factandfables's reviews
1149 reviews

Nemesis by Agatha Christie

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4.0

This is such a good Miss Marple!!!

One of the things I love about Christie is her ability to keep books short, sweet and light, but to also make sure that the characters grow, and remember previous crimes.

This brings back a character from [b:A Caribbean Mystery|31300|A Caribbean Mystery (Miss Marple, #9)|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309280346l/31300._SY75_.jpg|937152] in a great way, and has the right number of red herrings and additional characters to make it all easy to follow.

It gets docked a star for only two reasons: first, I knew almost immediately who the murderer was, which almost never happens, and second, there is some things said about young girls, rape and false testimony that just shouldn't be said, and it felt a bit icky.
Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close by Ann Friedman, Aminatou Sow

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4.0

I feel like I learned a lot from this, and really enjoyed the way it was written. This is not an expansive work about this topic, but I didn't mind that - it is a story of one friendship, with some tangential ideas and cursory exploration regarding aspects of friendship in general, and I found a lot to enjoy here.
1,001 Voices on Climate Change: Everyday Stories of Flood, Fire, Drought and Displacement from Around the World by Devi Lockwood

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4.0

This was a bit of a gut punch, but one I really enjoyed.

By design, this project feels a bit disjointed, as it is truly a series of conversation and experience snapshots that Lockwood collected over years, and so the through-line and commentary are generally lighter than some might like.

With that being said, this was a surprisingly gentle look at the many ways that climate change affects people around the globe, and I was totally sucked in by it.
Islands of Abandonment: Nature Rebounding in the Post-Human Landscape by Cal Flyn

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5.0

This book is so weird, and very interesting - I loved the way the author brought in so many aspects and pieces to think about.

I was personally drawn to the sections that looked at biodiversity and nature in abandoned spaces more than some of the later sections, but they were all fascinating!
Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie

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4.0

I feel like the solution to this was perhaps too easy? Otherwise I had a fun time reading it, and I’m sad to have this be the last full length Miss Marple I haven’t read!
Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach

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5.0

I mean, what’s not to like? Mary Roach takes on animals is a concept I was going to love no matter what and this is fun!
The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield

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4.0

I love Chris Hadfield, so I will forgive the incredible amount of unnecessary technical speak in this book (especially because these characters align with him and it does set a certain mood).

If you already love space and astronauts, this is a great book, and written with so much exuberance and love!
Matrix by Lauren Groff

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4.0

This was well written and quite interesting, and I do really like the way that Lauren Geoff writes one story but makes it clear that each person has another story they tell themselves - it’s hard to balance the internal world with your main character and the internal worlds of the secondary ones and she does this magically.

That being said, this book lacks narrative tension and I struggled with that. I liked it and found it beautiful, but I’m not entirely sure I “got” it.
How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur

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4.0

The beginning of this book was tough going, but part 2 and on was a fun and easy to understand distillation of ethical decision making and I enjoyed it a lot.