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nhnabass's reviews
109 reviews
The Murmur of Bees by Sofía Segovia
5.0
I'm not sure I have the words to properly convey the journey this book took me on. What a story to begin 2022.
Segovia's narrative, and Bruni's translation of course, is so gripping I finished this book in a matter of days. The way in which the perspective shifts ever so slightly with every chapter is such an immersive experience, it
truly feel like you are there, living every moment of this story. I found myself smiling with the family's moments of joy and again grieving with their losses.
The story meanders through the POV of many different characters in such an interesting way. It really felt like the story was more about the characters' lives than the story but... not in a bad way? I've personally never read anything written in this way before and I throughly enjoyed it. In the build up to an event we get to see it happen from every perspective-- it's less about the event itself than the way in which the community, the family, the characters are affected by it. I really enjoyed this form of story telling.
It was so interesting reading about Mexico's history through the perspective of the families of these few towns as well as seeing the eerie similarities of the first pandemic in 1918 to the one in which we are living through today. It was admittedly difficult to get through those particular chapters knowing we are suffering a similar plight all these years later in such a changed world.
Between the incredible writing and characters who quickly feel like your own family, I found myself swept away by the emotions, silent wisdom, and charisma of Simonopio despite everything this character goes through.
Again, what a marvelous story to start off this year with.
Segovia's narrative, and Bruni's translation of course, is so gripping I finished this book in a matter of days. The way in which the perspective shifts ever so slightly with every chapter is such an immersive experience, it
truly feel like you are there, living every moment of this story. I found myself smiling with the family's moments of joy and again grieving with their losses.
The story meanders through the POV of many different characters in such an interesting way. It really felt like the story was more about the characters' lives than the story but... not in a bad way? I've personally never read anything written in this way before and I throughly enjoyed it. In the build up to an event we get to see it happen from every perspective-- it's less about the event itself than the way in which the community, the family, the characters are affected by it. I really enjoyed this form of story telling.
It was so interesting reading about Mexico's history through the perspective of the families of these few towns as well as seeing the eerie similarities of the first pandemic in 1918 to the one in which we are living through today. It was admittedly difficult to get through those particular chapters knowing we are suffering a similar plight all these years later in such a changed world.
Between the incredible writing and characters who quickly feel like your own family, I found myself swept away by the emotions, silent wisdom, and charisma of Simonopio despite everything this character goes through.
Again, what a marvelous story to start off this year with.
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green
5.0
I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. As others mentioned, it feels silly leaving a review after Green takes great care to note the arbitration of 5 stars but nonetheless I am here to share my experience. Reading it felt like a much needed reality check, a humbling "come back down to earth" moment, and really felt like I was given permission to sit down with the little things in life despite the increasingly rapid, aggressive, hustle culture we are living in. As Green mentions in the Postscript, "I have tried here to map some of the places where my little life brushes up against the big forces shaping contemporary human experience, but the only conclusion I can draw is a simple one: We are so small, and so frail, so gloriously and terrifyingly temporary."
What a wonderful homage to humanity's short lived existence. Is this all encompassing of humanity's greatest achievements and worst downfalls? Of course not, it is existence through the eyes of a progressive middle aged-ish white man from Florida. But what that means is we are being shown the small snippets of an every day human's life and it's interactions with humanity as a whole. The connections and meanings we make and assume, this book is very human and again, gives us permission to look at our lives and do the same. "I don't believe we have a choice when it comes to whether we endow the world with meaning. We are all little fairies, sprinkling meaning dust everywhere we go.... We will build meaning whenever we go, with whatever we come across."
Finally, Green ends his section on Sunsets with "It is a sunset, and it is beautiful, and this whole thing you've been doing where nothing gets five stars because nothing is perfect? That's bullshit. So much is perfect. Starting with this. I give sunsets five stars"
Thank god for this quote-- as someone who feels surrounded by a constant stream of 3.5s and 4.75s because "nothing is perfect" I feel more and more anxious giving something 5 stars: I tell myself "was that really 5? Is everything really that good? Are my standards just low?" Fuck that. This book was 5 stars.
