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celestesbookshelf
I loved the Greek culture and customs that come up in the book, the identity crisis faced by Calliope/Cal. This is written in a way that lets the reader be in Cal’s shoes and only imagine the feeling of always being out of place. Wonderful read for young people still trying to find their way in life and decide who they want to be.
Farewell to Manzanar; a powerful memoir from Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and her husband.
After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941 suddenly all Japanese descendants became enemies. There were Japanese people who’d never known anything besides their life in America yet because of their roots they were distrusted.
Internment camps were quickly set up around California and all Japanese were rounded up, stuffed in busses with minimal belongings and even less notice and sent to live in a camp with less than acceptable conditions. Wakatsuki Houston was 7 years old when this happened, she vividly recalls the day they were removed from their home and sent to the internment camp called Manzanar, where her life as she’d known it was over.
When WWII is over, the ten thousand+ Japanese Americans are simply taken on buses again and dropped out in the city. With no resources to readjust to society and with their homes and business gone many succumbed to depression and later suicide.
The entire memoir is shocking but what left me numb was that I had never learned of this in history class. It had simply been omitted from the curriculum. I hope this review will convince you to go pick up this copy and immerse yourself in this crucial event in history.
After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941 suddenly all Japanese descendants became enemies. There were Japanese people who’d never known anything besides their life in America yet because of their roots they were distrusted.
Internment camps were quickly set up around California and all Japanese were rounded up, stuffed in busses with minimal belongings and even less notice and sent to live in a camp with less than acceptable conditions. Wakatsuki Houston was 7 years old when this happened, she vividly recalls the day they were removed from their home and sent to the internment camp called Manzanar, where her life as she’d known it was over.
When WWII is over, the ten thousand+ Japanese Americans are simply taken on buses again and dropped out in the city. With no resources to readjust to society and with their homes and business gone many succumbed to depression and later suicide.
The entire memoir is shocking but what left me numb was that I had never learned of this in history class. It had simply been omitted from the curriculum. I hope this review will convince you to go pick up this copy and immerse yourself in this crucial event in history.
The Lottery is Jackson’s most recognized short story, it was first published by itself in 1948 in an issue of @newyorkermag ! After much negative press and S. Africa banning the story it persisted and is recognized as one of the most famous short stories in classic American literature.
This Kindle Unlimited volume by @fsgbooks contains The Lottery plus 24 other short stories. There’s no way to describe Jackson’s writing besides it makes you shudder. She writes about mundane events, relationships and encounters but the behavior and reactions of the characters reminds the reader of the fear of being picked last in the playground. They leave you uncomfortable and feeling embarrassed for some characters while equally heartbroken for them. Yet, the most terrifying aspect of her stories is that when these stories were written women really did face this prejudice, they had to meet certain expectations and when they didn’t they were back to being the playground outcast. This social pressure is enough to drive grown women mad, and thus Jackson gives us this collection of short stories, many focusing on the social pressures of the society they lived in.
Verity was my first CoHo novel and I can’t wait to read another.
Spoilers Ahead
Spoilers Ahead
Márquez has 4 novels in the 1001 BYMRBYD list all of them in the 2018 edition.
Spoilers Ahead
Spoilers Ahead
This was my first Sally Hepworth book, it was recommended by my best friend and I’m so glad I read it! It was also a Kindle Unlimited read! From the beginning I kept trying to guess the ending but every chapter I’d change my mind!
The author keeps the reader back and forth from really disliking the MIL, like when she cuts off Diana from speaking of her moms death…to really appreciating her, like when she shows up to take the kids for a sleepover so Diana can get a break from the kiddos! I enjoyed it so much and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys some mystery and a classic who-dunnit story! The twist was worthy of an Agatha Christie novel and can’t wait to read another Hepworth, already purchased The Good Sister!
The author keeps the reader back and forth from really disliking the MIL, like when she cuts off Diana from speaking of her moms death…to really appreciating her, like when she shows up to take the kids for a sleepover so Diana can get a break from the kiddos! I enjoyed it so much and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys some mystery and a classic who-dunnit story! The twist was worthy of an Agatha Christie novel and can’t wait to read another Hepworth, already purchased The Good Sister!
