Virtual Mount TBR Challenge 2024 discussion

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Today's post is on Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere by Maria Bamford. It is 287 pages long and is published by Gallery Books. The cover is yellow with Maria on it in a white dress with flowers in her hair and a silly look on her face. The intended reader is someone who likes memoirs. There is some mild foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the audiobook- From “weird, scary, ingenious” (The New York Times) stand-up comedian Maria Bamford, a brutally honest and hilariously frenetic memoir about show business, mental health, and the comfort of rigid belief systems—from Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, to Suzuki violin training, to Richard Simmons, to 12-step programs.
Maria Bamford is a comedian’s comedian (an outsider among outsiders) and has forever fought to find a place to belong. From struggling with an eating disorder as a child of the 1980s, to navigating a career in the arts (and medical debt and psychiatric institutionalization), she has tried just about every method possible to not only be a part of the world, but to want to be a part of it.
In Bamford’s signature voice, Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult, brings us on a quest to participate in something. With sincerity and transparency, she recounts every anonymous fellowship she has joined (including but not limited to: Debtors Anonymous, Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, and Overeaters Anonymous), every hypomanic episode (from worrying about selling out under capitalism to enforcing union rules on her Netflix TV show set to protect her health), and every easy 1-to-3-step recipe for fudge in between.
Singular and inimitable, Bamford’s memoir explores what it means to keep going, and to be a member of society (or any group she’s invited to) despite not being very good at it. In turn, she hopes to transform isolating experiences into comedy that will make you feel less alone (without turning into a cult following).

Review- A hilarious memoir about a one woman's journey through life, comedy, mental illness, and family. Bamford reads this audiobook and her impersonations of her family and friends are just hysterical. She holds nothing back from her life and her journey with mental illness. Bamford not only has stories about working as a comedian but she includes helpful little recipes from her family about how to handle different problems. Bamford as so many little touches over the course of this book, that make it so very special. I completely recommend this book, I enjoyed it so much.

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this audiobook from my local library.

Today's fiction post is on Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder. It is 265 pages long and is published by Tor Nightfire. The cover has a ball with wings and tentacles coming from it. There intended reader is someone who likes cosmic horror. There is foul language, sex, and violence in this novel. The story is told from first person in three section with three different narrators. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the novel- To survive they must evolve.
A virus tears across the globe, transforming its victims in nightmarish ways. As the world collapses, dark forces pull a small group of women together.
Erin, once quiet and closeted, acquires an appetite for a woman and her brain. Why does forbidden fruit taste so good?
Savannah, a professional BDSM switch, discovers a new turn-on: committing brutal murders for her eldritch masters.
Mareva, plagued with chronic tumors, is too horrified to acknowledge her divine role in the coming apocalypse, and as her growths multiply, so too does her desperation.

Review- This is a very interesting, well-written, and odd novel that is NOT for everyone. The world is ending, it starts with a virus, that kills most infected, and the ones who survive are changed. Now the survivors either hear things or are hungry for very different food, like brains or blood. So begins the most unusual end of the world story I have ever read. There is so much to talk about with this novel. The writing style is very good. Snyder handles the three different points of view very well, the reader is never lost about who is talking. While I did enjoy this novel, this is NOT for everyone. There are disturbing scenes from the characters realizing how changed they are to their bodies changing again at the end of the world. While not for everyone, this was is a good and interesting novel.

I give this novel a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this novel from my local library.

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Today's nonfiction post is on I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. It is 320 pages long and is published by Simon & Schuster. The cover is yellow with McCurdy in the center holding what looks like an urn. The intended reader is someone who likes survival memoirs. There is foul language, mild sexuality, and no violence in this book but there is childhood abuse. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the audiobook- A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life.
Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.
In I’m Glad My Mom Died , Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly , she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.
Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.

Review- The book opens with McCurdy and her brothers trying to wake their mother up from a coma and McCurdy being sure that she can do it with the news that she has hit her mother's weight goal for her, 89 pounds. McCurdy gives the reader a raw and heartbreaking account of a childhood with a emotional immature and abusive mother. At times hard to read, as McCurdy holds nothing back about her life and career as a child actor, her mother's dream. Her mother wanted to be an actor but didn't have the support to do it herself so she then handed that down to her children, weather they wanted it or not. McCurdy did not want to be an actor, she liked writing and it shows in this memoir. All of her life had been about making her mother happy and then her mother dies and McCurdy is lost. This memoir is not just about the abuse that McCurdy survived but also about finding her life without her mother. I recommend this memoir if you like survival memoirs but the abuse is openly talked about and McCurdy really doesn't hold anything back.

I give this memoir a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this audiobook from my local library.

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Today's nonfiction post is on Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and A Legacy of Rage by Jeff Guinn. It is 400 pages long and is published by Simon & Schuster. The cover is a picture of the siege of the Mount Carmel. The intended reader is someone who is interested in modern American history. There is some foul language, discussions of rape and sexual abuse of children, and violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- This is the definitive account of the disastrous siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, featuring never-before-seen documents, photographs, and interviews, from former investigative reporter Jeff Guinn, bestselling author of Manson and The Road to Jonestown.
For the first time in thirty years, more than a dozen former ATF agents who participated in the initial February 28, 1993, Waco raid speak on the record about the poor decisions of their commanders that led to this deadly confrontation. The revelations in this book include why the FBI chose to end the siege with the use of CS gas; how both ATF and FBI officials tried and failed to cover up their agencies’ mistakes; where David Koresh plagiarized his infamous prophecies; and direct links between the Branch Davidian tragedy and the modern militia movement in America. Notorious conspiracist Alex Jones is a part of the Waco story. So much is new and stunning.
Guinn puts you alongside the ATF agents as they embarked on the disastrous initial assault, unaware that the Davidians knew they were coming and were armed and prepared to resist. His you-are-there narrative continues to the final assault and its momentous consequences. Drawing on this new information, including several eyewitness accounts, Guinn again does what he did with his bestselling books about Charles Manson and Jim Jones, revealing new details about a story that we thought we knew.

