I didn’t really have a lot of interest in this book to start with. It’s historical fiction, and it’s based on the life of an author I’d never heard of, let alone read (Thomas Mann). But it was on my second round of judging for the BookTube Prize, so I had to give it READ MORE
Category: Book Review
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE – CHERIE JONES
Another book from my group for the quarterfinals of judging for the BookTube Prize, How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House is an interesting novel that managed to surprise me. I expected a mystery, with a few unexpected twists and turns and with a tropical backdrop. I was interested in it, and was pleased READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | HOW BEAUTIFUL WE WERE – IMBOLO MBUE
This was the first book I read for the quarterfinals of the BookTube Prize this year. I had heard of, but not read, Mbue’s earlier book (Behold the Dreamers), which garnered a lot of attention upon its release, particularly as it was selected for Oprah’s Book Club. So I was definitely interested in this READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE FIVE WOUNDS – KIRSTEN VALDEZ QUADE
I hadn’t even heard of this book when I was assigned it for my BookTube Prize reading. But I’m glad it was brought to my attention, and that I had a chance to give it a try. It’s not the kind of book I’ve been gravitating towards lately, either. It’s a family story, for READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY – AMOR TOWLES
This was the second book I read for the BookTube Prize 2022 Quarterfinals back in April-May. It’s another intimidating book as it’s lengthy and a little vague in its description. Like Cloud Cuckoo Land, The Lincoln Highway gave me an opportunity to try an author whose previous work has been widely lauded and recommended, READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE TREES – PERCIVAL EVERETT
For the second time in my BookTube Prize reading so far this year, I get to say: I have never read a book quite like this one. I think I’ll be challenged to even accurately describe it! It’s one of the books I read for the Quarterfinals round of the 2022 BookTube Prize, and READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | HELL OF A BOOK – JASON MOTT
I was not at all ready for this book. This was one of the books I read for the quarterfinals of the BookTube Prize, and I went into it expecting your straight-forward novel with some interesting themes and maybe some magical realism in the background. What I got was… not that. This book is READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | CLOUD CUCKOO LAND – ANTHONY DOERR
This book was daunting. It was the first I read for this year’s BookTube Prize Quarterfinals, mostly because I was unsure about it and it was looooong, so I wanted to get through it right away rather than worrying about it for weeks. I’m one of the only reviewers in the bookosphere who hasn’t READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | MATILDA – ROALD DAHL
I’ve read this book before, many times – of course I have. But not since I’ve had this blog, and so there has been this glaring gap in my reviewing that was the size of a tiny young girl named Matilda. My own kid is old enough now for Dahl’s less dark books, and READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | UNSETTLED GROUND – CLAIRE FULLER
This is the third book I read for the BookTube Prize‘s Quarterfinals. It’s a fairly simple story, that of a brother and sister who have been sheltered and kept largely separate from the world around them by their mother. They grow most of what they need, and scrounge enough money to pay bills by READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THIS IS GOING TO HURT – ADAM KAY
I’ve had this on my shelves since shortly after its publication about five years ago. In that time I’ve heard countless other bloggers and BookTubers chat about and review it (always in a very positive light), I’ve seen at least two other editions come out and I’ve seen it made in to a TV READ MORE
RE-READ REVIEW | Q’S LEGACY – HELENE HANFF
I read this one again after recommending it to someone and realizing it had been a while. I adored this book when I first read it, it was right down my bookish street and in Helene Hanff I found someone with both my love of books and sense of humour. Hanff is the author READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE 1619 PROJECT – NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES
I’ve been eagerly looking forward to this book since I first found out about it. It’s an expansion of an award-winning article published in The New York Times in 2019 to commemorate 400 years since the first ship carrying African slaves landed in America. It was a sensation, bringing a history not often taught READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE ANTHROPOCENE REVIEWED – JOHN GREEN
For anyone who has read Young Adult books in the 21st century, the name John Green is synonymous with the genre. His most famous book is, of course, The Fault In Our Stars (also the book that both got me back into reading for pleasure post-university, and the book that brought me into Young READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | MAID – STEPHANIE LAND
I committed the cardinal sin of bookworms by watching the TV adaptation of this book before actually reading it. But it didn’t really matter – they were both very good. This is the story of a particular life’s path, unique and yet also familiar to thousands (or more) of young people who spend their READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | TOMBOY SURVIVAL GUIDE – IVAN COYOTE
I read Care Of by Ivan Coyote, which was such a perfect book to read during times of doom and despair. It offered connection, empathy, and a small but significant opportunity to leave my existence behind. I was already a fan of Coyote’s, but that book really clinched it. I’ve had Tomboy Survival Guide READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | LET ME TELL YOU WHAT I MEAN – JOAN DIDION
I have a bit of a complicated relationship with Joan Didion. I first read her collection of non-fiction, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, because it’s the book I’d heard the most about. I liked her observation skills, that she had access to such a wide range of people and experiences, and that she wrote about a READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY – DOUGLAS ADAMS
Technically, this isn’t the first time I’ve read this book. My parents, odd ducks that they are, played the audiobook of this for all of us to listen to when I was about 6 or 7. I can’t remember it, of course, but it did feel generally familiar and comforting. Probably because of this READ MORE