Aamna

3.5 / audiobook

For all the issues I have with this book I hold the editor responsible. The first few chapters about Anna's child acting career and her family are rather drab. The self deprecating humour feels forced or overdone. But as teenager Anna becomes a 20 something Anna things get more engaging. She gets real about stuff - like how she was broke when she got her oscar nomination for Up in the Air, how her outlook towards multiple things has evolved. I liked that.

Note on the audiobook - Anna talks really fast so actually had to listen at 0.8x for a bit to adjust my brain.

Unsure if I would have appreciated this book as much had I read it 6 months ago. But I sure do appreciate it now.

Starts off strong but gets really tangled 60% onwards. No wonder the TV show creators decided to significantly alter the second half of the season based on this book.

[Audiobook read by Sean Barrett]

Loved the wit and chuckle-inducing turns of phrase. Couldn't stop listening to it.


Also better appreciate the TV series that did a good job of adapting the book right while still being true to it (special appreciation for the casting director). To be fair, Herron wrote most of it for them — the dialogues remain unchanged.

Finished this book over a month ago but delayed the update because I felt so many feelings and didn't quite know how to write a ‘review'. Have decided to pay homage with a blogpost. Here's hoping I will actually get around to it.

But seriously, just read it. And then read it again. There's too much in here that simply can't be internalised in one reading.

The content of the book wasn't absolutely new to me. I discovered the term “Emotional Abuse” when I was 22 and was shocked and relieved to finally have a vocabulary to describe the wide range of behaviours I had encountered. (found it here if you're interested - http://eqi.org/eabuse1.htm)

Words have power. They are greater than the sum of what they stand for - they can capture and convey a collection of experiences and at the same time inspire the understanding of something deeper, something far more profound, so that you can begin to heal (if required).

And by giving us this vocabulary, Lindsay is doing God's work (partly because, let's face it, the entity doesn't exist).

Can we even begin to understand something until we know what to call it?

If you can name it, you can tame it. So I guess now I'm just gonna spend the rest of my life taming it.

Thank you Lindsay. I hope something truly fantastic happens to you today.

I appreciate that the author chronicles the Sacklers right from Isaac. Seemed to bring legitimacy in my eyes, though it has nothing to do with their crimes.

Would have been a 4 had it not been for the perfectly neat ending.

I hereby conclude that if Hercule Poirot were to be a man of flesh and blood, he would be insufferable.

And call women SCATTY ONE MORE TIME GODDAMIT

Would be 3 stars if it was 35% shorter

3.5

Could see the hints of the magic that would shine through in Americanah some 10 years later

I'm sure it made a lot of sense when Crichton first experienced this as a fever dream. Didn't translate on paper.

3.5

Actually couldn't figure this one out. But far too convoluted for my taste. Also superintendent battle is a really dry character.

I see why Christie called it one of her best. I just wish I was an innocent 16 year old and hadn't figured it all out right off the bat. It really sucks to be a well-read adult sometimes.

I wouldn't recommend you to not read it

Not what I was expecting :/

Most of the stories felt forced, as if he was given an assignment and he had to incorporate a feature into the story. Quite disappointed. Will have to re-read his first collection to recover from this one.

No brainer advice but I needed to read it right now

Satisfied, mostly.

Nothing novel about the plot (pun intended) but couldn't put it down. #audiobook

After the disappointment that The Foundation was, I am happy to share that my enthusiasm for the series is renewed. It's nowhere close to what it was when I was done with Forward The Foundation but I am not complaining.

Here's hoping the next one cements the second foundation of my ardour.

Kudos for the obsession but not a fan of the mystique the book ends up assigning post-facto to an asshole. I am also troubled and unimpressed by the confidence the various people involved have in their many recollections. There's enough research to prove how memory can be the most unreliable narrator. It's tempting but let's not kid ourselves, yeah?

It's science followed by fiction followed by science followed by fiction.

Far too dumbed down to be enjoyable. Far too predictable to keep me interested.

This is my 3rd 3 star Scalzi so I'm guessing I'm just not his audience?

3.5

Interesting premise

Like the premise but reallyyyyyy drags in places.