Book Review 2020 (52)

Happy Tuesday everyone,

So I really let this blog fall through the cracks this year but can you blame me? But I love doing book reviews and my resolutions on here so whatever my year looks like I'm hoping to still at least do those. And here we are! I didn't expect to do all of the books I read in a year in one go but if this year was anything it was constantly surprising. Staring at this list of titles I realized I should have written notes about what I thought of these books at the time (I did for a few of them but not enough) because I genuinely don't remember some of them. Hopefully, I can jog my memory enough to do this post.

Also, I misplaced the pictures I took of books I gave away and now I can' find them. So there are a couple missing.

1.) Scooby-Doo 50th Anniversary

My rating: ★★★★

I can't remember where I got this but I was really excited to read this new dose of Scooby and the gang. In honor of the book, I chose to watch Scooby-Doo Zombie Island while I read because it's one of my favorites and it's also conveniently on Netflix while my other movies are on DVD.The comic book includes a couple new adventures made in honor of the 50th anniversary as well as some old favorites. A great start to what would be a garbage can set on fire of a year.

2.) This is How it Always is by Laurie Frankel

My rating: ★★★★

I received this book as a Christmas or Birthday gift from relatives which can tend to be hit and misses and this one was such a big hit! This is the story of a married couple who have four sons and try once more for a girl when they have a child who would later become known as a girl named Poppy but who was assigned male at birth (also known as being amab) and named Claude. The story is told in the third person but is mostly from the parent's point of view of raising a young child who wants to be a girl when they grow up. At first, there is some confusion, hesitancy, and resistance when their child wants to wear dresses and have long hair but they inevitably let Poppy transition into presenting as female. The family moves to another state where Poppy is free to be herself but her so-called, "secret" gets out and Poppy becomes disheartened and tries to go back to being Claude but she finds her way through and becomes her true self. The book covers years of Poppy and her family's life in a pretty unique way of storytelling. It's not every day or every book that you get to follow a set of characters for so long. You get to watch Poppy grow into herself and watch her family and the world around her grow into accepting her.

There are some intimate scenes between the parents so if that's something that makes you uncomfortable I might not read the book but it can also be skipped over. I also want to include a trigger warning for a description of a trans woman being attacked.

3.) If Da Vinci Painted A Dinosaur by Amy & Greg Newbold

My rating: ★★★

I saw this book at a museum gift shop and asked for it for Christmas. This is a children's book featuring dinosaurs painted into famous works of art such as in The Scream by Edvard Munch,  Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, and many more. I think I would have liked the book better if it was just a simple picture book. The hamster/gerbil/guinea pig that escorts you through the pages is a little strange and unnecessary to me. The pictures themselves were pretty cool although some of them were a stretch as far as the dinosaur theme such as Mark Rothko's piece that featured no dinosaurs but supposedly fit the theme because they called it a, "prehistoric sun".

4.) The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

My rating: ★★★

I'm a fan of the Marie Kindo show on Netflix and had wanted to get the book for a while but it was low on my priority list so I waited and found a copy on sale that gave me the justification to buy it. I'm the kind of person who creates clutter and then enjoys organizing it so I already had the organization bug before I read the book but it added to the satisfaction of it all. The book has a lot of subheadings and italicized or bold words so there's not too much block of text that I think could have made it boring or difficult to read and it makes it easier to skim back over it later.

I later read the manga adaption of the book too.

5.) Black Ships Before Troy by Rosemary Sutcliff

My rating: ★

This book has sat on my bookshelf with a bookmark a couple pages in where I last stopped reading for a while so I wanted to finish what I started or decide it wasn't meant to be and get it off my shelf. I didn't really enjoy the writing style so it felt very slow to me and was hard to get through so I decided to give it to my boyfriend.

