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sandrinepal's reviews
1234 reviews
Horses of Fire: A Novel of Troy by A.D. Rhine
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Enh. Ordinarily, I would be the target demo for this book: it's female-character driven, set in the ancient world, riffing on a major work of literature (Homer's Iliad, ostensibly). And yet, it didn't really do it for me. In their afterword, the authors mention that they intended the book as a high fantasy work, hence some liberties they took with historical facts (like... inventing words??) I didn't know this about myself, but I guess I'm a stickler for accuracy in my historical fiction. Because if your characters are speaking made-up words, how much of your take on the ancient world can I really embrace? A lot of the female empowerment plotlines also felt anachronistic. TL;DR: 2.5 stars.
A Cage Went in Search of a Bird: Ten Kafkaesque Stories by Charlie Kaufman, Keith Ridgway, Elif Batuman, Leone Ross, Helen Oyeyemi, Naomi Alderman, Yiyun Li, Tommy Orange, Ali Smith, Joshua Cohen
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Out of the ten stories in this collection, these were my favorite:
The Board by Elif Batuman
The showing of a rental apartment quickly descends (in more ways than one) into a bureaucratic fever dream. To me, this really captured the claustrophobic and absurdist essence of Kafka.
Hygiene by Helen Oyeyemi
A Korean man is ghosted by his maybe-romantic interest until her symbiotic best friend takes over the conversation. The epistolary format was a great riff on the Kafkaesque breakdown of meaningful communication.
Apostrophe's Dream by Yiyun Li
A conversation between punctuation marks? I. Am. THERE! I wasn't entirely sold on the Kafka tribute aspect of this story, but the drama was on point (teehee).
The Charlie Kaufman story (This Fact Can Even Be Proved by Means of the Sense of Hearing) was in character, though it did feel sort of aimless compared to Black Mirror, maybe because it was less in-your-face than content meant for a TV audience.
The Board by Elif Batuman
The showing of a rental apartment quickly descends (in more ways than one) into a bureaucratic fever dream. To me, this really captured the claustrophobic and absurdist essence of Kafka.
Hygiene by Helen Oyeyemi
A Korean man is ghosted by his maybe-romantic interest until her symbiotic best friend takes over the conversation. The epistolary format was a great riff on the Kafkaesque breakdown of meaningful communication.
Apostrophe's Dream by Yiyun Li
A conversation between punctuation marks? I. Am. THERE! I wasn't entirely sold on the Kafka tribute aspect of this story, but the drama was on point (teehee).
The Charlie Kaufman story (This Fact Can Even Be Proved by Means of the Sense of Hearing) was in character, though it did feel sort of aimless compared to Black Mirror, maybe because it was less in-your-face than content meant for a TV audience.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
This recording is obviously older, but it fits nicely into what my brain expects Shakespeare productions to sound like. Doesn't really hold a candle to the BBC version of 2005, though.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
This was one of my favorites of the audio productions I listened to. Must be the American accent.
Dans l'oreille du cyclone by Guillaume Meurice
funny
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0
Une occasion rare d'assister de l'intérieur à la tempête médiatique. Meurice est précis dans la subjectivité et cohérent dans les logiques dont il se revendique (satire comme forme outrancière de la liberté d'expression, ligne droite là où ses détracteurs tournent en rond ou se contortionnent). C'est aussi un compte-rendu à chaud, qui se lit comme un reportage de qualité.
888 Love and the Divine Burden of Numbers by Abraham Chang
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Tell me you're experiencing a midlife crisis without telling me you're experiencing a midlife crisis. Listing relationships and their accompanying soundtracks is itself a bit of a 1990s exercise, isn't it. Except Nick Hornby already pretty much killed that game in "High Fidelity". The redeeming quality was the solo trip to China (though hold the thoroughly unmotivated heartbreak, please—yelling "TRUTH AND BEAUTY!!" in a temple, in actual all-caps? how much angstier can you get?) If this can be a YA classic for first-gen Chinese American kids, grool. I am severely not that target demo.
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Historical fantasy of a sort, this certainly involved more research than "Ninth House" or "Hell Bent". Bardugo has spoken to the fact that this is, among other things, a tribute to her Spanish Jewish heritage and I was excited to read her spin on that. Welp, I'll take the dark academia over this genre, in the end: the messy tangle of history and religion with magic and mythical creatures left me without a foot to stand on. Also, whyyyyyyyy does everything have to have romance? 2.5 stars
Release Your Inner Roman: A Treatise by Marcus Sidonius Falx by Jerry Toner
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
Well, if I wanted to be endlessly patronized to by a man, I would... idk, just walk out into the world? But this is extra special, because Marcus Sidonius Falx will talk down to you regardless of your gender, solely on the basis that you are NOT A ROMAN. What a treat! Everyone gets to feel that they could never possibly measure up!
