mybookish_era's reviews
572 reviews

Any Other Name: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

Spare by Prince Harry

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

My thoughts on Spare....

I actually really liked Spare a lot. I listened to the audiobook and Harry as a narrator is 2 thumbs way up. Just where the book starts is instant pain and all the pain that followed you could hear it in his voice. Harry was also very transparent about the fact that mistakes were made and accepted responsibility for those mistakes. While there was a lot of pain in this book there was a fair bit of happiness as well. His friends, family, Meg, the kiddos he spoke of all of them lovingly. He also talked of his military career with great pride...not an arrogant pride but a "I did something for the greater good" pride. My only real sadness that I have is that he waited so long to get the actual help that he needed for his PTSD.

It is clear throughout the book that Harry has a clear and genuinely real dislike for the tabloids and falsified reporting. There are also to many coincidences in the book and you know what they say about coincidences...that there really aren't any coincidences. It became clear early on in the book that Harry was set up to fail from the start. He was a scapegoat to be used whenever someone's public standing was lagging. By the end of the book my takeaway was that while Harry clearly loves his family (it's pretty obvious in the way he talks about them) he also realizes that they are toxic to his overall well-being.

The absolute very end of the book is one of my favorite endings ever. While I wanted to give this 5 stars there were somethings that I didn't really see how they were relevant but other than those few instances I enjoyed the book very much.

4.9 stars

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The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

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2.0

There There by Tommy Orange

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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5/5

I saw this book while researching books by Indigenous authors and immediately added it to my wishlist. This book is one that I will most definitely be re-reading...and I almost never re-read.

While a work of fiction there are actual historical events and Indigenous lore sprinkled in to the book. Have you ever read a work of fiction that reads like non-fiction? That was There There for me. I went into this book blind and had read no reviews of it prior to me reading it. The only mild annoyance I had with the book was that each chapter is told from the perspective of a different character and there are 12 main characters. It can be a lot if you aren't really prepared for it.

While the book is told from 12 different perspectives, all 12 of those perspectives will converge at the Big Powwow in Oakland California. Another thing I really enjoyed about There There is that it talks about life as a Urban Indian (the term the author used) and how difficult that life can be. There are many learning opportunities and life lessons that take place in this book. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and didn't want it to end.

Tis the Season for Revenge by Morgan Elizabeth

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced