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taliaissmart
An examination of identity and connection through the fraught friendship of two young women. Very well written, but so bittersweet.
2.5 stars
Picked this up right after The Red Tent and was a little disappointed. This is basically the story of Addie Baum’s life growing up in the first few decades of the 20th century in Boston. While her life is by no means boring, it’s not breathtakingly interesting, either. It’s just...a life. With ups and downs. Diamant’s writing is good in this book, but stylistically much more casual than in TRT. That choice makes sense, but I just loved Dinah’s voice so much that this sort of paled in comparison.
Picked this up right after The Red Tent and was a little disappointed. This is basically the story of Addie Baum’s life growing up in the first few decades of the 20th century in Boston. While her life is by no means boring, it’s not breathtakingly interesting, either. It’s just...a life. With ups and downs. Diamant’s writing is good in this book, but stylistically much more casual than in TRT. That choice makes sense, but I just loved Dinah’s voice so much that this sort of paled in comparison.
Absolutely STUNNING retelling of Dinah’s life from the Bible. Mesmerizing language, mythology, culture, characters, interpersonal relationships, everything. This book actually drove me to read some sections of Genesis because I wanted to compare. Soooo good.
4.5! Compared to all other books this would probably be a 5 star read, but within the Ender universe I think it's a weaker entry than those that came before it.
Xenocide resumes Ender's story on Lusitania nearly thirty years after the events of Speaker for the Dead. Miro, Ender's eldest stepson, is finally returning from his voyage into space, which took a month for him and decades for those on Lusitania's surface. Miro is accompanied by Ender's sister Valentine and her family, who have left their own icy planet to join Ender in a moment of extreme crisis, when multiple factors threaten Lusitania and its three species of intelligent life. Once again, Orson Scott Card weaves together suspenseful plot elements, original and realistic characters (many of whom are women, which I love), and philosophical, psychological, and anthropological (xenological?) questions.
Card's work has yet to disappoint me. Yes, this book is long and gets a little too caught up in itself at times, but it's still a masterful example of science fiction storytelling. I'm so excited to delve into this universe even further.
Xenocide resumes Ender's story on Lusitania nearly thirty years after the events of Speaker for the Dead. Miro, Ender's eldest stepson, is finally returning from his voyage into space, which took a month for him and decades for those on Lusitania's surface. Miro is accompanied by Ender's sister Valentine and her family, who have left their own icy planet to join Ender in a moment of extreme crisis, when multiple factors threaten Lusitania and its three species of intelligent life. Once again, Orson Scott Card weaves together suspenseful plot elements, original and realistic characters (many of whom are women, which I love), and philosophical, psychological, and anthropological (xenological?) questions.
Card's work has yet to disappoint me. Yes, this book is long and gets a little too caught up in itself at times, but it's still a masterful example of science fiction storytelling. I'm so excited to delve into this universe even further.
There's something so classy about Madeline Miller's writing. Simplistic yet elegant, gorgeous but not over the top. It fits her subject material perfectly—gods and monsters, myth and legend. Circe is the episodic account of a shunned goddess who forges a life away from her conniving family, intent on finding her own personal power, peace, and happiness. Characters from centuries of Greek legend cross the shores of her isolated island of Aiaia, upsetting their traditional narratives through Miller's shiningly complex new characterizations. What a lovely book.
DNF @ p. 113
Just not working for me right now...maybe later!
Just not working for me right now...maybe later!
Once again, a fabulous character study in a speculative world. I loved the slow reveal of information regarding the piggies, and I think this book functions as an excellent examination of colonization as a process. SO good.
As a young congressional intern, Aviva Grossman falls for Aaron Levin, a married Congressman. Their affair eventually comes to light, permanently scarring her reputation while he gets off pretty much scot-free (of course). She moves to Maine, renames herself, chooses a new career, and gets on with her life. This is an incredibly human novel about family, community, and the often-overlooked fact that real life doesn't actually end with the worst possible thing happening.
I LOVED the first two sections of this novel, which are told by Aviva's mother Rachel and Jane Young, Aviva's grown-up, reinvented self. Their voices are unique, relatable, and laugh-out-loud funny. I enjoyed the rest of the book, although I sort of wished we could have stuck with the first two narrators. I love Ruby as a character, but I'm not sure how I feel about her as a narrator. Zevin writes from the perspective of a child remarkably well, but it was difficult to go from such mature voices to such an immature one. I liked the Embeth chapter fine, and I think humanizing her was important, but it just wasn't my favorite. And while I understand the decision to end the book with a full recap of Aviva's whole life, and the choose-your-own-adventure style is interesting, I did feel like it made the book repetitive in an unnecessary way. Overall, this novel is remarkably strong, captivating, and well-written, but as soon as I was distanced from Rachel and Jane I just wanted them back!!!!
I LOVED the first two sections of this novel, which are told by Aviva's mother Rachel and Jane Young, Aviva's grown-up, reinvented self. Their voices are unique, relatable, and laugh-out-loud funny. I enjoyed the rest of the book, although I sort of wished we could have stuck with the first two narrators. I love Ruby as a character, but I'm not sure how I feel about her as a narrator. Zevin writes from the perspective of a child remarkably well, but it was difficult to go from such mature voices to such an immature one. I liked the Embeth chapter fine, and I think humanizing her was important, but it just wasn't my favorite. And while I understand the decision to end the book with a full recap of Aviva's whole life, and the choose-your-own-adventure style is interesting, I did feel like it made the book repetitive in an unnecessary way. Overall, this novel is remarkably strong, captivating, and well-written, but as soon as I was distanced from Rachel and Jane I just wanted them back!!!!
A toxic and painful, but ultimately cathartic, family story/mystery. Celeste Ng writes so beautifully and her characters shine as individuals.