Saturday, January 11, 2025
Tuesday, December 31, 2024
2024 Reading Wrap Up - Ratings
★★★★★
A Nearly Normal Family - M.T. Edvardsson
Ain't Burned All the Bright - Jason Reynolds
Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Aristotle & Dante, #1) - Benjamin Alire Saenz
Barbie: The Screenplay - Greta Gerwig
Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones - Dolly Parton
Beyond the Gender Binary - Alok Vaid-Menon
Concrete Rose (The Hate U Give, #0) - Angie Thomas
Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters - Andrew Morton
Emotional Intelligence: Managing Your Anxiety - Harvard Business Review
Fantastic Beasts and Where to find Them (Fantastic Beasts, #1) - J.K. Rowling
Fantastic Beasts The Crimes of Grindelwald (Fantastic Beasts, #2) - J.K. Rowling
Fantastic Beasts The Secrets of Dumbledore (Fantastic Beasts, #3) - J.K. Rowling
From Here to the Great Unknown - Lisa Marie Presley & Riley Keough
Greenlights - Matthew McConaughey
How Ya'll Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived - Leslie Jordan *
It Ends with Us (It Ends With Us, #1) - Colleen Hoover
Karma - Boy George
Library of Souls (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #3) - Ransom Riggs
Lily and the Octopus - Steven Rowley
Lucille Bell Treasures - Cindy De La Hoz
Microjoys: Finding Hope (Especially) When Life Is Not Okay - Cyndie Spiegel
Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit - John E. Douglas & Mark Olshaker
Newtown: An American Tragedy- Matthew Lysiak
Pretty Girls - Karin Slaughter
Sociopath - Patric Gagne
Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege, and the Murdaugh Family Murders - John Glatt
Taylor Swift is Life - Kathleen Perricone
The Blood of Emmett Till - Timothy B. Tyson
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, #1) - John Boyne *
The House of Hidden Meanings - RuPaul
The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1) - Freida McFadden
The Forgotten Chapter (Blaze Collection, #3) - Pam Jenoff
The Guncle Abroad (The Guncle, #2) - Steven Rowley
The Official Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Book - Taylor Swift
The Queens' English: The LGBTQIA+ Dictionary - Chloe O. Davis
The Queens' English: The Young Readers' LGBTQIA+ Dictionary - Chloe O. Davis
The Woman In Me - Britney Spears
The Woman in the Window - A.J. Finn
The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be - Joanna Gaines *
Where Was God? - Jennifer Dawn Turpin
We Should All Be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngoni Adichie
★★★★☆
A Brilliant Life: My Mother's Inspiring True Story of Surviving the Holocaust - Rachelle Unreich
All the Missing Girls - Megan Miranda
Amelia's Shadow (Blaze Collection, #1) - Marie Benedict
Animal Farm - George Orwell
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume
August: Osage County - Tracy Letts
Barriers to Entry (Blaze Collection, #7) - Ariel Lawhon
Candace (The Fairer Sex Collection, #1) - Michelle Miller
Disney: Winnie the Pooh (Tiny Book) - Brooke Vitale
Eat Drink Nap: Bringing the House Home - Soho House
Fallen Grace (Blaze Collection, #6) - Sadeqa Johnson
for colored girls who have considered suicide - Ntozake Shange
Gray Malin: Coastal - Gray Malin
Great LGBTQ+ Speeches - Tea Uglow
GuRu - RuPaul *
If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer - O.J. Simpson
In the Lives of Puppets - TJ Kline
It Starts with Us (It Ends with Us, #2) - Colleen Hoover
Kill Joy (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #0.5) - Holly Jackson
Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris
Name Drop - Ross Mathews
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
The Answer is No - Fredrik Backman
The Art of Drag - Jake Hall
The Beast Within (Villains, #2) - Serena Valentino
The Best Girls (Disorder Collection, #1) - Min Jin Lee
The June Paintings (Blaze Collection, #2) - Maggie Shipstead
The Last Mrs. Parrish (Mrs. Parrish, #1) - Liv Constantine
The One and Only Family (The One and Only Ivan, #4) - Katherine Applegate
the princess saves herself in this one - Amanda Lovelace
The Red Bandanna: A Life. A Choice. A Legacy. - Tom Rinaldi
Two Women Walk Into a Bar - Cheryl Strayed
★★★☆☆
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Alicia (The Fairer Sex Collection, #3) - Michelle Miller
All in Good Taste - Kate Spade
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1) - Roald Dahl
Clara (The Fairer Sex Collection, #5) - Michelle Miller
Eleanor (The Fairer Sex Collection, #7) - Michelle Miller
Enemy of the People: The Untold Story of the Journalists Who Opposed Hitler - Terrence Petty
Fires to Come (Blaze Collection, #4) - Asha Lemmie
Fairest of All (Villains, #1) - Serena Valentino
Heartstopper: Volume 5 - Alice Oseman
Natural Selection - Elon Hilderbrand
Oz, the Complete Collection, Volume 3 - L. Frank Baum
Poor Unfortunate Soul (Villains, #3) - Serena Valentino
The Deal of a Lifetime - Fredrik Backman
The Life of Christine Jorgensen - Jennifer Hopkins
The Patchwork Girl of Oz (Oz, #7) - L. Frank Baum
The Raven - Edgar Allen Poe
The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler - William L. Shirer
The Scarecrow of Oz (Oz, #9) - L. Frank Baum
The Summer We Believed (Denim Days, #1) - Shel Delisle
The Texas Tower Sniper: The Terrifying True Story of Charles Whitman - Ryan Green
The World According to Mister Rogers - Fred Rogers
Tik-Tok of Oz (Oz, #8) - L. Frank Baum
Tune in Tomorrow (Blaze Collection, #5) - Melanie Benjamin
When We Were Friends - Jane Green
★★☆☆☆
Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote
Heidi (The Fairer Sex Collection, #4) - Michelle Miller
Loam (Disorder Collection, #2) - Scott Heim
Lovers at the Museum - Isabel Allende
Meredith (The Fairer Sex Collection, #2) - Michelle Miller
On Enemy Ground (The Spy Who Vanished, #2) - Alma Katsu
Shaken, Not Stirred (The Spy Who Vanished, #3) - Alma Katsu
The Vanishing Man (The Spy Who Vanished, #1) - Alma Katsu
★☆☆☆☆
Anonymous (Disorder Collection, #4) - Uzodinma Iweala
Cut & Thirst - Margaret Atwood
Hamlet - William Shakespeare
Harry Potter Spells - Prince Vincent
Keridee (The Fairer Sex Collection, #8) - Michelle Miller
Lauren (The Fairer Sex Collection, #6) - Michelle Miller
Mermaid - Jodi Picoult
The Absent-Minded Gentleman - Frank Heller
The Beckoning Fair One (Disorder Collection, #5) - Dan Chaon
Ungirls (Disorder Collection, #3) - Lauren Beaks
Will Williams (Disorder Collection, #6) - Namwali Serpell
* Books that have been read 2 times
† Books that have been read 3 times
2024 Reading Wrap Up
Here’s my 2024 Reading Wrap Up. This year I managed to read 117 books and exceeded my goal of 60 books. This is my first year to ever read over a hundred books.
“The House of Hidden Meanings” by RuPaul was the overall winner and the non-fiction winner with “Greenlights” by Matthew McConaughey coming in second. On the fiction side I had “The Guncle Abroad” by Steven Rowley as the winner with “A Nearly Normal Family” by M.T. Edvardsson coming in second.