6.) Greek Gods and Heroes by Robert Graves (Reread)
7.) Heroes, Gods and monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin (Reread)

My rating: ★★★★★

I'm going to review these together because they go hand in hand. Both books tell the stories of Greek gods, goddesses, heroes and monsters. The stories are told in short easy to read pieces that basically illustrate the best-known myth about the important players in Greek mythology. I love Greek mythology and once started writing a sort of fanfiction (although I don't know if it's considered fanfiction because Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series isn't considered fanfiction) about an original character I created and other well-known characters from Greek Mythology so these books were perfect research tools.

8.) The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek by Rhett and Link

My rating: ★★★★★

Good Mythical Morning staring internetainers and life-long best friends Rhett and Link is probably my favorite channel on youtube as it has been for years. If you haven't seen their stuff I highly recommend it. They're hilarious and a good show to watch when you just wanna laugh and be happy or forget about the stress of your day.

This is their second book, the first being a non-fiction book about their lives, friendship, and what they created together. This book is very a different sort of project for them. It's a mostly fiction book with a very loose basis on their shared childhood and town with a bit of added supernatural. The main characters are best friends Rex and Leif, high school freshman and amateur movie makers who lose their friend Alicia to a school for troubled youths where a number of the students mysteriously die. Rex and Leif team up with Janine who's returned from school and a difficult breakup to her hometown, in order to save their friend and unearth a lot of secrets about their town in the process.

I loved this book! Rhett and Link did a really good job telling this story. I wasn't sure if this was something they'd be good at because it seems out of their realm of expertise but it is a really good book even by the standards of other authors and book lovers.

Here is a quote I bookmarked.

"Rex noticed that they were all tiptoeing like the four members of Mystery Inc,. from Scooby-Doo. Maybe Leif should have brought tucker [his dog] along to help us get to the bottom of this, he thought."

9.) Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

My rating: ★★★★

My sister gave this to me to read and it was surprisingly good considering it's for a younger audience. I found it really interesting. It's about a thirteen-year-old boy named Brian who crashes in the Canadian Wilderness when his pilot has a heart attack and it is just him trying to survive with, you guessed it, a hatchet. I was a bit bothered during the duration of the story because Brian forgot that the plane had an emergency pack in it but then he remembers at the very end and it leads to him getting rescued.

10.) Poetry 101

My rating: ★

I have to admit I did not read the whole book. I basically skipped around to poets I knew and liked such as William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, T.S. Eliot, and Rupi Kaur. I also skimmed some of the other sections and as I knew I wouldn't keep this book I did take notes so here they are in the exact format I wrote them in because now I don't know how it should be formatted.

Writing Poetry - Finding your own voice

-preparing to write

Read, Read, Read

Keep a journal

- Own writing

get Inspired

Always revise

- Find a community

Attend a reading

Join a writing group

Take a class

Earn an MFA

Turns I like reading poetry more than I like reading about it.

11.) The Princess and The Dressmaker by Jen Wang (Reread)

My rating: ★★★★★

I first read this book when I borrowed it from my friend and I loved it so much I wanted my own copy so when I purchased the copy myself I reread it. It's a graphic novel so it's a pretty fast read (maybe because I don't pace myself).

(Picture from the original post in 2019)

12.) The Princess Bride by S. Morgenstern (Reread)

I got this super fancy edition of The Princess Bride because the movie is probably one of my favorites if not my number one favorite. I read the book for the first time when I was in middle school but I downsized my books at some point so I no longer have that copy. I decided I wanted it in my book collection again so I opted for this super fancy edition because I love it so much but upon reading this edition I realized I missed the version I had read the first time. I decided to gift this edition to a friend and fan and will be buying another edition.

13.) Scooby-Doo Fall Fright by Gail Herman

My rating: ★★★

Another short Scooby-Doo book my sister found. Scooby and Shaggy get some snacks to watch movies with the rest of the gang and get spooked along the way.

14.) Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (Reread)

My rating: ★★★★★

I asked for an edition with a really pretty cover for Christmas and I only put books on my main shelves after I've read them because it feels more satisfying for me that way so I reread this copy.

This book confronts very triggering topics such as r*pe, depression, and the aftermath for a survivor. It can be a difficult read but I think it's important and can give the reader hope and the knowledge that you aren't alone.

If you like this book I recommend the graphic novel version which I linked above. As the main character experiments with art, it's really cool to actualy see the thing she makes rather than just imagining them.

15.) The War Outside by Monica Hesse

My rating: ★★★★★

This is a young adult historical fiction novel about two families (one German and one Japanese) living in the Crystal City internment camp told in alternating perspectives of the 16/17-year-old daughters of the families. The families aren't real but a lot of what happens are actual events or based on them. Against all odds, these two girls become friends and maybe even a little bit more.

This is the second book I've read by Monica Hesse. The first was, "The Girl in the Blue Coat" about a girl named Hanneke in Holland in 1943 who's involved in the black market as her little rebellion against Germany. I have really high praise for Hesse because I don't typically like historical fiction but I really loved both of these books.

16.) Scooby-Doo Encyclopedia by Ben Bird and Tim Levins

My rating: ★★★★★

This book is every Scooby-Doo and Mystery Inc fan's dream! There's a profile on each of the main characters including the mystery machine and several side characters. The profile has the character's full name, age, hair color, and things like that. There's a Scooby-Doo family tree. A list of Scooby and Shaggy's, "Top 10 eats". The rest of the book is dedicated to the profile of all the villains and their unmasked alter-egos categorized into aliens and bots, beasts and monsters, crooks and criminals, demons and ghosts, skeletons and mummies, witches and wizards, vampires and zombies.

17.) The Healer by Sharon Sala (Reread)

My rating: ★★★★★

I'm really surprised I haven't reviewed this book in an official book review yet as it's been one of my favorite books (in a sentimental way) since I was in middle school. I did review it in the summer of 2015 when I was responding to writing prompts every day. Rather than link that post because it's cringy I'm just going to copy and paste. The prompt I was responding to was, "You're favorite book".

"This is the first romance novel I ever read. I think I was at about 12 at the time. It started my love of romance novels. I'm a big fan of Sharon Sala. This is the first of many of her stories I've read and all of them are great. This one is about a Native American man who can heal people and talk to animals and do all of these magical things and he's running from people who want to use him for an eternal youth situation. And then he meets this awesome chick named Luce and they fall in love. But the bad guys are still chasing him and they may use Luce to get to him. I'll leave it there so that I don't spoil anything."

18.) KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps by Nikolaus Wachsmann

This book was my beginning of quarantine read for research purposes and boy was it a doozy.
Over 600 pages plus 200 just for the appendix. It is what the subtitle says. I wanted a really thorough look into what it was like to live in concentration camps. While it was a very good research tool I didn't necessarily enjoy reading it nor would I recommend it to anyone. Only partially because of its length.

19.) The One and Only Ivan by K. A. Applegate

My rating: ★★★★★

My sister made me read this and I am so glad I did. This book is from the point of view of a gorilla named Ivan who lives in an exhibit in a mall. His life is full of characters such as his elephant neighbor Stella, a stray dog named Bob who uses Ivan as a bed and a young girl named Julia whose dad works at the mall as the night janitor. Julia sneaks art supplies to Ivan through a crack in his enclosure. His artistic skills are put to the test when he must figure out how to get a new baby elephant named Ruby to a better place as he promised Stella.

Not only is the story itself amazing it's also beautifully written. The chapters are written as short almost poems. And Ivan's voice is colorful and poetic without using a lot of words. Here are some of the lines I bookmarked,

"Human's waste words. They toss them like banana peels and leave them to rot."  (Page 2)

"Gorillas are not complainers. We're dreamers, poets, philosophers, nap takers." (Page 51)

I'm excited to read the sequel when it comes out in paperback (my copy of this one is paperback and it's very important to me that they both match).

20.) Drama by Raina Telegeier todo

Another book pressed upon me by my sister

21.) Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys 

My rating: ★★★★★

I must admit I picked up this copy of this book because it was small in size which appeals to me but when I read the summary I was excited to find it sounded like something I would enjoy reading. This is the story of Lina and her family from Lithuania who are forced out of their home and into works camps by Soviet officers. I enjoy stories like these and it's also good research for a story I'm working on. 

