The Man in the Dog Park
last updated: 2023-03-10 18:40:23.072429
The Remains of the Day
last updated: 2023-03-10 18:40:11.107492
Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone
last updated: 2022-08-24 18:35:35.157357
by Brené Brown
Awkward: The Science of Why We're Socially Awkward and Why That's Awesome
last updated: 2022-08-24 18:35:33.912187
by Ty Tashiro
The Kill Order
last updated: 2022-08-24 18:35:32.866003
by James Dashner #4 in The Maze Runner series {The Prequel}
Taking Responsibility: Self-Reliance and the Accountable Life
last updated: 2022-04-18 16:57:18.732077
by Nathaniel Branden
Harriet the Spy
last updated: 2022-03-31 20:30:19.408741
The People in the Playground
last updated: 2022-03-31 16:45:30.873615
Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find--and Keep-- Love
last updated: 2022-03-28 17:03:32.146091
Face
finished: 2023-09-12 07:00:00
by Joma West super super weird and unsettling dystopian scifi. touching other people is forbidden, keeping up your face (persona) is the only thing that matters - you mustn't ever show what or how you are truly feeling, for that could influence your social standing. menials aka indentured servants/enslaved people who aren't allowed to talk to their owners are considered subhuman. babies are designed exactly how their parents want them to be and are created by surrogate or beaker. parallels to today's society are obvious. many queer undertones to this book that i can't help but wonder if i made up, since i can't find anything about these queer references in the reviews of this book. the ending threw me for a loop. liked the idea of the book but not so much the execution - many unanswered questions and i wanted to know so much more about the characters but instead was met with the same scene from different pov time and time again. saw a review call this disorienting - agreed. maybe like a 3/5.
Union Station: 75 Years in the Heart of LA
finished: 2023-03-23 00:00:00
a collection of essays solicited by LA Metro to celebrate Union Station's 75th anni in 2014 (built in 1939) loved! all of the essays were unique and some i was much more fond of than others. fascinating and devastating overview of station origins - built over the og chinatown, displacing everyone..... union is a relic i love, but with dark spots marring its grandeur...sounds about right for historic buildings...sigh
Sleepaway Girls
finished: 2023-03-22 00:00:00
by Jen Calonita another nostalgic YA reread.....straight teenage romance that my heart yearn for true love (back then and somehow also this time around) the plot is pretty predictable; "average" but pretty girl at a sleepaway camp with a bitchy nemesis and two guys, one good and one bad, interested in her....wonder who she chooses hmmm
Black Boy Smile
finished: 2023-03-14 00:00:00
by D. Watkins a memoir about growing up as a Black boy in East Baltimore, hardened because Black boys and men are taught that to show pain or feelings is weakness i love the way in which Watkins writes - casual and colloquial, able to draw his audience in, vividly paints a picture one with a happy ending -- Watkins has a family (this book is dedicated to his baby daughter) and is working on his healing journey tw for just about everything, especially sexual assault, murder, drugs
Trading Faces
finished: 2023-03-18 00:00:00
by Julia DeVillers and Jennifer Roy a reread from childhood where twin sisters pretend to be each other in their first couple weeks of middle school. cheesy, dramatic, cringe, fun, makes you wish you had a twin sister so you could experience this, too. focuses on desires to be smart, cool, and popular, as most teenagers want to be lol i love revisiting books from my past - the nostalgia is strong with this one nothing to do with the actual words but i love that the book is pink and yellow, such a hot color scheme
January Fifteenth
finished: 2023-01-21 00:00:00
set in a future america, this book follows the narratives of four women across the states as they collect their universal basic income on "oobi day" super interesting premise but was not well executed left a lot to the imagination, which was intentional but not my favorite choice...lacked depth quick and easy read but wouldn't do it again nor recommend also horrible plot twist near the end that left me stunned for like five min tw/cw: suicide, domestic violence, cult
Acceptance
finished: 2023-01-15 00:00:00
by Emi Nietfeld soooooo GOOD ahhHHH many, many feelings - pain definitely at the top of the list. i love the way emi writes, her dark humor, her story telling ability, her introspection -- which enabled me to reflect on my own thoughts and behaviors emi has both a hoarder mom, who does not realize she is mentally ill, and an absentee (also mentally ill) trans parent. emi's adolescence and young adulthood are mired in homelessness and mental illness and she sees college aka success as her way out. one of many lessons learned is that success does not erase the past nor the pain that has shaped a person... this book will wreck you but it's worth it tw/cw: rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, eating disorders
I Cried to Dream Again: Trafficking, Murder, and Deliverance
finished: 2023-03-08 00:00:00
by Sara Kruzan and Cori Thomas requires every god damn trigger warning in the book Kruzan was raped and groomed as a child, killed her pimp, and sentenced to life in prison without parole as a 16 year old 1) i loathe men 2) this is probably not a book you want to read - it will make you cry and be sick several times 3) abolition now overall maybe a 7/10 - i am able to get through memoirs quickly but of course the subject matter made this an upsetting read....lower rating mostly due to book slowing down after first 1/3 + Kruzan is a motivational speaker vs an author + general vibes
The 39 Clues: One False Note
finished: 2022-02-03 00:00:00
by Gordan Korman #2 in The 39 Clues series This book and series heavily remind me of the National Treasure movies and I'm forever fascinated by how they're able to piece together the context and clues. Mozart? I couldn't tell you anything about him except his name. Also had to google what a harpsichord is. I KNOW it's fake but, man, I wish I had that much history knowledge and that strong of an ability to use context clues + critically think. Then again, I'm reading more in part to build on those two skills...
