happen in space that don't seem to get talked about much--just the nuts and bolts of what it's actually like to live in microgravity for months at a time. All his youtube videos of his time aboard the International Space Station are great for that as well.
In addition, he does a fantastic job of describing certain things. I found myself tearing up at several points, most especially in the part where he describes coming back to earth from the I.S.S.
My husband got this through the Kickstarter campaign and was sooo excited when it finally arrived. He's been reading it off OMG, hilarious. HILARIOUS!
My husband got this through the Kickstarter campaign and was sooo excited when it finally arrived. He's been reading it off and on for the last week or so, every now and then quoting parts at me, and I was kind of like, "Ha. That's amusing. Now back to whatever I was doing before you started reading this quote at me." Okay, not quite, but...I don't know. I wasn't totally convinced.
But this afternoon he pushed it at me right before lying down for a nap, so I picked it up to just take a look and see what's so funny about it. And then I had to leave the room because I couldn't stop laughing out loud and, you know, he was trying to take a nap and all. So I went and sat in the living room and laughed out loud for several hours.
Yeah, I guess I get it now.
So, yes, you do definitely need to have some familiarity with Shakespeare's Hamlet to enjoy this, I think. A lot of what's so funny about it is the way North makes fun of it or turns various events on their heads. Also, enjoying absurdist humor probably helps a lot, cause there is a LOT of absurdity here! Wonderful, wonderful absurdity...
The best thing, to me, is what North did here with Ophelia. I mean, she is awesome. And super smart. And gets a lot of happy endings. In fact, there are happy endings available for everyone, which is a nice change from the bloodbath at the end of the original play. There are also a number of bloodbaths of various sorts available here too though--have no fear, if you're into that sort of thing!
Anyway, I totally got sucked in, and spent waaaaaaaay more time with it than I thought I would ever possibly want to. I don't think I've managed to come across every choice in this chunker of a book yet, but I've come across enough to know that pretty much every one leads to me giggling like a goon.
When I first started this, I didn't think it was as good as Code Name Verity. I had a harder time connecting with Rose at first, and the story starts When I first started this, I didn't think it was as good as Code Name Verity. I had a harder time connecting with Rose at first, and the story starts out...kind of quietly, even though something terrible has just happened to a fellow pilot and it's all going on in the middle of World War II. Also, I'm not a huge fan of poetry in general, and so I read the poems in the beginning of Rose's story thinking, "blah, blah, boring."
And then, God, Ravensbrück.
I had to walk away from this several times because of the heartbreak and the horror of it. I was just in tears. I grew to love Rose and her small family of Rabbits, I really did, and it just gutted me when... Okay, spoilers, but it's a book about a concentration camp, and not everyone makes it out. Even now I'm starting to cry about it all over again.
And the same poems that I found so boring at the start of the book I found anything but by the end.
I think this one is even better than Code Name Verity, but for different reasons. In Verity, I think it's the unexpected twists and the unique way in which Julie's story is told that make it so compelling. In Rose Under Fire, I think it's the truth shining through the fiction instead--the terrifyingly awful, painfully beautiful truth.
Definitely one of my very favorites of this year....more
I loved the characters, and the fact that I couldn't quite pinpoint their ages or the time period in which this takes place Um, I kind of loved this.
I loved the characters, and the fact that I couldn't quite pinpoint their ages or the time period in which this takes place (sometime after the invention of bubble wrap, but before ladies stopped wearing hats all the time?).
I loved that this managed to be simultaneously funny and really creepy.
I loved that it opens the door to the next book in the series without being all cliff-hangery and that you could just read this one book and it would still feel totally complete.
It's kind of just what I needed--characters I could totally connect with, a story with lots of action that's a little bit scary but also a lot of fun, and with ghosts in it (have I told you how much I love books about ghosts?)... Also with no romance. Maybe possible hints of it to come? But not really.
I think it's sort of perfect for what it is. And I soooo can't wait for the next book to come out. Arghhhhhhhh, this book isn't even officially out yet, and I'm already dying for the sequel (hopefully not literally, or I will haunt Jonathan Stroud until I can find out what happens next)!
Anyway, yeah, it's probably not an award-winner or anything, but who cares? Action! Adventure! Murder and blood! Jokes! Heh... ________________ Second reread (but first reread in print). Just so you know? This series is my Harry Potter....more
Well, of course I loved this! It's partly about the original climb 60 years ago, when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Everest Well, of course I loved this! It's partly about the original climb 60 years ago, when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Everest for the first time, as told by team member and Hillary's best friend, George Lowe, and it's also partly about George Lowe himself, as told by numerous other climbers, such as Reinhold Messner, and the sons of Hillary and Norgay. And, of course, it's about the mountain and about climbing in general as well. Lowe's photographs are fantastic, and I loved the story he tells here of friendship and a love of the mountains. Beautifully done indeed!...more
Beautifully written memoir of a doctor's year spent working at the most remote of Antarctic stations. I loved the way his descriptions are worded--theBeautifully written memoir of a doctor's year spent working at the most remote of Antarctic stations. I loved the way his descriptions are worded--there's a sort of poetry in the way Gavin Francis writes about his time there and about coming home afterward, and he does a wonderful job of bringing the history of the early expeditions, the biology and behavior of penguins, and the workings of the Halley Research Station into his narrative in a natural way and without ever sounding as though he's just regurgitating facts. Of the modern accounts of time spent in Antarctica that I've read so far, this is definitely among my favorites. ...more
I think I've said before that I totally judge books by their covers, even though everyone knows not to do that. There are a couple of nice covers for I think I've said before that I totally judge books by their covers, even though everyone knows not to do that. There are a couple of nice covers for this book, but the version I've got isn't one of them. The title and the cover art just scream, "hey, this book is all about vampire romance, yay!" And not being so much of a vampire romance fan, I...was not excited to read this, even though I kept seeing reviews about how good it is. I was not excited to read it, that is, until I actually started reading it, and then I was completely hooked by like, page 4.
This is totally not a vampire romance, by the way.
Told backwards through time, from the future back to ancient times, in seven parts, it's kind of an epic love story involving sacrifice and reincarnation, which, I know, sounds horribly cheesy, but totally works beautifully here. It's haunting and brutal and so, so compelling.
Anyway, I loved it. I'll definitely be checking out other books by Sedgwick before too long....more
I loved this little bio picture book about Albert Einstein! The illustrations are great--quirky and expressive--and I thought the writing was perfect.I loved this little bio picture book about Albert Einstein! The illustrations are great--quirky and expressive--and I thought the writing was perfect. Einstein's story is an inspiring one, especially for curious kids who might not quite fit in, and I like the way it ends, with unanswered questions that maybe one day YOU will find answers to. Anyway, I think it's awesome. That's all....more
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