Two stars: eh, it was okay
Three stars: liked it
Four stars: really, really liked it
Five stars: loved it
1-Star (0)
2-Star (0)
3-Star (4)
***The Overdue Life
of Amy Byler (Fiction, K. Harms)
I started reading
this in San Francisco last month and then life happened and I finally picked it
back up again. It’s a little fluffy and
there were not nearly enough specific book references for my taste, but it was
still an enjoyable read.
***The Island Of
Sea Women (Fiction, L. See)
A tragic piece of
historical fiction. It was a bit too
long for me and dragged a lot in the middle.
***The Dry
(Fiction, J. Harper)
I think I need to
READ this one instead of listening to it.
Because I actually really liked it.
But I was listening at work and had a lot going on and I think I missed
a lot. Plus, I read that there’s a lot
of flashbacks that you only really know are flashbacks by the italicized
lettering in the book. Which would
explain why I was confused a lot. I need
a do-over!
***The Vile Village
(Fiction, L. Snicket) Book #7
This one was pretty
dark. Still funny though.
4-Star (4)
****The Stationery
Shop (Fiction, M. Kamali)
This was a slow
read, but definitely worth it.
****The Austere
Academy (Fiction, L. Snicket) Book #5
These never
disappoint, ESPECIALLY on audio.
****The Ersatz
Elevator (Fiction, L. Snicket) Book #6
Laugh-out-loud
funny.
****American Dirt
(FICTION, Jeanine Cummins)
Oh the
controversy. SO MUCH controversy
surrounding this book. A lot of people
love it, a lot of people hate it. And I
knew that going in. I had read all the
reviews on Goodreads and yes, I still chose to read this book. And I can see both sides.
It is the story of
Lydia and her son Luca who need to leave Acapulco, Mexico, after their entire
family is slaughtered by the Cartel (this is not a spoiler, this is mentioned
on the book jacket). This happens in the
first chapter.
Lydia and Luca are
scared for their life, so their goal is to get to the United States. They are not migrating to the U.S. because
they want a ‘better life’, they are migrating because they are actually on the
run from someone.
The
controversy: the author, Jeanine
Cummins, is not Mexican. She is Latinx,
as she was born in Spain and also had a Puerto Rican grandmother. She also married an undocumented Irish
immigrant. If you read her author’s
note, she discusses the EXTENSIVE research she did for years before writing
this book.
I don’t think that
someone has to personally experience something to write about it. Did every author that wrote about World War
II, the holocaust, PTSD, etc. personally experience those things? No.
And to think that that is a requirement for writing a FICTION novel is
ridiculous to me. But, the author MUST
do extensive research. Last year I read
a fiction novel about a woman married to a veteran who had PTSD. IT was horribly executed. The author appeared to do ZERO research about
what it’s like to live with someone with military PTSD. Did I think the author needed to be in that
exact situation and be married to a veteran with PTSD in order to accurately
write about it? ABSOLUTELY NOT. Did I think she should have done extensive
research and talked/interviewed multiple wives with PTSD husbands before she
wrote the book? YES YES YES.
Colson Whitehead
stated, ‘you can write about anything, just don’t screw it up.’ The author states in her author’s note, “I do
know Luca and Lydia. I know their
lives. Because I know grief. I know trauma. Yes, Luca and his Mami happen to be Mexican,
but they could be anyone. They could be
Syrian or Romanian or Haitian. They are
human beings.” I’ve read loads of
reviews on this book by people of all nationalities. Some loved it, some hated it, some refused to
read it. The ‘loved it’ was a mix of
people. White, Mexican (yup), African
American, and others.
This book will make
you uncomfortable and it is a difficult read.
It made me realize how much I don’t know about immigration issues,
especially living in a border state. I
thought about it ALL DAY when I wasn’t at home reading it at night. I took it with me everywhere in case I had an
extra 5 or 10 minutes to spare. The
writing is excellent. The ONLY reason I
gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because there were a few slow parts in the
middle of the book.
****The Hostile
Hospital (Fiction, L. Snicket) Book #8
So funny.
5-Star (2)
*****How Not to Die
(Non-Fiction, M. Greger)
Hands down the best
book on nutrition I’ve ever read. I
couldn’t put it down!
*****Such a Fun Age
(Fiction, K. Reid)
It’s hard to
believe this is her debut novel. I FLEW
through this book. It reads like a
‘light’ book, but tackles some extremely important topics. Phenomenal.
Total Books Read:
11 (10 Fiction, 1 Non-Fiction)
DNF (2):
Night of Miracles (Fiction, E. Berg) – I was hoping I would
like this one, because it is a bit of a follow-up to ‘The Story of Arthur
Trulove’, but there was WAYYYYY to many characters and intertwining stories for
me to keep paying attention.
Dear Edward (Fiction) – this one got weird REALLY
quickly. I even flipped through it to
see if maybe it was an isolated incident, and nope. Bummer.
