amyayeme's reviews
86 reviews

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Japanese From Zero! 4: Proven Techniques to Learn Japanese for Students and Professionals by Yukari Takenaka, George Trombley

informative slow-paced

1.25

Many people really rate the JFZ set of texts for their slow pace and quality. 
Unfortunately, I'm not one of them. From the spelling mistakes and errors in the text, to the distracting passages about the author's own life (in English!), I find that the text really offers very little in terms of real "flesh". 
For example, there is no listening activities to go with the text, and no spoken versions of any of the mock conversations presented in the book. 
The overwhelming majority of the exercises are also purely "translate this from English to Japanese", which feels a bit dry and at times, not very productive.

I appreciate that the resource is for self-learning and that there are some online resources for it, but without listening skills being integrated into the text, it falls extremely flat for me.

Shakespearean: On Life & Language in Times of Disruption by Robert McCrum

medium-paced

1.5

Honestly, a lot of opinions of Shakespeare being a genius unlike no other writer, an almost godly figure. portrayed as objective facts.

Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala

challenging emotional informative fast-paced

4.75

John Thomas and Lady Jane: The Second Version of Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence

3.25

A Dance with Dragons 1: Dreams and Dust by George R.R. Martin

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Twelve Years a Slave: A True Story by Solomon Northup

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman

emotional hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0