Two star review, originally posted here on September 3, 2019. ** spoiler alert ** This book was hot garbage. I’ve read a couple early Grisham novels and LOVED them. I’ve read a couple later Grisham novels and was neutral on them. This one looked like it might be a return to the classic southern storytelling … More Goodreads Review: The Reckoning by John Grisham
Four star review, originally posted here on August 14, 2019. I don’t even know how I stumbled onto this book. I didn’t know who Alison Arndgrim was, don’t think I’ve ever even seen an episode of Little House on the Prarie, etc. But somehow this wound up in my audiobooks. And holy cow, was I … More Goodreads Review: Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated by Alison Arngrim
Three star review, originally posted here on August 1, 2019 I was surprised to find myself kinda meh on this book. I think the biggest issue was that I did things backwards and had already read Grandin’s later book, Animals in Translation, which I found much more engaging. Grandin repeated a lot of the most … More Goodreads Review: Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism by Temple Grandin and Deborah Marlowe
Four star review, originally posted here on July 19, 2019. I don’t really have too much to say about this one besides what can already be inferred from the blurb. Ratner does a good job telling a sad, crazy story about childhood in Cambodia. It is a seriously messed up story, beautifully told with the … More Goodreads Review: In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner
Four star review, originally posted here on July 16, 2019. Well this story is just batshit crazy! This is one of those non-fiction books with content so outrageously despicable that every couple pages you wind up screaming to somebody near you “Oh my God, they put the radium on their faces FOR FUN!” (or maybe … More Goodreads Review: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore
Four star review, originally posted here on June 20, 2019. I’m a little behind and catching up the last few weeks worth of book reviews, so I’m a little surprised to see that I put 4 stars; current memory would have put it at 3 stars, because I am remembering the issues I had with … More Goodreads Review: Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker
Three star review, originally posted here on June 4, 2019. Meh, kinda repetitive, and the characters were stupid. (har har) Okay, no, for real, I’m not sure how to review a Special Report, but I read the whole damn thing, so I’m gonna try. First of all, I listened to the audiobook, which is … More Goodreads Review: The Mueller Report: The Findings of the Special Counsel Investigation by Robert S. Mueller III
Three star review, originally posted here on May 31, 2019. This was a tough one to rate, and really I think I come down more around 3.4 stars than three- technically I’m more than neutral on it, but not quite more enough to say I liked it. Starting with the obvious pro: I’m a … More Goodreads Review of Among the Living and the Dead: A Tale of Exile and Homecoming on the War Roads of Europe by Inara Verzemnieks
Look, I know a lot of people have some very strong feelings about last night’s episode of Game of Thrones. I know this last season has been thoroughly controversial. Between the dark cinematography, the clunky timing, and the disappointment of seeing our beloved characters treated as they are, is it possible to regain the trust … More My Controversial Thoughts on Last Night’s Game of Thrones Finale
Four star review, originally posted here on May 19, 2019. Dave Cullen’s “Columbine” is easily one of the best, most important books I have ever read. And so I could not wait to get my hands on this, his second book, as soon as it came out. It is a very different book in many … More Goodreads Review: Parlkand: Birth of a Movement by Dave Cullen
Helga without the H 