Michelle

I really loved the premise of this book. I love television and I find lost media fascinating, so a story about a cast reunion for a show that no one can prove even existed sounded perfect. I also liked how the author included emails, wikipedia articles, forum posts, etc. throughout the text to illustrate the fandom culture surrounding the main characters.

While I did enjoy this book, I think I would have liked it a little better if the mystery was rooted more in reality than the paranormal, but that's just my personal preference. Also I was disappointed that things were never very clearly resolved between Val and Gloria, and I think the epilogue could have done a better job of explaining that. But overall a very interesting read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine for the ARC!

This is definitely the most beautifully-written book about a man involuntarily transforming into a shark that I have ever read.

But seriously, there was so much to love about this book. I've always been interested in stories of metamorphosis, body horror, and what it means to be human, and this is the best one I've read in a while. A unique premise, lovely prose, and I think the cover design is great as well. It's hard to believe this is the author's debut. I hope to read more from her in the future. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Element for the advance reader copy!

After putting it off for years, I finally binge-watched The Big Bang Theory in early 2021, quickly became hooked, and have been reading whatever I can about it ever since. 279 episodes and what was already said still wasn't enough for me. So as soon as I heard about this book, I knew it had to get my hands on it, and I'm so happy to say that it did not disappoint.

I consider myself well-versed in the show and its history, and there were still so many previously unheard stories and new fun facts in this book. It was an absolute joy to read all the interviews from the cast and crew, and to see all the behind-the-scenes photos as well. (Also, I lost track, but I got emotional and cried about Shamy at least five times while reading this.) I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who loves the show, or just loves sitcoms and TV history in general.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the advance reader copy!

I was really eager to read this after previously reading Alderman's other book, The Power, and I'm happy to say I was not disappointed. In fact, I think I liked this book even more. The characters were great, the story was delightfully twisty in a way that you can almost but not quite predict, and the themes felt especially relevant now with the rise of AI tech. This is one of my favorite books read so far this year.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

I only just started reading Samantha Irby's essays earlier this year, but she's quickly becoming one of my favorites. Normally bathroom humor isn't my thing, and there was a lot of it in this book, but here it didn't bother me. It was brutally honest, laugh-out-loud funny, and (sometimes sadly) relatable. My only complaint is that some essays dragged on a little too long (the Sex and the City one in particular). Overall, I really enjoyed this collection.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Vintage for the advance reader copy!