OK this book raises some QUESTIONS about reincarnation but I enjoyed the trip

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-141-midnight-bayou/

I made a point to listen to this on audiobook because I loved January LaVoy's narration on previous books and thought it really added to the story. (Plus the different voices she does makes it a little easier to keep track of all the characters.) The audiobook is 20+ hours but I listened to it all in a week because I would frantically put it on any time I had even 5 minutes to plug in.

Anyway, I love this series, I love these characters, I love all the historical context--Libba Bray does a remarkable job of using all of her research to frame and add depth to the story without getting Outlander disease (which causes your book to break out in long lists of #herbs). I'm so on board for all of this. It's great historical fiction, it's great ~paranormal~ fiction, it's great government conspiracy fiction, it's great romance (including queer and potentially-asexual-figuring-it-out romance), IT'S ALL SO GREAT AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE FINAL BOOK AHHHH

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

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re-listened to, still fucking loved it. Listening to all of them in succession makes me admire even more how Libba Bray went from the smaller more personal stories to this big conspiracy...ugh! The narrative structure! The character development! The intersectionality! Simply no choice but to stan!

This book was a treat. I think the book and movie both will appeal to tweens who grew up with Dora and are ready to poke some gentle fun at her educational antics will still having a real fondness for her adventures.

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-131-dora-and-the-lost-city-of-gold/

AAAAAAA god, I re-listened to this series before listening to this one on audiobook (January LaVoy continues to CRUSH IT as a narrator btw) and it's so impressive how these characters and this story developed over the course of the 4 books, and how grounded in America's grim history these are in a way that is so so upsettingly relevant now almost 100 years after these books are set.

But also these characters are so funny and charming and root-for-able.

Another thing I think Libba Bray does really well are these kind of interstitial one-off scenes with characters who are about to meet tragic supernatural ends, where she can so quickly introduce a character and get you invested in them just enough that it's awful when they die, but not like, devastating.

UGH JUST SO GOOD AAAAAAAAA

last year my work friend Anna and I both went to the same library conference but I got sick halfway through the morning and had to leave early, and the next day we had this conversation

me: what'd I miss?
Anna: Well, Jonathan from 30 Rock was there
me: WHAT
Anna: Yeah I guess he wrote a middle grade book and I was like OMG it's Jonathan from 30 Rock but nobody else cared
me: I WOULD HAVE CARED
Anna: I KNOW

Anyway, this is Jonathan from 30 Rock's book! It's funny and I think will be a good window/mirror situation for a lot of kids--the main character Rahul is one of few Indian-American kids in his small town and increasingly pretty sure he's gay. Anyway, it's overall a fun school story that has elements I think a lot of kids will relate to. I do have a few reservations about the ending:

Spoiler

Not STOKED about the strong implication that Brent the bully was only bullying Rahul for being gay because Brent was also gay?? I know that's a sort of common trope for school bullying stories in general but the idea that homophobes are all secretly gay is icky and more and more being called out?

Also the way the narrative slowly built up Rahul's anxiety and (not-quite-diagnosed) OCD was interesting...but then it felt way too quickly resolved? Still, nice to see it addressed with therapy etc but maybe could have used like...one more chapter.)

This was a cute, light read. I was intrigued by the "real world" corporatized superheros--the concept sort of takes a backseat to the romances, which is OK. It's nice to see a cute fluffy f/f story, even if the characters also weren't super developed? Sometimes it is enough to read about one superhumanly strong girl kissing one girl of regular strength.

I dug this! I'm into the trend of fandom-themed YA books, and you can definitely tell when authors really "get" fandom. This felt true to me (though as you may know I am NOT a zombie fan), and I also loved its crew of teenage girls working to reconcile their fandom with feminism and social justice. Also, the pain of friendship breakup (and, spoiler, reunion) was well-captured. Not to mention the dream celeb romance!

I still don't really like zombies but the conceit of actual zombies at a zombie fan con was clever and should definitely appeal to fans of Walking Dead etc.

HMM. I picked this up because I'm seeing the musical in a few months and wanted to check out the source material (tho I know changes have been made and this is and older book). This book is...gross, in a way that is intentional. I have read a few other YA books that are focused on like, a graphically realistic Teenage Boy POV, and since I have never been a teenage boy I cannot speak to the realism of it. I can say it's gross to read the POV of someone who so completely objectifies women (even if he does so to a lesser degree than some of his gross male peers).

That said--I think the SQUIP idea is very interesting and compelling, and I think Jeremy's arc is interesting and moves toward growth/understanding Women Are People. That said, I mean, this book is 15 years old and in a lot of ways feels very dated. I wouldn't recommend it to teens now.

It's also odd because I think Vizzini's other books are so full of empathy that it's odd to find that quality lacking here :/

aaa I couldn't put this down and am scrambling to get my hands on the next one! aaaaa

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re-read for the podcast, this still slaps

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-142-scythe/

This is like, a lot.