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@gen_readsalot

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Indiscriminate book reader. Judgemental book reviewer.
⭐/5
🔥/3

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About me: reader, lawyer, parent. I tend to be a snob about a lot of things, but not boxed macaroni and cheese, pink wine, or romance novels. by @gen_readsalot

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4 years ago

by @gen_readsalot

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3 years ago

by @gen_readsalot

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3 years ago

Wasn't a fan of Chick Lit; really didn't like Women's Fiction; but this is a step too far......

So now we have dystopian or science fiction or horror or Weird Girl books????

Also, it's "weird" to explore your identity??!??!!?

Are we re-shelving 'Mrs. Dalloway' under Weird Girls? by @gen_readsalot

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2 months ago

4⭐ 1.5🔥

“Tom Lake” by Ann Patchett has everything I love: a story within a story, passion, betrayal, a dagger to the heart, and – as always – the question of what makes a life fulfilled.

The writing is beautiful, time and place perfectly evoked, small family moments effortlessly rendered.

Yet, I can’t quite say I loved this book.

I read it in January 2025, and I’ve spent more time thinking about why I didn’t love it more than any other novel in a long time. This is not to say I disliked the book – far from it. After much pondering, I would say I was disappointed in a story that could have been one of the best works of American fiction of this century, and certainly a challenge to my top spot of 2001’s “The Corrections” by Jonathan Franzen.

Set in 2020 on a cherry orchard in Michigan, the story is narrated by Lara who recounts her teenage years as an actress to her three adult daughters home during the pandemic lockdown.

Lara and her husband knew famous Hollywood actor Peter Duke, and details of that meeting and the three people’s theatre work one summer is the topic of Lara’s reminiscing.

It is a beautiful, slow story. If that’s not your bag, certain readers may describe it as boring.

The criticism of “nothing happens” is belied by the fact that Patchett has two plot twists, one halfway through the story (hold out for it) and one at the book’s end. This second reveal is rather obvious, and the crux of why the novel doesn’t quite come together.

Fiction needs conflict and drama. In this book, family secrets are not clearly revealed to anyone but the reader. Without spoiling the story, in “Tom Lake” one is left to wonder who knows what, which takes away from the ultimate question of ‘does it matter?’

Three of my favourite books are “The Blind Assassin”, “The Corrections” and “The Sense of an Ending” in which sacrifices are made, secrets are discovered too late, and noble intentions faceoff against base behaviour. Such tragedies resulted in each of these books winning prestigious literary awards; if Patchett twisted the knife a bit deeper, her novel could have won all the awards instead of being that pretty good book you read that one time. by @gen_readsalot

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9 months ago

3 (2.5?)⭐ 2🔥

2025 was filled with books that disappointed me; perhaps I had unrealistic expectations or general malaise, but there were a number of books I looked forward to reading, picked up, and then ... ugh.

I adored Ali Hazelwood’s “Bride.” I thought it was funny, and clever, and as soon as I finished it, I started it again. I’ve read it three or four times at least. I got it from the library and bought it, just so I could read it any time I want.

I am also a big Hazelwood fan. I don’t mind the Adam Driver cosplay, or the teeny-tiny boobies, or the sarcasm, or the other justifiable criticism. The only thing I have gotten over is Hazelwood’s need to mash-up her timelines. It was unnecessary in “Bride” and now feels like a crutch I am so over.

Anyway, on to “Mate.” This book ... sucked? (Sorry, not sorry). Okay, maybe it didn’t suck. It was ... a giant disappointment. Overwhelming predictable, with a MMC who was annoying, with a jumble of characters with nothing to do, with contrived circumstances to keep the couple apart.

The mild opening spoiler in this book is that it starts with BFF Serena Paris isolating herself because she is dying. Of all the possible resolutions to her immanent death (this is romance, so that is not a spoiler), the cure is so painfully simple, and annoying, and takes all the emotional goodwill a reader invests and gives back nothing. Ugh, I hated it so much.

Alpha pack leader, Koen Alexander, does that annoying thing of wordsmithing, where authors try and justify dishonesty by having characters say things not outright lies but are still deflections. So obvious and patronizing, just UGH.

I was absent online through much of the fall, so I was gobsmacked when this book started showing up on people’s best-of-2025 lists.

Often authors hint at new couples or new directions for a series especially towards the end of a story. There was no such hinting and, when I got to the end of Mate, thought, 'I don’t want to read any more of this, please don't be another book.'

Three stars because the writing is polished and storyline coherent. by @gen_readsalot

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9 months ago

While January is already underway, I am still wrapping up 2025.

Here are the books and series I remember the most. I am not saying these are the best books I've read this year, but these are the books I have thought about a lot since reading.

I would say @imromanticallyinvolved 6-out-of-5 star recommendation of "Transcendence" would be a top pick of the year.

"Forgiving" and "Not My Type" were harder books given the topics discussed, but both pushed how I thought of romance and memoir.

"Tom Lake" could almost be one of the best fiction books ever written, but actually falls short and I'm not entirely sure why (and no one I know has read it to talk to me about it!).

I love everything Ilona Andrews writes and could put the entire catalogue of Alice Coldbreath on here (already regretting not choosing the Prizefighter series over the Karadok series...).

