callanisreading's reviews
196 reviews

Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 3 by Tomohito Oda

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Summer has arrived, and with it are new chances for Komi to make friends in this third installation of Komi Can't Communicate. Through practice with Tadano, Komi tries out her social skills and braves new summer adventures. 

Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 2 by Tomohito Oda

challenging funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Komi continues to make new friends in this second volume of Komi Can't Communicate. She boldly attempts new things and in the process, Komi earns the friendship of rivals, admirers, and other quiet folks. Oda's latest volume is as heartwarming and charming as the first installation.

Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 1 by Tomohito Oda

funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Komi's reputation precedes her -- she is known for her striking beauty and austere silence. Tadano also believes her to be aloof, until the two meet and he realizes she's painfully shy. In this funny, heartwarming saga, Tadano helps Komi inch toward her goal of making 100 friends. 

Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour

adventurous challenging dark funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Darren enjoys a carefree life marked by home-cooked meals with his mother, time with his partner Soraya, and relaxed employment as a Starbucks manager -- until he meets Rhett, a CEO of a tech startup in his building. Darren joins Rhett's company, immerses himself in cutthroat, corporate culture, and is unrecognizable to his friends and family when they need him most. In this ambitious, absurdist novel, Askaripour struggles to pull off a coherent satire, haphazardly introducing criticisms of capitalism and corporate racism. 

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Khai is avoiding relationships because he thinks his autism renders him incapable of emotions; determined to prove him wrong, Khai's mother searches for a bride on his behalf. Enter Esme, a woman living in Vietnam and in need of a good job, who agrees to come to America to seduce Khai. When they finally meet, Esme and Khai confront their misconceptions about each other, themselves, and how to love in this tender romance that shows anyone is capable of love. 

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

challenging reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Nora has recently lost a lot -- including her cat, partner, best friend, and job, to name a few -- and concludes her life has too many regrets to bear. Between life and death she arrives at The Midnight Library, which catalogs all the other lives she might have lived differently in each of the books on its shelves. In this predictable, moralizing novel, Nora explores all the lives she might have lived; she faces each of her regrets and in the process discovers what makes her life worth living.  

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

adventurous informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

Cults run the gamut, ranging from fitness groupies to Scientologists, and from Instagram followers to QAnon conspiracy theorists. In Cultish, Montrell explores the hallmarks of cult influence; the history of cults big and small; and the language that underpins cult success. With pulpy, fun prose, Montrell contemplates what qualifies as cultish and highlights the ways powerful, cultish language surrounds us all. 

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Despite his title-less father, determined Okonkwo fights and toils until he has grown into a respected pillar of his village, able to offer his children the advantages of birth he never enjoyed. But after his heroic rise, Okonkwo falls, destroyed by ill fate, children who will not take up his mantle, and missionaries who seek to change his village. With simple, heart-rending prose, Achebe chronicles a tragedy about our struggles against nature, society, and each other that transcends time and place. 

The Employees by Olga Ravn

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The Six-Thousand ship employs a mixture of humans and humanoids, all tasked with exploring the space and planets far from Earth. In a series of interviews, the crew of the ship contemplate the space objects they've collected, their fellow crewmates, and their feelings. With sparse, incisive prose, Ravn meditates on employment, memory, and humanity and asks how we define ourselves when our connections to home, work, past, and peers begin to unravel.

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert

challenging dark hopeful informative sad fast-paced

5.0

Faced with a mass extinction event, Kolbert looks closely at the devastated state of our planet and documents the destruction humanity has visited upon the globe. Consulting with researchers across disciplines and continents, she contemplates the history of extinction, the species we have lost, and the species we risk losing. In this blunt, insightful, and moving book, Kolbert explores humanity's legacy of extinction and compels readers to fight climate change -- for the sake of all living beings on our planet.