r/IReadABookAndAdoredIt

I know that he basically ripped off Orwell, but I absolutely love Down and Out in Paris and London so this was perfect for me.

I was struck by how absolutely unhinged the writer was to put himself through this, he himself admits that he is a middle-class Englishman with a university degree who could have done something else with his life. After all, the book is set in the 2010s not the 1930s.

That being said, the book proves its point: Orwell’s Paris is alive and well. The author writes his colleagues vibrantly and respectfully. The French bureaucracy and poverty he experiences trying to become a waiter in Paris are compelling to read about. Highly recommend!

| Plot | Leave Your Mess At Home |

This covers the 4 Longe siblings Sola, Anjola, Ola and Karen and their parents. The kids are all first generation immigrants from Nigeria. Their parents trying to assimilate to America after immigrating from Nigeria. The story picks up with sola being a semi famous influencer, but being kicked out of the house by her mother for posting racy pictures, meanwhile Anjola is premed, Karen is figuring things out and Ola is a finance manager. The story follows their journey finding out that their childhood is greatly impacted by their controlling mother. After coming to grips with a family tragedy, they’re all forced to reconcile their complicated childhood. Especially Sola who has been their mother’s proverbial bogeyman for the majority of her life. The question is will they ever be able to repair their relationship or is it too late?

| Audiobook score | Leave Your Mess At Home | 4/5 🍌| | Read by: A'rese Emokpae |

Smooth like butter this was an amazing read so many emotions. What a good performance.

| Review | Leave Your Mess At Home | 5/5🍌|

This was definitely a hard read, so many emotions to unpack. I’m dealing with a traditional Nigerian household. I will say I had to put the book down a few times because reading the way that sola mother. Treated her maid my blood boil obviously it deals with different generations, cultural identity fitting within the black community. Systemic racism, LGBTQ. This was so rich and vibrant. The prose was amazing. This woman can write her ass off. It’s not for the fainted heart. It really makes you question the world and each of the characters was flawed. Yet they brought such colors to the world. This was one of the best books of the year I’ve read yet and for being a debut novel, it was astoundingly deep. And does what all art should do makes you question things makes you see things from a viewpoint that may not be attainable. Shows you culture and how things aren’t as different as you may think trying to live up to your parents expectations. I would highly highly recommend this book.

I Banana Rating system |

1 🍌| Spoiled

2 🍌| Mushy

3 🍌| Average 

4 🍌| Sweet

5 🍌| Perfectly Ripe

I don't read as many non-fiction books as fiction books because I don't always find them as engaging, but this book I did find engaging the whole way through.

It's a book about American history, which is a subject that could fill volumes, but fortunately this book doesn't try to do too much at once. It's told from the perspective of the author, Beverly Gage, a historian, as she goes on multiple road trips around the country to historic sites.

She goes to different states all around the country, but not every state. She goes to a few presidential birthplace and libraries, but not every presidential birthplace and library. She goes to several Civil Rights landmarks, but not every Civil Rights landmark. You get the idea. She goes to teeny underfunded house museums and she also goes to Disneyland. It all comes together to tell the story of our country without feeling overwhelming.

One of the things I found most interesting was how she explored what aspects of history these historical sites highlight and what they gloss over and how that has changed over time and is still changing. For example, how does Colonial Williamsburg address slavery or fail to address slavery and when things may have changed.

I also enjoyed how she allows certain places to be many things at once. There's not always a clean, black and white answer. Some places are contradictions and people contain multitudes.

In addition to the historical information, she sprinkles in some details about her trips — which ones she brought her son along for, which ones she went with her fiance on, which ones got derailed by unexpected car trouble or illnesses. There's some of that personal stuff, but not too much of it, which I think was a fine line to walk that she walked well. She never makes herself the story, but instead brings us along to see these locations through her eyes.

I really enjoyed it because it's well-written and contains a lot of great knowledge and insight into these moments in American history that are still affecting us today. She does a great job framing the legacy of certain figures or events on modern culture without doing it with too much bias. She relates the good and the bad, the highs and lows, and does it in a way that feels like a great starting place to dig even deeper into some of the topics she covers in the book.

