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alisarae's reviews
1562 reviews
The Veiled Woman by Anaïs Nin
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I have read some spicy romance but I suppose this is really what you would call erotica.
Includes: The Veiled Woman, Linda, and Marianne from The Delta of Venus and Mandra from Little Birds.
Includes: The Veiled Woman, Linda, and Marianne from The Delta of Venus and Mandra from Little Birds.
Morvern Callar by Alan Warner
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This book was kind of crazy and uncomfortable (it reminded me a bit of American Psycho) but also I wanted to keep reading to see how the story would resolve. I felt like reading it was a memorable experience but it isn't the type of book I would recommend. The 90s were a time, man!
Here is the Scottish vocab I learned:
Greet - to cry
Oxter - armpit
Coorie - hunker down, snuggle up
Boak - to puke
Fankled - tangled
Skint - broke (money)
Bothy - cottage or shack
Sgurr - steep hill
Thunderplump - heavy fall of rain
Gormless - foolish
Blether - gabber
Breenge - lunge or dash
Go First-footing
Midden - dunghill or trash heap
Ceilidh - event with singing and storytelling
Bonzo - trash bin
Judder - shake (shudder)
Here is the Scottish vocab I learned:
Greet - to cry
Oxter - armpit
Coorie - hunker down, snuggle up
Boak - to puke
Fankled - tangled
Skint - broke (money)
Bothy - cottage or shack
Sgurr - steep hill
Thunderplump - heavy fall of rain
Gormless - foolish
Blether - gabber
Breenge - lunge or dash
Go First-footing
Midden - dunghill or trash heap
Ceilidh - event with singing and storytelling
Bonzo - trash bin
Judder - shake (shudder)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
Fame by Andy Warhol
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
Love, Fame and Beauty taken from The Philosophy of Andy Warhol.
This was a fun one. I found Warhol to be very relatable (much more than I expected to, based on photos I have seen of him) and his anecdotes about certain characters and trends from the 60s and 70s were interesting. It reminded me of Woody Allen or Seinfeld, same vibes about the comedy of the banality of life in the 20th century.
This book is very easy to pick up and put down, really great if you are waiting in a queue and need to pay attention to things around you at the same time lol.
This was a fun one. I found Warhol to be very relatable (much more than I expected to, based on photos I have seen of him) and his anecdotes about certain characters and trends from the 60s and 70s were interesting. It reminded me of Woody Allen or Seinfeld, same vibes about the comedy of the banality of life in the 20th century.
This book is very easy to pick up and put down, really great if you are waiting in a queue and need to pay attention to things around you at the same time lol.
Create Dangerously by Albert Camus
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Three essays from Resistance, Rebellion, and Death.
Create Dangerously: I know a lot about art history and even then it was hard to follow his arguments in the main essay, when he used specific examples of artists or movements. I think there were some isolated quotes that I could apply to today, like when he talks about that remaining silent is no longer a neutral position. I also liked the concept of making art that is relatable to the suffering of the present while building dreams of what the future could be--reminds me of solar punk and afrofuturism movements that are so hopeful for the future precisely because the present is bleak.
I think Defense of Intelligence was the easiest to understand, esp bc we have been seeing so many anti-intellectual movements coming from the right: just last year there were two standout moments where people were filming themselves destroying their college diplomas (🙄) and the other where a lady was getting thousands of threats on twitter bc she posted a pic of her dissertation. I hope this "fad" passes soon and all those people feel ashamed for being idiots.
Bread and Freedom was the least interesting to me.
Create Dangerously: I know a lot about art history and even then it was hard to follow his arguments in the main essay, when he used specific examples of artists or movements. I think there were some isolated quotes that I could apply to today, like when he talks about that remaining silent is no longer a neutral position. I also liked the concept of making art that is relatable to the suffering of the present while building dreams of what the future could be--reminds me of solar punk and afrofuturism movements that are so hopeful for the future precisely because the present is bleak.
I think Defense of Intelligence was the easiest to understand, esp bc we have been seeing so many anti-intellectual movements coming from the right: just last year there were two standout moments where people were filming themselves destroying their college diplomas (🙄) and the other where a lady was getting thousands of threats on twitter bc she posted a pic of her dissertation. I hope this "fad" passes soon and all those people feel ashamed for being idiots.
Bread and Freedom was the least interesting to me.
The Firelight Apprentice by Bree Paulsen
adventurous
lighthearted
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
4.0
A cute story with cute art. I loved the color palette. The world was so interesting and had a lot of potential to be built out more, but the story is brief and stays pretty surface-level. With that approach, I appreciated the larger panels and minimal use of dialogue.
The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-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
5.0
A perfect cozy winter story. The whole thing feels special and magical. I liked the riff on Mary and Jesus; but in this story a baby comes to bring peace between humans and nature.
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I liked how the story flows and takes you along with it for the ride. I can't say it is earth shattering or terribly original (Lunar Chronicles and Hunger Games come to mind), but it is entertaining and the writing is good. I'll continue the series!
The Pumpkin Spice Café by Laurie Gilmore
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A very average het romance. I was cracking up at the obvious Gilmore Girls rip-offs. But there was a lot of repetitive internal dialogue where the characters were doubting the same two things over and over. If you cut that stuff out the book would literally be half as long. I can't believe the print book is 350 pages as it is--it must have huge margins lol. I was also kind of expecting it to be a closed door romance since that would fit better with my idea of a cozy vibe, but it definitely is not.
Three Japanese Short Stories by Kafū Nagai, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Koji Uno
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Three short stories from the early 20th century: Nagai's Behind the Prison, Uno's Closet LLB and Akutagawa’s General Kim (also published in The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories).
I found Behind the Prison to be the most thought-provoking because I went down a wikipedia rabbit hole to learn about yellow peril and the Russian-Japanese war. The story itself is hardly a story and more of a description of two environments: the lush and peaceful garden on the narrator's father's estate, and the brutal and pitiful slums just outside its walls. The narrator, an expat who recently returned home, no longer fully identifies with his Japanese culture (reverse culture shock is rough, lemme tell ya!), and is posing his experience of the cultural values of the west (arts, beauty, and individual determination) against the values of his country (technology & education for war's sake, brutality, and classism) using the garden vs the prison slums as a metaphor. I thought it was interesting that, a century on, the American west values the very things that the narrator lamented in his own country.
The other two stories were less compelling to me. Closet LLB is a comedy about a self-aggrandizing loser, and General Kim is a brief account from when Japan invaded Korea in 1523.
I found Behind the Prison to be the most thought-provoking because I went down a wikipedia rabbit hole to learn about yellow peril and the Russian-Japanese war. The story itself is hardly a story and more of a description of two environments: the lush and peaceful garden on the narrator's father's estate, and the brutal and pitiful slums just outside its walls. The narrator, an expat who recently returned home, no longer fully identifies with his Japanese culture (reverse culture shock is rough, lemme tell ya!), and is posing his experience of the cultural values of the west (arts, beauty, and individual determination) against the values of his country (technology & education for war's sake, brutality, and classism) using the garden vs the prison slums as a metaphor. I thought it was interesting that, a century on, the American west values the very things that the narrator lamented in his own country.
The other two stories were less compelling to me. Closet LLB is a comedy about a self-aggrandizing loser, and General Kim is a brief account from when Japan invaded Korea in 1523.
Gilgamesh: A New English Version by Stephen Mitchell
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Even though the story is about the two strongest guys in all the land, in the end the story reveals how fleeting and fragile life is... I liked it overall and I am glad I finally got to read it.