Excellent audiobook alert, complete with delightful Aussie accent! If you have ever been a fangirl, had a celebrity crush, loved something to the point of obsessiveness, this book will RESONATE. Though I think it’d be a great read for anyone to understand the life giving joy that comes with being a FAN, and how our culture reliably embraces typically male pursuits (SPORTZ! Screaming at men throwing a leather ball! Miniature trains!?) over typically female ones (Fashion! Makeup! Celebrity crushes!). She also explores some historical context (Lisztomania! Not just a cool song by Phoenix!) and the ‘why’ of fandom - no, does not mean one has something missing in their life or is compensating for something: quite the opposite. People who are outspoken fans are unapologetically seizing joy!
This book also referenced two of my favorite spokespersons on why teen girls (and gays, let’s be honest) are the actual arbiters of what is cool and timeless: Caitlin Moran and Harry Styles. Styles has been quoted defending teen fans in Rolling Stone and Teen Vogue (‘They’re our future!’) and Moran’s How to be Famous is such an uplifting and galvanizing feminist book about a fictional fangirl, which I also highly recommend.

First Stephen King book in more than a quarter of a century! And… I’m not sure if this was the one to dive back in with, since my reading tastes have changed over the last 25ish years. (I think I should have gone with, and still plan to read, 11/22/63.)
This story of a 17 year old boy with a heart of gold, who helps out the local recluse, and finds a tunnel to another world in the old man’s back shed started off really promising - as a fan of CS Lewis’ Narnia when I was a kid, that speaks to me, as well as many of the themes King sprinkles throughout this 600+ page tome.
However, once the real world is left behind and the good vs evil conflict begins, I began to tune out. I think I rather enjoy a book that explores how the existence of another world would affect ours and vice versa. But things were kept pretty separate between the real and fantastical, and mostly set in the fantasy world. And when it comes to reading action sequences these days, I lose focus pretty quickly. (This goes for movies, too - either make the car chase as groundbreaking as the Matrix or keep it SHORT.) There were also so many superfluous characters introduced during these later scenes and I just wanted my favorite back - Radar the dog, who was temporarily ‘offstage’ for lack of a better word.
Yet there is no arguing King’s immense well of imagination and atmospheric writing that really connects emotionally. I loved the poignant conclusion, closing the book with a smile.
I’m glad I read it, and veered out of my comfort zone into some fantasy! I’d be curious to hear thoughts this one, and if it’s someone’s first foray into King’s work.

quick thoughts as I’m returning it to the library: why aren’t more people talking about this @belletrist pick? It’s got spicy sapphic romance, timely feminist themes, and is an absolute page turner - taut with ‘will she, or won’t she?’ vibes. 
My only beef was that the crux of the main character’s problem was completely glossed over for a quick ending, and I think including the hard work of facing her issues head on would have made for a more complete and believable story.

I caved to the hype surrounding I’m Glad my Mom Died, even though it felt so odd reading a book with this particular title during this particular time in my life. It’s as horrifying and captivating as everyone says it is - alllll the trigger warnings.
I listened to the audiobook, and she did a decent job narrating, but was a touch wooden. Perhaps she was trying to distance herself from the emotions that the book probably wrought while she was reading? I have never seen her acting, though I know my daughter watched those Disney shows back in the day. But, it’s absolutely not a prerequisite to find the details of her Hollywood story riveting.
I’m not sure if it’s a shining example of lyrical or poignant writing in the way that other fraught mother/daughter memoirs I’ve read are (Crying in H Mart is a beautiful book). Though this is waaaaay beyond fraught and squarely in abusive territory. McCurdy has told an important story that she absolutely needed to tell, needed to have heard, and has me rooting for her.💯

Thank you @bibliolifestyle @eccobooks #partner for the review copy of the latest @elizmccrack novel: The Hero of this Book!
I’m not sure if it’s the  Baader–Meinhof phenomenon of frequency illusion, but clearly books about death (and specifically death of a parent) are cropping up on my TBR unbidden. My longtime library hold for Unlikely Animals came in just before my mother died, and I had Patchett’s These Precious Days on my shelf for ages but decided to snag the audiobook when I saw it was available - not really thinking about the themes. On one hand it’s kind of unsettling, and on the other it’s rather comforting - as if the universe is looking out for me in someway.
McCracken‘s latest novel seems to be really a memoir under the guise of fiction. Either way, it is obviously very personal to the author in it’s intricate detail. I found it relatable in many ways, and crackling with wry humor. Although the haphazard, almost stream of consciousness, style was jarring from time to time, I’m glad to of been introduced to her work and I am curious to read more.

Ooooof. I went into Trust with high expectations: so many people who’s reviews I trust (no pun intended) loved it, it’s written in interconnected stories (one of my favorite narrative devices), and by a Pulitzer winning author (which tend to be more in my wheelhouse than NBA books).
Alas… I felt like I was reading an Ayn Rand novel.🤢🙅‍♀️ it’s entirely people telling other people’s stories, nothing that really places you into the characters inner lives. I couldn’t care less about anyone involved and by the time the final narrative arrives, it was too late for me to enjoy the ‘twist’ that wasn’t very twisty.
I’m totally an outlier on this one, so YMMV

It’s always fun to immerse myself into Nick and Charlie’s world, albeit a more solemn story within the timeframe of this Novela.

Ann Patchett is a GIFT. I love her essays and this was also a case of: right book at the right time. Listening to her soothing voice on the topic of life and death (oh, these precious days) while I was/am going through the loss of my mother was an absolute balm. Highly recommend on audiobook, as well as her collection: This is the Story of a Happy Marriage.

Very funny and poignant, although I am so far removed from that phase of life with kids. Definitely good for some nostalgia and a laugh, and great for those in the thick of early childhood parenting. Though she admits her immense privilege, I just find it hard to take anyone seriously who has a night nurse for their baby.🤷‍♀️

I loved City of Girls, and I’ve been wanting to read this one for a while. I think this is a case of the wrong book at the wrong time. My headspace was not in a good place personally while reading, and it is very dense and slow moving. If historical fiction, epic character studies are your jam, this would be a great pick.