Review- A very in-depth look around what happened at Mount Carmel, before and during, the siege at Waco. Guinn interviews everyone who is willing to talk with him from ATF agents, reporters, people of Waco, and surviving Branch Davidians. The book covers the beginning of the Branch Davidian sect and David Koresh's personal history. The interviews give great insight into what went wrong and how easy it was for everything to get out of any kind of control for both sides. The ATF at large did not know that the Davidians knew they were coming and that the Davidians believed that the ATF were from the devil and the end of world was starting. The book continues into the nearer present with following the agents and survivors. The writing is good, the facts both for and against Koresh and his followers and what they believed and how far they were willing to go to bring around the end of the world. I learned a lot about Waco and the people involved, I would recommend this book.

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

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Today's nonfiction post is on Ilse Koch on Trial: Making the “Bitch of Buchenwald” by Tomaz Jardim. It is 368 pages long and is published by Harvard University Press. The cover is the mug shot of Koch. The intended reader is someone who is interested in World War II history and a closer look at the trials of one person. There is some foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- An authoritative reassessment of one of the Third Reich’s most notorious war criminals, whose alleged sexual barbarism made her a convenient scapegoat and obscured the true nature of Nazi terror.
On September 1, 1967, one of the Third Reich’s most infamous figures hanged herself in her cell after nearly twenty-four years in prison. Known as the “Bitch of Buchenwald,” Ilse Koch was singularly notorious, having been accused of owning lampshades fabricated from skins of murdered camp inmates and engaging in “bestial” sexual behavior. These allegations fueled a public fascination that turned Koch into a household name and the foremost symbol of Nazi savagery. Her subsequent prosecution resulted in a scandal that prompted US Senate hearings and even the intervention of President Truman.
Yet the most sensational atrocities attributed to Koch were apocryphal or unproven. In this authoritative reappraisal, Tomaz Jardim shows that, while Koch was guilty of heinous crimes, she also became a scapegoat for postwar Germans eager to distance themselves from the Nazi past. The popular condemnation of Koch―and the particularly perverse crimes attributed to her by prosecutors, the media, and the public at large―diverted attention from the far more consequential but less sensational complicity of millions of ordinary Germans in the Third Reich’s crimes.
Ilse Koch on Trial reveals how gendered perceptions of violence and culpability drove Koch’s zealous prosecution at a time when male Nazi perpetrators responsible for greater crimes often escaped punishment or received lighter sentences. Both in the international press and during her three criminal trials, Koch was condemned for her violation of accepted gender norms and “good womanly behavior.” Koch’s “sexual barbarism,” though treated as an emblem of the Third Reich’s depravity, ultimately obscured the bureaucratized terror of the Nazi state and hampered understanding of the Holocaust.

Review- This is a deep dive into one person's role in Nazi Germany. Ilse Koch did not work at a camp, she was married to the camp commander and she was a card carrying Nazi but she had no authority. Instead she became the face for all Germans who knew what was happening and did nothing. So the legend of Ilse Koch as grown over the years and now she is a symbol of a power and lust crazed woman. That image does no favors for anyone, not for those who do act in those ways nor to a average person who just looks the other way. Jardim wants to engage with history and try to pick apart what really happened and what Ilse Koch did. This book is written in a very academic way and that will put some readers off but if World War II history is a passion for you, then you should have this one a try.

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

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Todays post is on Disobedient Women: How a Small Group of Faithful Women Exposed Abuse, Brought Down Powerful Pastors, and Ignited an Evangelical Reckoning by Sarah Stankorb. It is 366 pages long and is published by Worthy Books. The cover is white page with a strip being ripped down and revealing red under. The intended reader is someone who is interested in religion and the lives of people who are religious. There is no foul language, discussions of rape, sexual molestation, and violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the audiobook- Journalist Sarah Stankorb outlines how access to the internet—its networks, freedom of expression, and resources for deeply researching and reporting on powerful church figures—allowed women to begin dismantling the false authority of evangelical communities that had long demanded their submission. A generation of American Christian girls was taught submitting to men is God’s will. They were taught not to question the men in their families or their pastors. They were told to remain sexually pure and trained to feel shame if a man was tempted. Some of these girls were abused and assaulted. Some made to shrink down so small they became a shadow of themselves. To question their leaders was to question God.
All the while, their male leaders built fiefdoms from megachurches and sprawling ministries. They influenced politics and policy. To protect their church’s influence, these men covered up and hid abuse. American Christian patriarchy, as it rose in political power and cultural sway over the past four decades, hurt many faithful believers. Millions of Americans abandoned churches they once loved.
Yet among those who stayed (and a few who still loved the church they fled), a brave group of women spoke up. They built online megaphones, using the democratizing power of technology to create long-overdue change.
In Disobedient Women , journalist Sarah Stankorb gives long-overdue recognition for these everyday women as leaders and as voices for a different sort of faith. Their work has driven journalists to help bring abuse stories to national attention. Stankorb weaves together the efforts of these courageous voices in order to present a full, layered portrait of the treatment of women and the fight for change within the modern American church.
Disobedient Women is not just a look at the women who have used the internet to bring down the religious power structures that were meant to keep them quiet, but also a picture of the large-scale changes that are happening within evangelical culture regarding women’s roles, ultimately underscoring the ways technology has created a place for women to challenge traditional institutions from within.

Review- This was a very enlightening and at times very hard read. Stankorb comes from a place of person knowledge about the topic and because of her history, she gains the trust of the women whose stories she tells. She breaks down the how's of the power structure within churches and how it creates a perfect place for abuse of kinds. Stankorn not only has interviews of survivors but studies that have been done investing religious abuse. While the subject matter is dark, there is hope in this book, hope for the healing, and hope for the future by holding religious leaders responsible for their actions.

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this audiobook from my local library.

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Today's fiction post is on The Nice House on the Lake, Vol. 1 by James Tynion IV and Álvaro Martínez Bueno (Artist). It is 200 pages long and is published by DC Comics. The cover has a a woman in a lake with bones floating around her and a lit house behind her. The intended reader is someone who likes horror and mystery graphic novels. There is some foul language, no sex, and some violence in this graphic novel. The story is told from third person close of the main characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Everyone who was invited to the house knows Walter—well, they know him a little, anyway. Some met him in childhood; some met him months ago. And Walter’s always been a little…off.
But after the hardest year of their lives, nobody was going to turn down Walter’s invitation to an astonishingly beautiful house in the woods, overlooking an enormous sylvan lake. It’s beautiful, it’s opulent, it’s private—so a week of putting up with Walter’s weird little schemes and nicknames in exchange for the vacation of a lifetime? Why not?
All of them were at that moment in their lives when they could feel themselves pulling away from their other friends; wouldn’t a chance to reconnect be…nice? In The Nice House on the Lake, the overriding anxieties of the 21st century get a terrifying new face—and it might just be the face of the person you once trusted most.
Collects The Nice House on the Lake #1-6.

Review- An interesting alien invasion and end of the world story. A group of friends are invited to a lake house for a week and over the week the world is destroyed by an alien invasion. Now they have to survive and rebuild humanity. The mystery of who Walter really is and what his goals are is the main thread of the story. The group has to think and decide what to do next, now that they are alone. The characters are interesting ad their interactions with Walter are the most interesting because it gives insight into Walter and what his goals are. I'm very curious about what is going to happen and how the story is going to be wrapped up.

I give this graphic novel a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this graphic novel from my local library.

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Today's nonfiction is on Homicide: The Graphic Novel, Part Two by Philippe Squarzoni (Adapter/Illustrator) and David Simon. It is 400 pages long and is published by First Second. The cover has the back of one of the detectives looking at a murder board. As it is the second volume in the series, you need have read the first volume to understand the story. The intended reader is someone who likes true crime and graphic novels. There is foul language, no sex, and discussion of violence in this graphic novel. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- A woman is stabbed and left to die in her bedroom. A taxi cab driver is killed for a handful of jewelry. A man is gunned down over a debt of $8. As the board fills with red ink, the pressure rises. All the while, detective Pellegrini is haunted by the murder of eleven-year-old Latonya Wallace, a case that is getting colder by the day.

Review- A great conclusion. Not everything is closed at the end of the book, the Wallace case is still officially unsolved, there still is trouble with the city and higher ups but the homicide unit is still moving forward. The narrative style continues to be strongest point of the graphic. This was a fascinating way to take a nonfiction book and recreate for it for a new audience. I recommend this graphic novel highly.

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this graphic novel from my local library.

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Today's post is on Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare. It is 376 pages long and is published by Avon. The cover has the two main characters in a passionate embrace. It is part of the Castles Ever After series but you don't have to have read any of them to enjoy the story. The intended reader is someone who likes light hearted, historical love stories. There is mild foul language, sexuality, and no violence in this book. The story is duel perspectives of Charlotte and Piers. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- On the night of the Parkhurst ball, someone had a scandalous tryst in the library. Was it Lord Canby, with the maid, on the divan? Or Miss Fairchild, with a rake, against the wall? Perhaps the butler did it.
All Charlotte Highwood knows is this: it wasn’t her. But rumors to the contrary are buzzing. Unless she can discover the lovers’ true identity, she’ll be forced to marry Piers Brandon, Lord Granville—the coldest, most arrogantly handsome gentleman she’s ever had the misfortune to embrace. When it comes to emotion, the man hasn’t got a clue.
But as they set about finding the mystery lovers, Piers reveals a few secrets of his own. The oh-so-proper marquess can pick locks, land punches, tease with sly wit . . . and melt a woman’s knees with a single kiss. The only thing he guards more fiercely than Charlotte’s safety is the truth about his dark past.
Their passion is intense. The danger is real. Soon Charlotte’s feeling torn. Will she risk all to prove her innocence? Or surrender it to a man who’s sworn to never love?

Review- A cute historical romance with good characters. Charlotte's mother is willing to do just about anything to see her daughters well married. But Charlotte wants love in her marriage and is not willing to change that. Piers just wants to do his missions and move on the next one. But when Charlotte and Piers are caught improperly alone, he makes a declaration for her hand. Poor Charlotte is determined to save him and herself from a loveless marriage but of course as they get to know each other, they learn they have much in common. As it is a romance, they fall in love and it's a fun ride as they do so. I would recommend this novel, if you enjoy historical romances and don't mind a little spice too.

