[2009 original review ****] The dystopia presented in this novel made me shudder many times; it was eerie and the narrator's (Offred) voice was heartbreaking both for her brainwashed-like moments and her moments of remembering her free past. The book definitely had its effect on me as a woman, and I think that's where it's strong: Atwood knows exactly what freedoms would horrify us, as women, if they were taken away. Men would undoubtedly understand them as well, but honestly, I think to a lesser degree.

[2017 re-read *****] When I first read The Handmaid's Tale, it was eight years ago and I was three weeks from getting married. Much like the narrator in the novel, I reflected on my past self. The person I was then is not who I am now. Similar, though. Now I've been married eight years and have a one-year-old daughter. That changes a lot about how I view the world. It's a huge factor in how I view this particular dystopia, being a mom like the narrator. Being afraid like her, too, every day I read the news in 2017. Unlike 2009, I'm of a very #banallmen mindset this year. And re-reading this was saddening but also fueled this simmering anger I've had for much of the last few months.

A brilliant book that twists and turns like the fictional railroad of Whitehead's story. Sometimes I felt completely blindsided by a single sentence that changed everything for the main character, Cora, and that was very effective. I sometimes gasped "no," because this novel is sorrowful and terrifying and almost reads like a horror story unfolding. I mean, it is a horror story in that though this is fiction it is based on so much of reality; of what human beings have done to each other...which is why it's desperately sad. There are light moments, it's not all gloom, but it can be a very difficult book to read. I was riveted but had to pause at times, the ugliness of humanity (then and now) sometimes too much to process.

I've read a couple other of Nelson's books and loved them, and this is her most straight-forward telling of a personal story. Her prose is always beautiful and visceral, and this book about the trial of the man who murdered her aunt is especially violent and angry. It's genre is true crime, non-fiction but because it's Nelson it reads like poetic diary of sorts.

As someone who thoroughly enjoyed Michael Crichton's fast-paced, action-packed blend of science and humanity, I was eager to delve into this book that seemed like it could be similar. And it is similar, though doesn't quite reach the depth I loved in Crichton's books.

I really liked this novel. It was a little slow-going and predictable at first, but as soon as it hits one point in the book where our protagonist Jason is running through an infinity corridor trying to find his world in the multiverse--I was hooked. Crouch does a really good job of explaining the science to the reader through his characters. At points during reading I was making remarks to my husband about game theory and how I had no clue how Crouch was going to resolve this story. I was surprised by and loved the ending. I got a little misty when I closed the book.

For a fast-paced thriller, it gives you a lot to think about in terms of the world, your life, the decisions you make in your life... love books like this.

The best description I can come up for this book is that I imagine librarians clutching it to their chest at the particularly "fevered" moments and whenever they have to pause from the book. I did love it, but the main story is not something EVERYBODY will even like: two university researchers, both experts in a certain poet, find (through old letters) that their poets might have been in love? Yes, it's not a tale for all. It was almost not a tale for me, someone who really cannot spend time on poetry (though I want to - it just makes me anxious that I'm not getting every layered meaning in so few words: my issues). A.S. Byatt does such an amazing, intricate and DIFFICULT job of not only creating her story and characters, but the poems and shorts stories and letters of two fictional and historically acclaimed poets. The story is good, and I loved it as I love Jane Austen novels and Victorian drama...but it is chaste and modest in its characters - all reserved intellectuals. Gets a little nutty at the end, but I went with it.

I couldn't wait for this novel to be over. The first half of it contains some of the most vile observations from a male lecher's point of view and near the end when I thought maybe he'd changed a bit, got a little perspective on life after a violent incident - nope. I'm not sure Coetzee's point was that all men are terrible and women are idiots to be pitied, but that's what it seemed like. And everyone comments on his "excellent" prose, but I found his writing irritating.

Anyway, I don't even want to write more about this book.

This book unfolds in three (almost four) storylines, and from the onset I was confused by how they would all come together (the questions began piling) but I was also endlessly curious. Each storyline was interesting itself, and as I started actively piecing together clues and similar motifs, I'd made a few correct guesses before the book's end. Nothing is quite clear until the last few pages, which may irritate some people, but it's laid out pretty well to achieve some level of understanding before it's completely revealed.

I liked the narration by Iris as an old woman, Atwood's descriptions of Avilion, and the character of Laura Chase. All in all, enjoyed how actively I read the book.

I marveled at the prose and structure of this book while reading; I was never bored and often I would laugh out loud at its cleverness. I understand why some people may be put off by some of the novel's signature characteristics, but I loved them. I loved how the story unfolded, refolded, and ebbed and pulled -- to the phases of the moon. I enjoyed how the book became circular and revealed origins at the end. Several interesting characters painted the landscape of an 1860s New Zealand gold rush town, and I look back on them fondly, for the most part. The villains made me angry, a death late in the book made me sad, and I felt protective of a couple (The Couple?). A great work, and I look forward to reading more Eleanor Catton.

I haven't read any Cormac McCarthy before, but I'm completely floored by how much I love this book. I loved the writing and the story. It reads very "quietly" but it's just tension escalating. I found myself holding my breath a lot and reading each word slowly because I didn't want anything bad to happen to the characters at the heart of the book.

I decided to read this after reading =The Namesake late last year and loving it. I rarely read books to relate to them (something I also noted in my Namesake review), but in Jhumpa Lahiri, I've found the most relatable author I've ever read. Yes, her characters are Indian, but the cultural observations of coming to the U.S. from somewhere else--anywhere else steeped in native tradition, like Panama for myself--and growing up/coming of age in the U.S. resonates so much with me. Not only that, but many of her stories are set in New England, in Connecticut and Boston- places I know well. When she writes about a character living on Commonwealth Ave, I get excited knowing that I once lived there too.

Her stories are beautiful, tragic, and insightful. Some are funny, most make me want to cry. I loved this collection, and can't wait to read more Lahiri.