Welcome to the Stacks
Fostering the love of reading, here are several reviews from myself.
Looking for grade-level recommendations for your kiddo? Click here
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Star Rating: ★★★★
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The author of American Dirt came under fire after Oprah chose this book for her Book Club. Putting critics' POV aside, the story of American Dirt was really good. I really enjoyed the audiobook. The fiction book centers on a woman of her 7-year-old son surviving a Cartel murdering her entire family in front of them in Mexico. They know they need to flee. The join the migrant migration to America in search of safety.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
Star Rating: ★★★★
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows wraps it up well. I still can't help but wonder why Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw exist. What did they really bring to the plot? I realize this may bring ire from readers LOL.
The audiobook was fantastic on 1.5x again and this was a great pandemic project to enjoy with my voracious reader of a daughter.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by JK Rowling
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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Audiobook on 1.5x for the win! The narrator for Harry Potter is really good. If you've not gotten into the books, give the audio a try!
This book. As someone who is 2 decades behind in Harry Potter lore, I still did not know this ending. After I finished the book, I went to my husband and he saw the look in my eyes and just knew that I knew the ending. This was my favorite Harry Potter book.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling
Star Rating: ★★★★
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I have found the key to Harry Potter - listening to the audiobooks on 1.5x :) The narrator is great, actually!
The Order of the Phoenix is really good. I like Harry showing his teen angst side; it made it all more relatable as he struggles with his 5th year at Hogwart's.
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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This book. THIS AUDIBLE. It's just so good. Tom Hanks should narrate more books. It was so comforting to hear him read Danny's story. The Dutch House is about two siblings who move through life together, relying on each other during the multiple decades that this book covers. It's a beautifully simple story about a brother and a sister and their life together while in the dutch house and after.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Star Rating: ★★★★
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Thank you to everyone for recommending this! The South in the midst of a civil rights reckoning, Louisiana and Maison Blanche (RIP), and family drama and secrets...this book was perfect and delivered on all fronts. The twins are thrilling to follow as they chose to flee their small town and go out into the world. It's always interesting to see characters develop from childhood into adults and how the lasting influences from their past shape their outlook and path in life. I listened to this book and the narrator was just okay. I would recommend reading the book instead.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
Star Rating: ★★★★
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I know these are children's books. But, there is so much recap in the beginning of each of these. And, I feel like most children are like mine in that they may not remember to brush their teeth every day but they definitely know if two wands share a trait. This book was a little long but at least the plot is getting good. My daughter was not scared by this book but I do hear the 4th book is when most kids start to get a little scared.
The Lies that Bind by Emily Giffin
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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I love Emily Giffin but this might be a new record. I flew through this book in 3 days. There are four distinct parts where I just gasped and had to re-read because I didn't see it coming! And a certain character who makes an appearance but I didn't put 2 and 2 together and then I did and OMG it was all so amazing.
Love this plot and love how she weaves turn of the century nostalgia into the heaviness of 9/11.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
Star Rating: ★★★★
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The first book is so much setup and then the 2nd book was a huge letdown for me. But, thankfully I pressed on. The Prisoner of Azkaban delivers a decent plot! Really fast read as it jumps into the plot pretty quickly. It gets a little dark in this book so we were careful to make sure our YA reader could handle it without nightmares. But, as an adult, I think this is why it becomes interesting.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling
Star Rating: ★
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I want to start this review by saying that I spoke to a few of my teacher friends who kindly reminded me that Harry Potter essentially created the YA section. And the bar was nonexistent at the turn of the century when this series was written.
Having said that, this book is incredibly boring. My 2nd grader enjoyed it but I think she has drunk the Hogwart's Kool-Aid at this point. If I was reading this solo, I would stop here.
Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling
Star Rating: ★★★★
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I aged to 38 without knowing anything about muggles. I KNOW.
During the early days of the pandemic, we had borrowed two copies of the Harry Potter books. My daughter (then 2nd grade) and I made a quarantine book club, where we decided to read HP together.
