Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief (by Benjamin Stevenson)

The book I finished on my Tahoe vacation was the latest in the Ernest Cunningham "fair play mystery" series, Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief.  Cunningham is sort of an accidental detective who keeps getting roped into complicated mystery scenarios.  (He's writing this one before he's actually solved it, while locked in a safe.) 

One twist halfway through based on lack of communication drove me a bit bananas, but luckily it was resolved before the denouement of the book.  On the whole I thought the solution to the mystery was clever and fair and I didn't predict it, which is always a fun outcome.

I'm trying to catch up on my reading goal for the year so this is one of the lighter books I'm sprinkling in. Fun!  

Anacortes Books

Mina and I took a six-day vacation to Anacortes to attempt to see some orcas (we succeeded!) and I finished three books on the trip.  For once, none of them were for the Read Harder Challenge - I started a fourth book for that, but it's not done yet. 

Famesick (by Lena Dunham)

I'd heard good things and once I picked up this memoir about Dunham and the making of Girls I could not put it down.  She is as annoying and blind to her privilege as you think she is but she's also been through so much (and seemingly was victimized by her former business partner, who I came out of this really hating).  It's well written, full of juicy details, and makes you angry all over again at how the healthcare system (even if you have all the money and privilege on earth) and the entertainment industry repeatedly fails women. Will side-eye Adam Driver forever and will forever root for Lena Dunham. 

Tell The Wolves I’m Home (by Carol Rifka Brunt)

This is from 2012 but I picked it up because of a recommendation on Reddit for AIDS-related literature that mentioned it in the same breath as one of my favorite novels, The Great Believers.  And holy shit is it good. I am sure this will end up on my top five list at the end of the year.  It's a coming-of-age novel set against the backdrop of AIDS (the 1980s, AZT isn't a thing yet at the beginning of the book), when a girl's beloved uncle dies of AIDS. It's emotionally complex and so subtly written, absolutely beautiful.  Brunt hasn't written anything since then (except there was something supposed to be published in 2024 that wasn't...) and that is sad to me because this book is so amazing. 

Green River Killer (by Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case) 

So it turns out that Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly fame is the son of Tom Jensen, a lead detective on the Green River Killer case.  This is a graphic novel written by Jensen and illustrated by Jonathan Case.  I enjoyed it but it was pretty fast and has less depth than I was hoping for. Ultimately the case was cracked by DNA in 2003 even though he was a suspect in 1983 (so many more lives lost...) so this focuses on Tom Jensen interviewing Gary Ridgway and taking him to the scenes of past crimes to try and get closure for the families whose loved ones were killed. But it's only 234 pages and we don't learn a ton about Jensen, Ridgway, or his victims. It's fine but not amazing.

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels (by Janice Hallett)

I enjoy Hallett's epistolary style, but this one wasn't quite as fun as the last one, about a pub trivia group. This one is about a cult and is very complicated, with lots of players to keep straight and some twists that would land better if I remembered who half these people were.

There's also one development at the end that I didn't care for but no spoilers.  This was a fast-paced vacation read, but the only book I finished on a very short jaunt to Vegas.  I probably will continue to be a Hallett completionist though, and check out Twyford Code next. 

Canada Books

Yep, another vacation! This time, to Eastern Canada, to visit Prince Edward Island and Lunenberg. Here are the four books I finished on the trip:

We’ll Prescribe You a Cat (by Syou Ishida) 

Read Harder Challenge category: a “cozy” book by a BIPOC author. This is about a mysterious clinic where people go to get prescribed a cat - that somehow ends up solving their problems.  Originally a bestseller in Japan, it is absolutely cozy and charming. The sequel is already on my holds list!

Nobody in Particular (by Sophie Gonzales)

A queer YA romance about a commoner going to boarding school school and meeting a princess in Genovia Henland (I never managed to get used to the name "Henland" which just sounded like "Chickenville" to me.)  Definitely frothy and fluffy, with good chemistry between the leads and an overall cute vibe. 

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings (by Mary Henley Rubio)

I had to get this one on the trip, where I was learning so much about Montgomery's life. I knew she experienced depression and died by suicide but had no idea about 90% of her life story.  (Personally, I blame her son Chester, sex pest and thief, for much of her misery.) This was a long book but I couldn't put it down, and highly recommend it for fans of the author.

