nadia's Reviews (587)

I'm a little conflicted with my rating here because I definitely think this a book I would like everyone to make time for, but I struggled to get through it, for a handful of reasons.

I listened to the audiobook, and while I've heard others praise this edition highly — and it was awesome to hear so many different Black voices — I just don't think this format was the right one for me to take in this material. Admittedly, I wasn't in the best mood while listening to most of it — which definitely didn't help given the subject matter — but I struggled to focus and gel with some of the chapters, especially a lot of the earlier ones.

I go back and forth between thinking the book was incredible because of its breadth and variety and thinking it was trying to pack in almost too much that I've left it not really remembering any details, which is what I went into the book hoping for. Again, this could be because I listened to the book as opposed to reading the words from a page.

I was a big fan of the structure —  10 parts spanning 40 years and each chapter spanning 5 — and it was fascinating travelling bit by bit from the 17th Century all the way to the present day. I also appreciated the occasional poems mixed in with the essays!

I think I might have preferred a series of books in a very similar style, but with some of the essays going more in depth, and perhaps them having a little bit more of a narrative thread through them.

All in all, a book that's definitely worth your time! My rating is heavily based on my personal enjoyment in the moment.

Note: Around 75% in, there's a chapter on Zora Neale Hurston. I skipped most of it for fear of spoilers of Their Eyes Were Watching God.

This was great! A super short memoir that goes behind the scenes of Ann Patchett's writing journey and process.

Definitely a must-read for any aspiring writer or any writer who feels stuck in a rut and is questioning their career path. Also a must-read for Ann Patchett fans — I'm not really an aspiring writer but I find books like this fascinating and it was cool to learn more about Ann's life and work.

Loved the mix of practical advice and personal stories. Some of the advice is applicable to being productive in general and with any creative endeavour.

At 45 pages, it's perfect if you're looking for a "read in one sitting" book! Not sure how easy it is to get your hands on it these days though.

Given the subject matter and plot points, I expected this book to have a lot more of an emotional impact on me, but something wasn't quite landing. Still, it felt oh so close! I'm not sure what was missing for me. Maybe the writing wasn't popping off the page for me, or I wanted more exploration of certain topics, or I wanted more from the ending....I'm not sure!

On the whole, this was a moving, emotional story, and not one to read if you're not feeling on top form. I was going through a tough time emotionally while reading it and maybe that impacted my eagerness to pick it up and make progress with it! 

I found this so gripping at the start. I was hooked on Bill Browder's story! I was getting all of the aspects of my favourite sorts of nonfiction books including a drama-filled narrative story that reads like fiction and a history lesson, with the focus here being the economics and politics behind Soviet Russia.

I kinda lost focus with the book in the latter half and I'm not sure whether I felt like the book could have been trimmed down or whether it was my personal life getting in the way and making me not feel like reading, but I did lose a little bit of steam with it.

Still, a brilliant read, ultimately focused on one incredibly brave man. More people should know his story!

If you've heard scary things about Russia's political regime, but don't know any details and you're curious to know more, this is a must read.

I'm loving the concept of this series — books tied not by characters but by a fictional place! You get a little bit of a history lesson it too, with this one taking me back to the Dark Ages.

I read The Pillars of the Earth at the end of last year and decided to go for the prequel next (not in publication order, which is normally my jam, but I'm sure that's fine, given it's a prequel of what I just read!).

The Evening and the Morning was great! I very quickly became invested in the different characters' stories, and I love me a lot of political intrigue. Well done Ken Follett for making me care about bishops, monks, and Catholic churches!

There were moments where I felt the pace lagged a little and the plot points felt a little bit repetitive. I also wasn't as emotionally invested as I thought I would be come the later sections given how it all started. 

But all in all, a great read! Love getting immersed in a chunky book!

If you're curious in cults at all — how they come to be, how to spot them, how anyone ever gets sucked into them ("They must not be smart, could never be me...")... — then this is a must-read!

I really liked how Cultish was packed with research but also featured a lot of personal anecdotes, both from the author and people she interviewed. I also loved how we spanned many different types of "cult", including instances that several of us experience day-to-day, and the focus on language was fascinating.

I've got lots to go away and think about, and look out for (👀), now! 

A real solid collection of stories, heavily focused on the themes of race in America, especially the experiences of black women, correcting past mistakes, apologies, and forgiveness.

I really enjoyed the variety and the themes explored and was intrigued by the setup of pretty much all of the stories. However, I'm left feeling like a little something was missing when thinking of the collection as a whole. I can't help but feel like I was on the verge of "wow" for a lot of the stories but then they fell short a little bit. I guess it's the common "I wanted more!" that I typically have with short stories.

I'm also wondering whether this would have been a better one for me to read in print. I listened to the audio and I think jumping in and out that way made it harder for me to remember salient details, especially with the novella at the end.

However, the writing is great and there were some real standout moments, especially in the titular novella. It's also incredibly thought-provoking on several layers. I was going to give this book a 3.75, but I think I want to round it up to a 4!

This book has been on my to-read list for years and years now, and it turned out to be a solid, interesting read!

It wasn't as consistently intriguing or riveting as I hoped it would be, but I still stayed pretty much engaged the whole way! I just wanted a little bit more perhaps from the storytelling aspect though, of course, Kushner was limited by actual events.

If you love startup/founders stories and video games, especially around the history and development of the personal computer, this is a must-read!

I really enjoyed this book. Well, as much as you can enjoy a book on such tough subject matter. Set in modern-day Nigeria and covering themes of mental health, toxic relationships, abuse, corruption, death, grief, poverty and so much more, this is no easy read. It's been a while that I've read a book that is so purely 'sad' as it says on the (StoryGraph) tin!

Following on from Stay With Me, I remain a fan of Adébáyọ̀'s writing. I could tell I was reading the words of a skilful writer, and yet it was all so easily digestible. Nothing is overdone.

I can't decide how I felt about the change in pace towards the end of the book. On one hand I appreciated the switch-up; on the other, it felt a little rushed!

All in all, an incredibly worthwhile read, and I especially appreciated how the ending of the book accurately reflects the harsh realities of real life for a lot of people. 

While I was generally intrigued by the individual stories shared in this book — ranging from the 16th Century to the present day and spanning a wide variety of cultures — and I appreciated the new perspective that Heyam was trying to bring to how we look at trans people and gender nonconformity throughout history, I really struggled to stay focused while listening to this.

I was hoping for much more of a structured argument that introduced the case studies as a means to support points made, as opposed to them being used as a range of examples of the experiences of trans people throughout history. Because of the way the book jumped around in history, having finished it a couple days ago, I'm left with rough memories of snatches of stories, but the details and timeline are all jumbled up in my head. I'm also left with a few high-level points of how we might want to think about trans history going forward, but was hoping to have taken away a more solid thesis.

Still, if you're interested in learning more about trans history, I'd class this as a must-read! My rating mainly reflects how my personal enjoyment was hampered by mismatched expectations!

(I also skipped a few minutes towards the end [around the 97% mark] after Heyam says: "At the climax of [Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness]..." — a book I've wanted to read for a long time. I don't know how spoiler-y this comment ended up being but I'm not a fan of fictional novel plot points being referenced in nonfiction/academic work in general and will do my best to avoid them in case!)