ryliereadss's reviews
247 reviews

Bats at the Beach by Brian Lies

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Encouraged conversations about bats and their sleeping habits!

Duck & Goose Go to the Beach by Tad Hills

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

A fun book about stuff to do at the beach! I liked that Duck and Goose both changed their views of the beach during the book.

Musical Tables: Poems by Billy Collins

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.0

I really liked the pictures most of these little poems made when I read them. Some of them had to do with nature, love, and life. There were a couple of them that I didn’t like so much and one in particular gave me the ick. A good book for someone just getting into poetry.

In the Lateness of the World: Poems by Carolyn Forché

hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

3.0

Lots of lists and lots of references to nature. It seemed to have a lot of historical references too.

The Stonewall Reader by New York Public Library

challenging inspiring reflective

3.75

Super informative, real stories from people who were at Stonewall. I really enjoyed reading the interviews. The last essay was really great. The people bust some myths about Stonewall and shared some things I didn't expect. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking at queer history or wanting to know more about the Stonewall riots.

Abdul's Story by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow

hopeful inspiring

Representation is so important! Your story matters! If you're writing isn't perfect that doesn't make you a failure! Such wonderful, important messages for kids!

The Smart Cookie by Jory John

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted

I love this book! It has a great message that different people have different strengths and we can't be good at or smart about everything all the time. We're all smart cookies!

Noodle and the No Bones Day by Jonathan Graziano

5.0

Funny Story by Emily Henry

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I loved the premise of this book but I think my expectations were too high. I liked Daphne and could relate to her feelings about becoming a part of her ex’s life and not creating a life for the both of them. I liked that she was a librarian. I thought the scenes of her and Miles hanging out together in the beginning were cute. Loved Daphne’s character growth. I also liked learning about Julia and Daphne’s dad. But there were things that happened in the middle and towards the end that I just couldn’t get over. I also felt we didn’t know Miles as well as I would have liked.

Like they’re making out in his truck and then he’s like “Ah, my mommy issues”. Like??? There was no better time to bring that up??? And then he started talking about his sister!!! Why are you thinking about your sister after making out with this beautiful woman??? So weird. And then in their sex scene they took off their pants twice??? Literally wth. And then the Read-a-Thon was supposed to be a fundraiser and I’m like Okay Daphne people are having fun…but whats the fundraiser part?? Where are people giving you money for the library?? They were giving the kids snacks and prizes but nobody was paying for anything. Thats not how a fundraiser works babe.

Summer by Ali Smith

challenging hopeful informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I got more confused reading this one than I did the other ones, I think it was because of the gaps I took when reading this. I got confused by everyone’s relationship to each other. The characters were unique though and I liked reading from each of their perspectives. I also liked learning about history and history repeating itself and reflecting on the pandemic and the politics surrounding it.