evergreensandbookishthings's reviews
899 reviews

Heartstopper Volume 4 by Alice Oseman

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5.0

Sigh. I never want to have to say goodbye to Nick and Charlie ever ever ever! Thank God they renewed the show for two more seasons and I anticipate Alice Oseman doing periodic updates through Web Toons through the years.๐ŸคžThe way that she handled mental health in this book was just so touching and real and hopeful. And as always: swoon swoon swoon.
Last Summer at the Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland

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3.5

Fun and light Dirty Dancing nostalgia kind of book - sagged in the middle a bit but overall was a fun summer read and fascinating to learn the why and what about the upstate New York vacation culture of the 50s.
The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl

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I joined most of bookstagram in listening to Dave Grohlโ€˜s memoir this month and it was indeed fantastic. I especially loved the ties to Chicago as well as my current home in Seattle, and recalling bands from my formative years in the 90s (how did I forget about Urge Overkill!?). There are artists he has interactions with that are wholly expected, but so so many with entertainers youโ€™d not expect, as well as so many White House gigs! The amount of fun stories he has is something else! If you are a Paul McCartney fan, I would put this one on your radar because he tells a lot of great Paul anecdotes, being one of his friends.
Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships by Sarah Grunder Ruiz

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4.0

This was just as sweet and swoon-y as reviewers I trust said it would be! But it also has some heft with well executed themes on grief and loss.
Heartstopper Volume 3 by Alice Oseman

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5.0

(Same review as book 2 - I really hit my stride with loving these books in part 2/3. Also, update, I went ahead and downloaded web toons and read all of the content so I got caught up (and RE-READ them all๐Ÿ˜) just before my books arrived from the UK!)

As I stated in my review about the first in the series, I started watching the show after we finally got the next two from the library, and can confirm I did indeed become obsessed with all things Heartstopper. As a friend of mine just told me, it now lives in my heart.
Iโ€™m one of those people who will make something my entire personality when I love it, and this is no exception. I get a lump in my throat just thinking about how sweet, wonderful, optimistic, and spot-on about the being a teen these books are. They just make me swoon-y and in touch with that first rush of love. 
If you are a fan of the โ€œimpossibly perfectโ€ love interest in romance novels, Nick Nelson is your guy! (My walls wouldโ€™ve been papered with Kit Connor photos and magazine cut outs if I were 13 again.) But the character embodies the kind of partner that every person, no matter their sexuality, deserves in their relationships.
The show and the book, much like Normal People, are so intertwined in my head and they complement each other so well. The entire Heartstopper universe is fantastic - the characters that @aliceoseman created and the actors that play them are ALL perfection. I am so glad that it exists and that it will always live in my heart.
Heartstopper Volume 2 by Alice Oseman

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5.0

As I stated in my review about the first in the series, I started watching the show after we finally got the next two from the library, and can confirm I did indeed become obsessed with all things Heartstopper. As a friend of mine just told me, it now lives in my heart.
Iโ€™m one of those people who will make something my entire personality when I love it, and this is no exception. I get a lump in my throat just thinking about how sweet, wonderful, optimistic, and spot-on about the being a teen these books are. They just make me swoon-y and in touch with that first rush of love. 
If you are a fan of the โ€œimpossibly perfectโ€ love interest in romance novels, Nick Nelson is your guy! (My walls wouldโ€™ve been papered with Kit Connor photos and magazine cut outs if I were 13 again.) But the character embodies the kind of partner that every person, no matter their sexuality, deserves in their relationships.
The show and the book, much like Normal People, are so intertwined in my head and they complement each other so well. The entire Heartstopper universe is fantastic - the characters that @aliceoseman created and the actors that play them are ALL perfection. I am so glad that it exists and that it will always live in my heart.
Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris

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4.0

I will always think fondly on this book because it was the one that I finally got signed by the man himself! It was great to hear parts of the book, as well as additional anecdotes, read aloud by David. This isnโ€™t my absolute favorite of his books, but I thought it was top-tier, nonetheless. Who else could make Covid funny? I was highly anticipating his perspective on the last couple of years and the stories in the book did not disappoint. As well as some of the anecdotes he told during the talk, one of which was how he actually finally got Covid๐Ÿ˜†
Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore

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4.0

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @williammorrowbooks - Vacationland was the perfect book to ease into the summer reading season! Particularly here in the cool and cloudy Pacific Northwest, which normally doesnโ€™t get summer weather until the Fourth of July, but weโ€™re having a record breaking cold and rainy June and I donโ€™t know if I could handle the jealousy of warm sandy beaches. Donโ€™t get me wrong, this is a novel set during summer and is evocative of leaving the real world behind for โ€œVacationland.โ€ But the cover seems as if itโ€™s for an entirely different book, as it doesnโ€™t quite convey the vibe of a cozy house with foggy mornings, cool evenings, and rocky coastal Maine in summer - there is nary a big sandy beach to be found.
Putting that aside, Vacationland was my first Meg Mitchell Moore and I THOROUGHLY enjoyed this engrossing family saga full of secrets, strife and reconciliation. I became invested in this cast of characters, particularly the children - they stole the show. The first-love feels for the eldest child was poignantly done, and the younger children were hilariously precocious.
The beaches might not be particularly warm, but the narrative was warm-hearted and it flew by quickly. Vacationland published on June 14 and is available now - Iโ€™d definitely recommend for your summer beach bag!
Zorrie by Laird Hunt

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5.0

It might not be for everyone, but I absolutely adored Zorrie. Quiet and intimately told, I was swept up in this womanโ€™s life and how a seemingly ordinary existence is filled with everyday bits of the extraordinary.
Itโ€™s a straightforward story of an orphaned girl coming of age in rural Indiana during the Great Depression. Maybe itโ€™s the Midwesterner in me that fell in love with this character, and her stoicism. Zorrie suffers so much hardship and sadness, but the tone isnโ€™t overly melancholy, the pacing is swift, and the novel has a beautifully bittersweet conclusion. 

โ€œ๐†๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐Ÿ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ž ๐š ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ง๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ซ๐š๐ง๐ž, ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐š ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ž, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž โ€˜๐Ÿ๐ซ๐š๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ž๐ง๐ญโ€™ ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ฅ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ง๐ž๐, ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ง๐ž๐, ๐›๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฉ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ. ๐“๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ฌ, ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐œ๐ค ๐ก๐ž๐ซโ€”๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ง ๐จ๐ง๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐จ๐ซ ๐จ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐š ๐ญ๐š๐›๐ฅ๐žโ€”๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ž๐ ๐š ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฐ๐š๐ฅ๐ค ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ, ๐ข๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž ๐ก๐š๐ ๐›๐ž๐ž๐ง ๐ž๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฆ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐.โ€

As with most books I love, I donโ€™t know what else to say - other than it is absolutely worth picking up this slim, yet highly impactful, @nationalbookfoundation award finalist.
The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven by Nathaniel Ian Miller

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2.75

Sven suffers so many setbacks that resolved in a few pages, and I kept waiting for something really huge and far reaching to happen. Alas, just a survivalist story with an emotional twist at the end, but still a slog to get there.