“Passing” and “Quicksand”, Nella Larsen’s two novels, are both in the 2018 edition of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. “Passing” has also been chosen as the inaugural read for Netflix’s Book Club, hosted by Uzo Aduba. The film adaptation is set to premiere Wednesday, November 10th so if you haven’t read it you have time as this is a short novel!
The book was published in 1929 and its central theme is race and identity. We’re introduced to the main character, Irene Redfield, and we learn she is “passing” as being white to avoid prejudice. She then encounters a childhood friend, Clare Kendry. Clare is also “passing”. The book goes on to show the conflict Irene feels at occasionally “passing” while her husband and one of her sons cannot “pass”. She is eager to hear about Clare’s experience but doesn’t want to be the first to bring it up. The novel ends with a twist as Irene fights to protect the life she’s built. @penguinclassics has a kindle version with an introduction Emily Bernard, an editor at The American Scholar. Her intro gives background history of the way things were in the Harlem that Nella Larsen grew up and how the issues she wrote a fictional story on were not fictional. The intro can be previewed with Amazon’s “look inside” feature.
The book was published in 1929 and its central theme is race and identity. We’re introduced to the main character, Irene Redfield, and we learn she is “passing” as being white to avoid prejudice. She then encounters a childhood friend, Clare Kendry. Clare is also “passing”. The book goes on to show the conflict Irene feels at occasionally “passing” while her husband and one of her sons cannot “pass”. She is eager to hear about Clare’s experience but doesn’t want to be the first to bring it up. The novel ends with a twist as Irene fights to protect the life she’s built. @penguinclassics has a kindle version with an introduction Emily Bernard, an editor at The American Scholar. Her intro gives background history of the way things were in the Harlem that Nella Larsen grew up and how the issues she wrote a fictional story on were not fictional. The intro can be previewed with Amazon’s “look inside” feature.
Isabel Allende has been on my TBR pile for so long and once I read The House of Spirits I couldn’t believe how long I waited. I read this together with my sister and every chapter had plenty to discuss.
The book tells of three generations, leading the reader to love and feel attached to the characters’ growth and coming of age. It takes place in pre-WWI in Chile, it is written in my favorite genre ✨ magical realism ✨ , the beginning of the novel does have some disturbing scenes as the patriarch, Esteban, has his sexual desires untamed and leads to sexual assault of Pancha, which produces a son. Esteban the entire novel is a ruthless and abusive of his family as well as the people who work for him. The dynamic between him and his wife, Clara, the main character is a most alluring part of them novel. Being faced with marriage to a possessive and relentless man, Clara maintains her power by remaining resolute and finding her own irreplaceable place in the household. She is not afraid of Esteban and he very well knows it and to me this fuels his love/obsession for Clara. So much so that he exiles his sister, Ferula, after he becomes jealous of the attention she bestows upon Clara. The last generation we meet is Esteban and Clara’s daughter, Alba, who is a revolutionary at the start of WWI.
The book features themes of war, love, death, abuse of power, sexual assault, and clairvoyance.
The House of Spirits as well as Of Love & Shadows are both on the 1001 BYMRBYD list
The book tells of three generations, leading the reader to love and feel attached to the characters’ growth and coming of age. It takes place in pre-WWI in Chile, it is written in my favorite genre ✨ magical realism ✨ , the beginning of the novel does have some disturbing scenes as the patriarch, Esteban, has his sexual desires untamed and leads to sexual assault of Pancha, which produces a son. Esteban the entire novel is a ruthless and abusive of his family as well as the people who work for him. The dynamic between him and his wife, Clara, the main character is a most alluring part of them novel. Being faced with marriage to a possessive and relentless man, Clara maintains her power by remaining resolute and finding her own irreplaceable place in the household. She is not afraid of Esteban and he very well knows it and to me this fuels his love/obsession for Clara. So much so that he exiles his sister, Ferula, after he becomes jealous of the attention she bestows upon Clara. The last generation we meet is Esteban and Clara’s daughter, Alba, who is a revolutionary at the start of WWI.
The book features themes of war, love, death, abuse of power, sexual assault, and clairvoyance.
The House of Spirits as well as Of Love & Shadows are both on the 1001 BYMRBYD list