SABRINA & CORINA
Kali Fajardo-Anstine

I read this because it was one of the books of the month in my favorite rapper's book club. I rarely read realist fiction anymore and I often have trouble finishing short story collections, but this was both, and I finished it and liked it, although no specific characters or stories have stuck with me, just a feeling of a sad sunset in an empty parking lot with low mountains in the distance.

NO ONE IS TOO SMALL TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Greta Thurnberg

This is a collection of sixteen of Greta's speeches, so it's very repetitive and if you've been following her for a while even casually, there's nothing in here that you haven't already heard. Just watch her videos instead. I've spent my whole life wanting a yellow raincoat.

THE SECRET COMMONWEALTH
Philip Pullman

THE SECRET COMMONWEALTH is the second book in a sequel trilogy to Pullman's HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy that you probably remember from the late 90s and early 2000s. I love the world Pullman has created for this series - an alternate history England ruled by a sinister Catholic-protestant fusion called the Magesterium; every person has an animal daemon that they're inseparably bonded to; there are a number of non-human and semi-human species each with their own rich histories and cultures and religions - but somehow, other than the first one, none of the five books have been very good. This latest one was the worst of all; it's over 600 pages long and I'm glad to finally be done with it. Feels like Pullman wants to be critical of both oRgAniZeD ReLiGiOn and, like, disenchanted secularism, but isn't sure how to pull that off, and has also lost track of what made his characters and universe interesting in the first place. There are no witches or talking polar bear warriors, but there are several sulky teenagers. I thought it might get fun when the characters end up in Istanbul and Anatolia, but it was boring there, too. I'll probably still read the final book in the trilogy when it eventually comes out, but there's really no reason for you to read any of them.