Once more, I don’t look properly into the books I take out! I am getting pretty used to being very surprised by the books that I end up with. Means I’m reading a lot of things I probably wouldn’t have considered in the first place.
This book is actually a short story. A very long short story. We follow Stella who is back in town to help after a childhood friend’s brother died. She is reminded of something she’d long ago forgotten — a strange children’s show that she had forgotten she was part of. One where the creepy old man told stories that seemed to foretell the ends of the children he watched.
It is a delightful concept! It combines a bunch of ideas that I love to see, from something innocuous turning out to actually be sinister if you look at it longer than five seconds, to prophecies that are surprisingly direct even at the time actually but you weren’t paying attention.
I sort of wish it was a little bit longer to see more things wrapped up, but ultimately, I think it ended at just the right place. It’s creepier and leaves a better impression where it ends here.
Is this another book picked up because it’s been on my saved shelf at the library for ages and I’m currently waiting on a bunch of holds that look like they are about to come in? Yes. Did any of the holds come in before I finished? Absolutely not.
The book follows Jess, a young woman living in the 90s and having what seems like a very typical life until one day something strange happens. One of her best friends drops a strange device that she’s never seen before and she starts to realize that her little town is not what it appears. She learns that she is the star of a reality show and has been since the day she was born, a secret kept from her all her life. Nothing in her world is real and Jess finds herself desperate to get to a reality she has never known.
Is this like a modern Truman show? Absolutely yes. I don’t think this shies away from the comparison at all, and I really did enjoy the execution of this. Jess feels very normal in contrast to the people slowly revealing themselves to be actors around her and it was interesting to see that there was an end date in place for Jess to learn the truth and leave potentially as a factor in this.
There are parts that feel less grounded than others. For the sake of the plot, she accepts what’s happening around her a lot easier than I would expect and is fully capable of getting around what are apparently trained military at one point in the book.
Even with all of this, it is a pretty fun read. I enjoyed it and the pace is pretty quick, so none of the strangeness overstays its welcome. And, well, I’m a 90s kid. I liked the references. You might enjoy it too!
Am I horribly burnt out? Yes. Was that the only reason I picked up this book? Also yes.
It’s mostly a book about burnout, the causes, and a bit more of a clinical take with the voice of someone talking to you over coffee. In the way a lot of books with clinical studies in them tend to do, it does tend to restate the same point in several different ways and angles, but each chapter ends with that TLDR which is useful when you find yourself glazing over the materials.
I thought the addition of putting a feminist lens on it was interesting, but ultimately it lost me around the parts where it started bringing in the patriarchy as well. I stopped relating because a lot of what was talked about centers more on women with families and filling very traditionally female roles, and I am burnt out because we are understaffed, I worked for a good while at 150% capacity, and only got a reduction in workload when my life went to hell and excess 50% was taken up by the flood matters.
I think I was expecting it to provide a lot more concrete strategies and advice on how to approach things, not just explain why it was not your fault and that we live in a society and all of those matters.
Overall it’s fine? It falls in the category of self help books where I didn’t really align with it and I might not be the person who this was for. I’ve seen others find this book to be lifechanging, so maybe it will be for you.
I will admit, I was very hesitant to pick up this one. It was giving me the feeling that it was a mis-categorized paranormal romance, or just that the library system didn’t have a paranormal romance section to file it under. But also it features cupcakes and was set in Vancouver, so I figured I might as well give it a shot.
The story follows Jade, a witch from Vancouver who owns a cupcake shop thanks to some never delved into nepotism. One day a vampire visits her shop as part of an investigation because there are paranormal beings in town being killed and it looks very much like vampires might be doing it. He is looking to clear vampires, but Jade’s very minimal and not well developed magic remains on the site of the murders, making her the prime suspect despite her being not only oblivious to these events, but also very provably not the person responsible.
This book is the most Vancouver book I have ever read. There are references to landmarks, to lifestyle habits, to shoes that permeate throughout the book. I have read other books set here, but this was the most set here book that I have ever read1 and I was fascinated. But also, I really loved it and it was a ton of fun.
