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ali_k0's reviews
141 reviews
Fat Leonard: How One Man Bribed, Bilked, and Seduced the U.S. Navy by Craig Whitlock
funny
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
I think I got this book off my Libby shelf the day it came out, and probably read 75% in one day. The author and audio reader are both fantastic, I couldn't stop. I was so annoyed finals kept me from finishing it another week.
I know almost nothing about military or rank, certainly not the navy. Usually when I go for nonfiction, it's nothing like this, but the subtitles enticed me to step out of my comfort zone and dive into some military scandal like I was a middle aged dad talking about WW2.
I think I told just about everyone I knew to read this book, purely based on how unbelievably incredible I found the entire story. At every point, you're thinking, "That can't possibly happen!" And then it DID.
No matter your background knowledge on Politics or military this book is very easy to understand with a cast of characters that will leave gasping. It is both the most entertaining and horrifying real-life episode of Gossip Girl you could ever imagine.
It was a ride from start to finish. Read it.
I know almost nothing about military or rank, certainly not the navy. Usually when I go for nonfiction, it's nothing like this, but the subtitles enticed me to step out of my comfort zone and dive into some military scandal like I was a middle aged dad talking about WW2.
I think I told just about everyone I knew to read this book, purely based on how unbelievably incredible I found the entire story. At every point, you're thinking, "That can't possibly happen!" And then it DID.
No matter your background knowledge on Politics or military this book is very easy to understand with a cast of characters that will leave gasping. It is both the most entertaining and horrifying real-life episode of Gossip Girl you could ever imagine.
It was a ride from start to finish. Read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use and Sexual content
Minor: Violence and War
The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Once & Future Witches reports to follow three sisters bringing back the age of Witching. However, it's better told to be about a movement of women across the world who held onto the words and the ways so that those with the will could fight there way through life back to a time when they had power.
In the ashes of Old Salem is New Salem, a city free from witches and where every street is named after a saint, and hidden in those streets are women who have held on to the dying dregs of witchcraft by weaving it into their quilts and whispering it in each other's ears. All dream of a time where they have more then penny pinching and abusive husbands, but with the exception of low level house magic there is little left for them to use.
But the sufferage movement has women organizing, talking out of shadows, and the winds have blown three sisters back into the city. The sisters alone won't be enough to bring back the Lost Way, but with their new sisters (and romances) they'll find the way.
This book is for every spitfire with a habit for finding trouble, girls who draw their circles large enough for only themselves, anyone whose ever dreamed of being a magic librarian (I know I'm not the only one) or anyone looking for a story about organizing, finding a way when there's a will, and the power of intersectional allyship.
In the ashes of Old Salem is New Salem, a city free from witches and where every street is named after a saint, and hidden in those streets are women who have held on to the dying dregs of witchcraft by weaving it into their quilts and whispering it in each other's ears. All dream of a time where they have more then penny pinching and abusive husbands, but with the exception of low level house magic there is little left for them to use.
But the sufferage movement has women organizing, talking out of shadows, and the winds have blown three sisters back into the city. The sisters alone won't be enough to bring back the Lost Way, but with their new sisters (and romances) they'll find the way.
This book is for every spitfire with a habit for finding trouble, girls who draw their circles large enough for only themselves, anyone whose ever dreamed of being a magic librarian (I know I'm not the only one) or anyone looking for a story about organizing, finding a way when there's a will, and the power of intersectional allyship.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Abortion
The Fabulist: The Lying, Hustling, Grifting, Stealing, and Very American Legend of George Santos by Mark Chiusano
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
3.75
A Shadow Crown by Melissa Blair
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Vampires of El Norte is a Romantic Historical Thriller perfect for anyone looking to get into Romance, History, or Thrillers.
As the Anglo army matches South into Mexico, childhood friends Nestor and Nena are thrown back together after years apart. Nena yearns to prove herself vital to her home and avoid being married off, Nestor yearns to prove himself worth marrying her and to be seen as more than a "lowly" vaquero.
Isabel Cañas mixes horrors of the imagination and the real horrors of history, reinventing vampires and weaving them into the long history of the Rio Grande Valley. Along the way, she pairs it with a love so bright it burns away all darkness.
Keep one hand on your heart and the other in a bag of salt as you journey back in time to 1840's Mexico-America to fight the Vampires of El Norte, but remember, the true monsters aren't always the ones who lurk in the night.
As the Anglo army matches South into Mexico, childhood friends Nestor and Nena are thrown back together after years apart. Nena yearns to prove herself vital to her home and avoid being married off, Nestor yearns to prove himself worth marrying her and to be seen as more than a "lowly" vaquero.
Isabel Cañas mixes horrors of the imagination and the real horrors of history, reinventing vampires and weaving them into the long history of the Rio Grande Valley. Along the way, she pairs it with a love so bright it burns away all darkness.
Keep one hand on your heart and the other in a bag of salt as you journey back in time to 1840's Mexico-America to fight the Vampires of El Norte, but remember, the true monsters aren't always the ones who lurk in the night.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cursing and Fire/Fire injury
You, Again by Kate Goldbeck
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The perfect love story for terrible people who need help believing they are still worth loving.
Battling the Big Lie: How Fox, Facebook, and the MAGA Media Are Destroying America by Dan Pfeiffer
3.0
Too ranty for my tastes but an interesting opinion piece
Network of Lies: The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy by Brian Stelter
challenging
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Spare by Prince Harry
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Harry's narration makes it feel like a conversation with a well worn traveler, a lively time fill with laughs, tears, and nostalgia for memories you don't even have, and places you've never even seen.