cghegan's reviews
448 reviews

Thicker Than Water: A Memoir by Kerry Washington

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

3.0

I picked this up upon learning that Kerry Washington, like me, learned as an adult that she was donor-conceived. It is a memoir that is not about that and completely focused on it—what is helpful to another writer is how she reflects on and illustrates a rippling sense of unease and tension she has felt throughout her life but never understood. The construction and choices she makes are informative and helpful in understanding craft choices, though I feel a super fan of her acting would appreciate the in between a lot more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Child abuse

Moderate: Cursing, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Abortion, Alcohol, and Infertility

Minor: Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Racism, and Grief

Lie with Me by Philippe Besson

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo

challenging dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Abandonment, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and THE WASHINGTON POST by Martin Baron
Did not finish book. Stopped at 8%.

It’s a personal thing, really, but I couldn’t sit comfortably with the reverent tone given to Bezos. Perhaps the narrative looks at his ownership of the Post more critically and fairly later on, but it felt icky listening to this. Will read the revelatory “takeaways” elsewhere.

The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World by Max Fisher
Did not finish book. Stopped at 11%.

It’s nothing I didn’t already know or read about, but is being touted as something so revolutionary… I’m just not who needs to read tbis.

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

dark informative mysterious sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Hate crime, Gun violence, and Death

Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World by Malcolm Harris

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Colonisation, Racism, Classism, and Ableism

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Child death, Slavery, Suicide, and Xenophobia

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Medical trauma, Mass/school shootings, Vomit, and Medical content

Moderate: Ableism, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Classism, Chronic illness, Blood, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Death, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide and Cancer

Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg

informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

I’m a huge fan of Nina Totenberg and the NPR Politics squad, hence picking this one up. It’s fascinating to look at the behind-the-scenes emotions and experiences of someone you admire deeply, but at many points, unsettling. I found the Politico book review by Michael Schaffer pointed to this feeling best, writing: “Totenberg’s book seems to be cast as a corrective against some national misapprehension that Washington is about nothing but bickering and partisanship. But that misunderstands why so many Americans are down on the capital. Instead, the rage stems from a conviction that the city is full of insiders who are all part of the same contented club, forever scratching one another’s backs. That’s a perception that Dinners With Ruth does absolutely nothing to dispel.”

One of the bigger “key points” in this book was the subtext that what Totenberg knew about the Justice’s health could have changed history. And it’s still upsetting to confront what many have felt: why was the fate of so many Americans’ health and safety dependent upon the mortality of a single (powerful, yes, remarkable, yes, but elderly and frail) person?

On the level of craft, it seemed loosely organized and meandering in a way that felt like someone trying to fill space and piece things together. Which is odd considering someone who has had a remarkable life and collaborated and dined with so many remarkable people. At times, Ruth Bader Ginsburg feels like a side note. While memoirs certainly cannot contain the entirety of one’s experiences, the overall organization and what was elected to be kept made the title feel less like a memoir about a particularly powerful friendship, and more a memoir about how Totenberg worked to be at the table with powerful people.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Cancer, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Physical abuse, Confinement, Child abuse, and Death