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Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin A. A coming of age story dealing with a 14 year old’s relationship with the Black Pentecostal Church and family over, complete with the backstories of a few family members. Baldwin is an incredible writer.

The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich A-. A teen has been conditioned his entire life to become a spy and ends up falling for his competition for the teen girl they’re both instructed to woo. The loser will be killed by the spy organization. It’s a bit weird, but it worked.

Strong Female Character by Fern Brady A- A late-diagnosed autistic Scottish comedienne writes about her life experiences. Definitely relatable.

The B-List

Viola in Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani and Viola in the Spotlight by Adriana Trigiani (Both B+) Yay, a hit from Trigiani instead of a miss! Viola is a teen girl who is aspiring to become a director and goes to boarding school in Indiana in the first part of the duology. The second focuses on her return to New York the following summer. Likeable protagonist and Trigiani’s writing works here.

My Friends by Fredrik Backman B+. I actually liked one by Backman that wasn’t related to Beartown! (I didn’t like A Man Called Ove nor Anxious People that much but loved the Beartown series, so I was curious to see if I’d like any of his works outside the trilogy) A teen girl finds herself the heir to a painting she admires and befriends the widow of the gay artist on a train ride and finds out how the painting came to be.

Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums Drums Drums by Travis Barker w/ Gavin Edwards B+

Blink 182’s drummer’s memoir, which was pretty different from Mark Hoppus…but equally good, especially for fans of the band.

One Love by Matt Cain B+ A man tries to make his friendship of over 20 years into a romance. Not quite as good as Cain’s other books, but still worth a read.

Badasstronauts by Grady Hendrix B. When a spaceship gets lost, a man decides to build his own to try to find him. Early, republished novel of Hendrix, probably best for his biggest fans. I’ve only read one other of his (the Ikea one Hörrorstor) which I liked better.

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler B. Three siblings grow up with an absent father and the book deals with their relationship as adults.

Never Flinch by Stephen King B. I commented a bit on this to ladyday’s post (if she didn’t see my reply, I agree that the Wawa in Ohio took me out of the book and made me think of her!). Holly is back facing a pair of creepy killers—one killing innocent people because of a trial verdict gone wrong and the other stalking a feminist speaker touring cities. It’s very political. It read more like a John Grisham meets James Patterson, lots of storytelling instead of showing. I think King is returning to Holly’s world so often because it means he doesn’t have to work on developing brand new characters. I like Holly, and I thought the book was okay, but it’s definitely my least fave journey into Holly’s world. And all the places like Wawa and Piggly Wiggly that aren’t along Lake Erie took me out of the book…

(My Stephen King re-read of the month was Richard Bachman’s Rage, which is well written but hasn’t aged well for reasons).

The Elf Queen of Shannara by Terry Brooks B and The Talismans of Shannara by Terry Brooks B+. Ending the Heritage of Shannara quartet! The Elf Queen was just meh—Brooks does not write women as well as men (and I really don’t like the word “Wren”, which was the name of the character who becomes Elf Queen in the book. Lol) It also felt very Wizard of Ozesque as Rocs took her to the island where all the elves fled to (being carried in a magic stone). She must restore them to the Four Lands.

The series ended on a high (and he wrote Wren a tad bit better in the finale) as the four “Scions” of Shannara must use their various talismans to stop the fascist Federation and restore the world that was established in the original trilogy.

The C-List

Disco Witches of Fire Island by Blair Fell C+. So much promise and yet fell so flat. A twenty something escapes to Fire Island with a friend, and befriends male witches (not warlocks), and…it was so badly written I stopped reading so I don’t know.

Once Upon You & Me by Timothy Janovsky C+. A completely forgettable and uninspired “age gap LGBTQIA+” romance as the blurb describes it. It had no plot. Janovsky is publishing at least two books a year, and while some are fun reads, he’s just writing too much…quality over quantity please!