This was a cool book to read to learn more about the background of how to min max a baseball bat swing. I am trying to get into baseball more because my fiance is an avid fan and I do enjoy going to the games, but I was curious about what made a hit better than another, a pitch harder to track than a different type of pitcher throw.
Although my copy of this book was barely 100 pages long, it still felt very long to read. This was expected since the first bit of the book talks about how it is a formal physics paper but put into book format. I did find that it helped to give me a better idea of how this game ticks. It seems to be that there is a plethora of variables that factor into how a player can maximize ball hit distance and direction. Some of these factors include temperature outside, temperature of the ball, type of wood used in the bat, length of the bat, where the player holds the bat (i.e. choke), altitude of the stadium, and more. I did find this book to be very informative, however it is incredibly dry (though has some good bits of humor sprinkled in since it is a passion project). Would recommend to any baseball fan that also has an interest in physics.
This book was very dark, much darker than I expected. I really enjoyed the themes of old, dark, salty, small town that had a mysterious presence in an old manner on top of a cliff. The main character Effie has a difficult life being the only woman in the architectural college. She desperately wants to be a literature student, but women are not admitted to the literature college. She has a love for a mysterious author who has recently passed and whose family is holding a competition to redesign his manor. She excitedly submits an entry for the competition and is chosen.
Effie embarks on a journey to the manor and learns things about the town and the late author’s family who have been left behind. The characters Effie meets have dark past themselves; each character is their own mystery.
The concept of the fairy king was dark and had a nice air of mystery that kept me engaged between the shittiness that Effie experienced from less metaphorical characters . This book gave me a true appreciation for the author Ava Reid and I am excited to read her other works. She explores themes of darkness like this well. I found this book somehow simultaneously awful and comfy cozy; it made me want to curl up on the couch cup of tea. It is reminiscent of old Grimm fairytales.
this was a modern romance about a woman, Alison, who lives in minnesota and finds out her ex boyfriend has died. upon arriving at his funeral, she quickly realizes he never told anyone that he broke up with her, and so they all assume she is still currently his girlfriend. she meets his attractive harrison ford-esque best friend, and they are subsequently stuck together each weekend emptying out their late friends condo so it can be put back on the market.
this was pretty run of the mill modern romance, although i did like how it took place in the midwest. the first 50% of the book was a bit boring for me, but the premise was there and unique. i also mainly read fantasy so i feel like i have some bias there when it comes to this genre. about 50% of the way through, the 2 main characters get together for the first time. it felt a little bit rushed to me to suddenly have this man so worried about Ali but maybe that’s because i read the 2nd half of this book in 1 4hr sitting.
some things that i noted:
the new years text from the future thing was my immediate prediction of what would happen as soon as adam mentioned how sam wanted to set him up with a girl that would be perfect for him at a NYE party
too much “our foreheads touched” idk that’s cringe to me but subjective
wasn’t smut like i thought it was going to be, very much behind closed doors/only talking about the make outs. my anticipation is based on what i hear about other modern romances and the ~3 books i have read (icebreaker series, butcher & blackbird)
i found the main conflict of people getting mad at Ali for trying to do things that “weren’t really her” to be a bit annoying and stupid. who cares if it’s not in character for her to sign up for an ultramarathon or take a hiking/camping trip through patagonia?? let her live her life and discover that she hates that on her own. i could understand if it’s an intervention because she is financially unstable or something health related but it really just boiled down to adam and her friends disliking that it wasn’t who she is at her core. people can discover likes and dislikes throughout their lives, felt kind of like a baseless conflict. i was expecting much more conflict from her pretending to be sam’s current gf
still was pretty cute, i would probably recommend to my friends who enjoy modern romances.
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
I got this as an ARC from NetGalley.
I really wanted to enjoy this book based on the premise that it is How to Train Your Dragon mixed with Fourth Wing. I do not feel like it properly lived up to that hype, and I wish it did. I think at a base level the idea was there, but that it almost went too quick to properly form an attachment to any of the characters. I think the idea of post modern dragon air force is cool, but there was not enough meaningful world building to really get me hooked.
