The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is the type of book that sticks with you and sits in the back of your brain, being relevant in the least expected situations. The writing draws the reader in and tells the story in a way that makes it feel personal to each individual. More than that the lives and struggles of Henrietta and her family being immortalized as they are in this book, shine a light on the parts of history the written record strives to forget.

I enjoyed the characterization of the main characters in this mystery more than I did in the last, but I found the plot less easy to follow. I missed the victory lap Poirot took to tie up the loose ends of the first novel. I think my comprehension of Marthe's intentions would have been clearer.

I love that Hastings ends up with a love interest. He's a self-centered character, and I think Dulcie will do his character a lot of good in becoming more likable. She, herself is incredibly cool, and I hope to see more of her in future novels.

I started this with high hopes, and was somewhat let down. The book was frontloaded with Cherry, which stuck with me and made me want to read more in the chance that another story would be as impactful. I'm glad I did, because Ghost, 3/4 of the way through was worth the wait. My personal distaste for Margret Atwood's politics aside, I think her contribution to this book added little. There was a chunk of stories in the middle of the book that felt like they were filler.

Taproot is a quick and adorable read. There's not a lot of space in such a short book to flesh out supporting characters, but the little details in the way they're drawn and the ways they interact with other characters go far in defining their roles and personalities. I loved Joey and the reaper quite a lot. They both toe the line between central character and supporting character in very different ways.

I think it's fun that Blue and Hamal befriend Chloe after Blue is brought back to life. She seems like a good friend for them both, and I like her adorable confusion when Blue accidentally lumps himself in as a ghost. Blue working with kids when he's alive makes a lot of sense considering how good he is with Joey. The only sad thing is that it's never explained if Blue can see other ghosts after coming back. I don't know if he can see his ghost friends, and the thought of Joey not being able to interact with him after latching onto him so dearly is heartbreaking

This is the second time I've read The Rest of Us Just Live Here, and I think I loved it more than I did the first time. Ness does a fantastic job writing these well rounded, dynamic characters. They're all so flawed and deeply human that they're easy to love. Meredith is one of my favorite characters. She's got all the trappings of an overachieving Mary Sue protagonist, but she circumvents that pidgeon hole by being a regular kid under all of the genius. Mike, Mel, and Meredith's relationship is one of the best written sibling dynamics I've ever read, and I love how much they love and look out for each other. I also really enjoy how involved their parents are in the storytelling, even if they're not actively involved in the children's lives in the capacity that would best suit them. Their mother is flawed and bad at keeping her political aspirations from harming her children and their well being, but the reader sees her grow as a person throughout the novel as Mike gets a closer look at why their mom is the way she is. Their father's alcoholism is also very well written. They're all done expecting anything from him, but despite that they still love him in their own ways.
The way this group of friends cares for each other and know each other makes this novel really special.

The Princess Spy was a wonderfully in depth look at life in a neutral country during and after WWII, through the eyes and experiences of spy and countess, Aline Griffith. The narrative flowed smoothly between topics and from year to year. Aline's life was marvelously interesting and her work during the war was invaluable. Aside from that, she is an enjoyable person to read about. She seems to have been good, kind, and strong in her morals and beliefs. The anecdote about how she told her mother she was marrying Luis stuck with me long after I passed that section of the novel. It was both comical and made me question exactly how American isolationism and propaganda worked from WWI through the cold war. If this book is what helps me chose an era of historical literature to study in grad school, I will credit it in my dissertation. Aline is a woman I want to know more about, and whose books I want to read.

Cosmoknights is a great story with a top tier pun of a name. I like they way Hannah Templer used and subverted classic sci-fi and romance tropes so the readers were kept on our toes. I also really loved how well Bee and Cass even each other out. Characters in a role that directly supports the big hero, like Bee, often end up being somewhere one dimensional. Bee was far from it with the intriguing hints about her and Cass's respective pasts peppered throughout the novel. Cass's motivation to help the princesses being empathy, rather than chivalry was a refreshing twist. I read this book in one sitting and enjoyed it from beginning to end. The cliffhanger in the last few pages has me on the edge of my seat waiting for volume 2.

The Tea Dragon Society is an adorable book and a fantastic concept! The illustrations are beautiful and the characters are well defined. I really love the theme of working to preserve traditions that are being forgotten as they're phased out of common use. I originally read this as a library book, and I'm planning on purchasing it to be able to spend more time pouring over the illustrations and rereading. I plan on reading the other two books in the series.

This was an interesting look into the American judicial system and the life of the man who created the framework how evidence could be evaluated and understood that is still used today. The narrative was slow to pick up, but I really enjoyed the author's use of excerpt from letters between Heinrich and his librarian best friend. His obsessive record keeping meant that this book was very detailed, which I also enjoyed. The author added some of her own opinion on the past and current state of the American judicial system, in terms of corruptness and lack of justice for the many people wrongfully convicted and jailed, that I think Heinrich would have agreed with.

This was a fun mystery. I really enjoyed Agatha Christie's writing style, and I'm somewhat angry at myself for not having read her books sooner. I love that the novel took a lap at the end to explain the twists with a cohesive narrative, after having peppered in clues enough that the reader had the possibility of guessing the truth before the revelation.

Given the time period and language, I'm unsure if Evie and Alfred are romantically involved or just incredibly devoted cousins. At the time it was still quite common for cousins to intermarry, and addresses like "my dear" imply romance, but they just as well could have been partners in nothing more than crime

I love Poirot's personality and his idiosyncratic yet endearing nature, and I can't wait to read more.