Indira Pranabudi
This book is so strange and unique, but at the same time it was such a drag to read... like honestly, what did I just read lol.
The fact that almost everyone had the same name added to the strangeness of the story, but at the same time, I had to stop multiple times in the book to look back at the family tree and remind myself which Aureliano he was talking about. It was also filled with so much sex, and more than once it happened between family members... which is just gross. It also happened between people with massive age gaps (e.g. old man with teenage girl), which is also gross. And let's not forget about the 17 Aurelianos.
García Márquez's personal style of writing definitely shines through this book, and it's what makes it really interesting to read. The writing is beautiful. But also, why did you have to make each paragraph are so long?! It's not uncommon to find paragraphs that are 2 pages long. Heck, there was an entire sentence that spanned 2 pages!
Overall it was an interesting read, and I probably wouldn't have picked it up if I hadn't found it in the “English books” isle of a bookstore of Mexico City. I've also read 3 García Márquez books in the past month alone, and I think that's enough García Márquez for me lol.
I've heard raving reviews about this book, and especially the audiobook (since it has a full cast) and it did not disappoint! I listened to it all in one day. Not sure if I would have enjoyed it as much if I had read the book instead of listened to the audiobook, but the audiobook is definitely a 5/5 for me!
The fact that the story was told through an interview was really unique and I enjoyed hearing about everyone's perspectives too. I also loved certain elements of feminism, e.g. talking about how Daisy Jones handled being a woman in a male-dominated field, and how Karen confronted Graham about the responsibilities of motherhood.
I think another reason why I loved this book was how much it reminded me of Fleetwood Mac, one of my favorite bands of all time. It obviously isn't the same story, but it definitely sounded Fleetwood Mac-esque and I loved that!
It's an inspiring and optimistic take on climate change, but to be honest I don't feel that I learned anything new from this book. There were some interesting scientific tidbits in this book, but it was definitely more of a motivational “yes we can tackle climate change!” kind of book. Nothing bad about that, but I think I would've liked more substance. It was a nice and easy read though (unlike some other climate books that are very dense and difficult to read).
It was alright. The storytelling was interesting — there are a lot of gaps here and there so oftentimes you have to fill in the details for yourself. I enjoyed the setting (a small town in South Korea called Sokcho). The ending felt anticlimactic, but I guess that's the point? Not sure, maybe I'm too dumb to enjoy this book lmao
Love the book cover though!
The writing itself is great, but honestly the story is creepy AF. Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza met as teenagers and Florentino quickly falls in love with Fermina. After a few years of “dating”, Fermina realizes that Florentino is not the man for her, and rejects him. Up to this part of the story, everything seems fine. But then it all goes downhill from here...
Fermina eventually marries Dr Juvenal Urbino, a wealthy doctor. Florentino on the other hand wants to remain “faithful” to Fermina and decides not to marry anyone. He does, however, end up sleepy with a myriad of different women, including América Vicuña, a 14-year-old girl who is sent to live with him. For a 70-something year old man to be intimate with a 14-year old girl is one thing, and add to that the fact that she eventually kills himself after he rejects her in the end!
Finally, after 50 years of marriage, Dr Urbino dies after falling from a ladder while trying to rescue his parrot. Florentino learns of this news and decides to re-confess his love to Fermina all these years. She initially outright rejects him, but after his consistent advanves, he wears her down and they become intimate.
So is the moral of the story here that you can be a creep and still get what you want?
“It isn't fair to be the kind of creature who is able to love but unable to stay.”
Migrations follows Franny Stone's journey to follow the last migration of the Arctic terns. It's a story set in the near future, on an earth that's been ravaged by the warming climate and where most species of animals have gone extinct. It's a heart wrenching story centered on a character who is so damaged and has lost so much.
I found the story to be predictable to a certain extent, but Charlotte McConaghy's story-telling is so beautiful that I found myself hooked anyways.
This is a must read book on climate change.
Reading this book honestly made me feel considerably more anxious about the state of our earth. However, he's right—the reality is that the situation is absolutely dire, and if we don't do anything about it soon then we're all f*cked.
I do have a couple of criticisms about the book: 1) I wish it was written in more straightforward language (yes the writing was beautiful but he could've said the same thing in less words), 2) some parts felt a little repetitive.
Overall, great book though. Honestly at this point everyone should be aware of the state we are in, and thus I'd highly recommend this to anyone and everyone.
Oh man this was disappointing. I wanted to love this book because it's about badass women of color (!!!) but damn it was so dry and boring. The message of this book is very important but I didn't feel that the author narrated it very well. There were some interesting bits but overall I felt very underwhelmed.
This book didn't bring me joy, so I didn't finish it. I'll just watch the movie
As someone who isn't well-versed in climate change, I felt that this book gave me a solid understanding of the topic. It gave a comprehensive overview of the different ways we currently add carbon to the atmosphere, the different ways we can tackle the problem (through innovation), and a little bit on climate policy as well. I like his emphasis on the fact that it's developing countries that will be hurt the most by a climate disaster, as I think it's a fact that people in most “rich” countries often forget or disregard altogether.
This book also presents a very optimistic view on us actually being able to tackle climate change, which I guess is not that surprising considering his success with Microsoft and his belief in the power of innovation. I definitely finished this book feeling more optimistic about this issue.
The book did feel a little repetitive towards the end, and it was annoying in some parts to keep hearing about how he invests in all these green companies, etc., so I would say it's more of a 4.5/5 for me. I'm also aware of all the “controversy” around this book—definitely agree with what Jenna discussed in her review!
4.5/5
I picked up this book at the recommendation of a friend, and as someone who studied Computer Science at university, I wanted to love it. I did find this book interesting, but I also found myself skimming a lot. I felt that some of the chapters were quite long and I lost interest towards the end. I'm not sure it got the right balance between hard CS concepts and their real-life applications.
This book got raving reviews from my friends so I decided to pick it up without reading the synopsis. Although it was not what I expected I loved it anyways. It's both a brilliant love story and a powerful story about a queer Cuban woman succeeding in a male dominated world. Surprisingly somewhat feminist and I love it. ✊
4.5/5 for me!
Show Your Work is a quick and easy read that left me feeling motivated. I decided to get this book after Ali Abdaal recommended it in his video titled “How Writing Online Made me a Millionaire”, and managed to finish it all in one sitting. I'd highly recommend this for anyone who needs an extra nudge to get yourself out there!
As a developer, I'm not the intended audience for this book but I thought it was still good to understand more about the PM role. I also enjoyed the examples of successful PMs at different organizations. Some parts felt a bit repetitive and/or obvious for me (but I suppose a lot of things make more sense in hindsight), but overall I thought this book was interesting and helpful!
