Book Review Dump
January & February Book Recaps and Ratings
Project Hail Mary
By: Andy Weir
5/5 STARS
As someone who doesn’t care for space or science, Project Hail Mary still made it to the top of my list of favorite and most riveting tales. The science is explained in such a way that makes it integral to the journey of the book, without suffocating the readers who have avoided biology classes since high school (ummm ME). While the adventures and near-death experiences keep you flipping page after page with no semblance of time, at the heart of the story is a tale of unlikely friendship, and a guy who had herodom thrust upon him despite his desire to reject it.
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My one personal disappointment with the book was that Ryland did not go back to Earth because we didn’t get to see what happened to humans during the time Ryland was in space. I do believe the ending was much more fitting for Ryland’s storyline, as he realized Rocky was his only real true friend and there was nothing for him back at Earth, but selfishly I wanted to know the Earth storyline as well as Ryland and Rocky’s story. I can only hope for a spin-off book that adds those details!
Awake
By: Jen Hatmaker
3/5 STARS
A well-known pastor’s wife with five kids wakes up at 2am to hear her husband voice-texting his mistress… and unfortunately that’s the most interesting part of the book. While I enjoyed the unfolding story of Jen and her journey to find herself after what could possibly be the millionth evangelical sex scandal of our time, I expected the book to feel more dramatic, but instead it fell flat. While I respect her likely desire to keep details close to the vest with older children who could just as easily pick up this book, I felt like it was advertised as something much more sensational than it was. In the end, it’s a beautiful story of a women who had never been able to learn who she was, finding herself in midlife and making the life she wanted for herself after learning she was actually allowed to make decisions. If that’s your thing, then please pick it up! But it is not the story rot with scandal that I expected.
Jesus and John Wayne
By: Kristin Kobes Du Mex
5/5 STARS
A dense deep dive into the century long integration of Christian Nationalism into our country’s political landscape, and it’s role in Trump’s controversial election into the Presidential office. This book was extremely informative and aided in my understanding of why evangelicals have so strongly sided with a very immoral president. Most interesting to me was the shift of a more humble/meek (and non-politically involved Christian culture) in the early 1900s, to the huge marketing campaign that promoted a more militant or masculine-presenting Christianity as the World Wars raged. This book reads like a history book, and was incredibly informative and educational to my millennial mindset of the history that came before me that shaped the world I am living in.
Fun Fact: Did you know that “In God We Trust” wasn’t printed on our currency until the 1950s?
The Only One Left
By: Riley Sager
3/5 STARS
Riley Sager is one of my favorite “read for fun” authors and while I ultimately enjoyed the journey of the book, I guessed two of the major twists (which is not common for me with his books!). I did find the main character to have decent character development which kept me hooked, but the ending ultimately seemed like he was adding more and more twists just to keep things interesting instead of actually logically concluding the web of mystery that had been weaved the remainder of the book… which is what left it from ranking higher amongst the other books of his I love.
Lessons in Chemistry
By: Bonnie Garmus
3/5 STARS
While I enjoyed the message of this book; a feminist’s journey to career success through determination and the bucking of societal norms; I found it lacking in character development. The book was witty and fast to read as it constantly shifted character perspectives, but in turn it glossed over deep moments instead of exploring them. At the end of the book, I wanted to want to rate it higher, but I closed it feeling like I never found the heart of the story and instead was just left with the facts. While this book could be explained away as one more for enjoyment instead of depth, the story of Elizabeth Zott was one of intensity that I wanted to sink my teeth deeper into.
