I got an ARC of this awhile ago but didn't prioritize it in my reading, mostly because I thought it was going to be focused on relationship advice and I didn't feel like I wanted that? But I picked it off my pile and took it to the beach and read it all in a day, and I truly loved it. I was so pleasantly surprised to have a book like this that prioritized the importance of friendships and family and career. It's also a moving grief memoir and yes, also, some probably-good relationship advice. This book felt like a friend.

(Also I guess disclaimer that I'm socially friendly with Meredith but also FOR REAL loved this book)

oh shit this book was too goddamn good and I stayed up too late to finish it

The structure is so smart, and it's such a good hook to have this partly-written in the format of a true crime Serial-style podcast. and: I don't even especially like true crime stories (though yeah duh I listened to Serial).

The voice here is haunting, I will never forget Sadie.

I enjoyed reading this and definitely felt like I learned a fair amount about the Van Gogh brothers. The style is interesting--the simplistic writing style gives this almost a fairy tale vibe (although uhh it's obviously one of the sad fairy tales). I wonder how much of this is from Heiligman trying not to speculate excessively about what the lived experience of Vincent and Theo's respective mental illnesses was? It seems a bit...detached, despite being based so heavily on their letters and their intense bond? I can't quite put my finger on it. Still: it definitely fleshes out this story beyond the kind of bare bones "omg he cut his ear off" that most Americans know.

PS I read this on Kindle and then was like, oh this was a dumb choice because presumably there are some color reproductions in here...but also whatever I'll look at the paintings on Wikipedia.

oh shit I got so into this book that I read it at the GYM and I hate reading at the gym because they have cable television there

a real un-putdownable page turner with a lot of thorny issues

A really enjoyable YA contemporary romance! Loved seeing a fairly confident fat teen girl and the effects of her mother going on a Biggest Loser-style show has on her whole family. It's an insightful look at how body positivity isn't a one and done kind of decision but rather an attitude that might ebb and flow depending on what's happening around you. PLUS a girl who's good at math tutoring a boy who's less good at math. plus a side queer romance. plus teen journalists on the CASE.

An all-time legend, I stan <3

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-102-ramona-and-her-mother/

I will admit that I side-eyed this premise (high school chemistry intern decides to carry on her dead scientist mom's research into pheremones, in an attempt to get her boyfriend to get back together with her) but really enjoyed the book! Maya and her BFF Bryan are great characters. I also enjoyed all the fun Cambridge/MIT-specific details to the setting. I also appreciated that the cast is fairly diverse. Without going into too many details, I do think the ethical/scientific questionability of the whole thing is addressed in a way that left me, at least, satisfied, though obviously it still would not hold up to, you know, scientific scrutiny. (But that's also kind of the point, she's a grieving teenage girl with an interest in science! She's maybe not making the best choices!)

bonus appeal factors: women in STEM! YouTubers! Drama geek drama!

A great one for fans of Jenny Han, Sarah Dessen, etc.

I L O V E D this. I forget where I saw it recommended but I almost didn't pick it up because it's a lot of music criticism of music I don't especially like, but it was overall so highly recommended that I checked it out. And I'm so glad I did!! The author is also a poet and you can definitely tell, his style is so beautiful and moving. Even when I'm not familiar with the artists, these essays are always about more than music. (I have to admit I did prefer it when I was familiar with an essay's subject, such as Ms. Carly Rae Jepsen.)

Still: after this I'll read whatever Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib has to say about anything.

I'm not sure how to review this even...it's definitely a book where I can look at it abstractly and believe it must have been groundbreaking to read in 1969, or even like, ten years ago. As it is, reading it for the first time in 2018 was a little like "yeah, sure, gender roles are arbitrary, duh" and it was hard to keep the right mindset. It's definitely a slow-paced, world-building type book, which is......not my favorite thing to read? Still, as I kept on and started to understand the world itself, I definitely found it to be a compelling read. I simultaneously want to re-read it and also am not sure when I will have the mental energy to re-read it?

ahh I heard all this good buzz about this book and I was like "awesome, urban fantasy!" but it's actually the kind of like...environmental dystopia that makes me feel sort of nauseous to read, #TOOREAL! But I assume that's kind of the intended effect?

That said, I loved Maggie and Kai and the worldbuilding, and less...squeamish readers will likely LOVE this.