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livsliterarynook
Dnf - I've tried to read this book two times. The second time I put it down in March and I haven't felt inclined to finish it since, so I think I just have to dnf this one for now.
There's nothing wrong with the book, it just wasn't working for me right now.
There's nothing wrong with the book, it just wasn't working for me right now.
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3.5 stars
I listened to the audiobook of That Reminds Me by Derek Owusu read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith which I could not fault for it's quality or style. However I think by listening to the book it lost some of it's impact for me as everything felt so short. I feel like the crossover of almost poetry, prose and short chapters would have worked better for me had I read them, so perhaps I'll come back to this with a physical copy.
I think the style of the book which is fragments and memories is especially clever and allows for a real exploration of many themes. However I think listening to this could be difficult to re-engage my brain so quickly through audio for some reason. I always find audiobooks that jump around more difficult to listen to.
I will say I think this book is still incredibly powerful, it deals with a lot of heavy themes. The focus on self-harm and mental-health stood out to me particularly in the audiobook. The scenes where the narrator refers to sucidial thoughts and self-harm I think really had an impact on me when listening.
There is certainly a lot to unpack in this short book and the audiobook is under 3 hours, I'm just not sure it quite worked for me this time. However definitely a book I'd consider coming back to.
I listened to the audiobook of That Reminds Me by Derek Owusu read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith which I could not fault for it's quality or style. However I think by listening to the book it lost some of it's impact for me as everything felt so short. I feel like the crossover of almost poetry, prose and short chapters would have worked better for me had I read them, so perhaps I'll come back to this with a physical copy.
I think the style of the book which is fragments and memories is especially clever and allows for a real exploration of many themes. However I think listening to this could be difficult to re-engage my brain so quickly through audio for some reason. I always find audiobooks that jump around more difficult to listen to.
I will say I think this book is still incredibly powerful, it deals with a lot of heavy themes. The focus on self-harm and mental-health stood out to me particularly in the audiobook. The scenes where the narrator refers to sucidial thoughts and self-harm I think really had an impact on me when listening.
There is certainly a lot to unpack in this short book and the audiobook is under 3 hours, I'm just not sure it quite worked for me this time. However definitely a book I'd consider coming back to.
Slug is a collection of poetry, short-stories and Hollie McNish's ramblings about life and discussions about the inspiration behind her poems. This book will make you laugh, will make you cry, will make you mad and will feel like a warm hug (particularly for women because so many issues Hollie writes about are entirely relatable.
Hollie McNish has an incredible talent and her poems and words are relatable, socially astute and also incredibly no-nonsense and funny.
This book is pretty long for poetry, but the way it is broken up into various themes: ENDINGS, GROWING UP, PARENTING, MIRRORS, MASTURBATION, BLOOD, & STRANGERS. Means you can easily dip in and out of different sections and McNish even suggests how you can read the book or not.
Slug is one of those books I wish I'd had ten years ago as an insecure teenager, hearing McNish talk about how we shame female masturbation, how we shame periods, how we shame our body. Her discussions about parenthood, about strangers, about grief. She talks about social and racial inequalities, gender disparities and so much more. There is just so much honesty and beauty to the way she writes.
Poetry is a genre I'm only just coming to love and discover and I think McNish's background discussions to her poems only made me appreciate them more. I felt none of the confusion of "Am I smart enough to interpret this poem" that has often put me off reading poetry and just entirely fell in love.
I am so thankful to the publishers for sending me a copy as this was one of my anticipated releases for May and it did not disappoint in the slightest.
Hollie McNish has an incredible talent and her poems and words are relatable, socially astute and also incredibly no-nonsense and funny.
This book is pretty long for poetry, but the way it is broken up into various themes: ENDINGS, GROWING UP, PARENTING, MIRRORS, MASTURBATION, BLOOD, & STRANGERS. Means you can easily dip in and out of different sections and McNish even suggests how you can read the book or not.
Slug is one of those books I wish I'd had ten years ago as an insecure teenager, hearing McNish talk about how we shame female masturbation, how we shame periods, how we shame our body. Her discussions about parenthood, about strangers, about grief. She talks about social and racial inequalities, gender disparities and so much more. There is just so much honesty and beauty to the way she writes.
Poetry is a genre I'm only just coming to love and discover and I think McNish's background discussions to her poems only made me appreciate them more. I felt none of the confusion of "Am I smart enough to interpret this poem" that has often put me off reading poetry and just entirely fell in love.
I am so thankful to the publishers for sending me a copy as this was one of my anticipated releases for May and it did not disappoint in the slightest.
The Marks Left On Her at times is an incredibly heavy read and I found myself putting it down as the events that the unnamed female narrator experienced were breaking my heart.
