callanisreading's reviews
196 reviews

The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

In the suburbs of Philadelphia, a woman discovers her husband's affair; at a resort outside of Cape Town, a writer contemplates unfinished business in Lagos; and near the village of Onicha, a mother confronts the arrival of white colonizers. Across centuries and continents, Adichie chronicles stories of twelve Nigerians. In this heart-rending, hopeful anthology, Adichie explores the search for identity, home, and belonging. 

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

A second son charting his future, a young girl playing with her camera, and an author completing her book tour are united by the strains of a violin and mechanical sounds heard deep in the forest of British Columbia. Centuries later, a man named Gaspery searches for answers about the anomaly the connects these people scattered across time and space. In this contemplative, compassionate novel, Emily St. John Mandel contemplates our current moment and the many ways the world might end. 

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie

adventurous challenging funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A Bollywood film star and a British-Indian voice actor find their fates entwined when their shared flight from Bombay to London explodes, sending them hurtling toward England as fallen angels. They awaken transformed, struggling to separate the world of dreams from reality and confronting their closest-held beliefs. A fantastical saga across time and space ensues, and Rushdie uses this comic, epic tome to explore identity, migration, and  metamorphosis. 

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

adventurous challenging hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Ray Carney earns his living as a straight furniture salesman, eager to escape the legacy of his crooked, late father. But when money gets tight and his cousin brings a heist to his doorstep, Carney finds himself involved with the shady side of Harlem. As he struggles to reconcile his straight and crooked lives, Carney contemplates race, power, and morality in this beautifully-rendered novel. 

Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi

emotional funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Fed up with her coworkers who expect she will make coffee, clean dishes, and lead celebrations, Shibata declares she can no longer assume these responsibilities because she is pregnant. As her baby born of righteous indignation grows, Shibata revels in the freedoms of pregnancy and becomes increasingly invested in the charade. With incisive commentary and quick wit, Yagi offers a feminist cultural critique that is at once surreal and utterly relatable. 

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

In her small, Czech town, Tereza falls for Tomas, a  doctor obsessed with keeping many mistresses — and so begins their shared lifetime of love and longing. Through a tangled web of lovers in search of companionship, Kundera explores a world of dualities and challenges us to reevaluate what we call valuable. In this pensive, existential novel, Kundera explores the ecstasy and agony of existence. 

Nevada by Imogen Binnie

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Maria is tired of her job and her girlfriend, but she's too busy drinking and riding her bike around New York to do much about it. So when her job and relationship fall apart, Maria leaves the city in an attempt to control something about her life -- and on the road, she meets someone who reminds her of her younger self. Maria, desperately in need of guidance herself, attempts to share her hard-earned wisdom in this funny, disarming, and tender novel.  

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Haunted by nightmares of blood and murder, Yeong-hye attempts to put an end to her dreams by becoming vegetarian. However, the nightmares persist, and in the face of increasing pressure to eat meat, she withdraws from her family and redoubles her efforts to commune with plants. In this chilling meditation on suffering, defiance, and transformation, Yeong-hye interrogates the everyday horrors to which others have become numb.  

Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 5 by Tomohito Oda

challenging funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

As might be guessed by the cover, this fifth volume of Komi Can't Communicate leans into the emphasis on Komi as an object of beauty. This collection chronicles growth and friendship between Komi and Tadano alongside objectification of Komi by most of the supporting cast. The potential of the series is thwarted by the author's insistence on sexualizing Komi. 

Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 4 by Tomohito Oda

challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Komi savors the warm weather and activites of summer in this fourth volume of Komi Can't Communicate. The friendship between Komi and Tadano continues to bloom, but much of Komi's growing circle of friends seems primarily interested in Komi for her appearance. Picking up on minor themes in previous installations, this collection is at once charming and off-putting.