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notesbynnenna's Reviews (513)
I’d call this book speculative fiction- it explores what happens when a pandemic wipes out 99% of the population on Earth. It follows a few different characters and over time, you see how each of these characters is connected to the other. I don’t think it’s easy to weave together different narratives, but the author does it really well here. After the pandemic, there’s a group of actors and musicians who travel around performing Shakespeare plays. Their motto is “survival is insufficient.” To survive the pandemic is not enough- they want to keep sharing their art with what’s left of the world. A few other themes throughout the book are memory, society, artifacts, and celebrity.
I really enjoyed this. I thought Mandel’s writing was excellent and the whole premise really made me think. The great pandemic is just on the edge of plausible and I found myself wondering if I would survive if something like that happened. Also, I thought she was really skillful at jumping around in time and from character to character. I feel like it’s really easy to lose the reader when you have a non-linear narrative, but that wasn’t the case here. I’d definitely recommend this book and I’m looking forward to reading what she writes next.
I really enjoyed this. I thought Mandel’s writing was excellent and the whole premise really made me think. The great pandemic is just on the edge of plausible and I found myself wondering if I would survive if something like that happened. Also, I thought she was really skillful at jumping around in time and from character to character. I feel like it’s really easy to lose the reader when you have a non-linear narrative, but that wasn’t the case here. I’d definitely recommend this book and I’m looking forward to reading what she writes next.
#ReadSoulLit: http://youtu.be/YMCQzwi0rqU
Baba Segi is a wealthy businessman in Nigeria and he’s married to four different women. At first I was really annoyed with this book. Baba Segi’s attitude towards women is from the Dark Ages- he believes that his wives only exist to serve him and cater to his every whim. I was having trouble understanding why any of the women would want to be married to someone who has multiple wives. However, as you keep reading, you get to know each of the characters a little better and you find out how they’ve come to where they are now. Each of them is in this situation for a different reason and once you hear about their backgrounds, it kind of makes sense. As the title says, everyone has secrets and those secrets bring tragedy and misery. In the end, I thought it was interesting to read a story that takes place in a different setting. It was good to read about a different life experience and I appreciate the way my opinion of that lifestyle choice changed as I was reading the book. I’m not saying I support polygamy, but I understood why the women chose that path.
Baba Segi is a wealthy businessman in Nigeria and he’s married to four different women. At first I was really annoyed with this book. Baba Segi’s attitude towards women is from the Dark Ages- he believes that his wives only exist to serve him and cater to his every whim. I was having trouble understanding why any of the women would want to be married to someone who has multiple wives. However, as you keep reading, you get to know each of the characters a little better and you find out how they’ve come to where they are now. Each of them is in this situation for a different reason and once you hear about their backgrounds, it kind of makes sense. As the title says, everyone has secrets and those secrets bring tragedy and misery. In the end, I thought it was interesting to read a story that takes place in a different setting. It was good to read about a different life experience and I appreciate the way my opinion of that lifestyle choice changed as I was reading the book. I’m not saying I support polygamy, but I understood why the women chose that path.
I’m surprised that I’ve never read Dracula before, considering that I’m totally into vampire novels (and TV shows). The story begins with the journal of Jonathan Harker, a young lawyer who travels to Transylvania to meet with his client, the one and only Count Dracula. Some very strange things begin to happen and Jonathan records them all in his journal. Slowly Jonathan realizes that Count Dracula is not exactly what he seems…
I thought this was great. I was delightfully surprised by the humor in this book. Maybe it’s because I’ve absorbed the story of Dracula through pop culture over the years, but when Jonathan’s like, “*How strange, this man never seems to eat or sleep and he has no reflection!” (*I’m paraphrasing here, these are not actual lines from the book), I’m like, “Hahaha, that’s because he’s a vampire!” I don’t know if that quite makes sense, but there’s a certain humor in knowing more than the characters in the novel do. There are also journal entries and letters from other characters, who eventually band together to hunt down Dracula. Like with most classics, it took me a bit to settle into the writing style, but once I focused my energies on this book, I read big chunks of it at a time.
I thought this was great. I was delightfully surprised by the humor in this book. Maybe it’s because I’ve absorbed the story of Dracula through pop culture over the years, but when Jonathan’s like, “*How strange, this man never seems to eat or sleep and he has no reflection!” (*I’m paraphrasing here, these are not actual lines from the book), I’m like, “Hahaha, that’s because he’s a vampire!” I don’t know if that quite makes sense, but there’s a certain humor in knowing more than the characters in the novel do. There are also journal entries and letters from other characters, who eventually band together to hunt down Dracula. Like with most classics, it took me a bit to settle into the writing style, but once I focused my energies on this book, I read big chunks of it at a time.
This was my favorite read of the month. Anna is a housewife who lives in Switzerland with her husband and three kids. On the surface her life appears perfect, but she is bored, lonely and severely unhappy. In an effort to feel something, anything, she begins a series of affairs. Soon she can no longer hide her secrets and her life begins to unravel.
