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bibliophage's reviews
626 reviews
The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
The grammar obsessed Aunt Josephine is an excellent character and I appreciated her as a child and as an adult. She's also played well by Meryl Streep in the Netflix series.
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
What a beautiful art piece Amor Towles has crafted. This novel is exquisitely written with interesting characters (I love them all) and a unique and intriguing premise. The Count is sentenced to house arrest in 1922 after the Bolshevik revolution. While Russia's dramatic history between 1922 and 1954 unfolds outside the Metropol hotel across from the Kremlin in Moscow, the Count's world widens and narrows within the walls of the hotel. Beautiful writing, beautiful images, beautiful emotions. I really loved this fiction. Amor Towles’ Q&A about the book is worth reading, but there is spoiler in there, so only read the first part of the Q&A if you are reading it BEFORE you pick up the novel. Bits and pieces of Russian history, philosophy, and art, literature references, and wise insights all make appearances and fill out the story and make the Count's world captivating.
(I highlighted 28 times and I wish I could keep several more passages in my reading journal!)
(I highlighted 28 times and I wish I could keep several more passages in my reading journal!)
Confessions by Saint Augustine
Saint Augustine in all his real, gritty, human-ness. I love how much Augustine's faith has shaped him and I found it very interesting to see how his faith has shaped his memories and understanding of the life he's lived. A very influential figure in Christian and rhetorical history, Augustine's Confessions are a must read.
Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson
This is a phenomenal piece of work and rightfully belongs on my "Favorites" shelf. I will never forget this book and what I've learned about Leningrad/St. Petersburg, Stalin, "The Great Terror," the German invasion of the Eastern Front, Shostakovich (one of my favorite composers), and the marvelous reminder of the incredible power of music. M.T. Anderson's writing is very reader-friendly––the events and people are laid out clearly and it's easy to follow the history while also benefiting from Anderson's insight and interpretation. He shares vivid and horrific details and yet they are necessary to get a sense of the events, there is so much here that I only knew on the surface level, but it's different when it's described in detail and in relation to real humans. Just when you think that the terrors of war and the evils of Stalin couldn't get worse, you turn the page.
Anderson's writing is also interesting and eloquent. I'll just share this short passage from the beginning to give a sense of what Anderson's writing is like: "That year, it was as if the city was built of ideas and argument: People walked across a pavement of propaganda, and the walls were plastered with posters. Buildings were coated in debates. Type ran in every direction. Newspapers sprang up, printed a few issues in flurries, then died."
National Book Award in Young People's Literature 2015
Anderson's writing is also interesting and eloquent. I'll just share this short passage from the beginning to give a sense of what Anderson's writing is like: "That year, it was as if the city was built of ideas and argument: People walked across a pavement of propaganda, and the walls were plastered with posters. Buildings were coated in debates. Type ran in every direction. Newspapers sprang up, printed a few issues in flurries, then died."
National Book Award in Young People's Literature 2015
Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
I loved LOVED this book. The writing is beautiful, the coming-of-age story is poignant. I loved the way Ryan connects each part of the story to different fruits. I love her descriptions of emotions, culture, challenge, and relationships. I liked everything about this beautiful story. I would say it's just right for older middle-grade readers or YA readers on the young end. And I loved the author's note at the end that describes her personal connections to the story.
American Vandal: Mark Twain Abroad by Roy Morris Jr.
Lots of fun insight and awesome research in to Mark Twain's travel writing and time abroad.
Grace Notes: True Stories about Sins, Sons, Shrines, Marriage... by Brian Doyle
Brian Doyle is a great writer. Different than any I've read before, but he definitely got my attention. I loved how short and succinct each essay was (not longer than a page or two, or a two and a half pages). He has some neat ideas, and a way of saying something that makes you all bubbly inside. My favorite being "sidelong glances from someone you love" in the essay "Cool Things." For more on that rather vague and abstract statement, read the book! Or just read that essay, it's posted on my blog.