oashackelford's reviews
347 reviews

Please Unsubscribe, Thanks!: How to Take Back Our Time, Attention, and Purpose in a World Designed to Bury Us in Bullshit by Julio Vincent Gambuto

challenging hopeful reflective medium-paced

3.0

I like some of the advice that he gives in the book, but some of it feels untenable to me. He advises unsubscribing from your kids school and only looking in if it is important, ummmm, no. That is a really hard thing to do as a parent. I cannot make myself unreachable for the purpose of finding peace, it's something that is just a little to much at this time. 

Merchant of Venice (No Fear Shakespeare) by SparkNotes

challenging medium-paced

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

2.75

 I like the trickery of the play but I wish it was because Shylock is a genuinely bad dude who does evil for a living. Instead he is just a Jewish man who does his job and is tired of being mocked and harassed all the time and they take everything from him in such an illegal way. They don't honor their contract and they take him for everything that he is worth.

I think it would be a lot more enjoyable to watch the trickery if Shylock in any way really deserved it, but he doesn't. Even Othello is treated with more dignity. 

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann

adventurous funny mysterious relaxing 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

The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's by Hanna Alkaf

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Sexual harassment

They never explicitly describe what happens to the main character, but it is clear what happened to her

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

dark funny sad slow-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? No

3.5

Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter

adventurous funny medium-paced

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

4.0

 

I like that the author had the main character living in the Alaskan wilderness for six years prior to this story taking place. The motivation for the villain is a little vague and lacking, but the things that the kids do to survive feel really realistic and that makes the book really enjoyable.

 

Blue Horses: Poems by Mary Oliver

reflective slow-paced

3.5

I am not really a poetry person, but I read this to fulfill my library's 50 in 50 challenge

Othello by SparkNotes, William Shakespeare

challenging dark sad medium-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

4.0

I never knew how awful Iago was, but he truly is the worst.

The Age of Shakespeare by Frank Kermode
Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.

There were so many big words that I kept having to stop and google because I was struggling to understand them even in context. This read more like a text book than an interesting book giving context to Shakespeare's time. I am a well read person, and I like non-fiction, but I think if you write your book like only other historians are going to read it, then you are going to lose a huge percentage of a potential audience. Having to stop several times a paragraph to look up words I had never heard before took me out of the book and I kept forgetting what I was supposed to be learning. I wish some of the words had been a little easier because the ideas that I was able to glean from the book were interesting.

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

5.0

 

I was not expecting to like this as much as I did, and I am only sad now because he left room for a potential sequel, but I don't think he will be writing it any time soon. My main problem is, that while the main storyline has been wrapped up nicely, I still have questions that I want answered and I would like to see these characters happy.