The Glass Girl (by Kathleen Glasgow) 

Another YA, very different from the other one, as it is about a 15-year-old dealing with alcohol addiction and some fairly fucked up family dynamics.  She hits rock bottom and goes to rehab, experiencing the peaks and valleys of recovery. The author is clearly writing from experience, and this is unflinching about alcoholism.  The main character is one you can't help but root for with your whole soul.  Really impactful read and very well done.  

Iceland Books

I got a bit caught up on my reading goal and finished six books while I was on vacation. As per usual, here they are in vacation roundup format. 

We Solve Murders (by Richard Osman) 

My friend sent me a picture of this book on the recommendation shelf of a local independent bookstore, because it's written by Richard Osman, who has been on Taskmaster UK, a show he introduced me to. This is the moment I realized the Taskmaster Richard Osman is the same Richard Osman who wrote the Thursday Murder Club series! We Solve Murders is the beginning of a new series from him, and thanks to my friend, also meets the criteria of "a staff pick from an indie bookstore" for the Read Harder Challenge. Apart from that, it's a great kickoff to a new series - funny, unpredictable, cozy, with charming characters. If you liked Thursday Murder Club, you'll enoy this one too.

Shampoo Unicorn (by Sawyer Lovett)

The novel is about a queer podcast in rural America, shown from three points of view. I think the exploration of small town homophobia and transphobia will resonate with its audience, but it was not quite successful for me. Of the three point of view characters, one is kind of shoehorned in unsuccessfully, and another is in second person for seemingly no reason. More a book I'm glad exists for today's kids than one which landed with me.

Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic Over Role-Playing Games Says About Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds (by Joseph Laycock)

As the title suggests, this one is pretty academic and definitely reads like someone's published thesis (not that there's anything wrong with that). Read this for the RHC category "a book about a moral panic."  I did find it very interesting, as Laycock talks about how fantasy serves similar functions to religion in society and how that overlap can lead to moral panic. It also talks about how the secret to averting a theocracy is allowing people to explore imaginary worlds and alternative frameworks like art, fantasy, science, and religion (apart from the hegemonic one). A slow read but enjoyable.

Leo Martino Steals Back His Heart (by Eric Geron)

A queer YA, of course. On the plus side: had a real story of self-discovery that felt authentic, and wasn't formulaic.  On the negative side: the tone is confusing, a lot of plot is unresolved (like okay, his dad is a cartoon-like cheater and abuser, but his mom's family takes the dad's side? And that's not ever explained or resolved?), some of the side characters seem more like plot devices than actual people with motivation, and the central romance didn't work for me. So, an author with a ton of potential but a book that didn't quite work. 

A Psalm for the Wild Built (by Becky Chambers)

Sci-fi novella for the category "a queernorm book."  To me, reads like the prologue of an actual book. This is about a discontent "tea monk" named Dex who meets a sentient robot and they become friends and set off on an adventure. It's a classic Becky Chambers cozy sci-fi in a casually queer world but really feels like the story has barely begun. 

The Examiner (by Janice Hallet)

I loved the premise of this one - like The Appeal, a novel told through text messages and emails being reviewed by a third-party - in this case, an examiner (a grade-reviewer) for a master's degree art course populated by some deliciously unlikeable characters.  Also one of them might be dead.  First half of this was terrific, up to the first twist (which I loved) and then the denoument ended up being super long and convoluted, and I didn't quite follow everything that was even going on, what people's motivations were, or what the Maguffin even was. Maybe it was just because I was jetlagged by this point but I saw similar feedback on Goodreads so I didn't feel too alone. 

Wild About You (by Kaitlin Hill)

A quick vacation read about teenagers doing a reality competition on the Appalachian Trail.  This was above average and I think one of the standout elements for me was the humor (our main character's voice was delightful and legitimately hilarious. For example, when she's scaring off a bear by yelling at him about the misogynistic nature of the Incredible Hulk, and which Chris is best.) (It's Pine.)

Secondly, her journey is rooted in anxiety and familial trauma that is very well-handled and doesn't get tied up in a bow.  The conflicts are not manufactured but rooted in actual character. So I really liked that part!

I didn't love it so much that I need to go read the rest of her novels immediately - need some more queerness to really hit the spot for me - but I'd absolutely read another book from her in the future.

