ofbooksandtrees's reviews
1215 reviews

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

emotional reflective medium-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

3.5

Read January 2025
Overall, the stories are good, and some I really loved, but the returning theme of marriage wasn't entirely for me.

The Girl in the Eagle's Talons by Karin Smirnoff

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dark medium-paced

1.5

Read January 2025
Yeah, no, this really wasn't it. The Characters didn't feel anything like themselves and the book was either confusing or incapable of keeping my attention (or you know, both.)

Niet door water, maar door vuur by James Baldwin

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challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

Read January 2025
Reading this on my phone was probably a mistake on my part, as it doesn’t lend itself very well to being read in many short sittings. It’s good though!

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Read January 2025
It took me a little while to get back into the world (which was surprising considering I only read the first book last month) but once I did, it was really good!

The Men with the Pink Triangle: The True Life-and-Death Story of Homosexuals in the Nazi Death Camps by Heinz Heger, Klaus Muller, Sarah Schulman

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dark informative sad medium-paced

Read January 2025
An important topic in LQBTQIA+ & WW2 history that unfortunately isn't known, and/or(?) talked about, enough.

A quote:
"Although the pink triangle has become an international emblem of the gay and lesbian community today, we still know little about the individual fate of those who suffered wearing it. A symbol invented by the Nazis, the pink triangle was able to become a modern symbol of gay and lesbian pride only because we are not haunted by concrete memories of those who were forced to wear it in the camps. Ours is an empty memory. We have few names, and fewer faces: not more than fifteen gay Holocaust survivors have spoken of their experiences, and many of them have asked for anonymity."

This book was first published in 1972, so some of the numbers & information might be outdated as well as some of the language used. Though that makes this no less of an important document.

A quick google search brings me to facinghistory.org where the following, more up to date, information can be found:
"While the exact figures are not known, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) estimates that between 5,000-15,000 men wore the pink triangle in Nazi camps."

"Gay men who were sent to Nazi-era camps during World War II would first be eligible for survivor benefits in 2002 when their arrest records from 1933-1945 were expunged. This was too late for the vast majority of men who were eligible for benefits as they had already died. It would take until 2008 for the German government to open a memorial for the gay men who were persecuted by the Nazis. Finally, In 2017, Karl Gorath, along with thousands of other German men, received reparations for their arrest records and incarceration from 1949-1969. Many of these men received these reparations posthumously in the form of donations to organizations that served LGBTQIA+ communities. As of 2021, about 250 men had received some form of compensation."

Alles wat had kunnen zijn by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀

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dark emotional sad medium-paced