acouplereadss's reviews
1691 reviews

Big Mall: Shopping for Meaning by Kate Black

informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

When I first read the title to this book I thought “a book about malls! The nostalgia!” As a teenager I worked at my local mall and spent many hours with friends there. If you have a local mall, it’s a bit of a right of a right of passage if you will, to spend ridiculous amounts of time just hanging out at the mall. At least it was for my generation (shoutout to the 1990s kids)! Do kids these days hang out at malls?

When @coachhousebooks pitched this book I knew I needed to read it. Black grew up near West Edmonton mall, at that time the largest mall in North America. It’s since been surpassed by some even larger malls. This one has a zoo, a theme park, water slides, etc etc. The book goes through mall culture, capitalism, teen connections to the mall (oh hello🙋‍♀️), tragic mall deaths, animal exploitation, mass mall closures during the pandemic and what’s in store for the future.

One of my goals this year is to read a non-fiction per month and this was the perfect start for me in January! If you’re looking for a quick read that covers a lot, grab this one. I found it conversational, so easy to digest and quite nostalgic. Thank you @coachhousebooks for the copy in exchange for a review, 4⭐️!

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley

Go to review page

funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

Go to review page

funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

If you’d have asked me years ago if a book about time travel would’ve interested me I’d have said absolutely not. After The Time Traveller’s Wife I swore I’d never read another time travel associated book again because they always ruin me. And here I’ve done it to myself again. This one has it all: humour, romance, time travel, spy thriller, workplace antics and historical elements.

A government worker is given the opportunity of a lifetime, better salary and a task beyond her wildest dreams - living, assisting and monitoring Commander Graham Gore, a time expat from 1847, as his “bridge”. Quite literally plucked from history before meeting his untimely death, Gore is thrown into the 2020s. What’s a washing machine? Spotify? Television? All things contributing to Gore’s disorientation, not to mention every historical act ever. As time passes this roommate situation becomes more complicated for the “bridge”, both professionally and personally.

A little bit of historical fiction and sci-fi contributes to a tender and hard hitting read. You’ll fall into this one easily. Knocking off a star because it meandered a bit in the middle and the historical additions of Gore’s POV unfortunately didn’t grasp me because historical fiction is not my jam. Overall quite enjoyable and I can see this lasting, 4⭐️!

Lore Olympus: Volume Seven by Rachel Smythe

Go to review page

dark emotional funny hopeful fast-paced