2022: An important book that should STAY in high school libraries

The high school next to mine just had a 12-month long discussion about whether this book should stay on the library's shelves. I wanted to read it, not only because it had been recommended to me as a great book about being non-binary, but also so I could have an opinion on the discussion happening in my hometown. Don't worry–they voted to keep the book in the library WAHOO

Honestly, I loved this graphic memoir. Kobabe dives deep into eir life, in one of the most personal memoirs I've ever read. There is a thorough recap here from eir very early childhood memories (honestly, very impressive, I don't remember nearly as much) through eir current struggles with how to introduce eirself to eir students and what eir new nephew should call em. I, too, am excited for us to come up with a good gender neutral term for aunts/uncles and for nieces/nephews (have we settled on nibling? not yet?)

In terms of whether this belongs on school library shelves, my answer is an unabashedly YES. There are two panels that I could see the argument for being more graphic than expected. But honestly, teens in high school are without a doubt seeing images just as graphic or much worse than this in all sorts of media. This is a perfect example of graphic media with *appropriate* context. And that's what it comes down to! I would be interested in whether Kobabe decides to write a YA version of this book, because I think it's a super important resource for younger students to have access to. It's also great for us adults who don't know how to navigate young people having questions about their own genders, and I'd love to see more childcare workers having access to this book as well.

2022: Another heavy novel with a devastating twist at the end

As I continue to work my way through Whitehead's oeuvre, this book definitely rates towards the top (and apparently the rest of the Goodreads community agrees with me too). I liked it a lot more than I liked [b:The Intuitionist|16271|The Intuitionist|Colson Whitehead|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1550850779l/16271._SY75_.jpg|1632284] and it certainly had a better moving plot than [b:Sag Harbor|4428988|Sag Harbor|Colson Whitehead|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320549651l/4428988._SY75_.jpg|4477156]. And it's unsurprising, considering that this book is what made Whitehead one of only four people to ever win more than one Pulitzer Prize. *mind blown*

In the wake of recently reading [b:All My Rage|57899793|All My Rage|Sabaa Tahir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1629908086l/57899793._SY75_.jpg|90708139], it was hard to read another coming of age story in which the characters had their childhoods destroyed by trauma. The fact that this novel was based on a real life story of a "reform" school for boys that had SO MANY atrocities committed against them is also devastating. The main character, Elwood, struggles with listening to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's words and advice of loving your enemy, while he is literally being beaten and raped by people who are supposed to be taking care of him. It's heartbreaking and unfortunately much less surprising than it should be.

2022: a beautiful and unique and difficult memoir

Machado recounts an abusive relationship that she was in with a woman who is so manipulative and awful to her that I am just happy that Machado made it through and lived to tell her tale. This memoir was a lot to listen to in conjunction with me having just finished [b:I'm Glad My Mom Died|59364173|I'm Glad My Mom Died|Jennette McCurdy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1649286799l/59364173._SY75_.jpg|93537110]. I would prefer it if strong beautiful women would stop being abused, especially by other women! This also falls into the same category as [b:Know My Name|50196744|Know My Name|Chanel Miller|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567612158l/50196744._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73239835] by Chanel Miller: how horrible of an event for the author to have to suffer through, but I am damn impressed by the beautiful art that was created hence.

One of the adjectives I kept seeing in relation to this book was "unique"–and it is! From Machado using the second person point of view in her own memoir, to the structure of the various essays that only formed a narrative story when read together as a cohesive whole, to even the topic. As Machado mentions multiple times in this book, there has been very little written about abuse in queer relationships. The idea of memoirist as archivist is a beautiful way for Machado to contribute to the conversation and ensure that her story will not be forgotten or overlooked.

2022: an important chronicle of a specific point in time and place

It would be an insult to Louise Meriwether and too simplistic to say that this book is the Black girl's equivalent to [b:A Tree Grows in Brooklyn|14891|A Tree Grows in Brooklyn|Betty Smith|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327883484l/14891._SY75_.jpg|833257]. But it was shocking to me to see this book get a whole freaking forward from [a:James Baldwin|10427|James Baldwin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1343346341p2/10427.jpg] (!!) and then to see how it stacked up against Brooklyn. I'm not saying that Goodreads is the be-all, end-all here for whether a book deserves your attention. But it is a data point–and a very telling one at that. At the writing of this review, there have been fewer than 100 reviews written for Meriwether's book, and over 24,000 for Smith's.

The first and most obvious comparison is that both main characters are named Francie (a coincidence? As Number Runner was written after Brooklyn, I kinda don't think so). But overall, I certainly enjoyed reading about Betty Smith's Francie over Meriwether's. The Francie who lives in Brooklyn is way more optimistic and ambitious than the one who lives in Harlem. Is that to say she is a better character? No, I would argue that Francie in Harlem is more reflective of the community she lives in. Her family is dealing with A LOT.

And I don't remember the same level of sexual assault and harassment that is present in Harlem showing up in Brooklyn. Francie's neighbors are NEXT LEVEL. Francie is assaulted so many times in this book, and half of them are before she even starts her period. I remember difficulties at school and at home for Brooklyn Francie, but definitely not to the same level. Although both of their fathers are extremely frustrating characters and difficult to root for. Shoutout to Harlem Francie for getting in trouble for reading too much, we love a well read woman!

2022: definitely a classic worth taking the time to read

There's a reason this one has been so popular for so long. It took me a little bit to get into, but you do need to just sort of go with the flow here. Bradbury adapted this original short story into a longer novel, so there are definitely some elements that are not fully developed. I kept having to pause this audiobook to think about the questions it brought up: if you don't keep any records, do you have any history of how the world once was? Will we as a society ever get to a point where books will be entirely overshadowed by other types of media?

It was a delight watching Montag discover the world of books and learn more about the history of his world, but I wish it hadn't come at the expense of his wife. She was such an asshole of a character. Clarisse made up for the total lack of redeemable female characters a bit, but she was only in the book for such a short time that it almost doesn't count. I would love to see some other adaptations of this book, or consider an expansion of the story, but it also makes much more sense when you consider the context of the US / the world when it was originally written.

I had such high hopes for the Michael B. Jordan film version of this book, but it got terrible reviews, so I haven't prioritized it yet. Maybe now is the time!

2022: blew my socks off how much I enjoyed this one!

This was the first audiobook in a while where I specifically was like, so sorry "to do list", I simply cannot do anything else tonight but focus on this audiobook. I was fully invested in the story and enjoyed every minute of it. What a change from my usual experience with historical fiction! This one was definitely a crossover hit in my book. I definitely almost did not pick it up simply based on the front cover having a woman facing backwards (why are all the WWII novels like that?!?!) but I am so glad that I did.

My first note that I wrote down, about 20 pages into the novel, was "Oh so this is the girl version of The Imitation Game" and the short answer is yes, it is that. But Quinn did a hell of a job making some delightfully complex characters to carry her story. Yes, Alan Turing makes an appearance, but this story is for and about the women at Bletchley Park. This goes up there with [b:The Four Winds|53138081|The Four Winds|Kristin Hannah|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1594925043l/53138081._SY75_.jpg|79888572] as a historical fiction novel that I can actually see myself in the main characters.

About a third of the way into the novel, I was actually annoyed with the double timeline. I couldn't see where the overlap was going to be, and I didn't think that it added much to the story to just highlight how mad everyone was at each other in the future. But Quinn did an incredible job of adding tension and once I saw what they were also counting down to (not just the Royal Wedding), I was holding my breath during certain moments, waiting to see how it was all going to unfold. I was also screaming expletives at some of the later reveals in the book, making many heads turn while I was on my afternoon walk and listening to the audiobook at the same time.

I, being a fool who hates reading about history, immediately started learning everything I could about Bletchley Park as soon as the book ended. I also (again, see note about being a fool who hates history) did not realize until WAY TOO LONG into the book that the Philip that Olsa was dating was THE PRINCE PHILIP who married THE QUEEN ELIZABETH lololol The best part of all was that Quinn included an extensive recap at the end of the book detailing who was real and who was fictionalized in this story. Bless her for that! Some of us really needed it!

2022: Poorly structured and insincere and just plain wrong on many fronts

First off, the biggest disclosure of them all: my parents currently live in Damariscotta, and I spent about seven years of my life living here too. A lot of my gripes with this novel are super picky things that you would not care about unless you're from here. I completely acknowledge that, however there are still major problems with this novel that did not improve my opinion of it.

The second disclosure I have is that I read an ARC of this book. So there's definitely a possibility that some or many of these things that bothered me are improved in the final version, but something tells me that some of the bigger things did not get changed. The third disclosure is that my father was a FDNY firefighter during 9/11 and that I myself was present at the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, so disparaging either of those experiences really doesn't sit well with me.

My biggest issue with this novel was the structure. At the outset, Andy is set up to be the narrator and general investigator of the crime (despite not having any actual direct involvement or any criminal justice background or training). However, the plot moves through narrators like bees move through flowers; if Andy were really the narrator, us readers should be learning facts as he does through the use of the first person POV. But in this novel, there are indiscriminate switches of perspective and multiple uses of the omniscient third person that make no sense and facts that our narrator never learns. The second person POV shows up on page 249 for no reason whatsoever and really made me lose it. There's a random foreshadowing parenthetical aside to the reader on page 117...from whom?! Andy? The author himself? Unclear all around.

The timeline was never clear, about whether the current scene was happening in the present or the past, or if Andy was watching it happen, or just having another character describe it to him. Sometimes, he was receiving emails about an event with Steph that happened over a decade ago, but they were being told with the clarity of an event happening in the present. It was extremely confusing and hard to tell who was actually present at which moment. The jumping between timelines was also not consistent with chapter breaks, which would have helped immensely.

There is zero consistency between the styling of certain elements in this book. For example, sometimes he quotes a written note in the text of the page, and other times, there's a photo of a handwritten note included in the body of the page. White tackles texting and emailing throughout the book as if he's never done either, and for sure did not consult any teen in their freshman year of college to see what they text like. Also, if the reader has already read a note, we don't need to see it again in a further chapter, you can just reference it! We know what it says already!

On top of all that, the names used around Damariscotta really ground my gears. If White can legally use Great Salt Bay School and Damariscotta Hardware as the actual true names of the local elementary school and hardware store, why on earth does he change the name of the local high school? Especially if you're going to call the road it sits on "Academy Hill" but not call the school "Lincoln Academy".... Also, the restaurant known as "the Schooner" in this novel is referred to as "Schooner's" by every person I've ever met in Midcoast Maine. That's not even far enough away to avoid a copyright complaint, so why not just get it right? And if it WERE the proper name of the restaurant, please capitalize the "T" in "The"!

The final nail in the coffin was an extremely upsetting scene towards the end of the book, where the narrator (or maybe the author, it's unclear) tried to evoke sympathy for himself (?) by wishing that he had been more involved in either the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings (??) or if that wasn't possible, more affected by 9/11 (???) As someone who is grateful everyday that she was not MORE affected by either of these events, this was a horrible couple of pages to read. A direct quote: "Some part of me wished that in fact, I had known someone who had been on a plane, or in the Towers, or in the Pentagon." I'm sorry, what the actual fuck? Anywho, I'd highly recommend avoiding pages 300-303 and maybe just the whole book in general, I wasn't really a fan.

Overall, I'm extremely disappointed that this is the novel currently representing Damariscotta. Guess I'll just have to go write a new one myself. The +1 for calling them Bean boots instead of duck boots is the only thing I can thumbs up in this book. And the fact that he got most of the geography correct. It was kind of fun reading about the murder taking place about a half mile away from my parents' house (but at the same time, incredibly concerning to read about that haha). Lastly, I'll just say, there's no angry sentiment here about improving downtown; we love our new accessible, free, public restrooms!

2022: I overall would not recommend this book.

I saw this book in a Little Free Library and I immediately wanted to read it, as I have also broken a bone by having a piano fall while moving it. Not something that everyone can say about themselves! If you do not share this unique quality with this book, I'm not sure it something you need to go out of your way to try and find a copy of. The storyline had a promising premise, but it did not live up to the summary on the back of the cover.

I started this book thinking that our narrator Clara was actually the annoying, callous one (which she is) and I ended this book wondering how on earth Greg managed to make enough bad choices to somehow end up even WORSE than Clara. When Clara first arrives at Death Valley, I was totally #TeamGreg. Clara stole his camera and was messing up his whole shoot! She was reneging on every single promise she had made and was being overall super annoying. Objectively, following someone for a 5 hour drive and then messing up what they are doing is crazy behavior.