Airport Feminist Book Club

These are the four books I finished on a work trip to Austin last week; the theme of patriarchy was front and center in three of them.  The first two I finished had pink covers and I wanted to do a whole theme but I gave that up after looking at my library holds and realizing I didn't have any more pink books. Would have been cute in a pointless way though.  

Annie Bot (by Sierra Greer)

Contender for favorite book of the year (which I thought James had locked up).  Onstensibly about a sex robot who is sentient, but actually an exploration of the subtleties of personhood and emotional abuse.  Skin crawling and fascinating and unpredictable... I loved everything about it and re-read the ending like four times.

Plan A (by Deb Caletti)

About a girl who has to travel from Texas to Oregon to get an abortion. The way her pregnancy is discovered by the community is incredibly contrived and the writing takes some getting used to - a bit stream-of-consciousness and discursive. But once I adjusted to the writing and decided to suspend disbelief, I enjoyed it. (While, obviously, being enraged because women should have basic fucking body autonomy.)  It's a bit didactic but it's young adult and this particular kind of didacticism is badly needed even though it SHOULDN'T BE but here we are. 

This Time It’s Real (by Ann Liang)

This was an adorable YA palate cleanser about a girl living in China who has a fake relationship with a film star in her class. It's very cute and well-written with great chemistry.  I hoped it would be good because Ann Liang's I Hope This Doesn't Find You was also very good. Great to discover a new, extremely solid young adult writer!

The Secrets We Keep (by Cassie Gustafson)

Also a YA but this time about a girl whose father is arrested for abusing her friend, and the secrets she may have been keeping for him. Absolutely moving, utterly heartbreaking.  Weirdly has a similar ending to Annie Bot as both characters undergo a sort of liberation.  I also re-read this ending like four times for the same reason. And god I loved the fairy tales interspersed throughout too! A couple of moments when the inner voice doesn't quite work, but for the most part, great.

Rock Paper Scissors (by Alice Feeney)

My book of choice for the long weekend was Rock Paper Scissors, which I'd had recommended as a good thriller with an unreliable narrator. I tried not to learn any more about it than that, but it kept popping up in my library holds and it felt like a vacation weekend was a good time to dig in.

It does have a really good twist, but then piles some more twists on top of that twist to the point where it gets kind of ridiculous. Definitely an ending that benefits from not thinking about too hard. But nonetheless, a really entertaining and page-turning poolside read.

Belize Books

I'm almost done with a sixth book, but here are the five books I finished while on my vacation to Belize:

Birding Under the Influence (by Dorian Anderson)

I avidly followed Dorian's blog about the Big Year he did on a bicycle. In this memoir, he tells the story of his journey while interspersed with the love story between him and his now-wife Sonia, and his problems with drinking and drugs and general addict behavior. I thought this memoir was terrific - well written, candid, structured well, and generally one of the better blog-to-book books I've ever read. Highly recommended if you're interested in reading about a Big Year!

Journey Under the Midnight Sun (by by Keigo Higashino) 

Another Japanese Mystery, and I think the third one I've read by Higashino. This one is pretty long (I would say overly long) and you figure out whodunit pretty early, but the whydunit and will-someone-ever-catch-them elements propel you to the end. Definitely a motive I should have, but did not, see coming, which made the ending hit hard. Not my favorite by him purely because of the overlength, but good nonetheless.

The Long Run (by James Acker)

Queer YA, you knew it was making it on this list somehow. I wasn't sure an athlete love story would be my jam as they've been hit or miss for me in the past, but this one has so much depth, the characters and their relationship are actually wonderful and lovely and I cried of course. Recommended!

Noah Frye Gets Crushed (by Maggie Horne)

This was, vis a vis the RHC, "a middle grade book with an LGBTQIA main character." Absolutely adorable, funny and charming. full of terrific characters, although I would have liked to see Jessa developed better. I'm actually not a middle grade fan (Baby-Sitters Club notwithstanding ) but this nails it. Horne has got a sapphic YA debut coming out next month, can't wait for that!

Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead Yet (by Molly Morris) 

Love the premise - every 10 years, someone in this small town gets to come back from the dead - wrapped in a queer YA.  I enjoyed it enough to finish it to the end but was my least favorite of these - I found it to be overly quirkified and aggressively 90s (authors need to stop with this).  I was thrown off at the very beginning by the quirky names. The main characters, Wilson and Ryan, are both girls. Ryan's twin brother is Mark, which makes no sense whatsoever as a sibling set. Wilson calls her mother by her first name, Jody, and Jody's ex, a man, is named Cass.  Wilson is named after Wilson Phillips. I was so confused and also, like, why do all the names have to be quirky.  My biggest issue is that the romance didn't fully work and relationships felt inorganic.  I finished it, I guess, is the best I can say!

Boston Books

As usual, I did some of my favorite reading in airports and on planes, and finished six books on my trip to and from Boston.  Here they are:

The Boleyn Inheritance (by Philippa Gregory) 

A fun page-turner that had the songs from Six stuck in my head the entire time. It's well-researched but repetitive (the phrase"Boleyn inheritance" is in this book 23 times) and not particularly literary in its execution (lol, execution).  But I enjoyed the story, told from the alternating perspectives of Katherine Howard, Anna of Cleves, and Jane Boleyn.  Anna's story gets somewhat less interesting once she leaves court, but I did enjoy the interpretation that as long as Henry was alive and chopping heads off, she lived in fear. Pulpy and fun if you enjoy the time period.

The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers (by Adam Sass)

Could not have been more adorable, and maybe my favorite book on this list. Messy and complex, which I always enjoy as it feels more real than a romcom hitting all the expected beats. Loved the cast, the setting, the queer rep, the plus-sized rep.  The best YA I've read in a while, I think! Adorbs.

Broken (by Jenny Lawson) 

Funny and real, albeit in a "these are blog posts clumped together in book form" format. It works anyway, though, because Jenny Lawson is a great writer! She isn't afraid to explore her own challenges with depression and anxiety and also runs it through with humor, ala Allie Brosh.

The Unlikely Thru-Hiker (by Derick Lugo) 

Read for "an adventure story by a BIPOC author."  I struggled with this category (we are down to the "categories Mo struggled with" portion of the year). I can think of some perfect books I've read in the past, like The Good Lord Bird, Washington Black, or Underground Railroad that I would consider to be "adventure stories" but I've read all of those. Book Riot recommended a lot of fantasy adventure, and fantasy isn't my favorite. So instead I went for the nonfiction adventure, the story of a Black man who thru-hikes the Appalachian Trail.  Derick (better known on the trail as Mr. Fabulous) has a distinct voice and a great sense of humor; this felt like reading his diary, in a good way.  I wished for pictures since he often talked about taking pictures on the trail! But a fun read and unique perspective, so I'm glad I picked it. 

The Stench of Honolulu (by Jack Handey) 

This is an extremely silly book by Jack Handey, of Deep Thoughts fame. It was recommended by the blended family whose wedding was the reason for my trip to Boston, as apparently it is quoted a lot in their household.  Very funny, clever and amusing as you might expect! 

The Bullet that Missed (by Richard Oseman) 

This was the book I saved especially for this trip, the third in the Thursday Murder Club series and maybe my favorite one so far! Absolutely delightful, and this series is a must for mystery fans. It's very funny and charming, and the protagonists are all in a retirement community so it showcases vibrant people gracefully dealing with aging while also solving crimes.  

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone (by Lori Gottleib)

Sneaking one more in here since I read most of it on the plane. It's by a therapist who has to go to therapy herself to deal with a traumatic breakup.  I am surprised I was so compelled by this one, downloaded it from the library on a whim and somehow ended up finishing the whole thing! I am dying to know who "John" is (some elements almost have to be true, like the TV show having a therapist, which seems like it would make it possible to deduce...) but regardless, an interesting view of both sides of therapy, and I enjoyed it!

New York Reads

A little bit of everything, read on my travel days to and from New York. I finished the first two in June (traveling to NYC) and the second in July (traveling home).  I do so love an airplane read.

Finna (by Nate Marshall) 

First up, a Read Harder Challenge book for the category "a book of poetry." I learned about Marshall because he joined the creative writing staff at UW Madison and a writer friend of mine runs the program.  Loved his exploration of language and the juxtaposition of AAVE with more "literary" flourishes.  Some very powerful pieces here and I am betting listening to him read his poems is even better than reading the poems myself on a plane.

