Book Review: "Automatic Noodle" by Annalee Newitz

I really enjoyed this, although it’s definitely not one of my usual genres. I’m not ashamed to admit that my love of noodles is one of the things that drew me to the book. Thanks to my friend Matthew for reading this with me!

It’s 2064, in the aftermath of a brutal war between California and the rest of America. One day a group of deactivated robots awaken in the ghost kitchen where they all used to work in the rubble of San Francisco. With the war over, the robots don’t really have a purpose, and there’s still some in California that don’t think robots should be citizens.

While the group didn’t like cooking the horrible food they had to in their old restaurant, Hands misses their time as a chef for a food truck, while Cayenne loves tasting everything, even if they can’t eat it. They convince their friends, Sweetie and Staybehind, that they should open their own restaurant in the same space. Hands is fascinated by the art of hand-pulled noodles, and so Authentic Noodle is born.

Each robot has a purpose, and shortly after the restaurant opens, it becomes a smashing success online. But they’re determined to keep their identities secret, since there are many who would cause trouble if they knew the food was being cooked and served by robots.

Suddenly disaster strikes, when the restaurant is hit with a barrage of 1-star reviews online, reviews that hit on robot ownership and cooking. Their reputation is on the line, but they’re determined to find out who’s behind this.

Automatic Noodle is so creative and sweet. There’s lots of great messaging here about chosen family, fighting for yourself, and valuing the contributions of outsiders.

Book Review: "The Bones Beneath My Skin" by TJ Klune

“Not until they feel a heart beating in a chest like I have. Not until I felt the bones beneath my skin. We’re not alike. Not really. We’re separated by time and space. And yet, somehow we’re all made of dust and stars.”

Three of TJ Klune’s books have been at the top of my annual best books list, so needless to say, this was an eagerly anticipated read for me. While it wasn’t quite what I expected, I still enjoyed it tremendously for all of its Klune-like magic.

In 1995, Nate has lost both of his parents, he’s estranged from his brother, and he lost his job as a journalist in Washington, DC. With nothing to do and nowhere else to turn, he travels to Roseland, Oregon, to his family’s summer cabin, which his mother left him in her will. He figures he can lay low there for a few months and enjoy the solitude while he plans his next steps.

But the cabin isn’t empty, as he had expected. Two people have been staying there: a man named Alex and a 10-year-old girl who says her name is Artemis Darth Vader. Nate doesn’t know what to make of either of them, but it’s not long before he realizes that Artemis is extraordinary, and there must be a reason why she and Alex are hiding.

When the truth is revealed, the book shifts into high gear and feels more movie-like, with bad guys appearing, chases, etc. But while all of the action and suspense are occurring, the bones beneath the story are still quiet and lovely.

Themes familiar to the Klune books I’ve loved are present here, too: found family, queer love, memorable children, and more than a touch of fantasy. While I would’ve loved more time with the characters themselves, I was hooked on this story and the magic Klune created.

Book Review: "Here Beside the Rising Tide" by Emily Jane

Happy Pub Week to this whimsical, wacky book! Thanks so much to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for the advance copy.

“Life was a losing battle, really. Everything else out there in the vast beyond was so lifeless and empty. Mostly, a person had to look away. But there came a moment, or many moments, when a person had to extract their proverbial head from the sand and set aside their screens and remove their headphones and stand witness.”

When she was 10, Jenni and her new best friend Timmy were having an incredible summer on Pearl Island. They spent countless hours on the beach and in the water, setting off fireworks, and simply enjoying the freedom of not having any responsibility. They even helped a strange sea creature make its way back to the ocean. But suddenly, Timmy disappeared one day when they were in the water, and no one knew what happened.

Now, at 40, Jenn is the bestselling author of a smutty romance/action series. She’s also in the midst of a divorce from her self-help-book-addicted husband, with their two children caught in the crossfire. Her next book is overdue and she needs to escape, so she rents a beach house on Pearl Island for the summer, hoping she can keep her soon-to-be-ex at bay.