It definitely made me want to go on a history-focused road trip. I think the audiobook would be great company on long road trip too!

I just finished this book last night and can't stop thinking about it.

Only Here, Only Now is a debut novel set in Scotland in the 1990s. It's a coming of age story following Cora through the ages of 14 to 18, with a focus on her complicated relationships with her mother and stepfather as well as the various friends she makes. Cora also has undiagnosed ADHD and how this shapes her sense of identity is also a major theme. There is a third element to this novel I can't mention because of spoilers but I think the novel navigated it masterfully and I found it so moving.

I thought this was a beautiful and tender book for how it portrayed the sometimes tense familial relationships. It had a lot of compassion and grace for its characters and they felt very real because the book was so rich in detail.

The sense of setting and time is also strong. Newlands sets this novel in a couple of fictional Scottish towns. They are rundown and desolate and the people who live there yearn for more, sometimes ruining themselves in the process of this yearning. I love stories about working class people that acknowledge the joys of life alongside the difficulty, however, so this one really worked for me because I think it struck this balance well.

Weyward convinced me we need to rebuild the kind of sorority women once had (before capitalism and enclosure fed women's isolation and witch trials) until the medieval ages. We've forgotten how to do that, but we can do something about it now.

Each character's voice is distinct, which helps knowing who we are reading about: the contemporary storyline is told in first-person present tense, while others use close 3rd POV in past tense, with language fitting their time period.

Each of the three women is tied to the theme of womanhood, closely linked to motherhood, whether that role is chosen or imposed. This shapes women's lives all over the world since the beginnings of time and to this very day, whether they want children or not (and have to think of how not to have one accidentally).

Reading this as a mother added another layer for me. It made me think how little access we often have to share female experience in Western society until we live it ourselves.

Before, I was somehow told to focus on myself and be individualistic, but this also tears us apart from the community and from other women.

Weyward subtly pushes against modern individualism, suggesting that something is lost when women are separated from each other.

It is an ode to wanting to be part of something bigger than yourself.

Verdict: 4.5. Occasionally disorienting in structure, but thoughtful, atmospheric, and has a brilliant payoff!

-----

Quote by Adrienne Rich at the end of the book:

"The connections between and among women are the most feared, the most problematic, and the most potentially transforming force on the planet."

Is Tuberculosis still a thing? I decided to read this because a friend said it was amazing, and I enjoy Greens nonfiction. I listened to it largely while digging out weeds in my backyard with a mattock. Several times my eyes welled up. By the end of the book I had tears streaming down my dirt covered face.

The premise of the book is that 100,000 people a month die from Tuberculosis. This disease, which was a massive problem for thousands of years, is now fully curable and barely exists in the developed world. But it still decimates impoverished countries for one reason, nobody can afford the treatment, and there is no monetary incentive to make the treatment widely available.

John writes about the history of the disease from ancient Greece, through the middle ages, to modern times. He also writes about befriending many people with the disease, not all of whom survive.

The book, to be honest, does not sound particularly fascinating, but it was immensely captivating, in part due to John's impeccable narration and writing style. But also because the human element of struggle was so well expressed.

Why did this book so often bring me to tears? I'm not sure. It wasn't about Tuberculosis specifically. It wasn't, heart wrenching as it was, the plight of the people who's stories John tells. I think what made my heart hurt was the vision the book paints of the possibility of living in a better world if people just had more compassion for others. Perhaps the most captivating person in the book was a doctor who traveled across the world from another country (Kenya?) to treat patients in Sierra Leone, simply **because he cared**. And not to inflate the author, but I had similar feelings of respect and admiration for John Green, for the work he did in writing the book.

With all the ways the current world is so screwed up, with all the division and wars and hatred bigotry, I think this book was a necessary reminder that "there is some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for."

