writesdave's reviews
360 reviews

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Yeah, I missed this the first time around, but I enjoyed the escape to a remote island with an intrepid guide. Wonderful story, excellent setting.
Where the Line Bleeds by Jesmyn Ward

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

The Oxford Book of American Short Stories by Langston Hughes, John Cheever, James Baldwin, Ernest Hemingway, Jack London, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Ursula K. Le Guin, Washington Irving, Joyce Carol Oates, Willa Cather, Henry James, Mark Twain, Nathaniel Hawthorne, John Updike, Saul Bellow, Eudora Welty, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, Raymond Carver, Edith Wharton, Bernard Malamud, Katherine Anne Porter, William Carlos Williams, Flannery O'Connor, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Stephen Crane, Kate Chopin, Harriet Beecher Stowe

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adventurous challenging dark funny sad tense slow-paced

4.75

Call it a 4.75, the meh stories overcome by the brilliant ones.
Give Us the Ballot by Ari Berman

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challenging dark informative medium-paced

4.5

This book sufficiently angered me over the shenanigans by the right practically from the day after the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965, up through SCOTUS ruling for Shelby County in 2013. An important read for anyone who gives a shit about democracy.
Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane

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

4.25

Devastating crime novel with... an ending. Read over most of a weekend. Say this for Lehane, he keeps it moving. I got familiar with his work based on episodes of "The Wire," and I saw a couple of familiar patterns (including a character named Cheese).
What to Listen for in Music by Aaron Copland

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challenging hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

Origins of a Journey: History's Greatest Adventures Marked by Ambition, Necessity, and Madness by Daniel Grogan, Daniel Grogan

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adventurous challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

3.5

Fully acknowledging the explorers that might or might not have actually explored and the ones that were awful people, along with the ones you know and love and the ones you meet for the first time, I’d call this book a good place to start, a spark for your curiosity to learn more about the ones that count.
The Postmortal by Drew Magary

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

4.0

Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani

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

3.5

Tell It True: A Novel by John Pruitt

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

4.5

Quick, entertaining read based on the true murder of a black serviceman in rural Georgia. Pruitt successfully juggles a lot of balls in this tale told from multiple perspectives. You’re also struck by how little has changed in this damned state.