booklistqueen's Reviews (634)

 When running a business, it can seem impossible to decide which of your numerous problems to tackle first. Mike Michalowicz, the author of Profit First, demonstrates a simple system to help you prioritize your business's needs inspired by Maslov's hierarchy of needs.

Although I loved Profit First and use it in my business, I was skeptical of Fix This Next. Listening to the audiobook, I was underwhelmed by his newest business strategy and thought it sounded like cliche managerial nonsense. Then I actually sat down to implement it, and I was blown away. It showed some glaring holes I should fix first before I go on to my next big steps. 

Harvard sociologist Matthew Desmond tells the true stories of eight families from the poorest neighborhoods of Milwaukee. All of these families are barely scraping by, having had to spend almost all of their earnings on rent alone. Each frequently faces eviction and an unknown future, causing a cycle with far-reaching consequences that is nearly impossible to break. Based on years of fieldwork, Evicted is a piercing examination at extreme poverty and eviction in America today. 

Grieving from the recent death of her nonverbal autistic son, Olivia retreats to a Nantucket beach to take stock of her life. On Nantucket, stay-at-home mom Beth is rocked to discover her husband's infidelity. As Beth tries to find herself again, she begins to write a story about a boy with autism, a boy who seems a lot like Olivia's son. A sweet, albeit sappy story, Love Anthony does an excellent job portraying autism from lots of different angles yet doesn't exactly wow with its character development. 

 Jason Mott's contemporary novel showcases two parallel storylines. In the first, an unnamed Black author sets out on a publicity tour of his latest book. During the tour, he keeps encountering the Kid, a possibly imaginary child. Along with this story, Mott interweaves the tale of Soot, a young Black boy with extremely dark skin facing injustices in the rural South. As the plot converges, Hell of a Book looks at the costs of racism in America.

Hell of a Book is a unique book that falls between literary fiction and satire. The author who serves as the protagonist is full of frenetic energy and an unreliable memory and would fit in perfectly with the madcap characters of Catch-22. Mott's creative narrative keeps you unbalanced, a conversation-provoking study of what it means to be Black in America. All I can say is that Hell of a Book is a work of art you must experience for yourself. 

 After her mom dies and her boyfriend dumps her, Hannah Brooks is desperate to avoid her mess of a life and sink into work as an Executive Protection Agent, a bodyguard to wealthy corporate clients. In walks her next assignment, reclusive superstar actor Jack Stapleton who needs protection from a middle-aged stalker while visiting his sick mother. The catch: Jack wants Hannah to pretend to be his girlfriend so his family won't know. Now Hannah must act the part, and decide whether Jack's just a really good actor or if the connection they seem to share is real.

I rarely read romances, but I am all over Katherine Center's love stories, especially since they aren't steamy at all. Don't expect quality literature here, but a cute engaging contemporary romance that won't make you think too much, but has the feel-good happily-ever-after ending you crave. I liked how Center flips the script, making Hannah the protector of the male protagonist. If you want a light easy rom-com without steamy sex scenes, The Bodyguard will be the perfect summer read for you.

 Peach Blossom Spring is a family saga that follows 70 years of the Dao family. After a life as a refugee, first from the Japanese Army and then from the Civil War, Renshu Dao and his mother Meilin eventually end up in Taiwan. When Renshu attends graduate school in America, he reinvents himself as Henry and refuses to talk about his childhood or heritage to his American wife or daughter.

Loosely based on the life of Melissa Fu's father, Peach Blossom Spring does an excellent job guiding you through modern Chinese history. Although the story was interesting, the telling left something to be desired. The writing style was stiff and the characters are emotionally distant; you are told what happens to them but never able to experience what they are feeling. 

 On New Year's Eve 1999, five teenagers working the night shift at a Blockbuster in New Jersey are attacked, with only one survivor. Police quickly identify a local teenage boy as a suspect, but he disappears before they can arrest him. Fifteen years later, it happens again at an ice cream store. Now FBI Agent Sarah Keller must investigate both incidents, looking for a connection, while stirring up memories for the first survivor and the brother of the accused, who has always proclaimed his brother's innocence.

The Night Shift has a tightly woven plot so all the characters are heavily interwoven. This interconnection allowed for plenty of twists and red herrings, but also made it so I guessed the ending. Yet, the story was so fun to read, that I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good thriller to read this Spring.

Told in a series of vignettes, The House on Mango Street shows snippets in the day-to-day life of Esperanza Cordero, a young Mexican-American girl living in poverty. With no central plot, the story hints at the characters, events, and settings around her as she struggles to find where she belongs in a world that doesn't seem to want her. Short but powerful, The House on Mango Street conveys the reader right into Esperanza's world, making it a great coming-of-age read. 

 Five-year-old Jack has lived his whole life in Room. It's his whole world where he lives with his Ma all day long. At night, Ma shuts him up in the wardrobe for protection when Old Nick visits. What Jack doesn't realize is that his mother doesn't view Room as home, but as a prison where she is being held captive. Narrated from Jack's perspective, Room hauntingly narrates unimaginable horrors witnessed through the innocence of a child.

Reading Room, I was still struck by the power of narration through the eyes of a child. The story is split into three parts: the captivity, the escape, and the transition into the world. While the horrors of the premise are unimaginable, the story doesn't dwell on them, else it would be extremely difficult to read. Instead, Donoghue's core message is about the transition, watching your entire world come apart, quite literally and learning to live in the aftermath. 

Inspired by her TED Talk, Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code, empowers women to be brave enough to embrace imperfection. From a young age, girls are conditioned to be nice - to be kind, considerate, and to not offend. Yet, what works well in elementary doesn't translate into real-life creating women who feel like they are never good enough. I felt so called out reading Brave, Not Perfect because Saujani perfectly describes me and my insecurities in ways I had never really thought about. For readers like me who are in her target audience, Brave, Not Perfect is inspiring and relatable, though a little lacking in practical day-to-day advice.