2024 Books Read:
Non-Fiction - Memoirs:
Greenlights - Matthew McConaughey
How Ya'll Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived - Leslie Jordan *
From Here to the Great Unknown - Lisa Marie Presley & Riley Keough
Karma - Boy George
Sociopath - Patric Gagne
The House of Hidden Meanings - RuPaul
The Woman In Me - Britney Spears
Where Was God? - Jennifer Dawn Turpin
Non-Fiction - Audiobooks:
GuRu - RuPaul *
Non-Fiction - Personal Growth:
Emotional Intelligence: Managing Your Anxiety - Harvard Business Review
Microjoys: Finding Hope (Especially) When Life Is Not Okay - Cyndie Spiegel
Non-Fiction - True Crime:
If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer - O.J. Simpson
Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit - John E. Douglas & Mark Olshaker
Newtown: An American Tragedy- Matthew Lysiak
Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege, and the Murdaugh Family Murders - John Glatt
Non-Fiction - History:
A Brilliant Life: My Mother's Inspiring True Story of Surviving the Holocaust - Rachelle Unreich
Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters - Andrew Morton
Great LGBTQ+ Speeches - Tea Uglow
The Art of Drag - Jake Hall
The Blood of Emmett Till - Timothy B. Tyson
The Red Bandanna: A Life. A Choice. A Legacy. - Tom Rinaldi
The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler - William L. Shirer
Non-Fiction:
Ain't Burned All the Bright - Jason Reynolds
All in Good Taste - Kate Spade
Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones - Dolly Parton
Beyond the Gender Binary - Alok Vaid-Menon
Eat Drink Nap: Bringing the House Home - Soho House
Gray Malin: Coastal - Gray Malin
Lucille Bell Treasures - Cindy De La Hoz
Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris
Name Drop - Ross Mathews
Taylor Swift is Life - Kathleen Perricone
The Life of Christine Jorgensen - Jennifer Hopkins
The Official Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Book - Taylor Swift
The Queens' English: The LGBTQIA+ Dictionary - Chloe O. Davis
The Queens' English: The Young Readers' LGBTQIA+ Dictionary - Chloe O. Davis
The World According to Mister Rogers - Fred Rogers
Fiction:
A Nearly Normal Family - M.T. Edvardsson
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
All the Missing Girls - Megan Miranda
Animal Farm - George Orwell
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume
August: Osage County - Tracy Letts
Barbie: The Screenplay - Greta Gerwig
Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote
for colored girls who have considered suicide - Ntozake Shange
Hamlet - William Shakespeare
In the Lives of Puppets - TJ Kline
Lily and the Octopus - Steven Rowley
Pretty Girls - Karin Slaughter
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
The Woman in the Window - A.J. Finn
Fiction - Series:
Kill Joy (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #0.5) - Holly Jackson
Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Aristotle & Dante, #1) - Benjamin Alire Saenz
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, #1) - John Boyne *
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1) - Roald Dahl
Fantastic Beasts and Where to find Them (Fantastic Beasts, #1) - J.K. Rowling
Fantastic Beasts The Crimes of Grindelwald (Fantastic Beasts, #2) - J.K. Rowling
Fantastic Beasts The Secrets of Dumbledore (Fantastic Beasts, #3) - J.K. Rowling
The Guncle Abroad (The Guncle, #2) - Steven Rowley
Heartstopper: Volume 5 - Alice Oseman
The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1) - Freida McFadden
It Ends with Us (It Ends with Us, #1) - Colleen Hoover
It Starts with Us (It Ends with Us, #2) - Colleen Hoover
Library of Souls (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #3) - Ransom Riggs
The Last Mrs. Parrish (Mrs. Parrish, #1) - Liv Constantine
Oz, the Complete Collection, Volume 3 - L. Frank Baum
The Patchwork Girl of Oz (Oz, #7) - L. Frank Baum
Tik-Tok of Oz (Oz, #8) - L. Frank Baum
The Scarecrow of Oz (Oz, #9) - L. Frank Baum
Concrete Rose (The Hate U Give, #0) - Angie Thomas
The One and Only Family (The One and Only Ivan, #4) - Katherine Applegate
Fairest of All (Villains, #1) - Serena Valentino
The Beast Within (Villains, #2) - Serena Valentino
Poor Unfortunate Soul (Villains, #3) - Serena Valentino
Poetry:
the princess saves herself in this one - Amanda Lovelace
Short Stories - Fiction:
Cut & Thirst - Margaret Atwood
Harry Potter Spells - Prince Vincent
Lovers at the Museum - Isabel Allende
Mermaid - Jodi Picoult
Natural Selection - Elon Hilderbrand