22.) Everyone's A Aliebn by Jomny Sun (Reread)

My rating: ★★★★★

I don't remember why I reread this book but I still love it. For a more thorough review hit the link above.

23.) Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (Reread)

My rating: ★★★★

I was doing an evaluation of my bookshelf to see if there were any books I could part with which sometimes leads to me rereading an entire book. I still like this book, it's so cute. I have to admit I don't like the ending that much (-★) so I skipped that part.

(Pic from 2017)

24.) Lost Boy by Christina Henry (Kindle)

My rating: ★★★

I saw this book recommended on TikTok and the person recommending it said something about Jamie (Captain Hook) loving Peter and I read that as gay romantic love rather than platonic love so when there wasn't any gay love between them I was a little disappointed. Other than that let down it was a cool read. It felt more realistic of the lost boy story.

Character deaths

lord of the flies

violent

Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Mass (Kindle)

25.) Throne of Glass (Book 1)
26.) Crown of Midnight (Book 2)
27.) Heir of Fire (Book 3)
27.5.) Queen of Shadows (Book 4)

I'm going to review these sort of all together. 

In book one we meet an eighteen-year-old assassin named Caleana who's serving time for her crimes with hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier. One day she's given a reprieve when Prince Dorian offers her an escape. Be his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin and be free of the salt mines. She agrees and they go on a journey and she trains to do the thing and does the thing and blah blah blah.

I was attracted to the name of the book and then to the idea of a female assassin and I really enjoyed the assassin angle and the romance but then there was the added fantasy and politics that I didn't enjoy. But I continued on to the next book because I felt committed. I forgot to mention that you think she's gonna be with one dude in the first book but then she's with a different dude in the second book and I really liked them together but then a thing happens and they break up and she leaves to do more fantastical and political stuff with another person there's a possible romance with but they're also distantly related which grossed me out. And as the series progressed it became more of what I wasn't really there for so I lost momentum and according to my kindle, I am 7% into book number four. 

I don't know if I'll continue the series or not.

28.) Scoob!

My rating: ★★★

This is the "junior novelization" of the movie Scoob! with stills from the movie wedged in the middle.

Scooby-Doo merchandise can be hard to come by so I have pretty low standards as far as what I will buy. And by low, I mean I will buy anything Scooby and the gang related. So while I love this book because it's a new Scooby-Doo book I had to deduct some stars because if I were a non-biased reader, I wouldn't think the book was very good. Some writing that targets a younger audience can also be enjoyed by older readers but I did not find that was the case here. So while I am not likely to reread this book I am very happy to add it to my Scooby-Doo shelf.

29.) Scary Godmother by Jill Thompson

My rating: ★★★★

I loved the Scary Godmother movie when I was a kid so that is what initially attracted me to this book but what made me buy it is the art. It's a really cool style with a unique use of color. This book is a big collection of stories some in color and some in black and white and in the back, there are interactive games like crosswords, how to do crafts, concept sketches for the characters, and more.

A little girl named Hannah goes out with her older cousin and his friends on Halloween where they pressure her to go into a scary house by herself. This is where she meets her Scary Godmother who introduces her to a number of spooky characters such as a skeleton named Skully Pettibone, a monster under your bed named Bug-A-Boo, a trio of vampires, and a werewolf who eats everything and they teach her not to be afraid.

Here is a quote I bookmarked.

"'You should never apologize for being yourself.'"

30.) Are you Listening? by Tillie Walden

My rating: ★★★★

I was first attracted to the cat on the spine and then to the two characters on the cover. The characters look androgynous or masculine So I wondered if they were gay boys, maybe trans or masculine lesbians. I was intrigued. The inside cover says, "Bea is on the run. And then she runs into Lou." So not two gay boys but the other two options were still possible so I read on.  Lou is on her (two girls hmm) way to visit her aunt when she recognizes Bea from her hometown at a gas station. Bea "missed her bus" so Lou gives her a ride. It's obvious the two are keeping secrets and they get a bit prickly with each other but how could you not become friends on a road trip adventure. On one of their stops, they find a lost cat and set off to try to return her.