Wow!! What a book!! I was enthralled by this portrait of a deeply unhappy woman. What a debut! It’s about a tradwife influencer who wakes up one day and finds herself in 1855. I think it’s best experienced without any preconceptions so I’m not gonna talk about anything else! Loved it!

It’s very very good at characterizing a flawed woman.

Posting books by a Nobel Prize winner here feels a bit like cheating, but if you haven't read this book yet run...do not walk. I enjoy classical literature, but it's a bit of a crapshoot -- sometimes I'm bored to tears. NOT the case with LitToC.

The characters are realer than real. The love (obsession?) demonstrated by Florentino is...well it's what everyone fears their healthy love could corrupt into. And I love the variance of passions shown. Urbino the husband is a self aggranizing bastard (sometimes) but damn it if his love isn't real and profound, same with the love Fermina betows on both of them.

And then the setting. Unnamed, crumbling and decayed, the Colombian city they all inhabit is perhaps the richest setting ever penned. It's beautiful, even as the corruption of decadance is laid bare.

There is one bit at the end I, and I am sure many others, don't like. Doesn't ruin it by any means, but WOW to drop a cringe factor with 10% of the book left to go. I guess it's to prevent us romanticizing TOO much, but jeepers. Tough one.

What do you folks think? I for one -- despite its acclaim -- think this book is UNDERrated, at least in North America.

If you like such tales as Ever After, Circe, The Princess Bride, and Ella Enchanted this one is for you- Basically a retelling of Cinderella from the stepmother's perspective. Of course, nothing is as it seems....The plot was so unexpected and the audiobook performance was amazing. Even though it's a retelling, the storyline was quite original. The author also does a great job world building, so I felt myself being drawn in easily as the book progressed.

Listened to it, and it is one of the best audiobooks ever! The actress who played Cressida Cowper (Jessica Mads)en in the Bridgerton series does the narration and it is so spot on.

If you think HP is too simple - this will be perfect for you and will make you to think. It's the same story written as science-fiction and you will adore it because it has a very smart antagonist and was told from a perspective of science method ( yep, it's possible ;)

Defiance: A Memoir of Awakening, Rebellion, and Survival in Syria is a new (published Feb 24 2026) memoir about an activist and photojournalist living through the horrors of the Syrian civil war.

The book has three main sections: Mrie’s experiences growing up in a wealthy family and part of the elite minority Alawite Muslim sect; her initial forays into activism and political awakening as a teenager; and her experiences with journalism, witnessing the most devastating parts of the Syrian civil war, and witnessing the rise of ISIS. Any one of those sections would make an interesting book in and of themselves. Combined, they create a really nuanced portrait of modern Syria and what it means to envision a different world.

A lot of Defiance deals with themes of domination and control: how desire for power on a national stage also leads to abuse of power in interpersonal relationships. There are many people and organizations in Syria that start out as heroes and become increasingly corrupted by power. Mrie does not let herself off the hook for the ways that she attempts to take control in unhealthy ways, she is very honest about her own flaws and fears.

This book is also a nail-biter in several parts, in Mrie’s extremely tense journeys in and out of safety and her descriptions of the war. It is simply written, in a journalistic style, but also quite poetic at times: her descriptions of her own grief were absolutely heart-wrenching.

The publisher has clearly throwing some money at this project, with blurbs from big names like Jeannette Walls and Javier Zamora. I suspect we will be hearing more about this book and potential awards as 2026 progresses. So, you heard it here first: it truly is excellent.

Ben is staying at an Inn on a business trip. He decides to explore the area and go on a hike before a meeting to kill some time but the path takes him on a journey that’s more than he bargained for…

While on the path Ben comes face to face with some inner demons and some literal demons. Nothing is as it seems and anything could happen.

This book has elements of fantasy, horror, sci fi, video games, and lot of heart. It’s an adventure fever dream and I could not stop reading!

