I read this all pretty much in one day (granted, an airport day)--I was surprised by how compelling it was, given that the plot summary is basically "farm girl gets a serving job." But Joan is a great character/narrator to root for & I just wanted to see what would happen in her life!

Also A+ cat content.

I have read concerns about anti-semitism & racism against American Indians in this book--I felt personally that it was clear that Joan was just very uneducated & well-meaning & the book was almost didactic in carefully spelling out her lesson learned that Judaism is a religion that's just as good as her own Catholic faith, etc. (less so the Indians--there are a few mentions of Joan "playing Indian" with young children that aren't really addressed/correctedbby the narrative--it's not a major part of the book the way Judaism is but would be a good thing for a parent/teacher to address with a kid reading the book.)

For me, this was super funny and often relatable--I especially loved her essays about being a "tom man" who never really learned about makeup and stuff during her teen years when she was ~supposed to~. Some of her essays working through her own body shame end up being a little fat shamey, like when she talks about stressing about how she looked in different kinds of lingerie but concludes that men just like to see you naked and it doesn't matter how you think you look--as long as you're not obese. There aren't a ton of moments like that but I'm just mentioning them in my review as a PSA.

The last few chapters are about fertility treatments/motherhood/etc--slightly less relatable for me personally but still very funny (and occasionally like, heartfelt or whatever).

Overall, I thought it was hilarious though, and if you're a fan of Jessi Klein from NPR/Amy Schumer/etc you'll probably enjoy the book. She reads the audio and I thought that was a good format for it. (Like a super long This American Life with no other guests!)

Oh one Q for anyone who read the print edition--does she spell "princess" like "prinzess" as some kind of joke or is that just how she says the word "princess"? She said it SO MANY TIMES in the Emmy dress essay and it was so clearly being said with a Z sound. IT'S NOT IMPORTANT I'M JUST WONDERING.

Jazz Jennings, like Oprah, speaks like 75% in Inspirational Sayings, but like Oprah, she sells the shit out of them. I wasn't sure I'd get into this book tbh--I felt like it was maybe aimed more either at kids/teens questioning their gender identity, or maybe people who want a Trans 101, but Jazz (who reads the audiobook) has a really sincere tone that really works here--she's open and funny about some of the struggles she's gone through, but also super aware and obviously super moved by the fact that a lot of trans kids haven't had the support she's had. I teared up like ten thousand times listening to it.

I do think it would be great especially for trans kids/teens (or parents/friends/etc of trans kids/teens...so like, most people really), but Jazz's life story is funny and moving for anyone. She reads the audiobook herself and does a killer Obama impression in it.

DNF--I'd never read any Mary Roach before but I know her pop science deal, and when I saw this audiobook was available I grabbed it, since it was a good length for a trip I was taking. I really enjoyed probably the first 5 hours of the audiobook--interesting anedcotes, and the somewhat disjointed nature of the book made it a good audiobook--kind of like a series of podcasts. But then it got like, pretty gross, like cannibalism and animal experiments and stuff, and it was making me feel real squeamish, and I remembered I had other things I could listen to and nobody was making me finish the book. So I didn't! In fairness to Mary Roach I probably should have guessed this from the title and basic subject matter...but I wasn't squicked by the stuff like old timey corpse snatching for medical schools and use of cadavers as crash test dummies...so...well, whatever.

If you are less squeamish you would probably like it. I might check out one of her other books sometime, like maybe [b:Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void|7237456|Packing for Mars The Curious Science of Life in the Void|Mary Roach|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1290480157s/7237456.jpg|8159756] won't make me want to barf so much, idk

Hmm. I don't want to judge just based on this script--I know the production was really well-reviewed and I'm sure the actors added a lot to the story. But, since the play is only in London, the script is all I can judge atm! So I'll say I enjoyed reading it and it went really quickly...I suppose it's a little harder to feel invested in these new characters. The plot is...a little bananas...but I suppose, really, so are the other Potter books.

Still--it was fun, and had some genuinely moving bits, and I'm glad to have read it.

This is a really intense read--Talley's end notes say she read a lot of memoirs and oral histories from black students who integrated historically white schools, and I think that shows in how intensely she portrays the day-to-day life of Sarah, a black high school senior, as she's one of 10 kids integrating a white high school, how the name-calling, pencil-poking, and other small aggressions add up to be nearly unbearable.

I was less interested in Linda's POV...I think it's a tricky line to walk, to get into the head of a racist segregationalist and show how her views come from her parents, etc etc etc...but, for a teen reader (particularly a white one) it might be a little more eye-opening and self-reflection-inducing. I think Talley is also pretty consciously drawing parallels between the civil rights movement and the LGBTQ rights movement.

I love that this is an interacial, historical, queer romance--I think it's important to give teens an example that there were lesbians Back in the Day. Particularly for Sarah, to see how her identities intersected. I will say that I didn't...totally buy their romance? Particularly why Sarah would like Linda?! I think I'd be interested to read a sequel further developing those two after high school.

I'm filing this under "Things I'm Glad Exist But Aren't Totally My Cup of Tea." This is very charming and I think will appeal a lot to middle grade & under readers, and of course it's totally bomb to have a super smart black girl heroine! With a dinosaur! But for my own personal tastes it's a little too...idk...slapstick-y?? (I'm comparing it maybe unfairly to like Squirrel Girl, which is all ages but also has tons of very clever jokes that I love.) I probably won't read another volume of this. But, again: for the intended age range I think the humor will be a hit!

I really enjoy Mara Wilson on Twitter and some of the blog posts/Moth stories/etc that I've seen on the internet, so I was interested in checking out her book. I actually didn't really grow up watching her movies etc, so for me, my desire to read this wasn't so much about like "I definitely want the backstory of how Miracle on 34th Street got made" as just like, "I think Mara Wilson is funny." And I would say anyone really wanting to dig into 90s Hollywood gossip would probably be disappointed, this is much more about Mara's personal/family life including coping with mental illness and just like patriarchal bullshit. Which I'm into. (I mean, there are a few fun stories about making Matilda etc, it's just not the main focus.)

mmm this is definitely a book where MY review and experience reading it are very different from how I think its intended (teen) audience would perceive it. I've read like, kind of a lot of books about North Korea--I'm pretty interested in it in general. So a lot of this was kind of boring to me, and the writing style is pretty straight-forward and clunky, it's mostly just like a long string of sad anecdotes. BUT it's also a great survival story, and I think it would be very shocking to a teen who hasn't already read a ton about North Korea.

I think I bought this as a Kindle Daily Deal at some point? It's what it says on the tin, pretty much just transcripts of Fresh Air interviews, some of which were 20+ years old. (In the intro Terry says she picked ones about artists because they would age better than ones about politicians and other current events-y figures, and for the most part they did.) She also added short introductions to contextualize each interview. They were all interesting, and it was a good book to read in little chunks over a series of lunch breaks.

I would mostly recommend this book if:
a) you are a Terry Gross superfan
or
b) you are looking for something you can read over your lunch break when you are feeling easily distracted, but you feel like you're too classy for a magazine/don't feel like carrying around a magazine.