Scan barcode
zinelib's reviews
488 reviews
Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars: Space, Exploration, and Life on Earth by
informative
medium-paced
4.25
Kate Greene shares the story of her time on fake-Mars, which was an enclosure in Hawaii meant to simulate life for Mars colonists, with special attention to how food impacts the crew's mood and cohesion. Greene is a science writer, so chapters are punctuated with facts about space travel and other stuff. To me, one of the most interesting tidbits is that cis women are actually far more suited to space travel than cis men, mostly because their calorie intake and energy output is more efficient and weighs less. Women are psychologically and physically better at the rigors of space, too! Will that change anything? Not on your life!
How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
In this girl-gets-loses-gets back girl new adult novel, the lead characters are Nerds. The meet cute is actually a meet hostile, in that Shani and her mom hit May with their car. May isn't injured, but she's very not cool about the incident.
Shani is spending the winter break of her freshman year at Binghamton in Washington, DC in a fish fossil lab. She's fresh off a breakup with her first girlfriend. She's not out to her mom yet, so is mean to her because she can't talk about what she needs to share. May is staying with her dad, a TV weatherperson and being mean to him because he neglects her.
The two meet up when Shani takes a roommate's dog-walking job over Christmas. Shani and May are both Jewish--and both love Christmas music, which, ugh. Their love story is cute, and unlike in a lot of teen/new adult romances, both of them are flawed.
Shani is spending the winter break of her freshman year at Binghamton in Washington, DC in a fish fossil lab. She's fresh off a breakup with her first girlfriend. She's not out to her mom yet, so is mean to her because she can't talk about what she needs to share. May is staying with her dad, a TV weatherperson and being mean to him because he neglects her.
The two meet up when Shani takes a roommate's dog-walking job over Christmas. Shani and May are both Jewish--and both love Christmas music, which, ugh. Their love story is cute, and unlike in a lot of teen/new adult romances, both of them are flawed.
May turns on a cooking show where children sabotage each other to win college scholarships, because we live in a broken country where our kids need to compete to afford higher education. We get extremely sucked in, booing when a kid we don't like steals aged cheddar from a kid we do.
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I've been re-watching True Blood, which made me want to revisit the book series. I like the literary Sookie, but I can't keep the picture of Anna Paquin out of my head or her voice out of my ears. It's a fun, sweet read (despite murders, including one of the rainbow bridge variety, which should be banned IMO).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
Chicago Joe by
mysterious
medium-paced
For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.
The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.5
Behind-the-scenes in Bachelor-like show, we meet Charles, the reluctant contestant (he's in it to save his reputation after being pushed out of a tech company he co-founded) and his producer/handler, Dev, who is three months out from a relationship with another of the show's producers. Charles is full of anxieties that make him a challenging Bachelor (Prince? I forget) to love. Once Dev is assigned to Charlie full time, Charlie's experience gets easier. Dev notices what makes Charlie anxious. Also, Dev wholeheartedly believes in love and the magic of the show. He is sure that Charlie will find love by the end. And he's not wrong.
"Charm" is an apt word for the title, and "Offensive" is not. I was charmed the whole way through.
"Charm" is an apt word for the title, and "Offensive" is not. I was charmed the whole way through.
She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott, Alyson Derrick
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Molly shows up at the University of Pittsburgh an out-lesbian, but otherwise closeted--meaning that she isn't really herself, and maybe doesn't even know who she is. She does know she's got a massive crush on Cora, a girl from her high school, who like half of their graduating class is now at Pitt.
Alex is out--and about. Her girlfriend Natalie thinks Alex is a slut, and...maybe she's right? Alex decides that she wants to prove herself to Natalie, so while Natalie is on tour, and Alex is freshman-ing at Pitt, she determines that the way to show Natalie that she's a good person is by helping Molly get Cora.
What develops is an enemies-to-friends buddy story, until it starts to develop into something else!
Alex is out--and about. Her girlfriend Natalie thinks Alex is a slut, and...maybe she's right? Alex decides that she wants to prove herself to Natalie, so while Natalie is on tour, and Alex is freshman-ing at Pitt, she determines that the way to show Natalie that she's a good person is by helping Molly get Cora.
What develops is an enemies-to-friends buddy story, until it starts to develop into something else!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism
Thicker Than Water: A Memoir by Kerry Washington
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Washington's memoir made me like and appreciate her all the more. She's incredibly self-aware and self-reflective and is willing to share her racial analysis of the world.
Tehrangeles by Porochista Khakpour
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Tehrangeles is told in multiple voices, and in some chapters has omniscient narration. Most (all?) of the narrators are members of the Milani family, Iranian-Americans living in Los Angeles, wealthy due to a frozen food sensation created by dad Al (Ali). Mom Homa is quiet, aloof, but somehow also all in on the family's 24-carat lifestyle. The daughters are Violet, a 20-year-old model; Roxanna-Vanna, a 17 or 18-year old influencer; Mina a maybe 15 or 16-year-old closeted she-doesn't-know-what-yet-but-definitely-queer, and Haylee is 14 and a gym rat/health nut.
We meet the Milanis in late 2019 as they're planning a new reality show with producers. The worldwide shut down shuts down production, as well, and the family are left to their own neuroses. Violet takes up baking, Haylee takes up QAnon, Mina goes deep on K-pop, and Roxanna...lasts about two months before she decides they need to throw a party.
At one point I wondered if the four-daughters were Little Women-ish, but I didn't think the personalities gibed. But somewhere near the end, one of the sisters references the Alcott book, and we learn from author Khakpour that there was a connection--Tehrangeles started as a sort of hate-write of Little Women. That makes me like it a little more, but ultimately, I found the narration changes frustrating and the characters unsympathetic. I guess if it's a hate-write, the characters are meant to be annoying, but I think the book would have benefited from less authorial distaste.
We meet the Milanis in late 2019 as they're planning a new reality show with producers. The worldwide shut down shuts down production, as well, and the family are left to their own neuroses. Violet takes up baking, Haylee takes up QAnon, Mina goes deep on K-pop, and Roxanna...lasts about two months before she decides they need to throw a party.
At one point I wondered if the four-daughters were Little Women-ish, but I didn't think the personalities gibed. But somewhere near the end, one of the sisters references the Alcott book, and we learn from author Khakpour that there was a connection--Tehrangeles started as a sort of hate-write of Little Women. That makes me like it a little more, but ultimately, I found the narration changes frustrating and the characters unsympathetic. I guess if it's a hate-write, the characters are meant to be annoying, but I think the book would have benefited from less authorial distaste.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use
When Life Gives You Vampires by Gloria Duke
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
This is a fun story about an accidental vampire becoming accustomed to her new circumstances. Lily is our protagonist, and has a wonderfully supportive best friend. Her mom is okay, too, other than having tried to get Lily to lose weight her entire life. The weight thing has been hard on Lily's self-esteem, so she's surprised when a hottie like Tristan shows interest. But then...oops, turns out Tristan may have wanted only One Thing--Lily's tasty blood.
Too bad Tristan, who is actually a nice guy, if a little old fashioned (a hazard of being hundreds of years old), has an enemy, who uses Lily's accidental turning into a Huge Deal. Battle of life or death ensues and of course, love wins.
Too bad Tristan, who is actually a nice guy, if a little old fashioned (a hazard of being hundreds of years old), has an enemy, who uses Lily's accidental turning into a Huge Deal. Battle of life or death ensues and of course, love wins.
The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
The titular Clover is a death doula. She lives alone in her dead grandfather's old rent controlled apartment, and her only friend is her grandfather's old friend Leo (who is gratuitously Black with a gold tooth). Her life is strangers' passages, but in this part of Clover's story, someone moves into the building who wants to be her friend. And a guy from a death café maybe wants to date her. Suddenly she's interacting with living people, as well as the guy's grandmother (who seems to have a non-painful case of pancreatic cancer). Clover sees to granny (I finished this book two weeks ago and have forgotten everyone's names), and granny and the neighbor, and even the guy, who is kind of a douche, see to making Clover join the land of the living.
It's a fine story.
It's a fine story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death