What a wonderful homage to humanity's short lived existence. Is this all encompassing of humanity's greatest achievements and worst downfalls? Of course not, it is existence through the eyes of a progressive middle aged-ish white man from Florida. But what that means is we are being shown the small snippets of an every day human's life and it's interactions with humanity as a whole. The connections and meanings we make and assume, this book is very human and again, gives us permission to look at our lives and do the same. "I don't believe we have a choice when it comes to whether we endow the world with meaning. We are all little fairies, sprinkling meaning dust everywhere we go.... We will build meaning whenever we go, with whatever we come across."
Finally, Green ends his section on Sunsets with "It is a sunset, and it is beautiful, and this whole thing you've been doing where nothing gets five stars because nothing is perfect? That's bullshit. So much is perfect. Starting with this. I give sunsets five stars"
Thank god for this quote-- as someone who feels surrounded by a constant stream of 3.5s and 4.75s because "nothing is perfect" I feel more and more anxious giving something 5 stars: I tell myself "was that really 5? Is everything really that good? Are my standards just low?" Fuck that. This book was 5 stars.
Unwinding Anxiety by Judson Brewer
4.0
I found this book decently insightful. It was recommended by a few mental health professionals I spoke with so I gave it a shot. As others have mentioned, it isn't explicitly about addressing a cure-all for anxiety but really is more about developing mindfulness techniques that can be utilized to lessen anxiety.
"Recognize/relax into what is arising. Accept/allow it to be there. Investigate bodily sensations, emotions, and thoughts. Note what is happening." This book offers many different strategies to reach self-awareness and mindfulness around your anxiety through his "habit mapping" where you map habit "loops" in order to find the root cause of one's anxieties and change behaviors. I like the strategies and the way in which they are presented and I truly agree that mindfulness is key to lessening anxious habits.
My qualm is this book is overly wordy and quite repetitive. I do appreciate the approach of sharing different positive experiences and examples but at a certain point it becomes difficult to keep engaged. Brewer's humor offers a bit of respite from time to time, but overall I feel like it could've done better with a more concise 100-150 pages at most.
"Recognize/relax into what is arising. Accept/allow it to be there. Investigate bodily sensations, emotions, and thoughts. Note what is happening." This book offers many different strategies to reach self-awareness and mindfulness around your anxiety through his "habit mapping" where you map habit "loops" in order to find the root cause of one's anxieties and change behaviors. I like the strategies and the way in which they are presented and I truly agree that mindfulness is key to lessening anxious habits.
My qualm is this book is overly wordy and quite repetitive. I do appreciate the approach of sharing different positive experiences and examples but at a certain point it becomes difficult to keep engaged. Brewer's humor offers a bit of respite from time to time, but overall I feel like it could've done better with a more concise 100-150 pages at most.
The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna
4.0
The Year of the Hare reads like a fantastical fever dream in the best way possible. The story follows a journalist who, after accidentally hitting a wild hare with his car, has a sudden awakening of the mundanity of modern society and denies complying to its demands any longer by literally following the hare into the forest and leaving his life behind. We follow their adventures through this collection of eccentric vignettes and I found myself surprisingly enthralled through the humor of Paasilinna (that seemed wonderfully translated in English) and the sheer absurdity of the some of the situations the duo find themselves in. It was especially wonderful watching as the narrator slowly attributed more and more of a personality to the hare and examining its responses to the different situations they are put in.
The protagonist almost seems selfish at first in leaving everything behind but unplugs in such a way that feels almost unattainable to do nowadays and again in a way that I feel many of us yearn for. I really enjoyed feeling through this chaos alongside the journalist and watching him try to detach from society yet continuously finding himself reliant on the good will of others. It left me with that "life is short so enjoy it" feeling that is unnameable. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed.
The protagonist almost seems selfish at first in leaving everything behind but unplugs in such a way that feels almost unattainable to do nowadays and again in a way that I feel many of us yearn for. I really enjoyed feeling through this chaos alongside the journalist and watching him try to detach from society yet continuously finding himself reliant on the good will of others. It left me with that "life is short so enjoy it" feeling that is unnameable. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
4.0
I picked up this book recognizing the author from the Shades of Magic trilogy that I had read last year (and had enjoyed more or less) so I had already set my expectation for the author's tone and writing. I was happily surprised to find the writing in this book is *much* better. The tone feels more sophisticated and the author does an excellent job portraying that. My only qualm with it, as with the aforementioned series, is the author's heavy-handedness when it comes to foreshadowing. She will drop an interesting thing and doesn't let you wonder about it because she will bring it up seven more times to make it very clear this other thing is definitely going to be related. It wasn't as bad as before in that I didn't roll my eyes nearly as much while reading, so only knocked half a star for me.
