I’ve been wanting to try my hand at mini-reviews for a while, and the easiest way seemed to be to do a monthly recap of what I’ve read for the month, with links to the complete reviews. Let me know what you guys think? Please? 
Jam by Yahtzee Croshaw - Fun premise of flesh-eating jampocalypse, but too erratic and not great characters. Had its funny moments but I was kind of disappointed.
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores by Jen Campbell – Funny and really brings back the good old days of working in a bookstore.
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan – EPIC, AWESOME, FUN. Wonderful writing. Definitely my favorite read of January.
Hyperspace by Michio Kaku – Interesting and fascinating theoretical physics, but still not sold on string theory. Maybe he can write a revised edition to include any new developments since 1994? Still, Kaku is always fun to read.
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys – Lousy historical fiction YA. Boring and definitely not worth the hype.
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker – The Earth’s rotation slows down and throws the world off-balance, but this gets overshadowed by a young girl’s “coming of age” story. Made me snore just a teeny bit.
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne – Quick, fun romp around the world with Phileas Fogg. Includes elephants, but no balloons.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling – Obviously I still love it, even though it’s SO written for children. It’s a re-read, readalong style. You can see my thoughts here and here. Enjoy the GIFs.
The Stand by Stephen King - Interesting apocalyptic fiction with a dose of paranormal, but really really long. Overall enjoyable, fun to discuss with people as you read it.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling - Book two for the re-read readalong, you can see my thoughts here and here. Still love it, even though the first half is monstrously slow.
The Baby Boon: How Family-Friendly America Cheats the Childless by Elinor Burkett – Raises a lot of great points about how the childless are discriminated against, but it was written 13 years ago so some of the politics are outdated. All the points she made are still relevant today though, perhaps even more so.
Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio – Quick, cozy story with mystery thrown into the mix, but probably forgettable. Not as good as The Bungalow by the same author. (Review for this is coming, but since I finished it on 1/31 I feel like it needs to be counted in with the rest of the January reads.)
So there we have it! What do you guys think of the mini-review format? Anything I should change? Is it helpful to just read a quick snippet, and then click on the actual review if it sounds interesting enough? Should I include my star rating? TELL ME THINGS.
~Sarah
