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imogenrose97's reviews
492 reviews
The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
4.5
The first time I saw this book I judged it by it's cover and I didn't want to get involved, I did however grab a copy for a friend and she was O B S E S S E S ED, so naturally I found a cover I actually loved and when Christmas came around I was gifted the most beautiful hardback copy from the friend who's copy I bought for her.
I started as I start so many books, without reading the blurb and it worked out perfectly this time. I got to experience it all blindly. I loved the descriptions of the singularly isolating experience of childhood as a strange child in the countryside, let loose to roam without adult interference, the games you make up, the intense clarity you feel about who you are without knowing how to name each part. The stupidity of adults who don't really know you, despite having known you your whole life. '
I felt a little cheated that queerness was not explored in the intensity of our main characters' friendship. However, queerness is also something that I as a child did not know or acknowledge in my strangely possessive friendships, there was though ample opportunity in the descriptions of the present moment. This likely is why I didn't give it five stars. It felt like it would have slotted sweetly into the plot to answer so many questions on my mind. I guess the beauty of the story was this unanswerable question, why was the friendship the way that it was?
I started as I start so many books, without reading the blurb and it worked out perfectly this time. I got to experience it all blindly. I loved the descriptions of the singularly isolating experience of childhood as a strange child in the countryside, let loose to roam without adult interference, the games you make up, the intense clarity you feel about who you are without knowing how to name each part. The stupidity of adults who don't really know you, despite having known you your whole life. '
I felt a little cheated that queerness was not explored in the intensity of our main characters' friendship. However, queerness is also something that I as a child did not know or acknowledge in my strangely possessive friendships, there was though ample opportunity in the descriptions of the present moment. This likely is why I didn't give it five stars. It felt like it would have slotted sweetly into the plot to answer so many questions on my mind. I guess the beauty of the story was this unanswerable question, why was the friendship the way that it was?
Open Throat by Henry Hoke
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I had no expectations for Open Throat, no ideas for how the book might proceed. I was utterly delighted by what I found. I loved the human experience through our protagonist's eyes. I loved the words spelt as they sounded, I loved working what they were.
This was a book I chose to read at the queer bookclub I host through a bookshop, this time I had a few friends and my partner come along as they had read and loved the book. It was so lovely to see the group through their eyes, to get to hear newly how lovely the environment is, to have people confirm what a special place it is. The discussions for the book were overwhelmingly positive, everyone had enjoyed experiencing life through a mountain lions eyes and enjoyed the ways the author played with words to create distance between him and us.
This was a book I chose to read at the queer bookclub I host through a bookshop, this time I had a few friends and my partner come along as they had read and loved the book. It was so lovely to see the group through their eyes, to get to hear newly how lovely the environment is, to have people confirm what a special place it is. The discussions for the book were overwhelmingly positive, everyone had enjoyed experiencing life through a mountain lions eyes and enjoyed the ways the author played with words to create distance between him and us.
DallerGut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
What a delightful romp, if romp could be used to describe a book spent mainly in dreams, the characters were varied and interesting though at times very much a type cast of a character rather than one very well written out. Having more interesting lovable characters working in the department store would have enamoured me more with the book. However, I'm sure there is something that I am missing from the characters, something their identities reveal about finding a space for yourself even if you might be found to be a difficult personality by others.
I find it so interesting the books how the books that do so well in countries like Korea and Japan are so often tales of humanity, of searching for a purpose, for who you are, for where you fit. There is often an open sense of curiosity and play that is not often present in mainstream Western fiction.
Special message to read the translator's note if you didn't. Her love for the book shines bright in the passages of the English translation.
I find it so interesting the books how the books that do so well in countries like Korea and Japan are so often tales of humanity, of searching for a purpose, for who you are, for where you fit. There is often an open sense of curiosity and play that is not often present in mainstream Western fiction.
Special message to read the translator's note if you didn't. Her love for the book shines bright in the passages of the English translation.
Returning by Kirli Saunders
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
4.0
Books composed in interesting ways always intrigue me, each poem in this collection had a corresponding artwork that was either inspired by the poem or vice versa. That alone made me want to pick this up. The art inside is stunning, I enjoyed comparing the words to the writing to find connections in them.
The Man Who Planted Trees: One of the most pressing stories of our time by Jean Giono
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
fast-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
4.0
My second read of a book from the Vintage Earth collection and a spectacular one at that. The story itself is in two parts, the first a short story, the second is a description of pure delight that Jean Giono felt at the request to write the story, the reception to the story and finally the glee of a man who has pulled off a deception so pure. I can't recommend this tiny simple story enough.
