Not Just a Tomboy ~ Caspar Baldwin

Rating: 4/5 Baldwin's memoir is the only book I've read detailing gender dysphoria and transition for a trans man. Baldwin brings up a point I hadn't considered, but that rings true in my experience: trans men are not talked about nearly as often as trans women. When I consider my experiences with media and books, …

Amina’s Voice ~ Hena Khan

Rating: 4/5 A lovely story of a young girl finding her way to singing despite her family biases. She's never been quite comfortable being front and center, and tends to avoid hanging out with the popular girls. She's had the same best friend forever, Soojin, but things are starting to change now that they're in …

An Orchestra of Minorities ~ Chigozie Obioma

Rating: 4/5 I finally got around to reading this book after it had been on my shelf for a few years. I'm not sure why I put it off. It's one of the most unique books I've read in a while. Told from the point of view of a chi, a guardian spirit, this contemporary …

Hillbilly Elegy ~ J. D. Vance

Rating: 3/5 I listened to J.D. Vance's memoir on audio. I've been doing a lot more of that since I've been stuck at home due to Covid-19. We've been puzzling, cross-stitching, doing lots of cleaning and extra chores, and hiking as much as we're able. All of these activities are great for audiobooks. I'd heard …

Normal People ~ Sally Rooney

Rating: 4/5 Listening to Normal People on audio was not what I expected. I was drawn in almost immediately by Connell and Marianne's story, and the accent of the narrator, presumably Irish as the story is set in Ireland, kept me hooked. I found chores to do in order to spend more time listening to …

Miss Iceland ~ Audur Ava Olafsdottir

Happy Book Birthday! Rating: 3/5 Written in a very different style than most books, this was a refreshing novel. I was not overly thrilled with any of the characters. I almost felt as though we were intentionally kept distant from the characters' emotions. Like the cool teenagers smoking cigarettes vibe, where they won't let you …

Red Queen ~ Victoria Aveyard

Rating: 4/5 After seeing this book everywhere, I finally decided to pick it up now that the series is either finished or significantly further along. Let me just say, I was a little shocked by how much I enjoyed the story! This is a plot based YA fantasy, heavy on the politics. There's a lot …

The Gunslinger ~ Stephen King

Rating: 3/5 Stephen King is the only author I know who would write not only and Introduction but also a Foreward for his own book. He seems to me to be obsessed with himself, and with reflecting on his own writing. However, I found both the Introduction and the Foreward to be amusing and insightful, …

Hunger ~ Roxane Gay

Rating: 5/5 Hunger is one of the most powerful books I've read. Hunger is raw, ugly, beautiful, explicit, angry, compassionate. Hunger is a book worth reading. I read Hunger at the beginning of the year, in January. My awe of Gay's openness throughout the pages continued to grow the more I read. Although this book …

School for Psychics ~ K.C. Archer

Rating: 2/5 Teddy is a bumbling twenty-something looking for ways to fix her mess-ups. She's dropped out of college, has a gambling problem, and epilepsy that seems unchecked to boot. She doesn't know what to do with herself, and trying to win big one last time at a casino she's already been kicked out of …