amsswim's reviews
234 reviews

Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks

Go to review page

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Required reading. Highly recommend to anyone and everyone. Intersectionality should be the standard.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
They Knew by Sarah Kendzior

Go to review page

challenging dark informative reflective tense fast-paced

3.5

I guess I just wanted more history from this. It was touched on at several points, but it didn't really feel like it all came together for me. The information was good and I like her prose, but overall was not for me.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I'm not sure really what to say about this. I enjoyed it. This is the second book by the author Ottessa Moshfegh I have read, the other being 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation', and just as that one this book is just unhinged. I think this one may be more based in reality but still gave me the feeling of unsettlement. If you like weird things this may be for you. 

I am now very interested in watching the movie they made recently based on this starring Anne Hathaway.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America by Kathleen Belew

Go to review page

informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

This book was very informative, while I knew some of the information I still learned a lot. I feel like I have consumed a lot of media about how white supremacy groups manifested pre-Civil Rights and during Civil Rights eras, there is less on 1970s on, could just be what I read however. This book reveals some of why that is.  I wish there was another section dedicated to events mentioned in the epilogue in the 21st century, but the book does wrap up at the end of the 20th century. Little slow and repetitive at times but all around good.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

Go to review page

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

4.5

I really liked this one, almost 5 stars from me. The world is very interesting, and it leaves me wanting more to understand how it all works. That is not the point though; the author leans into the human reaction to the circumstances and it is devastating. Would recommend to dystopian fans and emotional people looking to get into their feelings.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Go to review page

adventurous emotional informative reflective 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? Yes

5.0

I think this is going in not only 5 star category, but favorites and best books I've read categories. Not only was the story good, but the writing kept me engaged and seeking more the whole time. This author had such beautiful and realistic ways of making these characters come to life, as well as tie in real world implications and reflections. 

You follow 4 daughters, their Mother, and Baptist Pastor Father deep into the Congo on their Fathers' mission to convert the people living there to Western Christianity. While the family goes through culture shock regarding that and their new realities, the country is self is trying to shed itself of Belgian colonialism. Despite it taking place in the 1960s, the story and the real world events occuring now still echo the exact same. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a more modern classic. 

My favorite quote: "I found ... I had now wings ... I had lost my wings. Don't ask me how I gained them back, the story is too unbearable. I believed too long in false reassurances; believing as we all want to, when men speak of the national interests that it is also ours. In the end, my lot was cast with The Congo. Poor Congo; barefoot bride of men who took her jewels and promised the kingdom"

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

Go to review page

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

3.75

I really liked this but boy it was slow. I'd recommend if you are into historical fiction, but this also crosses directly into true crime. Margret Atwood clearly did her research and really brought this story to life. Glad I was finally able to finish it. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Your Driver Is Waiting by Priya Guns

Go to review page

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

4.5

 I enjoyed this one a lot, despite the massive amounts of mixed reviews. I love reading and watching content about unhinged women. I think it appeals to me more than the unhinged men trope (i.e. Taxi Driver, which this book is a modern reversal of) is that women are not at the top of the hierarchy of oppression, so it doesn't feel meaningless, unwarranted, and solely dangerous. To me, it feels more justified. Add layers of other injustices like racism and classism, and you start to unpack intersectionality and why this book appeals to me so much more than Taxi Driver does. But maybe I am just an unhinged woman as well..

Short chapters, very funny. I listened to it, which went really quick (6.5 hrs), and was ready by the author. Don't be a Jolene and tip your drivers. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This book was not bad, I just don't think it was anything outstanding. Anything above a 3 is still worth a read if you're interested, in my opinion. If the author's intent was for me to be mostly bored and hate every man in this book it was achieved. Then the story I did like following, the WHite Alice plot, was generally ignored until 2/3 of the way through. I think overall Rose's story was the best written though. I could've just read a book about her experiences, which she was definitely the main character. Ending was alright but a pain to get to. The themes of climate change and folies of men are good, and I love a dystopian always (this was more of a pre-dystopian in my opinion).

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Garfields Cheesy Holiday Special #1 by Mark Evanier, David DeGrand, Scott Nickel, Andy Hirsch

Go to review page

emotional funny tense fast-paced
If you know you know. Kinda scary. Thanks Kc.