The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought this book was going to be one of those nonfiction self-help books stuffed with filler but it was not. The process of developing a solution, studying the results, and the aviation and medical examples were all fascinating.

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The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter by Margareta Magnusson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I read a lot of these discarding, minimizing, and organizing books. This one is a pleasant read but not very helpful. My favorite part is the way the author calmly contemplates death (she’s healthy but above 80 years old).

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Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love the main character Fitz and the supporting characters, especially The Fool and Night Eyes. The intrigue is interesting as well. Unfortunately, the bad guys are too one-dimensional and the book should have been trimmed down a bit.

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Just Babies by Paul Bloom

Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil by Paul Bloom
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An interesting little book with a thesis that is against the Blank Slate. Bloom argues that babies have a rough idea of good and evil, but that how that develops as they grow into adults depends largely on their environment. Interesting, but I've read bit and pieces of the research he references in a number of other places, including many of his sources, so not a lot of it was new to me. The thesis also meandered a bit more than I like.

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The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Delightfully creepy! All of the characters are developed and both good and bad, some more of one than the other. I got really attached to them and was entertained by their struggles throughout. Warning that it’s pretty gruesome but not exactly scary.

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Indigo by Beverly Jenkins

Indigo by Beverly Jenkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this for the Read Harder Challenge romance book. While I wasn’t impressed by the romance in the book, I loved the historical fiction aspect and all the little bits of education the author snuck into the book. Also, the plot is mostly delightful. You want to cheer on the main characters.

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Follow Your Gut by Rob Knight and Brendan Buhler

Follow Your Gut: How the Ecosystem in Your Gut Determines Your Health, Mood, and More by Rob Knight and Brendan Buhler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great little book about bacteria. The stuff everyone should get in an owner's manual to your own body.

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Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I didn’t like this book when I read it in high school. On reread, I hate it. What was wrong with Steinbeck? He always writes life at its cruelest.

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O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a strange little book. Very slow and beautiful and then... stuff really hits the pioneer fan. I was kind of traumatized.

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5 Days to a Clutter-Free House by Sandra Felton

5 Days to a Clutter-Free House: Quick, Easy Ways to Clear Up Your Space by Sandra Felton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is written pretty specifically for hoarders (female hoarders even?) and doesn't seem to actually solve the hoarding problem, but just sort of puts it out of sight in many many boxes. The idea is that the hoarder will revisit the boxes one day and actually deal with the situation, but that seems exceptionally dubious from my (admittedly limited) knowledge of hoarders. Maybe this system could be employed by someone who wants to be a minimalist but can't figure out how to commit.


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Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

You know it’s good when I’m finishing it at 2:40 a.m. Starts off slowly but the pieces start falling into place and the action goes completely nuts. I recommend it and I’m starting the second book in the series ASAP.

The only slight frustration is how slow on the uptake Fitz is, but I suppose that’s somewhat understandable since he’s still a young child.

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I'm Still Here by Austin Channing Brown

I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was a little dubious when I was reading the first two chapters, but then she gets to the meat of the book, and I thought the rest of it was really great. Very rarely do I think a book could be longer, but this was one I thought could have been expanded with relevant history and policy. Of course, that an unreasonable desire on my part, because this is a memoir, but I just think she'd cover the relevant details really well. It is a great book.

Lately, I read a lot about both racism and feminism (the latter is not really mentioned in this book but it's relevant) and I think that's why a lot of what she said made a lot of sense to me and Brown was really great at tying together a lot of issues. I'm not certain if it would be as clear if you don't already have a lot of background in the history of race relations in the country and the institutionalization of racist laws and policies. Definitely one worth reading, regardless.

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Nebraska: The Cornhusker State by Patrick Perish

Nebraska: The Cornhusker State by Patrick Perish
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This one was the best one for preschooler because it was short and pretty simple.

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The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book reminds me of both Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis and Etched in Sand: A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island, except it is exceptionally well-written. Seems that the Etched in Sand author suffered even more than Jeanette Walls (not that it is a competition) and Hillbilly Elegy is the not-so-subtly political, so it might be an interesting comparison for readers interested in the experience of poverty, which is the experience of most of the world. (Specifically, 10% worldwide live in extreme poverty which is less than $1.90 a day, and 80% live on less than $10 a day, according to the World Bank.)

The story in The Glass Castle is pretty compelling and picks up speed in the last one-third of the book.

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