Reese's Updates

Reese wants to read 'Aftertaste'

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 10:55:22 -0700

Reese wants to read Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle

Reese is currently reading 'We Could Be Rats'

Sat, 12 Apr 2025 18:23:24 -0700

Reese is currently reading We Could Be Rats by Emily R. Austin

Reese added 'Martyr!'

Thu, 10 Apr 2025 19:30:46 -0700

Reese gave 5 stars to Martyr! (Hardcover) by Kaveh Akbar
bookshelves: lit-fic
incredible!! i immediately want to reread. review to come–i'm not sure this was truly a five star read for me but it was pretty darn close

Reese added 'In the Weeds'

Sat, 05 Apr 2025 16:33:37 -0700

Reese gave 4 stars to In the Weeds (Lovelight, #2) by B.K. Borison
bookshelves: romance
As someone who put in earplugs for Wicked bc the movie theater was too loud, Beckett's noise sensitivity really resonated. I preferred Lovelight Farms, but this was a sweet sequel. Evelyn and Beckett's story just didn't hold quite the same emotional punch as Stella and Luka's for me. Delightful, regardless!! In B.K. Borison we trust.

I'm trying to save each installment for its appropriate season, so I'll see you in summer for Layla's book.

Reese started reading 'Martyr!'

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 07:53:38 -0700

Reese started reading Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

Reese added 'Hardly Strangers: An 831 Stories Romance'

Wed, 02 Apr 2025 06:55:14 -0700

Reese gave 3 stars to Hardly Strangers: An 831 Stories Romance (Paperback) by A.C. Robinson
bookshelves: romance
The idea of meeting the lead singer of an Irish rock band at a bar in Silverlake is hilarious.

A bit overwritten despite being 145 pages. I didn't enjoy Hardly Strangers as much as Big Fan, but it was entertaining and quick—a nice palette cleanser after Liveship Traders.

Reese is starting In the Weeds

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 16:43:51 -0700

Reese is starting In the Weeds.
Reese wrote: It's spring which means I get to read book 2 in lovelight farms.

Reese is currently reading 'In the Weeds'

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 16:43:27 -0700

Reese is currently reading In the Weeds by B.K. Borison

Reese added 'Beartown'

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 16:03:23 -0700

Reese gave 5 stars to Beartown (Beartown, #1) by Fredrik Backman
bookshelves: favorites, lit-fic
new favorite.

backman forces both the reader and the characters to confront the ugliest as well as the most beautiful sides of beartown and its inhabitants, weaving his way through the lives of dozens of characters and stitching the fabric of the town into your heart as he goes. without realizing when or how he did it, i became deeply bound to these characters. how this book manages to be a character study on over a dozen characters, i’ll never understand. it’s genius.

i lost track of the number of times backman broke my heart and healed it over again. i think every other paragraph of the last 200 pages of the book brought fresh tears to my eyes, as my emotional investment in the community grew with every page. the relationships between characters were raw and honest; each one crafted with such care. there is no perfect character in this book—each one makes choices you’ll disagree with, and yet, backman ensures you understand each of them intimately. these characters live in my heart in a way i cannot describe.

backman paints the small town feel and atmosphere so vividly. the town and cast feel unique, yet there’s a feeling that this could happen anywhere; every small town has its “hockey.��

i always say that i read as an exercise in empathy. sure, sometimes i read for escape or learning or entertainment, but my favorite books are always the greatest exercises in empathy. beartown has easily earned its spot on my favorites shelf for this reason.

easily my favorite book i've read this year.

________

reread review: just as devastating/heartwarming/soul-crushing/beautiful/touching the second time.

________

rereread review: how much more some of this hurts after having completed the winners.

________

rerereread review: how many rereads is too many? unclear, but certainly not four

Reese added 'Sunrise on the Reaping'

Fri, 28 Mar 2025 12:12:25 -0700

Reese gave 4 stars to Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5) by Suzanne Collins
Wow this was so good. I would have surely sobbed my eyes out if I hadn’t read the last 40 pages in public.