One night a familiar-looking boy comes out of the water. He says his name is Timmy, and he needs Jenn’s help to save the world. And things get totally crazy: shark attacks, sea monsters, even the return of the adorable sea creatures from their youth. At the same time, Jenn is attracted to a sexy contractor while trying to finish her books.

This is part sci-fi, part coming of age novel. It’s definitely all over the place, but it has such an enormous heart. I felt like it ran a bit longer than it needed to—there were lots of excerpts from Jenni's books and her husband’s self-help books that I could’ve done without. But Emily Jane drew me in with her storytelling for sure.

Book Review: "The In-Between Bookstore" by Edward Underhill

Darby moved to NYC to go to college and put some distance between him and Oak Falls, his small Illinois hometown. As a trans man, getting a fresh start was exactly what he needed, away from those who looked down on him.

Now, as he nears 30, he’s just lost his job, his rent is increasing, and he’s feeling rudderless. It feels like all of his best friends are making progress in their lives, while he’s not. When he learns that his mother is planning to sell his childhood home and move into a new condo, he decides to move back to Oak Falls.

So much has changed in Oak Falls since Darby left. But one thing hasn’t: In Between Books, the store where he worked in high school. In fact, when he goes into the store, the new releases and the newspapers are all from 2009. And the kid behind the counter seems so much like Darby at 16…could it be Darby?

As Darby tries to connect with his teenage self, he also tries to figure out where his life went off track, and how to fix it. He also encounters Michael, his best friend while growing up, whom he hasn’t seen since their friendship ended dramatically before Darby left Oak Falls.

I love time travel and time loops, and how characters learn from the past. But this book never really took off for me. I didn’t really feel like Darby learned much, and I felt like everything in the book was left fairly unresolved.

Edward Underhill has written three YA books that I’ve enjoyed, so I was looking forward to his adult debut. I like the way he writes, so hopefully his next book will have more of a spark for me.

Book Review: "Full Speed to a Crash Landing" by Beth Revis

I don’t read much science fiction, but when my friend suggested we buddy read the first book in Beth Revis’ new Chaotic Orbits series, I thought, why not? I mean, it was described as a “high octane sexy space heist,” so how could I resist?

Ada is a looter, trying to salvage anything she can from abandoned or wrecked spaceships. And while she found Roundabout first, she can’t profit from the spoils when she winds up with a giant hole in her ship and her spacesuit is running out of oxygen. She signals a nearby ship (obviously looking for loot as well) in distress, but it takes a long time for them to rescue her.

When she is finally saved by the crew of the Halifax, she is under scrutiny right away. They’re on a secret mission and really don’t want Ada tagging along, but she’s more than happy to take advantage of the luxuries aboard their ship.

While Ada tries to convince the crew to let her do the job she was paid for, the crew has other ideas. The captain of the ship isn’t actually the one in charge; it’s Rian, a handsome government agent who’s calling the shots. And he’s not convinced that Ada is an ordinary looter.

Rian fascinates Ada (and he’s great to look at), but she’s not sure what she’s up to. Who will win the battle of wills and flirtation to get what they want?

This was a quick read, partially because Revis didn’t do much world building to set the scene. Because it’s a novella, everything felt a bit rushed, and while I enjoyed Ada’s snark, it got to be a bit much after a while. I’m really curious to see how the story will develop, however.

Book Review: "Stealing Time" by Tilia Klebenov Jacobs and Norman Birnbach

What a fun romp this was!! Thanks so much to Get Red PR Books for the complimentary copy!

It’s 2020 and teenage Tori is pretty dissatisfied with her life. Her parents are getting divorced, her father is annoying, and the pandemic has motivated her mother to move the two of them from their NYC home to Massachusetts to live with Tori’s aunt until the world gets back to normal.

Just before she heads to Massachusetts, “land of Boston accents, inferior bagels, lousy pizza, and having to be driven everywhere,” Tori makes a shocking discovery. (Well, she overhears it.) Apparently her paternal grandfather (whom she’s named after) was accused of a colossal jewel heist 40 years ago.

As if that’s not unsettling enough, the next thing Tori knows, she’s in 1980. The world—and NYC, for that matter—is very different than what she knows. She finds herself becoming allies with a teenage version of her father, on a mission to stop the jewel theft and perhaps correct the course of their family’s lives.

