Hi! Welcome to Part 3 of my Mega Book Catch-Up post. In case you missed them, here’s Part 1 and Part 2.

I’m excited because we’ll finally be talking about books that I read this year (cough). As a reminder, I’m using the GoodReads rating convention here:

• One star – Did not like it.
• Two stars – It was ok.
• Three stars – Liked it.
• Four stars – Really liked it.
• Five stars – It was amazing.

• Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come by Jessica Pan – The author, a self-described introvert, takes us on a hilarious journey as she purposefully seeks situations that will get her outside of her comfort zone and will allow her to meet people. As a fellow introvert, I really could relate to the author and found myself wishing I could be friends with her in real life! Four stars.
• Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer’s Twenty Year Battle against DuPont by Robert Bilott. As someone who is just now starting to work on PFAS-related projects, I was excited to read this book. The author, a lawyer, outlines his long legal battle against DuPont after taking on a case from a farmer who suspected his creek had been had been poisoned by runoff from a DuPont landfill. This book is engrossing and infuriating, and definitely a must-read if you are interested in the environment and emerging contaminants. Four stars.
• The Trespasser by Tana French. This novel, part of French’s Dublin Murder Squad series, focuses on Antoinette Conway, a tough-as-nails detective trying to solve a murder case but discovering her department may not want her to find out the truth. I usually love Tana French’s books (I read The Likeness in one weekend) but I just couldn’t get into the one. The pacing and characterization were off, and the book didn’t start getting interesting until 2/3 of the way in. Two stars.
• Shrill by Lindy West. This entertaining book of feminist essays are written with a clear, distinct voice, and made for a quick read. Three stars.
• Lace Bone Beast: Poems & Other Fairytales for Wicked Girls by N.L. Shompole. I really wanted to like this poetry collection. While there were a couple of standouts, I really could not get into the collection. Two stars.
• The Witches by Stacy Schiff. We’re getting to the April 2020 “what on earth is happening” phase of quarantine, so I decided to lean in by reading books that had been sitting on my shelf for ages. This one has been sitting on mine for at least five years and I thought it would be a really interesting book, but NOPE. IT WAS NOT AT ALL. No disrespect, but this was a slog to get through. It was full of so many details that made it difficult to follow at times (and since I tend to read before bedtime, that doesn’t help either). I desperately wanted to stop reading it but kept going. I did not enjoy it at all. One star.

Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for Part 4.