A lot of books disappointed me last year (reviews to follow!), but these stood out in my poor memory. Here's to more memorable books in 2026! by @gen_readsalot

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9 months ago

5⭐

I struggle to read non-fiction (I get bored, I read the footnotes, then look up the references cited and get distracted, then choose books about subjects I don’t understand, like math, using words I can’t pronounce, like fantasy). If I do pick up non-fiction, I don’t care to read memoir (sorry, too self-absorbed to find other people interesting enough to read about and, when I do, their lives are just so terrible I’m down for months – books by Roméo Dallaire and Amanda Lindhout still haunt me).

So, when book club chose E. Jean Carroll’s memoir “Not My Type: One Woman vs. a President”, I anticipated a painful read. Instead, I absolutely loved this book. Reading about President Trump sexually assaulting Carroll (and – spoiler – other women) was hard, but the entire story was funny, irreverent, and compassionate; I was immediately drawn in to the courtroom drama, personalities, and political implications of Carroll’s story.

It will make you horrified at the pervasive, habitual nature of Trump’s predatory history so much so that it left me worried for the physical and psychological welfare of any female staffer, colleague, or advisor in his orbit.

One book clubber suggested it was one of the best books on SA they have ever read. I understand this sentiment. It was not trauma porn or sensational in the way that many books are when dealing with a similar subject; it does not shy away from the immediate and long-term impact of Carroll’s experience. Amazingly, you don’t finish the book wanting to crawl into a hole; rather, I was exultant – thankful that citizen justice and the legal system worked in this case.

The writing is sometimes meandering, which I enjoyed but may be a challenge for other readers. I thought Carroll’s voice was compelling – conversational and intimate. It did not feel sanitized or ghost-written, but rather authentic. The audiobook was very well-liked.

If I had to describe the book in a word, I would call it funny. I have recommended it a lot since finishing. One of the best books of the year. by @gen_readsalot

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10 months ago

5⭐ 3🔥
You can be forgiven if – having decided to pick up “Heated Rivalry” by Rachel Reid after all the hype online, in magazines, newspapers, and social media – you start think, ‘what the heck am I reading?!’

Is the writing award-worthy? No. Is the smut repetitive? Yes. Do you need to know anything about hockey? No. Is this fanfiction about two real-life, back-to-back number one Russian and Canadian NHL draft picks? It seems so. Will you start reading, become obsessed, fall in love with the characters and story and re-read the book many times then read the sequel and the other books in the Game Changers series? Most likely. I certainly did.

I've read “Heated Rivalry” and “The Long Game” many times in the last few weeks before the show started. I refused to read the books when they first became popular because I’m oppositional like that.

I enjoy queer sports romance, and hockey romance in particular. You don’t need to like sports to understand high pressure environments as a romance trope; it's a fav of mine.

Rachel Reid has created compelling, dramatic characters in a believable decade-long romance. It’s sexy and very funny.

Romance is the melding of bildungsroman and both classical and contemporary definitions of comedy. It is about becoming one's authentic self and self-acceptance. The enemies don’t become lovers simply because of physical attraction to each other, but rather their unwitting attraction causes them to challenge assumptions of what makes them enemies, causing MCs to find common ground, acceptance and love. Grumpy doesn’t meet sunshine and gets a personality makeover, but love and friendship results in personal growth and becoming a more well-rounded individual.

Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov are public enemies with opposite personalities, yet they fundamentally understand each other’s love of sport, competition and the pressure of being closeted queer professional hockey players. They don't want to be in a relationship, somewhat resent their attraction, yet their relationship is one of the most consistent things in their lives. They grow individually and as a couple and the book is immensely satisfying, one of my favourites this year. by @gen_readsalot

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10 months ago

Hi everyone! I'm alive and enjoying winter weather and gay hockey romance.

Did I mean to disappear for months? Not at all.

Travelling this spring meant reading and posting was not a priority. So, I had plans to return to book reviews on July 1 (Canada Day!), then thought I would enjoy the summer so September 1 seemed like a good date (but back to school time can be busy), so maybe October 15 after Thanksgiving….

I missed my friends. I missed @vicious.but.romantic salty, hilarious book commentary, @encyclopedia_britanika pop culture updates, and @books_ergo_sum philosophical books that hurt my brain. I missed book releases from authors I loved and discovering new stories.

But the break was wonderful for this burnt out reader. I binged a lot of books, re-read favourites, and got over my aversion to Heated Rivalry just in time for the show.

Hope to see y'all more consistently for the rest of 2025 and throughout 2026. by @gen_readsalot

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10 months ago

Resisted the urge to buy romance books in Greek. by @gen_readsalot

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2 years ago

5⭐ 1.5🔥

I read a lot of books in January, then spent most of February tired and packing, so fanfiction was a great way to read something new with the comfort of familiar characters and tropes.

I've read a lot of different stories this month, and author PacificRimbaud was a highlight. I've read almost everything posted by the author and would recommend everything.

Two of my favourite long-form stories were a Pansy Parkinson + Percy Weasley retelling of the movie, The Secretary (a great film, I decided to re-watch last fall), and Remember One Thing, a Pansy + Neville Longbottom story with the classic memory loss trope.

The first is more sexually explicit, although neither are excessive in the intimacies described.

I've re-read both already and highly recommend. Usually an internet or AO3 search will take you right to the works. by @gen_readsalot

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2 years ago