The Absent-Minded Gentleman - Frank Heller
The Answer is No - Fredrik Backman
The Deal of a Lifetime - Fredrik Backman
The Raven - Edgar Allen Poe
When We Were Friends - Jane Green
Short Stories - Non Fiction:
Enemy of the People: The Untold Story of the Journalists Who Opposed Hitler - Terrence Petty
The Texas Tower Sniper: The Terrifying True Story of Charles Whitman - Ryan Green
Two Women Walk Into a Bar - Cheryl Strayed
We Should All Be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngoni Adichie
Short Stories - Series:
Amelia's Shadow (Blaze Collection, #1) - Marie Benedict
The June Paintings (Blaze Collection, #2) - Maggie Shipstead
The Forgotten Chapter (Blaze Collection, #3) - Pam Jenoff
Fires to Come (Blaze Collection, #4) - Asha Lemmie
Tune in Tomorrow (Blaze Collection, #5) - Melanie Benjamin
Fallen Grace (Blaze Collection, #6) - Sadeqa Johnson
Barriers to Entry (Blaze Collection, #7) - Ariel Lawhon
The Summer We Believed (Denim Days, #1) - Shel Delisle
The Best Girls (Disorder Collection, #1) - Min Jin Lee
Loam (Disorder Collection, #2) - Scott Heim
Ungirls (Disorder Collection, #3) - Lauren Beaks
Anonymous (Disorder Collection, #4) - Uzodinma Iweala
The Beckoning Fair One (Disorder Collection, #5) - Dan Chaon
Will Williams (Disorder Collection, #6) - Namwali Serpell
Candace (The Fairer Sex Collection, #1) - Michelle Miller
Meredith (The Fairer Sex Collection, #2) - Michelle Miller
Alicia (The Fairer Sex Collection, #3) - Michelle Miller
Heidi (The Fairer Sex Collection, #4) - Michelle Miller
Clara (The Fairer Sex Collection, #5) - Michelle Miller
Lauren (The Fairer Sex Collection, #6) - Michelle Miller
Eleanor (The Fairer Sex Collection, #7) - Michelle Miller
Keridee (The Fairer Sex Collection, #8) - Michelle Miller
The Vanishing Man (The Spy Who Vanished, #1) - Alma Katsu
On Enemy Ground (The Spy Who Vanished, #2) - Alma Katsu
Shaken, Not Stirred (The Spy Who Vanished, #3) - Alma Katsu
Children's Books:
Disney: Winnie the Pooh (Tiny Book) - Brooke Vitale
The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be - Joanna Gaines *
* Books that have been read 2 times
† Books that have been read 3 times
Goodreads Review - "From Here to the Great Unknown"
From Here to the Great Unknown by Lisa Marie PresleyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book was so good and beautifully written. This was definitely a 5-star read for me. I’ve included my three favorite parts of the book. The first two are Lisa-Marie’s words and the last is Riley’s from a letter to her mom that was read at her funeral.
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AT SOME POINT I HAD A BRIGHT IDEA. THE FANS OUTSIDE ALWAYS WANTED ME TO TAKE THEIR CAMERA AND TAKE A PICTURE OF MY DAD. "GIVE ME TWENTY BUCKS, AND I'LL TAKE A PICTURE OF HIM," I'D SAY TO THE UBER FANS BY THE FENCE.
SURE ENOUGH, THEY WOULD GIVE ME TWENTY DOLLARS, THEN I WOULD GO INTO THE HOUSE AND TAKE A PICTURE OF THE FLOOR. I'D GIVE THE CAMERA BACK AND SAY, "HERE'S A PICTURE OF THE DOOR AND THE FLOOR." I STARTED DOING THAT REGULARLY.
- Lisa-Marie Presley
——————————————————————————————
I DON'T THINK MY SPARK WILL EVER COME BACK, TO BE PERFECTLY HONEST.
GRIEF SETTLES. IT'S NOT SOMETHING YOU OVERCOME. IT'S SOMETHING THAT YOU LIVE WITH. YOU ADAPT TO IT. NOTHING ABOUT YOU IS WHO YOU WERE. NOTHING ABOUT HOW OR WHAT I USED TO THINK IS IMPORTANT. THE TRUTH IS THAT I DON'T REMEMBER WHO I WAS.
- Lisa-Marie Presley
——————————————————————————————
THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME STRENGTH, MY HEART, MY EMPATHY, MY COURAGE, MY SENSE OF HUMOR, MY MANNERS, MY TEMPER, MY WILDNESS, MY TENACITY. I AM A PRODUCT OF YOUR HEART. MY SISTERS ARE A PRODUCT OF YOUR HEART. MY BROTHER IS A PRODUCT OF YOUR HEART. WE ARE YOU, YOU ARE US, MY ETERNAL LOVE. I HOPE YOU FINALLY KNOW HOW LOVED YOU WERE HERE. THANK YOU FOR TRYING SO HARD FOR US. IF I DIDN'T TELL YOU EVERY DAY, THANK YOU.
- Riley Keough (from a letter to her mom that was read at her funeral)
View all my reviews
Date Read: 26 Oct - 5 Nov 2024
Sunday, December 15, 2024
Goodreads Review - "Oz, Complete Collection, Volume 3"
Oz, the Complete Collection, Volume 3: The Patchwork Girl of Oz / Tik-Tok of Oz / The Scarecrow of Oz by L. Frank BaumMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Patchwork Girl of Oz (3 stars)
Another new adventure in the land of Oz. It was good but not too exciting. More characters were introduced. How the patchwork girl was created was very creative. On to the next adventure.
