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livsinbooks's reviews
166 reviews
On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony
5.0
This is the only book my mom remembers reading in high school and she loved it. My mother was raised by an apostolic preacher. This is not the kind of book she should have ever been drawn to but she bought it when she was married and reread it (and she read A Child Called It bc it was early 2000s). And she bought it again early 2010s. And then I bought it (and then immediately after found the other two copies).
I loved this weird little book. This is fantasy obviously about life and death but it’s also… remember that weird movie about Jack Frost and the nightmare guy and the bunny rabbit everyone wanted to bang? It’s kind of like that but with bigger concepts instead of holidays. Dude kills death and then becomes him and then has to learn the politics and rules that comes along with the job and tries to hold onto his humanity during it as well.
There is a BADASS mode of transport (or two) that will intrigue two very different but specific kinds of Girlie™️.
The love interest is WILD and her dad is even more insane. I think this was published in the 80’s and this man is very very much a male 80’s fantasy writer so… it is cringe and could trigger sensitive people with some scenes. I truly can not explain the last bit of this book without spoiling anything but it’s ludicrous in all the best ways.
I loved this weird little book. This is fantasy obviously about life and death but it’s also… remember that weird movie about Jack Frost and the nightmare guy and the bunny rabbit everyone wanted to bang? It’s kind of like that but with bigger concepts instead of holidays. Dude kills death and then becomes him and then has to learn the politics and rules that comes along with the job and tries to hold onto his humanity during it as well.
There is a BADASS mode of transport (or two) that will intrigue two very different but specific kinds of Girlie™️.
The love interest is WILD and her dad is even more insane. I think this was published in the 80’s and this man is very very much a male 80’s fantasy writer so… it is cringe and could trigger sensitive people with some scenes. I truly can not explain the last bit of this book without spoiling anything but it’s ludicrous in all the best ways.
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
4.0
I read this in the sixth grade and I just remember reading a few chapters and having to write a short essay and we had a sub that day and I asked how to spell restaurant which I will never ever forget because she made me walk around in circles around the classroom spelling it out loud because “that way you’ll never forget”. She literally made me humiliate myself to learn to spell one word. I hate her. Whoever she was.
I love this book. Love love love. Classism. Racism. Gang violence. Love. Friendship. Loss. Grief. Mental health issues of sorts. So much. Just so much in such a short middle grade (?) book and done with such care and sensitivity.
I highly recommend this book even if I don’t know why I would have been talking about a restaurant in an essay about this book.
Edit: Upon googling for publication year… the author is a woman (who wrote this in HIGH SCHOOL) and that explains so much of the gentle way all of the hard topics are handled and how the voice is so very young adult. I think it also showcases extremely just how different teenagers are today than they were five or six decades ago and how some things truly never ever change.
I love this book. Love love love. Classism. Racism. Gang violence. Love. Friendship. Loss. Grief. Mental health issues of sorts. So much. Just so much in such a short middle grade (?) book and done with such care and sensitivity.
I highly recommend this book even if I don’t know why I would have been talking about a restaurant in an essay about this book.
Edit: Upon googling for publication year… the author is a woman (who wrote this in HIGH SCHOOL) and that explains so much of the gentle way all of the hard topics are handled and how the voice is so very young adult. I think it also showcases extremely just how different teenagers are today than they were five or six decades ago and how some things truly never ever change.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
5.0
I read this a couple times between freshman and my smushed sophomore/junior year. Then on my senior trip I bought it in Central Park at a few tables set up by the 8 mile bookstore. I did not understand this book at all. Especially at that age. If the movie is similar, I completely missed all of the bad. I don’t know if the book being from his perspective just washes over all of the bad and you have to interpret it but I will reread this as an adult at some point and let myself know how much of an idiot I was.
Paradise by Toni Morrison
5.0
Bottom line: if you’re trying to choose between this and another, choose this one.
They shoot the white girl first.