Getting used to a world without cell phones and the internet is not something that Tori ever wanted to do. It’s good to feel like you can have an impact on the future. But will she able to make it back to 2020? And will she have to share her secret with the 1980s version of her dad?

I’m a sucker for a time travel book, and this was a fun adventure. There was humor, emotions, family dysfunction, and so much more.

Book Review: "Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend" by MJ Wassmer

It was going to be the perfect vacation for Dan and his girlfriend Mara: a newly opened resort on a remote island in the Bahamas. For the first few days it really does feel like paradise. And then the sun explodes.

The resort guests panic. They have no phone or internet access to see how their families back home are—and they can’t reach the airlines to try and get out of there, not that they know whether planes would still be able to fly. Plus, there’s the fact that without the sun, the temperatures will start to drop.

When the wealthiest resort guests stage a coup, anger erupts along with the panic and paranoia. The leader of the coup, the head of a fitness pyramid scheme, pretends to be folksy and faith-based, but she’s actually a dangerous threat. Supplies start to be rationed and tensions between classes intensify.

Dan has been content to let life go by, although he always wanted to make a difference. Somehow he is pressed into duty to fight for the non-wealthy guests, and although he’s a bit of a bumbler, as things get crazier, he starts to relish his role as hero. But what will that mean for him and Mara?

I thought this was a terrific concept and parts of the book are hysterically funny. But as things went further and further off the rails, the story went way over the top, and I found myself not caring that much.

Book Review: "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

What would you change if you could travel back in time?⁣

⁣ I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this in bookstores. I’ve always wondered whether it was worthy of all the attention, but I never actually knew what it was about. Once I saw there was an element of time travel in the plot, I decided to take the plunge.⁣

⁣ There is a cafe called Funiculi Funicula located in a back alley in Tokyo. The cafe isn’t much to look at, but somehow it’s been serving coffee for more than 100 years. What’s the secret to its success? In addition to coffee, the cafe serves up a chance for people to travel back in time.⁣

⁣ Of course, there are a lot of rules to time travel. Some make complete sense and some seem unfair, but the cafe’s employees don’t have any flexibility. Above all, the trip back in time has to be short—travelers need to return to the cafe before the coffee gets cold.⁣

⁣ This book follows four different sets of travelers as they seek to revisit a point in their past. Essentially it’s like four interconnected short stories, but there’s a lot of repetition, because the rules have to be explained every time. I was hoping this would be a bit more inspirational for me, but I’m still intrigued by the concept of getting to travel back into your past. ⁣

Book Review: "Mr. Breakfast" by Jonathan Carroll

Jonathan Carroll's new book is a little odd, but it's tremendously powerful and thought-provoking.

“The best thing in the world, the most anyone can hope for, is to wake up in the morning liking where you are, what you do, and, if you’re lucky, who you’re with. Ask or expect more and you’re a greedy fool.”

Graham Patterson is a stand-up comedian, but his career never seems to have gotten the traction he’d hoped for. He needs to figure out what his next steps are, so he buys a car and plans to drive cross-country, and hopes that inspiration will strike and lead him to success.

Along the way, he stops in North Carolina and gets a tattoo. Shortly thereafter, he starts seeing things that don’t make sense. It turns out that the tattoo is tremendously unique, and it will give him the ability to see his parallel lives. He can choose the life he is living, or see two other possible paths he could take, and he can stay in the life he chooses. But once he makes a choice there’s no telling what will happen.

This book is so fascinating and compelling. It looks at the choices we make and the impacts those choices have on ourselves and others. It’s also a story about connection, love, and finding what—and whom—you care about. Obviously there’s some suspension of belief that’s necessary, but I just loved this.

The Best Books I Read in 2022...

Well, Happy New Year! I'm actually a little in shock that it's 2023 already, although I'm more than happy to kick 2022 out the door. This was a really difficult year, emotionally, professionally (for the first quarter of the year), and personally, but thanks to 4 months of unemployment and 2 bouts of COVID, I got lots and lots of reading done: in fact, I read 372 books for the second year in a row! (That was on purpose—as I got closer to reaching my total from last year, I pulled out all of the stops to match that.)

