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rachelelizabeth's Reviews (1.21k)
I originally posted this review on my blog. For more reviews like this, check out Rachel Reading
This book showed up exactly when I needed it most, which I find happens often with books. I didn't know how much I needed this book until I started reading it. How often, when something happens to us, are we just expected to say "It's God's plan!" and move on with our lives? Or how many times is that spoken over us, without leaving room to lament?
Lamenting is actually present in the Bible. Mourning your loss, and really questioning God. You can get mad at God, you can yell and scream at Him. He can take it, and that's one of the things that this book really helped me through. If you can't stomach cliche worship songs, that's okay. You can walk out during worship, you can roll your eyes during a sermon, because He shows up. He's still there in those moments of despair. The moments when nothing makes sense and you're just so angry. When I found out I wasn't going on the World Race any longer I Facetimed a friend of mine sobbing and yelling. Even saying "I don't even know how I'm supposed to believe in Him anymore. He promised me This!"
I didn't feel guilty for being angry, but this book helped me process a lot. This book reminded me that it's okay, and it's normal, and how the church often suppresses this idea of lamenting. Sometimes we need to lament. And that's okay. It's okay to not be fine, and as someone who always says they're doing well or doing fine, this book has really aided me. I really think this is a book every Christian should read, and put into action.
This book showed up exactly when I needed it most, which I find happens often with books. I didn't know how much I needed this book until I started reading it. How often, when something happens to us, are we just expected to say "It's God's plan!" and move on with our lives? Or how many times is that spoken over us, without leaving room to lament?
Lamenting is actually present in the Bible. Mourning your loss, and really questioning God. You can get mad at God, you can yell and scream at Him. He can take it, and that's one of the things that this book really helped me through. If you can't stomach cliche worship songs, that's okay. You can walk out during worship, you can roll your eyes during a sermon, because He shows up. He's still there in those moments of despair. The moments when nothing makes sense and you're just so angry. When I found out I wasn't going on the World Race any longer I Facetimed a friend of mine sobbing and yelling. Even saying "I don't even know how I'm supposed to believe in Him anymore. He promised me This!"
I didn't feel guilty for being angry, but this book helped me process a lot. This book reminded me that it's okay, and it's normal, and how the church often suppresses this idea of lamenting. Sometimes we need to lament. And that's okay. It's okay to not be fine, and as someone who always says they're doing well or doing fine, this book has really aided me. I really think this is a book every Christian should read, and put into action.
*I received an advance copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
Want more book reviews? Check out Rachel Reading for more like this.
I’m not really sure where to start on this book. I’ll confess that I felt like it really went over my head. This wasn’t a bad thing, but I found myself wishing that I had one of my favorite High School English teachers around to explain it to me. Especially the story “Adela”. However, I also feel like this just shows how masterful Benz is at her craft. I feel like these stories have so many layers, that made it difficult to read as a commute read, and that they deserved more respect and time and depth than I could give them.
I found myself wanting to know what was happening in the story and once I sort of figured it out the story was over. I admired how differently each story was written, I really felt like it was a new writer for each story, which was really cool. I’m not sure if most short story anthologies are like this, as I believe this is actually my first short story anthology.
In short, Benz is an extremely talented writer, and I wish I could have appreciated it more than I was able to. I hope at some point I can read a critical analysis of this work and then go back and read it because that’s how full of good stuff it was, and I just wasn’t able to catch it all.
Want more book reviews? Check out Rachel Reading for more like this.
I’m not really sure where to start on this book. I’ll confess that I felt like it really went over my head. This wasn’t a bad thing, but I found myself wishing that I had one of my favorite High School English teachers around to explain it to me. Especially the story “Adela”. However, I also feel like this just shows how masterful Benz is at her craft. I feel like these stories have so many layers, that made it difficult to read as a commute read, and that they deserved more respect and time and depth than I could give them.
I found myself wanting to know what was happening in the story and once I sort of figured it out the story was over. I admired how differently each story was written, I really felt like it was a new writer for each story, which was really cool. I’m not sure if most short story anthologies are like this, as I believe this is actually my first short story anthology.
