4/10, I'm sorry I didn't finish. I think I got a little less than halfway... I tried so hard for you, Ishmael. The best part of this book is the Queequeg-Ishmael romance but even that couldn't sustain me through the dry writing... I might have a better time if I listened to an audiobook, so if I end up doing that, I'll log it in the reading list. Maybe the review and rating will be better then. Fascinating whaling facts though I definitely learned a lot in my short time reading.

6/10, definitely not my favorite book ever... I have a lot of thoughts on the way it was written, but I feel like I should soak up other people's analyses and see how we match up. Despite how much I dislike it, I'd probably read it again? Something's wrong with me. Um... Albert Camus states the first half of the book is written in a style similar to Hemingway, and then the second half is more the style he's used to, but honestly neither of them impart any attachment to the character of Meursault or the people and world around him; this, I think, is probably intentional, given the... I hesitate to say character because Meursault doesn't feel like a character, but the character of Meursault.

6/10, a fun one! I've been meaning to read more mystery set in the Victorian era, and this scratches that itch pretty well. The mystery is fun to put together too, and while there are some romantic elements, they never take away too much from the story imo—the protagonist's driving forces are her step-daughter, who she loves with all her heart, and the people who write to her. It's the first in a series, so I can see the romance possibly advancing in other books, but I have a strong suspicion it'll remain a more minor part of the series overall. Very enjoyable! "Why does it have the same rating as the book you hate then" it was really fun but nothing that changed my DNA basically, but it's something I'd recommend to other people... The Stranger gave me food for thought so begrudgingly I have to rank it decently.

7/10, a really fun queer WLW love story. The main character could be a turn-off for some people with her attitude, but I found her great honestly. In my opinion, it takes the "your time is limited so you should spend time with the person you love" aspect of They Both Die At The End and does it just, like, ten times better, even with the aspects of strangers. Set during the end days, a girl in love with her best friend resolved to die finds small ways to live to the next day through other people—I think that, and not giving up even when it seems like everything is lost, is the best message this story has to give. The romance is also super cute and sweet, I've been missing queer women in my literature since a lot of recommendations I get are about boys... which is fine too, but I want women. The ending still felt a little rushed/choppy though, but I think this was the author's debut novel, so I'll give her a pass.

9/10, I keep seeing people say this book is a really good read and I'm here to tell you they're right. This book isn't overhyped in the slightest—I loved every moment of it. I would reread this book, and I don't even think it technically has rereadability. I'd BUY A PHYSICAL COPY. Easily one of my top books for 2023 so far... It's exactly what it says on the tin, but the real story lies in the love and romance and trials of being queer in Hollywood midcentury and further on. Absolutely fantastic.

8/10, this changed my brain chemistry a little bit I won't lie. I finished it in a day and a half. Yes it was as an audiobook but if it'd been not that it's the type of book I wouldn't have put down for a second. Funny and invigorating and queer as hell, the main character is someone I wanted to shake so hard at multiple points because oh my god!! You useless queer!! The signs are there just pick up on them I'm insane!!! Another protagonist whose narrative voice is really strong and them, so it might be a little grating—it's definitely YA but not really in a a bad way imo, though even LGBTQ should have bad YA books too—but I laughed a lot while I was listening to it. The side character romance is also really good, I gasped at some of the backstory lore drops. Fun mystery to puzzle out with the characters, too.

4/10, it's a good book but it just isn't for me. I got through 75% of it before I decided I wasn't invested enough to finish it. A lot of the tropes in it are ones I like (meeting again over a friend's/relatives wedding, romance blossoming despite a bad past, hints that if things were different back then the relationship differences now would be better), but after a point I... hmm, I don't know, I just wasn't excited enough to click on it and keep listening. Sorry this review is so balls this was the start of the month and then work went to hell because it's summer babyyy.

4/10. Candide is an extremely dry read and not all that interesting unless you're already familiar with Voltaire's philosophies and the culture/group of people he grew up around and worked with... That said, I did read a paper on Candide's satire so I understand what it's satirizing (the Optimist movement, which is very "All things end wonderfully" aka all hardships will lead to a happy end, if you put that perspective on it), and I do think Candide (character) said it best: All that is very well, but let us cultivate our garden.

2/10. I hated this book in high school and never finished it, but I made a pact with Rina to go back and reread books we hated from school so. Here I Am. My hate mellowed out to apathy as I read this book in small chunks, and even now I couldn't really tell you what I thought of it aside from "it's full of unlikable characters, an unstable plot, and a pretentious type of meaning". I think I get what O'Connor was getting at with her characters, but honestly I don't care. It's a book really far up its own ass imo. Maybe in another ten years I'll reread it and think differently.