Every year I pull together a list of the best books I read. It's really difficult to look back on a year of reading and narrow it down, especially when you've read as much I have. So I've put together a top 25, followed by a list of 20 books that were still too good not to mention. The title of each book is linked to my original review.

As always, I'd love your thoughts on what you loved reading this year!

The Top 25

1. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus: A beautiful story about love and family and standing up for what is right, but also about the unfairness of society towards anyone who doesn’t fit a specific mold, particularly in the 1960s.

2. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt: An absolutely fantastic, beautiful story about friendship, family, and second chances which will make me look at aquatic creatures a little closer the next time I’m at the aquarium!

3. The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston: Take a love story, add friendship, grief, and self-discovery, and throw in some ghosts, and you’ll get this amazing book that totally stole my heart.

4. Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore: The Great Gatsby, but make it queer and YA. (And this is one of two Gatsby retellings on my list!)

5. Book Lovers by Emily Henry: This is a terrific rom-com but there’s so much more to it, as two people realize they don’t have to sacrifice their own happiness to be someone’s hero.⁣

6. A Quiet Life by Ethan Joella: Like the title says, it’s a quiet story, about love, about overcoming grief and taking tentative steps toward something new, and about our desperate need for connection, especially in times of trouble.

7. One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle: Rebecca Serle’s books hit me in a place that few others do. She deals with grief and love and choices and desires, and bends the concept of reality slightly, which might not work for everyone, but it definitely works for me.

8. Look Closer by David Ellis: A twisty thriller that hooked me from the very start and never let go. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, Ellis flipped the script time and again. If you love twisty thrillers that keep you guessing, pick this one up!!

9. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna: I wasn’t expecting a book to fill my heart so much. This book is so full of joy and love, of chosen family, diversity, and the feeling of being totally yourself for the first time, and it feels like a gigantic hug.

10. When You Call My Name by Tucker Shaw: This is such a beautiful book, one that so accurately captures the mood of 1990, the sadness, defiance, anger, and fear that pervaded the LGBTQ community at that time. It’s about the power of friendship, love, chosen and blood family, and finally finding yourself.

Book Review: "The First to Die at the End" by Adam Silvera

Sometimes it takes knowing you’re going to die to truly live.

It’s been a few years (five, to be exact) since Adam Silvera published They Both Die at the End. It was a gorgeous, emotional story of two boys who meet on the last day of their lives. But if you never read that or can’t remember it, that’s ok, because this is a prequel to that book.

It’s December 31, 2010. At midnight the world will change because Death-Cast will launch. It’s a service that calls people on the day they will die, in an effort to help them do and say all they need to before their life ends.

Orion figures he’ll be one of the first to get that call. He’s been living with a terminal heart condition and he’s been afraid to really live because he knows it could kill him. While at a crowded party in Times Square, he meets Valentino, a model who has just moved to NYC to launch his career and escape his homophobic parents.

The two boys feel an instant connection. And then shortly after midnight, a call comes that will change both of them forever.

Sure, this is a little predictable, but it’s just a lovely story. These two characters really stole my heart and left me a mess at the end. There are a few subplots that you don’t think will matter to the overall plot, but in the end, they do. (And there are a few Easter eggs for those who remember They Both Die at the End.

This is such a memorable book. Thanks to Storygram Tours, Epic Reads, and Adam Silvera for inviting me on the tour and providing complimentary copies of both books!!

Book Review: "Sea of Tranquility" by Emily St. John Mandel

A slow burn, but a mesmerizing, powerful story about connection, regret, love, music, and time travel.

Did you ever read a book and wonder how you might review it? Not because you aren’t sure how you feel about it, but because it’s so hard to describe? That’s the way I felt while reading this. I loved it, but describing it won’t be easy.

In 1912, a young Englishman has been exiled to Canada by his family after an awkward and inappropriate rant at a dinner party. After many stops and starts, he winds up in a remote town surrounded by a forest. When exploring one day, he looks up into a tree and hears the notes of a violin with the sound of an airship taking off. He doesn’t know what the sounds are or what they mean, but they shake him to his core.

