Turtles All the Way Down

 Turtles All the Way Down by John Green, 286 pages.

This book centers on Aza Holmes, a teenager struggling with OCD and anxiety. Aza's life gets more exciting when local Indianapolis billionaire Russel Pickett disappears in an attempt to evade arrest and a huge reward is offered for information that would lead to his arrest. So Aza and best-friend Daisy Ramirez go seeking the reward, which leads them to Davis, the missing billionaire's son and Aza's old friend from "sad camp" a summer camp for kid's with dead parents. Despite that plot, this book is really less a mystery and more an exploration of Aza's relationships with her friends and herself.  

I find it a little hard to rate this book. I thought it was good and interesting, but I had a hard time finishing it. We spend a whole lot of time in Aza's head, and it is not a very comfortable place to be. That being said, I found this book extremely honest and it is very obvious that Green is writing about problems that he personally deals with. All-in-all I would call this a worthwhile read, but be prepared for something heavy.

The best we could do

 

The best we could do / Thi Bui, 329 pgs.

This illustrated memoir is a moving story of a family who fled Vietnam to avoid war and to find a better life.  The author was a child and her mother was pregnant during their travel so five left Vietnam and six came to the United States.  The book talks about more family history and the struggle the author had with her parents.  As a child, not understanding the forces at work. As an adult, with more understanding but also some of the damage that came with parts of their dysfunction.  An amazing tale with elegant illustrations that do a wonderful job of conveying the mood of the story. Five stars!

The infographic guide to personal finance

 

The infographic guide to personal finance  / Michele Cagan and Elisabeth Lariviere, 128 pgs.

Hate thinking about your money? This handy infographic book makes it easy to understand basics like budgeting, debt and credit, investing and more. The graphics don't dumb this down, they enhance it and make it easy to comprehend like dry, boring words do not. This is a nice starting point for people who are ready to focus on their money matters.

April totals!

Christa 5/1567

Jan 4/1140

Kara 15/5103

Linda 5/1262

Regan 5/2096

TOTAL: 34/11,168

Near the Bone

Near the Bone by Christina Henry, 320 pages

For as long as she can remember, Mattie has lived with her much-older husband William in a two-room cabin on the mountain. She doesn't like how he hits her when he's angry, nor how he limits her access to anything other than the cabin itself, but she doesn't know anything else. Sure, she has occasional daydreams about songs and other people, but William assures her those are just dreams. Resigned to the tough life, Mattie's world changes when a violent and unseen creature begins killing — but not eating — animals in the forest. William is convinced that he has to hunt it down, but Mattie's pretty sure that's a recipe for disaster. Not that William will listen to her...

This is a TERRIFYING book. I enjoy horror novels, but I cannot remember the last time I got fully sucked in and read one in a single day. But that's what I did with Near the Bone. The mix of human and non-human monsters is perfectly done, as is Mattie's growth throughout the story. It's chilling, and absolutely non-stop. So good.

Accidentally Engaged

Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron, 357 pages

Reena Manji is sick and tired of her parents attempting to control every aspect of her life, particularly her love life. So when her hot new neighbor turns out to be the next man they're trying to get her to marry, Reena fights the natural attraction that she feels for him. But, darn it, he turns out to be a perfect guy for her, especially when he agrees to be her pretend fiance for a reality TV cooking contest. Will she be able to let go of her hangups with her family in order to let this new romance happen?

Reena is a relatable, flawed character, perfect for leading this story. And Nadim, her "fiance," seems like a total dreamboat. But it feels like a lot of their relationship is based on either miscommunication or their outright decision not to discuss the past (cuz that's ALWAYS a recipe for success, right?), and I find that a particularly annoying romance trope. The food, however, is totally droolworthy, and I LOVE that Heron includes a couple recipes at the back. Mmm...

Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, 478 pages

When Ryland Grace wakes up from a coma, he has no idea who or where he is, much less why he's there. Slowly, however, things start to come back to him, and he soon discovers that he's the lone survivor on a "Hail Mary" mission to save Earth from a rapidly dimming sun. Oh, and that he's 12 lightyears from home, on his way to visit the star that may have some answers. But when he arrives, he finds out he's not quite as alone as he thought, as an alien ship has also come, possibly for the same reasons that he has. Soon, what started as an apocalyptic survival story becomes a first contact story...but without forgetting that first part.

After a second novel that only diehard heist fans would like (me. this is me), Weir has returned to form with Project Hail Mary. It's full of the hard science and humor that made The Martian such a success, this time tinged with compassion and creativity that we hadn't seen before. I absolutely loved this book, and it's well worth the hold list.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

 The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, 399 pages.

I'm very late to the party here, but I finally read The Ten Thousand Doors of January, which the Orcs and Aliens book club read a couple of months ago (see Kara's review here). 

January Scaller has led a sheltered life with her caretaker, Mr. Locke, while her father travels the world searching for rare artifacts to house in Locke's mansion, and January herself is the rarest artifact of all. But stories begin with change, and when change comes to her life January has to challenge her role as a "good girl" and draw on the strength that has been locked away so long to do things she wouldn't have believed possible. 

I really, really liked this book. It's simultaneously a classic portal fantasy and a new twist on the genre. It's also a little meta, which I don't mind at all. Thematically it reminds me a lot of The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern and Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire, which are both favorites of mine. It's the sort of beautiful, sweeping book that makes my heart ache for impossible things, as well as a wonderful look at love in its many forms.

Binging with Babish

 Binging with Babish by Andrew Rea, 336 pages.

This cookbook is written by the same man who produces the recipes on YouTube that I trust the most (a video series of the same name), and I picked up this book mostly to see if it had any new, secret recipes. It did have a few, but what actually made me read this cookbook cover-to-cover were all of the little stories and fun facts that were scattered throughout, especially at the beginning of every recipe or series of recipes. 

It is clear that this book is mostly targeted for fans of the show. A lot of it feels like a behind-the-scenes tour, almost like a commentary track for my favorite cooking series. The whole thing is so full of personality, and it was a pleasure to read. I also really appreciate the "verdict" section of each recipe, which is both playful and helpful, and will tell you if the recipe is not worth the effort (such as in the case of McDonald's style chicken nuggets and szechuan sauce). I would definitely recommend this cookbook, and have a number of recipes bookmarked to try. 

Naked Sleeper

 Naked Sleeper by Sigrid Nunez (1996) 235 pages

Nona is forty, married to Roy, and trying to write a book about her father, a painter who never gained repute and who died in his 40s. It's clear that Nona--an only child--is haunted by him and didn't understand why her mother uprooted her, moving across the country when her mother learned her father was gay.

Nona takes the opportunity to work on the book at a friend's estate at a house party over the course of one month. She works hard at first, but then allows herself to get distracted by other people at the estate, especially a man named Lyle.

Like real life, her own life gets messy when she impulsively goes to visit Lyle for a weekend. She makes a number of decisions, taking the reader to unexpected places, and through the remainder of the novel, Nona tries to find her path forward.

I'd previously read two recent works of Nunez, The Friend and What Are You Going Through. I found those novels excellent and wanted to see one of her earlier works. This novel is not as tight, but okay.