It's fun to read something that is ubiquitous in our culture alongside someone else experiencing it for the first time. The book itself is good; we ended up staying up late one night to finish it, together in bed, with me reading my copy out loud while she followed along with her copy.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Star Rating: ★★★
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I tried the audiobook and the library book. I ended up liking the audiobook better. But, I made the mistake of reading this book after casting has been announced. Of course Elena is Reese Witherspoon. There is no other person for that role.
This book lacked, in my opinion. What was missing in Mia's character in the book was made up for on TV. Same with Pearl and Lexie. The story overall is a great deep dive into the many sides of being a woman in different phases of life. But, it was much better portrayed in the TV version than the book version.
The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger
Star Rating: ★★★
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A city in Colorado on the Front Range is getting a publicly funded gifted school. All hell breaks loose from there. And it's mostly centered on the narrative of the Moms but does a decent job giving some of the Dad's narratives. But, it's obviously written by a male. It's hard to describe in examples, but you get glimpses of it here and there.
However, I will say that I flew through the last 120 pages. There is a great subplot that slowly builds.
Holes by Louis Sachar
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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I read this with my daughter and didn't know it was also a movie! She was given it as summer reading at school. We read to our children at night and I found myself very invested in this story. It's so good and really a heart tugger. Good for adults but also great for family reading!
When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger
Star Rating: ★★★★
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If I had know Emily Charlton (from A Devil Wears Prada) was rebooted as a character into this book, I would have pre-ordered and read on day 1!
Super light and fast read. Took it with me on vacation and flew through it over the weekend. Wasn't thrilled at how cutesy the ending was but, at the same time, I needed a nonfiction break and welcomed the lack of reflection and processing after reading it.
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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It's always so refreshing to read a book where the plot is woman-centered but not revolving around a love interest or a child. While The Alice Network is a bit of a slow start for me, I really enjoyed this fictional book based on very real women who were daring spies in WW1. The book encompasses WW1 and WW2. My favorite part that really resonated is "Lili. So Eve had Lili, and I had Rose. "All these flowers." "There are two kinds of flowers when it comes to women, " Eve said. "The kind that sit safe in a beautiful vase, or the kind that survive in any conditions...even in evil. Lile was the latter. Which are you?"
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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I really love books set in the South. This is set in Atlanta and Louisiana, so it's right up my alley. An American Marriage beautifully explores social mobility and questions if you can really climb the social ladder without your home and roots haunting you. For me, this is a deeply relatable topic and I enjoyed reading about it through someone else's perspective. The plot is much like the setup of Hamilton in that the plot is revealed upfront and you're left to explore the colorful details of the story itself.
Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman
Star Rating: ★★★
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Here me out on this. This book needs a sequel. I feel this book was so slow to start and then, within the last 20 pages, all the things come together. And then the book just ends! It's a great story focusing on mental health. But, really, the more interesting part (to me) is what happens after you work to acknowledge your baggage. And this book stops before Eleanor can work through that. So, give us a sequel, please, and let us see Eleanor as she works through her healing! She is a witty character; I have no doubt the sarcasm in the trauma healing would be great reading.
All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin
Star Rating: ★★★★★
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Emily Giffin is one of my favorite fiction authors because she has a way of creating a fun and light story perfect for a summer read. This book though surprised me...in the best way! This book originally presented as straightforward about social media but it really turned and had more twists than I was prepared for. But, as a parent who doesn't have teens (yet), this story of wealth and privilege captivated me on what ends up happening while also making me silently hope for landlines and motorola razr phones without cameras to come back before my kids are driving!
Class Mom by Laurie Gelman
Star Rating: ★★★★
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As easy read and great for summer or vacation. A much needed comic relief for the Class Parent (and maybe a note of sympathy for other parents to take it easy on the Class Parent?) I giggled so many times at the hilarity of the class emails in here and maybe even fantasized a little about the ability to be that blunt. Thankfully, I have not had the level of drama this book has in my 7 years as a Class Parent!