This book was excellent!
As a true crime podcast junkie, the blurb was enticing to me right away. I loved that each chapter was dedicated to a different person. This book held my attention, especially because I read the majority of it while I was in the hospital after having Addy in October.
I look forward to reading more from Megan Goldin.
4 1/2 out of 5 stars.
Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂
I was so excited when this book was announced!
This is an additional book in Isabel and Nicki’s world. Last year, Isabel and Nicki were the newest historical characters. They both had journals released with their dolls. I was able to get copies of both books. I reviewed both of them consecutively:
It was so great this book was partially a stand-alone, but also references the journals. You don’t have to read the journals in order to understand their world, though, which is great!
I loved following Isabel’s and Nicki’s journeys together. It’s the end of 1999. There are so many pop culture references and nostalgia, especially for someone like me who was so close to their age at the time. I love that American Girl has branched out further into the modern decades, although I certainly cringed when they called 1999 “historical” – Ouch!
I was a mix of Isabel and Nicki as a kid. I loved dressing up and all the bright colors, but I also enjoyed being outside, riding my bike, and roller blading.
I hope American Girl releases more books! I want to see more of Isabel and Nicki after 1999!
4 1/2 out of 5 stars.
Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂
Books
Isabel’s Journal
Jim Henson: The Biography
Nicki’s Journal
The Night Swim
Movies
Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania (Seen in theaters, February 2023)
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (Seen in theaters, May 2023)
Barbie (Seen in theaters, July 2023)
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Seen in theaters, May 2023)
Haunted Mansion [2023] (Disney+)
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (Seen in theaters, July 2023)
Jesus Revolution (Seen in theaters, March 2023)
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (Seen in theaters, July 2023)
Murder Mystery 2 (Netflix)
No Hard Feelings (Netflix)
Pete’s Dragon [1977] (Disney+)
Pete’s Dragon [2016] (Disney+)
Remember The Titans (Disney+)
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (Seen in theaters, June 2023)
The Beanie Bubble (Apple TV+)
The Marvels (Seen in theaters, November 2023)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Peacock)
We Have A Ghost (Netflix)
TV
Babylon 5 (Tubi)
Bake Squad (Netflix)
Cold Case (Seasons 1-7, Max)
Doogie Howser, M.D. (Seasons 1-4, Disney+)
Family Matters (Max)
Finding Your Roots (PBS)
For All Mankind (Seasons 3-4, Apple TV+)
Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star (Season 5, Netflix)
Guy’s Grocery Games (Max)
Killer Sally (Netflix)
LEGO Masters (Seasons 3-4, Hulu)
Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God (Max)
Next in Fashion (Netflix)
Only Murders in the Building (Season 3, Hulu)
Poker Face (Peacock)
Pressure Cooker (Netflix)
Secret Chef (Hulu)
The Afterparty (Season 2, Apple TV+)
The Mandalorian (Season 3, Disney+)
Unsolved Mysteries (Hulu)
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (YouTube)
Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? (YouTube)
Podcasts
48 Hours
Cold Cases
Criminal
Dateline NBC
Disappearances
Embedded
Mind Over Murder
Serial Killers
Small Town Dicks
Snapped
Solved Murders: True Crime Mysteries
StoryCorps
Unsolved Murders
Unsolved Mysteries
Up and Vanished
Well, that wraps up my favorite things for 2023!
What about you? What were some of your favorite things of the year?
Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂
Claudie is one of American Girl’s newer historical characters. Her story takes place in Harlem in the 1920s!
I really enjoyed learning more about Harlem and how people lived during that time.
I’m not the biggest fan of how American Girl is releasing their historical character books now, but it certainly builds the excitement. Her next book is expected to be released very soon! I’m excited to read it and learn more about her adventures in New York and Georgia.
4 1/2 out of 5 stars.
Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂
Nicki is the more “tomboy” or skater chick of the twins from 1999.
I love that she skateboards at age 9! I didn’t own a skateboard as a kid in the 1990s, but I loved my bike and roller skates. Once I got roller blades, I barely took them off until I outgrew them.
Nicki and Isabel are creative in their own ways!
4 out of 5 stars.
Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂
American Girl just released two new characters – Isabel and Nicki. Twins from 1999!
It’s interesting how they are approaching books with new characters now. You get their journal first, and then their full story comes out later. Fascinating!
Isabel is the girly-girl twin. It’s funny, I feel like I was a mix of Isabel and Nicki when I was 9. I was older than them in 1999, but holy moly did this journal (and Nicki’s) throw me back!
I love how Isabel makes her countdown list and works to check off everything!
4 out of 5 stars.
Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂
My across-the-street neighbor let me borrow her copy! I’ve wanted to read this book for years. I’d heard the news reports and articles about Henrietta and her family’s fight over her cells. But this book went so in depth. I’m glad I read it.
I learned that Henrietta and her family had roots in Clover, Virginia, which is very close to where my in-laws currently live! What a small world!
If you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend you do so. It’s a “typical” non-fiction book, where it can be dry and a bit boring, but author Rebecca Skloot successfully mixes science and Henrietta’s life. I learned so much about Henrietta, her family, and how the scientific community betrayed them all. And her story is not an isolated one, either. It’s an impressive book about the debate on medical ethics, along with our rights regarding our bodies, tissues, cells, and body parts.
4 1/2 out of 5 stars.
Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂
Books
I made it to 100 Book Reviews!
A Civil Action
Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America
Evette: The River and Me (World By Us)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Makena: See Me, Hear Me, Know Me (World By Us)
Maritza: Lead With Your Heart (World By Us)
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Movies
All The President’s Men (HBO Max)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Seen in theaters, November 2022)
Blast from the Past (Hulu)
Elvis (HBO Max)
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)
I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Seen in theaters, December 2022)
Mack and Rita (Seen in theaters, August 2022)
Senior Year (Netflix)
The Adam Project (Netflix)
The Batman (Seen in theaters, March 2022)
The Curse of Bridge Hollow (Netflix)
The Lost City (Paramount Plus)
Top Gun: Maverick (Seen in theaters, June 2022)
Turning Red (Disney+)
Uncharted (Netflix)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (The Roku Channel)
West Side Story (Seen in theaters, January 2022)
TV
Baking Impossible (Netflix)
Cold Case (Seasons 1-7, HBO Max)
For All Mankind (Season 3, Apple TV+)
Ghostwriter (YouTube)
Glow Up (Seasons 1-4, Netflix)
LEGO Masters (Season 3, Hulu)
Only Murders in the Building (Seasons 1 & 2, Hulu)
Stranger Things (Seasons 1-4, Netflix)
The Way Down (Season 1, HBO Max)
Podcasts
48 Hours
Cold Cases
Crimes of Passion – Ended 2022
Dateline NBC
Disappearances
Dr. Death
Embedded
Female Criminals – Ended 2022
Forensic Files II
Mind Over Murder
Missing in America (Dateline)
Serial Killers
Small Town Dicks
Solved Murders: True Crime Mysteries
StoryCorps
The Seduction (Dateline)
Up and Vanished
Very Scary People (HLN)
Well, that wraps up my favorite things for 2022!
What about you? What were some of your favorite things of the year?
Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂
The third book in the World By Us from American Girl was as equally compelling and thought-provoking as the other two.
As an American Girl collector, I wish I had the space for all of the community center items and accessories. It’s so colorful and fun!
I appreciated the fact that American Girl tackled immigration and deportation in this book. Like Evette’s and Makena’s books, it’s clear that this was well-researched and carefully crafted.
4 1/2 out of 5 stars.
Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂
After reading Evette’s book, I quickly moved to Makena’s book in the World By Us collection from American Girl.
Makena loves fashion, and posts her #OOTD (outfit of the day). I love how expressive she is!
Similar to Evette’s story, racism is a major theme in Makena’s story. Despite Makena’s struggles to come to terms with not one, but two incidents in her young life, I applaud American Girl for addressing both incidents in a thoughtful way. It definitely educated me.
It also encourages open communication between family members, and how talking about your feelings with someone that you can trust is so important.
Reading Makena’s story was another eye-opener for me, as a white woman, to how one phone call or one remark could very easily put someone else’s life at risk in an instant.
4 1/2 out of 5 stars.
Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂
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