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lydiamacclaren's reviews
145 reviews
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
2.0
There seems to be a general consensus between all those I've talked to who have read this book that the turtle chapter was by far the best chapter in this book.
Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
4.0
The beauty of this book was the twisting of human life with the nature that we live in. Reading the first-hand account of a woman reflecting on her life experiences and the changes that she has witnessed around her. The nostalgia the book incites in the reader is both hopeful and bitter-sweet and causes you to reflect on your own life circumstances and the world impact upon you.
This book was difficult to read, causing both sweet and guilty emotions within me as I consider how too often I fail to have such an aware perspective as Hannah and more often am quickly dismissive of the ways things used to be and become more like her children. The book left me with a greater sense of gratitude for those who came before and a humbled recognition of my place in the wide scope of history.
Berry's writing is descriptive and piercing. Though the plot holds no secrets and is open about events that will still take place in the future I still found myself on the verge of tears or smiling joyfully as events came to pass. I would highly recommend this story as a powerful reflection on life and history.
This book was difficult to read, causing both sweet and guilty emotions within me as I consider how too often I fail to have such an aware perspective as Hannah and more often am quickly dismissive of the ways things used to be and become more like her children. The book left me with a greater sense of gratitude for those who came before and a humbled recognition of my place in the wide scope of history.
Berry's writing is descriptive and piercing. Though the plot holds no secrets and is open about events that will still take place in the future I still found myself on the verge of tears or smiling joyfully as events came to pass. I would highly recommend this story as a powerful reflection on life and history.
Animal Farm by George Orwell
5.0
November 1943 - February 1944
Such a haunting last line and such a haunting book. Watching the descent to apparent madness and knowing that it is all an allegory for true events, it's a humbling book that forces you to take a step back and truly consider the state of affairs: what was, what is, and what could be.
Such a haunting last line and such a haunting book. Watching the descent to apparent madness and knowing that it is all an allegory for true events, it's a humbling book that forces you to take a step back and truly consider the state of affairs: what was, what is, and what could be.
On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser
4.0
To start with, I write fiction, not non-fiction. However, as a human being I often have to write non-fiction in my daily life. In this book Zinsser offers some solid advice to fixing up sentences and how to view writing in a variety of forms. The book was divided up into three sections: advice for clean sentences, advice for writing in non-fiction forms, advice for writing practices.
The first section was the strongest and most useful. Zinsser offers some wonderful advice on how to streamline prose for the most power and impact. He discusses practical tips to strengthen the roots and thus enable the entire tree to flourish. In general a fiction author will be able to implement the same principles, they may also have to tweak a few suggestions in light of the different subject material and purpose of writing.
The second section is helpful only as it applies to each individual readers purpose. Zinsser offers a multitude of examples to reinforce the principles he suggests, but I often found myself skipping over those chunks of text. This section can easily be skimmed to pull out the few gems that underline each chapter.
The last section had some good advice but I found the last few chapters lagged and were misplaced in the book. A few could have been moved to the beginning and a few to the second section. There was some solid advice in them, but as the book is quite large to begin with a little restructuring could have been done to deliver the helpful points with more punch.
Overall I would highly suggest this book for all writers, fiction or non-fiction, it is helpful though be prepared for a bit of skimming.
The first section was the strongest and most useful. Zinsser offers some wonderful advice on how to streamline prose for the most power and impact. He discusses practical tips to strengthen the roots and thus enable the entire tree to flourish. In general a fiction author will be able to implement the same principles, they may also have to tweak a few suggestions in light of the different subject material and purpose of writing.
The second section is helpful only as it applies to each individual readers purpose. Zinsser offers a multitude of examples to reinforce the principles he suggests, but I often found myself skipping over those chunks of text. This section can easily be skimmed to pull out the few gems that underline each chapter.
The last section had some good advice but I found the last few chapters lagged and were misplaced in the book. A few could have been moved to the beginning and a few to the second section. There was some solid advice in them, but as the book is quite large to begin with a little restructuring could have been done to deliver the helpful points with more punch.
Overall I would highly suggest this book for all writers, fiction or non-fiction, it is helpful though be prepared for a bit of skimming.
