readingwitherin's reviews
1605 reviews

This book was a good reminder of how we can exploit data in a certain way to get an answer we are happy with. While we should not do this, it does occasionally get done by certain bad-faith actors who want their own biases to be the most well known. 

This book hits home on how we need to make sure that the data cane be replicated again and again to get similar or even the same results. Without that the data is not usually correct and something has gone wrong when looking at the data. While some of this could be due to human error, it is always good to double-check how data is being collected, and interpreted, and who is behind the data collection funding. 

This is a childrens short story that helps them learn about one of the most famous female spies during WWII. It showcases her courage, and the importance of sticking up for what you believe in. 

Harriet is not feeling the Christmas spirit this year, in fact she is feeling the most unchristmassy she has ever felt. Her daughter being out of town isn't helping things, and her job is getting more and more chaotic the more she tries to do for the students she helps. It isn't until Harriet gets set on keeping a group of her students out of trouble, and ends up fixing up an old theatre and putting on a play that she starts to feel more Christmassy and learns the true meaning of community. This book is a good mix of White Christmas, and It's A Wonderful Life in my opinion. 
The love interest in this book was actually helpful and even though they do have a rough patch its one that can be fixed rather easily, and is one that didn't take away from the main part of the story. 

- Friends that become family
- Community building

This is an interesting take on some of the most popular parts of the Bible that showcase women. The author tells what she believes is the truth,  while adding in her own personal antidotes about the scripture to make it feel more personalized. I found it an interesting read and one that did make me think a little more about different parts of the Bible in a new way. 

The more I learned about Ms. Harris the more I wish things were different and we could have seen the future that she wanted to create for everyone. She is a fighter for justice and the people, and I loved learning more about her life from her childhood to her time in congress. I hope she continues on in any capacity she wants to and is able to help encourage the next generation of people in politics that is for the people by the people for all people. 

Truthfully I struggled with this book because it was kind of all over the place. I believe that was the point of it, but it did make it very hard to follow along with. This book is truly heartbreaking due to all of the loses that our main character has dealt with, add on the mental health difficulty she is facing, it is a lot for a teenager to deal with. The only real reprieve we see is when she is working in the towns cave system that is a tourist destination. These caves were interesting, but you could tell it was just to give our mc a bit of a break from all that she was dealing with in the rest of her life. Which is okay, it just didn't work for me personally. 

TW: Drug use, sexual assault, murder, death of a parent, and intense bullying. 

This was a fun and quick read. We have childhood friends who have grown apart after a time, but yet have also still cared about each other. They still know each other fairly well, and because of that this short story works. We see them come to realizations that they had been putting aside in order to keep going with the status quo to keep those around them happy. It's a perfect read for this time of year, when we need short books. 

Heather Cox Richardson covers what has happened in America that led us to this moment in time. it is a comprehensive history, but she tells it in a way that is easy to understand. While the last few chapters focus more on the present day, you will likely know a lot already, the parts before that are eye-opening to see what exactly got us to this point in time. It is one that has several different presidents involved. We see how we've come close to these times before, how we have overcome them, and how we can continue on as a country with just making a few changes to help others and to refocus on what actually matters. 

All of Jason Reynolds book are written so well and are always so impactful because of the stories he tells. This one is no exception and its a gut punch at times with how this teenage boy is going to potentially ruin his life to provide retribution towards the person that he thinks killed his brother. He is terrified though, and on the elevator ride down to the bottom floor of his apartment he meets so many people in his life who have the same thing, and are no longer living. They try to talk him out of and remind him that doing this will not make him feel better or make anyone else's life better. He's faced with hard truths on just a short elevator ride. 

A Must read for anyone who loves Jason Reynolds books and novels-in-verse. 

Book Review
The Enigma of Room 622 by Joel Dicker
The Enigma of Room 622 was a book that I was so excited to read because of the premise. However after I started it, it started to become overwhelming with all the other little details that were going on in the book. We have time jumps, and multiple pov's and it gets very confusing to know what is happening in what place.
I think this book had great potential, but due to it's length and all the jumping around it lost me. 

Overall I do think this book is okay, and I will say that reading it on audiobook did end up helping because of how I was able to speed it up and I only really cared about one storyline of the entire thing in the end.

If you like long winding mystery books this one will be great for you! This type of story just doesn't work for me right now.

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