Cress is the third book in the Lunar Chronicles, this time giving us a retelling of the classic fairy tale "Rapunzel". Our heroine, Cress, has been locked up alone in a satellite for seven years doing the evil queen's bidding with her genius hacking skills. This book also picks up right where the previous one left off, so we see all the story lines merge together when the crew from the first two books attempt a daring rescue of Cress, only to have things go horribly awry.

This book is so fun and entertaining! The action starts immediately, and doesn't stop for the whole book. Even though we are going back and forth between many different people's perspectives (hence the ever-growing length of each subsequent book in the series), it doesn't slow down the momentum at all. I pretty much just inhaled this book without pause.

And everything that happens in this book has a purpose, with all the action building towards a coherent narrative, which is one of my favorite things about this series. There's no meandering around while the author tries to figure out where they are going plot-wise; there's no padding the book with filler to fluff out the pages. The plot comes across as clear, concise, and well-thought-out, so there's never a dull moment.

Cress is my favorite heroine so far. Even though she hasn't had interactions with people her entire life, and she's a little shy and fearful, she still comes across as likable and believable, which is a huge improvement over Cinder and Scarlet in their respective books. Unfortunately, we still get a little bit of Scarlet acting crazy and lashing out in this book, when it would be more prudent to just keep silent. And Cinder and Kai still have communication issues, dancing around each other hemming and hawing for pages on end when a straightforward sentence or two could have cleared up any misunderstandings. They try my patience, but thankfully there are only a few such scenes.

For me, this book has finally reached the potential that I feel it has been building towards all this time with the previous books. At this point, the story has gotten so good that it's just riveting! I can't wait to continue reading and find out how they ultimately lay the smack down on the evil queen, save the world, and get their happy endings (since these are fairy tales, after all).

Readaroo Rating 4 stars

In Buzz, biologist Thor Hanson takes us on a journey of bees, starting with their evolutionary beginning from wasps, to their diet and social structure, to their symbiotic relationship with flowers and vegetables that has exploded our world in color, fragrance, and taste. He talks about the bond between humans and bees, reminding us that we have relied on bees since the dawn of human evolution.

There are so many interesting tidbits and facts in this book. For example, there is evidence showing that humans evolved our large brains partly due to the consumption of nutrient and calorie rich honey. Another interesting fact is that there is a bird that will guide humans to beehives, resulting in the bird being given the most fitting scientific name of indicator indicator.

This book also talks about Colony Collapse Disorder, the possible reasons that might have contributed to it, and what people can do to help lessen the impact and save the bees. When we rely on bees for so much of our food (the list of foods requiring bee pollination is truly eye-opening), it's important that we take bee conservation seriously, and this book is a good starting point for that journey.

I went into this book knowing almost nothing about bees, and came away with so much interesting and relevant information. I highly recommend this book if you are curious about bees and want to learn more. For me, I will surely look at bees in a new light, seeking them out so that I can observe them with my own eyes as the wondrous and fascinating creatures that they are.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars

Scarlet is the second book in the Lunar Chronicles, this time giving us a retelling of the classic fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood". Our new heroine, Scarlet, is looking for her grandmother after she disappears one day. She is intrigued by a mysterious fighter named Wolf, who may be able to help her find where her grandmother is, but only if she can trust him. This book also picks up right where the first one left off with Cinder's story, and and we get to see how the two story lines eventually tie together.

A lot of what I loved about the first book is back. The story continues to be fascinating, with multiple separate plot lines moving forward at a brisk pace and weaving together cohesively. The action never stops, and I felt pulled along with it, immersed in a wondrous journey.

And yet, what I didn't like about the first book is here in this one too. Scarlet is written as overly emotional, paranoid, and accusatory. Her way of finding her grandmother is to go up to random strangers and yell at them to give her grandmother back. I'm not sure this is the best course of action when it comes to getting a loved one back from kidnappers, but Scarlet seems to think it is. She's also stubborn and rather stupid, so she charges into situations without thinking first and inevitably ends up in trouble.

Thankfully, Cinder is better. She is able to talk in this book, no longer stuttering and hemming and hawing through her day, but rather making calm decisions and taking charge. It's so refreshing to see, and is a nice break from the first book version of herself, and the current version of Scarlet. So far, this series has real trouble coming up with good strong female characters; instead, they have been weak, confused, paranoid, and emotional. I hope this gets better, because it really takes away from what otherwise would have been a stellar story.

I'm going to continue with this series. I hold out hope that the main characters will get less annoying as the series goes on. And I'm still really enjoying the universe and the story line. We are gearing up for what must surely be an epic showdown between good and evil, and I can't wait.

Readaroo Rating: 3 stars

Cinder is a retelling of the classic fairy tale "Cinderella", and is the first book in the Lunar Chronicles series. In this version, Cinder is a teenage cyborg mechanic who must balance her job, her mean stepmother, and crushing on Prince Kai, all while bad things are happening and she must discover who she is and how she can help save her country and her planet.

