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gabsalott13's reviews
403 reviews
The Wangs vs. the World by Jade Chang
4.0
This book, like most road trip novels are, is great for summer. I'd also recommend this review (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/16/books/review/wangs-vs-the-world-jade-chang.html?_r=1) of it, which I think gets what Jade Chang does so well perfectly right: “'The Wangs vs. the World' is not a book where you laugh at Asian accents — you laugh at the people who would laugh at Asian accents."
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
3.0
To me, the best (read: most honest) part of this book comes after Jende abandons (or maybe re-defines) his hope of achieving the American Dream, which he always clung to in a way that seemed a bit ignorant for a grown man who would have seen the rare successes and countless struggles of many immigrants just like him.
However, this switch is his thinking comes at the end of the novel, and never is given enough time. I think a novel with more about what happens when his family returns to Cameroon would've been all the more capable of really showing what his family gained back home by giving up everything they had supposedly worked to achieve abroad, which surprisingly (and fortunately) becomes the heart of this story.
However, this switch is his thinking comes at the end of the novel, and never is given enough time. I think a novel with more about what happens when his family returns to Cameroon would've been all the more capable of really showing what his family gained back home by giving up everything they had supposedly worked to achieve abroad, which surprisingly (and fortunately) becomes the heart of this story.
Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
3.0
Big note: I would definitely recommend reading My Name is Lucy Barton first!! As someone who approached Elizabeth Strout’s work in reverse order, I was a bit confused by the constantly referenced backstories, which grabbed my attention more than the ones told in Anything is Possible.
Most of these stories stem from the reflections of senior citizens looking back on their life and family choices. The collection is charmingly Midwestern—-all of these stories have their heart in rural Illinois, a place I’ve never visited, but felt nostalgic for along with the characters. Many of them wrestle with our changing world, where “anything is possible,” and question if some possibilities (divorce after 50 years of marriage, marrying into wealth from a childhood of poverty, returning to visit your estranged siblings in Illinois) are better left unrealized.
If you enjoy interconnected short stories, books about aging, and insightful depictions of white, working class Midwesterners, I’d suggest it—after the first book, of course!
Most of these stories stem from the reflections of senior citizens looking back on their life and family choices. The collection is charmingly Midwestern—-all of these stories have their heart in rural Illinois, a place I’ve never visited, but felt nostalgic for along with the characters. Many of them wrestle with our changing world, where “anything is possible,” and question if some possibilities (divorce after 50 years of marriage, marrying into wealth from a childhood of poverty, returning to visit your estranged siblings in Illinois) are better left unrealized.
If you enjoy interconnected short stories, books about aging, and insightful depictions of white, working class Midwesterners, I’d suggest it—after the first book, of course!