This is a graphic novel and the art is absolutely gorgeous. If the possible queerness of the characters hadn't attracted me the art would have. The story gets a little fantastical in a way I didn't really feel was necessary and the ending was a little disappointing and bittersweet  (-★) but overall I really liked the book. And yes both characters were gay but Bea is 18 and Lou is over 25 I think and she would have let like she was taking advantage of Bea and there also just wasn't any romantic vibes between them anyway. I think Bea found comfort in Lou's presence and Lou felt like she was taking care of Bea. I think they took care of each other.

The book does touch on s*xual assault and it's referenced in the summary on the inside cover so it gives you a warning unless you don't read the summary which would be weird.

31.) The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

My rating: ★★★★★

I passed this book on the shelf and saw the colors of the trans flag along the spine and I stopped. Coincidence? I picked up the book and looked at the cover. A pair of legs walking across a street that's painted like a trans flag. I excitedly read the back cover and found the main characters are not one but two trans teenagers. The point of view switches between a trans girl who later becomes known as Kate who has yet to tell her parents or anyone else she's trans. She meets Leo a trans guy who stands up for her when she's being bullied. Leo is very guarded but Kate manages to become friends with Leo and they come out to each other. Leo wasn't out to anyone at his school because he had to leave his last one for bullying and Kate had yet to tell anyone. They become close friends and Kate even accompanies Leo on a mission to another town to find his birth dad where Kate takes advantage of the new environment and presents as female for the first time in public. And on this trip there's a mix-up with their room and they're forced to share a bed which is one of my favorite romantic tropes. The book only has a couple really small hints that Leo and Kate might become more than friends but either way I loved their blossoming friendship and maybe more.

I loved this book and I think it's a really important one for trans youth who think they're alone in how they feel. We love representation here.

32.) Princess Princess Ever Ater by Katie O'Neil 

My rating: ★★★★

Sadie is a princess locked away in a tower with a dragon who can't fly because her older sister didn't want to share the crown. She's a bit over the trope of a prince coming to save her until the day a princess named Amira comes to save her with a cookie loving unicorn and grappling hook. The tower scene takes place in the first few pages of the little comic so the rest of it is dedicated to the couple's adventures. This is such a cute story and I'd recommend it to any ages including children. The book doesn't have any adult content, the characters even say the word, "fudge" and it teaches kids about gay couples and one of the princesses is described as, "big boned" and a, "fat cry baby" by her sister and the character learns to love herself the way she is and fight back against her sister.

33.) Shooter by Caroline Pignat

My rating: ★★★★★

Picture the Breakfast Club during a lockdown in a highschool with a shooter running through the halls. The story is told in alternate perspectives of four students who are stuck in the boy's bathroom. I immediately related to the first character we're introduced to, Alice an introverted writer with a nervous habit of babbling. The story starts with her rushing into the bathroom when a lockdown is announced where she meets Hogan, the bad boy ex-football player, Isabelle the popular girl, and Xander the guy hiding in the bathroom stall. Throughout the story, we not only learn that each character is more than meets the eye but who the shooter is and what motivates them as seen through the eyes of someone in the bathroom.

The story is told in poems, pictures, journal entries, and text along with basic storytelling from each character (including Alice's brother Noah) accompanied by a counter starting at 01:00:00 and counting down to 00:01. There's also a sort of epilogue that shows the aftermath of that one hour for the characters.

Something I found confusing about the book is that Alice's brother, Noah has autism and it's plainly talked about but nothing is said about the character Xander, who seems to me to be neurodivergent. He has a very logical mind and has trouble understanding emotion and social interactions.

34.) The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O'Neil

My rating: ★★★

This book is by the same author as Princess Princess Ever After. The story is about a young blacksmith apprentice named Greta who rescues a tea dragon and upon returning them to their owner is invited to learn how to take care of tea dragons and harvest their leaves to make tea. She makes many friends including Erik who was once a fierce warrior until an injury bound him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life and the very shy Minette who Greta becomes very close with. 

