ryliereadss's reviews
284 reviews

How Dinosaurs Went Extinct: A Safety Guide by Jennifer Harney, Ame Dyckman

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Super appreciate the pronunciations of the dino names under them in the story. The reasons were so silly and the things the dinosaurs said were funny. Dad was pretty smart about it but I wish mom had caught on and contributed too. 

Bluff: Poems by Danez Smith

challenging dark hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.5

This is a great collection of poetry that touches on subjects of racism, colonialism, class, climate change, nature, and the future. Smith reflects on some of their earlier work in the beginning of the book, how they felt like they was writing for a white audience and how they don't want to do that anymore and they do this by using AAVE in some of the poems. Smith also has some poems about being a queer person of color. They really played with the visual aspects of some of the poems which I thought was really cool and well done. Some of the lines in the poems were absolutely fantastic. So glad I picked this up!

Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI by Madhumita Murgia

challenging informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

This book was very insightful to read. I don't know much about technology or AI and I found this book very accessible and well researched. I feel like this is the right time to read this book, the technology isn't old yet and the problems haven't been fixed. The chapter about deep fakes made me feel physically sick. It made me want to pay someone lots of money to scrub any pictures of me off the internet. 

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

adventurous mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.5

I ate this book up! The suspense and mystery really made me want to keep reading. I loved the mystery around the Farrow women and the murder case. I really enjoyed the time travel element of the story. June's little family is so cute! My heart broke for Eamon. Such a great magical realism, historical fiction book about family secrets, small town drama, and finding yourself.  

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

adventurous dark funny sad fast-paced

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

3.25

I can understand why this book is banned because of all the cursing but its also pretty silly. Kids curse! So what! It's just the way this character talks. I thought it was funny hearing him narrate and the things he repeated often, like the reassurances, "I really was." and things similar to that. It sounded like the kid had been through some tough stuff and I felt sympathy for him. His love for his sister was sweet. The last chapter surprised me. I would recommend checking this classic out!

Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by adrienne maree brown

challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

3.5

I should have been taking notes while reading this and I'll definitely do that when I reread it. There was lots of great information and strategies. I like the importance put on relationship building. This book is especially useful for people in activist groups and nonprofits.

My Parents Won't Stop Talking! by Tillie Walden, Emma Hunsinger

funny lighthearted fast-paced

This book is very fun and the illustrations are so colorful! Older elementary kids might relate more to the story of the book than younger kids but both will appreciate the pictures. I thought the parents conversation with the neighbors were fun to read too. We watch Molly go from a patient approach to transforming herself into what she needs. Loved the ending.

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

I love reading books written by poets. This was absolutely phenomenal. Cyrus's obsession with martyrs is fascinating and makes you think about the mark you will leave when you die. The flashbacks we get that are narrated by Cyrus's relatives were really great, I loved reading about his family history. In those chapters we also learn about some of Cyrus's family trauma. I really enjoyed the observations made about grief, death, wanting to die, and writing. I also really loved the queer elements in the story that I didn't expect. I thought Roya was such a unique character. The ending really surprised me. I can't wait to reread this.

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

adventurous dark mysterious slow-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

3.5

This was a great first read of Murakami's work. I really liked Tengo and Aomame, they were great characters, Aomame especially. It's crazy that their love lasted so long. I liked that not all the questions were answered at the end. The magical realism aspects were cool and kind of scandalous, kind of made me uncomfy at one point. The plot was good but I wasn't itching to pick it up to see what happened. The parts where Tengo went to see his dad in the nursing home were pretty slow and not as entertaining, kind of just waiting for something to happen that never did. But for the majority of the book I felt like the pacing was slow but not without reason and I didn't feel like it dragged. I hated all the mentions of boobs, so unnecessary and annoying. Would still recommend tho. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Sexual content

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

challenging emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

4.0

Such an important book that puts words to feelings that others might find difficult to express. I learned so much about feeling nonbinary and was reminded how important it is to correct people when they get my friend’s pronouns wrong!!