I was interested in reading Becoming Brilliant as an K-12 view point on education. I currently work in higher education assessment and have my MS in developmental psychology. While the book was inline with the topic that I was hoping it would discuss, I was underwhelmed by the inclusion of research. I also felt like the structure of the book could have been a bit more defined. It seemed like they kept going off on tangents.

I wondered at the target audience for this book. It seems geared towards parents, but does not really address parents through most of the book. The majority of the book seems geared towards educators, yet only provides basic information without going into as much depth. The book was ok, the information expressed was not, to my knowledge, inaccurate. It just did not seem to feel any particular gap in what is available.

I received this book from Netgally for free, however I ended up reading the book via audiobook from the library. All opinions expressed are my own.

Brain Food is a collection of pieces from a newspaper column, of the same name, that ran (or still runs) in Australia. It is a food column that answers readers questions in a more direct and teasing tone then other food columns.

This book was not at all what I was expecting. From the title I thought that I was going to get a book heavy on science and not on cooking. Although, I was surprised how much science there is when creating recipes and cooking. It was not the type of science I expected, nor the format I was expecting.

I am not the target audience for this book. I only taught myself to cook as an adult, and that because of food allergies in myself and my children. Most of the information in this book was useless to me, specifically because of our food allergies. I was a bit blown away that the advice given to a young child headed off to college was to teach them how to cook a chicken. Have they never seen the kitchen in dorms? We were lucky to be able to boil water, let alone create an actual meal.

With that being said, it was a good tone and I read the book all the way through. While most of the information was not relevant, I was still intrigued by the passion behind cooking.

I received this book for free from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

A lot of people really enjoyed this book. As you can see from my review, I am not one of them. I honestly wonder what is the appeal of this book, if it goes beyond the sex scene of women and fish man.

The writing is ok, but not great. The characters are not all that great. I really could have cared less about any of them. They did not feel real. The whole situation did not feel real. There is a women who did not have a voice so she had to work as a janitor in a research facility. The social divide between the janitors and the scientists would have made a great book. However, this book barely glances on it. It devotes more time to one man's sick attitude towards everyone.

Then there is the ending. Could it have been so cliche? I pretty had much had it guessed at the sex scene. It is the thing that saves the book from being a tale of bestiality. Yet, it seems more like it was thrown in as an after thought.

I picked up Circe because I kept hearing about the book, and audible was awesome and gave me a free random credit (yeah audible!). I really had nothing to loose, even though I am not a huge mythology reader.

It took me a little bit to get into the novel. I felt at a loss since I did not know the back story of any of the mythological characters. I was afraid that I would feel behind the entire book. However, soon understanding the mythology became less important and I was swept away with Miller's version of the characters.

Circe is about Circe, a goddess and a witch. It follows her life from youth on words, since she is a goddess she is immortal, so the story goes through a huge part of human history. I found the story engaging and well written. I was soon swept away in the drama and intricacies of all the characters. I do think a better understanding of Greek mythology would have helped me to better understand the book, but it was very enjoyable without that knowledge. Although, it would have been nice is if it was not completely assumed that the reader would understand who all the characters were.

I have to admit that I had never heard of Tiffany Haddish. I saw this book show up on a few must read lists, and then I saw her interview with Trevor Noah. The interview was hilarious, but also inspiring, which is when I knew I had to read this book.

I think the best way to sum up this book is both hilarious and inspiring. Haddish is very real in her book, acknowledging her struggles and even confessing her successes. She did not have the most glamorous childhood, and I could relate to her living with a relative with schizophrenia. I enjoyed that she talked about it in real terms, but also using her humorous outlook on life.

This book contains excessively foul language. I mean it is everywhere. There are also graphic descriptions of sex, and abuse. This is not a book for everyone. Yet, I loved this book. I loved how she talked about the not so glamorous parts of life, and I loved how she still approaches life with a sense of humor. There were so many times that she was knocked down (literally and figuratively), yet she managed to fulfill her dream without loosing herself.

Every Note Played is almost a coming of age book for a divorced women. It is also a story about ALS and the physical and emotional impact it has.

The story about ALS was extremely educational and impactful. Watching the fast and detrimental decline of the physical body was actually hard at times. It helped me connect with the disorder in a way that I never had previously. I honestly had no idea how encompassing and life threatening the disorder is. I appreciate that it was written by a neurologist who had connected with ALS patients directly. It really showed in the work.

