kaitcetera's reviews
555 reviews

Lost Believers: A Novel by Irina Zhorov

adventurous emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

2.5

This book fell flat for me.  My book club tries to read one memoir cookbook a year and that meeting is a potluck of recipes from the book, so that meal raised the rating of this book by a half point. (I really wanted to read something else, but ya know, everyone has a crush on Stanley.)

My favorite chapter was when he talked about the time he had throat cancer and how he actually couldn't eat then. It really bothered me that he didn't mention that he cheated on his first wife and returned to her to help while she died of cancer. It felt like a serious gloss-over, when he could have spoken of that experience in a humble and apologetic way.

Also, if I may be a tad pedantic, the fact that he mentions multiple times that he is gluten-intolerant, but merely laments the ability to find good gf pasta and fails to include a robust recipe that is gf, bothered me.  Multiple members of my book club are gf, so we had to improvise and switch things up a bit, with great success, if I do say so myself. (I did read that other book I had wanted to, "Stir" by Jessica Fechtor and it was a delight, with great recipes to boot. My club missed out.)

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.0

This book was bad. I loved Catton's "The Luminaries", so I was excited to find this at my local library. The premise was intriguing but the storytelling was not engaging. I think I'd heard rumblings about the ending, so I stuck through it and the ending was indeed BONKERS. Not necessarily in a good way but it did bump the rating up by half a star. This could have been a short story.

Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths by Natalie Haynes

adventurous emotional funny informative medium-paced

5.0

This audiobook was an unexpected winner.  The types of books I'm interested in & willing to consume in audio format is slim and I typically just pick something that's available through my library right then. This was one of those, and it was a DELIGHT. It's read by the author and dives deep into the women in classic mythology, expanding their stories and giving them an amazing depth.

Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

5.0

I don't typically reach for nonfiction but this book was fascinating. I knew parts of the Dyatlov Pass mystery from a true crime podcast but the way this story unfolds and the theory posed at the end is masterful.

Alice Sadie Celine by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright

challenging emotional funny reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

I picked this up at the library because of the title and the cover, and really enjoyed it. The angst of being in your early 20s and trying to figure out life really came through and I enjoyed the overwrought nature of the relationship triangle.

Trust by Hernán Díaz

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

I am part of a book club that occasionally reads books I've read in the past. I am not a re-reader but I really enjoyed revisiting those books prior to the club discussions, like listening to this on audiobook.  There were parts of the plot I had completely forgotten and I just LOVE the way this story unfolds between each section, how you don't feel as though you want to continue through the first part but then you're so glad you did.

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad 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

5.0

I could not have loved this book more.

The Book of Love by Kelly Link

emotional funny mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

I love Link's short stories and this novel could have been one instead. I was really excited about it but it became such a slog and I did not particularly care for any of the main characters.

Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

I can't believe I "tried" to read this book a few years ago and wasn't able to get into it.  I loved it SO MUCH. There was a moment near the end where I thought I was going to be so sad and disappointed but I should have known better because Kingsolver ends her stories exactly as they should be, no more and more less.