The Night Parade by Jami Nakamura Lin
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
I felt a lot of connection to this book, the depictions of life as someone chronically mentally ill and the way the world around us is so unkind, misunderstanding and often out of touch with the reality of mental illness. In particular not being able to see other patients after being released from the psych ward is ridiculous. The feeling of community and connection I feel reading this book is what I would assume she would be getting from the people around her while hospitalised. It has been life saving for me to have people around me who understand what it's like to struggle in the ways that I am struggling, to have a connection in the loneliest times. I know that the author wanted you to feel this connection, wanted to show you that even without a community of people who feel as you do, the community you already have can be enough. The people around who you rush to you and understand that you are struggling and that due to who you are its just going to be different to what they need or feel.
I deeply enjoyed the connections to a varied cultural past through the use of yokai as the structure to move the story and connect the parts of you that felt incompatible. The connections of isolation otherness and fear so prominent in ghost stories around the world lie barely covered in the the stories we tell about mental illness. What monster am I and where do I become more than a body of fear to turn into the self who overcomes the pain of living? Where do I turn from myth into person?
I deeply enjoyed the connections to a varied cultural past through the use of yokai as the structure to move the story and connect the parts of you that felt incompatible. The connections of isolation otherness and fear so prominent in ghost stories around the world lie barely covered in the the stories we tell about mental illness. What monster am I and where do I become more than a body of fear to turn into the self who overcomes the pain of living? Where do I turn from myth into person?
Her First Palestinian by Saeed Teebi
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The stories in this book were wide and varied, the final story the hardest to deal with. The complexities of living in a capitalist society where your life and family depend on the money you can provide to them. How do you balance your ethics with your will to survive and prosper, where does the line appear to tell you to turn back? You have gone further than you should now. Nothing is worth the cost of selling your dreams to those who oppress you.
I thought a lot about the responsibility of representing your people or community with kindness. The Palestinian people don't have the privilege of being hard to deal with, weird or angry, as so many marginalized people can't. There is no room for human flaws in the minds of the oppressor because confirmation bias is going to eat that one weird thing someone did and spit it up as a reason we shouldn't trust that entire marginalised group.
I thought a lot about the responsibility of representing your people or community with kindness. The Palestinian people don't have the privilege of being hard to deal with, weird or angry, as so many marginalized people can't. There is no room for human flaws in the minds of the oppressor because confirmation bias is going to eat that one weird thing someone did and spit it up as a reason we shouldn't trust that entire marginalised group.
Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth
challenging
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It's hard for me to read horror with any kind of distance, especially psychological horror. Flickering between the words that should sound insane to me is the familiar itch of maybe that thought is true.
Abby isn't questioning her thoughts, she isn't taking a step back to review. She's deep within herself and doesn't understand how to be out. It feels like a front row seat to thought patterns I am all too familiar with. To me the horror is how easily the insanity feels possible for me to reach. For that reason, I am not the correct audience for this book.
My main issue is that I wasn't sure if diagnosing Laura with Borderline Personality Disorder did much for the story, I can't work out if that was there to hint to the reader that Abby was experiencing similar thoughts and patterns. If not it felt unnecessary and unhelpful to people with BPD, perpetuating the narrative that BPD is incurable and inherently evil.
The story itself was intense and well written, I didn't spend much time grasped by beautiful sentences but I did have a lot of squeamish moments at the sheer quantity of bodily fluids throughout.
Abby isn't questioning her thoughts, she isn't taking a step back to review. She's deep within herself and doesn't understand how to be out. It feels like a front row seat to thought patterns I am all too familiar with. To me the horror is how easily the insanity feels possible for me to reach. For that reason, I am not the correct audience for this book.
My main issue is that I wasn't sure if diagnosing Laura with Borderline Personality Disorder did much for the story, I can't work out if that was there to hint to the reader that Abby was experiencing similar thoughts and patterns. If not it felt unnecessary and unhelpful to people with BPD, perpetuating the narrative that BPD is incurable and inherently evil.
The story itself was intense and well written, I didn't spend much time grasped by beautiful sentences but I did have a lot of squeamish moments at the sheer quantity of bodily fluids throughout.
Extracts From: The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
3.0
It was hard to read how many things have not changed since Simone de Beauvoir wrote the Second Sex, there were bright moments of course. Knowing how many men are different to how they were then, knowing how much more support and understanding the feminist movement has now. I think that for me it was just not the best book. I enjoyed her thoughts and am full of awe at what her writing has done for women. I just don't think I have the capacity to read more of de Beauvoir unless pressed.
The Premonition by Banana Yoshimoto
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? No
4.0
My third Yoshimoto and definitely not a disappointment, I can see why it felt like it was maybe a bit too odd.