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alexandriaslibrary's reviews
226 reviews
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi
challenging
informative
slow-paced
A very thorough look at the hundred year occupation of Palestine & the spikes of violence and war from Israel & western powers. It was certainly dense, but incredibly detailed and a great resource for educating yourself against common lies and misconceptions about the conflict.
In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A strangler is on the loose in LA…. so atmospheric, the gritty underbelly of paradise
A real page turner with a very compelling premise!
A real page turner with a very compelling premise!
Down the Drain by Julia Fox
dark
reflective
fast-paced
What a memoir! Thank you Julia for sharing such vulnerable and intimate stories with us <3
Squelch: A memoir of food, love, and uncertainty by Nina Katz
relaxing
fast-paced
A tiny memoir about a queer crush & food 🍅 The author reflects on a past relationship using different meals they cooked/ate together (and also provides the recipes!) Really loved this voice & can't wait for more from this author!
Pageboy by Elliot Page
emotional
reflective
4.0
A celebrity memoir that seems genuinely not ghostwritten!
Page is a little all over the place here, but some of his essays are really insightful, powerful, and juicy! His coming out speech was a really pivotal moment for me in my journey with my sexuality (and my model for when I came out) so it was super interesting to read about the behind the scenes of that moment and his path towards coming out (first as a lesbian and then as a trans man)
You can tell reading this that Page took a lot of pride in this (and his other creative work) and that makes it worth it for me!
Page is a little all over the place here, but some of his essays are really insightful, powerful, and juicy! His coming out speech was a really pivotal moment for me in my journey with my sexuality (and my model for when I came out) so it was super interesting to read about the behind the scenes of that moment and his path towards coming out (first as a lesbian and then as a trans man)
You can tell reading this that Page took a lot of pride in this (and his other creative work) and that makes it worth it for me!
The Beginners by Anne Serre
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
A beautiful & solemn reflection in close third. Anna is the age her mother & sister were when they died, when she runs into a man on the street and falls in love at first
sight—but she’s been with her partner for 20 years.
A stunning novel where the only thing that happens is the churning over of leaving someone you love for someone you love.
Stunning prose, observations, and sentences
“She, who had no wish to be welcomed anywhere, just to carry on playing fast and loose with love!”
“How can you walk away from a man who puts himself in your hands? Who looks to you for the coming of spring? Who looks to you to release him from the woe that was his life? Who only half believes in his life, if that, but nevertheless, since meeting you, believes in it a wee bit more just the same?”
“Yet whenever she was overcome with desire like this at the sight of Thomas, she would lose the ability to compare, to see herself from the outside, and would live exclusively with her powerful emotions, pressed up against them, tucked up inside them, feeling their warmth and life like a cat ensconced in a basket with her litter of newborn kittens.”
sight—but she’s been with her partner for 20 years.
A stunning novel where the only thing that happens is the churning over of leaving someone you love for someone you love.
Stunning prose, observations, and sentences
“She, who had no wish to be welcomed anywhere, just to carry on playing fast and loose with love!”
“How can you walk away from a man who puts himself in your hands? Who looks to you for the coming of spring? Who looks to you to release him from the woe that was his life? Who only half believes in his life, if that, but nevertheless, since meeting you, believes in it a wee bit more just the same?”
“Yet whenever she was overcome with desire like this at the sight of Thomas, she would lose the ability to compare, to see herself from the outside, and would live exclusively with her powerful emotions, pressed up against them, tucked up inside them, feeling their warmth and life like a cat ensconced in a basket with her litter of newborn kittens.”
Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
3.75
A real page turner—read it in under a day! A woman and her kids are the victims of a home invasion which rattles them deeply. However, afterwards, the realizes that the nightmare isn’t over
Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Sapphic classics never miss! Lazi is a self-hating college student who falls in love with a woman but is also the most avoidant person who has ever lived. It follows her throughout her college & sexuality journey & her friends and lovers along the way. The book is broken into 8 notebooks (organized by her age/relationships/etc) and the chapters are short vignettes. There are also flash pieces about allegorical "crocodiles" who are the focus of a media frenzy (a reference to the gay movement in 1980s/1990s Taiwan)
Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor
emotional
reflective
Stories that feel like they won the Story Prize (they did)