The main merit of this book is that it collates a lot of fun little factoids about the ancient world that would otherwise take you years of reading to glean. It's like a CliffsNotes of weird snippets of everyday life that have escaped from the entire canon of (mostly imperial era) Latin writings. If you're a nerd, you will nod knowingly; if you're less of a nerd, you might gag, chuckle, shake your head, and otherwise marvel at how those guys managed to conquer and hold onto most of the western world for several centuries.
The main merit of this book is that it collates a lot of fun little factoids about the ancient world that would otherwise take you years of reading to glean. It's like a CliffsNotes of weird snippets of everyday life that have escaped from the entire canon of (mostly imperial era) Latin writings. If you're a nerd, you will nod knowingly; if you're less of a nerd, you might gag, chuckle, shake your head, and otherwise marvel at how those guys managed to conquer and hold onto most of the western world for several centuries.
All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us about Women's Bodies and Why It Matters Today by Elizabeth Comen
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
After two books about menopause, you'd think I would take a little breather, but no. Not I. I soldiered on and am now extra super mad.
There were many things of which I was already aware (partly due to the aforementioned menopause books), but some still blew my ever-loving mind. Chlorosis (the so-called virgins' disease), the sexification of tuberculosis, and institutionalizing inconvenient wives being just a few of those facts. Perhaps the most concerning was the fact that cardiovascular disease in women was swept under the rug until VERY recently.
In all seriousness, I can't speak to the experience of being male and seeking medical care, so I honestly don't know if the callousness doesn't cut both ways. What this book did, however, was remind me of (at least) two encounters I've had with medical professionals that I can't help but feel might have played out differently if I had been male.
One was as a 25-year-old living in a new city and meeting a primary care physician for the first time. The purpose of my visit was to get my 10-year tetanus booster shot. I ended up being told that I should practice abstinence with my live-in boyfriend of nearly five years. Jeez, buy a patient a drink first, can't ya? (Though I did eventually get my tetanus shot.)
Another time was when I found myself in the ER shortly after my dad had passed away. Unbeknownst to me, I had just had my first panic attack. The attending essentially sent me home after telling me to 'not party so hard'.
In both cases, I remember walking away confused, embarrassed-slash-chastized, and definitely not better equipped to advocate for my own health and needs. Comen's entreaty at the end of the book to see our medical practitioners for the humans that they are, and to strive to form a partnership with them really struck a chord with me. It reinforced the need to instill in my children, especially my daughter, not just the respect for the medical profession that I was taught as a kid, but also the self-respect to speak up (or sometimes even walk out) when the relationship is predicated on outdated models (gender or otherwise).
There were many things of which I was already aware (partly due to the aforementioned menopause books), but some still blew my ever-loving mind. Chlorosis (the so-called virgins' disease), the sexification of tuberculosis, and institutionalizing inconvenient wives being just a few of those facts. Perhaps the most concerning was the fact that cardiovascular disease in women was swept under the rug until VERY recently.
In all seriousness, I can't speak to the experience of being male and seeking medical care, so I honestly don't know if the callousness doesn't cut both ways. What this book did, however, was remind me of (at least) two encounters I've had with medical professionals that I can't help but feel might have played out differently if I had been male.
One was as a 25-year-old living in a new city and meeting a primary care physician for the first time. The purpose of my visit was to get my 10-year tetanus booster shot. I ended up being told that I should practice abstinence with my live-in boyfriend of nearly five years. Jeez, buy a patient a drink first, can't ya? (Though I did eventually get my tetanus shot.)
Another time was when I found myself in the ER shortly after my dad had passed away. Unbeknownst to me, I had just had my first panic attack. The attending essentially sent me home after telling me to 'not party so hard'.
In both cases, I remember walking away confused, embarrassed-slash-chastized, and definitely not better equipped to advocate for my own health and needs. Comen's entreaty at the end of the book to see our medical practitioners for the humans that they are, and to strive to form a partnership with them really struck a chord with me. It reinforced the need to instill in my children, especially my daughter, not just the respect for the medical profession that I was taught as a kid, but also the self-respect to speak up (or sometimes even walk out) when the relationship is predicated on outdated models (gender or otherwise).