alltheradreads's Reviews (1.9k)

This book. Stunning. Holy. Soul-filling. I cannot say enough good, worthy words. Every day of this Advent season, this book and Ann's glorious way with words quieted my soul, drew me to bended knee in awe of my Savior and this season, and was such a breath of quiet, fresh air I desperately needed. I will absolutely be returning to this work of art every Advent to come. (ps-- there is a version for children and families that I'm sure is out of this world!)

This. Book. It's one I want to shove into the hands of every single human I meet. Everyone needs to read this. I discovered Brown through her TED talk a while back and fell in love with her research, completely. This book was wonderful. Based on so much sound and thorough research, it dives into "how the courage to be vulnerable transforms the way we live, love, parent, and lead," so it's relevant to every single living person. Read this book. Now.

This collection of writings from O'Connor's journals is honest, raw, unedited and wonderful, "the record of a brilliant young woman's coming-of-age, a cry from the heart for love, grace, and art." A short and stunning read.

This book is "an affecting and hope-filled posthumous collection of essays and stories from the talented young Yale graduate whose title essay captured the world's attention in 2012 and turned her into an icon for her generation." Marina died in a car crash five days after she graduated, and this is what she wrote before that. It's beautiful. I loved every word-- both her fiction and her essays equally. She was 22 when she died, and being 22 now myself, I was struck by (and slightly envied) her poignancy, raw talent and elegance-- I so highly recommend this book.

This book was one I had seen in countless Instagrams from cool, trendy people I follow...and that's 100% of the reason why I picked it up. I loved my trip to Paris back in 2010, and was curious about what this book would really be about. I loved it. It's a fun, light-hearted read jam-packed with quotable wisdom and punchy little takeaway nuggets. It truly made me want to embrace the Parisian lifestyle...this book is a perfect Sunday afternoon coffeeshop read (which explains all the Instagrams...)

I've heard about this book from several people, and I SEVERELY judged it by its cover. I mean, come on, isn't that the WORST cover you've ever seen? What is even going on there? I finally decided to give it a shot and I have to admit-- it was AMAZING. So good. It's easy to read, with many pages having only one paragraph of text (which meant I could write lots of notes and process right on the pages themselves! bonus!) Pressfield talks extensively about Resistance-- the thing that keeps us from doing the very things we were created to do. Basically, I decided that Resistance is Satan's alter ego-- he hates when we try to do the things the Lord gifted and called us to, and will do anything and everything in his power to keep us from it. This book was a swift kick in the pants and a big motivational speech all at once. No matter who you are, this book will speak to you. Guaranteed there's something you feel called to do (even deep, deep down), but something's keeping you from doing it. DON'T LET IT. Grab this book, wake up, and go after it.

Knowing this book was based on a real woman, Mary Bowser, who was born a slave in Richmond, VA (my city!) and was freed and educated in the North but came back to the South to fight for freedom as a Union spy, I was instantly engrossed in this story. I loved all the Richmond references and imagining my city back in the 1800s. I don't know that anyone else will think that's even remotely interesting, but I absolutely loved that about this book!

This girl is GUTSY. She made choices and did things I could never even imagine doing myself, so I became her biggest fan and admirer as I saw how relentlessly she fought for freedom even after she was free herself.

I started reading this book last Tuesday evening probably around 7 or so, and the only time I put it down was for a quick walk around the block with my mom and our pup. I was up until close to 2 am reading all 530 pages...it was that riveting and THAT GOOD.

The plot line of this book took a little bit to get used to. It is broken up into thirteen chunks by year, but they jump forward and backward and time a little bit (in the BEST way possible, once you get used to keeping better track of the jumps in your head so everything makes sense). Within those thirteen big chunks, the book has mostly really short chapters that shift focus like from "Leaflets" to "Bombers" to "The Girl" but again, once you get used to hopping around, it starts to really flow beautifully and all the pieces weave together in the most elegant and exquisite way.

I fell in love with the characters-- Marie-Laure is a young, blind girl with a father who absolutely adores her and does everything he can to give her the world, Werner is an orphan who is talented and brilliant and even though he goes to an academy for Hitler Youth, you connect with him, root for him, and always know he is pure-hearted and just trapped in a world he can't escape. Even the supplemental characters are incredible, and you are introduced to them gradually in a way that builds your interest in them and love for them.

Honestly, I've never read another book like this one. It was ten years in the making, and you feel that dedication and thoroughness and attention to detail on every page. There's an Anne Frank correlation due to the time period and young-girl main character similarities, but the way this book was structured and woven together is unlike anything else.

A sweet online friend wrote this collection of poetry, and it was awesome to be able to hold her words in a REAL BOOK in my hands. So impressive! These words are real, many are (admittedly, she writes in the introduction) unfinished, and they're all beautiful. I wanted more from Katherine as I read through all of these poems. So many just felt like "YES. THIS." and isn't that the best part of poetry?