jessicaxmaria's Reviews (1.04k)

Where Reasons End by Yiyun Li

Where Reasons End

Yiyun Li

5.0
emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced
A Mercy by Toni Morrison

A Mercy

Toni Morrison

5.0
challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

Heaven

Mieko Kawakami

4.5
Bliss Montage by Ling Ma

Bliss Montage

Ling Ma

5.0
dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
Not a filler story in this collection, each resonates so much, and sometimes in very different ways. I'm not sure I could even pick a favorite as I look over the table of contents and remember how much I was invested in each story. I know a lot of these will stay with me for some time. NO NOTES.
Autoportrait by Jesse Ball

Autoportrait

Jesse Ball

4.5
funny informative reflective fast-paced
The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt

The English Understand Wool

Helen DeWitt

5.0
dark funny mysterious reflective fast-paced
The Faraway World by Patricia Engel

The Faraway World

Patricia Engel

3.75
dark emotional reflective medium-paced
Let Me Think: Stories by J. Robert Lennon

Let Me Think: Stories

J. Robert Lennon

4.75
adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
A truly phenomenal set of short stories. I read Lennon's novel Subdivision last year and loved that journey so much that when I came across this book of 71 (!) short stories, I had to buy it. And I'm so glad I did. I've been thinking of them long after turning the page, even on short stories that are just a paragraph long. What a way with form, and the way the author telegraphs information is wizard-like. The world here looks just like ours, but with Lennon what appears to his characters can change suddenly or slowly in ways that don't reflect reality. I'm always on edge, even when I'm laughing (sometimes nervously), and that made for a great experience. 

My favorites (though all are good!!):
  • Blue Light, Red Light - devastating!! Probably my favorite in the bunch because of how I couldn't let go after finishing it. 
  • Marriage (Points) - "You're sending some b*tch exclamation points! F*ck you! Those are mine!" LOL
  • The Museum of Near Misses - chilling, once you realize. And this is a 'cover' of a Nabokov short story that I went and read right after.
  • Falling Down the Stairs - in awe of this idea
  • Marriage (Divorce (Pie)) - the woman character's insults in this are something else and I love them. Describing a deer (yes, she'll insult even animals): "Human sized rats with f*cking coat racks on their heads"
  • Doors - "There are certain things she would like to do in her life that require access to certain areas of her mind, areas that, during childhood and early adulthood, were so easily accessed that they didn't even seem like separate spaces. Now they have turned out to be rooms with doors, and the doors are closed, locked, painted shut, and she cannot figure out how to open them again."
  • The Loop - one I know I'll be re-reading. What happened to the bed frame...
  • And the four interconnected stories lodged in different areas of the book - The Cottage on the Hill (I,II,III,IV) - though I think II is my favorite. Reminded me of Subdivision in its eeriness, with a character that seems to dissociate or remember things differently than those around him
Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry by Imani Perry

Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry

Imani Perry

5.0
emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Sea of Tranquility

Emily St. John Mandel

3.75
adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced
A fine book. I wonder if the impact was lost on me through audiobook. The ending chapters were lovely, but I was confused often through the book about the description of the anomaly and I suppose it comes together at the end but... it was fine!