booksoversecondbreakfast's Reviews (79)

A great collection of comics about autism from autistic comic artists! I don't feel like I can rate this due to its nature as an anthology, but I really enjoyed it as a woman who is undiagnosed, but likely-autistic woman. I recommend it to others in the community looking for a nice, easy-going read about autistic folks' experiences.

Such a sweet book, perfect for the burnt out, former-gifted-kid millennial struggling to figure out their difficult relationships with friends and family and decide on their next steps in life.

The characters were all so lovable, despite the book mainly focusing on their flaws, and the relationships so complicated and real, yet so wholesome. Grace's friendships were aspirational, making me long for similar friendships in my life.

This book touched on so many hard topics such as racism, discrimination, familial abandonment, mental illness, and burnout, and yet it was also so full of healing. The ending of the story was resolved in a really heartwarming way that brought everything full circle.

The book is broken into distinct segments in different settings that at first felt too disjointed. Grace moves a few times throughout the book and each new setting brings a new set of themes to Grace's focus, and I initially didn't like how stark the contrast was. At I got towards the end, however, I realized that the disjointedness I sensed mirrored Grace's mental compartmentalization, and I realized that the book's structure helped me to understand Grace more effectively, so I came to appreciate it.

I also really loved how the main character, Grace, loved science because of the beauty that comes along with studying. I read this book while simultaneously reading Braiding Sweetgrass and was pleasantly surprised by the two books sharing that theme, as it is a theme I too am drawn to as a quantitative social science who loves the beauty of operationalization and mathematical abstraction.

The imagery was really great, and I felt like I could imagine myself in every setting the book brought me to.

I believe this is my favorite book for the Harry Potter series. It's paced very well, it's incredibly mysterious with intriguing twists, and it introduces the complexity of the series-long plot. Such a wonderful book.

I really loved this trilogy, but this book was probably my least favorite of the three. The trilogy was so wonderfully deep and adventurous, but much of the ending of this series was unsatisfying. I felt a bit of whiplash by all the twists and turns at the end of this book, and not in a good way. Still, Binti grows so much throughout this book, and I really loved getting to walk alongside her in that, even though she experienced so much pain throughout the series. As a woman with PTSD, I also appreciate how genuinely Binti's PTSD is captured in her thoughts and actions. The end does feel a little woo-woo, however, and it gets wrapped up way too quickly, in my opinion, so I have so many mixed feelings. I can't rate this book too low, however, because the trilogy as a whole was so great. Maybe I'll connect more with this book when I reread the trilogy someday?

I absolutely hated reading this book. It was so painful to read because it brought us close to the Gen's family, all while knowing of the holocaust awaiting them by the end of the book. And then, when the worst of it arises, it was so much more distressing to read and see illustrated than I could have expected.

I found a copy of the ebook and read it that way, I don't intend to reread it, but I do know that the horrific images from this book will stick with me forever, anytime my mind is drawn towards thoughts of WWII. I would never have read this if it were not for the 2024 Read Harder challenge, pushing me out of my comfort zone to read this genre for the first time. I don't know if I'd read it if I had a chance to go back in time and pick to read a different book.

The book's final page reads, "In the hope that humanity will never repeat the terrible tragedy of the atomic bombing, the volunteers of Project Gen want children and adults all over the world to hear Gen's story. Through translations like this one, we want to help Gen speak to people in different countries in their own languages. Our prayer is that Barefoot Gen will contribute in some small way to the abolition of nuclear weapons before this new century is over."

I did not like this book, but I can respect it for what it is and what it stands for. It shows the effects nuclear weapons have on humanity, and it shows that to teach others how horrific it is. I just didn't expect to feel so distraught by this book. In that way, it's somewhere between a 1-star book because of how strongly I disliked reading it and a 4.5-star book because of how effectively it achieves its goal. Thus, I picked a rating right in the middle.

I misplaced the book. 😭 I'll resume when I find it.

This is such an amazing & beautiful book, and I will recommend it to many of my friends and family members who've been discouraged by the news of yet another Trump era. This book encouraged me so much, showing me what a more disability-justice-focused world could look like. It inspired me to imagine the communities I can build today that help me live a better life as a disabled person and impact others around me. The book is filled with countless stories of disabled experiences and community building, especially during the peak of the painful COVID-19 era. It is also filled with footnotes that thoroughly provide sources and recommendations for future reading.

This book is wonderfully bold, tackling topics many might shy away from in mainstream discussions, and this is intentional. It showcases the loud, in-your-face 'crip joy' and 'crip advocacy' the author discusses, making their points even more impactful.

I listened to this as an audiobook from my library, but I definitely plan to buy my own copy to re-read and highlight. The audiobook was a great listen, but this would also make a college-level textbook. I fully intend to refer back to this book throughout my life, and I'm genuinely grateful to have had the chance to read it!

Another incredible read in the Binti trilogy. The world-building is so thoroughly imaginative and vivid, and I just love this series so much. I find it so easy to get immersed in Binti's world, so much so that I want to visit it myself.

Where the first book follows Binti's revolutionary act of peace and unity as she travels to and arrives at her new school, this book follows a newly transformed Binti's return home. From the book's onset, I knew that her return home would be challenging, but I could never have predicted just how difficult it would be for her and how much transformation she had left to undergo.

The cliffhanger ending felt well-paced, leaving me satisfied with Binti's growth by the end of the book but also frantically grasping for the next book. The middle of the book also felt a bit too slow, but I was eager to learn more about the world and hear more of Binti's story, so it didn't bother me much. Fortunately, I borrowed this book from my local library and had already picked up the third book in the trilogy, so I will be reading that immediately. After reading the first book, I knew I needed to purchase my own copy of the trilogy, but I feel that way even more now!

My only criticism is that I've probably taken too many mathematics courses to appreciate the math-based magic system. Lines like "thinking the soothing equation of f(x) = f(-x)" come off a bit cheesy because they're not thoroughly explained enough for my taste, but they don't appear very frequently. Plus, I'll admit I might be a bit too nitpicky. All in all, however, I really loved this book. Maybe it's not the perfect book for people nerdier about math than me, but this would be a fantastic series for just about anyone, sci-fi and non-sci-fi fans alike!

A wonderful classic fantasy tale, but too slow and not very ADHD-friendly.

As a lover of the LOTR movie franchise, I had such high hopes that I'd love this book as much as the movie, but it just didn't turn out that way for me. The whole story is so adventurous and mystical, and I love the hobbits, the Fellowship, and Smeagol so much, and the lore is so deep and well thought-out. But the book is just so long and slow.

Honestly, this was my first time finishing the book after starting it three different times over the past several years. It's just been so hard to get through the middle portion of the book. The only reason I was successful in finishing it this time was because I listened to the audiobook version (the narrator is AMAZING, by the way), which enabled me to multitask while listening. However, this story is still incredible, so I can't rate it too low.

I'll eventually plan on rereading this someday, maybe once my ability to focus is a bit stronger, or perhaps I'll read this as a bedtime story to my future kids. It's a classic and a great story. But it's just not for me, so I also can't rate this book too high.

All in all, this book might not be for you either if you're not someone who constantly reads high-fantasy, but it might be worth a shot if you are a LOTR movie fan and you listen to the audiobook version.