Other than the fact the story primarily takes place in Europe + North America, which feels like missed opportunities for a character who literally can live forever, that is really the only thing I can think of that bothered me at all. This is a wonderfully interesting take on the classic "making a deal with the devil" and God is it so refreshing to see characters actually suffer a little bit with the consequences they brought onto themselves. A deal is a deal, and I like that there's no wishy-washyness about it. The love story is cute and included lovely LGBTQ+ romance again which was a plus. The story and characters felt decently well rounded and captivating and the way in which the timeline is told is fun and refreshing. Overall, this was a fun and easy read and I can certainly see myself reading it again.
Other than the fact the story primarily takes place in Europe + North America, which feels like missed opportunities for a character who literally can live forever, that is really the only thing I can think of that bothered me at all. This is a wonderfully interesting take on the classic "making a deal with the devil" and God is it so refreshing to see characters actually suffer a little bit with the consequences they brought onto themselves. A deal is a deal, and I like that there's no wishy-washyness about it. The love story is cute and included lovely LGBTQ+ romance again which was a plus. The story and characters felt decently well rounded and captivating and the way in which the timeline is told is fun and refreshing. Overall, this was a fun and easy read and I can certainly see myself reading it again.
The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
5.0
"To borrow a word from the Indigenous communities that my Black ancestors probably come from, I am a griot of the universe-- a storyteller. And although I am the first Black woman to hold a tenure-track faculty position in theoretical cosmology, I am certainly not the first Black woman to be a griot of the universe." (Chapter 4)
I will begin, as others have, making it clear I am not an science person by any means, yet I would argue that this book was still written for someone like me-- who wonders about the night sky passionately and often. As others have mentioned, the first few chapters are challenging but do know Dr. Prescod-Weinstein explains it all in bite size knowledge chunks that make it easier to digest, even for someone who had only heard of "quarks" in high school physics.
Near the beginning of the book, a striking quote sat with me, "some of us wonder about where we belong more than others." Dr. Prescod-Weinstein takes great care to explain the fascinating magic of particle physics and astrophysics while emphasizing that her journey into science is unmistakably shaped by her identity as a Queer Black Woman. This book is an important one, highlighting the importance and scale of the anti-racist work left to do in STEM fields while also elevating one of the only Black femme voices in this field in this part-memoir format. The chapter, "Dark Matter Isn't Dark" was especially eye-opening and highlighted how even in such a commonly known name, racial biases persist when things are only ever "found" and named by white men.
The author does a careful job illustrating the many ways science and society are entangled with capitalism and colonialism-- and that western science has proved a lot but is certainly not the first to do so. The author provided much needed historical context behind commonly known physics discoveries and I found myself learning a lot more than I expected to. I feel as though through this book I have peaked behind the scenes of theoretical sciences and I am interested and excited to look and learn more. Overall, this was a challenging but fascinating read and I am glad I picked it up.
I will begin, as others have, making it clear I am not an science person by any means, yet I would argue that this book was still written for someone like me-- who wonders about the night sky passionately and often. As others have mentioned, the first few chapters are challenging but do know Dr. Prescod-Weinstein explains it all in bite size knowledge chunks that make it easier to digest, even for someone who had only heard of "quarks" in high school physics.
Near the beginning of the book, a striking quote sat with me, "some of us wonder about where we belong more than others." Dr. Prescod-Weinstein takes great care to explain the fascinating magic of particle physics and astrophysics while emphasizing that her journey into science is unmistakably shaped by her identity as a Queer Black Woman. This book is an important one, highlighting the importance and scale of the anti-racist work left to do in STEM fields while also elevating one of the only Black femme voices in this field in this part-memoir format. The chapter, "Dark Matter Isn't Dark" was especially eye-opening and highlighted how even in such a commonly known name, racial biases persist when things are only ever "found" and named by white men.