Preordered this book on a whim. It arrived this past Tuesday and I devoured it. The novel opens with a day in the life of Natalie, a successful tradwife influencer running a ranch in rural Idaho, before quickly dumping her into a mind-bending quandary: she wakes up with a family and a house that looks almost like hers but isn’t, and on her doorframe is carved the year “1855”.

Yesteryear is told through a wobbly, flashback-heavy meander. This takes some getting used to, but ultimately reveals itself as a well-used literary device. Natalie, the main character, is unlikable but compulsively readable. The plot gripped me. As I neared the last few chapters, I had no idea how the book could possibly wrap itself up well - but oh boy, it did.

I think Burke has achieved a canny, plugged-in take on the power of social media and the tensely interwoven domestic and financial responsibilities of modern women. I’m desperate to talk to someone about this novel! Anyone else read it yet?

San Francisco, 1952. Detective Evander “Andy” Mills has started a new life for himself as a private detective—but his business hasn’t exactly taken off. It turns out that word spreads fast when you have a bad reputation, and no one in the queer community trusts him enough to ask an ex-cop for help.

When James, an old flame from the war who had mysteriously disappeared, arrives in his offices above the Ruby, Andy wants to kick him out. But the job seems to be a simple case of blackmail, and Andy’s debts are piling up. He agrees to investigate, despite everything it stirs up.

The case will take him back to the shadowy, closeted world of the Navy, and then out into the gay bars of the city, where the past rises up to meet him, like the swell of the ocean under a warship. Missing people, violent strangers, and scandalous photos that could destroy lives are a whirlpool around him, and Andy better make sense of it all before someone pulls him under for good.

So "adored" is a bit strong, but I did love this book, especially compared to the previous one, *Lavender House.* That one was an Agatha Christie influenced murder mystery, while this one takes a turn to the noir, which I think works better for forlorn detective Evander "Andy" Mills and the queer 1950s San Franciscan underbelly he works in. Definitely give it a read if you'd like some queerness in your detective fiction.

I don't remember what made me want to read this book, but I'm really glad I did. I put it on hold however many weeks or months ago and when it came up, I simply started reading, without reminding myself what it was about first.

It's about a woman in her 30s who works as an adjunct professor. If you don't know what that is, the book will explain it to you, and you will be shocked and dismayed that such a low-paid, high-effort position could exist. I remember having adjunct professors and they were not shy about telling us what a sham it is.

Anyway, life is not going good for Sam. She's struggling financially, hustling non-stop in pursuit of a stable job, and she's really unsure of her own identity, sexual and otherwise.

She winds up working at the same college as her grad school advisor, with whom she had an inappropriate relationship and she hasn't seen in years. It's not the typical teacher- student relationship kind of story. You do not have to worry about it feeling like well-trodden ground. Their history is all revealed bit by bit as the present-day story moves forward.

In many ways, Sam can't catch a break. I found her highly relatable. I'm pretty averse to feeling preached to in the books I read (and other media) and even though there are a lot of topics in this book that might feel preachy — how capitalism is destroying everything, the nuances of the Me Too movement, etc — it really worked for me because I enjoyed the voice of the character/the author. YMMV, though.

I never wanted to put this book down while I was reading it, but I forced myself to. There was something I thought I figured out early that I became very eager to see if it would be revealed or not, but that's not the only thing that kept me going. The book feels very real. The arguments, the problems, the main character telling-it-like it is, the meta aspect, the dark humor, the messiness. The book feels like you have a friend with a smart, wry sense of humor telling you about all the bullshit in the world and you just can't believe it, but you're also very sucked in by the story.

If any of that sounds good to you, I highly recommend it.

Sidenote: The audiobook narrator was really good. Really good. Except the few words she mispronounced, which irked me because her performance was otherwise so good.

Warning: The book quotes and discusses existing literature a fair bit because Sam is a literature professor. If you care about spoilers, about 2/3 of the way through, the entire plot of Wuthering Heights is explained. Easy enough to skip if you prefer.

