Chandler

An interesting look into the topic of cannibalism. From the animal kingdom to the various human examples of cannibalism, Schutt delivers an interesting, quick-witted look into the history of the consumption of same-species flesh.
While I picked up this book to learn more about human examples, I was surprised to learn more about the different animal species, including spiders, dinosaurs, and fish. I enjoyed the interesting new perspective into the events of the Donner party, which I had never known.

However, about three-fourths into the book, after talking about cannibalism for so long, the book delved into less interesting stories and struggled to hold my attention. For this, I rated the book 3 out of 5 stars: interesting topic, funny/inviting writing, new information, yet, a little bit too long and dry near the end.

Boring. Nothing really happens except a whiny stuck-up girl complains how the world doesn't treat her the same and doesn't realize until the last sentence that she has changed. I kept reading expecting something to happen, and while the author raises some questions about what it means to be human in this futuristic novel, I don't have any desire to continue with the series.

This was a first for me - reading a graphic novel/comic. I really enjoyed it. It was hard to get into at first, since it kind of jumps around and it doesn't have much depth to it, but after talking with the friend that recommended it to me and lent the copy to me, I found myself pulled into the story and imagining each panel as if I were in the room with Batman, Robin, Catwoman, Superman and all the others in this book.

An interesting look into some of the events that took place at the beginning of Facebook. A quick read, largely fictionalized and entertaining enough. Not the most perfect of literary works, however, I don't think that was the author's intent.

The movie The Social Network is a great adaptation of the book and in some ways is better than the book.

Rating:
4.5 ⭐
Rounded up to 5

Summary:
Jonathan Harker travels to a mysterious castle to meet with one Count Dracula. He discovers the reality that Dracula is a vampire who possesses supernatural powers. As Jonathan joins together with his love, Mina, and others–Professor Van Helsing, Dr. John Seward, and Arthur Holmwood–they take on the formidable Count Dracula and his minions.

Review:
Thrilling and fun. Dracula is such an iconic character and I understand why the book continues to be read and the character continues to be adapted and brought to the screen and in other works.
I actually really enjoyed the fact that the book is written as if it's a collection of gathered documents and journals, which tell the story and give insights into the relationships of these people.
Classic, beautifully written, can be a bit slow/sloggish sometimes, but good. One that I would gladly reread.

Read in Arizona at the library

This book is charming and sheds a bit of light on boyhood. With sports, social situations, and girls, it is a delightful coming-of-age story. However, it also highlights how difficult it is to get out from under those in power. Power is everything. It's difficult to truly change a system and go against the current.

Quotes:
“Do I dare disturb the universe?
Yes, I do, I do. I think.
Jerry suddenly understood the poster–the solitary man on the beach standing upright and alone and unafraid, poised at the moment of making himself heard and known in the world, the universe.”

“They don't actually want you to do your own thing, not unless it's their thing too.”

A bit of a slow start, but otherwise this was an enjoyable story of two friends on seemingly planets–one being the reservation and the other being the white world/army base. I liked the insights into life in the 1970's and the depiction of life on the rez, being poor, and what it means to be friends with someone.

“Friends are always worth the moments of joy you share, even if they don't last.”

Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Rounded down to 3

Secret agent. Drugs. The unloved sister. Sex.

Good, not great. Great variation from McIntire's other books and, from what I've been told, other romance books/stories, where it's the perfect “Dorothy”-type character who is the main love interest. Evelina is rough and definitely not that type of girl. Nicholas is the good boy who is drawn to the tough girl. It's a good story. I'm not sure why I didn't like this one as much. Hot scenes, good story, and I liked the back-and-forth nature of their relationship (lots of good, playful banter), and I liked that it was a reimagining of a story that isn't just one of the classic fairytales that I've seen too much of.

Overall, good story, just didn't resonate with me as much as McIntire's other works. Really abrupt ending... almost too abrupt.

Rated: 3.5/5

An easy to read, fun-filled adventure with likable characters. Fast paced and well written. As it is written for a younger audience, I wasn't impressed with the presentation of the character–as they seem to all be masters already at such a young age, without much effort–and I would have liked more conflict between the characters and especially in the climactic ending, I wish it would have gone on a bit longer than it did.

I have always disliked the movie, but a lot of people like it, so I figured I would read the book. This is my first Gaiman book that I've read, and to my surprise, this book worked much better for me than the movie. This is a fairytale, plain and simple. It knows its place and doesn't try to do more.

Admittedly my disdain for the film adaptation may have been that I didn't fully understand that this is a fairytale for adults. Perhaps I will give the film another chance.

This book still isn't exactly what I want to read, but ultimately, it's not a horrible book.

Abandoned at 25%.

Very, very slow with characters that I do not care about and the logical explanation as to why everything works out is because “love”. I kept trying to read this book, but ultimately, not for me. I like some of the themes–body acceptance, what it means to be human, love and the ability to push beyond yourself–however, the themes are underdeveloped and are often superficial. I like the aliens and the bodysnatcher storyline, but everything else fell flat for me.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Rounded down to 3 stars

A seemingly well-researched and well-written book by Ken Auletta, giving an overview of Harvey Weinstein's rise in power, his impact in the movie industry, record of sexual assaults, the events of his trial and downfall in 2017.

