Four star review, originally posted here on June 6, 2024. This book was, to my happy surprise, the exact book I needed at this exact moment in my life. I thought it would be a light, fun romp. Something simple to distract me from the serious shit of the real world. And it was! But … More Goodreads Review: The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs

Three star review, originally posted here on May 27th, 2024. Full disclosure: I came to this book after watching the TV show that is (supposedly) based on this book. The show interweaves tons of fascinating storylines, which was great. But the problem was that I couldn’t keep all of the stories straight, and, frankly, had … More Goodreads Review: Manhunt: the 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson

One star review, originally posted here on April 22nd, 2024. Uh oh. This review is going to cause some tension. Sigh. My brother-in-law recommended this book to me. He was mad at me when, years ago, I apparently “panned” his favorite book (The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which, for the record, I did not … More Goodreads Review: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Three star review, originally posted here on April 21, 2024. This book tells the history of a fish. That’s pretty much it. Now, sometimes books come along that are about a seemingly boring or inconsequential topic, but then the writing style or the subject matter itself is so mind-blowingly amazing that this niche topic sucks … More Goodreads Review: Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky

Four star review, originally posted here on April 21, 2024. This book felt like Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, but dripping with snark. Or at times like Alexandria Petri’s US History: Important American Documents (That I Made Up), but with nothing made up. The history is all real history, but this … More Goodreads Review: Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America by Michael Harriot

Three star review, originally posted here on April 8, 2024. Every now and then I decide to read a super popular book, even though I typically don’t like them all that much. Occasionally I love them, but even when I don’t, it’s interesting to see what the masses are into nowadays. I didn’t go looking … More Goodreads Review: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins