Sabrina
@cyaos77
Never cool. Unironic soccer mom. Cat person. Book & Video Game Nerd. Anti-nationalist (even as 🇨🇦's south meth lab neighbour implodes), anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, and anti-religion. Sometimes I curse, a lot. Impatiently waiting for a Star Trek future.
Book 26 of 2026 #booksky 4/5 - Maggie O'Farrell is a beautiful writer. Her prose is often magical and always evocative, even to someone mind blind like myself. I do find that she can get a little too expansive and this book is a good example of that. It could have benefited from less perspectives.
Book 25 of 2026 #booksky 4.5/5 - The novel takes place during the desegregation of schools in the early '70s in Boston. There were a few times that the subject matter was very uncomfortable, but that was supposed to be the point. Main characters were immensely flawed, which I liked. "Taken" momstyle
Book 24 of 2026 #booksky 3.75/5 - this was a small book, more of a novella really. The ending was perfect, and I wish we would have had more Karina's perspective, although I understand why considering the age. A damning portrait of American deportation policies and the effect on families.
Book 23 of 2026 #booksky 3.25/5 - this is not a book I would normally reach for but I wanted a quick palate cleanser. This is marketed as a love story but is really about friendship and grief. It was very fast-paced and a very easy read, albeit a little bit emotionally manipulative.
Book 22 of 2026 #booksky 3.5/5 - I like stories of female rage and I like unsympathetic main characters - this book definitely had that in spades. What I don't like is jarring narrative choices made solely for shock value. I would be very interested to read another novel by this author.
Got a new couch and it (and the boxes) are cat approved. #caturday #catsofbluesky
Book 21 of 2026 #booksky 4.25/5 - family dramas are one of my favourite genres and this hit all the right notes. I'm a sucker for sister stories. It was a very easy read despite the pace and length - the prose is simple but very effective. The relationships were satisfactory and realistic.
Book 20 of 2026 #booksky This is definitely a young adult/new adult novel. There isn't anything wrong with that, but it just wasn't what I was expecting. I did find it quite repetitive in many spots and the limited growth until the abrupt end was frustrating. Lots of sex, but rather grotesque.
Book 19 of 2026 #booksky 3.75/5 - it is a rare thing for me to think that a novel could have been longer. The timeline was so condensed that it made a central part of the story seem unrealistic - and that in turn just made it less heart-wrenching. Beautiful writing though, and I still enjoyed it.
Book 18 of 2026 #booksky 4/5 - this was a read more like interconnected short stories than as a novel. Each chapter was told from the perspective of a different member of a Jewish American family. It was a good slump book that I read quickly - the writing wasn't beautiful but serviceable.
Book 17 of 2026 #booksky 5/5 reread - I DNF'ed 2 other books before picking a favourite to reread. I've been in a reading slump this year. I like this book as much as I did when I first read it in 2019. The language and writing is beautiful, and I like the letter/conversational format.
Whatever, we will not look at the camera, mostly because you wish it. #caturday #catsofbluesky
Book 16 of 2026 #booksky 2.75/5 - It was a fast read. The letters scattered around were sometimes distracting, and the cliffhangers at the end of chapters were a little melodramatic. The foreshadowing was clumsy and made it easy to guess before the reveal. Still enjoyed it for what it was though.
Book 15 of 2026 #booksky 3.75/5 - absolutely beautiful cover art - don't pick a book by its cover but come on. I have read some other novellas by Premee (a fellow Albertan) and she is definitely an author to watch. This was very fast-paced and almost horror, I would have liked it expanded more.
Book 14 of 2026 #booksky 3.75/5 - I wanted to like this more than I did. There is something about the writing style that was off-putting to me but I can't seem to articulate it. It was occasionally satirical, which I think is the point, and the message was duly received and reflected upon.
Book 13 of 2026 #booksky 3.75/5 - I feel like Pullman had more to say wrapped it up quickly and neatly. The last 1/3 was an abrupt tonal change. These will never compare to the originals but I'm glad I read them. I think I'll choose to remember the ending of the Subtle Knife as the actual ending.
One of my favourite smells is "sun warmed kitty fur". Poor Scout sunbathes and I am constantly interrupting him to smell his fur. #caturday #cats #catsofbluesky
Book 12 of 2025 #booksky 5/5 - on re-reading I would have rated this slightly lower (probably 4.5'ish) but I rarely change my ratings and I still enjoyed the more grown up Lyra. Not a fan of the Malcolm mooning but you can't control where an author travels. I am looking forward to the final book.
Book 11 of 2026 #booksky 5/5 - watching #hisdarkmaterials reminded me that I never read the final book in this trilogy. So I started from the beginning as I was foggy on the first two books. As always, Pullman writes an enchanting and inventive yarn, despite me not being a YA fan I love these books
I loved these books since the first time I read them and read them to my son as soon as he was old enough to understand. We watched the first season of this and never picked it up again. I just finished it and cried more than I'd like to admit. It is a fantastic adaptation. #hisdarkmaterials
Book 9 of 2026 #booksky 4.25/5 - this was a short novel and three short stories. The first two short stories were my favourite and stuck with me even after finishing, they were compelling and well-written. Stag Dance, the novel, was slower and less compelling. It should have been a short story too.
Book 8 of 2026 #booksky 3/5 - this book was fine for what it was. I wasn't expecting a literary masterpiece, and I've been having a hard time reading so far this year so I wanted something that was easier to read and wouldn't require my undivided attention. I liked his first book better.
Book 7 of 2026 #booksky 3/5 - this book was ambitious, visually beautiful, and disappointing. I adored the Night Circus, this has been on my TBR for years because I was putting off what I thought would be a "great read". It was messy like a honey sea, with dropped threads and unbelievable romances.
Book 6 of 2026 #booksky 4/5 - I enjoyed this more than I thought I was going to. Piglet is deliciously unlikable watching her fall apart seems heartbreakingly real. The real star of the show is the descriptions of cooking and food, although near the end I found myself skimming these portions.