samantita's reviews
219 reviews

Kill Show by Daniel Sweren-Becker

This was an absolute page turner for me. I finished it in two days and would've finished it in one if I had started it earlier in the day. Its formatting is similar to Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven in that it's told 10 years after the events for a book that a journalist(?) is writing, and it's told in the form of interviews. Although Kill Show doesn't give us any insight into the journalist who's writing the book, much like Fanstaticland does at times. 

It leaves plenty of questions about the complexity of the machine that has become the true crime entertainment business, and it leaves the reader wondering just who was responsible for Sarah's death. 

Circe by Madeline Miller

3.5

I wasn't a fan of Greek mythology before this book and still am not, though if I'm going to read a book about Greek mythology it's going to be one that centers on how a goddess finds her strength and transforms into someone much different than her patriarchal and shallow counterparts. I enjoyed seeing how Circe reacted to her circumstances, at first with anger and ill intentions and then with newfound strength and wisdom.

The end did get a little weird, but I think that her decision to become a mortal was the perfect way to end the novel.

Oh, and I'm here for any book where the female MC turns men into pigs.

Being Elvis: A Lonely Life by Ray Connolly

4.0

I learned a lot about Elvis that is incredibly icky which makes me feel a lot of things, especially since I really enjoy his music. Can we truly separate the art from the artist? Ughh. Overall, it was well-written, honest, and unbiased, and I appreciated that.

Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church by Rachel Held Evans

3.0

I know this is supposed to be structured on the seven sacraments (I didn't know what those were going into this book), but even with that structure, the book felt "unstructured." Some of the chapters were personal stories about her searching for and even helping to start a church. Other chapters were about those seven sacraments and had the history behind them, and those chapters sort of took me out of the memoir. I almost felt that this would be better labeled as a book of essays. That being said, there were some good nuggets here and there that I highlighted.

The Women by Kristin Hannah

2.5

I appreciated the perspective this story shed light on as it's unlike any of the other typical Vietnam war vet stories out there. I felt Frankie's frustration as she tried to get help for herself but was told time after time that there were no women in Vietnam. I can't imagine going through something like what she did and then come back to a country where your service was demonized. 

With that being said, the writing in this book was so...I don't even know what to call it. I was told everything that happened by the author instead of it being showed to me and it got to be a very frustrating reading experience. Hannah needs to learn to trust her readers more. Frankie was an incredibly two dimensional character, along with the other characters in the book. The only reason I could empathize with her was because I know these events are real, but I couldn't actually connect with "her" as a character. 

Happy Place by Emily Henry

5.0

This didn't feel like you're typical rom-com chick lit read, though it certainly had a lot of those elements. One thing that makes Henry's prose stand out among other romantic fiction writers is her ability to craft dialogue that's so realistic and witty. One of my favorite parts about the book was Harriet and Wyn's banter. It was sharp, fun, and real. 

We got just enough of each character to make them feel three dimensional but not too much where it took away from the plot. There's a lot of self-description that shows just how Harriet views herself and puts the reader into her head.

 This was a fun read for me. It made me want to go to Maine in the summer with friends I don't even have and build memories while chowing down on lobster which I've never even tried before.

Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum

5.0

This book was like a warm bowl of soup on a cold day. So many important themes--findimg happiness, or creating your version of it; the difference between enjoying what you do and being happy about it; living in the present; the importance of community; the difference between a good book and a good read. It was so fun to see how the people Yeongju met all had a hand in changing her just a bit, and vice versa. I liked witnessing the growth of the bookshop because of how Yeongju very much decided to live for the present and focus on what worked/didn't work now. 

A quote that stuck out to me: "Isn't that what life is about? Forging forward with the answer you have -- stumbling along the way and picking yourself up -- only to one day realise that the answer you've held on to for a long time is not the right one. When that happens, it's time to look for the next answer. That's how ordinary folks, like herself, live. Over our life span, the right answer will keep changing." 

Another one: "Small talk could be a considerate gesture, but most the time, at your own expense. With nothing to say, squeezing the words dry leaves only an empty heart and a desire to escape." 

Another quoted from a Seymour Bernstein documentary: "Dissonance before moments of harmony makes the harmony sound beautiful. Just as harmony and dissonance exist side by side in music, life is the same. Because harmony is preceded by dissonance, that's why we think life is beautiful." 

Another one: "When you have thoughts, just hold on them, see where they take you, and as time passes, you'll find out if you were right. Never decide right at the start if something is right or wrong."

Ughh, this one: "You won't know until you start. Don't decide the future before it happens."

"What I'm saying is, there's no absolute yardstick in this world. Of course, there are those who are obviously good, and also obviously bad ones. But when two people are about the same, then it boils down to who has a shinier business card. Look at my writing. This is good writing."

"My experience taught me that even if I'm working for someone else, I need to work for myself. Working for myself means that I'll try my best in what I do. More importantly, never lose myself, no matter if it's at work or outside."

By the Time You Read This: The Space between Cheslie's Smile and Mental Illness―Her Story in Her Own Words by April Simpkins

It's hard to give this book a rating given the circumstances that surround its publication. These are essentially Cheslie's last words, the ones she wanted the world to read, but they don't feel like last words. She talks about the challenges she faced in pageants, her career, and her relationships. But sort of ends each challenge with the lesson she took away from it. She mentioned once or twice that she suffered from depression, but nothing in her part of the book led me to believe that she would take her own life.

This may be a case of mismanaged expectations. I read this book because I lost a friend to suicide, so I guess I was hoping to gain some insight into Cheslie's thoughts -- the ones that led her to end her life. I didn't get that, but I appreciate that April honored Cheslie's request in publishing this book. Reading Cheslie's suicide message was absolutely heart-shattering. I could not fathom reading that as a parent.

I'm Sorry for My Loss: Undoing Our Cultural Ignorance Around Pregnancies That End Without a Baby by Colleen Long, Rebecca Little

emotional reflective sad

This book is an excellent foray into the wide, complex, nuanced world of reproductive rights and pregnancy loss. If there's anything I took away from it, it's that pregnancy is not black and white. You can't have a conversation about abortion without talking about how that affects miscarriage care. And when we put the choice into the hands of women, there are actually fewer abortions.

A great read for anyone on the fence about abortion, like I once was.

Finding Sophie by Imran Mahmood

emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Our two main characters, Harry and Zara, are the parents of Sophie, a 17-year-old girl who goes missing in South London. The story follows each parent through their perspectives in the first person point-of-view as they attempt to find Sophie separately while dealing with the grief that accompanies having a child go missing. 

What I like about this book is how introspective each character is in their corresponding chapters. The use of the present tense coupled with their clear thoughts achieves a tension I don't think would have been possible with the past tense. It put me, the reader, in the moment and certainly kept me turning the page.

I also really appreciate how the sentence-level prose explores the depths of Harry and Zara's grief. For example, one of the sentences early on in the book reads, "I can see that he is still bloated by secrets he's keeping inside him. He needs me to take them from him, but I can't." Another one describes the ache Zara feels for one of her past regrets regarding Sophie and says, "I want to reach deep into my belly through my mouth and grasp the stringed clot of it and pull it out and fling it." My favorite kind of book is one that carefully blends plot, character, and crazy beautiful prose. This was one of those books. 

I took away a quarter of a star for how the book ended. Without giving anything away, the last event in the book was one that I wasn't expecting and therefore needed more time to process. 

Overall, this was a fantastic ride of a thriller for me!