Tik-Tok of Oz (3 stars)
Each adventure is exciting to read with new and creative characters and places in the Land of Oz but this one was a bit boring for me. I'm still not sure why this was labeled after "Tik-Tok" because we barely got to see Tik-Tok and when we did, he didn't really do much but that's just my opinion. This review won't stop me from finishing the series because there are a lot of creative stories, characters, and places that I'm excited to see more of.
The Scarecrow of Oz (3 stars)
I love the fact that two new characters appeared from another one of L. Frank Baum's book outside of the Oz collection. The book is titled after the Scarecrow but he doesn't appear until the last half of the book. This books was okay but not one of my favorites. It's important to note that one of the chapter's title has the "m" word when referring to little people so it may be triggering for some.
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Date Read: 19 Apr - 15 Dec 2024
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Goodreads Review - "The Texas Tower Sniper"
The Texas Tower Sniper: The Terrifying True Story of Charles Whitman by Ryan GreenMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
History that’s worth learning about…
I read this book in order to understand more about the shooting and the shooter.
I’m a bit disappointed in how the author filled in the story with information that would be impossible to know. He wrote a lot about what the shooter and the victims (those that died) were thinking during the shooting. How could he possibly know what Charlie’s mother was thinking when he got to the house to kill her. I understand that Charlie wrote a lot about what happened to him but he didn’t write about any of it during the shooting and neither did the victims that died.
It’s a book worth reading to get information on what happened so I would still recommend the book.
View all my reviews
Date Read: 12 - 23 Sep 2024
Saturday, July 27, 2024
Goodreads Reviews - "A Mother's Reckoning"
A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue KleboldMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I actually read this book back in 2017 and forgot to add my review to Goodreads. This book was amazing and insightful, to say the least. I encourage anyone who ever faulted the parents of the Columbine shooting, to pick up this book with an open mind and read it. To anyone who has lost a child to suicide, read this book.
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I'll never forget that summer after the shooting in 1999 when our youth group stood outside of the school to pray.
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"The best way to eliminate the belief that people with mental illness issues are violent is to help them so that they're not violent" --Dr. Kent Kiehl
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Date Read: 26 Feb - 26 Aug 2017
Thursday, February 29, 2024
Goodreads Reviews - "Lucille Ball Treasures"
Lucille Ball Treasures by Cindy De La HozMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I grew up watching I Love Lucy and still love the show and Lucy to this day. This book was so lovely. The pictures in the book were so beautiful and the size of the book is perfect for using as a decoration piece on a coffee table.
The only minor issue I had with the book (which did not affect the overall rating) was on pg. 77 when it mentions Desi's military service. It inaccurately states that "...in May 1943, when Desi was drafted. He joined the Air Force and entered..." The Air Force was not created until September 1947 and Desi was released from the military in November 1945 (pg. 81 was correct when it said "Army") so it's not possible for him to have served in the Air Force. It's also somewhat obvious in the picture (pg. 77) that his uniform is an Army uniform by the rank he was wearing, if you're familiar with the military.
My favorite picture in the entire book is on pg. 97. It's just so beautiful! If you grab the physical copy, you get a collection of reprinted memorabilia in the back of the book to keep that includes photographs, movie and modeling advertisements, film stills, and more.
View all my reviews
Date Read: 13 - 18 Feb 2024
Saturday, January 13, 2024
Goodreads Review - "It Ends with Us" (It Ends with Us, #1)
It Ends with Us by Colleen HooverMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I wasn’t sure if I would like this book because I have been disappointed before when so many people hype up a book but not this time. Some parts were very hard to read but it had to be in there because people need to hear the raw and dark reality of domestic violence and what it can entail.
I always wonder where the naming of the book comes from while reading and when I finally read it, I loved the title even more.
“Cycles exist because they are excruciating to break. It takes an astronomical amount of pain and courage to disrupt a familiar pattern. Sometimes it seems easier to just keep running in the same familiar circles, rather than facing the fear of jumping and possibly not landing on your feet. It Ends With Us.”