That opening line will stay with me for the rest of my life. It’s the only opening line I can recall. If anyone ever asks, it’s the only one that comes to mind. I didn’t know who Toni Morrison was when I read this book. I’m glad I didn’t. It would have intimidated the hell out of me and I wouldn’t have read it. I do not have the brainpower or the psychological understanding of people to understand the depths of this book but I don’t have to. I was gripped by every sentence of this book. I read a good chunk of this book in one go and it wasn’t until the shooting actually happened that I remembered there was a shooting. I was enthralled with the lives in the community. The way she shapes the lives together, the way she pushes them apart. Like I said. I’m not a critical reader type but even I could feel something profound when I was reading this. I remember finding it in my garage in my grandmother’s stack of mystery novels. It had an Oprah’s Book Club sticker on it and I love me some Oprah. There are unreliable narrators, unlikable characters, lovable characters, and a setting that feels like home and like a trap at the same time.
They shoot the white girl first.
That opening line will stay with me for the rest of my life. It’s the only opening line I can recall. If anyone ever asks, it’s the only one that comes to mind. I didn’t know who Toni Morrison was when I read this book. I’m glad I didn’t. It would have intimidated the hell out of me and I wouldn’t have read it. I do not have the brainpower or the psychological understanding of people to understand the depths of this book but I don’t have to. I was gripped by every sentence of this book. I read a good chunk of this book in one go and it wasn’t until the shooting actually happened that I remembered there was a shooting. I was enthralled with the lives in the community. The way she shapes the lives together, the way she pushes them apart. Like I said. I’m not a critical reader type but even I could feel something profound when I was reading this. I remember finding it in my garage in my grandmother’s stack of mystery novels. It had an Oprah’s Book Club sticker on it and I love me some Oprah. There are unreliable narrators, unlikable characters, lovable characters, and a setting that feels like home and like a trap at the same time.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
3.0
This is the first one in my reread that said… uh… dumbledore is an ass? My least favorite movie. Anything that makes Emma Thompson uncomfortable is not for me. I love that woman. Solid sequel and world building i.e. The Weasley’s home, the Whomping Willow, The Forbidden Forrest. It is the introduction of Dobby and I’ll be honest, I don’t like second hand embarrassment or constant worry of being caught and he is only those vibes. I do love him in theory but I do not love his introduction. Hagrid’s past is explored in this one quite a bit and he is my favorite part of most of the books.
I loved rereading these during the pandemic. The first time I read them they were an escape for my parents divorce and there were only … four? published at that time. Then it became a rebonding with my dad and his new wife. And then it became an escape from wondering if the world was going to die. I have a hard time reading this again as an adult entirely because of Dumbledore and Dobby. It’s so frustrating it takes me out of it every time. I do prefer the book for this installment in particular.
I loved rereading these during the pandemic. The first time I read them they were an escape for my parents divorce and there were only … four? published at that time. Then it became a rebonding with my dad and his new wife. And then it became an escape from wondering if the world was going to die. I have a hard time reading this again as an adult entirely because of Dumbledore and Dobby. It’s so frustrating it takes me out of it every time. I do prefer the book for this installment in particular.
The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
5.0
Hands down the best book in the series and you can fight me on that.
Dr. Montgomery Montgomery is a national treasure and statues should be erected of him. It’s formulaic. It’s a kids book but it’s dark and scary and the separation between child and adult is so apparent. It taught me that people you look to for answers are dumb and bad sometimes and sometimes you lose the ones that are smart and good. Trusting yourself and your inner circle but always giving everyone a chance to prove they’re trustworthy. Playing to your strengths and aiding in the strength of others. Sharing. Not being afraid of big emotions. And rationalizing probably. That’s what I think of when I think of this book. That 10 year old realization that everyone around you are just big kids who have no idea what’s going on either so pull up those boot straps and learn how to survive because you are still a child and you only have so much power.
Most of my vocabulary comes from these books. I love them. They are my comfort though I don’t read them much at all. I’m always worried one day I wont love them as much and that makes me sad. I learned so so so much from this series and I will always recommend to anyone of any age. Do you have a few free hours? Sit down and read the whole first one and see if you don’t make a few more hours to read the second. They are short and sweet and easy to follow.
