Title: Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

Author: Allison Bechdel

Quick summary: In this graphic novel memoir, author shares her upbringing and how she discovers her sexual identity, which ends up being right around the time she discovers secrets of her own family and must deal withe the sudden death of her father.

Now that I’ve committed to reviewing all of the books I read, I suppose I should say something about this one. Huh.

Interesting childhood that she experienced and I enjoyed the graphic novel presentation of the memoir, especially the use of real photos and documents, transformed into comic panels. I picked it up because the Broadway show won so many awards, and I like to include graphic novels in my book routine every now and again. I didn’t know what it was about before starting it, though. The story was compelling but tbh it didn’t wow me.

3 stars. Recommend? I’d give it a shrug.

Okay, next.

Ah! I’m already behind in my new 2016 goal of book review writing. Better get started …

Title: Anything For You

Author: Kristan Higgins

Date of Publish: December 2015

Summary: Boy and girl are friends with benefits. Rom-com novel spins around how they got to this point, and how they move forward. (#5 in “The Blue Heron” series)

Favorite side character: Colleen, of course. I only made up this section so I could talk about “Dog-Face”, as her twin brother, Connor, so affectionately calls her.

Favorite line: “Hail Mary, full of grace, you already dated her! You lying liar of lie-land!”

I like: Connor. But his morning-after flub was NOT cool. And the comedic chaos of the worst business investor meeting ever was almost too much to bear.

I liked less: Jessica. Too much of a martyr for my taste.

The Blue Heron Series is not my fave, a little uneven. The O’Rourke twins have been great side characters throughout, so I’m glad to see a book dedicated to them (Colleen’s was #3, Waiting On You)

4 stars. 4 because I did stay up half the night to finish, and reread parts of it. Recommend? Yes.

Im still working on the format of these reviews, excuse the randomness of this.

So, it’s like this.

I read.

A lot.

Mainly on my commute, but sometimes I pull the occasional late night to finish up a good one. These are not all masterpieces. It’s hard to get really into a masterpiece when you’re sandwiched in one of those side seats on the bus to work balancing a Kindle on top of a wet umbrella and heavy backpack. Not ideal reading location. I like stuff I can pick up and put down quickly if necessary. Most of the books I read are of the the 200 – 300 page mainstream variety, with some of my favorites including romance, young adult, urban fantasy, mystery/comedy or mystery/romance. I also like sports memoirs, Hollywood memoirs, non-fiction related to journalism or other personal interests (e.g. Boys In The Boat). I try to find books that take place in Seattle, and sprinkle in a few prizewinners or ones that everyone’s read into the mix as well.

I read.

A lot.

Of books that well read people may look down upon.

Sorry, writers that I love. I love you. But I’m sometimes embarrased by you. Because sometimes I want to pretend I’m really well read. I’m not well read. I’m just read. But starting this year (if I can manage this), I’m going to put a stop to the embarrassment and let everyone know about the books I read. I’m going to use this blog that I pay good money for to review and record it all. Because, you know what? The writers I’m sometimes embarrassed by are quite good. These writers are repeatedly on the New York Times Bestsellers Lists. Why? Because lots of people buy and read their books. And that’s why I read them. So, say goodbye to being embarrassed.

I read. And sometimes I stop reading mid-book if I don’t like it. And I’ll be sure to let you know when I do that as well. I’m talking to you, The Corrections. 

(By the way, it’s very okay to stop reading a book if you don’t like it. Don’t feel obliged to finish one just because you started. Nancy Pearl says it’s okay, so it’s okay)

This year, I anticipate my reading numbers to go down, (I’ve topped 60 books annually for the past five years (not that I’m counting, oh wait, I am counting. Thank you, Goodreads). Last year my goal was to up the quality of the books. This year it’s to blog/review/journal more about what I’m reading. Which leads me to here: My first review of the first book I finished in 2016: Anything For You by Kristan Higgins