It was also not incorrectly categorized! While it is written very much like those light paranormal romance novels with the same voice and levity and lack of stakes, there is no romance at the center of this story and it ends up being more about a mystery being used as a way to introduce you to the world of a magical Vancouver. There’s some interesting concepts and it does leave on a cliffhanger that I’m sure is there to set up the next book, but the universe is a very soft fantasy.
Overall, I thought it was cute! It’s a quick read, low drama even though it does center around a bunch of murders and threat of death in a few spots, and I had a lot of fun with it. Check it out if you’re looking for something quick!
I added this to my To Read list in my library a long time ago, but I’ve only just gotten around to it! I’ve been looking for a few quick reads to get me through the wait as several of my holds are so very close to coming in and, well, I am trying to make sure I have the time to actually read all those books I’m waiting for. And this one looked really quick!
The story follows a young boy in the south named Hoodoo, wo was born with a heart shaped birthmark under his eye. One day he starts to see a strange man both in and out of his dreams, but it’s not until a talking crow visits that what’s going on starts to become clear: He is here to collect a debt from his dead father, and Hoodoo has to pay up. Hoodoo knows he must kill this stranger, but he does not know how—Yet.
I had a lot of difficulty with this book, honestly. I’ve got trouble with books that are very voice-y, and Hoodoo has a very distinctive voice in this story in the way he speaks and tells the narrative. It lingers on explanations that I can tell the character would want to explain more, such as what Moonshine is, but not on elements that I found myself not fully comprehending. Granted, some of this is because I am an Asian from Vancouver who is not familiar with how the southern hoodoo magic intersects with the bible, and how the folklore associated with hoodoo works.
I should also mention that one of the pivotal moments of this book involves lynching, so content warning. It’s middle grade, so I really wasn’t expecting that.
Overall, I think this was just a book that wasn’t for me. I’m not the intended audience. The story moved along pretty quickly and seemed to be pretty solid for a young audience that is more familiar with the cultural elements that lost me.
I don’t know why, but I thought this book was supposed to be related to that Red Riding Hood movie that came out a decade ago. I remember hearing that there was a book that would make that movie make sense, and for whatever reason I thought this was that book. It is not.
This book follows Red, the Second Daughter1 who has to be given to the Wolf when she comes of age, leaving behind her sister to take over rule on her own when their mother dies. In this fantasy world, the wolf lives in the very dangerous Wilderwood, a forest that appears to be alive and with a motive of its own. Deep inside the forest, Red meets the Wolf and finds that much of what she’s been told about him and the history of their world has been a lie, but also that the Wilderwood is slowly dying and he is the only one keeping it alive so that it can continue to hold back the return of great evil.
So, first thing to mention here. Despite the title and cover, this is a Beauty and the Beast story. The Wolf2 is a cursed man living alone in a castle and Red is a young bookworm who realizes that he’s not as terrifying as the stories she’s heard all of her life. Instead, he’s cursed, lonely, and only means well.
I will note that I didn’t pick up on the romance aspect of the story until quite late in the narrative, which I like. Red has a whole lot happening, between figuring out her own ties to the Wilderwood, to understanding the truth behind the version of history she was told, to trying to see her sister again, that I just never picked up on it until the relationship was consummated. They got married and I didn’t pick up on the romance. I’m so good at this.
It is also full of very intricate world building. There were times when I wondered if this was a third or fourth book in a series. There’s a lot of elements in it that I really enjoy, such as the contrast between the history told and the actual history that gets uncovered, but there is just a lot of context revealed throughout the story as if it were common knowledge. I’m generally okay with this, but it does make it a lot harder for me to talk about the story because there’s parts of the lore that I’m more interested in than others.
Overall, I did enjoy it! It was an interesting read, and I haven’t done high fantasy in a while. It does some interesting things with the worldbuilding and the romance doesn’t overwhelm the narrative. If it sounds interesting, I’d say check it out.
I am just leaning into this self improvement book habit at this point. And somehow I keep finding these ones that feel kinda dated with talk of pagers and rolodexes and talk of paper clutter, but here we are.
