Books

Book 920: Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun – Jonny Garza Villa

I’m not sure where I first came across this work, it might’ve been on a library list of YA novels to read, or it might’ve been a random Insta ad/post by someone I follow.

Either way, I added it to my list immediately and promptly forgot about it. When we went on vacation last month this was one of the few reserve books I took with me that I didn’t quite make it to, so I slotted it in at first chance and am so glad I finally got around to reading it. If I would’ve read it on vacation it would’ve taken half as long, but I kept falling asleep reading it this time (stupid time change).

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Books

Book 901: More Happy Than Not – Adam Silvera

So I have talked about gut punches when reading books before, but Silvera took it to a different level with this one—and this was his freakin’ debut novel!

I’ve known about Silvera for some time and even read his co-authored What If It’s Us? with Becky Albertalli, but this is the first time I’ve sought out his work. I came across it on a list of must-reads and so grabbed it when I saw it was available at my library.

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Books

Book 899: Year One (Chronicles of the One #1) – Nora Roberts

WHOA. So, I’m really glad I didn’t read this book two years ago this time or I would’ve been freakin’ the f*** out as coronavirus took over the planet! Thankfully, I didn’t discover the fibercast Needles at the Ready (Instagram link) until late 2021 where one of the hosts, Ray, recommended this series.

It was bad enough when I read The Names We Take in May 2020 (or even Severance back in late 2019) where a virus wiped out huge swaths of the world’s population, but Roberts takes it to an entirely different level! The opening chapter is gut-wrenchingly dark and I actually stopped reading it in bed the first night I started because it was seriously creeping me out.

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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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