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

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Today's nonfiction post is on The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade by Ann Fessler. It is 354 pages long and is published by Penguin Press HC. The cover is pictures of different girls from the forties and fifties. The intended reader is someone who is interested in women's history. There is mild foul language, discussion of sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- A powerful and groundbreaking revelation of the secret history of the 1.5 million women who surrendered children for adoption in the several decades before Roe v. Wade.
In this deeply moving work, Ann Fessler brings to light the lives of hundreds of thousands of young single American women forced to give up their newborn children in the years following World War II and before Roe v. Wade. The Girls Who Went Away tells a story not of wild and carefree sexual liberation, but rather of a devastating double standard that has had punishing long-term effects on these women and on the children they gave up for adoption. Based on Fessler's groundbreaking interviews, it brings to brilliant life these women's voices and the spirit of the time, allowing each to share her own experience in gripping and intimate detail. Today, when the future of the Roe decision and women's reproductive rights stand squarely at the front of a divisive national debate, Fessler brings to the fore a long-overlooked history of single women in the fifties, sixties, and early seventies.
In 2002, Fessler, an adoptee herself, traveled the country interviewing women willing to speak publicly about why they relinquished their children. Researching archival records and the political and social climate of the time, she uncovered a story of three decades of women who, under enormous social and family pressure, were coerced or outright forced to give their babies up for adoption. Fessler deftly describes the impossible position in which these women found themselves: as a sexual revolution heated up in the postwar years, birth control was tightly restricted, and abortion proved prohibitively expensive or life endangering. At the same time, a postwar economic boom brought millions of American families into the middle class, exerting its own pressures to conform to a model of family perfection. Caught in the middle, single pregnant women were shunned by family and friends, evicted from schools, sent away to maternity homes to have their children alone, and often treated with cold contempt by doctors, nurses, and clergy.
The majority of the women Fessler interviewed have never spoken of their experiences, and most have been haunted by grief and shame their entire adult lives. A searing and important look into a long-overlooked social history, The Girls Who Went Away is their story.

Review- A deeply moving and troubling book about American history before Roe v. Wade and the girls who were sent away for the shame of being pregnant. Fessler is herself a child from a girl who was sent away and started this journey as a way to understand her birth mother and herself. The interviews in this book are heart-breaking to read. From women who were date raped and then shamed for the pregnancy to girls who were just uneducated about sex. The interviews are raw and very hard to read but the stories these women have to tell are important and enlightening, about stolen futures and life long trauma from their children being taken from them. I would recommend this book.

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

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Today's post is on The Nice House on the Lake, Vol. 2 by James Tynion IV and Álvaro Martínez Bueno (Artist). It is 176 pages long and is published by DC Comics. The cover has Walter in the center and the others around him floating like in water. As it is the second volume, you need to have read the first one to understand the story. There is foul language, no sex, and some violence in this graphic novel. The intended reader is someone who likes end of the world stories with diverse characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- One of the most critically acclaimed and bestselling horror books of 2021 returns for its shocking second act—and now is the perfect time to enter the house! The 10 hardy survivors gathered in the house by their mutual friend Walter thought they’d finally cracked the code on his plans…and now everything they thought they knew has literally changed. Can they free themselves from their patterns? Or are they all just determined to build a prison of their very own?

Review- This comic is like a good TV show, intense, to the point, and doesn't over stay it's welcome. Walter is trying to get some control over his group and he is starting to understand that is not possible, that's humans are too much for him to control and still be loved by his friends. So he must make a choice and live with it. I feel that this was a great ending for a interesting series, there is more that can be done but this is a strong send off if nothing more happens. The art is good, the writing is good, and the pacing is excellent, not too fast or too slow. I would be interested in whatever Tynion does next.

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this graphic novel from my local library.

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Today's nonfiction post is on Chuck Klosterman X: A Highly Specific, Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st Century by Chuck Klosterman. It is 464 pages long and is published by Penguin Press. The cover is black the title and author's name in white. The intended reader is someone who likes recent history, music, pop culture, and mild philosophy. There is mild foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- New York Times-bestselling author and cultural critic Chuck Klosterman sorts through the past decade and how we got to now. Chuck Klosterman has created an incomparable body of work in books, magazines, newspapers, and on the Web. His writing spans the realms of culture and sports, while also addressing interpersonal issues, social quandaries, and ethical boundaries. Klosterman has written nine previous books, helped found and establish Grantland, served as the New York Times Magazine Ethicist, worked on film and television productions, and contributed profiles and essays to outlets such as GQ, Esquire, Billboard, The A.V. Club, and The Guardian. Chuck Klosterman's tenth book (aka Chuck Klosterman X) collects his most intriguing of those pieces, accompanied by fresh introductions and new footnotes throughout. Klosterman presents many of the articles in their original form, featuring previously unpublished passages and digressions. Subjects include Breaking Bad, Lou Reed, zombies, KISS, Jimmy Page, Stephen Malkmus, steroids, Mountain Dew, Chinese Democracy, The Beatles, Jonathan Franzen, Taylor Swift, Tim Tebow, Kobe Bryant, Usain Bolt, Eddie Van Halen, Charlie Brown, the Cleveland Browns, and many more cultural figures and pop phenomena. This is a tour of the past decade from one of the sharpest and most prolific observers of our unusual times.

Review- This is another excellent collection of essays from Klosterman. He covers many subjects in this collection from music to sports to television. Of course his opinions are all his own but Klosterman is so funny and enjoyable to read. He gives new insight into some recent history and makes it funny too. With the index in the back, you can just read about the topics that interest you. But I would recommend you read everything that Klosterman writes about as he is such an entertaining writer.