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Date Read: 5 - 13 Jan 2024
Friday, January 5, 2024
Goodreads Review - "The Guncle" (The Guncle, #1)
The Guncle by Steven RowleyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I love seeing more and more books with LGBTQ+ storylines because representation matters and I wish I would have seen more of these when I was a child.
When I read books I like to put a face to the person that I'm reading about. If it's already on the screen, then I look up the actors/actresses on iMDB. If it's not on screen yet, I just figure out which person would play the part if it did become one.
I just could not help myself while I was reading this novel. I was able to figure out who Patrick (the guncle) was from the very beginning because Steven Rowley did such a good job with it. I figured out exactly who would be perfect for this role and that's Dan Levy. I kept thinking that Patrick's character was somewhat close to David's character on Schitt's Creek. By doing this, I fell in love with the book even more.
If they make this a movie, I really hope it's Dan Levy as Patrick!! I can't wait for the next book in this series, The Guncle Abroad.
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Date Read: 13 - 17 Jul 2024
Tuesday, January 2, 2024
Goodreads Review - "The Winners" (Beartown, #3)
The Winners by Fredrik BackmanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Great ending to an amazing series!!! I would still rank Us Against You as my favorite of the series. This is my favorite quote from the book.
“All children are victims of their parents' childhoods, because all adults try to give their kids what they themselves enjoyed or lacked. In the end everything is either a revolt against the adults we encountered or an attempt to copy them. That's why someone who hated their own childhood often has greater empathy than someone who loved theirs. Because someone who had a hard time dreamed of other realities, but someone who had it easy can hardly imagine that things could be any different. We take happiness so easily for granted if we've had it from the start.” - Pg. 461 (paperback)
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Date Read: 12 Sep - 1 Nov 2023
Monday, January 1, 2024
2023 Reading Wrap Up - Ratings
★★★★★
Acres - Kendra Barnes
And Still I Rise - Maya Angelou
As Good as Dead (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #3) - Holly Jackson
A Place for Us: A Memoir - Brandon J. Wolf
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #1) - Holly Jackson
Carrie Soto Is Back - Taylor Jenkins Reid
Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion & Death in the Suburbs - John Bloom & Jim Atkinson
Good Girl, Bad Blood (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #2) - Holly Jackson
Heartstopper: Volume 2 - Alice Oseman
Heartstopper: Volume 3 - Alice Oseman
Home Body - Rupi Kaur
How Ya'll Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived - Leslie Jordan
I Have a Dream - Martin Luther King Jr.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
I Snoop On My Anxiety - Melissa Winn
Milk & Honey - Rupi Kaur
Odder - Katherine Applegate
Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Reminders of Him - Colleen Hoover
Spare - Prince Harry
The Diary of a Young Girl, 75th Anniversary Edition - Anne Frank *
The Guncle - Steven Rowley
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country - Amanda Gorman
The House in the Cerulean Sea - T.J. Kline
The Last Thing He Told Me - Laura Dave
The Lightmaker's Manifesto: How to Work for Change without Losing Your Joy - Karen Walrond
The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories - Marina Keegan
The Perfect Father: The True Story of Chris Watts, His All-American Family, and a Shocking Murder
The Sun and Her Flowers - Rupi Kaur *
The Winners (Beartown, #3) - Fredrik Backman
Touching History: The Untold Story of the Drama that Unfolded in the Skies Over America on 9/11 - Lynn Spencer
Under the Whispering Door - T.J. Kline
Walking in My Joy: In These Streets - Jenifer Lewis
What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love - Carole Radziwill †
★★★★☆
A Night at the Tropicana - Chanel Cleeton
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games, #0) - Suzanne Collins
Call Us What We Carry - Amanda Gorman
The Color Purple - Alice Walker
Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics - Dolly Parton
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (Oz, #4) - L. Frank Baum
Heartstopper: Volume 1 - Alice Oseman
Heartstopper: Volume 4 - Alice Oseman
Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide (Pottermore Presents, #3) - J.K. Rowling
I Am Not Your Negro - James Baldwin