The art is so pretty and cute and the story is so sweet. I lie the concept of the world-building and I think it's really original and was done well. Each tea dragon is named after a type of tea and they each have their own design and personalities that are cataloged in the back of the book. I think the hibiscus tea dragon is my favorite because they're very cute and chunky. There's also Jasmine, Rooibos, Chamomile, Ginseng, Earl Grey, Ginger, and Peppermint.

35.) Frog and Toad All Year by Arnold Lobel

My rating: ★★★★

I don't remember where this came from but it turned out I already had these stories in my Frog and Toad collection book but I read it to make sure I already had it so that it was okay to either donate it or use the pages for an art project.

36.) Scooby-Doo The Haunted Carnival

My rating: ★★★

My sister found this and it was a cute little read but once I finished it I decided to cut out some of the pages and turn them into bookmarks.

37.) Changing with the Tides by Shelby Leigh

My rating: ★★★★★

Early in the book the author writes, "this book touches on topics such as anxiety, insecurity, and unhealthy relationships" and I couldn't have said it better myself. I bookmarked and related to a lot of the beautifully written poems in this book.

This is the first and one of the only poetry books I read this year so I'm glad it was such a great one. I'm very likely to reread this one.

38.) Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker (todo)

My rating: ★★★★★

I saw this book in a Tiktok that featured books with big plot twists and did this one deliver!

39.) Alice in Wonderland & Through The Looking Glass (abridged/retelling) by Eva Mason Classic Starts

My rating: ★★★★★

I collect copies of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and I really like the cover of this one so I was excited to add it to my collection. On the back of the book along with the summary, it says this copy is an abridged and retold version to make an easier read for younger kids. I think it's pretty cool that this version was created so more people can enjoy the story. I felt it was necessary to read it in order to add it to my bookshelf and I didn't miss anything with the edits. If anything this version was a bit more palatable with the update. I love the story but it can be a little dense to read sometimes.

40.) Alexander Hamilton Wit and Wisdom by Alexander Hamilton

My rating: ★★★

I got my sister into Hamilton the Musical so she got a copy of this for me and herself (she sliced hers up so she could hide things in hers) and mine sits in my miny bookshelf. I am not likely to read it again as the writing went a bit over my head and included topics I don't have much interest in (-★★). I think it's a cool book to have but not so much a cool book to read.

41.) The Life-Changing Manga of tidying up by Marie Kondo

My rating: ★★★

This is the illustrated version of Marie Kondo's tv show and first book. It's about a fictional character named Chiaki who needs Marie Kondo's help. I really liked seeing a visual of the cluttered mess in her apartment and then the organized end product. I found it very satisfying, And the book is in black and white so I might turn this bad boy into a coloring book. I'm hoping that because this is a manga that my boyfriend and sister are more likely to read it and join the Marie Kondo way.

42.) Beauty in the Beast (mini)

My rating: ★★★★★

I love tiny things and I especially love tiny books! I've seen these advertised at the store Lunchbox but I bought mine at Hottopic. There were a couple Disney Princess options but I chose Beauty and the Beast because it was my favorite when I was a kid and I relate to Belle the most. 

This book tells the story of Beauty and the Beast in miniature form. The storyline is a bit summarized to make room for the beautiful illustrations.

43.) William Shakespeare Famous Last Words

My rating: ★★★★★

Again I love tiny books and I'm also a fan of Shakespeare. It was really cool to read a collection of last lines from Shakespeare because you can imagine a mike drop after some of them and some of them are pretty funny and they include bits of what's happening in the scene. Here are a couple examples.