Our Year of Maybe (by Rachel Lynn Solomon) 

The first book by Solomon that I've read and haven't really cared for.  Not bad of course (I finished it happily) but I kind of hated the characters? I thought Peter sleeping with Sophie while not telling her he was bisexual or into another guy was pretty unforgiveable, even though Sophie was also toxic and codependent. Not for me.

The Thursday Murder Club (by Richard Oseman)

The start of a series.  Not perfect (too many red herrings for me) but overall very charming and entertaining. Loved the focus on the elderly residents of a retirement community (who are fully rounded characters, not just "cute old people").  I have obviously downloaded the sequel (thanks, libraries) so will keep you posted as the series progresses.

The Jaws Log (by Carl Gottleib)

I love Jaws, so I enjoyed reading this nonfiction account of the making of the film, written by one of the writers who also played Harry Meadows (and wrote himself out of the script as he went along). I think this is the expanded 30th anniversary edition from 2012, but Gottleib's notes seem to be from the original 30th anniversary edition from 2005. It's a fun time capsule. The original text references Waldenbooks for instance, then the footnotes bemoan that now bookstores have been absorbed into big conglomerates like Borders. There are a lot of references to the "men" who make movies. A lot. A lot.  So yes, it's dated, but it's of its time the footnotes, at least, are a little better about it than the original text.  The one thing I really wanted was more information about the various plotlines they scrapped and changed for the movie. I have read the book so many times (it's trashy but fun) and since Gottleib was one of the writers of the film, I was hoping he'd got into more detail.  Why does Hooper live in one version and die in another, for instance? He never explains. But otherwise, this was an entertaining read about a great film.

 

 

Florida Vacation Reads

I had much less time for reading on this trip, but still managed a bunch on the flights (and one long layover).  Mostly fluff.

Kissing Ezra Holtz (and Other Things I Did for Science) (by Brianna R. Shrum) 

Great Jewish representation with a charming main character. Jewish culture was important to both characters and this characterization felt very rich. Fun writing, sex-positive, kind of effortless-feeling and overall a delightful romcom.  Possibly my favorite of the YAs on this list.

Sorrow and Bliss (by Meg Mason)

It's not all YA on this list: this is literary fiction that was longlisted for the 2022 Woman's Prize in Fiction (and thus qualifies in that category for the Read Harder Challenge). I loved this.  Funny but also so emotional. (My notes read: "It's a JOURNEY.")  The main character is dealing with mental illness, complex family relationships, and the breakup of her marriage, yet it's still also somehow fun?  Not sure how Meg Mason did this but highly recommend.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler (by Casey McQuiston)

Possibly one of my most-anticipated books of the year and weirdly, the second book on this list with kissing in the title. Casey McQuiston's first YA and it's a F/F romance: my expectations were sky high. It has some great stuff, especially the side characters, but the third-person narration didn't work for me, the main character was just this side of unlikeable, and I appreciated the complexity of the love interest but ultimately I wasn't all that invested.  Not bad per se but I was super disappointed.

Loveless (by Alice Oseman) 

Recommended by reader S. as a possible better alternative for the asexual/aromantic category of the RHC, and it definitely was. (This aspect of the book is front and center.) It started out super slow, with the main character - despite being Very Online and super into Tumblr culture - not even having heard of asexuality and being extremely slow on the uptake about it.  I would absolutely have DNFed it at this point but I pushed through and it really picked up at the halfway mark.  I ended up loving the characters even if there were some unrealistic elements (like how many asexual people happened to be in her life). I think this is more for a younger audience than for me, but I ended up enjoying it, ultimately.

And They Lived… (by by Steven Salvator) 

I tried to mix it up a bit with some sci-fi but ended up DNFing the one I started because it wasn't great and I was super tired by this point, not sure if I'll pick it back up or not. The Kindle gods meant I had this on my phone on the airplane and it ended up being a really great, moving coming of age story that deals with both homophobia and body dysmorphia. Thumbs up on this one.

Cleveland Book Bonanza

We just took a trip to Cleveland and between layovers, flights, being snowed in, and a general very relaxed pace visiting grandma, I finished nine books. So settle in and let me try to remember what they were all about. 