The Death Cure
finished: 2022-02-03 00:00:00
by James Dashner #3 in The Maze Runner series {Trilogy} even more depressing and upsetting than #2 thought many times how disturbed sci-fi authors must be to dream up their content thomas experienced so much loss and pain and i truly would not have wanted to make it out alive if i were him also the ending....finally time to breathe, but will he really be able to since he is effectively traumatized for life? mm
Fork in the Road
finished: 2022-02-03 00:00:00
by Denis Hamill well before 20 pages in, it was VERY evident that this book was written by a dude. yes i get it women have BREASTS that they feed babies from and guys have COCKS that they do nasty things with was fully prepared to get rid of this book but stuck with it and fell in love with it aspiring filmmaker colin coyne's relationship with irish traveler gina furey is intriguing and exciting but soon boils into toxicity beyond repair there is no way out and the story is incredibly sad for that + other reasons also i RLY want to know more about irish travelers
The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones
finished: 2022-02-03 00:00:00
by Rick Riordan #1 in The 39 Clues series Another childhood reread Perhaps I am out of touch with reality but kids/young adult sci fi/adventure books seem so gory and violent! The sibling pair in this book and series are nearly murdered several times and are constantly on the look out for their lives. This book is a suspenseful page turner where the underdogs - as annoying as they may be at times - become the reader's heroes as they search for 39 clues, the crux of which will result in possible world domination...tbd. The kids are wafting their way through the real world to find the clues, while they must also navigate the identity crises and grief in their own minds. Idk how they're doing so much. Relieved to report that are not actually 39 books in this series, thank god.
Sarah's Key
finished: 2022-02-03 00:00:00
by Tatiana de Rosnay Holocaust-centered i watched the movie a few years back and remembered the main (depressing) events so i guess i didn't expect to be blown away by the book but it was good! i liked the past vs present back n forth and the descriptions/writing style one thing i question is whether the main character's desperation to find the person she is researching is indicative of some kind of savior complex...especially since finding that person would only force them to relive their trauma and that's not it hmm..conflicted
The 39 Clues: The Sword Thief
finished: 2022-02-03 00:00:00
by Peter Lerangis #3 in The 39 Clues series
The Scorch Trials
finished: 2022-02-03 00:00:00
by James Dashner #2 in The Maze Runner series {Trilogy} even more depressing and upsetting than #1 also hate how much im into the teresa and tom vs brenda and thomas storylines
A Child Called It
finished: 2022-02-03 00:00:00
by Dave Pelzer obviously depressing Dave and others paint his narrative of horrific child abuse as inspiring but it is just sad and infuriating i remember being mind blown after reading this in middle school but after reading it again as an adult, i got rid of the book...that should tell you all you need to know
The Maze Runner
finished: 2022-02-03 00:00:00
by James Dashner #1 in The Maze Runner series {Trilogy} read #1 and only #1 in high school and thought it was SO good reread at 23 and wow this book is dystopian asf, but man the action + novelty + desire to see thomas escape the maze sucked me in (also thomas and teresa?? give me MORE)
Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
finished: 2022-02-03 00:00:00
by Father Greg Boyle (G), Founder of Homeboy Industries Faith-based but you don't need to be a believer to take the messages to heart. A lot of the stories about the homies are v sad and often end in ways that you really didn't want them to end. I don't think I loved the way this book was written; G obviously knows how to tell a story and captivate an audience but this didn't read much like a well-written book to me. He's a great priest but maybe not a great author (?). Took a lot of lessons from this though - above all, be kind and compassionate!!!
I Remember
finished: 2022-02-03 00:00:00
by Joe Brainard This book made me feel so nostalgic and, while easily half of the 40s/50s references flew over my head, I felt his life memories intertwine with mine [the reader]. definitely some problematic thoughts but also very honest and all over the place (really, what even is a thought?) love the book concept
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
finished: 2022-02-03 00:00:00
by Roald Dahl definitely more problematic than i remember a childhood classic but with a lesser degree of sweetness than it seemed to possess back then dahl's imagination is my favorite part; he comes up with the strangest and most amusing candies and concepts
Utterly Me, Clarice Bean
finished: 2022-02-03 00:00:00
by Lauren Child cute and calm with a dash of suspense, and i love the author's style of both writing and illustrating very in line with a constantly-wandering child's mind however i never want to hear the word "utterly" again