Katie

I really enjoyed this book. It's similar to The Mountains Sing in that it tells the story of a young girl growing up in terrible adversity, but for some reason this one rang more true (though I did like both books a lot). I mean, you pretty much knew that something good was going to happen by the end, but it felt more realistic–well, maybe not. Maybe I was just in a more forgiving mood! Anyway, definitely worth a read.

This was a good read for a strange day when I didn't feel like moving from the couch. It's sad and hard, but full of good people trying to figure out themselves and what it means to be alive.

Wow. This was so good. So, so good. I kept expecting it to be a typical YA book where predictable things happen and people make stupid mistakes, etc. But it wasn't. It felt like real people, really doing the best they could. I saw parts of myself in both of the main characters, which made me love them even more that I would have because of the great writing. I hope there's a sequel–I'm not ready to be done hanging out with them yet.

So, often I ding books that have excellent writing, but I just didn't like them. This time I'm dinging a book that I really liked because I think it's writing wasn't great. :) What can I say–I'm unfair. I learned a lot of history from this book, since I've never studied this period or this country. But the story felt a little pat and predictable. Still, I'm glad I read it.

I think I'll probably love everything David Mitchell ever writes. I still remember how in love I was with Black Swan Green. This book seemed much more of a straightforward novel than a lot of his others, though it did get plenty weird at one point. The characters were wonderful, the story was a lot of fun. And the ending. Well, I'll let you make up your own mind about that!

I liked this book, but I didn't 100% connect with it. So, take my review as a personal feeling about the book, not as a judgement about its quality. I had a hard time understanding the relationship between the two main characters. This book was full of despair in a way that made it hard to read at times. Despair, lack of trust, lack of a place to be yourself, and lots of questions about what real life is anyway.

Because this was a conversation among four people instead of a structured essay, it sometimes felt like it was lacking a bit of direction. But the four people are absolutely brilliant, and getting to hear their thoughts was worth a little meandering. Bryan Stevenson, especially impressed me again and again. I hope he runs for president!

This book was like a love letter to Hillary Clinton to tell her she is so much better than the way her life turned out. It was surprising, hilarious, suspenseful, and wonderful. I love that she was happy and successful as a single woman, and I love that she found love in the end!

So, I'm not giving this book a rating because it is obviously much smarter than I am. Different endings based on what copy you buy? Secret messages hidden in chess moves and lists of words? Anyway, just as a straight reading of the plot I enjoyed the book a lot. I kept thinking it was going to be one of those middle-aged-man-makes-stupid-moves-and-ruins-his-life books that I have completely sworn off, so I was so grateful every time he didn't make a stupid move! The story was very moving, page turning, thought-provoking.

I liked this book a lot (obviously). The author only allowed us glimpses of herself, but she's so funny, so fierce, so smart. Without ever describing her relationship with her mother, she gives the reader a very complete and clear picture of what that must be like.

I forgot to add a quote I loved, which I think helps sum up the whole book. “Before we can leave our parents, they stuff our heads like the suitcases which they jam-pack with homemade underwear.”

Okay, this was fun. :)

This was an interesting story, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had had more background on the author (who I had never heard of) before I started. He sort of seemed to take for granted that the reader knew who he was. Also, the chronology was a little jumpy, which added to my sense of, “what exactly is happening here.” Still, a good read.

If you've read The New Jim Crow, The Color of Law, and The Case for Reparations (the article), much of this book will be old news to you. However, it still contains some new ideas, or a new perspective on how America lost its empathy and how racial hostility on the part of whites has damned our future. A pretty grim read, though the last chapter tries to offer some rays of hope.

I did really enjoy reading this book, but in the end I'm not sure what it was about or what it meant. I liked the character who died the best, of course, though everyone, including her, drank too much for me to really feel a bond with them.

Wow. This book was unusual and very interesting. I didn't understand everything that was happening, and I'm not sure a second reading would help me without more context and background. Still, many messages were clearly conveyed.

Wow. Everything in this book was so obvious but also so mind-blowing at the same time. Of course we shouldn't be relying on police for every social need, but we do, without thinking about it. Vitale lays out what's wrong with the current situation, what reforms have been tried and why they haven't worked, and an alternate, sensible, doable path for us to take instead. A must read, especially these days.

This is probably a 4.5. I really loved this book. It was a story inside a story inside a story: the story of the author researching the book, the story of Lissa, the main character, the story of the murder Lissa is trying to solve/prove, and the story of the tribe. I learned so much about tribal history, the devastation of the oil boom, and so much else. I was glad the author honestly addressed the issues of a white woman writing about native people, both in the book and in the writing of the book.

This really was a great book. For me as a reader, it didn't do what I hope fiction does which is let me live inside another character's life for a while. Each chapter deals with a successive generation, which I found jerky and hard to adjust to. But it was well-written, interesting, and covers a lot of history that almost all of us need to learn more about.

Well, it took me a long time to finally get around to reading this! I feel like a real Los Alamosian, now. I liked Edith Warner's own words more than I did PPC's, though her perspective was good to help get the fuller picture of Edith Warner's life. Edith's wisdom seems especially appropriate now, during COVID times. “There alone in the sunlight I began to understand that nothing man may do... can in any way touch or change the essence of this country.” And, “How to endure the man-made devastating period in which we live and which seems almost as hopeless to control as drought; how to proceed when leadership seems utterly lacking, when individuals and nations seem stupid and arrogant; these no human can answer. I only know that the power recognized by those other sky-scanners still exists, that contact is possible. I know, too, what depths of kindness and selflessness exist in my fellow man.” I like that she saw nature as a sustaining force for people. :)

This is probably a 3.5 for me. I love Julia Alvarez but this felt slight. Two stories, neither fully developed. I loved the main character and her struggles with who she wanted to be, but even that plotline wasn't fully explored or developed.

This was a fun read, with lots of interesting characters to keep track of. Because there were so many, they were forced to be rather one-dimensional. But I enjoyed the relationship between Big and Little Angel.

I don't always like poetic prose, but in this book I did. He seems to get at the truth of things with his writing.

This book was wooden and one-dimensional. Even when the characters changed it felt forced and simplistic. I'm not sure why I finished it, except that I was curious about what would happen.

Wow. I loved this book so, so hard. I loved the characters–I want to hang out with them and be their friends. I loved the story. I loved the way parts of dialog were in other languages and I had to guess at what people were saying. I loved the snatches of history, and the view into different cultures. And the food!! This book made me very hungry, even though I had no idea what any of the food they were eating was.

I am getting a little tired of books that start out fine but then it seems like the author can't figure out how to end them so they just devolve into chaos/hallucinations/dream states/is-this-real-or-isn't-it/etc. This was one of those books. I enjoyed the parts before that, especially watching Lena try to hold on her sense of self through all that's done to her.