finallyfinnian's reviews
72 reviews

Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link, Shelley Jackson

4.0

I loved one of the stories in this collection and really liked a couple more. They're just the kind of work I generally really love--weird, off-beat, supernatural, a little hard to get. Reading a couple at a time over a period of a couple weeks was the best way to do it. Read too many in a row and they start to feel like they're trying too hard to be weird.
Overall, these are excellent short stories and I do recommend them to people who enjoy reading shorts.

Sandman by Tammy Bird

5.0

I should note first that I don't normally read thrillers. I read this one because I heard the author read a five-minute snippet from this book at a reading and it was visceral enough to make me want to check out the book. Once I was in, I was deeply in. The characters are well-rounded and interesting with their individual foibles and their real human conversations. I love how the author delved into the psyches of the different characters, especially when dealing with people who don't normally get a voice in fiction. The book gave me several gasp-out-loud moments. There were enough twists to keep it interesting and, without giving anything away, a couple of times when I was sure the author was going to do one thing and they took it another direction instead. I liked the bits of comic relief and the human stories behind the mystery. One important aspect of this book is the very real look into a character with autism - something we need more of by authors who do so with the same sensitivity, insight, and love that this author did. I look forward to more from this author.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

3.0

Every once in a while, I stumble across a book that I can't put down until it's over. This is one of those books. I picked up this book before work with the intention of reading just a chapter in the few minutes I had - when I was forced to put it down, I thought about it, wanting to get back to it and the next time I picked it up, I read until the end. This story is told through an omniscient narrator which gives the reader some distance from the inner feelings of the character. In a way, that distance makes the intimate horrors of the prison camp even more real and heartbreaking. I didn't know anything about this book when I picked it up and I'm glad. Read as a work of fiction, it is an amazing story. The writing itself isn't spectacular, but in a way, that made it more interesting to me. I wanted to focus on the characters.

There are some problematic things about this story- how much is real, why it says it is based on a true story when it also claims to be historical fiction. Unlike other reviewers, I don't think this book glamorizes the atrocities.

Somehow, I end up feeling unsure of how I feel about this book - but ultimately, I couldn't stop thinking about it while I was reading it and to me, that makes it a good book.

Trash: Stories by Dorothy Allison

4.0

Compelling, real, raw - one of my favorite books of narrative essays.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

5.0

This book destroyed me in a beautiful way. It's the best book I've read in years - I can't, in fact, currently think of a book that wrecked me more than this one. The language soars, the story is compelling, and the characters are so real, you want to touch them. The omniscient narrator (you all know by now) is death and damn if death doesn't keep dropping bits of information that I don't want to know. Several of these "oh by the way, this is going to happen" bits of information punched me in the heart and I had to take a break from the book to just get away for a while. It took me four days to read this book, because some passages were so breathtaking, I had to close my eyes for a moment and savor the words.

I know I'm late to the game on this book. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

5.0

Life in High Def by Kimberly Cooper Griffin

4.0

I truly loved this book and if you're interested in cut above romances with lesbian characters that steps out of the standard formula, this is it. I had a little trouble developing empathy for Reilly in the beginning, which was understandable because she was an ass. It's worth sticking around because once she goes to prison, she starts to become a different person, more well-rounded and infinitely more likable. The story itself is fantastic - I liked that it was darker than a typical romance. The plot ended up surprising me in several places and it kept me interested until the end.

Thumb's up, definitely recommend.

Other Girls by Avery Brooks

4.0

I really loved this excellent debut romance about a widowed mom who runs into the woman who bullied her in high school. The scenario creates a lot of tension and a lot of angst, and Brooks handles it well. The two main characters were well-developed and fortunately, so were the other characters. Drea is an excellent side character and Sam's son is adorable.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who appreciates a good woman-loving-woman romance.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

5.0

Wow. Just wow. A friend recommended this book and I read it without knowing anything about it, or about this author. I didn't even know the genre, I just started the book on faith.
Wow. I don't even know if I would classify this as a true romance - it's far more of a literary fiction/romance mix. The main character, Louisa, aka Lou, aka Clark lives at home with her incredibly realistic and funny family. The sister-rivalry between Louisa and Treena is believable - sometimes cringe-worthy, sometimes heartwarming.


When Lou is hired to work for Will, a man who became a quadriplegic after being hit by a motorcycle, her entire life changes and the story develops from there.

I just loved every character in this book. No one was flat, no one was a raging stereotype. Even the boring boyfriend had some depth, even if he was just there as a foil. I loved the Clark family, Will, Lou, and even the Traynor parents who had their own issues and human foibles. What I loved most is that the author didn't judge anyone. Even those characters who were making bad choices had their own feelings and insecurities.

This is an absolutely charming novel. I wouldn't miss it, no matter what genre you normally read.

How Long 'til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin

5.0

Absolutely stunning, appealing, beautifully descriptive stories that remind me of the ways language can create worlds beyond our reality. There wasn't a story in this collection that I didn't love.