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed from this book from my local library.

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Today's fiction post is on Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente. It is 432 pages long and is published by TOR. The cover is half black and half white with a woman's figure in silhouette and a movie camera in front of her with golden light coming out of it. The intended reader is someone who likes science fiction with a lot of classic pulp. There is mild foul language, discussions of sex and sexuality, and no violence in this novel. The story is told in many ways from interviews to transcripts. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- Radiance is a decopunk pulp SF alt-history space opera mystery set in a Hollywood-and solar system-very different from our own, from Catherynne M. Valente, the phenomenal talent behind the New York Times bestselling The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.
Severin Unck's father is a famous director of Gothic romances in an alternate 1946 in which talking movies are still a daring innovation due to the patent-hoarding Edison family. Rebelling against her father's films of passion, intrigue, and spirits from beyond, Severin starts making documentaries, traveling through space and investigating the levitator cults of Neptune and the lawless saloons of Mars. For this is not our solar system, but one drawn from classic science fiction in which all the planets are inhabited and we travel through space on beautiful rockets. Severin is a realist in a fantastic universe.
But her latest film, which investigates the disappearance of a diving colony on a watery Venus populated by island-sized alien creatures, will be her last. Though her crew limps home to earth and her story is preserved by the colony's last survivor, Severin will never return.
Told using techniques from reality TV, classic film, gossip magazines, and meta-fictional narrative, Radiance is a solar system-spanning story of love, exploration, family, loss, quantum physics, and silent film.

Review- This is an incredible piece of fiction, I have never read anything like this before. The story is centered on Severin and her life and her possible death. The setting is a galaxy that humanity can traverse via the Orient Express and all the movies are silent. The mystery at the heart is what happened on Venus and to Severin but the journey is the true joy of the the novel. The writing is excellent, the characters are moving and interesting, and the setting is incredible. I have not read anything by Valente before but I will be seeking her books out now. I highly recommend this novel.

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

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Today's nonfiction post is on But What If We're Wrong? Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past by Chuck Klosterman. It is 262 pages long and is published by Blue Rider Press. The cover is white with the title in black. The intended reader is someone who is interested in modern philosophy. There is some mild foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.



From the dust jacket- We live in a culture of casual certitude. This has always been the case, no matter how often that certainty has failed. Though no generation believes there’s nothing left to learn, every generation unconsciously assumes that what has already been defined and accepted is (probably) pretty close to how reality will be viewed in perpetuity. And then, of course, time passes. Ideas shift. Opinions invert. What once seemed reasonable eventually becomes absurd, replaced by modern perspectives that feel even more irrefutable and secure—until, of course, they don’t.
But What If We’re Wrong? visualizes the contemporary world as it will appear to those who'll perceive it as the distant past. Chuck Klosterman asks questions that are profound in their simplicity: How certain are we about our understanding of gravity? How certain are we about our understanding of time? What will be the defining memory of rock music, five hundred years from today? How seriously should we view the content of our dreams? How seriously should we view the content of television? Are all sports destined for extinction? Is it possible that the greatest artist of our era is currently unknown (or—weirder still—widely known, but entirely disrespected)? Is it possible that we “overrate” democracy? And perhaps most disturbing, is it possible that we’ve reached the end of knowledge?
Kinetically slingshotting through a broad spectrum of objective and subjective problems, But What If We’re Wrong? is built on interviews with a variety of creative thinkers—George Saunders, David Byrne, Jonathan Lethem, Kathryn Schulz, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Brian Greene, Junot Díaz, Amanda Petrusich, Ryan Adams, Nick Bostrom, Dan Carlin, and Richard Linklater, among others—interwoven with the type of high-wire humor and nontraditional analysis only Klosterman would dare to attempt. It’s a seemingly impossible achievement: a book about the things we cannot know, explained as if we did. It’s about how we live now, once “now” has become “then.”

Review- This is an interesting book grabbling with modern history and how our modern world will be seen in the future. Klosterman is a pop culture essayist and he can get access to some of the greatest thinkers of our time and they will answer his questions. Klosterman questions television, sports, scientific theories, and philosophy. Of course he knows that all these questions are useless because whatever we imagine the future to be, it will be totally different. But that is also the point of the book, exploring that what we think we know is nothing like what we know in 50 or 100 or 5000 years. The writing is good, Klosterman is a master of the craft and makes the impossible question about how we think about anything in the far future. This book was an interesting exercise in thought and if you like modern philosophy, you should read this.

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

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Today's post is on The Catch by Amy Lea. It is 416 pages long and is published by Berkley. The cover is teal blue with the two main characters in the center. It is the third in a series, but you don't have to read the first two books to understand the story. There is mild foul language, sex, and no violence in this novel. The intended reader is someone who likes romance comedies. The story is told from first person of Melanie. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- A grumpy lobster fisherman tosses a fashion influencer’s impeccably curated life overboard in the next romantic comedy from international bestselling author Amy Lea.
In a last-ditch effort to rescue her brand from the brink of irrelevance, Boston fashion influencer Melanie Karlsen finds herself in a rural fishing village on the east coast of Canada. The only thing scarier than nature itself? The burly and bearded bed-and-breakfast owner and fisherman, Evan Whaler—who single-handedly disproves the theory that Canadians are “nice.”
After a boating accident lands Evan unconscious in the hospital, Mel is mistaken for his fiancée by his welcoming yet quirky family, who are embroiled in a long-standing feud over the B&B. In a bold attempt to mend family fences, Mel agrees to fake their engagement for one week in exchange for Evan’s help with her social media content.
Amid long hikes and campfire chats, reeling in their budding feelings for each other proves more difficult by the day. But is Mel willing to sacrifice her picture-perfect life in the city for a chance at a true, unfiltered love in the wild?

