Bookworm Banter

  Review of  Sapiens: A Graphic History , by Yuval Noah Harari I absolutely loved  Sapiens: A Graphic History . It explores the history of humans, from our earliest ancestors to the societies we live in today, and somehow manages to make thousands of years of human history feel genuinely interesting. It covers ideas like the Cognitive Revolution, the development of agriculture, money, religion, empires, and the ways humans have built increasingly complicated societies. Instead of just telling us what happened, though, the book constantly asks bigger questions about why humans became so successful and how we ended up creating the world around us. The thing I loved most was obviously the fact that it's a comic. I could have been reading a giant block of text about human evolution and immediately fallen asleep, but instead there are illustrations, dialogue, jokes, ridiculous situations, and characters explaining complicated ideas in ways that actually stick in your brai...

Review of The Witches of Cambridge , by Alice Hoffman This book. The Witches of Cambridge . I LOVED IT. No more to be said. To be more specific, the story follows Ava Abbott, a quiet young woman from Maine who arrives at Radcliffe College, and Lauren Bell, her complete opposite: confident, wild, and very much at home in Cambridge. The two are brought into the Lilith Society, a secret society of witches at Radcliffe that dates all the way back to colonial times. As they learn about their magical heritage, the history of the witches, and the dangers surrounding them, their friendship becomes just as important as the magic itself. There is also a mystery involving witches disappearing and the terrifying possibility that the witch trials of the past aren't actually as far away as everyone thinks. I also loved Ava and Lauren because they are such opposites. Ava is fascinated by love magic, drawn toward spells involving the heart and desperately wanting to experience love and everything ...

Review of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder , by Holly Jackson Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is one of my favourite mystery books I have ever read. The story follows Pippa Fitz-Amobi, a student who decides to investigate the murder of Andie Bell for her school project. Five years earlier, Andie was murdered and her boyfriend, Sal Singh, was blamed for it. Everyone in the town believes Sal was responsible, but Pip isn't convinced. With the help of Sal’s brother, Ravi, she starts investigating the case and quickly discovers that the story everyone accepted as the truth is much more complicated than it seems. What I loved most about this book was actually being part of the investigation. Pip doesn't just walk around having convenient detective thoughts while the reader watches; we get to see her interviews, notes, evidence, messages, maps, timelines, and theories. It made me feel like I was investigating the case with her. I was constantly making my own theories, cros...

Review of  The Midnight Library , by Matt Haig Matt Haig’s  The Midnight Library  is a thought-provoking novel about regret, choices, and the lives we imagine we could have lived. The story follows Nora Seed, who finds herself in a mysterious library where every book contains a different version of her life based on a choice she could have made differently. She is given the chance to undo her regrets by entering these alternate lives and seeing what would have happened if she had made different decisions. What I loved most about the book was the idea of actually being able to change the things you regret. Nora gets to go back and try different versions of her life—changing decisions, fixing mistakes, and exploring opportunities she wishes she had taken. I found this especially interesting because I think most people have things they wish they could undo or choices they sometimes wonder about. Seeing Nora actually get the chance to change them made me reflect on a lot...

  Review of Society of Lies , by Lauren Ling Brown Lauren Ling Brown’s Society of Lies is exactly the kind of mystery I love: murder, secret societies, dark academia, complicated relationships, and a suspicious number of people who definitely know more than they are admitting. The story follows Maya Mason, who returns to Princeton for her younger sister Naomi’s graduation, only to discover that Naomi has died. Maya refuses to believe that her sister’s death was an accident, especially after discovering that Naomi had joined the same exclusive society Maya had once been part of. As Maya starts digging into Naomi’s life, she uncovers secrets that connect the two sisters in ways she never expected. What I loved most about this book was how addictive the mystery was. I was constantly trying to figure out what was actually going on, who I could trust, and which tiny detail was going to become important later. Every time I thought I had worked something out, another piece of information...

  Review of The Christmas Pig , by J.K. Rowling J.K. Rowling’s The Christmas Pig is a surprisingly emotional story about a boy named Jack who loses his favourite toy, a stuffed pig called Dur Pig. On Christmas Eve, Jack discovers that his new Christmas Pig can talk and takes him into the Land of the Lost, a strange world where lost things go. Together, they set out to find Dur Pig, encountering everything from forgotten toys to things people have deliberately thrown away. What begins as a simple adventure becomes a story about love, loss, friendship, and learning to let go. What I loved most about this book was how imaginative the Land of the Lost is. Rowling takes completely ordinary objects and gives them their own personalities, histories, and importance. Something that seems useless to one person might be incredibly precious to someone else, which makes the world surprisingly emotional. I also loved the relationship between Jack and Christmas Pig. Their journey isn't just abou...