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ralovesbooks's reviews
1431 reviews
Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez
3.0
Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Libro.fm for my free copy! This book would pair well with We Fed an Island by Jose Andres.
Trust by Hernán Díaz
4.0
Thank you to Penguin Random House Audio for my free copy! Recommended for fans of Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee.
Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades
4.0
Thank you to Penguin Random House Audio for my free copy!
Recommended for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo.
Recommended for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo.
Fieldwork: A Forager's Memoir by Iliana Regan
4.0
I saw this book on the new releases shelf at the library, judged it by the cover, and grabbed it impulsively: a memoir with something to do with mushrooms? Obviously, I had to read it.
In this memoir, the author artfully weaves together poignant memories, vivid food descriptions, and reflections on nature. I read almost half of it in one sitting over a weekend while listening to Noah Kahan's album, Stick Season, on repeat. I couldn't get enough of her stories about walking in the forest and gathering what she could find. There’s a reverence for wildness that reminded me of Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl; a lushness and sense of teeming that reminded me of World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil; as well as melancholy and mycophilia that reminded me of The Way Through the Woods by Long Witt Loon.
The author forages more than mushrooms to serve to her guests at her inn, and this book made me reflect the act of foraging: knowing what's in season, paying attention as you wander, collecting what you can find (but not too much and not all of it), and using it in some way. I thought about what I want to look for when I move through the world, what is best for me gather and keep, and how I can put what I have to good use.
---
I spent a lot of the pandemic with my binoculars, appreciating what bird watchers did. I knew why Dad liked watching the birds -- it wasn't just waiting to die, like he'd once said retirement was all about -- sitting in a chair, watching the birds, and waiting to die. The truth was watching birds was more like wanting to live.
When I was foraging lots of my fears went away.
Sitting and writing sometimes looked a lot like sitting and doing nothing.
In this memoir, the author artfully weaves together poignant memories, vivid food descriptions, and reflections on nature. I read almost half of it in one sitting over a weekend while listening to Noah Kahan's album, Stick Season, on repeat. I couldn't get enough of her stories about walking in the forest and gathering what she could find. There’s a reverence for wildness that reminded me of Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl; a lushness and sense of teeming that reminded me of World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil; as well as melancholy and mycophilia that reminded me of The Way Through the Woods by Long Witt Loon.
The author forages more than mushrooms to serve to her guests at her inn, and this book made me reflect the act of foraging: knowing what's in season, paying attention as you wander, collecting what you can find (but not too much and not all of it), and using it in some way. I thought about what I want to look for when I move through the world, what is best for me gather and keep, and how I can put what I have to good use.
---
I spent a lot of the pandemic with my binoculars, appreciating what bird watchers did. I knew why Dad liked watching the birds -- it wasn't just waiting to die, like he'd once said retirement was all about -- sitting in a chair, watching the birds, and waiting to die. The truth was watching birds was more like wanting to live.
When I was foraging lots of my fears went away.
Sitting and writing sometimes looked a lot like sitting and doing nothing.
Dream Work by Mary Oliver
4.0
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice,
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do the only thing you could do -
determined to save
the only life you could save.
(From "The Journey")
In a very on-brand move, one of the first stops in our recent Las Vegas trip was @thewritersblocklv, a wonderful spot in downtown Vegas. Billed as a "book shop, coffee shop, writers' workshop, and artificial bird sanctuary," I couldn't resist. It was utterly delightful to wander around the store with a chai latte and browse. There were SO MANY funny bird things around, including a wide variety of artificial birds in various themed displays throughout the shop.
I decided to buy this poetry collection by Mary Oliver because I have been looking for a book by her at various used book stores, but to no avail. I admit that I read through the tables of content of every book of hers to make sure I got one with "Wild Geese." It's a lovely little book, and I finished it while I was in Manhattan for work. I had almost nonstop meetings for 2.5 days, and reading these quiet, steady poems about nature and contemplation was just the thing to start and end my days.
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice,
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do the only thing you could do -
determined to save
the only life you could save.
