I actually haven't read any of Pam Houston's other books but I picked this one up because this kind of Nature Feelings Memoir is extremely my jam. (I mention this because throughout the book she talks about people telling her how much some of her other books have mean to them.)

Anyway this is a really beautiful memoir if this kind of thing is your jam, like if you want to cry about a woman writing about crying about narwhals, fuckin pick this up already.

UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I'm so offended on behalf of Harry Styles

And also on behalf of my brain for having to process all of this information

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-119-after/

I keep forgetting to add this!

when I was a kid I loved a Great Illustrated Classics version of this that, it turns out, left out a TON OF WACK SHIT, YIKES

Anyway I still kind of like the old timey travelogue of it all, could have done without the racism, also I'm very mad that I had to miss the book club discussion of this because like is Phileas Fogg a sociopath or WHAT???

I LOVE EVERYONE IN THIS FANTASY KINGDOM

This had me consulting Wiki a bunch because I barely remember anything from the other books except that I love every character, but honestly it didn't impact my enjoyment.

Leigh Bardugo is so good at creating fully-realized characters to love and root for, and fantasy worldbuilding that makes sense and is complex and interesting without being totally fucking bewildering. IT'S EVERYTHING I WANT.

This is an interesting topic. I appreciated the depth the author went into about the Great Migration of African Americans to Chicago and the Irish famine, but also it's perhaps ultimately MORE about that than it is the titular riots? It's also a bit dry & academic in tone--would be good for teen research purposes, but harder to sell as a historical read than some other YA history books that read more like novels. Also: why do publishers keep making YA history books in these large sizes?? Teens/adults don't want that! The pictures included aren't that big! Just make a book-size book!

I LOVED THIS SO MUCH. It's such a smart use of Carol's character and such a timely callout of rape culture while also being an awesome space rebellion story (with a queer alien love story at its heart). AND PLUS ALSO Scott Lang reads Roxane Gay and Sweet Valley High soooo one million stars.

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-120-murder-games-instinct/

I wish Alan Cumming were in this book

Superman's not my go-to superhero but I've enjoyed the rest of the DC Icons series and Matt de la Pena is a champ so I checked this out. It's a really smart framing for a modern day Superman to feel connected to undocumented immigrants since he is one also, but from space! I love it! The details of the supervillainous plot are a litle bit...~hand wavy~ but also I don't care honestly, I love the character of Clark and his struggles with self, community, and a Dreamer love interest. This is a timely story with a lot of heart to it. ...it's just that I still don't especially care for Superman.

This is even better and sharper and more thought-provoking than her online writings, which I already LOVE. A must-read.

I read this because I was so taken with an older piece of his that got sort of meme-ified recently ("if we want the rewards of being loved we have to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known") and overall, I really enjoyed it. He's a sharp, insightful writer with a lot of humor but also, in general, compassion.

However. This collection came out in 2012, and some of the essays collected within are older than that. And some of them have simply not aged well. There's plenty of George W. Bush humor that's not like "oh yeah...that guy did suck but now we have bigger problems lol". But then there is a lengthy essay, "Chutes and Candyland," about Kreider's friendship with the transgender author Jennifer Finney Boylan, and they are clearly close friends (Boylan asked Kreider to stay with her for 10 days immediately following her gender conformation surgery to help care for her), and the essay was clearly written with love and the best vocabulary available to Kreider at the time. (And received Boylan's blessing). But reading it now is very yikes and I have to imagine might be hurtful for a trans person to read.

Still, I'm eager to read more of his work, but I just wanted to highlight that concern!