2020: This book is great if you want to spend two hours just thinking about creativity. It's best used if you go into it with your own ideas about creativity, and compare them to Gilbert's. I would recommend steering clear of heading into this book without any preconceived notions, as Gilbert has some pretty crazy ideas that should not be taken literally (IMHO). I enjoyed the time I spent digging around in her brain, but I was happy enough to return to my own, perhaps less creative and more practical, mind.

2020: A fascinating memoir. This book was full of information that I learned once upon a time in an AP Bio class (and good ol APES), building upon the basics enough that I was interested, without going too far into the details that I got lost. The book alternates between stories from Jahren’s lab, and her personal life. It’s the personal stories that should be the most interesting, and yet it’s those that leave the biggest gaps and left me wondering, I’m sorry, how did we get here again? A lovely foray into sciencey narrative non-fiction, but not so clear that I can give it the full five stars.

2020: I overall enjoyed this multigenerational saga, and thought the ups and downs of Alma’s life were fascinating and engaging. I felt the pace of the novel to be extremely slow right before something HUGE would happen, and I would be almost ready to put the book down when BAM. This was a little disorienting, but it moved along enough that I was satisfied at the end.

2020: A very well written version of the apocalypse that I did not like. Of course I hated the ending, because I hate ambiguity, but also because it felt like it ended too soon? It felt like I was reading a section of a much larger novel, and Ma had chopped off the best part. I really did not care for anything that happened with Bob & The Facility, but was enthralled to watch Candance’s daily life wither away, and her starting up NY Ghost. I wanted that plot to continue and for Ma to go into more depth! I also felt a lot of foreboding ready this while the very beginnings of inklings surrounding the Coronavirus are spreading. Yay apocalypse!

2020: So, this book isn’t really about a serial killer. I mean, she is, but what I found most interesting and appealing in this story was Braithwaite’s comments on feminism, what men expect from women, and sibling rivalries. I laughed every time Korede was forced to remind Ayoola to NOT post on social media, but halfway through the novel, I was brought sharply back to reality that these women (well, mostly one of them) were KILLING people. I really struggled with my perceived take that some of the men deserved it, and the open ending that leads me to believe this will happen again. Sure, it’s meant to be satirical, but it was not bent enough for me to hop on board.

2020: I very much enjoyed this story and was constantly surprised by it. Woodson drew me into her world without any fluff and no extraneous details. Every word was carefully chosen and placed just where it needed to be. I thought the different time periods and storylines worked well, I was never confused about who was narrating at any given time. I wish there had been more of a definitive culmination to each of the stories, but I always do.

2020: Every single person who has never been sexually assaulted NEEDS to read this book, because you know someone who has and you need to understand what it does to them. If you know four people, you know someone who has been assaulted. If you have been assaulted, I also encourage you to read this story, but take your time with it, my friends, for it is a heavy read.

Miller talks about how Turner was always referenced in terms of his potential; I am so devastatingly sad that she suffered at his hands, but my God, if this is an example of her potential, I am so glad she was given the platform to share her talents with the world. She is a POWERHOUSE of an author, the imagery leaps off the page, and I seriously cannot believe this is her first book. I have not underlined so many sentences, so beautifully crafted, of both pain and suffering and joy and happiness in a book in a LONG time (maybe ever?)

First book of the year, best book of the year? More like best book I have read as an adult. I kid you not: READ THIS BOOK.

2020: oooh I have so many feelings about this book. First off, I feel that the premise of the book is basically what was delivered - a true story “about the sex lives of three real American women.” That much is true. However, framing this as “the deepest nonfiction portrait of desire ever written” is not what this book was.

I liked it because the story was told as a narrative, but I would have enjoyed some analysis, as it was nonfiction. Why these women? What do their specific stories have to teach us? I can’t help but agree with the many criticisms of this book that if you wanted to put America’s desire on display, you could have chosen a palette of women that more accurately reflect America.

Also, the idea that Maggie’s story is reflective of desire in women is so problematic and so misleading. She is literally assaulted and taken advantage of by her TEACHER and this story ripped me apart to read. I was infuriated by the many adults who played a part in this story and allowed this to happen to her. In this family, we believe victims.

That being said, this was an extremely well written narrative nonfiction book that I was gripped by. It made me think of how desire spills into the everyday of my own life. I also learned a couple new words while reading this book, and I love when that happens.

2020: WOW OKAY so this book is about twelve times better than the first in the series. Not perfect, I still had some issues with it, but it certainly made up for how awful I felt after reading the first one.

Tamlin was a terrible love interest and drove me insane, but let me tell you, I am 100% TEAM RHYSAND. The best part about this book was that it was Tamlin-free for 500 pages. I was very nervous this was going to turn into a Jacob in Twilight situation (there’s a reason why New Moon is the only one worth reading in that series and it’s because Edward is gone for a lot of that book), but I can happily say without giving too much away, Rhysand is the winner here.

Maas excels at one on one dialogue, and Feyre’s inner monologue and thoughts are expertly conveyed throughout. I was always clear how our heroine was feeling about a situation, but I really struggled when there were multiple characters all in a room together. I honestly am still not really sure what happened in the final climatic scene with the King (who is Jurian again and where did he come from? Why did Lucien have to ruin everything with his omg you’re my mate declaration?)

Another slight complaint that I have about this world is some very convenient rules that turn up out of nowhere (oh, High Faes can’t do that one specific thing? BUT WHY?!) Plot discrepancies aside, Maas is also WAY too fond of the em-dash and ellipses and not finishing sentences, which I think plays into my struggle with following the action and dialogue in multi-character scenes.

That being said, the feminist power in this sequel nearly almost negates how silly I thought some of the plot points were in the first book. Big fan of partners who encourage women to use their powers for good, and instead of locking them in rooms for weeks on end, teach them to read! #TeamRhysand Also the sex is way better in this book than the first one (is this considered a YA novel? Lord help me if 14 year old me ever got her hands on this)

2020: Overall, a big fan of this novel. It was a quick read, but I genuinely cared about both of these characters by the end. I think Rooney nailed the transition between high school and college, turning quite a specific story into an accessible and universal bildungsroman.

I absolutely loved all of the reminders of college life in Ireland, like calling classes “modules”, having gone to the Debs, references to RTÉ and driving down to Howth, being on J1s and Erasmus, and even Phoenix Park brought a smile to my face! I don’t know if I would have been so engaged with the story if I did not have the personal experience of studying in Ireland to fall back on.

The book’s absence of quotation marks was not annoying; I actually found it very easy to follow the rhythm of the dialogue. It made me think more about why we need quotation marks, or if there was a benefit of not using them?

Excited to get my hands on Conversations with Friends next!