Madhuri
I have grown to love Kazuo Ishiguro as an author but this one was the most underwhelming read so far. Though I've come to expect the unconventional pace and lack of resolution in Ishiguro's stories, this one was especially dull for a detective mystery. I got quite bored and drifted off while listening to some parts. So, to be fair, I haven't done justice to this book I suppose, and yet I don't see myself rereading it ever.
This is a historical fiction story about the Pack Horse Library Project that delivered books to remote villages in Kentucky during 1935-43. I really enjoyed the writing style of Jojo Moyes and thoroughly fell in love with the characters. The packsaddle women librarians in the story show courage, integrity, and sisterhood that we can all take inspiration from. Looking forward to the movie adaptation!
A children's book based on the true story of the Urban Art Trail in East Village, San Diego, California! I have always wanted to visit this place that is filled with wall murals and poems in calligraphy on the sidewalks. I am glad to have read this book which introduced me to this sweet and commendable community art initiative by the authors.
Recommended as a pick for Silicon Valley Reads 2021: Connecting...
I would probably enjoy the movie if they made one but this book was just not for me. I thought I wasn't able to enjoy written romance in general but turns out that's not true. I recently read another author and had fun. I was unable to distinguish between the characters in Christina Lauren books, they sound the same in my head. I read The Unhoneymooners last month and this book feels like a different story around the same characters.
The Good Girls is a narrative non-fiction work about a tragedy that occurred in 2014 in a small Indian village where two young teenagers were found hanging from a mango tree. TW if you are planning to look up on the internet, there are graphic images of the hanging so beware of stumbling upon one, I suggest searching for the ‘Badaun case' on Wikipedia directly. Other trigger warnings include suicide, rape, murder, casteism, etc.
It's a wonderfully researched and written journalistic work, the author narrates the audiobook as well and she is probably my favorite Indian narrator by far. Very few audiobooks do justice to the narration of bilingual text without introducing awkwardness to the colloquial words. Sonia does a fantastic job of sticking to her natural accent in both English and the few sentences/words of Hindi in this book.
If you are a non-Indian looking to learn about this case or in general interested in a true crime story based in India, this might not be the easiest introductory book. It is transfixing and very well told but requires that you have a basic understanding of the culture and terms used in the book. I would highly highly recommend it to people who are comfortable reading Indian books already. In the end, the story left me shattered but well informed.
Immigration stories are hard to read but so informative. I learnt a lot about Vietnam through this book. The only perspective about the Vietnam war I had was because of American pop culture references and movies/stories. It was interesting to read from the other POV as well. But trigger warnings for child neglect, miscarriages, racism, sexism, child birth, starvation, trauma, PTSD, war, refugee crisis.
This book was way too confusing to be worth it. Lots of characters and storylines that didn't do much to contribute to the story. The revelation about the Ponzi scheme or its consequences were underwhelming to say the least. The plot summary on the back cover pretty much gives out all the details and the book itself doesn't offer much in addition to it. I gave this a 3-star rating first because the writing style was good and reminiscent of Station Eleven but the story itself was so bad that I think giving 2-stars is also too much. How did this even get on the Goodreads Awards list! Such a waste of time.
I heard a little about George Takei's childhood experiences from his speech at my alma mater once. This graphic novel captures and conveys a whole lot more about the details of mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. Highly admire Takei's work towards social justice, lgbtq+ rights and in general his positive spirit. Reading this book just doubled that for me. It's an informative and emotional read, highly recommend.
The first and last few chapters were captivating, I got bored in the middle. There is a lot of interesting trivia about evolution, extinction, human beings and I bet it would be an interesting read for someone studying these topics. For a general reader, it did get a bit difficult to see her switch between the casual style of writing about her treks and expeditions to explaining serious facts about Anthropocene, Ammonites and Aragonites.
Climate change is real, humans are affecting everything on Earth making it hard to predict the future of our planet but by the end of this century, we are close to losing up to a half of the living species. Welcome to the sixth extinction.
TL;DR: It's a Pulitzer winner, read it if the subject interests you. Otherwise, just know that we are doomed. (jk)
This was my first time reading an Octavia Butler story, I'm stunned by how wonderfully engrossing it was. I am an instant fan and will seek out other works by her. The graphic novel format of this book worked very well for me because of the brilliant artwork and the fast pace it sets. Highly highly recommend.
