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333jamie's reviews
17 reviews
Strip Tees: A Memoir of Millennial Los Angeles by Kate Flannery
Did not finish book.
Did not finish book.
This was so hard to get through sometimes you have to choose yourself
Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin
dark
funny
hopeful
It's a beautiful thing to be alive even when it's not ❣️
I Should Have Honor: A Memoir of Hope and Pride in Pakistan by Khalida Brohi
medium-paced
4.5
Funny enough, I saw a copy of this at The Chai Spot on my trip to new york (one of the worst travel experiences I've ever had, that, of course came with many necessary lessons), completely unaware of its tie to the author. The more I read about Khalida's family and journey to bringing awareness to honor killings I couldn't put the story down. I wish I had more to say, but I urge anyone and everyone to pick up a copy and fall in love with Pakistan's faith and resiliance.
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing and Dying by Ram Dass, Richard Alpert
I've always been eerily comfortable with death, maybe it's astrology maybe it's trauma maybe it's the deep understanding that everything is impermanent including myself. But aging, the fragility of seeing yourself and others in everchanging states has always scared me a bit more than I'd like to admit. Ram Dass's words (and silence!) helped me reflect on why I fear aging, how much of a gift it is alongside my fears, and provided a guide on how to sit with my shame, for the sake of living. I will probably pick this up again every few years.
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
The truth is that I distanced myself from my body.... I ignored it as much as possible and tried to spiritualize it away.
I've always been eerily comfortable with death, maybe it's astrology maybe it's trauma maybe it's the deep understanding that everything is impermanent including myself. But aging, the fragility of seeing yourself and others in everchanging states has always scared me a bit more than I'd like to admit. Ram Dass's words (and silence!) helped me reflect on why I fear aging, how much of a gift it is alongside my fears, and provided a guide on how to sit with my shame, for the sake of living. I will probably pick this up again every few years.
Água Viva by Clarice Lispector
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
First read this in the pandemic. Here I am four years later reading aloud the words of Miss Lispector understanding her in a deeper way both because of experience and due to learning the language this was initially written in. Something about a woman reminding me that I am not guilty will always free me.
The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter - And How to Make the Most of Them Now by Meg Jay
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Not a fan of self-help books but this was a borrowed copy and one I've came back to twice. It's true that only you can live your life and that you have to express yourself, and because I know I'm someone that likes to pretend otherwise, I appreciate a book and a therapist that says it so directly. A really good book for a 23 year old if you get into astrology like that. I'm 25, but still just as good.
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
This book sat in my tbr for years because I knew how closely I'd relate to Vanessa. The way she avoids [redacted] with her mom but dives deep in it with every man she meets, hoping for sympathetic eyes and ears, but sensitive to any reaction that isn't exactly what she wants it to be- that's it. That captured it. How do you make peace with your autonomy when you can't recognize it was once stolen from you? That you never gave clearance to the person who stole it?
Even though this was far from an easy read, the story is captivating and I felt like I got to know and understand Vanessa more through each page. Being a victim and being a survivor and being labeled as something you never decided to claim is a topic I wish was delved into more. When Vanessa said to Ruby "I just really need it to be a love story. You know? I really, really need it to be that." "I know." That to me is what it means to be a survivor, to live through something so horrific that you then have to go through life knowing the way others view you, perceive every behavior and pattern, is through a lens you never asked for. A narrative you may (or may not) even claim.
By far, one of my favorite lines in the book that I feel gives a glimpse into the complexities of abuse + the reckoning that comes with recognizing it as such is when a reporter reaches out to Vanessa: "I turn back to the computer, the journalist's email. 'Getting your truth out there.' My truth. As though I have any idea what that is."
Brilliant.
challenging
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I watch her walk away, not a rumor but a real person, a woman who used to be a girl. I'm real, too.
I wonder how much victimhood they'd be willing to grant a girl like me.
This book sat in my tbr for years because I knew how closely I'd relate to Vanessa. The way she avoids [redacted] with her mom but dives deep in it with every man she meets, hoping for sympathetic eyes and ears, but sensitive to any reaction that isn't exactly what she wants it to be- that's it. That captured it. How do you make peace with your autonomy when you can't recognize it was once stolen from you? That you never gave clearance to the person who stole it?
Even though this was far from an easy read, the story is captivating and I felt like I got to know and understand Vanessa more through each page. Being a victim and being a survivor and being labeled as something you never decided to claim is a topic I wish was delved into more. When Vanessa said to Ruby "I just really need it to be a love story. You know? I really, really need it to be that." "I know." That to me is what it means to be a survivor, to live through something so horrific that you then have to go through life knowing the way others view you, perceive every behavior and pattern, is through a lens you never asked for. A narrative you may (or may not) even claim.
By far, one of my favorite lines in the book that I feel gives a glimpse into the complexities of abuse + the reckoning that comes with recognizing it as such is when a reporter reaches out to Vanessa: "I turn back to the computer, the journalist's email. 'Getting your truth out there.' My truth. As though I have any idea what that is."
Brilliant.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault