This is probably the third time I've read this book. I was in 7th grade the first time and it was a FANTASTIC ride. I was the same age as the main character and I just ate this story up. I was in college when I read it the second time and it was just as fun. I remembered the main premise and the ending and that was about it. I got to experience the journey all over again. This time, I'm 30. The story has aged well for me. It's still fun. I noticed some pacing issues this time around that didn't bother me enough for me to notice them at 14 or 20. I didn't realize until adding this to my Goodreads that it's one of (the middle book actually) in a trilogy, so now I have more to explore in this universe.

Everyone is Beautiful is a slice of life, mostly comedic tale of Lanie's life as a wife and mother of three children under five. She has been uprooted from her Texas home and family and now lives in a small apartment with her husband and three young sons while her husband pursues his musical career.

Not a lot actually happens in this book, which is why it was "just okay" for me instead of good. I know I'll quickly forget about it. Now, if I were a mother I'm sure I'd relate to it more. The descriptions of motherhood were everything I think they should be: funny, draining, daunting, strange, meaningful, puke-filled. All of it. This is definitely a character driven book, centered around Lanie reclaiming herself after loosing herself in mothering three small and needy humans.

No one really changes in this book, though, despite the premise. Sure, Lanie learns to accept some help in babysitting and takes a few hours for herself every now and then. But she doesn't really change as a person.

So this one was not one of my favorite Katherine Center books. But that's okay. I don't think this one was meant for me.

So much happened in this book.

So much.

Too much.

There was never a second's pause in the action of this book and as a reader, I had a hard time taking a breath to process who actually doing the action and what it was they were doing. This book had a lot of promise. I love the idea of a band of unlikely companions out to save the world. Here's the group.

A daughter of a cutthroat pirate, last of an ancient lineage. (We learn the most about her and she's a decent enough character, but I need some pauses in the action to show some introspection and know her better.)
A squire, forced to choose between home and honor. (We get to know him fairly well, though he's still a flat character by the end.)
An immortal, avenging a broken promise. (Very mysterious. Not sure of some of his background or motivations beyond the generic.)
An assassin, exiled and bloodthirsty. (Not enough background on her either.)
An ancient sorceress, whose riddles hide an eerie foresight. (I didn't even catch much of who this person was. She was introduced late and too much was going on.)
A forger with a secret past. (I couldn't even tell you this guy's name.)
A bounty hunter with a score to settle. (Not much of a clue who this person is either.)

The reader is immediately plunked straight down into PLOT at the beginning of this story. That can be a good way to build tension, but here, it made for a hot mess. Now, granted, the battle was a hot mess. But I never quite got over the bewilderment. In 500 pages I expect some world building, but I feel like I was dropped into a world and only got to see a blur as we rushed through it, which means the world probably isn't that fleshed out in the author's mind. This makes the characters bland as well because I have no idea beyond vague tag lines of why the great evil is so great or why our characters are choosing to fight it. Characters don't get to deal with what happens to them and we lose out on so much growth because of that.

I was a big fan of the Red Queen series, warts and all. But I don't think I'll be a big fan of this series.

This was a tough book to read, but it's eye-opening.

Fair warning, there is a chapter on what happens to the body, what it is physically like, to experience death by exhaustion, thirst, and heat. It will destroy you.

This story follows the disastrous journey of 26 men who tried to cross the Mexican border into Arizona, through a region known as The Devil's Highway. Only 12 would make it out alive.

By using an overarching narrative, Luis Alberto Urrea explains the reality of border control agencies, the people that work in them, the systems in place to control immigration, and the hopes and dreams and experiences of those that try to cross the border without documentation. You'll get a view of the entire kaleidoscope of the issues surrounding the border and immigration. I highly recommend it.

I have probably re-read this book at least ten times by now. It's always one of my favorites and I love how JK Rowling's series grows with the audience as well as seeing how she herself grows an author over the course of Harry's time at Hogwarts. I reread this book and the rest of the series every year starting January 1st. It feels like going home.

Now, my Scholastic hardbacks are looking a little love-worn. But I'll never get new copies because 1) I cannot support a TERF financially, so no more Harry Potter merchandise and no reading any new books she publishes or watching movies in her universe and 2) they're mine and they've been with me since 3rd or 4th grade.

I don't believe art can be completely separated from the artist, but I also believe it can be to a very large extent. JK provided the art, but she didn't have anything to do with how I connected to others through it or what any of us brought to the series in reading it. Art is inherently changed by how we interact with it.

There are some parts of this book that don't translate well to the 2020s or perhaps just to my adulthood. Harry's thoughts about Dudley are particularly problematic. There's a lot of fat shaming in the early chapters. Now, this is a product of the 90s. That doesn't excuse the issues at all. But I also don't think I can expect the book to read like a book from this decade.

I think Harry Potter can still be enjoyed. We can have complex and conflicting thoughts about it and the author.

Again, as lovely as ever. I can't even begin to say how many times I've re-read this book.

This second installment of Harry's journey offers so much more than the first book did (or fairly, could).

There are so many enjoyable scenes that add depth to characters here, where characters deal with their own emotions, where they make rash decisions that aren't logical at all, where the children really feel like they are children.

This is the book that really grabbed me into the series and it's one of my favorite ones to reread.

This was my favorite Harry Potter book while originally reading the series. I have probably read it close to ten times over the last twenty years.
This is the point where the series starts to turn a little darker. The characterization of Lupin and Sirius adds so much depth to the series and begins to beg the question: can our heroes, the people we look up to most, have flaws or make mistakes? The big bad evil guy is no longer just some vague children's story villain. We begin to understand just how Voldemort has torn families and friends apart and how some witches and wizards chose Voldemort's promise of power at the expense of their friends' lives.
Every time I reread this book I am caught up in Harry's overwhelming sense of hope near the end of the book and I have an absolute crying fit afterward. Few scenes affect me like the scene where Harry is returning after visiting the inside of the Shrieking Shack and what happens on the other side of the Whomping Willow. The turn from unparalleled hope to devastation gripped me like no other scene had ever before and it's become a benchmark by which I measure the emotional effect of books.
I watched a youtuber blind react to this book when I was finished reading. It was wonderful to live vicariously through her first time experience with the book. Although the emotions I experience while reading this book have faded with time, they are still strong each time I reread it and it is always a treat.

So over a year later I realized I never reviewed this. I don't remember a lot, but what I do remember is ... uh, not good. 1.5 stars because it didn't make me want to light anything on fire.

This book felt like reading about a dumpster fire.

Things this book had:
- Instalove? Check
- Really foolish choices? Check
- Shallow and annoying main character? Check.
- Awful best friend? Check
- Abusive parents? Check
- Tons of description of eye colors and hair colors

Things this book didn't have:
- Interesting love interests
- Character development (none at all)
- World building? (nothing beyond Isolte's king is bad, life is hard)

At least the story didn't take long to read?