Review- A cute, rom-com. Melanie is an influencer who is trying to re-brand herself and finds herself stuck in backwoods Canada for a week. She books BNB with a very grumpy owner. Of course there is more to the story than him just being grumpy and Mel learns that over the course of the story. This is a cute romance with cute characters and a strong thread of family. Both Mel and Evan are deeply involved with their families and they both value family. There sex is there and can easily be skipped with no detriment to the story. A cute beach read.

I give this novel a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this novel from my local library.

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Today's nonfiction post is on Last Call at the Hotel Imperial: The Reporters Who Took On a World at War by Deborah Cohen. It is 557 pages long and is published by Random House. The cover is red with a typewriter on the bottom. The intended reader is someone who is interested in recent history. There is some foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- They were an astonishing group: glamorous, gutsy, and irreverent to the bone. As cub reporters in the 1920s, they roamed across a war-ravaged world, sometimes perched atop mules on wooden saddles, sometimes gliding through countries in the splendor of a first-class sleeper car. While empires collapsed and fledgling democracies faltered, they chased deposed empresses, international financiers, and Balkan gun-runners, and then knocked back doubles late into the night.
Last Call at the Hotel Imperial is the extraordinary story of John Gunther, H. R. Knickerbocker, Vincent Sheean, and Dorothy Thompson. In those tumultuous years, they landed exclusive interviews with Hitler and Mussolini, Nehru and Gandhi, and helped shape what Americans knew about the world. Alongside these backstage glimpses into the halls of power, they left another equally incredible set of records. Living in the heady afterglow of Freud, they subjected themselves to frank, critical scrutiny and argued about love, war, sex, death, and everything in between.
Plunged into successive global crises, Gunther, Knickerbocker, Sheean, and Thompson could no longer separate themselves from the turmoil that surrounded them. To tell that story, they broke long-standing taboos. From their circle came not just the first modern account of illness in Gunther's Death Be Not Proud--a memoir about his son's death from cancer--but the first no-holds-barred chronicle of a marriage: Sheean's Dorothy and Red, about Thompson's fractious relationship with Sinclair Lewis.
Told with the immediacy of a conversation overheard, this revelatory book captures how the global upheavals of the twentieth century felt up close.

Review- This is an interesting book about the reporters who changed the way reporting was done and influenced the future with their more personal styles. Cohen does some fantastic research into the lives and careers of her subjects, from personal dairies and letters to the books and articles they wrote over the course of the careers. The over all narrative is about their lives after World War 1 and through World War 2. The politics of the times is fully explored from conservative to liberal and those phrases meant in their time. The epilogue gives their ends and how their lived after the wars. Their stories are interesting, moving, and insightful about the times they lived through. If you are interesting in recommend history and how reporters influenced it, you should read this book.

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

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Today's post is on What's Wrong with Secretary Kim? Vol. 1 by MyeongMi Kim (artist) and GyeongYun Jeong (Original author). It is 240 pages long and is published by Yen Press. The cover is pink with Secretary Kim on it pulling a tie that going to the back cover and the Vice Chairman is on the back. The intended reader is someone who likes humorous love stories with dark secrets. There is mild foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. The story is told from third person perspective. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Vice Chairman Youngjun Lee and Secretary Miso Kim have been the star duo of their company for nine years...until Miso suddenly decides to quit! But Youngjun is smart, rich, and used to getting what he wants—and he wants Miso to stay. So when he discovers she’s leaving in order to find a husband, the only logical way to keep her at his side is...offering to marry her?! Too bad she’s just not that into him!

Review- This is a hilarious comedy with romance. Miso Kim just wants to get married, have a child, and never see her boss again. He is very OCD, and as far as he is concerned, their live is perfect. So he shocked when Miso tells him that she is leaving. He decides that he is going to do whatever it takes to keep her with him, even marry her himself! This is a very funny comedy of errors and manners. I would recommend this and if you really like it, you can try the TV show that is based on this.

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I borrowed this manga from my local library and I receive nothing for my review.

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Today's manga post is on What's Wrong with Secretary Kim?, Vol. 2 (Volume 2) by MyeongMi Kim (artist)and GyeongYun Jeong (Original Author). It is 240 pages long and is published by Yes Press. The cover has Young Jun on it. As it is the second volume in the series, you need to have read the first volume to understand the story. There no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this manga. The intended reader is someone who likes silly rom-coms and office romances. The story is told in mostly from Miso's perspective. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the manga- Winning over his secretary’s affection proves to be a tough task, but Youngjun is not one to give up easily! As he brings to bear everything he has―looks, wealth, and sheer determination―Miso does find herself thinking about her boss more and more...Are his efforts finally starting to pay off?

Review- This series continues to be very funny and fun to read. We do get some hints about Young Jun dark past but no idea about how it may involve Miso. The funny is mostly Young Jun being jealous in a silly way about Miso and her not noticing anything. With his older brother's return, the plot maybe getting more serious but I'm willing to see where we're going from here.

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this manga from my local library.

