pinkbookscoffee's reviews
565 reviews

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

hopeful reflective medium-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? No

5.0

The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved it! This book had... 

• Delightful literary references. 

• Scenes that moved back and forth between 1960 and 1939/1940 

• Characters that I loved 

• Descriptions of places that made me want to visit them. 

• A resolution that I couldn’t guess 

Healing from trauma 

A good “spring” book.

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

challenging emotional informative sad fast-paced

This is the second graphic novel memoir that I’ve read. The other was George Takei’s They Called Us Enemy. 

 

Some thoughts about Persepolis 

• A story of something in the historically recent past that I knew very little about 

• Told from a unique perspective 

• The graphic novel format is interesting and tells the story at a fast pace 

• A sad, difficult story with violence discussed 

• A cautionary tale about fundamentalism 

• Builds empathy for the people inside countries with oppressive governments who are engagedin war 

 

I started reading Persepolis when there was a discussion about it among our district’s school board. The book had been approved by our literature review committee and gone to a test class. The last step was for the board to give final approval, but some school board members expressed concern about derogatory language toward women. In the end, they approved the book.  I’m glad that this book will be part of core curriculum for 11th grade students. 

 

The derogatory language? This happened maybe three times and always from the “bad guys”. 

The Quarantine Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

This book feels like hanging out with an old friend. It’s so funny and relatable. It’s kind of therapeutic. . 

I enjoy a book that’s a bit later in a series where basically the “romance” plot has already happened and the couple you’ve been following is married. It’s really nice to check in on them a couple years later. Other stuff happens, but there’s no relationship drama. They’re just doing regular married people stuff. 

The only real downside is that it kind of ends as if the pandemic was over after a year, when here we are three years later, with COVID not “over”. 

Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories: 1902-1903 by L.M. Montgomery

funny inspiring

Last night, I read a short story by Lucy Maud Montgomery(author of Anne of Green Gables) from 1903 called The Strike at Putney. 

It’s about a group of church ladies who are told by their church elders and minister that a missionary woman cannot speak in the church, because a woman cannot preach from the pulpit.

So they go on strike.

They stop organizing socials to raise money, don’t set fresh flowers out in the church, or clean and dust the church. The organist doesn’t play, and no women sing in the choir. 

“You know if a woman isn't fit to speak in the church she can't be fit to sing in it either."

The Strike at Putney by L. M. Montgomery

The men last two weeks.

I was delighted to read this story from 120 years ago about women opposing patriarchalism in church.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

A hopeful book about seeing the good in people.  

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

adventurous mysterious 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

5.0

It was so good. I couldn’t put it down. 

Fantasy, action, lovable characters. I thought they might be about to take down every hierarchical structure standing in their way at some points. 

 

I would preorder a book three right now if it were possible. 

Scattered Showers by Rainbow Rowell

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-paced

4.0

A delightful collection of short stories by Rainbow Rowell. A few that I had already read. 

• Midnights - New Years Eve story. Have already read and loved. Also in My True Love Gave To Me. 

• Kindred Spirits - Previously published, but I hadn’t read it yet. About a girl waiting in line for Star Wars The Force Awakens in 2015. Really cute. 

• Winter Songs for Summer - Set in what must be, like, 1999/2000ish on a college campus. Really cute story featuring mix CDs. 

• The Snow Ball - (skipped because it seemed Christmassy and I wanted to save it until after Thanksgiving) Cute. I like the weird best friends and Star Trek is obviously better than Prom. True Story: The day of my senior prom, I was at a theatre festival. 

• If the Fates Allow - Read last year and loved. About Christmas 2020. 

• The Prince and the Troll - Weird and fun. A sort of fantasy story about a bridge troll who I think turned out to be a mermaid, but her river had dried up. Because of the road. 

• Mixed Messages - I decided to read this, even though I haven’t read Attachments. It was an enjoyable story that was mostly a text message conversation between two friends who are women nearing their fifties. 

• *Snow for Christmas - the Simon Snow story. Haven’t read those books, but have read Fangirl. I skipped this one. 

• In Waiting - This was like being inside of Rainbow Rowell’s head. It was really funny at the beginning. It was really interesting and reflective as it progressed.

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

I loved all the different locations. I had also recently been to Palm Springs in July(for my daughter's dance competition) and really enjoyed all the jokes about how hot and ridiculous it is. A fun summery “rom-com”.