I didn't really enjoy this book until I started getting closer to the end, to be honest. The interview format is definitely not for me, someone who tends to skip dialogue tags and just figure out context as I go - at one point I realized I should probably have made some kind of guide as to who was who and their relationship, but it felt like I was too far in the book to really bother with it. It's a great story about how everyone struggles, and how not everyone gets redemption. There was no one really likeable in the book, though? Everyone had so many faults that I wasn't really rooting for their success as a band. It's not as as good as The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (by a longshot) but could be really good as an audiobook, especially with different people narrating each character.

A short, interesting fantasy about the mill workers in Lowell, Massachusetts, who use witchcraft to strengthen their strike for better working conditions. While it's a fantasy, the book packs a lot into its 123 pages about capitalism, worker's rights, and women's agency. The Daring Ladies of Lowell by Kate Alcott is a more conventional novel on the same subject and there is a National Historical park in Lowell about the history of the mills.

Very good story, shows how far bravery can take you. Also demonstrates how judgmental people can be, and why it is bad for society.

Another great Verity Kent mystery. This time, Verity and Sidney head to Aunt's to solve the mystery of three murders and whether or not they are connected. A fun, Downton Abbey-esque read, albeit a little wordy in parts. Overall, an enjoyable book.

It is really funny when Chief found out that Flippy was the villain that started a crime.

I didn't know much about Brandi Carlile, but I've seen her mentioned a lot lately in music-related news so I decided to find out more. I learned that Carlile has led an interesting life, much of which in more recent years is indeed larger than life as she's become an international celebrity. Carlile herself narrates the audiobook, which I think makes up for the fact that her prose is sometimes clunky and unpolished. She seems warm and genuine and very real, and I enjoyed hearing her tell her story. And while the written version includes song lyrics between chapters, the audiobook features Carlile singing these lyrics, after each chapter and in a big section at the end.

Dog Man Unleashed is about dog man being the worst dog in the beginning and the best dog at the end. There is also a villain called Petey that made a flat paper copy of himself, which turned to life. This all happened on Chief's birthday.

Wonderful.

Ten-tear-old Della has always had her older sister, Suki: When their mom went to prison, Della had Suki. When their mom's boyfriend took them in, Della had Suki. When that same boyfriend did something so awful they had to run fast, Della had Suki. Suki is Della's own protector. But who has been protecting Suki? Della might get told off for swearing at school, but she has always known how to keep quiet where it counts. Then Suki tries to kill herself, and Della's world turns so far upside down, it feels like it's shaking her by the ankles. Maybe she's been quiet about the wrong things. Maybe it's time to be loud. In Fighting Words, you truly feel for the characters and have your eyes opened to the untold stories of so many.

After getting into a fight with her roommate and abandoning her at a party, Charlie Jordan has become known on campus as "the girl who let her roommate get murdered." Though few will come out with their blame towards Charlie, the same can't be said for her roommate's family. You see, Charlie was at the party her roommate was last seen at, and she's pretty sure she saw the man who killed her. Unfortunately for Charlie, she has a tendency to get lost in her thoughts and hallucinate, so she's not sure what the man actually looked like - just what the figment of her imagination looked like, and he was something out of a Hollywood movie. Unable to deal with the guilt of being useless in the investigation, Charlie decides to use the local ride board to hitch a ride off campus and go home. Cue Josh Baxter, who just so happened to be at the board at the exact same time, and who is going in the same exact direction as Charlie needs to go. It seems like a perfect match! Unfortunately for Charlie, the further along the ride she goes, the more certain she is that the man she's with is not actually Josh Baxter. And he's probably not actually going to where she needs to go. And he seems to know things about her roommate's murder that he shouldn't know, things that were never released to the public. Stuck in the car with him for the rest of the night, Charlie has to do whatever it will take to survive. This is a great quick read, but there's nothing really spectacular about it. The main character getting "movies in her mind" was kind of weird and didn't really seem necessary to the plot at all. I really loved the idea of this book, but the execution of it wasn't there. It's definition something I couldn't put down, but it's not something I'd be likely to remember in a year.