2021 thoughts: This was a read aloud with my kiddos this year. It's amazing what details I'd forgotten since last year. I still loved Bilbo's yearning to get back to his hobbit hole. I'm planning to watch the cartoon from the 70s with my kids on Friday as a reward for finishing the book.

2020 thoughts:I first read this in high school and decided that this spring was a good time to reread it. I'm so glad I did because I enjoyed more this time than before! I found that I really appreciated Bilbo's desire for the cozy!

Such a wonderful reminder about the power of books and reading. It's a lovely story about how bookish friends are the BEST and bonding over stories is always a good thing. Highly recommend if you're stuck in a reading rut and would like to be reminded about why you love books.

What a powerful little book. This begins by describing a challenge that Becker took on as her childhood friend was dying of cancer: what if she lived a year of her life as if it were her last?

In the subsequent pages, Becker shares so much of what she's learned about death from those around her. She's led an incredible (and quite privileged) life and has had the opportunity for a myriad of experiences. The best part is that she works hard to find reverence in all of them. I found this book fascinating and thought-provoking and am very happy that a dear friend introduced me to it. My little journal is going to fill up in no time thanks to some of the ideas that Becker has sparked.

Emily St. John Mandel has such a distinct voice and tells interesting stories. I was sucked into this book right away and found it hard to put down. I was a bit disappointed in the ending, but found that it made sense with a little thought.

Spoiler

Anton will never has resolution about his shady past and will always be looking over his shoulder. And that's exactly how it ended.

I haven't had much experience with contemporary poetry and was relieved by how approachable and beautiful this collection was. I preordered a copy but never got around to reading it. But this week I saw that the audio was available on Libby without a wait and it seemed like the perfect thing to listen to right now. The poet tackles so much of what we've witnessed over the last few years: the pandemic, masking, the murder of George Floyd, the consequences of the 2016 election. I enjoyed listening to the author read her own work AND I'm glad that I have a physical copy to return to. Her words demand to be studied!

I'm not even sure what to say about this book! It was a lot of fun, thought provoking, and made me want to reread it immediately to understand it better. This author is clever and creative and I'm looking forward to more of her work!

This book is full of the most interesting characters! I loved catching peeks of some of my friends from other books in the Love Medicine series and getting to know a few more. This gives us the backstory of Dot Adare - the woman who married Gerry Nanapush in Love Medicine. Dot's family history is fascinating and I loved every minute of reading about it.

I gave it 4 stars because I felt like there were a lot of unresolved threads at the end of this book, but I'm pretty sure they'll be tied together as the series go on. I reserve the right to change my rating in the future!

Eleventy-billion stars. Ruth Ozeki is absolutely my favorite author. There's so much here that I'm not sure I can write anything, other than that I loved how Ozeki played with animism in this novel - the idea that everything we're surrounded by has a soul, energy, and purpose. That we live a good life when we honor the objects and people in our lives. I LOVED how she brought The Book alive and made it such a focal point of the narrative. It was so clever. The characters were beautiful and complex. And, as with so many of the novels published recently, it reminds us how important books and reading are, especially after the tumultuous few years we've had.

I listened to this on audible but still have a hold on the ebook at the library. I'm planning to read it again and highlight the heck out of it when it's my turn with the library copy. So I'm sure you'll be hearing more from me about this one!

“Perhaps even people you like and admire immensely can make you see the World in ways you would rather not.”

This was shortlisted for The 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction and it’s a strange little book. Piranesi is living in an infinite House in which tides flood the corridors, there are rooms full of statues and art, and he makes his own clothes from seaweed found throughout. He is a scientist and explorer of this world and keeps detailed and excellent notebooks to share with the Other – the only other person alive in the House. One day he meets a person who should not exist and his whole life is turned on its head.

The twist of the story is obvious fairly early on, but I don’t think it ruined the book. Instead, it ushered in a mystery and puzzle that I was trying to unlock. It had such a thoughtful message: how we can all be led to believe something absurd despite how smart we think we are. I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 because the story could have benefited from a little more explanation about the house Piranesi explored, which felt unresolved to me (but maybe it was supposed to? Either way, I needed more!).