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bethbarron's reviews
477 reviews
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub
challenging
emotional
4.0
This is beautiful and wonderful and savory and will also rip your heart out and stomp on it.
I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
4.0
learn so much from everything I read by Ruta. Her novels are full of history that we are often not taught in America, presented in an approachable, beautiful way. This particular novel is about post-WWII communist Romania and the Ceauşescus who duped the western world into believing they were great while committing devastating acts of genocide. The novel follows a young high school aged boy, Cristian, as he navigates growing up during communist Romania. It is beautiful and heartbreaking.
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
4.0
Well this was a delight. I hope my retirement village is as lively as this one! Osman writes of a septuagenarian group who consider themselves detectives and sleuths (and successfully solve several murders and mysterious deaths). It was a wonderful January read -
White Pine: The Natural and Human History of a Foundational American Tree by John Pastor
4.5
Nerd alert: my first book of 2023 is a non-fiction work about the history of the American White Pine and its evolution through colonialism and climate change.
When I tell you I enjoyed this *so much* I mean it. Pastor takes readers through the use of the white pine as ship masts, houses, barns, and its subsequent decimation, then journeys through the CCC renewal projects and the white pine ecosystem, the controversial existence of Smokey the Bear, and on to modern day legacy old growth forests that are few and far between.
When I tell you I enjoyed this *so much* I mean it. Pastor takes readers through the use of the white pine as ship masts, houses, barns, and its subsequent decimation, then journeys through the CCC renewal projects and the white pine ecosystem, the controversial existence of Smokey the Bear, and on to modern day legacy old growth forests that are few and far between.
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was a fun thrilling read in the vein of Daisy Jones meets crime drama.
I liked the development of the secondary plot around the 1974 murder at the villa and the subsequent art surrounding it, but found the story of Emily and Chess's friendship a little boring and... Unhealthy and odd, especially their decision at the end. I would have preferred they didn't mirror the 1974 characters, I think -- a "learn from the past" situation.
Either way, a fun listen. Julie Whelan is becoming one of my favorite narrators!
Thanks NetGalley and St Martin's/Mcmillan for the free audiobook!
I liked the development of the secondary plot around the 1974 murder at the villa and the subsequent art surrounding it, but found the story of Emily and Chess's friendship a little boring and... Unhealthy and odd, especially their decision at the end. I would have preferred they didn't mirror the 1974 characters, I think -- a "learn from the past" situation.
Either way, a fun listen. Julie Whelan is becoming one of my favorite narrators!
Thanks NetGalley and St Martin's/Mcmillan for the free audiobook!
The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Woof. I will always be enamored by McCarthy's writing style. No quotations, leaving you to guess (pay attention) who is talking, no apostrophes for "not" contractions, so much vocabulary, so many references.
It's glorious.
However.
This book. It is both bizarre stream of consciousness and conversation and wonderfully heartbreaking depiction of someone struggling with heritage and mental illness (with a big ol' dose of incestuous feelings).
It's. Challenging. Interesting. Oddly compelling.
It's glorious.
However.
This book. It is both bizarre stream of consciousness and conversation and wonderfully heartbreaking depiction of someone struggling with heritage and mental illness (with a big ol' dose of incestuous feelings).
It's. Challenging. Interesting. Oddly compelling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3.0
I get it from a literay perspective, and it was entertaining, but I'll be damned if Franky Scott Fitz doesn't have the most exhausting writing style. Maybe it's my mental state but WHEW. A heavy lift.
A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw
3.0
The first part intrigued me enough to finish the novel, but I felt a little let down by the end.