(From "The Journey")
In a very on-brand move, one of the first stops in our recent Las Vegas trip was @thewritersblocklv, a wonderful spot in downtown Vegas. Billed as a "book shop, coffee shop, writers' workshop, and artificial bird sanctuary," I couldn't resist. It was utterly delightful to wander around the store with a chai latte and browse. There were SO MANY funny bird things around, including a wide variety of artificial birds in various themed displays throughout the shop.
I decided to buy this poetry collection by Mary Oliver because I have been looking for a book by her at various used book stores, but to no avail. I admit that I read through the tables of content of every book of hers to make sure I got one with "Wild Geese." It's a lovely little book, and I finished it while I was in Manhattan for work. I had almost nonstop meetings for 2.5 days, and reading these quiet, steady poems about nature and contemplation was just the thing to start and end my days.
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
5.0
This book was fantastic. It felt urgent and dark and light. It's about justice and reconciliation and found family. So good. I heard echoes of A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door.
---
It was the sound of a starting...
...she began to dissociate, reality loosening around her like a hammock deconstructing itself, spilling her out into sands of nothingness.
"We're magnificent; we're testing our aliveness against each other. How fast is your alive? How smooth is your alive? How Hard, how resilient? We're alive because we can be hurt; we're alive because we can heal. I think it's beautiful." (Redemption)
...she was tired, as if a blanket made of world was pressing down on her.
...all you have to do is be willing to see, to admit that there are unseens waiting to be seen.
Words are never enough for a lot of things.
...the library would have some answers, it always did. It would help them know what was known.
"It's okay. You're here, you're real." (Redemption)
---
It was the sound of a starting...
...she began to dissociate, reality loosening around her like a hammock deconstructing itself, spilling her out into sands of nothingness.
"We're magnificent; we're testing our aliveness against each other. How fast is your alive? How smooth is your alive? How Hard, how resilient? We're alive because we can be hurt; we're alive because we can heal. I think it's beautiful." (Redemption)
...she was tired, as if a blanket made of world was pressing down on her.
...all you have to do is be willing to see, to admit that there are unseens waiting to be seen.
Words are never enough for a lot of things.
...the library would have some answers, it always did. It would help them know what was known.
"It's okay. You're here, you're real." (Redemption)
The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson
2.0
I had high hopes for this one after Alif the Unseen, but it didn't pay off. Loved the heroine and her friend, did not love the plot direction and twist, mostly because the latter didn't lean far enough into it. If that was how the bird king played out, let's really DO IT. That would have been interesting.
---
It's convenient for girls to be angry about nothing. Girls who are angry about something are dangerous.
What is a story but the map of an idea?
...a knot, after all, was a map of sorts, a path that led into the heart of something and out again.
---
It's convenient for girls to be angry about nothing. Girls who are angry about something are dangerous.
What is a story but the map of an idea?
...a knot, after all, was a map of sorts, a path that led into the heart of something and out again.
Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri
4.0
I was impressed at the restraint and precision in this book; it felt really different from the dramatic, multi-generational sagas I'm used to from Lahiri. I feel like this is a book that people would describe as "nothing happens," and it's true that the short chapters are somewhat unrelated to each other. The plot is not very solid. But through those brief encounters with the narrator, I developed sympathy for her, and I liked the ending. I found myself rooting for her, whatever came next.
---
I'm amazed at our impulse to express ourselves, explain ourselves, tell stories to one another. (61)
---
I'm amazed at our impulse to express ourselves, explain ourselves, tell stories to one another. (61)
Night of Cake & Puppets by Laini Taylor
3.0
Perfectly entertaining and so great to hear from the side characters in this short work
Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
3.0
I got this book from the library after watching the FX series, and it was pretty good. Too much sex for me (we get it, let's move on), and I can appreciate the complicated story that the author was trying to tell. However, an omniscient, first-person, singular narrator makes no sense. How would Libby have even known everything she was saying? I would have preferred some kind of omniscient, first-person, plural narrator among Libby and Seth. It would have been weird (like The Mothers or The Weird Sisters), but at least then you could chalk up their knowledge of Toby's personal life and THOUGHTS to some paranormal situation. That was distracting as a mechanism. And then, I just felt like it was too much story. Is it about Toby and Rachel? Is it about Libby? I know, it's about all of them. But it felt too weighed down and ultimately clunky to me.