Nearly 300 years later, a writer is on tour of Earth when one of her books about a pandemic is being adapted into a movie. The book contains a scene in which a man plays the violin in an airship terminal while ships depart. At the same time, there are concerns another plague may affect Earth.

Meanwhile, in 2401, a bored hotel detective living in a colony on the moon becomes obsessed with the question of whether life is real or a simulation. He volunteers for time travel and meets a young Englishman who thinks he’s losing his mind, a writer away from her family at the start of a plague, and a friend he’s seen at different stages of his life. Can he simply observe or will he change the course of time?

This is a gorgeous, thought-provoking book but it definitely won’t be for everyone. I love time travel and I love the way Emily St. John Mandel writes, so I was completely hooked.

Book Review: "Ice Planet Barbarians" by Ruby Dixon

Well, umm, this was interesting.

If ever there were a "Bookstagram Made Me Do It" book, it would be Ice Planet Barbarians. And now I can say that I was yesterday years old when I read my first piece of alien erotica.

Georgie often has weird dreams after a long day of work. But when she dreams of being abducted by aliens, it turns out it’s not a dream at all. She’s being held captive on an alien ship with a number of other young women, enduring harsh conditions and living in fear that they’ll be raped if they make a sound.

When the ship has engine trouble, their crew leaves its human cargo on an ice planet. Georgie, who is the de facto leader of the women, goes off to find shelter and food. But what she finds is Vektal, a 7-foot-tall blue alien who is immediately taken with her. He doesn’t know what she is, but she makes his chest purr, and he believes she is his mate. And he’s willing to show her just how taken with her he is.

Vektal agrees to help Georgie by helping the other women from the ship. But what will he want in return? And will he be willing to let her go?

The steam in this book is off the charts and the story is surprisingly funny at times. I don’t think I’ll read the rest of the series but this was one I won’t soon forget!

Book Review: "She Wouldn't Change a Thing" by Sarah Adlakha

Would you change fate—even if it means losing what you love?

She Wouldn't Change a Thing was an intriguing story with a little bit of a Sliding Doors-esque feel, but it was very different at the same time.

Maria is a psychiatrist who never seems to have enough time—the demands of marriage, motherhood to two young girls, her third pregnancy, and her career leave her at wits’ end more often than not. Her husband wouldn’t mind if she didn’t go back to work after the baby is born, but she can’t imagine that.

One day Maria sees a new client who is clearly quite mentally ill. The woman fixates on a number of events, including a recent hurricane, but then makes claims about Maria’s life that disturb her. Shortly thereafter, the woman takes her own life, leaving a letter for Maria. But the police won’t let her see it until after the investigation is done.

And then Maria wakes up in her 17-year-old body. She wants to get back to her real life, but soon she realizes that she’s stuck in a time period just before a tragedy befalls her husband’s family. Should she stop it from happening, even though that could change the course of the rest of her life?

I’m always intrigued by books that involve time travel of some sort. I love the dilemma of wanting to change something without the butterfly effect occurring. My challenge with She Wouldn't Change a Thing, however, is that I found the plot a little too confusing at times and a bit meandering—there are a few threads that had to come together for it all to make sense for me.

Still, I love unique stories and if time travel intrigues you, definitely pick this up! (Other great time travel stories include Time and Again by Jack Finney, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and How to Stop Time by Matt Haig.)

Book Review: "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir

Andy Weir's latest book, Project Hail Mary, blinded me with science.

I've been waiting to read this for a few months now, since I really enjoyed The Martian. So many friends have raved about it, and the book has appeared on a number of friends' year-end lists.

A man wakes up on a spaceship. He can’t remember his name or his mission, and somehow he’s the only one on the spaceship who survived. What happened? What’s his mission?

Little by little, it comes back to him. He’s Ryland Grace, a science teacher, and he was drafted into a multinational effort to save the world from a being that threatens the existence of humanity. He’s been asleep for a long time, and the window for him to act is rapidly closing.

It’ll take all of his scientific bravado plus help from one of the most unlikely of sources to save humanity. Will he prevail? Can the threat to our world be stopped?

