I didn't really like it but I feel bad about it?

Clearly I should have started with a different book in this series.

An account of a sociology grad student enmeshing himself in a late 80s, early 90s Chicago housing project. Much of the narrative is centered around gangs and their day to day operations.

This has a ton of really rough reviews. It certainly doesn’t feel like a true sociological text. However, it was fascinating. The projects profiled in the book no longer exist, so there’s a bit of distance chronologically between the time of the narrative and the present day.

The title is extremely misleading. He followed around the gang members of this housing project for years. The one day stint he served was a very small slice of his experience.

This was a fun, quick read. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why it won the Newbery.

This look at the victims found at the Gilgo Beach site did a really good job eulogizing members of society that are often treated as disposable.

I felt the author walked a good line between realistically showing how cavalier these young women were with their well being and how much they were set up to fail, structurally.

It is very repetitive, and the book predates any real suspect profile. So it didn’t feel like a typical true crime book.

Did not expect to be as enthralled as I was in this study of lobster biology and the history of lobster fishing. You’re treated to the viewpoint of both scientists and lobstermen. The author did a very good job at showing just how interesting these creatures are.

I'd never heard anything about the Tam Lin myth so I went into this retelling totally blind. It's a really neat, fairly unique YA book set in Tudor England. The characterization of the minor characters is pretty poor, but I liked the two main characters. They both had a lot of spunk.

Really can't say enough good things about this thoughtful, well developed graphic novel about the reality of war and subterfuge. It's beautifully illustrated and plays into a lot of fantasy archetypes, but not in a Western built world, which is such a refreshing change of pace.

Highly recommended.

Excellent biography of the Roman Emperor Augustus. The author covers in detail the later years of Julius Caesar’s life through a quick synopsis of Caligula and Claudius’ reigns.

The full scope of Augustus’ life is revealed, his accomplishments and faults. Roman culture can seem quite salacious to a modern reader, Everitt does a good job contextualizing the proclivities of all the main characters in Augustus’ life, from Mark Antony to Tiberius, etc.

I love a critical biography, and this was surely that.

Absolutely heartbreaking memoir about a woman helping men with AIDS in Arkansas during the late 80s.

It is very efficiently and engagingly written. I couldn’t put it down. The characterization is excellent. There are a large number of people in this book and they all felt so real.

I desperately need an A24 adaptation of this. It’s so beautifully weird.