I recommend this most for that 25-30 age. When you’re finally settling into yourself as a human and have that okay… this is it for decades. Pick these up. Escape for a while. Learn words you’ve forgotten you knew. Hang out with these siblings and prepare to want to fist fight pages and hug some others and you will cry in this one especially. I don’t think it gets more heartbreaking than this one. The rest also have their tragedies but man…
Dr. Montgomery Montgomery is a national treasure and statues should be erected of him. It’s formulaic. It’s a kids book but it’s dark and scary and the separation between child and adult is so apparent. It taught me that people you look to for answers are dumb and bad sometimes and sometimes you lose the ones that are smart and good. Trusting yourself and your inner circle but always giving everyone a chance to prove they’re trustworthy. Playing to your strengths and aiding in the strength of others. Sharing. Not being afraid of big emotions. And rationalizing probably. That’s what I think of when I think of this book. That 10 year old realization that everyone around you are just big kids who have no idea what’s going on either so pull up those boot straps and learn how to survive because you are still a child and you only have so much power.
Most of my vocabulary comes from these books. I love them. They are my comfort though I don’t read them much at all. I’m always worried one day I wont love them as much and that makes me sad. I learned so so so much from this series and I will always recommend to anyone of any age. Do you have a few free hours? Sit down and read the whole first one and see if you don’t make a few more hours to read the second. They are short and sweet and easy to follow.
I recommend this most for that 25-30 age. When you’re finally settling into yourself as a human and have that okay… this is it for decades. Pick these up. Escape for a while. Learn words you’ve forgotten you knew. Hang out with these siblings and prepare to want to fist fight pages and hug some others and you will cry in this one especially. I don’t think it gets more heartbreaking than this one. The rest also have their tragedies but man…
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
5.0
The one that started it all. This was a library book. It was the first time I ever got brave enough to ask the lady at the desk which book she would recommend because they didn’t have the Spiderwick Chronicles I wanted and honestly I was overwhelmed but I didn’t say any of that. Just one question and that’s all I could manage. I don’t remember who she was. I don’t remember what she looked like. I just remember my heart hammering in my chest when she took me to the aisle and showed me MULTIPLE books in series I would’ve been 8 or 9 probably. I don’t remember anything but her handing me the first two because there was no way I’d read the first and not want to come back the next day.
Thank you library lady and thank you to me for being brave once in my life. I cherish this series so much. It made the scary kind of normal in a way that didn’t mean I ignored it. Just that I processed it differently. I hope she only ever recommended this book to everyone in my town. I have a lot of feelings about this series. I read it during my most traumatic years. It saved me I think.
Thank you library lady and thank you to me for being brave once in my life. I cherish this series so much. It made the scary kind of normal in a way that didn’t mean I ignored it. Just that I processed it differently. I hope she only ever recommended this book to everyone in my town. I have a lot of feelings about this series. I read it during my most traumatic years. It saved me I think.
The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
5.0
This lady is a nutbag. I got lucky not to have truly crazy people at family functions. The verbal fighting always happened away from the grandparents out of respect and functions were always held at the grandparents house on both sides SO I never got to experience the crazy aunt or uncle in full and I always imagined if I had one it would be this lady (insert 20 years later literally… Oh. My. God… turns out my mom turned into this lady… and I am entirely prepared thanks to this book). I love her. It is a representation to me of that old adage of “a broken clock is right twice a day” and it’s also when I realized sometimes people get it wrong and sometimes they get it really wrong and sometimes they can admit it and sometimes they can’t. You don’t control the outcome of other people but your decisions can affect them.
Also. Never swim within an hour of eating.
Also. Never swim within an hour of eating.
The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket
3.0
One of my least favorite of the series but necessary. The child labor aspect is always kind of evident in all of the books but this one is so in your face. There is a bit of body horror. It’s basically the introduction to a life of labor and capitalism. And it’s too real. I wouldn’t skip any of the books because the lessons are too good but I don’t enjoy this one at all.
The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket
2.0
This is my actual least favorite of the series. But one of my favorite episodes of the Netflix series? I reread it at the same time and I don’t really remember the book but I remember not enjoying it much when I was younger.