Less readable than other [b:Twilight|41865|Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1361039443l/41865._SY75_.jpg|3212258] trash reads, I'm not sure I can recommend it even for the most dedicated Twilight love/hater. It's a gender reversed version starring Beau and Edythe. The only two whose genders don't change are Charlie and Renee because it would be unlikely for a court to award custody to a man because they're so biased. [eye roll]

This is a quick, easy read with heavy content that feels light.

The author, a young Black woman in tech discusses her path, lessons learned, triumphs, and what would make the work better for other people holding minoritized identities.

Here's are quotes for anyone who doesn't have a healthy relationship with their work:

Too many times I realized that in those moments [Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and Michael Brown's murders by law enforcement], my job should have put me first. Many of my hardest, most emotionally daunting days as a Black woman in tech coexist with the biggest news moments in history that have unfolded, play-by-play, in real time on the very social media companies I've worked for.

and

So many of us are coached to validate ourselves with the jobs that we do versus the value we ourselves bring to said job."

Thanks, Edelweiss, for the Digital ARC

Lulu is the girl next store to K-Pop idol Kai, whose stage name is Kite. She hasn't seen him in four years, since Kai left their New Jersey town in middle school to pursue his dream in South Korea. Both families are Chinese, and all of the characters are East Asian, though I think only the offstage idols are Korean. No judgment there, just observing what a worldwide phenomenon K-Pop is, and with a fierce fandom. The book is named for Kite's band, Karnival's fan community, the Fireworks, who flip out when it's announced that Kite is taking a break for health reasons. While the Fireworks assume Kite is still in Korea, he's actually hiding out in his childhood bedroom, spending time with his childhood best friend.

Of course neither Lulu nor Kai is exactly a child anymore, and the plot is a will-they-or-won't-they story. All of the characters are likable. Kai, or Kite, as Lulu calls him, suffers a bit of the perfect-YA-boyfriend syndrome, but that's the convention, so whatever. I think K-Pop YA is especially appealing because some of the world building is already done, in that it has such an established culture.

PS Author Lin is a librarian, and one of the characters attends college at MPOW.

Lulu is the girl next store to K-Pop idol Kai, whose stage name is Kite. She hasn't seen him in four years, since Kai left their New Jersey town in middle school to pursue his dream in South Korea. Both families are Chinese, and all of the characters are East Asian, though I think only the offstage idols are Korean. No judgment there, just observing what a worldwide phenomenon K-Pop is, and with a fierce fandom. The book is named for Kite's band, Karnival's fan community, the Fireworks, who flip out when it's announced that Kite is taking a break for health reasons. While the Fireworks assume Kite is still in Korea, he's actually hiding out in his childhood bedroom, spending time with his childhood best friend.

Of course neither Lulu nor Kai is exactly a child anymore, and the plot is a will-they-or-won't-they story. All of the characters are likable. Kai, or Kite, as Lulu calls him, suffers a bit of the perfect-YA-boyfriend syndrome, but that's the convention, so whatever. I think K-Pop YA is especially appealing because some of the world building is already done, in that it has such an established culture.

PS Author Lin is a librarian, and one of the characters attends college at MPOW.

I'm an E. Lockhart fan, but unfortunately my appreciation for her writing didn't carry me through Family of Liars. I gave up about 25% of the way in. (Hard to tell exactly because the Shelf app knocked me back to my previous login, like it does) The writing, as always, is clever, elegant, poetic, trenchant, etc., but I couldn't unlock much care for protagonist Carrie.

I'm a sympathetic narrator person, so care for the protagonist is essential for me. I also struggle with addition stories, and Carrie signals the reader that there's pill-popping danger ahead. It could also be tougher to love the Sinclairs if you've read [b:We Were Liars|16143347|We Were Liars|E. Lockhart|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1402749479l/16143347._SY75_.jpg|21975829], or if you just don't like rich people. ymmv

I'm not a WNBA fan (though not not a fan--I don't really watch any sports), so I didn't know much about BG going in. The book stops at her freshman season, and so much has happened since then, I wish the book had been updated.

I appreciate Griner's story, but I think, despite Griner's reported longtime love of writing, it feels more like a set-the-record-straight effort, which is legit! I can imagine when you're a 6'9 queer Texan Black woman with a few rocky relationships (father, coach, and other players), people make assumptions. Still, Griner doesn't really let the reader inside (perhaps for all the same reasons), so the narrative is a little plodding.

Authored by teenager Inzer, Diary is more of a sketchbook than a narrative work. I suppose it's amazing for a kid, but where I'd probably like it okay as a zine, for me, it's got limited depth as a book. I bet teens, weeaboos, and foodies will love it. For me, it was meh.

Shout out though, to the quality of the ebook. I appreciated being able to zoom in on the illustrations.

Four boarding school mean girls band together to keep the early decision slots for the top schools to themselves, doing whatever they deem necessary. Protagonist Olivia, a scholarship student goes along with her wealthy and wealthier friends and agrees to apply ED to Penn. Avery has dibs on Harvard, Sierra on Yale, Emma on Brown, and Margot maybe on Princeton, if I have that correct. Sierra and Margot could be reversed, but the main point is that Avery, a triple legacy, is going to fucking Harvard.

The first few chapters contain engrossing surprises, but some of the rest of the book's twists are more predictable. No matter, though, it's an absorbing read where everyone's flaws are revealed and many are forgiven. Here's a quote that anyone affiliated with an elite school will recognize

You know it's a time for healing when the school lawyer opens the assembly with a ten-minute warning against posting anything defamatory to social media or speaking to the press.

At least it didn't come with a request to donate to the school, which is also realistic.

The titular justice is a cranky member of SCOTUS, Howard Wynn, who seems to be losing it. Before he loses his faculties, he loses consciousness, leaving his clerk, Avery Keene in charge of his well-being, and saving America from its president. (Where does she get this stuff?) There is a sophisticated mystery to solve, some of it based on chess and some on clues left by Wynn for Avery, and occasionally Wynn's son, Jared (why did she choose that name??? and why is the sympathetic FBI agent named Robert Lee???) to unravel. The plot is compelling, and I appreciated sharp descriptions like

"Ruthlessly pampered"
"serrated by jealousy" and
"she had made ingratiation her blood sport"

Man, this book was long. It's Bacall's first autobio and then and addendum, which is pretty much all of her friends dying. I'm making the book sound bad, which it isn't. Bacall recalls, with impressive clarity, her long life, which was filled with famous people--celebrities, but also politicians and others. Did you know she and Adlai Stevenson were tight??? She knew everyone. Katharine (Katie) Hepburn was one of her besties after they survived the making of The African Queen together, which Bacall's husband Humphrey Bogart costarred in with Hepburn. Bacall drops every name imaginable from the 1940s into the 21st century.