skeltzer's reviews
271 reviews

Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

A quick, fun read about a counterfeit bag scheme. 

Green with Milk and Sugar: When Japan Filled America's Tea Cups by Robert Hellyer

informative medium-paced

4.0

Very academic but a fairly easy read. Lost track of some of the names throughout. Makes me want some green tea.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Couldn't put this down. Read it in one day. A lovely little book.

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

She's been through so much! Short chapters make this book read like little vignettes of her life. I felt so much for her throughout. As we knew from Jessica Simpson's book, Justin Timberlake is objectively awful. A study in intergenerational trauma.

Let's Eat: 101 Recipes to Fill Your Heart and Home by Dan Pelosi

funny informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

Let Them Eat Shrimp: The Tragic Disappearance of the Rainforests of the Sea by Kennedy Warne

informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

More than I ever wanted to know about mangroves, and now I'm definitely a fan of them. Will make me think more about sustainably sourced shrimp. The book is slow and a bit of a slog. I'm glad I finished it but won't reread.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

reflective fast-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

4.0

Water Always Wins: Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge by Erica Gies

adventurous hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

Taaqtumi: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories by Thomas Anguti Johnston, Cara Bryant, Gayle Kabloona, Ann R. Loverock, K.C. Carthew, Repo Kempt, Jay Bulckaert, Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley, Aviaq Johnston, Richard Van Camp, Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

So intrigued with the idea of arctic horror. Some of these short stories were excellent (The Wildest Game stood out - talk about taking clean eating to another level), most were fine and one was a drag (I did not understand Lounge at all).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Forced institutionalization

Benjamin Banneker and Us: Eleven Generations of an American Family by Rachel Jamison Webster

informative fast-paced

1.0

What did I just read? I went into this expecting a story about Benjamin Banneker, but it felt like the bulk of this story was about white women. In one exchange, the author mentions that she'll write a paragraph, or maybe a page, about white women. I laughed at that part because half the book had been about white women, and she wrote about white women as if she were not one herself, in a group apart. 

It should have been called "Benjamin Banneker and Me." I can understand why one of the family members was upset about the author and this book.

Along with this centering of white women, I didn't realize that much of the book would be a creative writing exercise about how the ancestors may have felt or what they may have experienced. It felt like a gross fantasy. I found myself checking the notes section for each chapter to figure out what exactly was true and what wasn't.

I'm not entirely convinced that the story told in this book was fully the author's story to tell. What would have been a really interesting story to tell more of was what happened with the ancestor that passed into whiteness. That was more the author's story to tell and to reckon with, in my opinion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery