cubaitlubin's reviews
238 reviews

Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?: A Memoir by Séamas O'Reilly

emotional funny lighthearted reflective

All the endearing pieces of a rambunctious family memoir, told expertly and wittily by the narrator. Experiences of death and grief at a young age intertwined with admiration for the author's father and reflection on the settings both small and large. I had not finished my gigantic nonfiction account of The Troubles before it was due back to the library, but was still yearning to hear those stories, so this is the perfect entry into it. The audiobook is a must!

Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

WOW I loved this gorgeous trilogy. The art, the emotion, the fantasy elements interwoven with very real social implications in a world of wishes. A rich and creative setting. Dynamic and detailed visual storytelling. I wanted to fly through it while also savoring the experience. Completely immersive and complex while also being a delight. After sitting with the ending I flipped right back to the beginning to enjoy again. 

The Talk by Darrin Bell

emotional hopeful reflective tense

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
Did not finish book. Stopped at 33%.

So long and detailed, wonderfully narrated. Not enough time with it from the library. Will try other sources for learning about The Troubles. 

Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades

emotional hopeful reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

Such a cool piece. So specific in its detail, making it unexpectedly universal, especially with its plural first person "we" POV. Poetic composition and compelling narration on the audiobook. This is girlhood and legacy and identity and sense of place.

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

adventurous challenging emotional reflective

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

5.0

I lie in the sea and feel more lost than ever, because I'm not meant to be homesick, I'm not meant to long for the things I have always been so desperate to leave.

It isn't fair to be the kind of creature who is able to love but unable to stay.

Wild. This ended up being way more than I expected - certainly an adventure to the ends of the earth in a near-dystopian world grappling with the realities of extinction in the face of climate change, but so much more. This character, her trauma, her connections and calling to these creatures, her relationship with her husband. There was a bigger yet more intimate world in this book, and because the depth of character and backstory was so unexpected, I was compelled even more. 

But there won't be any more journeys after this one, no more oceans explored. And maybe that's why I am filled with calm. My life has been a migration without a destination, and that in itself is senseless. I leave for no reason, just to be moving, and it breaks my heart a thousand times, a million. It's a relief to at last have a purpose. I wonder what it will feel like to stop. I wonder where we go, afterward, and if we are followed. I suspect we go nowhere, and become nothing, and the only thing that saddens me about this is the idea of never seeing Niall again. We are, all of us, given such a brief moment of time together, it hardly seems fair. But it's precious, and maybe it's enough, and maybe it's right that our bodies dissolve into the earth, giving our energy back to it, feeding the little creatures in the ground and giving nutrients to the soil, and maybe it's right that our consciousness rests. The thought is peaceful.

Still Life with Bones by Alexa Hagerty

challenging emotional informative reflective

5.0

IN THEIR BLOODY wake, the dictatorships of Argentina and Guatemala left a task at once impossible and urgent: finding the disappeared. The dictators burned the logs that recorded the names of their victims and shredded the maps that marked their graves. They hid their archives and kept their silence.

Yet forensic teams started looking for the missing. They came armed with teaspoons and plastic buckets. Courageous, they showed up. They started in their youth and have spent their lives searching.

Such a respectful and reflective interweaving of violent Latin American histories, the neverending act of exhuming these mass graves, and how we care for the dead. I learned a lot but was also struck by the poetry and emotion of the writing. 

If you can’t understand the bones as people who are missed and loved, with a mother and father standing by the edge of the grave waiting, you can’t do this work. If you can’t understand the bones as evidence to be analyzed and examined, you can’t do this work. You must touch bones and be touched by them. You must be able to drink your tea with the dead.

Year after year, groups of students puzzle over her skeleton, sorting out human and canine bones. Her body is pieced together over and over. Her profile is completed time and again. Each time her body is articulated, her story is told. Bones and story together, we catch a glimpse of her full humanity. This is not a funeral rite, but it is a ritual. This is not a proper burial, but it is a way to honor the dead. This isn’t justice, but it is a form of testimony.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

emotional reflective tense

5.0

I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.

Wow I'm glad I read this over a few months instead of rushing through a 21 day library loan. Such a unique narrator and beautiful characterization. I flew through my reading sessions but slowed to savor the writing. I'll remember Himmel Street for a while.

You, Again by Kate Goldbeck

funny lighthearted

I don't think romance is my 5-star genre and that's fine. I finished it and that says something. The nuggets inspired by When Harry Met Sally just made me want to watch the movie/reminded me that I want to read some Nora Ephron. 

Starfish by Lisa Fipps

challenging emotional reflective

For middle grade this packs a punch. The horribly real words of Ellie's bullies, the biggest of whom is her own mother, had me holding my breath. I'm thankful for the friends our protagonist has and the journey with her therapist, and her own body positive thoughts, because without those elements I would worry for the young people that form the book's audience. Gorgeously and accessibly written in poetry. A favorite among my students and I see why.