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adubie's reviews
59 reviews
The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston
4.0
I really loved this book. It felt so personal (as memoirs ought to be) and truly intimate. The way Kingston weaves her experiences with those of her immigrant family is truly masterful. It was easy to read while still being engaging. Would recommend to anyone wanting to get a glimpse into the Chinese-American experience, and the uncomfortable space of culture-blending.
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
4.0
Good and nuanced. Kept me on my toes but not in a suspenseful way. More of a staring at a car crash kind of way. It’s all right there in front of you and your brain is just absorbing it all. This book has changed my outlook on my life, especially when encountering the less-than-desirable bits.
Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros
3.0
It unfortunately felt convoluted and too focused on sounding poetic. An important book, but I felt like I was just stumbling through it, and it is not a favorite of mine.
Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman
5.0
I have never felt more human than when reading this book for the first time, and hearing Elio's story for the first time. I watched the movie first and then read the book, which is what I would recommend. I am Elio, and Elio is me.
For the Soul of Mankind: The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War by Melvyn P. Leffler
4.0
This is a helpful book. However, be warned: it is very dense and very dry. Leffler, however, is a brilliant historian and looks at the Cold War through a human lens. Also important to read and refer to if you are analyzing the Cold War, and trying to make sense of what happened.
Cold War and the Color Line: American Race Relations in the Global Arena (Revised) by Thomas Borstelmann
4.0
This is an amazing book and very unique for what it is. Not many historians have decided to analyze the color line in regards to the global sphere in the Cold War. Borstelmann brilliantly coins the theory of the East vs. West vs. the North vs. South Cold War. Essentially, he discusses how there were two different Cold Wars (even though American historians have typically only focused on the E vs. W one); one regarding the economic system struggle and one regarding anti-colonialism efforts throughout the world. This book is so insightful, I cannot fully express how eye-opening this is!
Find Me by André Aciman
2.0
If you loved Call My By Your Name, and cherish it, please do not read this book. The thing that made CMBYN so powerful was how perfectly it captured first, lost love and the fleeting memories that love provided. It was a perfectly crafted momentary bildungsroman, in my opinion. The book unfortunately takes away from CMBYN, stretching out what was presented to us as a moment into a lifetime. Unfortunately, it feels counterintuitive and contradictory in this way. I also did not like some story and plot choices. I cried reading it, as to be expected, and it did make me feel something by the end, but I can't help but feel overall let down.
Allow CMBYN to exist on its own, and be the powerful force that it is.
Allow CMBYN to exist on its own, and be the powerful force that it is.