beckykphillips's reviews
353 reviews

This was just a delightful experience from start to finish - I have long enjoyed Kyle Prue's series, Things You Can Say to Piss Off Men, and having a handbook at the ready will most certainly be useful in my daily life. In addition to the 109 things you can say, Kyle also goes into what masculinity means for men and why anger is an emotion that should be explored rather than just sitting in it. I listened to this as an audiobook, that Kyle narrates with his trademark deadpan inflections, and highly recommend the medium. It was made even better by the bonus chapter of Kyle and his mom discussing the book at large and offering advice to folks who had written in. I truly hope there's a spin off podcast or maybe a few TikToks coming our way as they make a fun duo. 

Thanks so much to Recorded Books Media and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

A Sorcery and Small Magics was such a delight for me that I sat down on a Sunday morning and pretty much just read through the whole book because I was so enchanted with Leo, Grimm, and the world that Maiga Doocy created. I already can't wait for the next installment in this series, and for those who dislike cliffhangers, fear not - you will be satisfied at the end of this, but leave you pondering what sort of adventure will happen with our characters next. The best way to finish out the first book in a series. 

Our main character, Leovander Loveage, is whiling away his final year at the Font, the magical academy.  Leo specializes in small magics, like cantrips and charms, much to the disdain of his high powered family, and stays away from any larger magic. However, during his time at the Font he found himself a rival in Sebastian Grimm, who is a talented caster of magic of all magnitudes from a farming town, well-liked among the Font. While Leo hoped to go through his fifth year without issue, he and Grimm find themselves forced to working together in one of their classes, and that is where the adventure begins, 

I imagine that other readers will find this, but I really struggled with Leo as our main character and voice in the beginning. I did not see a reason, beyond pettiness, that he had such disdain for Grimm, and I found him very classist, despite how Leo views himself. However, I'm so glad I trusted the process because seeing the character development of both of our main guys over the course of the novel was just lovely. 

I would absolutely recommend this book - thank you so much to NetGalley and Orbit for the advanced copy.

Ready for a deep dive into the ride and fall of Victoria's Secret while also learning about everything that goes into clothing retail? Selling Sexy is just the ticket.  Lauren Sherman and Chantal Fernandez have weaved a compelling narrative following Victoria's Secret as it morphed from a high end lingerie boutique, to thriving catalog business, to ubiquitous mall-bound stores, and its current state. 

To learn about how Victoria's Secret came to be is also to learn about how Les Wexner became a billionaire and pioneer in fast fashion. Coming into this book, I had never been familiar with any of the folks who built Victoria's Secret, but Wexner was one who I was particularly surprised had never crossed into my consciousness. I had no idea about the genesis of  The Limited, his first company, or Bath and Body Works and all of the sub-brands that came before Wexner bought VS. The fact that Wexner is at least partially credited with pushing forward the concept of a mall in general and that Ohio was a hub for all of this was eye opening to me. Of course, with the eye opening revelations around just how influential Wexner was, I was equally disgusted by the rampant sexism and assault that was pervasive in the company. The level to which Wexner was intertwined with Epstein was despicable. 

The book goes through the full history of VS, but as a millenial, I was particularly keyed into to the storylines beginning in the late 90's and early 00's.  The Pink era was a big one for VS and formative for me, too, I remember desperately wanting those sweatpants to be able to feel like I fit in in high school. The morph of VS again to focus toward athleisure, and then the subsequent failings when...an 80 year old man re-takes the company and abandons what made him innovative. 

I listened to the audio version of this and Allyson Ryan did a fantastic job of guiding me through Victoria's Secret storied past I would absolutely recommend the medium. 

The only item I found challenging within the book is how the authors would flip back and forth between different years to help the narrative, it made it difficult to follow at times how different events were connected or where we were with the different executives and their place in the company. 

On the whole though, I absolutely recommend the book. Thank you very much to NetGalley and MacMillan audio for the advanced copy.

Big Fan is a tight, fun, fast romance that delightfully unfolds between Maya, a political consultant in DC, who has just been unceremoniously ejected from her marriage after her politico husband has an affair with a young staffer, and Charlie Blake, a member of the boy band Mischief for which Maya and her best friend Kate had made the premier fan club. 

