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alicechris's reviews
129 reviews
Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind the Food That Isn't Food by Chris van Tulleken
5.0
Explained things about my life I didn't think could be explained. I am very angry.
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
4.75
Finished this in one day which says everything you need to know
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
4.5
This is such a brilliant book - the character work is exceptional and I also really enjoyed the strong sense of place. The exploration of queer motherhood and parenthood really touched me and I'm sure will impact the ways I think about family for a long time. The way Peters simultaneously maintains a sense of hope but also an inevitability that things probably won't work out kept me gripped and I finished this book in a couple of days.
My one reservation is the extent to which characters are defined in this book through their sex lives. I wasn't expecting this book to be so sexy because I got this from my work library, so this is probably partly on me - and I suspect the conflicted feelings I'm having on this are an intentional part of the book. This being said - I would have liked to see the characters explored outside of their sex lives a little more, as it left me with a slightly incomplete sense of them as people.
My one reservation is the extent to which characters are defined in this book through their sex lives. I wasn't expecting this book to be so sexy because I got this from my work library, so this is probably partly on me - and I suspect the conflicted feelings I'm having on this are an intentional part of the book. This being said - I would have liked to see the characters explored outside of their sex lives a little more, as it left me with a slightly incomplete sense of them as people.
Wild Service: Why Nature Needs You by Nick Hayes
4.0
I'm glad I read this, I think it's changed the way I move through the world and interact with the nature around me. I'm really interested in the overlap between environmentalism and spirituality also, and enjoyed the sense of connection the book does really well in building up. However, I can't say I've been talking to other people about what I've read - which for a book like this is quite surprising to me. It was also a shame to feel the chapters were written to a brief the contributors were given rather than them writing freely, which I think I would have enjoyed more.
The Time of Cherries by Montserrat Roig
4.0
I loved Roig's writing - both expansive and intimate. It's about one family, and yet also Barcelona, Catalonia, all of Spain. The cross generational perspectives really worked for me, as did the jumping around between different times (although the huge variety of both elements here means you really need to pay attention, which is probably why this took me ages to read!). The writing style is really distinctive and the translator deserves a lot of credit for preserving how unique this book feels (although I couldn't tell you what the Catalan version is like).
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
5.0
Enormously, incredibly good. Read this and find out as little as possible about it first.
Without a doubt one of the best books I'll read this year.
Without a doubt one of the best books I'll read this year.
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable by Amitav Ghosh
4.25
Bought this after going to the live podcast recording of the No Books on a Dead Planet on this book. I'm really glad I got introduced to it and it's given me a lot of food for thought (particularly the final few sections). If you're already fairly immersed in climate stuff and literature and want an in depth analysis of the two (apart and together) - I can't imagine much better than this is out there.
However, I wish a book so determined to get its message out there was written in a more accessible style - I find it very frustrating when academic books are written in a style that makes them harder to understand and so I'd be hesitant to recommend this to friends. I accept this is partly because of the literary criticism in this (in which I have no background).
However, I wish a book so determined to get its message out there was written in a more accessible style - I find it very frustrating when academic books are written in a style that makes them harder to understand and so I'd be hesitant to recommend this to friends. I accept this is partly because of the literary criticism in this (in which I have no background).