1. Winterkeep, by Kristin Cashore (2021)
This one disappointed me. I was interested to see a different type of fantasy society introduced in this world, but the tone felt very different from the previous books in the Graceling series. To be blunt, I found the tone immature and somehow fan fiction-y. Much less gravity than in the previous installments.
I read it in a day, so props for that, but it did not please or satisfy me. I won't read further books in this series, but I'll enjoy rereading Fire (my favorite of the series) sometimes this year, I think.
2. How to Be a Stoic, by Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius (2020)
Little anthology of writings by the above three Roman Stoics. Marcus Aurelius seemed the glummest and most opaque. A good taster. I like a lot of ideas from Stoicism. I'd like to read more from Epictetus and Seneca.
3. Bigger Than Tiny, Smaller Than Average, by Sheri Koones (2022)
I though this was going to be about decorating and organizing in small spaces, alas, it was about getting "small" houses custom-built or renovated. I only skimmed the text. I was amused by how many references there were to the triumph of good design helping moneyed homeowners cope in Such Small Spaces during pandemic lockdowns. (Ask me how many square feet I shared with how many other people for the first year of the pandemic!) (The answers are 500 and two, color me unimpressed!!!)
4. The Fox and the Star, by Coralie Bickford-Smith (2015)
This was visually interesting. The story did not grab me but I read it primarily so that I can someday buy the beautiful companion stationary without feeling like an ignoramus, so that's fine.
5. Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened, by Allie Brosh (2013)
Oh, Hyperbole and a Half. I remember my dorm neighbor friend sharing this blog during my last year of college. Some of this is so funny, as in I laughed out loud numerous times. Some of it is a bit too "unaware depressive mode" and made me feel concerned, e.g. the chapter where she makes an earnest, protracted, unconvincing argument about how shitty of a person she is.
6. Swan Dive: The Making of a Rogue Ballerina, by Georgina Pazcoguin (2021)
This did not start as a blog, unlike the above, but felt like a blog, and that's not a bad thing, just a specific kind of a non-writer memoir. Very conversational with lots of anecdotes.
7. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, by John Koenig (2021)
A collection of fabricated "untranslatable" type words, mostly for very specific emotional/psychological experiences. Some of these really hit the nail on the head. Mostly short (paragraph) definitions, interspersed with longer (a couple pages) ones. I felt the longer ones wandered from the point and got a little purple, and I had some linguistic beef with the etymologies and how the pronunciations were written.
But overall this was a nice read. I'll have to share some of the made-up words with you. Lastly, I have a vague recollection of stumbling across the website version of this, wayyy back when, on an old-school Blogger blog and all - anyone else?!
8. By the Great Horn Spoon! by Sid Fleischman (1963)
My fourth grade teacher read this one aloud to us and I thought it was the greatest. Reading it myself, I heard some parts in her voice still. Lots of fun for historical fiction and I would recommend it to a kid these days. I just wish there were a female character or two! That said, it is about the gold rush, so maybe that's less egregiously inaccurate that it could be.
9. First Test, by Tamora Pierce (1999)
Reread of an old favorite Still good. <3
