klor's reviews
89 reviews

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

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challenging hopeful informative inspiring slow-paced

4.0

A great look at how science, native traditions, and living are all intertwined with each other. I've always believed that sometimes a soulmate could be a place and the notion of being people of a place that was present throughout the book made me really happy. It's beautifully written, powtic in a lot of points despite the repetitiveness of some of the ongoing themes throughout. It was fascinating to hear about other cultures, the author's own interaction with her family and students. The chapter on relearning your people's language made me cry a little. It's long but it definitely doesn't feel wasteful. These stories are good companies for hot summer afternoons. 
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Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

A very endearing read. Throughout Kitchen, instead of imagining people while reading, I can imagine 90s anime characters. While it tackles grief and mental health a lot, there's a lightness in the way that the author writes that it's like there's a light at the end of this tunnel. It made my heart full. Moonlight Shadow was utterly heartbreaking. For someone who dreamt of losing their partner a few months ago and woke up sobbing, this really hits hard. Like Kitchen, there's still a light at the end of the tunnel in the story and the love and support of everyone arround our narrator was very evident. Feeling my heart clench right now but in a good way.
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Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

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challenging dark sad fast-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

2.75

This was a really hard read. I think everyone has gone through their middle school-age years and realized how brutal some kids can be. The narrator and Kojima's connection was set up really well but one can also infer that it's a result of them trauma bonding. As always, Kawakami's novel is littered with very visual scenery and moments that make you feel sentimental, plenty of images that fit a said moments. It was also very brutal but that's what some people are going through. I kind of wish it was longer and I just wish I liked it more. I'm happy for the narrator's release and freedom at the end, no matter how it's not neatly wrapped in a nice little package. I also usually love open ended endings but something about this one just doesn't feel right.
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Tadao Ando: Conversations with Students by Tadao Ando

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funny hopeful informative inspiring relaxing fast-paced

4.25

A few days away from graduating for my master's of architecture degree, I think this is such a good book to send myself out to. In the context of giving five lectures, Tadao Ando explores his experiences in life, his influences, and the way these shaped him as a designer. With everything happening today, there's a lot to take in and talk about in the world. I love how he highlights learning from other people, watering your curiosity, questioning things you hear. It's just such a pleasant book. I may never just drop everything to travel to a different country to see my favorite architect or to be able to open a firm of my own immediately but there's always a small space in the world for every designer, including myself to occupy and to learn through self discovery.
The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

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dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

The world building and the plot that runs the book was a really interesting read. While there are probably bigger things happening in the world our protagonist lives in, this novel focuses more on how the ordinary people are trying to get by in the midst of all the disappearances. There's almost a want for a hero to come and solve all of the disappearances but it never happens in the book. In a way, there's some beauty to that. It's absolutely heartbreaking what these people go through.

I thought the romance between R and our protagonist felt a little forced at first but it eventually blossomed into something comfortable for the both of them. I think them and the old man and the bond they shared was the absolute heart of this story.


I'd love to explore the world more but that probably isn't the point of the book.
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Appropriate: A Provocation by Paisley Rekdal

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.
Got busy with school, lost interest
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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adventurous dark emotional sad fast-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

I remembered seeing a review of the book a few years ago that this was better as an audiobook so I went ahead and did that and honestly, it felt more like an immersive experience. The story takes the readers back to the seventies and how it was to live the rock n' roll life in California with our characters. I love the amount of complexity that was presented here from human relationships to emotions to addictions. I also like how the book is stylistically with characters sharing what their thoughts were that time but not older and wiser, with realizations in the middle. There's a lot of contradictions and I liked how despite existing within the same moment, these characters are experiencing it differently. The ending felt a little bit corny but I can't think of any way to wrap this story up. It was almost sweet.
The fact that the author was also Julia, Billy's daughter, took me out of it for a bit lol but it is what it is.
Anyway, what a fun read if you're into celebrity gossip and pop culture write ups (as Taylor Jenkins Reid's other stories are) and especially if you love or know about Fleetwood Mac and their history.
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Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

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challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

3.75

In a trip to California about 4 years ago, a friend asked me, "What age did you realize that other people existed (outside of your own life)?" That was a constant reminder throughout reading the first half of the book and throughout, especially as Rankine details the various microagressions that happen in her daily life and slowly expanding that into the larger scale things such as biases and police brutality. Sometimes we just want to be seen, but properly.

While the scripts in the middle of the book left a lot to be desired, the writing points out a clear picture in between the various vignettes of what it's like to live as a black person in today's world. I'd love to reread this book in the future as I think it's something that grows on you with time.
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Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

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emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I'll never understand motherhood (or pregnancy for that matter) to its full extent but I'm always happy for the people who find themselves wanting to add that path to the very many they're taking. This book heavily explores the notion of family, motherhood, growing pains, and loneliness a lot and while it was slow and detailed, there's something about it that felt so natural and deliberate. Following Natsuko's life felt like following what's up with your long time friend. I love how this book explores various women's lives not just in the narrator's immediate circle but all around, how varied their choices in life are and why and how they all affect each other. There's something nostalgic and warm and soft that comes with reading this, but in a good way.
I also loved how her connection with Aizawa didn't become a deux ex machina romance situation or that their friendship and feelings are gonna change who she is, they communicated and settled on something that feels like their characters.
Overall, it's such a good read and if my mother was a reader, this was something I would give to her.
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The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.75

This memoir is such an honest and thoughtful portrayal of grief. Despite not experiencing a major personal loss in my life, there's a lot to be understood about loss and what comes after it. There were bouts of loneliness that we all can recognize in one way or another in these moments mentioned in the book that brings a full understanding to what Didion was going through. This was also such a lively tribute to her late husband John. 

Not gonna lie, this book was really heavy and while most of the moments made my eyes incredibly teary, the heaviness was unbearable that I cried within mere seconds of finishing the book. It made me think of the possible losses I can have in my life and how the hell I'm going to have to deal with those. I'd like to revisit this work again but probably not until a few long years later.
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