Books

Book 913: Word Nerd – John D. Williams, Jr.

I have no idea where I stumbled across this book. At first, I thought it was The Allusionist or 99% Invisible podcasts, but can’t find any mention of it on their sites and there’s nothing on NPR, aside from a review which I usually avoid, points to where it came from. I also didn’t purchase it from Amazon or any other online book retailer, so I must’ve randomly picked it up in a physical store and not tracked the purchase.

I’m glad I picked it up though! Not because I play SCRABBLE, because I’m not great at it, but because it just had a great title and subtitle and I figured it’d be an interesting read and it truly was.

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Books

Book 910: Back Where I Come From (Five Points Stories #4) – Kyle Baxter

This is the fourth book by Baxter that I’ve read and is the fourth book in his Five Point Stories. It’s been languishing on my Kindle for a few months and I finally added it to my queue when I was preparing for a vacation that would result in a week of offline time.

My first observation of this one is that the cover is creepy AF. Seriously go to Goodreads or Amazon and blow up the image. I can’t quite put my finger on it but both Zach and Grant’s faces are just a little bit off and Taylor’s (the kid) just doesn’t quite look finished. Thankfully, I didn’t stare at it too much before starting or I might’ve put it off even longer!

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Books

Book 872: The Lights on Knockbridge Lane (Garnet Run #3) – Roan Parrish

I originally requested a copy of this from the publisher but was denied 🙁 Thankfully, my local library got digital copies so I didn’t have to wait too long! I’m still a little disgruntled they only had an “e-book” and not a kindle version, but I’ll get over it at least I got to read it!

After reading the first two books in Parrish’s Garnet Run series, Better Than People and Best Laid Plans, I had such high expectations for this one. In some ways it met them, Parrish is a wonderful author, but in other ways it fell short for me.

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Books

Book 869: The Guncle – Steven Rowley

I had to wait a few weeks for this book to come in at the library, but when it did I immediately slotted it into my upcoming books to read. I did this not so much out of an OMG I have to read this but more out of an OMG I need to read this before it goes back to the library because the wait list exploded and I’d never get it back again!

The book is a lot more serious than the cover and the characters really make you think it is. It covers death and grief and growing from both of those things at different ages and life stages. It talks about substance abuse and  sibling rivalries. And it highlights dysfunctional adult sibling relationships. Rowley really did a great job of bringing humor and lightness to some really serious topics.

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ARC, Books

Book 866: Under the Whispering Door – T.J. Klune

After loving everything I’ve read by Klune so far it was obvious I was going to read this. And then, when it appeared on NetGalley AND I was approved, I had to sit on it for SO. MANY. MONTHS.* It was 100% worth the wait.

Having not read any of Klune’s “adult” books, this one feels more mature than his superhero books (The Extraordinaries and Flash Fire) or The House in the Cerulean Sea. Most of this is directly because there are no young adult characters and this deals so much with the topics of death and grief. And it brings up so many philosophical ideas about life and death that I’m sure I still missed plenty.

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