The author does a careful job illustrating the many ways science and society are entangled with capitalism and colonialism-- and that western science has proved a lot but is certainly not the first to do so. The author provided much needed historical context behind commonly known physics discoveries and I found myself learning a lot more than I expected to. I feel as though through this book I have peaked behind the scenes of theoretical sciences and I am interested and excited to look and learn more. Overall, this was a challenging but fascinating read and I am glad I picked it up.
All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir
5.0
What an absolute rollercoaster of emotion. As others have said, this book will emotionally wreck you, but not for the reasons you'd think. I didn't read a synopsis before hand, and I'm honestly glad I didn't. I went into this book knowing it had some relatable immigrant characters and it was probably going to make me cry but I was not prepared for the very real, heavy experiences these characters go through as immigrants and children of immigrants living in modern day America.
The book follows a few different perspectives over time as the story unfolds, jumping between "then" and "now." The author's pacing is incredible as she reveals just enough of the story bit by bit until "then" meets "now" allowing the reader to slowly piece together what has happened. The two main teenage protagonists we follow in the "now" are rich, dynamic characters. Sometimes when perspectives jump around in books it's overwhelming and too heavy handed, but not here. As the reader, getting to have both characters' inner thoughts accessible was incredibly fulfilling as you get to see the same event play out from the two almost opposing perspectives.
As I began the book, I worried this was going to be another YA high school drama book. I'm not a huge fan of reading about teenagers being teenagers. Nothing against those kinds of coming-of-age stories, just too cliche and not for me. I remained skeptical until about 50 pages in when I quickly realized there was so much more here. I loved Noor's character. Maybe it's the teenage me who also clung to Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, and Depeche Mode. Perhaps her character was just a little too close to home, but watching everything both her Sal and go through together really does take you right back to high school in a *not* cringey way. Right back to those very real moments of desperately wanting to fit in. Surrounded by racists and people who just don't know any better. Every single micro-aggression that does not go unnoticed.
These characters really portray the gritty, heart-wrenchingly hard truths of trying to make it as an immigrant in a community that just doesn't get you. Rather, a community that just doesn't want you. This story explores the consequences of that inherent xenophobia on the culture, tradition, and religion that immigrant communities in America cherish and thrive on. I highly recommend this story for anyone who wants that kind of inside look. This book truly has my heart.
The book follows a few different perspectives over time as the story unfolds, jumping between "then" and "now." The author's pacing is incredible as she reveals just enough of the story bit by bit until "then" meets "now" allowing the reader to slowly piece together what has happened. The two main teenage protagonists we follow in the "now" are rich, dynamic characters. Sometimes when perspectives jump around in books it's overwhelming and too heavy handed, but not here. As the reader, getting to have both characters' inner thoughts accessible was incredibly fulfilling as you get to see the same event play out from the two almost opposing perspectives.
As I began the book, I worried this was going to be another YA high school drama book. I'm not a huge fan of reading about teenagers being teenagers. Nothing against those kinds of coming-of-age stories, just too cliche and not for me. I remained skeptical until about 50 pages in when I quickly realized there was so much more here. I loved Noor's character. Maybe it's the teenage me who also clung to Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, and Depeche Mode. Perhaps her character was just a little too close to home, but watching everything both her Sal and go through together really does take you right back to high school in a *not* cringey way. Right back to those very real moments of desperately wanting to fit in. Surrounded by racists and people who just don't know any better. Every single micro-aggression that does not go unnoticed.
These characters really portray the gritty, heart-wrenchingly hard truths of trying to make it as an immigrant in a community that just doesn't get you. Rather, a community that just doesn't want you. This story explores the consequences of that inherent xenophobia on the culture, tradition, and religion that immigrant communities in America cherish and thrive on. I highly recommend this story for anyone who wants that kind of inside look. This book truly has my heart.
Calling a Wolf a Wolf by Kaveh Akbar
5.0
Despite reading this collection over a dozen times over, it is still what I reach for when I am in need. In need of tenderness, of haunting vulnerability, of being seen. Kaveh's poetry sits so well with me, I can't even really call this a review more than a raving. Over all this time, I'm still not quite sure what to say except that every time I pick up this collection, I am grateful I did. Kaveh transforms even the most mundane into meaningful fascination through vivid imagery as he navigates addiction, craving, God, and culture. Paired with his spiraling writing style, these poems read like evocation magic to me, stirring the most gentle feelings of yearning and sorrow. I am humbled and forever in awe by Kaveh's words.