This was the book that actually made me a Pratchett fan and I still love it a whole lot. Granted, the entire message is enough to send you into teary-land if you get thinking about the loss of the old dood.

Anyway, just a re-read for the joy of it. Still love this book.

Rating: 9 of 10

This book has been on my to-read list for a long time but somehow I never did buy it. My sister knew I wanted to read it and gave me her copy. When I asked her what she thought she told me she hated it and hadn't even finished it, she wanted to know what I thought.

Well.

I didn't love it. Which is not to say there isn't some interesting stuff in it. Also not to say I don't understand why people talked about it a lot. But I didn't think it came anywhere CLOSE to the hype. I also don't think it was a great book. Interesting idea not enacted in a very engaging way.

And the end, the almost-appendix thing, really made me want to throw the book out the window.

Overall I guess I'm glad I read it, I guess, but mostly I'm left kind of "meh, I wish that had been genuinely good."

Rating: 7 of 10

Well, the title is an indicator that the stories are going to be difficult. I had to stop about halfway through the book and just take a breather with something lighter for a few days before I returned. The stories are good, no doubt about it, but hard. Definitely hard.

If you're looking for a series of brusque short stories that make you think (and may trigger you, in some cases), this is it. Not recommended for lighthearted reading times, good for when you're ready to take on deep.

Rating: 8 of 10

It's been a long time since I picked up anything by a Hernandez brother. I walked into, of all places, a record shop and this was sitting on top of a shelf like it was waiting for me to pick it up. Who was I to ignore that call?

Anyway, it's OK. I've never found Gilbert as engaging as Jaime when it comes to storytelling. This one is interesting, a bit surreal, and the art is good. I can't say I'm over the moon about it but I liked it.

Rating: 7 of 10

I didn't enjoy this as much as her previous two books but it's a solidly written piece and I still really love her writing and the universe she's creating. The pace is slower somehow than the first two Wayfarers pieces. Anyway, worth reading.

Rating: 8 of 10

Blerg.

At first I thought I was struggling with this book because I started reading it as soon as I got progressive bifocals and it was literally hard to read - like, WITH MY EYES - so I was struggling there. Because I liked the first book and couldn't quite parse how I could enjoy the first book but be so freaking NOT into the second.

But my eyes adapted and I was still struggling. I just...I found it boring. And fleshed out with tripe. And I really thought a super short version of this tale would have been more than plenty. I know Sleeping Beauty has never been one of my faves, maybe that's part of it, but all of what was interesting and toothsome in the first book was lacking in the second.

Not sure if I'll read more of this series or not. This may have been a sophomore slump, it may also be that the first book was a freshman fluke. Either way - blerg to this one.

Rating: 5 of 10

Huber's other book (There is Nothing Wrong With You) has been a piece I've come back to many times over the years. I've been wanting to read this one for a long time and somehow just never managed to pick it up. Finally I have and I like it, it has some food for thought, but it doesn't ring the depth of my soul at all the way the other book does in some places. Reading Buddhist works is always a process of slowing down, which is a good thing, but I did find myself a bit impatient toward the end.

There's some sort of joke about not "getting it" here. I know.

But the primary concept - that what you give your energy to is what you then have - is very good food for thought indeed. I'm glad I read the book even if I'm not head over heels for it. I'm pretty sure Huber wouldn't want me to be anyway.

Rating: 8 of 10

Ugh. I did NOT like this book. I loved the Imperial Radch Trilogy so I thought I'd fall right back into the world. Lance attempted to read this book first, about a third of the way through he was like, "NOPE" and tossed it aside. I thought I'd have a go and I was determined to at least get further than he did, to see if there was anything there.

Yeah. NOPE.

Here's where it fell down for me:
1. The gender thing she's trying to do. OK, multiple/chosen/alternative genders can be interesting but in this case the language is just confusing, the inconsistency (wait, that person was "e" a minute ago now that person is "she" - who are we even talking about and why am I thinking more about their gender pronoun than the freaking storyline?!) is a large problem and the "just accept this" approach is frustrating to me as a reader. Not because I have an issue with alternative pronouns but because I have an issue with badly done, distracting from your point alternative pronouns.

2. The relationships. The story has several relationships that should have layers and be interesting. They are not. The relationships all feel incredibly two-dimensional and kind of "middle school flat" - if that makes sense. They have no depth, are not engaging, and seem to be build on ideas about relationships, not on actual interactive relationships.

3. The "caper" - this book promotes itself as kind of a caper/adventure thing. I did not see that. In fact, I was confused and bored pretty much the entire time.

4. The politics. Clearly there's a whole political world in Leckie's head. I wish more of it had been obvious on the page.

In the end, it wasn't so bad that I stopped reading, I decided to finish it hoping that something of the fun that was reading the Trilogy would emerge. It didn't. I just didn't find anything engaging about this piece which makes me sad.

Rating: 5 of 10

Mostly my response is, "Huh."

I read a lot of YA dystopian novels. I wish I could say this one was special. It wasn't. It wasn't BAD, it just wasn't special. I doubt I'll read the rest of the series.

Rating: 6 of 10

2018 Review:

1. It Devours by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor
2. Heartless by Gail Carriger
3. Timeless by Gail Carriger
4. Scythe by Neal Shusterman
5. Nation by Terry Pratchett
6. Wool by Hugh Howey
7. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
8. Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor
9. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
10. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor
11. For We Are Many by Dennis E. Taylor
12. All These Worlds by Dennis E. Taylor
13. Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
14. The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters
15. "On Inaccuracy" (essay) by Joe Manning
16. Becoming Dangerous Ed. by Katie West and Jasmine Elliot
17. Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan
18. Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman
19. Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
20. The Passage by Justin Cronin
21. No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty
22. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
23. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
24. The Scribblings of a Madcap Shambleton by Noel Fielding
25. After Alice by Gregory Maguire
26. Alice by Christina Henry
27. Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks
28. The Mermaid by Christina Henry
29. Origin by Dan Brown
30.) Shadow and Bone by Leigh Barduto
31. ) Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
32.) Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
33.) Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
34.) Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit
35.) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
36.) Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
37.) Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
38.) Once Upon A Winter's Night by Dennis L. McKiernan
39.) Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
40.) Cocktails: The New Classics by Frederic Le Bordays
41.) The Wild Unknown Journal by Kim Krans
42.) D&D Player's Handbook