Andy Weir is an excellent storyteller. This is definitely a story with heart and emotion and, of course, you’re hopefully rooting for Ryland to save the day. The thing is, however, this book has so much science that it made my head hurt.

Sure, you can skim some of it and some of it you can figure out, but after a while it just reminded me that there’s a reason I didn’t go to medical school and become a doctor, thus contradicting the requirement in the Torah that the oldest Jewish son practice medicine. (I kid.)

Book Review: "With Little Means" by Raimo Strangis

Raimo Strangis' debut novel, With Little Means, is a thought-provoking book about the things we dream of and how far we’d go to make them come true.

“So, I ask you, would you give up all you have to go back and live the life you’ve always dreamed?“

Rai Starr once dreamed of being a musician. He and his band were on the verge of hitting it big when illness sidelined him. After a while, he was able to move on, and he found happiness as a chef, and built a beautiful family with his wife, Rachyl.

But years later, the dream he never achieved still resides in his memories. When he learns about Remarkable, a new reality show that uses special technologies to give people a second chance to go back into their past and actually achieve their dreams, he cannot wait to audition.

Of course, given his story, Rai is a natural for the show. But as he realizes the technologies the show uses may be more dangerous than he ever imagined, and he meets an actress along the way, he has to decide what is more powerful—the opportunity to finally become a star or having the life he’s come to love.

With Little Means was really thought-provoking and very creative. There are definitely paths in my life I wish I’d taken (or hadn’t taken), and I wonder what would’ve happened to me had things changed. Of course, that might mean other things might never have happened, so who knows?

Raimo Strangis provided me a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks so much for making it available! You’ve given me so much to think about and created a great story!!

Book Review: "If She Had Stayed" by Diane Byington

If you had the chance to do something over from your past, would you?

Kaley has always felt a connection to Nikola Tesla, because her grandfather once worked for the famous inventor. Now she’s the acting director of a soon-to-be-opened Tesla Museum in Colorado Springs, a job she hopes will become permanent. (Only if she can raise enough money.)

After meeting with a potential donor, she is given an antique safe, in which she finds some long-lost papers which appear to be written by Tesla himself. She can’t believe what she reads. Was he delusional or did he really time travel? Imagine how this discovery could impact the world!

Even though her mind is telling her that time travel isn't possible, Kaley’s curiosity gets the best of her, so she builds Tesla’s time machine in order to see whether his words are true. She plans to go back to her college days to change her actions around one major decision in her life.

Will she get to her past? Will she kill herself in the process? What she doesn’t count on is someone less-than-honest from her past hiding things from her.

I’m a fan of anything time travel-related so this was an interesting read, meshing science and action and character development. At times it got a little confusing, but the story definitely hooked me, and I love the nuances Diane Byington brought to the story.

I was pleased to be part of the blog tour for this book. Kate Rock Blog Tours and Diane Byington provided me with a complimentary copy in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!!

Book Review: "Out Now: Queer We Go Again" edited by Saundra Mitchell

What a great way to start off Pride Month and my month-long effort to read LGBTQ+ books for PrideReads!

Out Now: Queer We Go Again is a new anthology featuring 17 short stories written by queer YA authors. From names you may recognize if you're a YA fan (Julian Winters, Meredith Russo, Caleb Roehrig, Mark Oshiro) and names I wasn't familiar with, these stories run the gamut from tales of romance, friendship, and self-acceptance, to fantasy, sci-fi, and folklore, all with an LGBTQ+ angle.

My favorite stories in the collection included: "What Happens in the Closet" by Caleb Roehrig, when vampires attack a high school prom and a gay student tries to better understand his nemesis; "Star-Crossed in DC" by Jessica Verdi, featuring the president's daughter who is ready to make a stand; "One Spell Too Many" by Tara Sim, about a teenage girl and kitchen witch, whose penchant for weaving spells into her baked goods has chaotic consequences; "Refresh" by Mark Oshiro, which tells of the frantic moments leading up to a blind date for two boys who met online; "Lumber Me Mine" by CB Lee, about two students who become enamored of one another during woodshop class; "Follower" by Will Kostakis, in which a social media influencer meets one of his fans; and perhaps my favorite story, "Victory Lap" by Julian Winters, in which a young man in search of a date to a school dance finds an unlikely ally in his search.

I tend to like stories that are a little simpler; there were a few stories in the collection that were science-fiction- or fantasy-based, and those didn't appeal to me as much. But for me, ultimately, the mark of a good story is one I'd love to see expanded into a longer form or even a full-length novel. All of the above stories, plus several others I didn't include in my list, definitely piqued my interest, and I'm going to explore the work of many of the authors featured in the collection.

The path to love and attraction, to connecting with someone you're interested in, to accepting who you are and/or working with family and friends to do the same, is different for every person. The stories in Out Now: Queer We Go Again didn't try to make their characters fall into predetermined patterns. While not every story was completely realistic, there's probably a story in here that almost everyone can identify with in one way or another.

Apparently Out Now is a follow-up to an anthology called All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens throughout the Ages, also edited by Saundra Mitchell. I'll definitely be checking that out as well.

I was fortunate to be part of the blog tour for this book. NetGalley and Inkyard Press provided me with an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

The Best Movies of the Decade...

For those of you who wonder if I do anything other than read, the answer is a resounding, "yes." As many of you know, I also go to the movies a lot, particularly as it gets closer to the end of the year and the films and performances being touted as potential Oscar nominees. Some years I don't see as many movies as I'd like, but some years I've had lots of chances.

Like I did in 2010 for the 2000s, I went through all of the movies I've seen and made a list of my top 50 movies of the 2010s. Boy, it wasn't easy, as there were a lot of movies that still resonate with me, some years after I've seen them.

I'll admit that once I got past the top 25 or so, ranking the movies became even more difficult, so the rankings are fairly arbitrary. I don't know that I necessarily loved movie #37 more than movie #40, but this is what happens when you do a list like this!

So, without further ado, here's my list. Feedback is always welcome (and appreciated). I'm sure I missed something major. For each movie, the title is linked to its IMDB profile in case you've never heard of it.

1. Fruitvale Station (2013): Tore my heart out, made me angry, and made me think. Still does all these years later. Starring Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, and Octavia Spencer; directed by Ryan Coogler.


2. Inception (2010): I still can't quite get this wild movie about dream-sharing technology and thought manipulation out of my head. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, and Marion Cotillard; directed by Christopher Nolan.


3. La La Land (2016): Go ahead, roll your eyes at me all you want. I fell head over heels for this love story between an aspiring actress and a musician, and loved every minute of its classic-musical feel. Starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone; directed by Damien Chazelle.


4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012): Terrific movie adaptation of one of my favorite books, this movie hit me right in the feels. Starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller; directed by Stephen Chbosky (who wrote the book).


5. Her (2013): A lonely man gets a little too attached to his phone's new operating system. Astute commentary on our ability to connect. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, and Scarlett Johansson; directed by Spike Jonze.


6. Hugo (2011): An orphan living in a Paris train station in the 1930s tries to solve a mystery involving his late father and an automaton. A love letter to the movies. Starring Asa Butterfield and Chloë Grace Moretz; directed by Martin Scorsese.


7. Call Me by Your Name (2017): Sexy, romantic, and poignant, this is proof positive you never quite get over your first love. Great adaptation of Andre Aciman's terrific book. Starring Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer; directed by Luca Guadagnino.


8. Black Panther (2018): The only MCU movie on this list, this movie worked for me at every level and still feels joyful and exciting after many, many viewings. Still think it should've won Best Picture last year. Starring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, and Lupita Nyong'o; directed by Ryan Coogler.


9. Moonrise Kingdom (2012): A young boy and girl fall in love and decide to run away from home, which causes their entire town to form a search party and try to find them. Trademark Wes Anderson quirk with so much heart. Starring Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, and Bruce Willis; directed by Wes Anderson.
10. Boyhood (2014): A triumph of filmmaking (the same cast was filmed over 12 years) and a quietly special, memorable film in and of itself. Starring Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, and Ethan Hawke; directed by Richard Linklater.

My Favorite Books of the Decade...

I know that many subscribe to the philosophy that the decade technically doesn't end until the close of 2020, with the new decade starting in 2021, but I'm following along with conventional wisdom on this one like the sheep that I am...

Between 2010 and 2019, I read a total of 1,404 books. (That's not including books I didn't enjoy enough to finish.) I'm pretty pleased with that achievement. Of course, I don't necessarily remember everything about every book I've read, but there definitely have been books through the years which have remained in my mind and my heart, books that come to mind when people ask the inevitable question, "Any recommendations on what book I should read?"

I decided to pull together a list of my favorite books from the last decade. Since I've been keeping lists of the best books I've read each year, that made this task slightly easier, but still, culling this list down to a manageable side was nearly impossible! So what I did was narrowed my list to 40 books. I ranked my top 10 (no mean feat there) and then the rest I'll list randomly. The title of each book will be hyperlinked to my original review.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these choices, as always. I hope you can find a great book or two on this list!

Best of the Decade

1. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (2015): When I read this 700+-page book several years ago, I realized two things: it is one of the most dazzlingly brilliant, emotionally moving books I've ever read, and it is a difficult and painful one to read at times. This was hands-down the best book I've read in the last 10 years, if not longer.


2. The Absolutist by John Boyne (2012): To say that this book devastated me is an understatement. It is easily one of the most beautifully written, emotionally gripping books I've read this past decade. This is a book about relationships, betrayal, courage, and standing up for yourself and your beliefs.


3. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (2011): A man is enlisted in the ultimate heroic mission—stopping Lee Harvey Oswald from assassinating John F. Kennedy. There have been thousands of books written about time travel and the idea of righting past wrongs, but in Stephen King's tremendously capable hands, this concept seems fresh and unique.


4. I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson (2014): This is beautiful, breathtaking, bewildering, and a little bizarre. It's a book about the half-truths we tell ourselves and our reluctance to see what is in front of us and say what we truly feel. It's also a book about how simple it is to hurt those closest to us, and how the simplest actions can cause so much pain. I read a lot of YA this decade, and this was truly the best.


5. An Exaltation of Larks (2018), A Charm of Finches (2018), and A Scarcity of Condors by Suanne Laqueur (2019): I considered all three books in this trilogy as one unit. Laqueur's ability to pull you into her books so completely, to feel such attachment to her characters that you can't stop thinking about them when you're finished reading, is absolutely dazzling. These books are gorgeous, sensitive, sexy, and emotional, full of moments that made me smile, made me blush, horrified me, and made me full-on ugly cry at times.


6. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz (2013): How can a person determined never to need anyone let themselves actually need someone? How can you tell the difference between friendship and love? Benjamin Alire Saenz's novel is so beautifully poetic, so emotional—it's funny, heartbreaking, frustrating, and rewarding. Just like life is. I loved this so much.


7. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (2011): It has been said that "baseball is life." Whether or not you agree with this statement, for the characters in Chad Harbach's fantastic novel, baseball may not be life, but it certainly is at the crux of their lives. Amazon named this the best book of 2011. It certainly was among my favorites from that year. Harbach is a terrific writer and at times, a sentence or two would make me pause and read it again, just to marvel at his word choices.


8. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (2012): This book hooked me so hard I stayed up until 2:00 a.m. to finish it, and there I was, sobbing, on my couch in the middle of the night. Clearly, a book about teenagers who meet in a cancer support group is headed in a direction you don't want it to, but even the journey Green takes you on is worth the sadness.


9. Tin Man by Sarah Winman (2018): When the blurb on the cover reads, "This is an astoundingly beautiful book. It drips with tenderness. It breaks your heart and warms it all at once," how can you resist? This is an immensely memorable story about friendship, love, and longing, and the blurred lines between those things.


10. Beartown (2017) and Us Against You by Fredrick Backman (2018): These two books are about a Swedish town that is literally obsessed with hockey, and which faces a crisis (or two) that will practically tear the town apart. These books are utterly phenomenal, full of heart, memorable characters you root for, and, at least for me, situations to make you cry.