staceen's reviews
96 reviews

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

An intriguing idea, done well. I would have liked to have seen a few more "leaps".

You Get What You Pay For by Morgan Parker

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

I found Morgan's prose really breathtaking. Each essay was thought-provoking, funny, and insightful. 

Connie: A Memoir by Connie Chung

adventurous funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

I'm not really a news junkie but the NYT piece Generation Connie has always stuck with me. I knew very little of Connie Chung before reading but I loved learning about her life. She delves into her role in reporting (and making) the news, she names Names but also gives you lots of little anecdotes about people I didn't recognize that she might share at a cocktail party. She's funny, ballsy, and really inspiring. Highly recommend the audiobook. 

Is She Really Going Out with Him? by Sophie Cousens

emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

Adored this book. Couldn't put it down. 

Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

A gd delight of a weird little book. Just the right amount of magical realism for me. I can't recommend the audiobook enough. Kinda folksy in a Garrison Keillor way. Very true to New England/New Hampshire. The author's note on her research was really interesting. 

Everyone's Trash: One Man Against 1.6 Billion Pounds by Duncan Watson

hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

3.0

The editor or lack thereof did this book such a disservice. Some parts were SO fascinating and I wanted to know more about the process of recycling and trash disposal. Duncan seems like a lovely man, but some of the personal anecdotes were sooo dull. The Charlie Brown stuff was a fun factoid but didn't need to be half as long as it was. 

This should have been a fascinating Boston magazine article, or a book about waste with the author's personal story peppered in to a larger narrative. 

Mostly I hated that he devoted chapters to the little idiosyncrasies of his former colleagues but his former wife wasn't even named. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Very sweet, Katherine Center's books are always a treat.

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

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

5.0

Really compelling writing, if a little quirky. I found the characters very well-drawn and I'm fine with suspending my disbelief at some of the more unlikely moments. Read the last 400 pages in one sitting. A really good read. 

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

I struggled with rating this. It's written very simplistically, like a YA novel, so it's easy to fly through. I do appreciate a lite horror that actually ties up most of its loose ends. The characters were flat and, as someone on reddit said, "An ex drug addict protagonist that was also some kind of sheltered super prude." All that said, I enjoyed most of the experience of reading this. 

All that being said, the conservative dog whistles in this book abound. From the distain for atheists, to slut shaming, to anti-immigrant sentiment to Harry Potter. And then of course the big one. 

I think often readers can misinterpret a character's attitudes or feelings to mean that is what an author is trying to promote or endorse, but in this case I think it's spot on. 

Scam Goddess: Lessons from a Life of Cons, Grifts, and Schemes by Laci Mosley

funny lighthearted medium-paced

3.0

The strength of this book were Laci's personal anecdotes, unfortunately they were too few for me. I found the stories of fraudsters and scam artists ok, but way less interesting than the autobiographical ones. She has a great voice though, both on the page and in the audiobook. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse