I really wanted to love this book! It came onto my radar because I follow the author’s nycbookgirl instagram for bookish content. The idea of a love story in an art museum with magical realism sounded like such an amazing premise, and the lovely cover sets a nice tone. The book got off to a solid start but fragments into multiple disparate plot twists (one of which involved the pandemic, which took the book out of the present for me). I also felt like the emotional declarations between the two main characters felt too big and instalove for my taste. Still, someday when I come across Matisse’s The Music Lesson, I will immediately think of this book and all that it strove to achieve. I listened to the dual narration audiobook on Libby.

Outstanding!

This book is a really great book! I like it because I like basketball and it is about basketball

Like another book in this series on which he collaborated with another author, this lacks the humor and quirkiness of his other novels. It’s well written and an interesting story, but not quite as entertaining.

This illustrated chapter book was such a delight! In this meta collab between two powerhouses, fifth graders J and K go from rivals butting heads to friends who work together to win the annual writing contest. This book is insanely clever, fun for readers of all ages, and memorable. Some moments have just the right amount of cringe- other moments are surprisingly tender and kind. I loved the dialogue, the vocab infusion, the art, and the humility of it all. This is just the book I wanted to read with my elementary daughter!

Ali Cross by James Patterson is a very good mystery book. It has a wonderful and suspenseful plot that always made me want more

I enjoyed reading this book. The story is really interesting and touching my heart too. The book is also illustrated nicely. I like the wonderful design of the characters in the book and the abundant details and colors.

I read this book because it was a July Indie Next pick and GMA’s book club pick. I listened to the audiobook via Libby and was surprised by the English-accented narration by actress Lucy Boynton (though in retrospect I shouldn’t because of the author’s Irish origin). This book definitely felt like Survivor with more coupling and more cutthroat consequences. I couldn’t look away from the competition of it all and my interest was maintained up until the couple switching. The book had a bit of a lull but finished with what seemed to be an explosion of the seven deadly sins. This was an interesting book that would be good to discuss but also one I’m unlikely to reread.

This Magic Treehouse book was very informative- covering the harsh conditions and cruelty of the Civil War. Jack and Annie meet Clara Barton and (mild spoiler) a distant ancestor. My 4.5yo thought this book was tragic but interesting.

I already finished two books in this series today. So good. I'm gonna get more books from this series. Read it, and that's an order! I would actually give this book ten stars, but since that isn't on the list...