sahanac's reviews
203 reviews

An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created by Santi Elijah Holley

adventurous challenging emotional informative medium-paced

4.0

bit of repetition in the chapters (i think we got assata shakur's origin story leas up four different times), but it's a history i really valued learning about and considering

Love Is an Ex-Country by Randa Jarrar

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

2.5

meandering, hard to decipher the point. felt like the shock factor mattered more than the story at some points, to a distracting degree. i tore thru it and i appreciate the politics of this one, but perhaps the bold-faced brashness jarrar delights in is made for bolder folks than me

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Night Watchman was a book I read for a book club and I frankly knew nothing about the plot before I started - I began reading and closed the book pretty quickly. But then, determined to finish, I listened to Louise Erdrich narrate this title on audio, and I have to say how much it enhanced the experience - getting to hear the Chippewa spoken was an incredible experience, and really made the story more immersive. The story ebbs and flows, and I think following the actual historical fact of her grandfather's experience held Erdrich back on delving deeper into Thomas' character, but Patrice's story, as she moved from the reservation to the city and back home again. The way Indian-ness was woven into the fabric of each character's being and the fundamental interactions of society on the reservation and off were powerful when Erdrich voiced it, and the story was made so much more meaningful when heard through her voice. I am not often a fan of author's reading their own works - they write the stories, but are not always good at translating that to a meaningful audiobook experience. But Erdrich made it really work. 

The Dawn of Yangchen by F.C. Yee

adventurous challenging mysterious fast-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

5.0

we know of her as a saint in the times of every other avatar we've ever met, especially kyoshi and aang. but she's the villain in kuruk's life, as we learn in the kyoshi novels, so i was really interested in learning how we got there. the result is a really fascinating conceit: yangchen, unlike the other avatars we've met, has no trouble accessing her past lives. in fact, it's too intense. this is a completely new twist in the state of avatarhood, because we've seen kyoshi, aang, and korra struggle with the burden of their past lives and decisions without access — yangchen has always had access and it overwhelms her. she gets down and dirty because she's seen other avatars do it, in conflict with what the world thinks about the avatar. she knows exactly the power the avatar can have, she just doesn't know how to be that person HERSELF yet. i agree with other reviewers that centering kavik is a bit ridiculous, but im optimistic about the set up for the second yangchen novel.

Mercy Street by Jennifer Haigh

challenging emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.75

this is not the book i expected, going into the story. but i was captivated by all four povs we followed thru the book. i don't really know what i was hoping for, but this book gave me more, between claudia's career and family life, between anthony and timmy, and victor — the bad guys got what was due them, and the good guys did too, and in the end i'm not sure anyone got what they wanted, or what they deserved. much like life. or something? im still perplexed.

The Shadow of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee

adventurous challenging emotional fast-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? Yes

5.0

we!!! love!!! worldbuliding!! anything that adds to lore is amazing in my book this does a really good job of fleshing out kuruk's avatarhood and introducing yangchen in time for her novels!

The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring fast-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? Yes

5.0

truly just a leveled up continuation of the avatar world & a great look at one of all time baddies of the atlaverse. like the comics and lok, a natural extension of a fascinating world.

We Don't Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland by Fintan O'Toole

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

Vast, sweeping, comprehensive (if sometimes unwieldy) perspective on Irish history. Really fascinating in context of modern apartheid states and two-state scenarios, but also interesting of it's own merit to see the evolution of the Irish people and Ireland from migratory to settled in their own land following centuries of colonial rule; how does a people form an identity from there? My one complaint is that it could have been edited more tightly, but this is a good one for history buffs.

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

5.0

 

I grew up obsessed with shipwreck stories. Between Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver’s Travels, and The Swiss Family Robinson, I felt like I was preparing myself in case I was ever caught marooned in a foreign land. I carried a compass with me, and a little kit full of tools in case I was caught off guard and thrown into the wilderness. It was like I was doomsday prepping, but I was eleven, and really only prepared for a night or two on my own. 

This book, nonfiction though it may be, was the same rollicking, wave-crashing tale of survival that I devoured growing up, and the most titillating part is that it was real. 

You want mutiny? You want Lord of the Flies style governmental structure and then subsequent breakdown? You want nautical tales and stories of the open sea? The Wager has all of that, and more, it weaves together a narrative from such disparate perspectives, to make a reader feel as though they too are looking at this 18th century phenomenon as it occurs. It’s a captivating, engrossing read and I can’t recommend it highly enough. 

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

 What a book. I truly don't know how well I'll be able to review this, because it was so engrossing. I am a huge fan of mythological retellings because I think that's part of the fun of the form, but I think reworkings of the western canon of classics (thinking of the seven billion versions of Pride&Prejudice, for example, can be touch and go. The orginal texts stand the test of time for a reason. But this book as a reworking of David Copperfield lived it's own vivid, beautiful life. I can't say I loved watching Demon grow up, but I loved getting to know him, and I did love him so much that every decision that felt wrong or bad made me desperately sad for him. He tried, so hard, to be good, and he was so often spat on by life in return. The opiate use (esp after having read another book, NF this time, about it, was all too real, and the end result, his sobering, was a relief. His relationship with Angus was also a breath of fresh air, and it became such a beautiful little love story by the end, the way that she was his ocean, and he chose her back. I loved their relationship. It drove me crazy how every adult in his life utterly failed him, but it made it all the more impressive that he found his own way out. We keep talking about Demon, and there's a really good reason why. He was a special kid, and I keep him with me.