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Today's post is on My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey. It is 290 pages long. The cover is green and pink with the couple embracing in the center and the title above dripping blood. The intended reader is someone who likes rom-com's with a little murder. There is some foul language, sex, and mild violence in this book. The story is told from duel perspectives of Taylor and Myles. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- It was supposed to be a relaxing vacation in sweet, sunny Cape Cod—just me and my beloved brother—but discovering a corpse in our rental house really throws a wrench into our tanning schedule. Now a rude, crude bounty hunter has arrived on the back of his motorcycle to catch the killer and refuses to believe I can be helpful, despite countless hours of true crime podcast listening. Not to mention a fulfilling teaching career of wrangling second graders.
A brash bounty hunter and an energetic elementary schoolteacher: the murder-solving team no one asked for, but thanks to these pesky attempts on my life, we're stuck together, come hell or high tide.
I'm just here to do a job, not babysit an amateur sleuth. Although… it is becoming less and less of a hardship to have her around. Sure, she's stubborn, distracting and can't stay out of harm's way. She's also brave and beautiful and reminds me of the home I left behind three years ago. In other words, the painful hunger and protectiveness she is waking up in me is a threat to my peace of mind. Before I sink any deeper into this dangerous attraction, I need to solve this murder and get back on the road. But will fate take her from me before I realize the road has been leading to her all along?

Review- A cute romance about opposite attracts. Taylor wants to have some fun and break out of her every day life. Myles just wants to forget the past and solve the case. But together they have something more. The plot is not unique but it's fun and the sex scenes are not too many for those who would like to skip them. The characters are fun, cute, and drive the story nicely. I like the relationships with the family members like their brothers. If you like cute romances with a mystery twist, then you should try this book.

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

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Today's post is on After the Forest by Kell Woods. It is 375 pages long and is published by TOR Books. The cover is green with different forest themed elements like leaves, wolves, and like on it. The intended reader is someone who likes fairy tales and their retellings. There is mild foul language, implied sex, and mild violence in this novel. The story follows the third person close of the main character, Greta. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- Ginger. Honey. Cinnamon. Flour. A drop of blood to bind its power.
1650: The Black Forest, Wurttemberg.
Fifteen years after the witch in the gingerbread house, Greta and Hans are struggling to get by. Their mother and stepmother are long dead, Hans is deeply in debt from gambling, and the countryside lies in ruin, its people recovering in the aftermath of a brutal war. Greta has a secret, the witch's grimoire, secreted away and whispering in her ear, and the recipe inside that makes the most sinfully delicious - and addictive - gingerbread.
As long as she can bake, Greta can keep her small family afloat. But in a village full of superstition, Greta and her intoxicating gingerbread is a source of ever-growing suspicion and vicious gossip.
And now, dark magic is returning to the woods and Greta's own powers - magic she is still trying to understand - may be the only thing that can save her ... If it doesn't kill her first.

Review- A interesting look at the Hensel and Greta folk legend with an eye to how women are seen in their communities. Greta and Hans are barely surviving when a new baroness raises the taxes and starts demanding payment in flesh. Greta wants to protect her brother from the baroness but she also has her won problems to deal with. This is was a good read, if you like fairy tales and folklore, which I do. The writing is good, the characters are believable, and the setting is immersive. Woods did a good job and I would like to read more from her.

I give this novel a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

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Today's nonfiction post is on Bite by Bite: American History through Feasts, Foods, and Side Dishes by Marc Aronson, Toni D. Chambers (Illustrator), et al. It is 176 pages long and is published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers. The cover is light blue with different foods like corn on the cob and spaghetti with meatballs. The intended reader is someone who is interested in the history of American food. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- Explore the fascinating history of America as told through the lens of food in this illustrated nonfiction middle grade book that lays out the diverse cultures that have combined to create the rich and delicious tapestry of the American country and cuisine.
As American as apple pie. It’s a familiar saying, yet gumbo and chop suey are also American! What we eat tells us who we where we’re from, how we move from place to place, and how we express our cultures and living traditions.
In twelve dishes that take readers from thousands of years ago through today, this book explores the diverse peoples and food that make up the United States. From First Salmon Feasts of the Umatilla and Cayuse tribes in the Pacific Northwest to fish fries celebrated by formerly enslaved African Americans, from “red sauce” Italian restaurants popular with young bohemians in the East to Cantonese restaurants enjoyed by rebellious young eaters in the West, this is the true story of the many Americas—laid out bite by bite.

Review- A well written, interesting book about food and how life in America shaped it. The book starts with the beginning of people living on the American continent and moves all the way to current time. The author also invited speical guests to add in their speical knowledge about foods and the cultures that created them. The writing is good just challenging enough so that a young read will not be bored but an older like myself will still be engaged. If you have child with an interest in food this would a fun read for them.

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

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Today's post is on The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain (Light Novel) Vol. 1 by Bakufu Narayama and ebisushi (Illustrator). It is 400 pages long and is published by Airship. The cover is a very pretty illustration of the main cast. The intended reader is someone who likes fantasy romance stories with mild dark themes. There is mild foul language, discuss of sex and sex work, and mild violence in this novel. The story is told from third person mainly following Claudia.

From the back of the book- In this fantasy tale of time travel, revenge, and aristocratic intrigue, a doomed noblewoman sets out to turn the tables on those who wronged her in her past life! And don't miss the manga adaptation, also from Seven Seas!
Claudia, daughter of a duke, is tricked by her wicked half-sister and sold off to a brothel. Unwilling to accept defeat, Claudia uses the tools at her disposal and becomes one of the most successful sex workers in her new home. That’s when she dies–only to be thrust back in time to age fourteen! Gone is the gullible girl of her academy days now that she’s got street savvy and hard-won seductive skills. It’s Claudia’s turn to play the evil villainess, and there’s nothing she won’t do to protect what’s hers!

