This is a great, concise introduction to the concept of backpacking (for ladies). It's from 1998 but I don't think it's particularly dated, since the basics don't change. (A few things, like price-points for gear, are probably no good... but hey, we have the internet now.) I like the positive, can-do tone of it! Especially the chapter about personal safety, like how ladies hiking MIGHT get murdered but you're much more likely to get murdered in an urban area! Anyway it's a good starting point for me to realize what stuff I already feel competent on and what stuff I need to read more about if I am to become a true Lumberjane.

Also, there is a chapter about backpacking with young kids that I skimmed, because that is not on my agenda, it would probably be pretty useful to people who are thinking about backpacking with little ones.

As you all know, I'm more of a Marvel girl than DC, but I heard great things about this YA novel about teen Lois Lane, so I checked it out. I dunno, it was fine? It was so far removed from superhero stuff that it was basically a YA mystery. I guess that's the point--that Lois is awesome even without Superman around? I didn't love it personally but I think I might booktalk it for junior high kids, it's got a great hook and I think kids who like mysteries would probably be into it. Also I thought the use of texting/online message boards was pretty fun.

I'd never actually read this before. It holds up pretty well! Stryker as evangelical is creepier than Stryker as military bro, though I can understand why the movies went in that direction.

It was only when I was halfway through this that I remembered, "Oh yeah, this is the Batgirl plotline that was called out for being transphobic!" They'd altered the text in the collected edition but it still seems like, really weird? Like why not just... have another woman impersonate Batgirl? It's not like Dagger Type is an established character, right? Why not just have had a woman perfomance artist steal Batgirl's identity. Why.

Whatever.

Overall, I liked this okay. I do like it when books/comics use social media, and I thought the overall storyline was something relatively fresh. Also, although I'm sad to see Alysia from Gail Simone's run leave, I did appreciate the diversity of Batgirl's new squad. And of course, the much-vaunted new costume is pretty dope.

Memoirs by people who have taken wayward paths to adult success/happiness are one of my favorite genres. If you like that kind of thing, you will probably like this. There is some 12-step/spiritual talk in here that might be like, too much for some people? I personally enjoyed reading about Michelle's relationship with Stevie Nicks God, but I can certainly see where your mileage might vary on that. For me, this was an entertaining and reassuring read.

This book was very sad. (on purpose.)

(read as single issues)

FRIENDSHIP/MYTHOLOGICAL RETELLINGS TO THE MAX

I'd heard Abby's booktalk for this like ten times and it always made me super stoked to read it, but it took me awhile to get around to it!

GUESS WHAT I LOVED IT.

It's kind of like if Flannery O'Connor wrote an X-Men story? Which: I wish she would have. But instead I will happily take this (and [b:Scumble|7507890|Scumble (Savvy, #2)|Ingrid Law|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388458879s/7507890.jpg|9694809], ASAP!)

oh man, I couldn't put this one down. Total page-turner and a really gut-wrenching look at rape culture in a Steubenville-like situation. I've loved books like [b:Speak|439288|Speak|Laurie Halse Anderson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1310121762s/439288.jpg|118521] and [b:All the Rage|21853636|All the Rage|Courtney Summers|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1410879862s/21853636.jpg|18982890] that speak to a survivor's POV but this is a powerful look at what it's like to be a bystander, and what that kind of fear can do to a person and a community.

I loved this especially:

Sometimes I get the feeling [my parents have] asked me to hold this big invisible secret for them, like a backpack full of rocks--all these things they don't want to know about themselves. I'm supposed to wear it as I hike up this trail toward my adulthood. They're already at the summit of Full Grown Mountain. They're waiting for me to get there and cheering me on, telling me I can do it, and sometimes scolding and asking why I'm not hiking any faster or why I'm not having more fun along the way. I know I'm not supposed to talk about this backpack full of their crazy, but sometimes I really wish we could all stop for a second. Maybe they could walk down the trail from the top and meet me. We could unzip that backpack, pull out all of those rocks, and leave the ones we no longer need by the side of the trail. It'd make the walk a lot easier. Maybe then my shoulders wouldn't get so tense when Dad lectures me about money or Mom starts a new diet she saw on the cover of a magazine at the grocery store.

I thought Kate's interest in geology and the way that got used as a metaphor throughout was both beautifully written and also a little pat? But ultimately it worked for me, and I love Kate so much.

*claws face* This book made me cry like ten times. I listened to the whole audiobook in less than 24 hours--normally I don't love audiobooks unless I'm on a long car trip, since I prefer podcasts or music, but I was so into this that I listened to it at every available moment.

The audiobook narrator is fine? I felt like she was doing some kind of pseudo-accent? It didn't really bother me but I wouldn't say the audiobook necessarily enhanced this story (the way, for example, the [b:The True Meaning of Smekday|1194366|The True Meaning of Smekday|Adam Rex|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1438739381s/1194366.jpg|1182420] aduio does). It's just a great book.

I don't want to talk about it, I just want to cry about it. (It's not necessarily a sad book, although there are definitely sad moments? It's just very very feelings-inducing. Oh god my feelings.) I love these characters, I love the way this story developed, oh no I'm tearing up again just thinking about it.

Spoiler

also the cat and the pony both survive the bombings THANK GOD