I thought this was so well-written. It’s really a character study of Anna. Anna takes German classes to improve her speaking abilities and her German lessons are woven throughout the book. It’s really interesting the way that the author plays with words and applies the German lessons to Anna’s life. The reader is also an observer of Anna’s psychoanalysis appointments with her therapist, so you get a good sense of how Anna thinks and what she feels.
Warning- she’s an unlikeable character and the sex scenes do get a bit graphic, so if you’re sensitive to either of those things, I’d steer clear of this one. If you love beautiful writing and really delving into a character’s psyche, then I think you’ll find Hausfrau quite intriguing.
I thought this was so well-written. It’s really a character study of Anna. Anna takes German classes to improve her speaking abilities and her German lessons are woven throughout the book. It’s really interesting the way that the author plays with words and applies the German lessons to Anna’s life. The reader is also an observer of Anna’s psychoanalysis appointments with her therapist, so you get a good sense of how Anna thinks and what she feels.
Warning- she’s an unlikeable character and the sex scenes do get a bit graphic, so if you’re sensitive to either of those things, I’d steer clear of this one. If you love beautiful writing and really delving into a character’s psyche, then I think you’ll find Hausfrau quite intriguing.
This is the second book in The Bone Season trilogy (I wrote about the first book, The Bone Season, last year), so I won’t really delve into the plot, to avoid spoilers. The main point you need to know is that it’s set in a futuristic London where possessing and using clairvoyant abilities is a crime.
I had a few issues with the first book, but not enough to prevent me from continuing with the series. I think I actually like this sequel better. The author doesn’t have to spend as much time explaining everything, since we’re already familiar with the world. It picks up right where the first book left off, is pretty solid in the middle, and then for the last 150 pages or so, it was a real page-turner. I still feel like I don’t quite know the main character, Paige. I mean, I have a good sense of her after reading the first two books, but I want to know more about her backstory and what motivates her. It ended on a cliffhanger, so now I’m jonesing for the next book. According to the author’s blog, she’s nearly done writing it, so perhaps it will be published next year.
I had a few issues with the first book, but not enough to prevent me from continuing with the series. I think I actually like this sequel better. The author doesn’t have to spend as much time explaining everything, since we’re already familiar with the world. It picks up right where the first book left off, is pretty solid in the middle, and then for the last 150 pages or so, it was a real page-turner. I still feel like I don’t quite know the main character, Paige. I mean, I have a good sense of her after reading the first two books, but I want to know more about her backstory and what motivates her. It ended on a cliffhanger, so now I’m jonesing for the next book. According to the author’s blog, she’s nearly done writing it, so perhaps it will be published next year.
You’ve probably heard of author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk by now (yep, it’s the one that Beyonce sampled in her song “***Flawless”). This slim little volume is her talk adapted into essay form. There’s not too much to say about this one, except that her message is fantastic and I 100% agree with what she says. What she writes is not groundbreaking, but it does boil down the argument for feminism in a way that’s really clear and logical. I also enjoyed the brief anecdotes peppered throughout on what feminism means to her personally. I highly recommend that you watch the talk if you haven’t seen it already, and this essay version is great as well.
Once you say “book about a book lover,” I’m in. A.J. Fikry owns a bookshop on a small island off the East Coast. When the book begins, his wife is recently deceased and he is pretty miserable. However, everything changes one night when he finds a small child in his bookstore. Sadly, the mother of this child has committed suicide. In a surprising move to the other townspeople, A.J. forms a bond with the little girl named Maya, and decides to raise her as his own.
This basic premise of this story is sweet and of course I thoroughly enjoyed all of the bookish bits. Each chapter begins with a book recommendation written by A.J. for Maya, which is a lovely idea. However, I had a problem with the pacing of this novel. The first third or so is pretty steady and then suddenly it feels like we’re skyrocketing through these character’s lives. Major events will happen or details will be revealed, but I didn’t feel like I had time to absorb them because then it’s on to the next thing. Overall, I did like this book, but I wish the story had gone a bit deeper.
This basic premise of this story is sweet and of course I thoroughly enjoyed all of the bookish bits. Each chapter begins with a book recommendation written by A.J. for Maya, which is a lovely idea. However, I had a problem with the pacing of this novel. The first third or so is pretty steady and then suddenly it feels like we’re skyrocketing through these character’s lives. Major events will happen or details will be revealed, but I didn’t feel like I had time to absorb them because then it’s on to the next thing. Overall, I did like this book, but I wish the story had gone a bit deeper.
Now let’s talk about a book that I didn’t like- We Were Liars. There was so much hype surrounding this book when it was released last summer, but I’d heard pretty mixed reviews. Finally I decided to pick it up this month to form my own opinion. I thought it was strange. The book is narrated by Cadence, who belongs to a wealthy, entitled family. The family spends their summers on their own private island and one summer, something happens. That’s about all I can tell you without spoiling it, but really I don’t think there’s much to spoil. Let’s just say that when that thing happens, I was not impressed by the turn of events.