In short, Benz is an extremely talented writer, and I wish I could have appreciated it more than I was able to. I hope at some point I can read a critical analysis of this work and then go back and read it because that’s how full of good stuff it was, and I just wasn’t able to catch it all.
*I received an advance copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
Looking for more book reviews? Check out Rachel Reading for more like this.
This book actually was the first book I used as a #commuteread on Litsy when I started my new job, so I think it will forever hold a place in my heart. However, this book wasn’t anything super special. The book follows Ruth Malone, while we try to figure out whether or not she killed her kids. In my opinion, it’s pretty obvious she didn’t, and that someone else was behind all of it. The ending did surprise me, and I didn’t hate reading this book! In fact, I enjoyed the slower pace of it in comparison to other thrillers. In fact, it was a perfect commute read in that it sucked me in when I was reading it, but I wasn’t missing it throughout the day.
One thing I didn’t really enjoy about this book was the Pete Wonicke storyline. It didn’t really serve a purpose except to give us a bit of a broader view of who the main character was, and it kind of irks me when characters feel created just for exposition purposes. I wasn’t a huge fan of how obsessed he was with Ruth, and multiple times it made me really uncomfortable.
Overall, this book isn’t terrible, it’s an easy read that is quick to get through, and hits on a lot of points regarding sexism in the 60’s, especially views on motherhood. I am so grateful to have received an ARC of this book, and really enjoyed my time reading it!
Looking for more book reviews? Check out Rachel Reading for more like this.
This book actually was the first book I used as a #commuteread on Litsy when I started my new job, so I think it will forever hold a place in my heart. However, this book wasn’t anything super special. The book follows Ruth Malone, while we try to figure out whether or not she killed her kids. In my opinion, it’s pretty obvious she didn’t, and that someone else was behind all of it. The ending did surprise me, and I didn’t hate reading this book! In fact, I enjoyed the slower pace of it in comparison to other thrillers. In fact, it was a perfect commute read in that it sucked me in when I was reading it, but I wasn’t missing it throughout the day.
One thing I didn’t really enjoy about this book was the Pete Wonicke storyline. It didn’t really serve a purpose except to give us a bit of a broader view of who the main character was, and it kind of irks me when characters feel created just for exposition purposes. I wasn’t a huge fan of how obsessed he was with Ruth, and multiple times it made me really uncomfortable.
Overall, this book isn’t terrible, it’s an easy read that is quick to get through, and hits on a lot of points regarding sexism in the 60’s, especially views on motherhood. I am so grateful to have received an ARC of this book, and really enjoyed my time reading it!
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
Looking for more book reviews? Check out Rachel Reading for more like this.
I feel really weird giving this book three stars because it was absolutely lovely, and I would recommend it to many, it just wasn’t four stars for me. Don’t discount this small but mighty memoir however, because the writing is beautiful, and the message is wonderful. Ghobash writes in a series of letters to his son, about Islam and it’s relation to the world, and all of the things he’s learned. What I really loved about this book is that there wasn’t any hesitation in addressing the big topics, and really talking about them with his son. Why organizations like ISIS happen is a really important topic in our world, and especially why they’re bringing Muslims in. Ghobash addresses this phenomenally, in a way that I’m sure his son feels is personal, but also so very explanatory to those of us who aren’t part of that faith, or even part of that culture.
This book is a very quick read, one you could easily do in one sitting, and it would absolutely be worth your time. Parts of it made me feel like an outsider because I didn’t always know what he was referencing, but this book really wasn’t for me, so I understand why that was. I really loved the quote “I used to think that answers being black or white was a blessing. But after awhile they seem inadequate” because it’s so true at least for me. That’s one thing I really loved about this book, there were so many universal truths that one could apply.
I picked this book up the day of the Muslim ban here in the US. I want my voice to be a voice of love, not hate, and one of tolerance. I wanted to learn more about the Muslim faith which is why I requested this book in the first place. Either way, I’m so grateful for Picador for this review copy, and will absolutely be recommending to people!
Looking for more book reviews? Check out Rachel Reading for more like this.