"O, I am slain!" [Dies from a stab wound] - Polonius, Hamlet

"Cut me to pieces..." [Is cut to pieces] - Coriolanus

"I am gone forever." [Exits, pursued by a bear] - Antigonus, A winter's Tale

44.) Unbirthday by Liz Braswell

My rating: ★★★★★

We've established I'm an Alice's Adventures in Wonderland fan so when I saw this (Again in the Target book section. If you can't get to an actual book store it's the next best thing.) I was super excited and it did not disappoint.

This book works as a sequel to the first Disney Alice in Wonderland story. Alice is grown now and doesn't really remember her adventures in wonderland. As memories creep up she thinks they're dreams. But when she developed her latest photos of her friends and neighbors she finds them replaced with the characters from her dream. She realizes they're in danger and she has to find a way to get back to them and help them. And what she finds is a Wonderland in peril due to the red queen's wickedness.

We meet all of our favorite characters again and a couple new ones or newly imagined ones. A character I found interesting was the queen of clubs whose eyes were, "black all the way to the edges - no whites at all" (Page 290)  and uses words like "ourself" and "we" to refer to herself. And no confusion is expressed at this and no one talks about it. It just is. 

My only point of conflict for the book is that it's over 500 pages long including the epilogue and at some points, it could feel long and slow. I might have done a bit more editing.

Here's a line I bookmarked.

"The moon sulked on the eastern horizon and turned away from its sibling, who always seemed to hog the attention." (Page 155) I just realized I didn't include the page number on the other quotes I bookmarked ._.

45.) The Bad Begining by Lemony Snicket

My rating: ★★★★★

When I was a little kid on Easter my Grandma hid rolled up printer paper around my living room and when I began to unroll the pile they revealed a cover of every book in the Series of Unfortunate Events Series. She had bought me the entire series for Easter. At the time I didn't appreciate them as much as I would now. I didn't read all of them and then I sold them to Book Off because I wanted the money but they only offered me fifty cents and when they asked if that was okay I was too shy to say, "Hell no, give me my books back!". And then I fell in love with the Netflix series adaption of the books and I really kicked myself that I hadn't kept them.

Then one day I was looking through a little free library (check them out, they're cool) and found the first book of the series so I decided to take it home to read. Now I'm one of those people who not only can read while listening to music and playing tv in the background but I have to. So as I read the book I watched the episodes that correlated to the book and I underlined lines that were the same and made notes in the margins because I wasn't letting this book go again! And surprisingly I finished the book before the episodes (each book is split into two episodes) were over.

I was able to appreciate this book more this time and I recommend it for any age. Just because something is below you're reading level doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. I think I've proved that with this list of reads. I can't help it I love Scooby-Doo and Frog and Toad. Come at me. I also recommend the Netflix series and the movie adaption of these books.

46.) Dandelion by Gabbie Hanna

My rating: ★★★★

This is Gabbie Hanna's second poetry book. I enjoyed it much as I enjoyed the first. There are supposed to be three versions of the book but I could only find two. One has, "letters to strangers" and the other has, "stories I have to get drunk to tell" which is the one I preferred. Since that first book, Gabbie Hanna has had some controversy around her so I write this review with hesitation knowing a lot of people don't like her. Youtube drama aside I enjoy her writing and illustrations. I think she's talented and very brave to write such intimate things. I think publishing your own writing of any kind is putting yourself in a vulnerable position and I feel like a lot of people don't think about that. Even if you don't like her or her writing I don't think it's okay to bash it or make fun of it. 

47.) Teen Titans Raven by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo

My rating: ★★★★★

I picked up this book while strolling through the Target book section because I liked the cover art and I ultimately bought it because I continued to like the art on the inside and I knew if I didn't like it I could give it to my little sister who really likes graphic novels. I didn't realize until I got home and sat down to read it that it was Teen Titans Raven. I grew up loving the original Teen Titan series. I remember playing pretend in preschool with my friend Kimmy where she was Starfire and I was Raven even though at the time I preferred Starfire but it worked out because I grew up to be more of a Raven anyway. So I was excited to read Raven's origin story told with really awesome art and representation.

