Scan barcode
nadoislandgirl's review against another edition
2.0
Appreciated a unique setting, but the people didn't feel real to me. Everything felt like I was looking at it behind glass. I didn't care.
I swear people rated it highly because they got it for free on First Reads.
I swear people rated it highly because they got it for free on First Reads.
blessing_aj's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.5
reileen's review against another edition
5.0
The greatest book I have read in a long while. Far more than 5 stars.
nickgalentine's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
5.0
jessreads82's review against another edition
5.0
“You earn your place beside someone by not walking away. Even when all you want to do is run.”
Beautiful story set in a part of the world that we rarely get the insiders view. Stories of Iraq are usually told through US military accounts, and while there is Saddam Hussein’s brutality in this book, it’s mostly about the actual families that live in Iraq. It’s about what’s important to them abs how they looked out for their neighbors during unthinkable times. Very much enjoyed this book and it was eye opening to me as well.
Beautiful story set in a part of the world that we rarely get the insiders view. Stories of Iraq are usually told through US military accounts, and while there is Saddam Hussein’s brutality in this book, it’s mostly about the actual families that live in Iraq. It’s about what’s important to them abs how they looked out for their neighbors during unthinkable times. Very much enjoyed this book and it was eye opening to me as well.
sjchaima's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.25
krissybarton's review against another edition
5.0
Take What You Can Carry is a book about a time and place that I knew virtually nothing about. It is set in the late 1970s in Los Angeles and Iraq. As I was born in the ‘80s, the basis of my knowledge about the Middle East (and Iraq specifically) come from media coverage of conflicts in the region. This book was eye opening and I felt I learned so much from it.
This book started off on the right foot. I loved the first few lines so much that I wrote them down:
"She’d seen it clearly: a woman half-over, half-happy with her life. A focused, single snapshot of her future midmark, that moment the hourglass gets flipped. She’d be forty-five years old and play a. mere footnote in her own life: someone’s secretary, someone’s wife, someone’s mother."
This book tells the story of Olivia, an American secretary who dreams of being a photo journalist. Her boyfriend, Delan, is Kurdish. The story centers around the two of them travelling to visit Delan’s family in Iraq. There, Olivia’s eyes are opened to Delan’s past and her own future.
I loved the character development in this novel, not only in Olivia and Delan, but in more minor characters as well. We see the events of the story from Olivia’s point of view and experience her changes firsthand. It is an emotional journey, filled with love and fear and sadness and hope.
I don’t want to give away anything that happens in this book, other than that the political situation is a huge issue for our characters. Events transpire in Iraq that change Olivia forever, in so many ways. This is a book about love and relationships. It’s about being the Other, in small and large ways.
I absolutely loved this book and wholeheartedly recommend it. I already plan to read it again.
This book started off on the right foot. I loved the first few lines so much that I wrote them down:
"She’d seen it clearly: a woman half-over, half-happy with her life. A focused, single snapshot of her future midmark, that moment the hourglass gets flipped. She’d be forty-five years old and play a. mere footnote in her own life: someone’s secretary, someone’s wife, someone’s mother."
This book tells the story of Olivia, an American secretary who dreams of being a photo journalist. Her boyfriend, Delan, is Kurdish. The story centers around the two of them travelling to visit Delan’s family in Iraq. There, Olivia’s eyes are opened to Delan’s past and her own future.
I loved the character development in this novel, not only in Olivia and Delan, but in more minor characters as well. We see the events of the story from Olivia’s point of view and experience her changes firsthand. It is an emotional journey, filled with love and fear and sadness and hope.
I don’t want to give away anything that happens in this book, other than that the political situation is a huge issue for our characters. Events transpire in Iraq that change Olivia forever, in so many ways. This is a book about love and relationships. It’s about being the Other, in small and large ways.
I absolutely loved this book and wholeheartedly recommend it. I already plan to read it again.