meeshreads's reviews
730 reviews

This book is a wild ride. Slightly predictable in the last third or so. The audiobook is well read, a one character perspective. The main character was sort of unbelievably unlikeable and naive, yet I couldn't stop listening. A fun and slightly unhinged book. 

I really loved this book. On the surface, it's a story of a couple, from the charming (or maybe creepy) way they meet, jumping ahead to years into their marriage. But it delves way more into what makes each of them who they are, from events in their childhoods (each traumatic in different ways) and before they meet (college/finding themselves). Are they a true match, or were they simply seeking in each other something they felt they needed when they met, both feeling alone in a big city? and is the person they each fell in love with the real person, deep down, or a facade of how they wished to present themselves and be seen? Are they still compatible many years later with a kid on the mix? The book has some really fascinating tangents about monogamy, love, relationships, etc, and these characters are realistic, flawed, believable, lovable. If you really love a complex and fast moving plot, this might not be for you, but if you like to dig deep into characters, psychology, and sociology, read it!! 

I liked this book, it started out strong, I was invested in the mystery, but as it went on the story lost me a bit. I enjoyed the characters, particularly the main narrator, Joe, but overall I don't feel that the book as a whole is super memorable.

This book is less about cults than it is about Maria, her family and experiences, and mental illness. It's silly in parts, the recipes throughout are funny, and it's a bit chaotic in structure, but it was a quick listen, and Maria reading it helped it all make sense. I particularly enjoyed her impressions of her mother. 

As a completely skeptical, agnostic, cult-documentary-obsessed human who believes all organized religions are basically a cult, I loved this book. It really got me thinking about the terminology and phrases we use in all sorts of scenarios and fandoms that is Cultish (like English), and the book was entertaining and informative. I'll be reading Amanda's other books, (&podcast!) I really liked her writing style (&narration of the audiobook) and perspective. 

I feel like I really went on a journey with this memoir. Fom Rebel aka Melanie's childhood as a shy, sweets obsessed kid, whose life revolved around the dog shows her parents were involved in, an early goal of being a rapper, another stint as candy entrepreneur, through her move to the U.S., late bloomer status and dating life, her rise to stardom, adventures galore, and finding self acceptance and happiness in the end. I really liked it! Felt very authentic and honest. Audiobook read by the author is always a plus! 

I really liked this book. It's a quiet sort of novel, filled with everyday activities, but the setting is a future San Francisco, flooded and always raining. The narrator is Bo, an artist who no longer does art, she's alone, grieving, and cannot bring herself to leave the city, her home, even though everyone tells her she should join what remains of her family in Canada. She takes a job caretaking for a VERY old woman in her building, Mia. They build routines, Bo learns a lot about the history of the city through Mia's stories, she gets back into making art, and the ending is bittersweet. A really lovely book.

I always struggle to review a memoir that feels really personal. I agree with other reviews that there were frustrating aspects to Anna's story, but this is Anna's story to tell. I liked the format, going thru the recovery center day by day interspersed with looks back thru her life. The audiobook is well read by the author. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either. 

This was a fun mystery that kept me guessing to the very end. It's a bit of a slow burn as the narrator, Elliott, spins his web purposefully, taking the reader along for the ride. 

I liked Little Weirds more but this book is charming in a way that is unique to Jenny, and I love her. Being inside her brain is a good place for me to be. I recommend the audiobook, read by the author.