larabreanne's reviews
476 reviews

Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal by Mark Bittman

challenging informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

Incredibly dense, but incredibly necessary!
Nothing like a 300 page book on modern agriculture to remind you why you’re vegan.

I do wish there was more emphasis on Indigenous food sovereignty and Indigenous food ways, but Braiding Sweetgrass is a good supplement for that.

I wrote down a lot of quotes, but I think the one that best sums up this book is, ‘food has always been political.’

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This book was so well-crafted and the characters all so well drawn. The courtroom scenes, surprisingly, were some of the most compelling.

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Brilliant characters, heartbreaking writing.

God Spare the Girls by Kelsey McKinney

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I was almost more interested in what inspired this book than the book itself - much of it felt so realistic that I knew it had to have been true to the author’s life.

The essay included after the end ‘Losing My Religion - and My Virginity’ answered a lot of my questions, but made me think I would have preferred this book as a memoir than fiction.

I’d have loved the narrative to look at how the culture portrayed (Evangelical Christianity) is impacted by and impacts the broader politics in the US. It takes place in Texas, and just this week there’s a legal battle going on with the state’s abortion law. Texas used to record ~50,000 abortions a year. So far in 2023, there have been 34. That's purity culture right there. Bleak.

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

1.75

Comments while reading:
I’m already regretting reading this LOL
Just needed to be sure all the people who told me that no, really, I’d like it, we’re wrong 😬

Things have improved somewhat - not in the sense that I enjoy it more, but in the sense that I do want to finish it.
Two main things - I hate the very detached, unfeeling writing style. It’s just so cold and inhuman. I feel like it’s from the POV of a robot who is impersonating a human.
I’m also so frustrated with how passive the main character is. She says Nick is passive, but his passivity doesn’t compare.

Comments after reading:
I hope people can see my previous comments while I was reading it as part of this review. The ending I somewhat liked because there was less of the main character being herself.

Sped through this because I just wanted it to be over.

The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar

challenging dark hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

This is my third Agatha Christie book and I think I prefer the Hercule Poirot mysteries to the ones without him! He gives me Dumbledore vibes in a familiar, comforting way.

Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do (And More Life to Live) by Eve Rodsky

hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

Recursion by Blake Crouch

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

Wow, what an undertaking writing this must have been. I’ve told so many people about this book while reading it (because it took SO long). It was very dense but utterly fascinating.

Main takeaways: nature can be activated by nurture. Also, pregnant people should consume lots of choline. And maybe also having 12 children is ill-advised.