Unfortunately, none of the main characters were extremely relateable. I disliked both of them and never connected to either of them. While I related to the disorder and the impact that it had, even at the end I could not relate to the characters response to the suffering. While there was change at the end of the book I do not feel like there was growth.

I did listen to this on audiobook and the female narration was not especially pleasing. I think it added extra disconnect from the characters. I would suggest that this book be read instead of listened to. However, even then I do not think my opinion would change.

Beneath the Sugar Sky is the third book in the series, however I had heard that it could be read as a stand alone. So, I decided to read this book before reading the first two. I am uncertain how much would be added by reading the books in order. Although, I did not feel lost at any point in the series. The setting and situation was perfectly described. If anything, I think I may have just not read about previous adventures. I plan to go back to the first two books to find out.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a play on all the adolescent fantasy novels where children escape our work into their own fantasy world. What happens to the children when they come back? This is a story about children trying to re-find their world. The worlds are whimsical and different. I almost found myself believing. I was reminded of my own desire in adolescence, to find my own magical world.

What I did not enjoy was the constant references to being fat. It was not shamming, and was more a traumatic reaction to being shamming. Yet, it seemed overdone. It seems like the defining of a child before finding her world, not after. The positives were displayed. She was a strong swimmer, a fast runner, and healthy. Yet, she kept going back to her weight as her defining feature. Why would it not be her time as a mermaid? How could that not define her after finding her own world? Beyond being overdone, it just did not fit for me.

It will be very difficult to write this review without spoilers. However, I will try my best. I thought The Book of M was a science fiction book, however I would consider it fantasy instead. There is so much unbelievable in the story that I would believe in vampires before I would believe in the plot of The Book is M.

The premis of the novel is that people suddenly started loosing their shadows. Without shadows people could not remember. It turns out that memories are stored in our shadows and not in our brain. Without memories people started to drift away and humanity became its worse version of itself, except for the few who did not. After about a year most people were gone, either dead or shadowless.

The writing was excellent. It was engaging with strong identifiable characters. The plot was well thought out and, for the most part, flowed well. I was hooked from the start of the book. Everything about this book screams masterpiece, except the concept. The idea that memories are connected to shadow, that without shadows people can do magic, and that our shadows is the essence of ourself is hard to swallow. It goes against basic science. A shadow is where an object blocks light. No explanation was ever given for why or even how it started. It did not allow me to suspend my belief of reality.

The novel became more fantastical as the story progressed. I wanted to enjoy it all. The book was perfect on so many levels. It was just too much. The ending was a complex look at human nature. While it was not the mysterious twist that it tried to be, it was very character oriented. I enjoyed seeing how the characters reacted to the various situations. Except the event itself was hard to swallow.

The Book of M is one of those books that is amazing, but not for everyone. I am glad that I read it, but at the same time cannot help rewriting the story in my head so that all belief in science does not have to be suspended.

It took me about three fourths of the way through the novel to know if I liked it. I finally decided that I did.

Selina Ascends is a different sort of novel. It has an entirely logical and serious narrator set in a world this is completely absurd. It is like an adult, more outrageous, version of Alice in Wonderland. It is all based on the Tower of Babel, and it was my son who pointed out to me that it is following the seven deadly sins - we think. It is not clear cut enough to say for sure. Especially since this is just the first part. However, you can see sloth, greed, and lust pretty easily.

The novel features Selin, a school teacher that decides to take his wife on a honeymoon to the Tower of Babel. What he does not realize is that everything that he has read about the tower is wrong. It is a world all it’s own and travelers are pretty much doomed as soon as they get off the train, or airship.

It is really the world building that drives this novel. The characters are good, but not brilliant. The writing is also well done, but not brilliant. The world is a genius all of it’s own. There is a complex interplay between all of the worlds. Some of the interconnectedness I saw back on the first level. Some I did not even flush out until I talked about this book with my son. We had some interesting conversations about this world. The interactions between the characters are more interesting then the characters themselves. Although it has been interesting seeing them change, depending on the floor that they show up on.

I am interesting to see where Bancroft goes with this in the second book. While I am fairly confident in the final destination, I am fascinated about the journey to get there.

(This book was read as an audiobook from the library)