alltheradreads's Reviews (1.9k)

A fellow foodie friend recommended this one to me, and I really enjoyed it. It's less about food specifically (although there are recipes scattered throughout that made me really wish I didn't have food allergies...) and more about Molly and her husband's journey to opening their restaurant, and I loved following the whole thing. There's so much about the restaurant and food world that just fascinates me (like how the heck do you know how much food to have/cook/prepare for a night at a restaurant?! how can you possibly predict all of that?!) and this was a great behind-the-scenes look at one restaurant told in a really warm, inviting, fun way. If you're at all into pizza or the food world or just well told personal stories, grab this one! I can't wait to read more from Wizenberg.

I couldn't put this one down (and I was on a beautiful beach with the ocean beckoning me, so that's saying something!) and was so engrossed in the characters and how all of their lives (white and black, free and slave) blurred and intertwined. This is a must-read, a powerful and beautifully written work of fiction that feels SO realistic and representative of the mess of our country in years past. Can't recommend this one enough.

I've had this one on my shelf for AGES and just have never grabbed it, so I figured it was time! I haven't read any historical fiction in a little bit, so I was ready to dive in again. This one focuses on Hemingway's wife, and I always find that time period and that whole crew of authors (like the Fitzgeralds and Ezra Pound and others) fascinating. The plot of this one seemed to move pretty slowly to me, and I wasn't terribly excited about continuing to read it. I kept hoping for more action, and the only things that really piqued my interest where the few little inserts from Ernest's perspective, exposing more of his character and his secret actions... but then it was just frustration that I felt toward him and their relationship. I wanted to really love this one, but just didn't think the plot drove strongly or interestingly enough for me to really get into it.

I am a major fan of Krista Tippett and her podcast On Being, so when this book came out, I was quick to grab it. It was mainly segments of all the incredible conversations she's had with brilliant people through that show, but with additional writing and thoughts and wisdom shared. Many of the excerpts included in this book were ones I had heard on the podcast, which wasn't a bad thing, but it wasn't entirely new content like I think I was expecting. Tippett is just one of those stunningly wise and captivating communicators, and I always am so drawn into her way of thinking and her way of asking deep and meaningful questions of her conversation partners. This book is rich and it's refreshing and it illuminates so much of the beauty of life. Highly recommend you either listen to her podcast or grab this book, but you probably don't need to do both unless you're a mega fan like I am.

I snagged this one before its release date thanks to all the books we get delivered at work, and I plowed through it one evening after the kiddos I was watching went to sleep. If you're an Emily Ley fan, a mama, someone who has a dream that you're hustling after while trying to find a balance in life, you'll love this one. It didn't really resonate much with me overall, but it sounded exactly like Emily (I follow her on social media and read her posts a lot) and was really a fun book, super feminine in its preppy design, with great nuggets of truth for women everywhere. I'm already going to pass this on to a friend who I know will love it!

I read this one as part of the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2016 (it was my choice for "A non-superhero comic that debuted in the last three years") and I never, ever, ever would have picked it up otherwise. It was a middle-grade comic book telling the story of a girl who gets into roller derby, and I read it in approximately 25 minutes after I grabbed it at the library. It's definitely a fun little book, but I'm not a fan of comic books, I prefer real depth in the things I read (this wasn't that by any stretch of the imagination), and I just didn't really love the storyline or the main character. For what it's worth though, I'm glad for the nudge to get totally out of my normal reading genres and grab a comic book!

This was another one that I read for the Read Harder Challenge (my choice for "A book with a main character that has a mental illness") and again, I'm glad for the nudge to get out of my comfort zone. This, too, was aimed at a younger audience and told the story of both the reality of high school boy Caden and the inner thoughts/imaginary life he wrestled with and was stuck in. It's a really interesting glimpse into how wild our minds can be, and how conflicting our emotions and feelings can be with what's really true. I found the story to be frustrating at times (it was hard for me to follow or connect with all of the imaginary things in his mind) but I was also really intrigued by putting myself in his shoes and mind completely throughout this book. It seemed to end really abruptly and in a way that didn't tie anything up for me which I wasn't a fan of, so it really was just okay in my opinion.