Then, Greg goes and takes the cake by making very forward moves towards Clara, saying that they need to bone because they are bonded by tragedy. Really? THEN, they both jump into bed with each other, and when I say bed, I mean a pile of blankets in the back of a moving van in the middle of the desert at dawn. I wish I was kidding. I did not believe ANY of the attraction that these characters were meant to have for each other. Essentially, Greg was like "Oh hi, let me tell you about how your father was actually having an affair with my mother. Yes, it did break up your parents' marriage, but I think what the universe is trying to tell us is that we need to fuck right now." And you're telling me that WORKED for Clara?!

There were a number of things that were also factually suspicious - for example, when Greg is driving into Death Valley and the question is asked, "How did Greg know where he was going?" .... there is like one main road in Death Valley. I'm sure he was just following that one? Also, according to the NPS website, you need a permit to do photography at this level. ALSO, you cannot just leave a piano in a National Park! It is considered litter! This is why you can't have drones at NPs, because if they crash and break, they hurt all of the habitats!

PS: if you're looking to check off a non-human narrator on your reading challenge this year, the piano also narrates the story at the end. Really the cherry on top of the whole book.

2022: a great introductory background to asexuality that was frustratingly broad in its scope

This is a well researched and fascinating discussion of sexuality. I don't know if I would have picked it up if not for it being recommended from a book club I'm a part of, but I am glad I did. Basically, the big takeaway is that EVERYTHING is a spectrum and you just have to find out where you fit on it. And that it's okay for that to change as you live and experience and grow, and if you're looking for a partner, you need to be able to communicate where you are on that spectrum with them. Okay, that I can get behind!

The main issue that I had here is not really with this well written book; it's with the author's thesis of the definition of asexuality. Chen spends the whole book saying that all of her definitions are purposefully kept loose and they all overlap with each other and you can be all of these things and none of these things at the same time... which was a very frustrating read. I understand that she is trying to expand the way asexuality is viewed by the typical allo person, but it would have been nice if there had been some conclusions drawn along the way.

I loved her clarifications between sex drive and sexual attraction being similar to the difference between being hungry and craving something specific. I also loved her examples of when you grow up in the Church (especially the Catholic one) your options presented to you are either having sex all the time and making a ton of babies, or you're celibate and a priest / nun. What if you fall somewhere in the middle? ACE did a great job of exploring all of the different steps in between constant sex with everyone and sex with no one.

Overall, I connected more with [b:Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life|22609341|Come as You Are The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life|Emily Nagoski|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1421037685l/22609341._SY75_.jpg|42099345] which I would still wholeheartedly recommend to anyone having sex with someone with a vagina. ACE was eye-opening and interesting, frustrating and helpful at the same time. I am left in complete agreement with Chen's assessment that the only people to whom it should matter how much you are having sex are the people in the relationship with you. *snaps*

2022: Hard to read if you enjoy watching women succeed

I picked this book up randomly in a used bookstore because I wanted to keep working on my 2022 goal of reading more books in translation. This is a hard challenge - I am so swayed by the marketing of the publishing companies in the US and I want to keep up with the books that people are reading around me too! Unfortunately, this was not one of my favorite books this year, and I feel like I had to struggle through it.

I will say, most of what I didn't like about it was due to the time period and how women were treated at that time–which was poorly. The novel starts with the main character referring to [b:Ulysses|338798|Ulysses|James Joyce|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1428891345l/338798._SY75_.jpg|2368224], which I have not yet read, and I wonder how much of the style of this book emulates Joyce. By the end of the book, I was impressed by just how much has changed in 60 years, and I am going to use that as the takeaway from this novel. Iceland is now considered to be one of the best countries to be a woman!

I read a review that wondered if Isey had actually written the story and that Hekla was just a character...which is really an interesting way to think about it. I would have enjoyed digging into this a little more if I had realized that from the start. Otherwise, I just spent the whole time yelling at Hekla, saying this man is a fuck boy dirt bag who doesn't deserve you, encourage you, or support you - dump his ass!