The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
4.0
Amazing and unique world building, which was definitely what kept me reading. Sanderson did create a fascinating world that I enjoyed learning about, and the ending left more to be discovered and I will definitely be picking up the next book soon.
The writing style was too expository at some parts, and some of the characters and character interactions were lackluster. Overall the world itself makes the book worth the read, and there are some heartwarming relationships and riveting plot twists that make this large tome worth the read.
The writing style was too expository at some parts, and some of the characters and character interactions were lackluster. Overall the world itself makes the book worth the read, and there are some heartwarming relationships and riveting plot twists that make this large tome worth the read.
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
3.0
This book was so hyped up and I was expecting so much, it was very disappointing when the book turned out to be... average. It's not bad by any means, but as some reviewers have pointed out, it contains a lot of past tropes resurrected and not all good ones.
The premise was interesting, I personally haven't read many Arthurian inspired books so the concept was new to me. While I enjoyed that world building, it was also incredibly confusing and took a while for me to actually understand all the titles that were being thrown around. I really enjoyed the concept of the different magical systems, but in the end felt their development was lacking. They felt like completely different magic systems and why such various systems existed in the same world felt forced to me.
I liked Bree as a main character, but she was the only one who really got any sort of character development. Apart from her and the love triangle guys (I'll talk about that later) there was little characterization of anyone else. Alice was a throw away, and the rest of the Legendborn group were barely touched. I would credit this to the large cast and the hyper focus on the romance.
Now... about those love interests... take the old trope of the "good guy" and "bad guy" and there you have it. I don't even know if the relationship is being set up for a triangle or what, but I already hate it. I'm not a fan of love triangles, but especially when one is an outright abusive and immature person, well...
Sel. Let's talk about him. Worst character, and unfortunately the one that everyone will swoon over. He cannot control himself, he threatens Bree with physical harm and even death, he is dismissive of her, he oversteps her boundaries and never once does he ever apologize for any of this. When he realizes his assumption of her was wrong... he's still rude to her! I'm sorry, but he is a terrible person and I am totally not on board with Bree's friendship and possible romantic interest in him. He has no justification for his terrible actions, and if you want to argue that he has a tragic backstory that isn't enough and in the end his bad actions should still have repercussions and he needs to work through that.
Enough about him.
So, in the end... it was alright. Some of the events felt juvenile and comical and didn't work with the darker themes. Again, I'm disappointed because I expected so much, and while there were parts I found interesting and sections I was genuinely interested in, overall it just didn't live up to the hype.
The premise was interesting, I personally haven't read many Arthurian inspired books so the concept was new to me. While I enjoyed that world building, it was also incredibly confusing and took a while for me to actually understand all the titles that were being thrown around. I really enjoyed the concept of the different magical systems, but in the end felt their development was lacking. They felt like completely different magic systems and why such various systems existed in the same world felt forced to me.
I liked Bree as a main character, but she was the only one who really got any sort of character development. Apart from her and the love triangle guys (I'll talk about that later) there was little characterization of anyone else. Alice was a throw away, and the rest of the Legendborn group were barely touched. I would credit this to the large cast and the hyper focus on the romance.
Now... about those love interests... take the old trope of the "good guy" and "bad guy" and there you have it. I don't even know if the relationship is being set up for a triangle or what, but I already hate it. I'm not a fan of love triangles, but especially when one is an outright abusive and immature person, well...
Sel. Let's talk about him. Worst character, and unfortunately the one that everyone will swoon over. He cannot control himself, he threatens Bree with physical harm and even death, he is dismissive of her, he oversteps her boundaries and never once does he ever apologize for any of this. When he realizes his assumption of her was wrong... he's still rude to her! I'm sorry, but he is a terrible person and I am totally not on board with Bree's friendship and possible romantic interest in him. He has no justification for his terrible actions, and if you want to argue that he has a tragic backstory that isn't enough and in the end his bad actions should still have repercussions and he needs to work through that.
Enough about him.
So, in the end... it was alright. Some of the events felt juvenile and comical and didn't work with the darker themes. Again, I'm disappointed because I expected so much, and while there were parts I found interesting and sections I was genuinely interested in, overall it just didn't live up to the hype.