Let me just start out by saying that in case you didn't know, cyborg means you are still a real human with thoughts and feelings, but that parts of your physical body have been swapped out for mechanical parts. I totally didn't realize this. Going into this book, I had thought a cyborg is the same as a robot, and I was really confused for the first few chapters when Cinder had teenage angst and emotions. Now that we have that straightened out, I can move on to the rest of my review.

This book is so much fun! The universe and the story lines are full and rich, and you can tell Marissa Meyer put a lot of thought into them, setting this up to be the first book in a series where all the plots will eventually tie together into a cohesive whole. Once I got started (and figured out what a cyborg is), I couldn't put this book down. There is so much action and so many things going on, from the plague to palace intrigue to the evil villain making an appearance and wrecking havoc. There is never a dull moment.

Yet, I didn't rate this book higher because there were some things I wasn't a fan of. Cinder is painfully immature at times, from her inability to speak in front of a cute boy to her prejudice against others when she herself is on the receiving end of prejudice. Also, Cinder and Kai are so insta-love, I was genuinely confused. He comes across her filthy from her work as a mechanic and unable to string a complete sentence together, and falls for her? Some of the dialogues are so cheesy and simple, with everything very clearly spelled out for the reader, that it's almost cringe-worthy.

Even with the negatives, there was still so much I enjoyed in the first book. The universe and plot are riveting so far, and I can't wait to see where Meyer takes them. You know that feeling you get when you read the first book in a series and you just know it's the start of an amazing journey? Yep, I have that! I can't wait to dive into the next book.

Readaroo Rating: 3 stars

I initially picked up The Library Book because it drew me in with the mystery of the 1986 fire at the Los Angeles Public Library. But this book didn't turn out to be about that... not really. The fire was only a few chapters, detailing the fire itself, the fight to put it out, and the investigation afterwards. It also talks about the rebuilding and the restoration effort after the fire, including how to save and rehabilitate all the ruined books, which I found to be fascinating.

The majority of the book, though, was about the history of libraries, and in particular the history and operation of the Los Angeles Public Library--its inception, its librarians, its progress from a book lending institution to a community center, its collections, and the logistics of its operation. Since it covers so many topics and the author intersperses the narratives, I did feel the constant shift through the topics occasionally made it hard to keep my attention. Just as I'm getting into one topic, the author shifts focus onto another topic. But that's not a ding against the content of the book, since I found everything to be interesting and well-worth mentioning.

In the end, this book is a love note of the author's adoration of libraries, and the joy, knowledge, and belonging they bring to patrons and communities everywhere. As someone who also loves libraries, I'm glad I picked it up. Libraries are among my favorite places to be (I stop by one almost every day!), so I greatly enjoyed this deeper look into how they came to be and all the wonderful people who make libraries the welcoming places that they are.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars

The Winter of the Witch is the last book in the Winternight Trilogy, and it was a very nice conclusion to a most wonderful series.

I really enjoyed this book, though for me it doesn't quite reach the loftiness that was the second book, The Girl in the Tower, which remains my favorite of the trilogy. One reason is that this book feels more disjointed and less cohesive. It comes across as a few separate shorter stories rather than one big one. Also, some of my favorite characters from the other books have abbreviated or delayed showings. The scenes with Solovey and Morozko are magical, and I wish there were more of them. And at times, the pacing wasn't as tight as it could have been and parts of the book dragged on a little.

But these are pretty minor quibbles. I enjoyed the send off that this gave Vasya, our courageous and feisty heroine. She is all grown up in this book, having dealt with traumas that turn any child into an adult. Just like the previous books, the writing in this one is stellar, with many beautiful and lyrical passages that I can read over and over again. And this third book wraps up the tales of so many beloved characters and story lines, giving us readers the closure we're looking for.

This trilogy will go down as one of my all-time favorite series. It has been a wonderful journey, and I'm a little sad it has come to an end. I think I'll be on a bit of a book hangover until I find something this magical and beautiful again.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars

This book is lovely in so many ways that it's a little hard to put it all into words.

A Chinese family has returned to China after living many years in America chasing the American dream. The husband Wei works long hours to give his family their newfound wealth and privilege, while the wife Lina lives a life of leisure, and their daughter is sent off to school in America. When Wei's brother Qiang makes contact for the first time in 20 years, the hidden tensions and desires of the family members start to surface.

The quiet and insightful examination of the characters in here is a real highlight. Each person has a unique perspective and is fueled by their own yearnings, and the author is able to sketch them in sharp relief, turning the characters into multifaceted beings.

The book also addresses the hidden tensions in a marriage, with all that shared history and unmet expectations between the two participants. It asks the question of what happiness is. And it explores what makes a place a home, and the desire in all of us to find meaning and fulfillment wherever we may be.

There are little bits of Chinese sprinkled throughout the book, and while the author makes their meaning clear, I found knowing the language myself adds an additional layer of context to the dialogues. I also appreciated the references to the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, which helped to augment my limited understanding of that period in Chinese history and its lasting impact on people of my parents' generation.

While this book isn't my usual preference of being action and plot driven, I still found it riveting. Lucy Tan's beautiful and reflective writing really brings this quiet character study alive with meaning and emotion. This is Lucy Tan's debut novel, and I can't wait to read more from her.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars