alisarae's Reviews (1.65k)

What a hard, sad subject: Trethewey goes back to examine her memories of life with her mother and stepfather and the days leading up to her mother's murder. Trethewey is a poet, so her words are weighty, deliberate, and beautiful. The fear, dread, and torment is palpable and it was honestly hard for me to read this at the same time that Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, and so many other female athletes are berated for making decisions for themselves from topics spanning how they dress to personal health, that women are not allowed to wear they would prefer in France, Netherlands, and the Middle East, that women are finally starting to be allowed to use the P word (preach) in some churches while hearing little more apology than "We upheld decisions in ignorance." All of it is about controlling women. We see examples of women being killed, literally losing their lives (not to mention livelihoods), for making rational decisions about what to wear, calling the police because they are in danger, and daring to say No or even look like they might want to say No.

There is a transcript of a conversation between Trethewey's mother and her stepfather that was recorded because the police needed evidence to arrest the stepfather. She is so patient, so calm, while he goes on and on about how she needs to make a decision between "giving him a chance" or "choosing death." I would have said that it's an extreme example of what women hear from their family members every day..... but actually it's a common example. I myself have heard this conversation on the bus more than once. 1 in 3 women suffer physical violence from intimate partners, so the chances are that you have encountered a woman today whose daily life is a terror movie.

In summary, it's upsetting.

That is some sharp wit.

Afro-fantasy that's heavy on defeating the patriarchy. I loved the setting and the characters (Iksa is the cutest pet ever). The audio production is good too, with a wide range of accents. I can recognize that this is solid writing, but I think I may have outgrown YA fantasy and I'm not sure if I'll read the other two parts of the trilogy when they come out.

The premise is perfect for dark humor: a little old lady takes matters (read: lives) into her own hands any time she dislikes something. She plays up her age, acting like she needs a walker and hearing aids. No one suspects a thing.

I don't know if it was the translation or just the author's style, but the language is very simple and straightforward. I think the dark humor could have been ramped up if it had been written in a style that was more like Lemony Snicket.

#AlisaReadstheWorld
#10DayReadathon

I loved the realism and it impressed me how such mundane short short-stories could be so interesting. The underlying current of violence was unexpected.

Thoughtful and incredibly well thought-out. My favorites were "American Abecedarian" and "Owed to the 99 Cent Store". Throughout this collection there is an ongoing pun of owed/ode that plays out in some interesting ways.

2018: So glad I read this! This is a collection of memories from the author’s experience as a girl living in a poor Latino neighborhood in Chicago. The stories are all very short and can be read in any order, like a collection of poetry. The format surprised me, and I was surprised that I liked it. Short, bittersweet, and honest.

2021: Re-read for the #10DayTeamReadathon group read. I think I liked it a little more this time around (reading the text this time vs audio the first time).

I read this for the #10DayTeamReadathon MC with a disability prompt, and I was pleasantly surprised by how creative the stories were! There was a mix of everything—sci-fi, fantasy, horror, realism, romance. I would definitely read a second volume if one comes out. These stories show how much color can be added by including a disability as a vital part of the story instead of a prop thrown in to tick a diversity quota box.

Another book for #10DayTeamReadathon but it's also one I had been wanting to read for a while.

Reading this brought up a lot of strong emotions: I was repulsed, disgusted, intrigued, saddened, and curious. Yes, Yeong-hye is mentally ill. Very. But I resonated with her shirking of social constraints—the woman just wants to do what she wants to do. Let her be!

I wanted to read this book because I don't know much about the history of Ancient Rome. The writing was entertaining and interspersed with anecdotes, jokes, and quips from the period. I most liked the parts that talked about what everyday life was like—descriptions of bars, boardgames, and epitaphs of regular people. I also had to laugh at rumors and tales that were passed down to us through horrible mistranslations—e.g. Caligula didn't really order troops to gather seashells, the word for seashell is the same word for a kind of temporary barracks. The author considers the end of the Roman empire to be when Caracalla granted Roman citizenship to all freemen, and the book ends there.