The book is fictionalised but based on the real experiences of the author who explores through an unnamed narrator several parts of her life. There is the young girl who struggles to understand her place in the world as she deals with her Hong Kongese and white Jewish heritage, growing up in Hong Kong. There is the teenage girl, who wants to be attractive and popular falling into drinking, smoking, taking drugs and who ends up being a sexual assault victim. Then there is the survivor and adult women, who has to come to terms with the fact she was raped, deal with the breakdown of several terrible relationships and struggles to find her feet after those events of her teenage years.
The book narrative started out a little simplistic, I think to reflect the youth and innocence of the girl at the beginning. However the short chapters and short sentences style grew on me across the book and definitely developed. I also think this style helped me to digest some of the heavy experiences the women dealt with. What I did really like were the lists and poems that were interwoven between the main chapters as these really spoke to me about some of the pain and experiences the women felt.
I felt like this book really took me on a journey which thankfully ended on a note of positivity and felt like there was a healing quality to the writing of the book.
It was almost certainly a powerful book for Di Lebowitz to have written and to have shared her experiences with such honesty and reflection. There were just so many complexities to this book, her focus on her mixed-raced identity and being othered, struggling with the demons of mental health and self-harm, the breakdowns of mother-daughter relationships and absent fathers and dealing with the violence of sexual assault. There is a lot going on in this book for certain but it is all well-handled, thoughtful and it honestly broke my heart a little bit.
It's not a light read, so I think those picking it up definitely need to be in the right frame of mind, but definitely a worthwhile read. Thanks to @onwepress for the proof.
TW: self-harm, suicide, abortion, abuse, rape, absentee parents.
The book is fictionalised but based on the real experiences of the author who explores through an unnamed narrator several parts of her life. There is the young girl who struggles to understand her place in the world as she deals with her Hong Kongese and white Jewish heritage, growing up in Hong Kong. There is the teenage girl, who wants to be attractive and popular falling into drinking, smoking, taking drugs and who ends up being a sexual assault victim. Then there is the survivor and adult women, who has to come to terms with the fact she was raped, deal with the breakdown of several terrible relationships and struggles to find her feet after those events of her teenage years.
The book narrative started out a little simplistic, I think to reflect the youth and innocence of the girl at the beginning. However the short chapters and short sentences style grew on me across the book and definitely developed. I also think this style helped me to digest some of the heavy experiences the women dealt with. What I did really like were the lists and poems that were interwoven between the main chapters as these really spoke to me about some of the pain and experiences the women felt.
I felt like this book really took me on a journey which thankfully ended on a note of positivity and felt like there was a healing quality to the writing of the book.
It was almost certainly a powerful book for Di Lebowitz to have written and to have shared her experiences with such honesty and reflection. There were just so many complexities to this book, her focus on her mixed-raced identity and being othered, struggling with the demons of mental health and self-harm, the breakdowns of mother-daughter relationships and absent fathers and dealing with the violence of sexual assault. There is a lot going on in this book for certain but it is all well-handled, thoughtful and it honestly broke my heart a little bit.
It's not a light read, so I think those picking it up definitely need to be in the right frame of mind, but definitely a worthwhile read. Thanks to @onwepress for the proof.
TW: self-harm, suicide, abortion, abuse, rape, absentee parents.
Reread as of 2019. Enjoyed it just as much as the first time round. Was slightly less creeped out.
Blood Bound was the second Patricia Briggs book I've read, following the first book in the Mercy Thompson series, Moon Called. I read Moon Called last year and I enjoyed it. I thought it offered a solid introduction to this series, had potential and I liked the characters, however, I was not really blown away with it. Then I picked up Blood Bound a day or so after finishing my dissertation because I wanted to treat myself to a bit of relaxation and fun, and reading is one of my favourite ways to do that. And holy moly what a trip! I could literally not put this book down once I'd gotten about 20% in.
I was initially reading this book in the dark, curled up in bed, and the moment the creepy demon-vampire appeared at Mercy's window in the middle of the night I was absolutely terrified. This meant I could not sleep until I found out what happened to him and my mind could be at ease, which thankfully concluded at the end of the book. Not only was I enthralled enough to stay up all night reading, I proceeded to buy and devour the next three books following this one over the course of the next few days.
Blood Bound was the second Patricia Briggs book I've read, following the first book in the Mercy Thompson series, Moon Called. I read Moon Called last year and I enjoyed it. I thought it offered a solid introduction to this series, had potential and I liked the characters, however, I was not really blown away with it. Then I picked up Blood Bound a day or so after finishing my dissertation because I wanted to treat myself to a bit of relaxation and fun, and reading is one of my favourite ways to do that. And holy moly what a trip! I could literally not put this book down once I'd gotten about 20% in.
I was initially reading this book in the dark, curled up in bed, and the moment the creepy demon-vampire appeared at Mercy's window in the middle of the night I was absolutely terrified. This meant I could not sleep until I found out what happened to him and my mind could be at ease, which thankfully concluded at the end of the book. Not only was I enthralled enough to stay up all night reading, I proceeded to buy and devour the next three books following this one over the course of the next few days.