Just finished reading THE QUEEN’S SPADE by Sarah Raughley. Based on the true story of Queen Victoria’s African goddaughter Sarah Forbes Bonetta, this novel reimagines her as growing into a young woman and seeking revenge against the British monarchy that abducted her from her homeland and abused her, grooming her into a pet to be pranced about and be entertainment to the elite White citizens.

One can only take so much dehumanization before they reach their breaking point. This is not just some “spur of the moment” action. This is an intricate plan that she’s been plotting for some time, demanding justice to be served.

This was an addictive read. Though I wasn’t too familiar on Sarah Forbes Bonetta (I did have a decent amount of knowledge of Queen Victoria and her reign), I became fascinated by this novel taking on her perspective and what it must’ve been like to exist in that era and how being stripped of your own culture and molded into another culture and forced to constantly perform for the approval of those who are amused by you (but will never fully acknowledge your humanity) must’ve mentally and emotionally taken its toll on her.

This is part historical fiction, part revenge thriller (threaded with some romance) and it makes for a powerful story that’s defiant (and, at times, surprisingly brutal) and dark. Definitely worth the read.

| Plot | Confessions Of An Innocent man |

Rafael Zhettah is a small time chef in a small town in Texas. His life changes for the better when he meets a billionaire real estate magnet woman and they fall in love. Soon his world falls apart when she’s mysteriously and brutally killed. Now he’s in a fight for his life as he tries to prove that, though their relationship wasn’t a conventional one that he actually did love her. Unfortunately, he sentenced and put on death row, but refuses to give up hope as he tries to navigate the legal system and prove his innocence.

| Audiobook score | Confessions Of An Innocent man | 3/5 🍌| | Read by: Henry Leyva |

He did a pretty good job. I’ll say that it was incredibly interesting. There wasn’t a lot of range to his voice, but it was a soothing voice, and I did enjoy his performance.

| Review | Confessions Of An Innocent man | 4/5🍌|

This was incredibly fascinating. I really thoroughly enjoyed this book. The only reason it didn’t get a five was because the book did fall apart a little bit towards the end. It went in a completely different direction than I thought it was going, and while sometimes that can be good. It made it a lot more hard to believe. But if nothing else, this was so much packed into the story from systemic racism to the foils of the justice system. I couldn’t put this book down and while it did have his flaws, I would highly recommend reading this.

I Banana Rating system |

1 🍌| Spoiled

2 🍌| Mushy

3 🍌| Average 

4 🍌| Sweet

5 🍌| Perfectly Ripe

This book has left me stunned and amazed. As the title states, this is a sweeping, epic biography that chronicles Theodore Roosevelt's absolutely incredible rise to power.

The fact that one man accomplished so much by the time he was 42 years old and lived such a dynamic and adventurous life is nothing short of astounding. I found myself reading this book diligently in every free minute of my day. It is long and dense but absolutely readable and engaging. The biographer, Edmund Morris, has literally hundreds of primary sources cited. This is probably the most well researched book I have ever read.

Each chapter could really be its own hundred page book. The chapter on The Battle of San Juan is worth the cover price alone. I left this book feeling pleasantly exhausted, with the feeling that I went on a magnificent adventure.

Outside of its great value for the collection of history lessons about late 19th century American culture and politics that you will get by reading this, it is also inspirational. It makes you ask yourself "what am I doing with my life?"

Can't recommend this book enough. It is the first installment of a trilogy, so there is plenty more to discover.

Goodness. This book takes place in the early 1960s in an English village during a very long winter. You get to know two neighboring couples, both of whose wives are pregnant. One husband is a doctor, the other a farmer. They reckon with post war and personal issues and more is revealed about how the characters are related as the story unfolds. I thought it was beautifully written with all kinds of symbolism in certain scenes, some of which didn’t dawn on me until days later. It was one of those books where I read the ending twice because I almost couldn’t catch my breath the first time. And then I went back and reread the first pages, including the epigraph at the beginning. This includes is a quote from a Jean-Luc Godard film and a nice reminder not to overlook the author’s cinema references when thinking back on the book, which I am still doing almost week later!