nothingforpomegranted's reviews
582 reviews

The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game by Mary Pilon

adventurous hopeful informative fast-paced

5.0

I loved this history! It was written in an clear, structured, well-researched, engaging way, and I completely fell into the obsession that Pilon cites many of the game’s detectives (including herself) adopting. It was surprising and exciting to discover the origins of a game that is so standard, and the long history from 1904 to 1980 had so many fascinating ups and downs and intriguing characters. I was also particularly struck by Pilon’s acknowledgements, which were so good-natured and entertaining. 

I particularly enjoyed the sections that described the friendships and game nights among the early players. The dynamics were sometimes confusing (especially because everyone was named Ruth), but the devotion to the game and the subsequent devotion to publicizing the true origins of the game was entertaining and truly engaging. 

Empty Places, part 2 by Richard Parks

adventurous reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

Jayn is a thief and a rogue, known by reputation for being extremely stealthy and dangerous. In this capacity, he is approached by Tamon, a wizard with his own supposed record of crime and danger. Tamon has a request—hoping that Jayn will sneak into the prince’s nursery to deliver a package, assuring him that he can steal something on the mission to enhance his own reputation. 

When they successfully infiltrate the castle, Jayn is surprised to discover that the queen is just a teenager herself, as he spies her writing a letter with tears in her eyes. Jayn completes his mission and then notices the queen’s maid sneaking the letter away. He steals the letter back from the maid and completes his escape. It turns out that this was Tamon’s plan all along. His power is the ability to see historical moments before they happen, and he tries to intervene. The writing is beautiful, and Levar Burton’s storytelling is stunning.

It reminded me a bit of the Arthurian novel I read recently.  

Empty Places, part 1 by Richard Parks

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

This beginning definitely left me intrigued, but it feels weird to write a review just for part 1. I will listen to part 2 in the car on the way home and write my review for the entire book then. 

I will say that this helped me feel much calmer about starting my day after waking up stressed and overall down. 

Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

funny lighthearted fast-paced

Read this as a potential book for our project about rules, boundaries, and choices. I think it could be a good fit for discussions, and the short story style feels great for the beginning of the year—it’s silly, relatively accessible, and easy to squeeze in for discussions. I think I would skip the chapter about the three Erics (no need to get into the comments about Fatso), but I would be happy to read the rest. Chapter 19 is funny—it doesn’t exist because there is no nineteenth story in the school. 

Quite a few chapters review explicit rules about how to behave and other could lead to great discussions about implicit rules and boundaries. Paul pulling Leslie’s pigtails is great for personal space. Joy blaming other people is an important lesson in anarchy. The final chapter is a funny one about perspective. The chapter about Dameon smiling is a lovely lesson about choosing happiness. The final chapter+the introduction emphasize perspective. 

Educated by Tara Westover

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

5.0

I have been avoiding reading this book for years. I don’t know what exactly prevented me other than inertia at a certain point, though I do have a vague recollection of having heard of some controversy surrounding the book, which certainly made me less inclined. To that point, I am glad to have read this article, interviewing Tara’s family: https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2023/1/29/23575258/what-does-educated-tara-westover-family-think-about-reconciliation-book/

As I read, though, I was surprised and impressed by the upfront expression of the challenge of writing a memoir, the unreliability of memory, and the usage of various sources to help tell this story. Westover recounted painful memories and shocking tales of neglect with disturbing and distressing consequences. The memoir was utterly visceral with beautiful, transportive writing. Perhaps I stayed away from the book for so long because the title was something of a misnomer, and I had heard that it wasn’t really so much about education, which is true, but I am glad I picked it up now. 

I also want to note that the cover is absolutely beautiful. I love the image of the pencil with the little girl on a mountain embedded in such a beautiful, subtle, powerful way. 


elements remind me of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

The writing was beautiful, and I understand how a reader could fall in love with this book, but I found it too unsettling and too uncomfortable to enjoy or even really appreciate. Will’s obsessive love for Phoebe was uncomfortable and upsetting, and all the more so because I didn’t quite follow the development of such passion in the scenes that described their relationship. Phoebe never seemed that appealing or that special, and Will’s willingness to follow her, quite literally, to the ends of the earth seemed like an attempt to satisfy some need that I also didn’t really understand, and which wasn’t fully explained by his religious crisis and return. 

The Language Hoax by John McWhorter
Did not finish book. Stopped at 2%.

I just didn’t get to this before it was returned to the library. will return to kt

A Scot in the Dark by Sarah MacLean

3.0

This has not been my favorite of Sarah’s books, and I think part of it is that I started reading it immediately after finishing the first one. Too much, too fast. in addition, I just don’t feel that connected to the characters in this one. I think that the plot was really clever. Lily was a different kind of heroin, and the fact that she had posed for a nude and had a former lover, was really unique, entertaining to unexpected, especially the revelation that he worked as an informal sex worker, in addition to his disdain for the aristocracy throughout the novel. what I was less impressed via was their chemistry. Don’t think that it seem that into each other and I’m always skeptical of the super brief timelines and romance novels, but this just seemed bizarre. They didn’t have any interactions seem to indicate falling in love and all of a sudden, they just loved each other and refused to let each other. I’m actually a bit surprised that one was because a protective and neck and that persona but it’s just wasn’t so much for me. I finished it. I’m excited to read the book, but I’m going to take a little break before I jump right into it. 

The Rogue Not Taken by Sarah MacLean

adventurous funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This one took me a while to get into, but eventually I really enjoyed King and Sophie’s story and the way they fell for each other. Parts of it were a bit overdramatized for my taste, and some things definitely happened for romance reasons, as Sarah likes to say, but the connection between the two characters was fun, and they really had great banter. I’m hoping to see more of the Talbot sisters together in the upcoming books. 

An Offer from a Gentleman - just because of that carriage scene 
The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband - fake marriage, nursing back to health

The Lady Hellion (unread but this sounds like a great parallel with a feisty heroine)

The Wives by Simone Gorrindo

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

It was a privilege to get an advance readers edition of this book and, though I didn’t end up reading it ahead of its publication date, I am so glad I read it now. Too many of my friends are military wives these days, and I have a much more profound sense of what that means. This book and life during this war informed each other. I am not a miluim wife, and there is a tremendous amount of privilege in that fact. It was heartbreaking and important for me to read about some of Simone’s internal processing and, especially, about the way the wives held each other up. 


Shift Happens - a memoir of a woman in unexpected circumstances in a world somewhat dominated by men, finding her community and making her way