wsu_tech_library's reviews
23 reviews

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

challenging hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

Available at WSU Tech Library. 

A lot of racial justice work for me, a midwestern white lady, boils down to following Maya Angelou's injunction to "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." Oluo has concrete advice for how to do better. 

Things in Jars by Jess Kidd

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Available at the Wichita Public Library. 

For readers who love female detectives, Victorian England, or cryptids, especially readers who love all three at once. 

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Available at the Wichita Public Library. 

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to hang out with Aztec death gods? During the Roaring Twenties? Well this book will answer those questions and more! Silvia Moreno-Garcia is an incredible writer whose stories are so lushly descriptive that reading them feels like watching a movie. 

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Available at Wichita Public Library. 

Fun! Also sometimes gross and cringey. There's more talk about fingernails than is really strictly necessary. But mostly fun! 

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

adventurous dark emotional mysterious

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

4.0

Available through interlibrary loan. 

Don't let the maudlin title dissuade you from trying out this mystery from Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk. This is a great mystery with a twist you won't see coming. (At least I didn't!)

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Available at the Wichita Public Library.

The Thursday Murder Club somehow manages to use classic murder-mystery tropes combined with some extremely unique detectives. Mystery lovers will have a lot of fun with this one!

Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

4.0

Available at the WSU Tech Library. 

Libertie tells the story of an African American female physician in Reconstruction-era Brooklyn through the eyes of her daughter, Libertie, who doesn't want the life her mother has chosen for her. The writing is scrumptious. Any fan of historical fiction will enjoy Libertie. 

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

5.0

Available at the WSU Tech Library.

Learning history through a graphic novel helps the reader find a whole new perspective on events we all assume we understand. I especially appreciated the jumps forward in time to intimate family details that frame the larger historical story. 

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring relaxing 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? Yes

5.0

Available at the Wichita Public Library. 

This is a great adventure story about chosen family. I laughed, I cried, I got allllll the warm fuzzies. Highly recommend! 

Hell's Half-Acre: The Untold Story of the Benders, a Serial Killer Family on the American Frontier by Susan Jonusas

adventurous dark informative

3.0

Available at the Wichita Public Library. 

Susan Jonusas is a wonderful, engaging storyteller. It's a bit disconcerting that she invents conversations between the Benders that no one could have heard. She seems to have a great theory about where the Benders went after they left southeastern Kansas, but there is enough obvious fiction that it makes me distrustful.