Two Star review, originally posted here on May 19, 2016. It really pains me to rate this book so low. I really, really wanted it to be good. But it just isn’t good. We’ll start with the positive: Just like in Between Shades of Grey, Sepetys introduces western readers to a barely-known but highly traumatic … More Goodreads Review: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Five Star review, originally posted here on May 13, 2016. This book will knock you on your ass. It is a very harsh story about a very harsh life, beautifully written to draw you into the landscape and make you glad you can close the book and move on and never have to return to … More Goodreads Review: Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell
Five Star Review, originally posted here on May 13, 2016. This book is virtually perfect. The main thing I love is the voice of our narrator/protagonist. At the very beginning I was a little hesitant, because the writing seemed almost too juvenile and crude. But I have gone back and read my teenaged diaries before, … More Goodreads Review: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Alexie Sherman
Three Star review, originally posted here on May 13, 2016. Continuing my couple-decade-late attempt to catch up with this whole Harry Potter phenomenon… Okay, I have to admit that Rowling is starting to lose me at this point. My favorite thing about the first two books was being introduced to the magical world of magic. … More Goodreads Review: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Four Star review, originally posted here on April 15, 2016. This book had a couple issues. I realized, though, that most of that was just because it’s a YA novel, so I guess if I had read this as a 14 year old none of it would have bugged me. I could have done without … More Goodreads Review: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Five Star review, originally posted here on April 6, 2016. I am still surprised that I not only bothered reading this book, but liked it, and liked it enough to give it 5 stars. I used to visit battlefields with my family when I was a kid, and I learned about the Civil War, … More Goodreads Review: The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
Four Star review, originally posted here on March 19, 2016. This is actually a 4.5 star review. Somehow I made it through high school and on to my 30’s without having read 1984, so I realize that I’m even later to this party than I am to the Harry Potter party. Still, better late than … More Goodreads Review: 1984 by George Orwell
Four Star Review, originally posted here on February 23, 2016. First, a quick disclaimer: I did not actually finish the book, but I’m putting it down for now. I was nervous going into this one. Confession time: I have never read a book in Latvian before, except as a kid in Latvian school. Every now … More Goodreads Review: Meza Meitas by Sanita Reinsone
Here’s the deal. I like writing book reviews on Goodreads every time that I finish reading a book. It’s mostly for myself, because I like writing things down, because that’s what I do for fun. I recently finished reading two books that I did not particularly like (one I absolutely hated, the other had some pluses … More Anonymous Non-Goodreads Reviews of Anonymous Books
Four Star Review, orginally posted here on January 5th, 2016. For whatever reason I have read a whole bunch of memoirs over the past couple years, and I always find myself facing the tricky question of how much we should be evaluating the story vs how much we should be evaluating the writer. When the … More Goodreads Review: Suddenly, A Criminal by Melanija Vanaga
Helga without the H 