The book takes place in/around Seattle, WA and the characters go to a school for dragon riding similar to Basgiath in Fourth Wing. The main character Markus has failed to "break a dragon" and must pack his bags and leave until one of his superior officers offers him the chance for redemption: to use a dragon whose rider was recently murdered and catch whoever has been hijacking the obsidian shipments.
This book was supposedly 180 pages, but I think it was more like 360 since it def felt longer. Ironically, I think it could have used more world building and probably less of the small things like being in class that don't matter as much. There were some cool aspects like gong to Amira's family dinner to talk to her mobster dad that I wish were explored more if Markus was supposed to be a double agent. Instead, we got capture the flag and other games that I feel like did not add much value for the worldbuilding or for creating attachments to the side characters. There was even a romance that I felt was a bit rushed, from classmates to full on banging.
The book ends in a way that sets it up for a sequel. I think that the concept is there and could be another great dragon read, but it definitely needs a bit of work.
I really enjoyed reading this book because it was a way to show how the most unlikely of methods could help you to have a better outlook on life. This book was emotional, but has at least one thing throughout all of the stories that I think any reader could relate to. This was a pretty quick read and each story left me feeling inspired. It was a good feel good book.
The only thing that felt off for me was how a lot of the characters talked about the librarian. The way they talked or thought about her was kind of gross, especially when she basically helped them turn their lives around.
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
This was an oddly unsettling book that I have read of this series thus far. Most of the mysteries that Flavia solves are somewhat detached from Flavia and the De Luce family, but this time they find her mother's body. Flavia then starts the arduous and emotional process of proving her mother's murder and solving it, which would be traumatic for anyone.
The ending of this book was a slight cliffhanger that was a great setup for the next book. I am heavily invested in Flavia, and I feel like this fits very well with the fact that I have been reading the Gallagher Girls series lately too. I love Flavia's adventures and I think the next books will be a great change of pace for her.
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was great to listen to because I love Neil Gaiman's writing and voice. The audiobook was narrated by him. I do not know much about norse mythology other than what I have seen in the Thor movies, but I think I liked this book more. It shows how Thor also kind of sucks as a major character in the myths, and it also explains how the gods came to be from Odin. The stories were many that I have not heard before, and are all somewhat cohesive in that they each provide context that helps with the last story of Ragnarok. This was cool to listen to, and I think more captivating to listen to rather than read.
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I loved this book dearly, and was surprised at how much so. Although I probably should not be surprised, given the rating I gave to the other prequel Witcher book, I still did not expect to have such a love for the characters. Geralt is such a wonderful character to follow along in his adventures, especially how he is an absolute simp for mommy Yennefer. I love the strange dynamic between them that has been formed from the last short story of the previous book. They have a love denial relationship, although the denial is def only coming from Yen. I am excited to read the other books in this series, this series is so much better than the TV show it is a crime that I don't see the books mentioned on bookish social media as often. 11/10 recommend and insanely glad I bought the special illustrated editions!!
This book has some great tips on how to better form goals that you want to achieve. The content is there while also not overwhelmingly dry. I did not ever feel bored while reading this. If you do not take any of the tips from this book, you will at least leave it feeling inspired to better form the goals in your life.
This was exactly what it was advertising to be: a lighthearted romance story between people with trauma and some smut. the writing wasn't great, but I do enjoy how the books in this series are very similar in themes to the movie Chef: they start off with the characters going through tough times, and their lives keep getting better even though you expect something bad to happen. This is a great light hearted read for in between serious books that are very deep. It is pretty surface level and it feels like a palette cleanser, but it almost feels like an insult to call it a palette cleanser since the characters are pretty loveable. This was not as smutty as the book before this, called Icebreaker, although that was some overkill on the smut given how innocent the covers look.
Overall, cute read, I enjoyed the characters a lot.