I enjoyed the book. I can't even imagine having the power that Weinstein had and squandered. I rated the book 3.5 stars, because I enjoyed the book, I thought it was a good record of what happened, however, it isn't one that I felt like I need to read again. I also was hoping for more of an exploration of the culture of silence as the title mentions, yet very little was said on the subject.

Although I strongly enjoy the premise of the book, the book delivered little in actual practicality. This book is more to introduce the concept of the Second Brain or whatever you would like to call it. There are some nuggets within the text, but this book could have been a blog post.

Quotes:

According to the New York Times, the average person's daily consumption of information now adds up to a remarkable 34 gigabytes. A separate study cited by the Times estimates that we consume the equivalent of 174 full newspapers' worth of content each and every day, five times higher than in 1986.2 Instead of empowering us, this deluge of information often overwhelms us. Information Overload has become Information Exhaustion, taxing our mental resources and leaving us constantly anxious that we're forgetting something. Instantaneous access to the world's knowledge through the Internet was supposed to educate and inform us, but instead it has created a society-wide poverty of attention (p. 17)

Every bit of energy we spend straining to recall things is energy not spent doing the thinking that only humans can do: inventing new things, crafting stories, recognizing patterns, following our intuition, collaborating with others, investigating new subjects, making plans, testing theories. Every minute we spend trying to mentally juggle all the stuff we have to do leaves less time for more meaningful pursuits like cooking, self-care, hobbies, resting, and spending time with loved ones. (P. 18)

For modern, professional notetaking, a note is a “knowledge building block”—a discrete unit of information interpreted through your unique perspective and stored outside your head. (P. 24)

Herbert Simon, an American economist and cognitive psychologist, wrote, “What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention...” (p. 31)

There are four essential capabilities that we can rely on a Second Brain to perform for us: Making our ideas concrete. Revealing new associations between ideas. Incubating our ideas over time. Sharpening our unique perspectives. (P. 34)

Rating: 4.5 stars
Rounded down to 4 stars

I loved the characters. Tristan and Sara are wonderful and very very likable, cunning, and powerful. Fantastic. I loved the political intrigue and political situation.
Some of the cuts and transitions were weird. The scenes were hot and I liked the book. Onto the next!

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Rounded up to 5

A compelling and intriguing book. I really enjoyed the thriller/suspense of the plot. It kept me engaged and wanting to understand what was happening. Some of the plot points were tough to think about, but overall, good stuff. This was my first Colleen Hoover book... I do not understand the reason why she started the book in the way that she did... It feels really strange when it had nothing to do with the rest of the book. Perhaps just to get the reader hooked right away and to give the characters a reason to start talking. Interactions felt more natural than some of the romance books that I have read–didn't seem overly forced or too fast.

A fascinating read supporting claims that I have heard from TikTokers and others. Linda Villarosa provides both statistical and anecdotal evidence to support the claim that the underlying racism (and the surrounding cultural and psychological impacts) are to blame for the medical disparity between those of different races in the United States. The book is well researched and well written. This is an interesting read for anyone looking to go into any medical field and for those looking for ways to combat/recognize racism in today's world.

Quotes:

“1. You are treated with less courtesy than other people are.
2. You are treated with less respect than other people are.
3. You receive poorer service than other people at restaurants or stores.
4. People act if as if they think you are not smart.
5. People act as if they are afraid of you.
6. People act as if they think you are dishonest.
7. People act as if they're better than you are.
8. You are called names or insulted.
9. You are threatened or harassed.”

“The United States has the highest rate of infant mortality and the lowest life expectancy in comparison with other wealthy countries. An American woman is more likely to die as a result of pregnancy and childbirth than women in other countries of comparable wealth. That rate is higher now than it was in the 1990s, even though most of these deaths of mothers are avoidable.”

“in recent years I have come to understand that much of what I believed about health disparities and inequality in the United States was wrong. The something that is making Black Americans sicker is not race per se, or the lack of money, education, information, and access to health services that can be tied to being Black in America. It is also not genes or something inherently wrong or inferior about the Black body. The something is racism.”

“To put it in the plainest terms, from birth to death the impact on the bodies of Black Americans of living in communities that have been harmed by long-standing racial discrimination, of a deeply rooted and dangerous racial bias in our health-care system, and of the insidious consequences of present-day racism affects who lives and who dies.”

“These factors create physical vulnerability and systemic disadvantages that education, income, and access to health care cannot erase. This inequality, born more than four hundred years ago and embedded in every structure and institution of American society, including the health-care system, is driving our country's poor national health outcomes relative to the rest of the developed world. It has taken me three decades of reporting on the health of African Americans and several disturbing personal medical crises to understand the ways discrimination and bias contribute to poor health outcomes primarily in African Americans, but in reality in all oppressed people.”