This book covers the basics of organization. It’s structured to give you sections and areas of your life to focus on, from work to home, and encourages you to make changes piece by piece. The advice is pretty similar to other books of this sort, but there is a nice set of caveats that are added now and then accounting for people who may struggle due to things like health issues.
I feel like this is good for if you are just getting started on getting your life together and needed a starting point. Some of the advice is solid, but I’ve been putting together my systems for a few years now. There’s nothing new in here that I could really incorporate, and the book is a little dated in the references. I don’t think it actually introduced any new concepts to me, at least.
However, if you’re just starting out in trying to get your life in order, maybe this would work for you.
It’s been so long since I’ve gotten something from a local author to read, but over the holidays last year I got to go to an event with Pulp Literature with a whole bunch of local authors and fill up my TBR! And, of course, I am only just now getting to reading this one.
We follow Graciela, a young woman in a world where the metaverse is a reality. She spends her time in a virtual world, escaping from a complicated life of tragedy and complicated parental relationships. Her father has developed an AI that exists in the virtual world known as the Waves, and this creation of her father’s, who she has named Thomas, has been following her. While her father wants the AI back, but Gracie is torn between doing as she’s told and treating him like a fully formed person.
The concept overall is interesting and, while it does have elements of “The digital world is a drug that’s harming our children” that sentiment is largely contained to the older characters. In the context of Graciela, it’s viewed more as a coping mechanism to give her the space to discover herself and give her space to deal with loss and isolation while building confidence.
I did have a little trouble with the pacing. It’s a bit slow in the middle where she is spending more time in reality, and then everything feels like it happens in the last couple chapters. There were some things I felt could have used more setup and the tell about the truth about Thomas felt like she definitely should have recognized that a lot earlier.
Overall, though, I really did like the story. It’s a look at what could be through the lens of someone who has not only grown up around the technology, but is using it in a way that makes sense for their own lives. If it sounds interesting, definitely check it out!
My company has been talking about this book lately. About how the leadership teams and leads are all being required to read it, about how it’s so insightful and has so many great takeaways, and so I figured why not. It looked like a quick read.
For some context, the five questions for the modern entrepreneur or startup or what have you are:
Why is this a thing to do?
Who will want this?
What is the expected outcome need to change?
What needs to happen in order to make this?
How does it happen?
This book focuses on the the second and fourth question, contextualized appropriately: Who is this for and who will make it happen? It pitches these as the only two question you will need and everything else will fall into place. Mostly because you have now outsourced the other three questions to those two groups, which makes sense in context.
But I work as a product designer. So this is not remotely unique of a take to me.
It also insists that none of this is exploitation at one point which… I have no idea what that was about. Did I miss the part where you said not to pay anyone? It felt so strange, like it was bringing up an issue that didn’t exist unless the author was implementing some very shady business practices.
If you have not read many other business or entrepreneur books from the last decade or so, it’s going to give you some new information. But if you’ve read a bunch, then this is really just a different contextualization and focuses on a different part of the standard process that is preached by these books. So… if that sounds good.
Once more I have found my way to the self help type books. I seem to have an addiction. Perhaps I’m getting to the point where they are going to actually do something. But hey, this one is supposed to focus on organization, and I do love planning and strategies to organize things, so let’s check it out!
This book is, as implied, a year long guide to help you get yourself in order. It’s broken down into advice by month and making slow, incremental changes to what you’re doing in order to create habits that stick and keep you on top of your work. And, surprisingly, your personal life! There is quite an emphasis on also working on your home life, and making sure you are able to take breaks, stay healthy, and generally disconnect outside of work. Which is fantastic!
One thing that threw me several times, though, was just how dated the book feels. There’s specific references to PDAs and electric pencil sharpeners that feels jarring at this point. It also feels very specific to a traditional corporate setting given the inclusion of gift giving in an office setting and the need to network in order to advance in your career.
Overall, though, it is a surprisingly good read! The high level advice is pretty solid, even if the specifics might be industry specific, and the delivery of making it a slow progression over a year rather than all at once is good for foundational work. If you’re looking for some guidance on how to get your life in general organized, work and all, this might be a good starting point.
