stefanicox's Reviews (519)

This was a fun read that temporarily satisfied my search for a second Hunger Games-type book. The mystery of what Divergent means keeps you interested throughout most of the novel and it's got enough action and suspense scenes to keep you flipping the pages.

Such a sad book in so many ways, but also masterful because of the way it recreates the world of a particular context of China at a particular point in history. The love story is definitely not a traditional one; I had thoughts every now and then to Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera, given the decades over which this love story takes place. The characters are beautiful and tragic in both their strengths and, more poignantly, their flaws.

I don't usually read light fiction, but this was pretty good and also a nice change of pace for summer. The main character, Cannie, is funny and likeable, and the book had a lot of positive body image messages that for the most part didn't come across in an overly-sappy sort of way. Some parts of the storyline aren't quite believable and other parts do get a little predictable, but overall it's a quick and fun book.

I'll start by saying that I wish I had read a different Murakami book as my first read from his works. I can see how some people kind of refer to him as a genre of his own. It's contemporary literature with a mix of sci-fi/fantasy elements thrown in, and his pace is very measured and detailed, almost overly-so.

In the beginning of the book I was really interested in the characters of Tengo and Aomame and trying to figure out how they are connected by the strange series of events that occur. My main issue with the book was that it felt a little long, and I began to wish that the plot would move faster. Again, maybe if I had read another of his books first I would have known what to expect and been able to stick it out a little better for the thousand plus pages. I think he is a masterful writer in a lot of ways, but this wasn't my favorite book.

Tris is scared. So scared. All the time. Aaaaand it gets boring. I waffled a little between giving this one two or three stars since I did still read through it fairly quickly. But this feels pretty solidly like the middle book, the one that the author doesn't quite know what to do with before the smashing finale. Not sure yet if I'll read the last book, but hopefully it's better.

See the full review on my blog here.

Beautiful. Devastating. Utterly Jhumpa Lahiri.

Wow, talk about a powerful book. Janet Mock manages to coherently talk about so many of the different factors of her past--gender identity, poverty, being multiracial, experiencing sexual abuse, etc.--in such a thoughtful way. It's the skill of a true memoirist to be able to create such a cohesive narrative out of such a complex past. I loved the way that she was able to talk about her journey toward embodying her womanhood without apologizing for her mistakes or bumps along the way. I was deeply touched by her words and wisdom.

See the full review on my blog.

It feels like a good sign to me that at least some books like this can be published these days. Americanah is unabashedly about race, but not only that. It's also a love story, a migration tale, and a bit of quirky social commentary. I loved reading about the worlds of Lagos and the East Coast of the U.S. through the eyes of Ifemelu and Obinze, as Adichie pulls the reader expertly between locations throughout the novel. Great read!

See the full review on my blog.

This was light, fun book. I had a good time mentally touring the Appalachian Trail alongside Bryson and hearing about some of the funny adventures he went through, often involving his hiking partner, Katz, who turns out to be quite the character. But I also felt like Bryson was pretty stuck up and downright mean in a lot of places, which distracted me from the content of the book. Basically, I got tired of his particular voice telling the story. But despite that, still a worthwhile book to check out if you're looking for a quick, outdoorsy read.

This is a hard book to write a review about. It's about sex-offenders and the challenges of rehabilitating and moving on in the face of a world of restrictions. But it's also about identity and growth. The main character, known as The Kid, is trying to figure out where to live and how to make meaning out of his life that is literally on the margins of society. The Professor is a character who becomes a part of The Kid's life and someone who changes how The Kid sees himself and others like him. It's hard to say more without giving too much away about the plot. This was my first read by Russell Banks, so I also just enjoyed taking in his style and writing.

See the full review on my blog.