There were so many lovely details throughout the novel that made the characters feel real. I adored Kate and Maya’s friendship and could just see the glee through the page from Kate as she’s munching on a bagel getting ready for her wedding finding out that Charlie Blake is going to be Maya’s date and be at her wedding. The romance that blooms between Maya and Charlie had me kicking my feet at points just due to how wonderful the interactions between them were. 

I also appreciated the touting of universal basic income throughout the novel and the churn that Maya goes through while working on the campaign. The details really helped ground the novel even with a very dreamy premise. I also have to say, as a HeadCount Team Lead - I was so ridiculously happy to have the organization get a shoutout in the book from Charlie as he's been interviewed for a late night show. That alone helped bolster the book even more for me. 

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Author's Equity/831 Books for the advanced copy.

Whenever You're Ready follows Nia, Jade, and Jonah, Jade's twin brother, while they embark on a road trip to the US South to explore different Jewish sites to connect with their heritage. The road trip was made all the more significant as it was designed by their late best friend, Michal, who died of brain cancer and insisted they complete the road trip before they all turned 30. 

This was a really fun read. I appreciated how the author opened up with text messages, like a modern epistolary novel - it gave us an immediate insight into where the relationship between Nia and Jade sat and how they interacted with each other. The different timelines also allowed us to see how the relationship between Nia, Jade, and Michal began and unfolded throughout their lives. All the characters felt fully realized and like whole people, which made the slow unfurling of the love between Nia and Jade throughout the book all the better. It was messy, but in a way that felt very real and true to who these people are. 

The call backs to Michal and her letters were lovely - throughout the book, we get to read letters that Michal had pre-written to Nia and Jade for their birthdays that she wrote out before she passed. 

I also learned so much about the history of southern Jews and while I know this is a complex history, it was really interesting to learn this with the backdrop of two characters admitting their love for one another. 

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy of the book.

Colored Television introduces us to Jane, a professor on sabbatical who has finally finished her second novel, a sprawling epic around mulatto figures throughout history. However, things take a turn when she brings her novel to her editor and things go on an adventure from there. 

I really enjoyed Colored Television - although some folks found it funny, I actually found it stressful (in an enjoyable way?) as Jane's lies and decisions as she tries to secure some stability for herself start undermining what she already has. 

One of Our Kind follows Jasmyn and King Williams as they move with their son, Kamau, to an exclusive, Black gated community in California called Liberty. Soon after moving there, Jasmyn begins to notice that the other folks living there are off and the mysterious Wellness Center seems to dominate the neighborhood. In the backdrop of another police shooting of a Black man and his child, Jasmyn tries to connect with other Black people in Liberty to show their support for the community, while exploring what exactly is going on in Liberty itself. 

Like a lot of others, I really struggled with this novel. The character of Jasmyn felt one note to me, she was so focused on Black trauma the entire time, and the book itself boils down Blackness to traumatic experiences, which was disappointing. I had a hard time understanding the motivations behind King and others in Liberty with their "solution" to being Black. 

This book affirmed my feelings that I have no business going into its depths. 

I really enjoyed this though - another reviewer mentioned it's very much a vibes book, and I see that, but I also thought it was an interesting perspective on dealing with a partner going through a traumatic event or chronic illness and how it impacts both lives. I really liked the dual perspectives in the story as it allowed for the story to get peeled apart slowly. 

I am so glad I finally read The Ministry of Time. This was a great read and explored the idea of empire and colonialism in a way that I haven’t encountered before and found uniquely affecting. 

It was very interesting to see the narrator handle her identity in opposition to Simellia. Also how a seemingly good natured project of exploring time travel gets butchered into weaponry. And then we also get the snippets of Graham’s story and his perspective on life before his extraction. 

The ending is also surprisingly optimistic given how the book is written in our narrator’s voice, I definitely expected worse and was happily surprised at the turn when our narrator receives the package.

This is a fascinating and very information-dense look into The Met's storied history - we get to learn about all of the people through all of the decades of the Met's existence that shaped it into the institution it is today.  For the Met's inception, the sheer number of rich people who decided to get together for art was incredible, but equally intriguing was the amount of pettiness that went along with it. I appreciated the author contrasting the idea of these oligarchs with the idea of them being generous benefactors. Keeping that balance is interesting and there were several Met contributors (most of them) who came by their money or their family’s money in despicable ways. 

I learned so much through this book, but it is best served as a reference text rather than trying to read it all in one fell swoop. The information is broken up into different eras of the museum that often overlap, and the recent history is just as detailed as the past. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Columbia University Press for the advanced copy.