“If you really care about these issues and want to make a difference, you must not use race as a proxy for poverty or poverty as a proxy for race. They intersect and overlap, but to really understand the health of this country, you have to be more sophisticated than assuming that only poor Blacks are affected by this crisis. Look deeper, think differently.”

Read as an audiobook by Andy Serkis (highly recommend)

A fantastic start to Tolkien's vast fantasy world. It very much reads like a bedtime story filled with excitement and wonders. The only reason it isn't a 5 star book for me is because I want more depth and more explanation, but I understand that this is not where Tolkien dives into more complicated matters.
Great book and looking forward to his other works!

Summary:
Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit of high regard, lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole when he is introduced to the old wizard Gandalf. Gandalf approaches him with the prospect of adventure, which he refuses, and then is subsequently almost forced into the services of a troupe of dwarves that aim to reclaim their kingdom under The Lonely Mountain. They embark on a journey, which takes them through Rivendell; through the home of a shape-changer, Beorn; through the goblin infested caves, where Bilbo Mets Gollum and finds a ring of power; through the dark forest called Mirkwood and then ultimately to the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo enters the mountain as a bugler and meets the treasure guardian and current resident of the great hall, Smaug. Smaug is defeated by Bard. Bilbo is adventurous and becomes a voice of warning and wit and is trusted as a leader with the dwarves. He finds the treasured Heart of the Mountain and pockets it. When Thorin Oakenshield begins to develop a jealousy for all gold and treasure, Bilbo appeals to the king's enemies. The mountain and it's riches are desired by many, and different enemies come to war to lay claim. Goblins appear to get vengeance for their fallen king. The armies of the Elfking, the humans of Laketown, and the dwarves attack together. Many are killed including Thorin, Fili, and Kili. Thorin's cousin becomes King Under the Mountain.
Bilbo is rewarded a share of the treasure and journeys back home with Sting, his riches, his mithril shirt, and his precious ring of power.

Eh. It was just okay. It just... didn't do it for me... like I liked it enough for 3 stars, but...

(Definitely just went down a deep rabbit hole exploring what I didn't like about this book and just came back to it after 4 hours)

Ultimately, at the heart of it, the book was fine. Good. The passion, desire, heat was there. It was good. I physically had to turn off the audiobook multiple times because it hurt too bad to hear how badly they wanted one another (loved it but hurt because I don't have that in my life). Once the guys started hooking up, I felt a definite shift in my feelings toward it. It was all too quick and too unrealistic, according to my lived experience. Suddenly it was all about the sex and didn't feel that same tension as before, so I didn't care for it as much.

But in a larger sense, I don't know how much I'm going to enjoy M/M romance books, even though I am gay. I went down the rabbit hole of why women are predominately the ones who write gay romance novels (could be one of many reasons–number of romance authors who are women, forbidden love trope is easily done by changing sex of MC, fetishization, sexual exploration with a safe distance without a woman, etc.).
I realized I didn't like this book more, because it didn't feel real. It felt like a woman's portrayal of gay relationships or gay sex (granted my opinion might be wrong of what I expect a relationship to be like). It was almost like it was the woman's idea of what the male gaze is (and could be for many or most gay men). It just isn't what I want from something that I hear called a romance novel.

I will still read other books. Riley Hart did nothing wrong and honestly this book was hot and was a good read to get me started into the M/M genre. I'm not sure how much I will enjoy the other books I read, but it's still good.

I detested the narrator's voice for any female characters. Not great narration. I found myself mocking some of the scenes because of the narrator. Just my personal take.

A fun, unique read about the animal kingdom and the queer sex lives of the over 1,500 animal species that have been observed to have some kind of queer/same-sex sexual activity. The book was funny, lighthearted, and highlighted experts in different scientific fields. It explained a bit about human exceptionalism and the fact that many people believe we are different than animals due to our top spot of the pyramid due to God's will. This book shows that we are not that different and many animals in the animal kingdom love and have sex with those of the same sex.

Rating: 4.5/5
Rounded down to 4 stars

Read at the same time with my friend while texting each other was fantastic fun. A fun Peter Pan retelling with all the good stuff in it. Ooof that was hot in parts. So good and fun. Saved straight romance for me, honestly. Definitely just needs to be the right one or the right author.

This book is more about the writing and characters than the plot, as little actually happens in the majority of the book. The beautiful writing style of Rebecca Ross keeps you captivated in the Scottish lore surrounded by the mysterious fae. The magic is beautifully woven into the story and into the culture of the Isle. I loved the legend and story of Joan!

I understand that the book started as a YA then eventually changed to adult. I do not think Ross pushed enough into the adult fantasy/fiction world. I would have loved more descriptions and scenes of the budding romance between Adaira and Jack.

I want more. I want more worldbuilding and understanding. I loved when the secrets came about and things were finally understood. The author's voice is cool, peaceful, calm, and beautiful. The tone carries through the narrative and makes the book captivating and lovely.