For those who don't know Raven is half-demon on her father's side. In this origin story her mother gives her away to try to protect her and she ends up with a black foster mom (one point for awesome representation!) but in the beginning of her book Raven and her foster mother are in a car crash and her foster mom doesn't make it. Raven having lost her memory goes to live with her foster mother's sister and daughter who she becomes very close with. They are black as well and I love that not only does it not matter that they aren't blood-related but they aren't the same race either and it doesn't matter because these things aren't necessary to make a family.

There's also diversity in the other characters big and small. A girl wearing a hijabi walks into Raven's classroom to drop something off to a student. And two girls in Raven and her cousin's friend group are dating. I was really excited about that. At first, you just see them holding hands and then they get a cute little scene and go to prom together. Raven's in high school so I think the representation is really important because it's true to a high school experience and representation is just awesome in general.

And if you're wondering (I highly doubt you are) yes, I did use purple sticky notes when marking pages.

48.) Sue & Tai-Chan by Konami Kanata

My rating: ★★★★★

    This book is the first in an adorable series that follows the life of a man named Natsuki or rather the life of his senior cat, Sue when they're given the temporary care of a kitten named Tai-Chan. I have to use the word adorable again when I talk about the fact that this series is a manga, meaning a Japanese style of comic book or graphic novel so you get to see the adorable antics of the cats as well as read their meows and their translations. Sue teaches Tai-Chan how to cat, what things are good to eat, where the tastiest water comes from and they play hide and seek! But be warned! This first book in the series ends with the dreaded, "To be continued..." *cue dramatic music*

49.) The Color of Pixar by Tia Kratter

My rating: ★★★★★

    This book doesn't have a lot of words but rather uses pictures and color in a beautiful rainbow to tell a story. It features stills from Pixar movies including but not limited to Finding Nemo and Dory, The Incredibles 1 & 2, The Good Dinosaur, and Ratatouille. The book has over 300 pages back to back with images and yes I looked at every single one. It's a gorgeous book and long-awaited addition to my little library.

50.) Ten Titans Beast Boy by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo

My rating: ★★★★

After reading Teen Titans Raven I was in Barnes and Noble and I happened upon its sequel! I'm not usually a series reader but I definitely intend to follow this series as long as it goes. This edition is the origin story of Beast Boy also known as Garfield Logan or Gar to his friends.

Let's talk about representation again! I'm happy to see this is going to be a theme throughout the series. We have another girl wearing a hijab, a boy in a wheelchair and a really pale redhead with freckles. Gar's two best friends are Daniel "Tank" Tanaka an Asian-American competitive eater who struggles with reading which he learns is due to dyslexia and Stella, a woman of color with blue hair who's a pretty popular video gamer that drops nuggets of wisdom throughout the whole book such as, "'I'm your friend. There's no fine print. The only person you have to be around me is yourself.'" and, "'Other people will never accept you if you don't accept yourself.'"

And yes, I used green sticky notes when I was marking the awesome representation and Stella quotes.

51.) David Bowie: Tribute to the Ultimate Rock Icon (Magazine)

My rating: ★★★★★

I cannot resist a David Bowie magazine. I'm big a fan of his music and his often androgynous looks on stage. I have quite a few David Bowie magazines but this is the first one to really dive into Bowie's sex life and sexuality.  Warning it gets a bit explicit. He's described as promiscuous, flirty, and would seduce anyone who was of use to him. Including choreographer Lindsay Kemp (I don't know about you but I thought Lindsay was a girl's name but to clarify Linday Kemp is a man), his first wife Angela as well as other people while he was married to Angela. Angela also had other partners while married to Bowie. She described their relationships as, "'Free love was just what you did. Threesomes, foursomes, fivesomes, I was never a one-an woman, or a one-woman woman either.'" I found it all very interesting.

52.) Changes 1947-2016 Bowie (Magazine)

My rating: ★★★★★

This magazine is probably four times thicker than the last. So you can imagine it does a pretty thorough job of cataloging Bowie's career as a musician, songwriter, and even actor. It cataloged each place he visited or lived and how that place and the people in it inspired him and his music

Totally Ky