I've Loved You Since Forever - Hoda Kotb
Identity Thief (This Can't Be Happening Collection, #2) - Rachel Rosenthal
Oz, the Complete Collection, Volume 2 - L. Frank Baum
Please Love Me at My Worst - Michaela Angemeer
salt. - Nayyirah Waheed
Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies (Pottermore Presents, #1) - J.K. Rowling
Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists (Pottermore Presents, #2) - J.K. Rowling
Straw into Gold: A Rumpelstiltskin Faerie Tale Retelling - Carol Beth Anderson
The Emerald City of Oz (Oz, #6) - L. Frank Baum
The Road to Oz (Oz, #5) - L. Frank Baum
The Sour Grape (The Food Group, #6) - Jory John & Pete Oswald
The Third Man (This Can't Be Happening Collection, #3) - Mani Sheriar
The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides *
Trayvon: Ten Years Later - Sybrina Fulton
Uncaged Wallflower - Jennae Cecelia
★★★☆☆
Black Sheep (This Can't Be Happening Collection, #4) - Rory School
Butcher, Baker: The True Account of an Alaska Serial Killer - Walter Gilmour
Everything My Mother Taught Me (Inheritance, #1) - Alice Hoffman
fluid. - Renaada Williams
For You and Only You (You, #4) - Caroline Keynes
healing for no one but me - Jennae Cecelia
If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, & the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood - Gregg Olsen
Leap to Love (International Sports Romance, #0.5) - Johana Gavez
Resting Scrooge Face - Meghan Quinn
Stupid History: A Collection of Stupidity, Strangeness, and Mythconceptions Through the Ages - Leland Gregory & John Mitchinson
Sutherland Springs: God, Guns, and Hope in a Texas Town - Joe Holley
The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison
The Book of General Ignorance - John Lloyd
The Bookstore Sisters - Alice Hoffman
The Flower That Went Mad: Bipolar Poetry - Yogesh Chandra
The One and Only Ruby (The One and Only Ivan, #3) - Katherine Applegate
The Rise: A Short Story - Ian Rankin
The Scenic Route - Christina Baker Kline
The Smart Cookie (The Food Group, #5) - Jory John & Pete Oswald
Two Henrys (This Can't Be Happening Collection, #1) - Kevin Allison
you are safe here. - AVA.
You'll Come Back to Yourself - Michaela Angemeer
★★☆☆☆
2am Thoughts - Makenzie Campbell
A Light in the Attic - Shel Silverstein
If the Fates Allow - Rainbow Rowell
Innocent (Pen Pals and Serial Killers, #5) - Jo Michaels
The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams
★☆☆☆☆
Falling Up - Shel Silverstein
Frozen - Ann Sleeves
Model Home - J. Courtney Sullivan
* Books that have been read 2 times
† Books that have been read 3 times
Sunday, December 31, 2023
2023 Reading Wrap Up
Here's my 2023 Reading Wrap Up. This year I managed to read 90 books and exceeded my goal of 50 books. I surprised myself when I realized that I read more non-fiction books this year than fiction. I did make a goal to read more non-fiction, but didn't expect that I would have read more of them than fiction.
I also decided this year to participate in the book bracket challenge but I thought it would be interesting to split it up between non-fiction and fiction as well as the overall.
"The Lightmaker's Manifesto" by Karen Walrond was the overall winner and the non-fiction winner with "The Diary of Anne Frank - 75th Anniversary Edition" coming in second. On the fiction side I had "The Good Girl's Guide to Murder" by Holly Jackson as the winner with "The House in the Cerulean Sea" by T.J. Kline coming in second.
2023 Books Read:
Non-Fiction - Memoirs:
A Place for Us: A Memoir - Brandon J. Wolf
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
Spare - Prince Harry
The Diary of a Young Girl, 75th Anniversary Edition - Anne Frank *
The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories - Marina Keegan
Walking in My Joy: In These Streets - Jenifer Lewis
Non-Fiction - Audiobooks:
How Ya'll Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived - Leslie Jordan
What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love - Carole Radziwill †
Non-Fiction - Personal Growth:
Acres - Kendra Barnes
The Lightmaker's Manifesto: How to Work for Change without Losing Your Joy - Karen Walrond
Non-Fiction - True Crime:
Butcher, Baker: The True Account of an Alaska Serial Killer - Walter Gilmour
Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion & Death in the Suburbs - John Bloom & Jim Atkinson
If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, & the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood - Gregg Olsen
Sutherland Springs: God, Guns, and Hope in a Texas Town - Joe Holley
The Perfect Father: The True Story of Chris Watts, His All-American Family, and a Shocking Murder
Non-Fiction - History:
I Am Not Your Negro - James Baldwin
I Have a Dream - Martin Luther King Jr.
Stupid History: A Collection of Stupidity, Strangeness, and Mythconceptions Through the Ages - Leland Gregory & John Mitchinson
The Book of General Ignorance - John Lloyd
Touching History: The Untold Story of the Drama that Unfolded in the Skies Over America on 9/11 - Lynn Spencer
Non-Fiction:
Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics - Dolly Parton
Fiction:
Carrie Soto Is Back - Taylor Jenkins Reid
Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Reminders of Him - Colleen Hoover
The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison
The Color Purple - Alice Walker
The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams
The Guncle - Steven Rowley
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
The House in the Cerulean Sea - T.J. Kline
The Last Thing He Told Me - Laura Dave
The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides *
Under the Whispering Door - T.J. Kline
Fiction - Series:
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #1) - Holly Jackson
Good Girl, Bad Blood (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #2) - Holly Jackson
As Good as Dead (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #3) - Holly Jackson
Oz, the Complete Collection, Volume 2 - L. Frank Baum
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (Oz, #4) - L. Frank Baum
The Road to Oz (Oz, #5) - L. Frank Baum
The Emerald City of Oz (Oz, #6) - L. Frank Baum
Heartstopper: Volume 1 - Alice Oseman
Heartstopper: Volume 2 - Alice Oseman
Heartstopper: Volume 3 - Alice Oseman
Heartstopper: Volume 4 - Alice Oseman
For You and Only You (You, #4) - Caroline Keynes
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games, #0) - Suzanne Collins
The One and Only Ruby (The One and Only Ivan, #3) - Katherine Applegate
The Winners (Beartown, #3) - Fredrik Backman
Poetry:
2am Thoughts - Makenzie Campbell
Call Us What We Carry - Amanda Gorman
And Still I Rise - Maya Angelou
fluid. - Renaada Williams
healing for no one but me - Jennae Cecelia
Home Body - Rupi Kaur
Milk & Honey - Rupi Kaur
Please Love Me at My Worst - Michaela Angemeer
salt. - Nayyirah Waheed
The Flower That Went Mad: Bipolar Poetry - Yogesh Chandra
The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country - Amanda Gorman
The Sun and Her Flowers - Rupi Kaur *
Uncaged Wallflower - Jennae Cecelia
you are safe here. - AVA.
You'll Come Back to Yourself - Michaela Angemeer
Short Stories:
A Night at the Tropicana - Chanel Cleeton
Frozen - Ann Sleeves
If the Fates Allow - Rainbow Rowell
Model Home - J. Courtney Sullivan
Resting Scrooge Face - Meghan Quinn
Straw into Gold: A Rumpelstiltskin Faerie Tale Retelling - Carol Beth Anderson
The Bookstore Sisters - Alice Hoffman
The Rise: A Short Story - Ian Rankin
The Scenic Route - Christina Baker Kline
Trayvon: Ten Years Later - Sybrina Fulton
Short Stories - Series:
Two Henrys (This Can't Be Happening Collection, #1) - Kevin Allison
Identity Thief (This Can't Be Happening Collection, #2) - Rachel Rosenthal
The Third Man (This Can't Be Happening Collection, #3) - Mani Sheriar
Black Sheep (This Can't Be Happening Collection, #4) - Rory School
Everything My Mother Taught Me (Inheritance, #1) - Alice Hoffman
Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies (Pottermore Presents, #1) - J.K. Rowling
Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists (Pottermore Presents, #2) - J.K. Rowling
Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide (Pottermore Presents, #3) - J.K. Rowling
Innocent (Pen Pals and Serial Killers, #5) - Jo Michaels
Leap to Love (International Sports Romance, #0.5) - Johana Gavez
Children's Books:
A Light in the Attic - Shel Silverstein
Falling Up - Shel Silverstein
I Snoop On My Anxiety - Melissa Winn
I've Loved You Since Forever - Hoda Kotb
Odder - Katherine Applegate
The Smart Cookie (The Food Group, #5) - Jory John & Pete Oswald
The Sour Grape (The Food Group, #6) - Jory John & Pete Oswald
* Books that have been read 2 times
† Books that have been read 3 times
Checkout the link below to view all the books I read in 2023 and feel free to add me as a friend:
Monday, October 9, 2023
Goodreads Review - "Reminders of Him"
Reminders of Him by Colleen HooverMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
My first CoHo book and it did not disappoint. Very beautiful story!
View all my reviews
Date Read: 18 Apr - 14 Jun 2023
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