I feel really weird giving this book three stars because it was absolutely lovely, and I would recommend it to many, it just wasn’t four stars for me. Don’t discount this small but mighty memoir however, because the writing is beautiful, and the message is wonderful. Ghobash writes in a series of letters to his son, about Islam and it’s relation to the world, and all of the things he’s learned. What I really loved about this book is that there wasn’t any hesitation in addressing the big topics, and really talking about them with his son. Why organizations like ISIS happen is a really important topic in our world, and especially why they’re bringing Muslims in. Ghobash addresses this phenomenally, in a way that I’m sure his son feels is personal, but also so very explanatory to those of us who aren’t part of that faith, or even part of that culture.
This book is a very quick read, one you could easily do in one sitting, and it would absolutely be worth your time. Parts of it made me feel like an outsider because I didn’t always know what he was referencing, but this book really wasn’t for me, so I understand why that was. I really loved the quote “I used to think that answers being black or white was a blessing. But after awhile they seem inadequate” because it’s so true at least for me. That’s one thing I really loved about this book, there were so many universal truths that one could apply.
I picked this book up the day of the Muslim ban here in the US. I want my voice to be a voice of love, not hate, and one of tolerance. I wanted to learn more about the Muslim faith which is why I requested this book in the first place. Either way, I’m so grateful for Picador for this review copy, and will absolutely be recommending to people!
Looking for more book reviews? Check out Rachel Reading for more like this.
This was the first book I received for my Progressive Postal Book Club and it’s really amazing to see something you start actually come to fruition. The general idea of the book club was that we would start reading books about progressive topics through the next three years to help arm us with knowledge during the Trump Administration. Each person in the book club picked a book (no duplicates) and bought a journal. Each person has a person they send their book to each month. They sent their book and journal to that person, and each person received a book from their designated “sender”. This continues until you get your book back. We have 28 people in ours so the club will be 28 months long. I plan on documenting each of the books here.
I was really nervous about this, at one point I really wanted to dive into Feminist literature, but the first book I grabbed I bailed on because it felt like a diatribe. I want to learn more when I read feminist literature. Theory, or facts, or whatever to help me further understand myself, my beliefs, and how to explain that to others. This book was honestly phenomenal at that. In the introduction, Pollitt explains how she wrote the book mostly for people in the middle, not extremely anti-choice or even for extremely pro-choice people. She spends a lot of time talking about individual arguments and rebutting them, but she does it in a way that is smart, and not diatribe like. It’s really really interesting and a very quick read.
I’m really glad I read this book, and would recommend it to anyone who has an opinion on abortion or even doesn’t have an opinion. It makes some really interesting points, and I would love to talk about it with someone who has a totally different opinion of abortion than I do. I’m so grateful to Sara Beth for choosing this!
This was the first book I received for my Progressive Postal Book Club and it’s really amazing to see something you start actually come to fruition. The general idea of the book club was that we would start reading books about progressive topics through the next three years to help arm us with knowledge during the Trump Administration. Each person in the book club picked a book (no duplicates) and bought a journal. Each person has a person they send their book to each month. They sent their book and journal to that person, and each person received a book from their designated “sender”. This continues until you get your book back. We have 28 people in ours so the club will be 28 months long. I plan on documenting each of the books here.
I was really nervous about this, at one point I really wanted to dive into Feminist literature, but the first book I grabbed I bailed on because it felt like a diatribe. I want to learn more when I read feminist literature. Theory, or facts, or whatever to help me further understand myself, my beliefs, and how to explain that to others. This book was honestly phenomenal at that. In the introduction, Pollitt explains how she wrote the book mostly for people in the middle, not extremely anti-choice or even for extremely pro-choice people. She spends a lot of time talking about individual arguments and rebutting them, but she does it in a way that is smart, and not diatribe like. It’s really really interesting and a very quick read.
I’m really glad I read this book, and would recommend it to anyone who has an opinion on abortion or even doesn’t have an opinion. It makes some really interesting points, and I would love to talk about it with someone who has a totally different opinion of abortion than I do. I’m so grateful to Sara Beth for choosing this!