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5/1: The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 1 (The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion #1) by Beth Brower (library, 2019) - I know this is a beloved series, but I'm here to tell you that it was a real snooze. Not my type of book. 2.5/5 stars
5/2: Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell (library, 2025) - There's a dog. That will make any book better, won't it? 4/5 stars
5/7: Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn (library audiobook narrated by Nicol Zanzarella, 2019) - I stand by my original review. This might be my favorite romance novel ever. 5/5 stars
5/9: Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum, narrated by Shanna Tran (library, 2022) - Look, this book was boring, preachy, and made me sort of hate life. Don't read this. What a waste of a good premise. 2.5/5 stars
5/9: American Fantasy by Emma Straub (library, 2026) - This was so readable, but isn't a good book? Whatever, it was fun, I think? 3/5 stars
5/9: One Fell Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles #3) by Ilona Andrews (library ebook, 2016) - I do find this series to be absolutely charming. There's a killer dog and a smart cat and werewolves and vampires and I think I'm just going to keep reading this series because I like it so much. It's not going to win a Pulitzer, but I don't need it to be a prize winner. 4/5 stars
5/13: On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes by Alexandara Horowitz (library, 2013) - This is a good starter for someone who walks the same block over and over and over again (ahem) to look at things through a new lens. 4/5 stars
5/16: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (ebook I own, 2026) - I did not care for this It Book everyone else loves. But I would kill for a tell-all written by Leta Armstrong. 3/5 stars
5/16: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (library audiobook narrated by Bernadette Dunne, 1962) - I always want Jackson books to be slightly better. The writing is really good, but there's just something chilly about the writing that means I feel like the author's holding me at a distance. 3/5 stars
5/23: Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History by Lea Ypi (library, 2021) - I don't know. Memoir isn't for me. This girl grew up under Soviet-style socialism and Albania until the turbulent 1990s changed everything in the country. It just wasn't for me. 3/5 stars
5/26: Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson (library, 2023) - We read this for my IRL book club. I thought it was a pretty good read, although it wasn't particularly memorable. 4/5 stars
5/28: Platform Decay (Murderbot #8) by Martha Wells (library, 2026) - The early books in this series were such a joy for me. Murderbot was hysterical and there were a lot of lines that made me laugh out loud. As Murderbot develops relationships with humans, they are less sarcastic and misanthropic and I enjoy the series less and less. I'm probably going to stop reading here. 3/5 stars
5/31: The Appeal (The Appeal #1) by Janice Hallet (library, 2022) - Two first-year law students are digging through emails and other documents to try to figure out how a theater company is involved in a death. It was fast-paced, but I was super confused by the transition from the English version to the American (they used dollars for everything, but America was "across the pond" and it made everything kind of confusing). Enjoyable mystery, I thought. 4/5 stars
Average star rating: 3.46/5 stars
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Did not finish:
Lake Effect by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney - I was listening on audiobook and, frankly, marriage in peril makes me exceedingly uncomfortable. This is a me problem, but I was raised in a family with domestic violence and when parents are fighting/cheating, I get suuuuuper anxious. DNF at 13%.
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I'm ready to get slammed because I know Yesteryear and Emma Lion are super beloved. What is a book you don't love that everyone else does?
I'm not a fan of Liane Moriarty's work. And like you, I read Yesteryear and disliked it. The narrator, aside from being unreliable, is completely unlikeable and there was way too much abuse and suffering that felt gratuitous. I suppose the twist was interesting, but...I actually fast-forwarded on my tablet to get to the end and figure it out rather than read the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteI don't care if characters are unlikeable. That's fine. But there was no reason for her to be so unlikeable. Why was she like that? It didn't make any sense and the author didn't try to help us understand. I just felt like Burke wants to blame women for the state of the world and I'm not as interested in the blame game as I am in understanding where people are coming from. I have such strong feelings about Yesteryear and I don't understand why people love it so much. It just seems so misogynistic to me.
DeleteTrue! I remember reading "Then She Found Me" by Elinor Lipman--a delightful book--and there is a character, Bernice, who is not very likeable but there are reasons for that, and there's characters who stand up for her. But Yesteryear has none of that. It is absolutely misogynistic. Thinking about it, I don't think any of the women in the book had any admirable qualities. The main character, her mother-in-law, the nannies, her frenemy...they were all in their own ways awful.
DeleteThe book everyone loved that I kind of hated was "The Idea of You." People sing the praises of this book from the rooftop and I was creeped out and thought the 40yo woman was so immature. Like what do you expect to happen when you sunbathe naked on a popstar's yacht? Did you not think paparazzi would take photos of you? Come on! Also as a woman in her 40s, I cannot even fathom falling for a guy in his 20s. GROSS. I feel the same way about a 40yo man and a 20yo woman. GROSS.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of this book, Lisa, but I agree with you. I'm yucked by age gaps and I would NEVER be naked in public. NEVER. Imagine. I'll take this one off my list of things to ever read.
DeleteI thought I would like "I Who Have Never Known Men," but it was kind of a slog for me.
ReplyDeleteIt is a quiet book. I can see why maybe it doesn't appeal.
DeleteI tried to read Outlander and just could NOT get into it. Just about everyone I know is in love with that series, and I can't stomach it.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to be an Outlander fan, but the sexual violence was so graphic and prevalent! I just opted out.
DeleteWell, I really liked Lake Effect and Yesteryear, and I'm reading We Have Always Lived in the Castle right now. Oh, I also read and liked The Appeal. I'm looking at the comments above- I also couldn't get into Outlander. Another book I remember everyone loving was Evie Drake Starts Over, but I really disliked it. I'm very curious about Emma M. Lion! You're one of the few who didn't like it. I'll probably try it if I can ever get my hands on a print copy- they don't have it at our library and I don't want to do audio.
ReplyDelete