Midway through this book, I said that I loved it. Well... yeah I’ve finished it and “loved” is definitely not the right word, “appreciated” is a much better word, because this book is DARK, dark and gritty and beyond uncomfortable and shocking and so violent. No, I did not ~love~ it, but I ~appreciated~ it. I really appreciated the writing. And I did enjoy the journey that took me inside the depraved and desperate minds of the villagers, but still it’s hard to describe the experience of reading this as enjoyable, because the subject matter is very much not enjoyable, yet the whole book is still really good? Idk y’all, it’s hard to describe, I’m not a real reviewer, okay, I’m just a person who likes books and word vomits about them on the internet.

I really liked this book. The narration is sort of hazy, fitting for the summer vacation setting. When the story transitioned from teens fed up with their negligent parents to apocalyptic, Bible-like events, that's when it gripped me. This one hit a bit close to reality, with the epic storms caused by climate change, which made it all the more disconcerting. My one complaint is that the ending felt rushed and left me wanting more explanation and story, but besides that, this book was fantastic. 

I sped through Sweet Days of Discipline and honestly, I didn’t love it. I’m not sure if reading it all in one sprint made me like it less? I just... didn’t get it? It’s set at a boarding school. The protagonist becomes fixated on a new student and is obsessed with conquering her. But, not much happens? Not a lot of plot, not a lot of character development, IMO. It just wasn’t a favorite or that enjoyable to me personally, as I like either really strong plot or really strong characters, and it’s rare that I love a book without either. Some reviews say it’s beautifully written but I found it sparse and lacking detail in a way that was a jarring and confusing. 

I got this book from Book of the Month for free, but I do not endorse or support the company. I still want to share my thoughts on this brilliant book and this is currently my only copy, so just ignore the logo in the corner!

I haven’t read The Mothers (yet), so I wasn’t sure what to expect from Brit Bennett’s writing. What I found was a slow burning, beautifully written, and complex family narrative that addresses colorism, relationships between sisters and mothers and daughters, and class issues, in addition to being just an extremely readable good story.

This book follows twins Desiree and Stella, who grew up in the colored town of Mallard where light skin is valued and dark skin is resented. Desiree and Stella run away, and eventually Stella runs further, passing for white and leaving her sister behind. Both sisters go on to have lives and daughters of their own, and their lives are shaped by the choices of the twins.

This book is excellent. It lives up to the hype, and I highly recommend it. I also recommend reading some own voices reviews - @honeybuttergal, @jeanellnicolereads, @absorbedinpages, and @thestackspod have all reviewed this book, so be sure to check out their thoughts!

What a book! The characters especially! This book warmed my heart, made me laugh, and kept me guessing.

Set in a housing project in Brooklyn called the Cause Houses in 1969, Deacon King Kong centers on an old alcoholic deacon nicknamed Sportcoat, who one day seemingly randomly shoots a young drug dealer named Deems. Everyone in the Cause Houses assumes Sportcoat is a dead man walking. The story takes off from there, and we learn about the backstories and lives of so many residents of the Cause as the story unwinds.

The characters in this book are larger than life. I was wrapped up in the relationships and friendships formed over the years at the Cause Houses. This book actually pairs really well with my current audiobook of The Warmth of Other Suns, which is about the great migration of Black people leaving the south. In DKK, many residents of the Cause, and especially older members of the Five Ends Baptist Church, have come from the south, and carry their past experiences and traditions with them.

The way everything in this book is woven together is brilliant. The story kept me invested, and every character is memorable and fully realized. After I finished this last night, I had dreams about the characters and the Cause. I really loved this one and can tell it will stick with me. I’d highly recommend it, and I’m eager to read more of McBride’s work!

Very late to this very hyped book but I finally read Educated! I can see why it was so popular - Tara Westover is a very good writer and this book is extremely readable. If you somehow don’t know, this book is Westover’s memoir about growing up in rural Idaho with fundamentalist parents who didn’t believe in formal education or modern medicine. Tara somehow survives and perseveres, going on to earn her PhD.

I do think the title of this memoir is misleading as I found it to be more about her childhood and relationship with her family. She didn’t go into how she learned the little she did learn at home - for example, how she learned to read.

Tara suffers physical abuse at the hands of her older brother, and her parents consistently deny this abuse. It was shocking to read about and very sad. Some of the anecdotes are particularly powerful, like her dad prepping for Y2K and sitting on the couch waiting for the world to end until 2AM, and then never speaking of it again.

I listened to @thestackspod episode on this book after finishing it, and really agree with Traci’s thoughts on what was lacking in this book. Westover brushes over her own internalized misogyny, what it was like to realize her family is racist, etc. Those aspects felt very surface level.

All in all, this was a good read for me, but did leave me wanting something deeper and more reflective. I highly recommend listening to @thestackspod episode about this one if you’ve read it!

Thank you @penguinpress for sending me Intimations by Zadie Smith! I read this all in one day. Intimations is a collection of essays written in the early months of lockdown. I really love Zadie Smith in essay form. She captures many of the feelings that will be unique to this time in history so clearly. Something that really stuck out for me was her writing on the pandemic virus and racism as a virus, and our societal reactions to one vs the other. She has such a brilliant mind and it’s somehow cathartic to get to read her reflections on this time, while we’re still living it. If you tend to like her writing, and you have it in you to reflect on this current moment, I’d recommend reading this one!