You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle
Publication Date - April 7, 2020
4.5 stars
Nicholas and Naomi are getting ready to get married but by this point they are both just phoning it in. Naomi decides she really wants out of the engagement but doesn't want to be stuck with all the bills so she tries to force Nicholas to be the one to cancel. What follows is sometimes hysterical, sometimes zany and ultimately very sweet. This is being compared to The Hating Game, which I also loved, and I have to agree with the comparison. I am not always on board for contemporary romances but this is one I thoroughly enjoyed. I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Gritty Tale of Texan Women
Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore
Publication Date - March 31, 2020
4 stars
This novel follows a group of women and girls living in 1970's Odessa, Texas during the years of oil boom after a horrific rape and assault of a young teenager upends their life. Definitely gritty and disturbing, the character that stands out the most in this novel is Odessa and west Texas itself. Beautifully described, while I have never been to that area of the U.S., I feel as though I can imagine it vividly how it was in the seventies. I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Publication Date - March 31, 2020
4 stars
This novel follows a group of women and girls living in 1970's Odessa, Texas during the years of oil boom after a horrific rape and assault of a young teenager upends their life. Definitely gritty and disturbing, the character that stands out the most in this novel is Odessa and west Texas itself. Beautifully described, while I have never been to that area of the U.S., I feel as though I can imagine it vividly how it was in the seventies. I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Existential Risk
The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity by Toby Ord
Publication Date - March 24, 2020
4 stars
What is existential risk and what is our moral obligation to generations of humans in the future of the world? These are the types of questions posed by this book. The author points out that most of humanity is in the future, as a species we are still young, but we currently have the ability to wipe out every living human in existence. I have read a lot of end of the world books (too many, to be honest) but this is probably the most philosophical look at the decisions that we make now and have made in the past. At times, this whole book felt like a long introductory chapter but I did find myself highlighting many questions that I just hadn't considered before. There are snippets of this book that I wrote down and will continue to ponder. I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Publication Date - March 24, 2020
4 stars
What is existential risk and what is our moral obligation to generations of humans in the future of the world? These are the types of questions posed by this book. The author points out that most of humanity is in the future, as a species we are still young, but we currently have the ability to wipe out every living human in existence. I have read a lot of end of the world books (too many, to be honest) but this is probably the most philosophical look at the decisions that we make now and have made in the past. At times, this whole book felt like a long introductory chapter but I did find myself highlighting many questions that I just hadn't considered before. There are snippets of this book that I wrote down and will continue to ponder. I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Character Inspiration
Atticus Finch by Joseph Crespino
4 stars
This book is an interesting look at how Harper Lee's father, A.C. Lee, inspired the character of Atticus Finch. Her father was in some ways a typical Southern gentleman from the early 1900's, but he also had a strong sense of justice that is similar to how she wrote Atticus Finch. I thought this brief book was interesting and a good examination of How to Kill a Mockingbird. I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
4 stars
This book is an interesting look at how Harper Lee's father, A.C. Lee, inspired the character of Atticus Finch. Her father was in some ways a typical Southern gentleman from the early 1900's, but he also had a strong sense of justice that is similar to how she wrote Atticus Finch. I thought this brief book was interesting and a good examination of How to Kill a Mockingbird. I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
A Career in West Africa
In Pursuit of Disobedient Women: A Memoir of Love, Rebellion, and Family, Far Away
by Dionne Searcey
Publication Date - March 10, 2020
4 stars
Searcey, a New York Times journalist, and her husband were living a frantic dual-career life when she decided to uproot them all and take a West African post. Moving into Senegal is itself a jolting experience but she also traveled widely as she covered war-torn areas and traumatized people. As she did this, she understood that her husband was pushing pause on his own career and the resentment that this sometimes caused. This is a fascinating and well written memoir with heartbreaking stories about the toll, especially on women, of civil war. It also examines how women persevere against seemingly impossible ordeals. I could have listened to her stories of West Africa for many more pages but I think that her own marital exploration was a bit weaker. Overall, though, this is a book that I highly recommend. I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
by Dionne Searcey
Publication Date - March 10, 2020
4 stars
Searcey, a New York Times journalist, and her husband were living a frantic dual-career life when she decided to uproot them all and take a West African post. Moving into Senegal is itself a jolting experience but she also traveled widely as she covered war-torn areas and traumatized people. As she did this, she understood that her husband was pushing pause on his own career and the resentment that this sometimes caused. This is a fascinating and well written memoir with heartbreaking stories about the toll, especially on women, of civil war. It also examines how women persevere against seemingly impossible ordeals. I could have listened to her stories of West Africa for many more pages but I think that her own marital exploration was a bit weaker. Overall, though, this is a book that I highly recommend. I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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