The Memory Painter by Gwendolyn Womack

The Memory Painter by Gwendolyn Womack
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Because my book tastes have been adapting to the ridiculous number of books I consume, these days I'm surprised whenever I like a book that isn't literary. I liked it! It was fun! It was decently written! There were no ridiculous plot holes! It's even a book that might continue to interest me in a reread. This is a good start from Womack.

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Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this even though I typically don’t enjoy whatever genre this is: romance, women’s lit, whatever. I liked all the characters and their friendships and their little struggles. I also live in Nebraska and have become obsessed with local news this year, and the characters work at a local Nebraska newspaper.

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The Vagina Bible by Jennifer Gunter

The Vagina Bible: The Vulva and the Vagina—Separating the Myth from the Medicine by Jennifer Gunter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a reference book, not an interesting nonfiction book after the first third or so. It's a good reference book but I'm a little annoyed I read the whole thing.

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The End of October by Lawrence Wright

The End of October by Lawrence Wright
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Scary and prescient. But as someone living in the pandemic times, he missed some key things. For example, there is a point where two educated scientist characters embrace-- no freaking way that's happening in a pandemic more deadly than this one. In general, he failed to capture how horrendously people would behave and how quickly a more fatal pathogen would wipe out (non-science-believing) people who refused to help themselves.

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Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L. Trump

Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man by Mary L. Trump
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is mostly about the Trump family more than Donald Trump specifically. Definitely interesting and terribly sad- mostly for all the people the Trump family ripped off. Of course, saddest of all is the 160,000 dead Americans and counting.

The final section where she opines on the Trump presidency is skippable, as it just an obvious statement of what a complete failure and human tragedy his presidency has been.

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Normal People by Sally Rooney

Normal People by Sally Rooney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I became very invested in the characters even though I low-key hate Connell. (I don't think I was supposed to hate him? I think I'm supposed to love him a little? But I definitely don't.) The writing carried me along and I barely put it down until I was finished.

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Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thoroughly entertaining romance and adventure fantasy book. Even though it’s long, it’s a pleasure that it’s long. It only took me 2 weeks to read it because I enjoyed it enough to keep coming back to it. Some disturbing things happen towards the end though and it does make me nervous to continue with the series.

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White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read a lot about racism (and sexism) and I still think this book provided me with something valuable. It's a different framework from which to view the problems we face and how to best conduct yourself when opposing racism. I'm still trying to process how this works with (or sometimes contradicts?) the type anti-racism espoused by Ibram X. Kendi.

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Untamed by Glennon Doyle

Untamed by Glennon Doyle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Yes and no. It's fun and she has some good ideas sometimes but her thinking and writing is a bit of a mess. She contradicts herself a lot and seems to know very little about academic feminism though she styles herself as the greatest feminist ever. I liked it, and I like her, but I can live without her consumerist version of feminism where you can do whatever you want (because it sells stuff). She doesn't even actually behave that way in real life, instead trying very hard to do good and help people through community organizers. To that end, she seems to suspect there's more to feminism but because she hasn't given it any real study, she doesn't realize she's cherry-picking from contradictory feminist camps. I am not an expert either, but I know enough to know her philosophy is flawed. As I said though, I loved a lot of her ideas (possibly the ones appropriated from her therapist but I'll take it). Her type of Christianity is very similar to mine (though not completely) and I appreciate that as well.

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Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A dangerous and exciting adventure in San Francisco as two friends try to break codes and solve a literary puzzle. Slow start, but fun exciting midway on.

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