Review- An interesting story about a girl who get the chance to relive her life and make some huge changes. Claudia dies and then wakes up as her younger self. She remembers everything from her previous life and she is not going to live it again. So she begins to use what she remembers to change her standing in life from her family to the prince. It is a fun story,, nothing ground breaking but I enjoyed it. If you are looing for a starting place for the villainess type korean novel, then is a good one to try out and see if you like the genre.

I give this novel a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this novel from my local library.

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Today's post is on Ten Ways to Get Dumped by a Tyrant: Volume I by Gwijo Seo. It is 280 pages long and is published by Editio Publishing. The cover has the female lead on it with three fairies around her. The intended reader is someone who likes silly, romance fantasy stories. There is mild foul language, no sex, and mild action violence in this novel. The story is told from first person perspective of main character, Scarlett with the occasional scene from someone else's. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- The only way out of this marriage is to act crazy! When a transmigrator wakes up in the body of the fictional villainess Scarlett Arman, a few things become abundantly she is a minor character, destined to die like so many other antagonists in The Private Life of the Tyrant ; her fiancé is the tyrant (and killer), and she has been transmigrated to a time period before the story has even started. Scarlett quickly realizes that her only chance to escape death is to get out of her betrothal and get rich on her own... but how to break off an engagement with a tyrant? As Scarlett does everything that she can to show herself as unfit for marriage-from pouring wine all over her dress to singing an off-key love song to his face-little does she know that the tyrant has learned what she is up to... and is more endeared than before! Will Scarlett's wish to be dumped come true, or will all of her plans backfire? With fairy-luring fruit trees and a cast of hilarious characters, Ten Ways to Get Dumped by a Tyrant is the perfect comedy of errors to add to your isekai romance collection.

Review- A very fun novel and a good start to a series. Scarlett is from our world, she remembers dying somehow, but now she's woken up as a secondary villain in a trashy romance she was reading. But she is not going to die like the original Scarlett. The writing is fun, the characters are fun and funny, Scarlett is the best. She is not going down, so she comes up with so many plans to get him to dump her, from pouring wine on him as a magic trick or creating a song to express how much she missed him. She is so silly but so focused on not dying. I also like the male lead, he is smart, not an asshole, and very amused by the whole situation. I'm look forward to reading the next volume and seeing what trouble Scarlett causes next.

I give this novel a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this novel from my local library.

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Today's post is on What's Wrong with Secretary Kim? Vol. 3 by MyeongMi Kim (artist) and GyeongYun Jeong (Original Author). It is 240 pages long and is published by Yen Press. The cover is light green with Miso in the center. As it is the third in the series, you need to have read the first two volumes to understand the story. The intended reader is someone who likes rom-coms, office romance, and dark backstories. There is mild foul language, no sex, and no violence in this volume. The story is told form third person of the main characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the manga- Miso has her suspicions regarding the identity of the boy from her childhood.... But will she still feel the same longing for him once she uncovers the truth? Or is her heart leaning towards another?

Review- Miso meets with Youngjun's older brother and he thinks he was the one with her in her memories. But Miso thinks that there is something off about what he remembers from what she does. Youngjun is also being silly about Miso having blind dates and still going to quit. He doesn't really any antics in this volume but I think that things are going to be ramping up in the next volume. The art continues to be great and the writing is solid. I'm looking forward to reading the next volume.

I give this volume a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this manga from my local library.

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Today's nonfiction post is on Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar. It is 346 page long an is published by Penguin Press. The cover is red and white. The intended reader is someone who is interested in urban planning and modern city culture. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- An entertaining, enlightening, and utterly original investigation into one of the most quietly influential forces in modern American life—the humble parking spot.
Parking, quite literally, has a death grip on each year a handful of Americans are tragically killed by their fellow citizens over parking spots. But even when we don’t resort to violence, we routinely do ridiculous things for parking, contorting our professional, social, and financial lives to get a spot. Indeed, in the century since the advent of the car, we have deformed—and in some cases demolished—our homes and our cities in a Sisyphean quest for cheap and convenient car storage. As a result, much of the nation’s most valuable real estate is now devoted exclusively to empty and idle vehicles, even as so many Americans struggle to find affordable housing. Parking determines the design of new buildings and the fate of old ones, patterns of traffic and the viability of transit, neighborhood politics and municipal finance, the quality of public space, and even the course of floodwaters. Can this really be the best use of our finite resources and space? Why have we done this to the places we love? Is parking really more important than anything else?
These are the questions Slate staff writer Henry Grabar sets out to answer, telling a mesmerizing story about the strange and wonderful superorganism that is the modern American city. In a beguiling and often absurdly hilarious mix of history, politics, and reportage, Grabar brilliantly surveys the pain points of the nation’s parking crisis, from Los Angeles to Disney World to New York, stopping at every major American city in between. He reveals how the pathological compulsion for car storage has exacerbated some of our most acute problems—from housing affordability to the accelerating global climate disaster—ultimately, lighting the way for us to free our cities from parking’s cruel yoke.

Review- An interesting look at urban planning. Grabar comes to city planning from a place that cars are seen as too important and give very little value in return. Cities are currently planned around car ownership. But not everyone does or can own a car. Cars are expensive to own so only people who have enough money can reasonably own one. But cities are not planned with the non-car owners in mind. In fact many cities third of their space is for parking. Grabar makes a solid argument for cities to be remade with non-car owners in mind. At times the writing was a little stale but the overall point is good and interesting. I would be curious to see what he writes next.

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

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