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
3.0
I had severely mixed feelings about this book. To be sure, this book is driven by the world building plain and simple. I think that is both what I appreciated about it and what I disliked about it.
The world is unique and I am very curious to learn more about the myths and how they connect to the world. However, the plot felt like a second thought, and I kept becoming distracted wondering if something ever actually... happened. The story takes a more realistic timeframe which can become boring if you aren’t genuinely interested in learning more about the world/magic system.
What I disliked the most was the characters. Kvothe is... well, he’s a Gary Stu. I did not like him in the past scenes and found him more empathetic in the present. I would give a pass since he is recounting about his naïve young self but... I still didn’t like him. No other characters really get much characterization. At all. This is utterly not a character driven book. Some characters seem like lazy add ons only brought back when they served Kvothe’s needs. Denna as a love interest was a poor decision. I don’t care what Kvothe says, she is cruel in a bad sense.
Will I continue reading this? Probably, because I love world building and I am genuinely curious about the Chandrian. However, if you like plot driven or character driven books, I’d suggest you skip this long-winded series.
The world is unique and I am very curious to learn more about the myths and how they connect to the world. However, the plot felt like a second thought, and I kept becoming distracted wondering if something ever actually... happened. The story takes a more realistic timeframe which can become boring if you aren’t genuinely interested in learning more about the world/magic system.
What I disliked the most was the characters. Kvothe is... well, he’s a Gary Stu. I did not like him in the past scenes and found him more empathetic in the present. I would give a pass since he is recounting about his naïve young self but... I still didn’t like him. No other characters really get much characterization. At all. This is utterly not a character driven book. Some characters seem like lazy add ons only brought back when they served Kvothe’s needs. Denna as a love interest was a poor decision. I don’t care what Kvothe says, she is cruel in a bad sense.
Will I continue reading this? Probably, because I love world building and I am genuinely curious about the Chandrian. However, if you like plot driven or character driven books, I’d suggest you skip this long-winded series.
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
4.0
Novik is an excellent reteller of fairytales, imagining creatively rich lore that transforms well-known tales into something new and unique. I had previously read "Uprooted" and was curious to read this retelling to consider the two against one another.
The strength of this story were the three main females, they were each strong, well-rounded characters that possessed a unique narrative voice. Their stories, their strengths, their flaws, were all captivating and I was genuinely curious how their stories would unfold.
The weakness of this story would be the slight drag of the narrative in the beginning and end, a similar complaint that I had against Uprooted. Though the world is rich and unique, the pacing is slightly off. I would have enjoyed more of a conclusion to this book, as the plot kept becoming more entangled and there was so little left of the book it almost felt that there would be no conclusion! Though everything was nicely settled, I would have enjoyed to see more of a glimpse of that.
I also agree with a few other reviewers that some of the POVs were unnecessary. I would have preferred if the POV stayed with the three main females, the others felt unnecessary and even at times detracted from the story. There were a few times I was frustrated at the choice of POV when a side character was the focus instead of the main female.
Overall, Novik's story is unique and truly makes you question your own assessment of others and the nuances of making the "right choice."
The strength of this story were the three main females, they were each strong, well-rounded characters that possessed a unique narrative voice. Their stories, their strengths, their flaws, were all captivating and I was genuinely curious how their stories would unfold.
The weakness of this story would be the slight drag of the narrative in the beginning and end, a similar complaint that I had against Uprooted. Though the world is rich and unique, the pacing is slightly off. I would have enjoyed more of a conclusion to this book, as the plot kept becoming more entangled and there was so little left of the book it almost felt that there would be no conclusion! Though everything was nicely settled, I would have enjoyed to see more of a glimpse of that.
I also agree with a few other reviewers that some of the POVs were unnecessary. I would have preferred if the POV stayed with the three main females, the others felt unnecessary and even at times detracted from the story. There were a few times I was frustrated at the choice of POV when a side character was the focus instead of the main female.
Overall, Novik's story is unique and truly makes you question your own assessment of others and the nuances of making the "right choice."