chaoticbibliophile's reviews
600 reviews

Vladimir by Julia May Jonas

challenging dark funny reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Just as good on audio, but I’m so glad I read it in print first… and will do so again! This book is brilliant.

Heimat: A German Family Album by Nora Krug
Did not finish book. Stopped at 52%.

This is a very interesting book and it's very well done; I love the art style and the focus on archival material and memory... but I just don't want to read it, and it's making me not read other graphic nonfiction and novels I really want to get to. I think part of it is the subject matter: I simply am not interested in WW2-related topics, save very specific exceptions. To be fair, this would have been one of those exceptions, but I do feel the structure lags in places. There're multiple strands of narrative and the way they are interwoven can be quite uneven at times. 

I would definitely recommend this if it sounds like your thing, but also do believe it could've been better edited. 

Pretentiousness: Why It Matters by Dan Fox

5.0

Females by Andrea Long Chu

5.0

Strong Female Character by Hanna Flint
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.

Nothing particularly wrong with this one, but also nothing particularly interesting urging me to continue, so I think I’ll leave it at that.

White Nights (Penguin little black classics) by Fyodor Dostoevsky

I really didn't like "White Nights", but "Bobok" was alright. Dostoevsky remains hit or miss for me, it seems.

Mis Documentos by Alejandro Zambra

adventurous emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Zona ciega by Lina Meruane
Did not finish book. Stopped at 7%.

Este debería haber sido uno de mis libros favoritos del año: una de mis escritoras favoritas abordando un tema muy personal para ella a través de exploraciones culturales y literarias... Cualquier persona que me describiese este libro me lo hubiera vendido sin excepciones. Y sin embargo, probé los tres ensayos y ninguno me retuvo. 

El fragmento puede ser muy potente como elemento escrutural, y temáticamente Meruane los hila bien, pero hay una magia que falta... No sé si es el tono o la prosa en sí, pero cada página se sentía superficial e innecesariamente pretensiosa (y mira que yo tengo una tolerancia muy alta para literatura pretensiosia) cuando lo que siempre he amado de Meruane es cómo su escritura puede envolverte y sofocarte. Así que bueno, tendré que volver a su ficción (o Volverse Palestina, que es excelente). 

The Artist by Ed Vere

hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

Maître Mussard's Bequest by Patrick Süskind

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

Patrick Süskind's writing has a strange alchemy to it, wherein it seems the tale is going to be dull and lifeless, yet in the end it's rich, gothic, and engrossing. I wasn't planning on picking up anything else by him, even after loving Perfume... but after loving this I simply have to.