The Long and Short of It Book Reviews:
Hey everyone. It’s been awhile. Like a year or so. Whoops.
So I’d like to just catch up on all my books from 2019. You read that right. I’m incredibly behind on these! But I thought I would update for my own sanity so when I think to myself “Hey, did I read that already? Did I like it?” I can find it here and be like Ohhhh right.
These are going to be incredibly short reviews. So here we go.
The Hate U Give: by Angie Thomas
What a dynamic book. This was such a great book. It really gave me a look into a different perspective. It’s definitely worth a read. Gave it a 5 star on GoodReads, so you KNOW it was amazing.
Neverwhere: by Neil Gaiman
This was dark and spooky. But I had read something similar to it and was like ‘Cool, that other author kind of just copied you…” Which made me get annoyed reading this because Neil Gaiman is a superior writer. I hope there’s more like this from Gaiman though, I love him.
Fight Club: by Chuck Palahniuk
This book was wild. It lived up to the hype.
This was the first Chuck Palahniuk book I ever read. And DAMN was it good. It was smartly written, the foreshadowing was on point, and if I hadn’t already knew the plot from YEARS of hearing about Fight Club, I would’ve been shocked out of my gourd about the ending.
Which. I shouldn’t have been told about Fight Club guys. That’s literally the first rule.
And the second rule.
5 Feet Apart: by Rachael Lippincott
Everyone should’ve died.
That’s all I really wanted to say on that matter.
We didn’t say we were going to talk about this one, so I won’t say anything besides that. I just wanted to brag that I’ve read it. But I won’t spoil anything.
The Greatest Love Story Ever Told: by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman
Very cute. I had this read to me via audiobook by the two of them. Worth doing that for sure. Except don’t drive because Nick Offerman’s voice makes you want to fall asleep and sometimes you’re laughing too hard to concentrate on the road.
The Rules of Magic: by Alice Hoffman
You get to read about the aunts of the Owens family and their lives before their nieces arrived on the scene. It was such a cool read.
A Recipe for Bees: by Gail Anderson-Dargate
I genuinely do not remember this book. I gave it a solid 3 stars on GoodReads, which means it wasn’t my favourite but it was well written.
Karamo by Karamo Brown
As with most biographies I’ve read, it had unexpected bits. This was good, learning more about Karamo was nice, he explains his own faults and walks you through how he’s healed and how you could be healing. I really enjoyed this one.
Everland by Wendy Spinale
A reimagining of Peter Pan with steampunk intertwined. Wouldn’t recommend to anyone over 18. I appreciated the concept, writing, and characters, but not my cup of tea. I was confused at the timeline, why Peter (sorry: Pete) wasn’t wearing a shirt at the end, and what year this was set in. Overall, just okay. I would’ve eaten this up as a teenager though.
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
A little darker then the movie, but still really great. The movie and book are surprisingly different, but in a good way.
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
This was sweet and upsetting and lovely. Love a good LGBTQIA+ storyline, especially set way back when.
Buffering by Hannah Hart
Knowing Hannah via the internet on her Youtube channel ‘My Drunk Kitchen’ has been fun, but it was lovely to be able to read a more in-depth tale of her past. This book has a lot of heart. (See what I did there.)
History if All You Left Me by Adam Silvera
Nobody can break my heart like Adam Silvera. (Not even Nicholas Sparks.) This book was beautiful and upsetting and so heartfelt while also being as real as it could be. (Gave this a 5 star on GoodReads.)
This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
Worth the read for sure. This follows how a family goes through their child transitioning from male to female as a five year old and the push and pull of all that as a parent.
Would You Rather? By Katie Heaney
I’ve read her previous book and this made me think. Mainly because in her previous book she identified as straight. And then in this she came out and was in first relationship with a woman. (Who would later become her wife.) It was so interesting to read this and follow her through this journey. Love her writing.
The Last Summer (of You & Me) by Ann Brashares
Frustrating book to read, seemed childish the way these two grown women were acting.
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Brilliant book. I haven’t sobbed that hard since P.S. I Love You.
The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer
Woof. This book was intense. I forgot how much I like her writing. I know, I know, that might make me lose some street cred. But her writing is sharp, quick to read, and, in this case, smart. Not your Twilight nonsense. This book got me spooked.
The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish
God I love a good witty and hilarious book. She delivers big time. I laughed so hard and also wanted to hug her. She’s just a wonderful human.
Waiting For Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey
This was cute as hell. Read it. Good summer read. Romantic and charming.
Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered by Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff
Love them, loved the book, loved hearing their back stories. It’s obvious that Karen is the more prolific writer though, and Georgia is a little more chaotic in her storytelling. Either way, it was like sitting down with a friend.
Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes
This book was intense, scary, and you could kind of see things from Joe’s perspective that made sense. BUT ONLY because you were hearing things in his brain. Good follow up to ‘You’.
Fuck It, Do What You Love by John C. Parkin
Typical self help B.S. with swear words.
The Hidden Power of Fucking Up by the Try Guys
I have always loved them, and it was great to see them do another try in the form of a book and the multiple trys in there. Interesting to read a book written by four separate points of view.
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Since watching the tv series I came back around to this book and loved it. Sometimes I have issues reading Neil Gaiman because it’s heavy, a lot of characters, and there’s a mysterious thing happening. Sometimes my brain just doesn’t compute. So having the faces to the names really helped! Love this one.
Puddin’ by Julie Murphy
Continuing with the characters from Dumplin’ was such a good idea. This holds up to that and is super cute. I love this writer.
This Is Just My Face by Gabourey Sidibe
She’s wonderful, her story was interesting, and she is funny as hell.
Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy
Cute, heartfelt, and fun, all the spices for a good Julie Murphy book.
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
Heart-wrenching, sweet.
This concludes the catch up to the 2019 Books I read!
Been a real blast to re-live those and just sum how I felt about them up real fast.
“Real” reviews might be sparse in the future, but I’ll try to be better about doing them.
Can I really keep saying Constant vigilance after all this time?
….Always.
The Deranged Librarian 