Harisa

My Finland Book Around the World!!

This was interesting. I was surprised to learn that sexism runs rampant in the Professional world in Finland as well. So, that kind of sucks. I liked the characters and plot okay but I have discovered as much as I like thrillers and horror, crime novels just do not do it for me.

BUT was also super excited to learn of the new literary genre called SANDICRIME. Hah! Amazing!

Very boring.

This was my Cuba book around the world. I appreciated the insights of the Jewish community in Cuba, and the really interesting Art History plotline...but ultimately the “mystery” and the detective himself did not grab my attention.

My Andorra book around the world.

I did not like the writing style one bit, and I've read a good amount of translated novels that I thought were strong as hell. The way the author wrote was just....not good, and not engaging. And the way he wrote about women made me gag. He was the only author from Andorra with his books translated into English. This is country #15 complete for me.

Overall....pretty boring. The brawl with her brother and Marcus was soooo dumb and so annoying to read and it does not really make me want to read the next book in which Daniel is somehow the hero.

But it was a quick, light, read and it was...fine.

The scenes where Marcus was bedridden gave me huge “Misery” vibes and maybe I was unable from enjoying the romance because of that, haha.

Writing this was certainly brave. Living through the life she had and still taking the time for introspection and then advocating for women like she is currently doing is also incredibly BRAVE. I know so many people who have been through so much less who cannot being themselves to self-examine themselves because it's just too painful. Rose McGowan does not seem afraid of pain. She didn't discuss this but I'm also so impressed by how forgiving she is, and understanding of everyone's perspective as she let many family members that completely let her down as a child back into her life. That's so incredibly powerful, and also brave.

On a literary note, her voice as an author shined throughout this entire memoir, and I actually think she would make a fantastic fiction writer. Very readable book on a difficult but important subject matter.

This was a 3 until the end, which was emotional and so emotional. Ultimately, the way the the author wrote about relationships (with family, friends, and family) completely won me over.

I'm deciding to dive into Julia Quinn on recommendation of one of my co-workers. I did not realize this book had 3 stories written by 3 different authors until I had already started it. Oh, well.

I really like Gwendlyn and Alec! I really appreciate Alec calling out his sister for being so rude, instead of just defending her just because she is his sister and he is now responsible for her. I also appreciate the pretty woman who was the girl of the Season NOT being a mean-girl but instead having her own personality. I'm very glad Julia Quinn did not use that trope.

I was less impressed by the other two love stories, for reasons I will just not go into just because this book was mostly about me getting to know Julia Quinn.

2.5 stars. Rounded up. Some of these stories were good, some focused less on the Muslim part and more on the immigrant part. The title was a bit misleading. It definitely, mostly, is a story about immigrants of conservative parents and finding their own footing. I had similar parents but couldn't relate to many of these stories. Also—although many tried to make their stories about religion and love it was primarily about lust which is just not what I was looking for and not what I thought this book would be.

Some of the more powerful stories encouraged me to round it up, and I do think this would have benefited from being less stories and more length to the stories they did choose.

HOOKED. What an exciting novel! I am happy to say I guessed the twist but was SO interested to see this play out. This was a slow build, as the author built the mystery up bit by bit disguised as just normal things in the character's life.

I am glad I picked this up because I confused the author for Kate White hah!

I just...can't. I'm sorry. Mr. Rochester was unlikable and Jane's devotion to him was something I just really cannot understand or root for. This was a quite a book to try and get through, but hey, my second “classic” of the year is done!

Probably 2.5. Disappointing and not as exciting as it should've been considering I love my reality TV!

This could've been a lot stronger given the characters, the setting, and the time period. However, it just....wasn't. The mystery seemed weird and poorly executed and I just am not quite so sure Lynn Austin is a solid mystery author. I really loved “A Woman's Place” though and I will keep reading more of her novels.

I think I definitely like the tragedies more than the comedies.

Wow I LOVED THIS! It did end rather abruptly and it felt like SO many things got resolved too quickly (in paragraphs) but I was mostly sad about it and not annoyed. As it ended, I wanted to hear more from the characters and knew I would miss them...and I think that's generally pretty cool. I really liked the different characters and viewpoints and the hard parts of society at that time discussed with Christianity.

Again: I find it hard to find Christian fiction that actually tackles the harder topics instead of making the central conflict be whether or not the heroine will let the hero kiss her. So I'm always happy to see someone set her story in a time period and stay true to it as far as how the time period changed society today. I like that the auto hit also added how after the war the sentiment of “okay ladies thanks for your help go back to the kitchen” was one that rubbed a lot of them the wrong way and I like to think Jean went on fight those stereotypes along the way :)

This seemed to end very abruptly and it was very short. This didn't really seem like much of a novel when it comes to things that actually happened, and everything that did happened was just kind of quickly tied up then THE END EVERYTHING IS PERFECT. Weird. Could've been a lot stronger given the subject matter.

The main character was just unlikable, and I felt so bad for her half-sister. Not as enjoyable as Tan's other novels because the narrator was just not someone I was rooting for.

I just need to stop reading Christian Teen novels. Not a good mix.

I really enjoyed this book and insight and liked seeing C.S. Lewis in such a humanized way.

This was...weird. Lots of layers here that were not unpacked.

Iraq Book around the world.

Wow. Loved this. She was so, so, honest.

3.5ish.

Me + Chilean female authors seem to get along well. I really liked this one, and liked the insight into different women's lives from very different backgrounds and social classes.

However, as many novels comprised with short stories some were more engaging and better than others.

This was one of those YA novels that make you cringe, not one that makes you smile at the end with nostalgia. The plot is interesting enough, but the characters were incredibly unlikable.

Counting this as my China book around the world.

This book was strong, well written, and engaging. Also, very depressing but made the end even more satisfying. Winnie was absolutely someone who I completely rooted for since her story started. These immigrant mom-child books always make me grateful for my own mother (who also lived through communism) and I always find myself liking the mothers so much more than the daughters. That tidbit makes me so grateful I wasn't more of an asshole growing up. This book really resonated with me, and I'm glad I discovered Amy Tan.

Counting this as my Poland book around the world since the author is Polish :)

My second book by this author. The characters pulled me in from the very beginning, and best of all: the plot of this book did not go the way I thought it would, at all. This book was wonderfully creepy and better yet: wonderfully written. I really recommend her if you like thrillers and horror.