Best Travel Writing of 2021 (by Jason Wilson, ed. Padma Lakshmi) 

For the Read Harder category “Best _ Writing of the year book for a topic and year of your choice.”  I put a bunch on library hold in different genres and years and went with what was available first. I'm guessing that the pickings were slim for travel writing of 2021. I've been thinking a lot about the reasons why I love travel and why conversely I have hated not being able to travel during the pandemic, and was hoping this volume would explore that. It touches it on it a bit in one essay but mostly, not really. There are some real standouts here (particularly The People of Las Vegas by Amanda Fortini) but also some real clunkers. Not an essential anthology.

Cards on the Table (by Agatha Christie) 

Waiting for Death on the Nile to be available from the library (having seen two adaptations of it recently) and in the meantime downloaded others that I don't think I've read that I saw on "best of Agatha Christie" lists.  This is decidedly middle of the road though, in my opinion. Read on a plane, which was basically the perfect place to read this. The other Christie I read (see below) is much better. 

Being Mary Bennett (by J.C. Peterson)

One of my favorites of these books! Very funny, charming, and just enough winks to Pride and Prejudice to make it fun. I loved Marnie, our main character and the groundedness of this with authentic problems and an avoidance of the "if he would only just let me explain" thing that muddies up so many formulaic plots. Truly a standout YA romcom and if this is your thing, I highly recommend.

She Gets the Girl (by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick) 

Another winner, an alternating point of view romance between two girls who are both college freshmen. Good chemistry between the leads and I loved the backstories and complex issues each of them had.  The better of the two alternating point of view romances on this list, although this one was the PG-13 version while the other was more NC-17.

The Candy House (by Jennifer Egan)

Wow, literary fiction! What a novelty! I loved A Visit from the Goon Squad and this sequel(ish) novel is right up there with it. However you felt about Goon Squad will accurately predict how you will feel about Candy House. Which is not to say it's not full of originality and spark because of course it is. I really enjoyed it and was left wanting more of multiple plots and characters. Who knows, maybe Egan will revisit this world again!

The Body in the Library (by Agatha Christie) 

As mentioned, this was more like it. This would even make a good Kenneth Branagh film! Of course it's a Miss Marple and I was never a Miss Marple fan (actually I'm not even really a huge Poirot fan, I just like Christie's plots) but true to form I enjoyed the plot and the characters here.

Light from Uncommon Stars (by Ryka Aoki) 

I've heard great things about this Hugo award nominee. The main plots include: a transgender runaway who is a violin prodigy; her teacher, looking for a seventh violin player to damn to hell; a motley crew of aliens who run a donut shop in Southern California. It's got fun and quirky elements but also sexual violence and darkness. I was invested in Katrina's story throughout but thought the whole space refugee thing was wildly undeveloped, the "I damned six people to eternal torment" glossed over (?), and overall I thought despite a ton of potential it didn't stick the landing.

Remember Me Gone (by Stacy Stokes) 

A great premise (a girl whose family has the power to erase memories thinks she might be missing her own memories) that should have been amazing but the writing doesn't match up to it.  Once we discover  what is really happening in the town, a lot of plot holes emerge. Entertaining enough to read on the plane - this time, on the flight home.

Love and Other Disasters (by Anita Kelley) 

A woman and a non-binary person compete in a Top Chef-style cooking competition and fall in love.  I enjoyed the central characters and their chemistry, but the competition felt like an afterthought and a lot was unrealistic. (The contestants aren't sequestered? They get cell phones the whole time? They go sightseeing because they have weekends off? No to all of this.) The description of the other contestants and food are also glossed over. So it was cute but not as textured as it could have been.

Phew! Those were all my reads and my brain might need a break now. 

* * *

Bonus book:

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (by Jesse Andrews)

This was my brain break book. Much funnier and more original than I was expecting, although very dated in some ways in its handling of the Black characters. Overall I enjoyed it though, it was a quick and fresh read.  

Two Emotional YAs

I was out of town for work and didn't have the bandwidth to read literary fiction or sci-fi, so young adult it was, of course. Both of these made me cry. 

Message Not Found (by Dante Medema) 

A girl who loses her best friend in an accident makes an AI she can text to try and uncover the real reason why her friend died.  It's a bit slow, and the twist is fairly obvious, but it's emotional and moving as it deals with our main character processing grief and other complicated feelings about her friend. 

When You Get the Chance (by Emma Lord) 

As an adopted person and musical theater fan, this was 100% for me.  Our main character is Millie (a much more endearing version of Rachel from Glee) who digs up clues in her father's Livejournal from 2003 (!) as to who the mother is who abandoned her as a child. She narrows it down to three suspects so of course the musical theater references, which come hard and fast, include plenty of Mamma Mia ones. I thought Lord did a great job of building the "who is the mother?" suspense while also dealing with Mille's complicated journey of self-discovery.  The ending wraps up way too neatly but by then I was - yes, you guessed it - crying, so I went along for the ride.  Loved this one!

Two Tahoe Reads

I always feel awkward about putting two books in a wrapup post. Three is fine! But two seems like the wrong number. Still, nobody actually cares at all so I will press on. I read two books while on vacation this weekend in the Lake Tahoe area.

The Maid: A Novel (by Nita Prose)

I love the (unreliable, of course) narrator here, a maid named Molly who is clearly neuroatypical in some way. This is a page-turning thriller and a fun, fast read. However, the ending is super disappointing, with multiple deus ex machinas. (Or is it deuses ex machina?) I wouldn't be surprised if the ending changed from an earlier draft, since one seemed to really fit with the clues and what is here.... doesn't, really.  There are also a few out-of-character moments that really seem off given all we know about Molly. This had so much potential but I wanted a more satisfying structure.

Mistborn: The Final Empire (by Brandon Sanderson) 

One of the Read Harder challenges this year is to "read a book recommended by a friend with different reading tastes." I am not much of a reader of high fantasy (I've read the Lord of the Rings books and that's pretty much it) and my friends have been recommending Brandon Sanderson to me for more than a decade.  Given his Kickstarter success recently, it seemed like a good time to try him once again. (I've tried in the past and have failed in the past.)

The first 200 pages or so of this book were the usual slow going. A lot of extensive worldbuilding, which I find tiresome even when done well (and Sanderson, to his credit, does it very well). But I was determined to make it through a Sanderson novel this time. (Plus I was on vacation with my Sanderson stan friends and I had promised.) By the time I hit the halfway mark though, I was all in. The world was built, and Sanderson's plot and characters pulled me forward. All my predictions for the ending were wrong but it all fit perfectly and was so satsifying. This is the first book in a trilogy and now that I've made the investment, I think I might see it all the way through!  

Social Bubble Vacation Books

I read three books while on a staycation with our seven-person social bubble.  These are those books!

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (by Suzanne Collins)

A Hunger Games prequel about Coriolanus Snow. I wasn't going to read this (was very disappointed in how the trilogy turned out) but my bestie David highly recommended it, and I stuffed the hardback into my suitcase and then of course devoured it. What Collins does here is so subtle and interesting, taking you from sympathizing with Snow to, well, seeing what he will become.

Oona Out of Order (by Margarita Montimore)

This is a novel with a fun conceit: on her 19th birthday, Oona begins to live her life out of order. That is, she is still mentally 19 but has jumped into her 51-year-old self. Every year, she jumps somewhere else in her life. This results in some fun twists and turns and of course some infuriating moments. (If she can warn herself about the future, why are her warnings never actually helpful?) But I cried through the final quarter of this book anyway. (Not because it is tragic but because it is moving.) Perfect vacation read.

Such a Fun Age (by Kiley Reid)

Read for Camp ToB (side note: why is their website so poorly designed; you can never just go to a homepage and find a list of recent posts; it's dumb) but it strikes me as too light to actually win the summer.  There's something about it that's too entertaining and easy to read for a book about race (the premise is that a black babysitter is confronted while sitting for a white child in a grocery store). I loved the main character, Emira, and loved the skewering of well-meaning, liberal whiteness by way of the character of Alix. Thoroughly entertaining litfic with a highly satisfying ending.

Truckee Books

I finished three books while on vacation:

Horrorstör (by Grady Hendricks) 

RHC category: A horror book published by an indie press. This is an enjoyable and darkly humorous horror novel. It's horror meets IKEA, and is a breezy (and creepily fun) read. I wasn't anticipating enjoying this category, because other than Shirley Jackson and the best of Stephen King, I'm not into horror. But this was fun.

All This Could Be Yours (by Jami Attenberg)

RHC: None; this is in the Tournament of Books. My first Attenberg! (She's a friend of a friend, so I've always felt vaguely guilty about not reading anything of hers.) This was just a pleasure to read. The Corrections meets Big Little Lies; super well-written literary entertainment.  It's a #2 seed in the Tournament, going up against the play-in winner. I think it has a good chance.

A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder (by Dianne Freeman) 

RHC category: A mystery where the victim(s) is not a woman. This was recommended by Book Riot and sounded like the start of a fun series. And indeed it is super fun!  I enjoy Victorian England and the main character is delightfully self-actualized for a Victorian Countess. Needless to say, I'm already halfway through the next book in this series.

Cleveland Reads

Time for another roundup of things I read on a trip, this time during a long weekend in Cleveland.

Sleeping Murder (by Agatha Christie)

This was for the "last book in a series" category of the Read Harder Challenge.  I vastly prefer Poirot to Miss Marple, so I haven't read many of these, but I enjoyed the young couple at the center of the mystery, who were amateur detectives in this case. Also, the ending fooled me, and I love being fooled! (Note, this is Agatha Christie, so there is some casual racism. Sadface emoji.)

Ash (by Malinda Lo)

This was for the "retelling of a fairytale by an author of color" category of the RHC.  It's a retelling of Cinderella where the main character falls in love, not with the handsome prince, but with the beautiful huntress - and the "fairy godmother" is kind of a semi-malevolent fairy spirit. It was published over a decade ago, and it was interesting to read the interview with Lo where she said she regrets not adding more Chinese influences, but at the time she thought a lesbian Cinderella would already be impossible to publish. Anyway, it's fabulous, and the ending is so moving. Highly recommend.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel (by Ocean Vuong)

This is a Tournament of Books 2020 entry, and I know a lot of big fans of this novel. (I believe this is a roman a clef, or at least in reading about Vuong's life, it seems like it.) It's stunningly written, but I was trying to figure out why I didn't love love it, and then I saw Roxane Gay's comment that it needed more plot, and I totally agree. I can understand why it's so beloved, for sure.

Poking a Dead Frog: Conversations with Today’s Top Comedy Writers (by Mike Sacks)

This was for no category of anything and actually was maybe my favorite of these books, to my surprise! It's interviews and snippets of advice from comedy writers, but it's impressive in both its breadth and its depth. The interviews are well-researched and candid, and it covers ground from Ethel and Albert to Cheers to The Onion. I thought the interview with George Saunders was particularly brilliant, and I didn't even know Saunders wrote humor! Really fabulous.

Vacation Reads: PNW Road Trip Edition

Somehow a "vacation reads" post with only two books in it feels paltry, but I haven't finished my other two reads (Library Book and The Fifth Season) yet so here we are. Fortunately I'm the only person on earth who cares about the format of these book reviews.

Golden State (by Ben Winters)

I love the work of Ben Winters, even if his speculative fiction sometimes goes a bit off the rails, as it does here.  It's always interesting at the very least. This is about a near-future where truth is regulated and lying is punished by exile. A noirish detective story with a good twist and a strange ending. Didn't love it as much as Underground Airlines or the Last Policeman trilogy but I honestly will read whatever he writes.

An Extraordinary Union (by Alyssa Cole)

For the Read Harder Challenge category "historical romance by an author of color." This is about a free black woman posing as a slave to spy for the Union, and the man posing as a Confederate officer who becomes her ally. I'm not typically a romance reader but I really enjoyed this, found it well-researched and sexy. I loved the character of Elle and was thrilled to find she was loosely based on a real person. If you like historical romance you will probably enjoy this and bonus: it's the first book of a series!

Mini-Break Books

I took a very quick trip to Los Angeles to attend a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend concert,  and finished a couple of books in the process. Here they are!

 Autoboyography (by Christina Lauren)

 A young adult M/M romance that feels like excellently written fanfiction, especially the ending. The leads fall in love instantly, true love conquers all, etc. Definitely good moments but I definitely understand what my friend Jen talks about when she rants about straight white women fetishizing gay boys. I didn't feel that in Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda but I definitely feel that here.

The Dreamers (by Karen Thompson Walker)

I LOVED THIS NOVEL. This is a story about a deadly "sleep virus" that infects a California town, and the novel follows various inhabitants of that town as they deal with the crisis, including new parents, a college student, two girls with a survivalist father, a doctor, and a college professor whose husband is near-catatonic in a nursing home. A bit slow paced, but it contains so many beautiful meditations on love and parenthood and really sticks the landing. One of my top reads of the year so far.