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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Heartbreaking book of poverty and women in pain, wrapped around another plotline of what it means to create, both art and life. Painful joyful exploration of wanting children and the realities of different ways of being raised (or abandoned). Sometimes meandered off in a way which felt life-like but did not contribute to experience of reading the novel.
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"He used to tell me, 'People are strange, Jun. They know nothing lasts forever, but still find time to laugh and cry and get upset, laboring over things and breaking things apart. I know it seems like none of it makes sense. But soon, these things make life worth living. So don't let anything get you down.' I was just a kid, but I think I knew what he was trying to say."
this book dives deep into women’s lives—their struggles, the weight of responsibilities they carry, and the way they keep trying to survive. there’s a daughter who refuses to talk to her mom out of disappointment, saying “why was i even born if all I do is make your life harder?” there’s a mother obsessed with changing her body. and there’s also a woman who wants to have a child but refuses to have sex.
OMG what a best read for early August :> it took me 12 days to finish because the story is soooo slow-paced and honestly boring at first 😪 but once i forced myself to read it slowly, it turned out to be YUMMY :P i ended up LOVING this book!
it’s such a woman-friendly read because it really portrays problems many women go through—wanting to be pretty, trying to be a good mother, and those hidden feelings we can’t always share with anyone.
i'm not the best at writing reviews, but trust me, this book is WORTH TO READ!!! most of it is descriptive narrative about the MC’s feelings, and even when there’s a conversation, it usually turns into debates where, if you read carefully, both sides actually make sense and give you that "huh, true… they both have a point" moment 🥸 each character’s unique way of thinking—yet still making sense—is exactly what kept me hooked.
OH! and yep, as the title suggests, this book really talks about “breasts” and “eggs” 🙆🏼♀️ and i honestly learned a lot of new things from it too ^___^
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
it for sure was not a good idea to read this while i was ovulating
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
It‘s good but def overrated, had higher expectations for this book
Baltimore City is under a stay-at-home order. I drive bread rolls around to my friends. When my husband comes home from work, I put my hand on his forehead to check. At least I’ve had books.
I’m going to take their portraits this month in my local cafe. Usually, the place is busy, full of hipsters bouncing their babies and retirees flipping flashcards for the languages they finally have time to learn. Local art is hung on the wall - you can buy an abstract pencil drawing for $36 - and the banana peanut butter chai smoothie is the best thing on the menu. Now, the place is quiet. Sunlight filters in from the street. The air still smells a little bit like coffee. My husband used to love the bagels here. The two-seater tabletop by the window facing The Avenue is open - I’ve never seen it open before - so I position my camera behind the reaching leaves of hanging plants and wait for my subjects to show.
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami comes in. I heard about her from the New York Times, so I expect her to be a diva, but she’s not. She’s dressed simply and she smells like plain soap. She wants to know if she can have coffee while I take her picture, but I don’t have the owner’s permission to touch anything. She asks if she can hold a coffee cup, at least. She giggles, she’s sorry, she just doesn’t know what to do with her hands. I give her a cream white mug with a chip on the rim to hold. Probably, before everyone cleared out, it was going to be thrown away. She sits at the window seat, mug in her hand, and isn’t afraid to let the camera see the chip. “Let’s talk about our sisters,” she says. She tells me in perfect detail about her sister and her niece and her mother and her grandmother. She lives in Tokyo, but she loves Osaka best. “Isn’t it funny how we’re trapped in bodies?” she asks. She turns her head to ask the question and nods at the camera in deep recognition. I snap the portrait.
(...I read 11 books in May 2020 and imagined each one as a character in a Living Book Review. Sign up here to receive the Living Books Reviews newsletter in your inbox each month! https://mailchi.mp/53d716a27eaf/living-book-reviews)
I’m going to take their portraits this month in my local cafe. Usually, the place is busy, full of hipsters bouncing their babies and retirees flipping flashcards for the languages they finally have time to learn. Local art is hung on the wall - you can buy an abstract pencil drawing for $36 - and the banana peanut butter chai smoothie is the best thing on the menu. Now, the place is quiet. Sunlight filters in from the street. The air still smells a little bit like coffee. My husband used to love the bagels here. The two-seater tabletop by the window facing The Avenue is open - I’ve never seen it open before - so I position my camera behind the reaching leaves of hanging plants and wait for my subjects to show.
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami comes in. I heard about her from the New York Times, so I expect her to be a diva, but she’s not. She’s dressed simply and she smells like plain soap. She wants to know if she can have coffee while I take her picture, but I don’t have the owner’s permission to touch anything. She asks if she can hold a coffee cup, at least. She giggles, she’s sorry, she just doesn’t know what to do with her hands. I give her a cream white mug with a chip on the rim to hold. Probably, before everyone cleared out, it was going to be thrown away. She sits at the window seat, mug in her hand, and isn’t afraid to let the camera see the chip. “Let’s talk about our sisters,” she says. She tells me in perfect detail about her sister and her niece and her mother and her grandmother. She lives in Tokyo, but she loves Osaka best. “Isn’t it funny how we’re trapped in bodies?” she asks. She turns her head to ask the question and nods at the camera in deep recognition. I snap the portrait.
(...I read 11 books in May 2020 and imagined each one as a character in a Living Book Review. Sign up here to receive the Living Books Reviews newsletter in your inbox each month! https://mailchi.mp/53d716a27eaf/living-book-reviews)
I got 50% of the way through, but decided to drop it. The story is fine – a bit meandering, but not necessarily boring. I just feel like I should care more about the protagonist or be more interested in the plot when I'm mid-way through. Life is short. DNF.