Another aspect that I didn’t enjoy was the writing style. Sometimes sentences are broken out so that each word is on a separate line- I haven’t yet figured out what the author was trying to achieve with that style. The narrator is also very hyperbolic, so she’ll say something like, “My feelings were hurt and my eyes started bleeding,” (not an actual quote). It took me a little while to realize that what she said was not actually true and I just found it confusing. I didn’t really think that the narrator, or the story itself, was compelling. It’s safe to say that this one did not live up to the hype for me.
Another aspect that I didn’t enjoy was the writing style. Sometimes sentences are broken out so that each word is on a separate line- I haven’t yet figured out what the author was trying to achieve with that style. The narrator is also very hyperbolic, so she’ll say something like, “My feelings were hurt and my eyes started bleeding,” (not an actual quote). It took me a little while to realize that what she said was not actually true and I just found it confusing. I didn’t really think that the narrator, or the story itself, was compelling. It’s safe to say that this one did not live up to the hype for me.
I’m recommending this book as the perfect, summer read. It’s light, funny, and fun to read and I thought it was quite well done. It’s a story inspired by Kate Middleton. In the book, the main character named Rebecca (“Bex” for short), travels to London to study abroad at Oxford. There she meets Nick and doesn’t realize at first that he’s the future Prince of Wales. The two of them fall in love and have to face the challenges of having a relationship under the public eye.
I really liked the cast of characters in this book- not just Bex and Nick, but also their group of friends. I feel like I got a good sense of who they were and there were little details about each character that made me smile. I think it was really interesting to imagine what it would be like to go from being a regular civilian, to becoming a part of the most important family in England. This was just really enjoyable and I’d definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a beach read.
I really liked the cast of characters in this book- not just Bex and Nick, but also their group of friends. I feel like I got a good sense of who they were and there were little details about each character that made me smile. I think it was really interesting to imagine what it would be like to go from being a regular civilian, to becoming a part of the most important family in England. This was just really enjoyable and I’d definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a beach read.
I picked this up because it looked like a good summer read. I think I read about it in a magazine before it was published, then I placed a hold at my library so that I could borrow it as soon as it came out. Isn’t it cool that you can do that?
In this novel, Imogen Tate is the Editor-in-Chief of a popular women’s magazine titled Glossy. When the book begins, Imogen has recently taken a leave of absence due to health issues. When she returns to work, she finds that things have completely changed as her magazine tries to compete in the digital age. What’s most surprising to Imogen is that her former assistant Eve is now calling the shots (has anyone seen All About Eve?). Will Imogen adapt to the new regime, or will she become extinct?
Clearly this is very of the moment, as several print magazines are shuttering or scaling back. Lucky Magazine recently announced that it would no longer have a print component and Women’s Wear Daily moved to weekly issues. I’ve always loved fashion magazines, so I appreciate that the authors wanted to comment on a current phenomenon. Naturally, I loved all of the fashion bits, from the descriptions of the clothes characters were wearing, to the somewhat exaggerated portrayal of what it’s like to work at a magazine. I even heard that one of the characters was based on Eva Chen, who I absolutely adore and stalk on all forms of social media.
Overall, I enjoyed the subject matter and felt that this was an entertaining read. I do wish that the characters had been a bit more developed. I found it a little hard to believe that Imogen could be 100% clueless when it comes to technology in the year 2015, but perhaps that’s a function of the fact that I grew up with computers. I guess I wanted more from this book, but I did like reading it. It’s light and easy and would be a good beach read pick for those who are interested in fashion.
In this novel, Imogen Tate is the Editor-in-Chief of a popular women’s magazine titled Glossy. When the book begins, Imogen has recently taken a leave of absence due to health issues. When she returns to work, she finds that things have completely changed as her magazine tries to compete in the digital age. What’s most surprising to Imogen is that her former assistant Eve is now calling the shots (has anyone seen All About Eve?). Will Imogen adapt to the new regime, or will she become extinct?
Clearly this is very of the moment, as several print magazines are shuttering or scaling back. Lucky Magazine recently announced that it would no longer have a print component and Women’s Wear Daily moved to weekly issues. I’ve always loved fashion magazines, so I appreciate that the authors wanted to comment on a current phenomenon. Naturally, I loved all of the fashion bits, from the descriptions of the clothes characters were wearing, to the somewhat exaggerated portrayal of what it’s like to work at a magazine. I even heard that one of the characters was based on Eva Chen, who I absolutely adore and stalk on all forms of social media.
Overall, I enjoyed the subject matter and felt that this was an entertaining read. I do wish that the characters had been a bit more developed. I found it a little hard to believe that Imogen could be 100% clueless when it comes to technology in the year 2015, but perhaps that’s a function of the fact that I grew up with computers. I guess I wanted more from this book, but I did like reading it. It’s light and easy and would be a good beach read pick for those who are interested in fashion.