3littlewordz's reviews
177 reviews

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

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4.25

There Will Be No Miracles Here: A Memoir by Casey Gerald

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emotional funny inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

Casey Gerald is an incredibly accomplished Yale and Harvard educated black, gay man from the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas who overcame intense adversity to succeed. This becomes evident by the end of his memoir, but while reading it, you bounce back and forth between time periods, stories and emotions to get to this realization. 

This memoir read as a long Ted Talk to me. I can see several sections being presented on stage and being incredibly engaging, but while you're reading, it can get a bit cumbersome. 

I did enjoy some of the history presented, including prominent black Yale alumni and some German history covered. 
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All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Shook.... SHOOK!! Heart racing, eyes wide, senses heightened to a million! I have more thoughts, I'll come back and update this when my heart rate returns to normal...
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The Fifth Agreement: A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery by Don Miguel Ruiz, Don Jose Ruiz, Janet Mills

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 13%.
I may come back to this but I'm not focused enough for agreements right now. 
If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery

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adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts

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challenging emotional informative slow-paced

4.25

Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond

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challenging hopeful informative medium-paced

4.0

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Maame by Jessica George

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Maame is a great example of why I never DNF books! The first third of the story started out very underwhelming, and I questioned the hype given to the novel. But as the story built, more nuance was introduced and I really started rooting for Maddie to become the main character in her own story. I appreciate the depth provided for her mother's background - while I certainly didn't agree with her mother's treatment of her family, I understood it better. The grief process was explored with sensitivity with the Google searches, but especially with the introduction of the therapist. And kudos to the therapist being written as black and Ghanaian! 

Stick through the first 50-100 pages and you'll really enjoy this novel. I did! 
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Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

This was such a delightful ramble! I didn't expect it to be so entertaining, although I should have because it's Shonda Rhimes! Definitely seemed a bit scattered at times, but she always finished a thread she started, and I appreciate that she expounded on some stories, yet kept some details private. I especially enjoyed that the audiobook version included original recordings of the speeches she included in the book. Glad I picked this up randomly through Libby! 
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5