Phoebe LaMountain

Clifton is one of my favorite poets and my dad gifted me this memoir because it was her only standalone book. After reading this, I want to read all of her poetry again. It connects back to so many of the themes she writes about and connects the story of her life to her work. The way the story moves back and forth through time, connecting back to the baseline story of her father's funeral, felt like poetry when read continuously. It was the best book I read in 2021 and deeply moved me.

This was the first book I read about addiction from the perspective of family. Most of my reading about addiction is trying to understand the life of the addict because that's not something I've ever been privy to. This book was all too familiar and exactly what my life was like for so long. I really loved that this book was able to reach audiences to share that the life of people around addict is completely changed in the exact exact same way. Makes me wish that there were more stories like this, and especially stories of siblings of addiction.

Lady tans circle of women was my favorite fictional historical novel I've read in a very long time. I feel like I don't hear much about historical fiction being written in non-European countries maybe that's my own personal experience, but when this book was recommended to me, I knew I had to read it.

Learning about Confucius medicine and what's considered medicine at that point in time was extremely interesting . I felt like I was falling into China in the 1400s. though it's not what we would consider a happy story now, the way that the novel covers so many points in her life and ends in a way that connects her story all the way to the beginning, really gives you an encapsulation of what it would be like to be a Confucius female doctor!!!

4.0!

One of the most interesting books I've read in a while.Foo takes such an analytical perspective in her own life and trauma, which I think is par for her diagnosis. I love the connections of intergenerational trauma, and the way history ties its way into the memoir. Getting to hear her internal dialogue, and the way that she changed over the course of her healing felt so personal and beautiful. I seriously recommend this book for anyone working through complex trauma while also giving a huge trigger warning for abuse of all kinds.


4.0

This book was much different than any sort of biography or memoir based book I've ever read. It provides immense detail into the 1996 season of Rob Hall's Everest team.

I used to think about Everest as kind of an adrenaline junkies playground, but after reading this book, it really opened my eyes to what climbing Mount Everest actually entails and the devastating actions survivors have had to take to save themselves in theface of imminent death.

I've always loved into the wild by John Kracker and this book is highly rated so it's always been on my to read list. This book is highly researched and highly analytical. So much of the book is going over timelines, collecting information and trying to divulge that to the reader. But at some point there's so much information that it's hard to even know what's going on. so many proper nouns, names, and time points that you wonder while reading it how Krakauer was even able to figure this out.

It's easy to say It seems like leadership made mistakes. that they should've turned around at the turnaround time, that prefixed line should've gone up way before they did, but I think the very end of the book really summarizes it properly that people wanted to make it to the top and with your brain working at 29,000 feet altitude You will do anything to get there .

Definitely shed tears while reading this book, just such a loss of life in a way that doesn't mean anything. What you would give to say you did something. Something I don't know how you would ever recover from being even a survivor.

4/5

This book was my first of Didion and introduced me to her work. This book is one of the best I have read about grief, loss, and the mental and physical toll it takes on you. Didion is raw, and real in this book, and uses beautiful metaphors and analogies to describe this year of her life, and subsequently the impact on the rest of her life.

Sweet & fun but so predictable. Sometimes it just felt too quirky like in a way that wasn't endearing, but almost like OK we get it you're quirky, but overall it was sweet and I had a nice storyline. I think I just need the storyline to be much less predictable so that I want to keep reading. Also, I didn't like any of the characters, except for the couple who is pregnant they were pretty cute. And I like the idea of two pigeons named mother and fucker.

2.4

I love and Patchett this book, took me a little bit longer to get into than the Dutch House or Commonwealth, but I ended up really falling into the characters and the story. I thought it was so interesting that the story took place during Covid . I normally don't like those kind of storylines because they take me out of the world, but I think it really worked in her favor. The line that sticks with me the most was the stories of happy marriages are never as good of stories of love affairs with movie stars.

I'm not quite sure how I feel about this book. It was okay. It took me a while to read and kinda never felt like I became engrossed into the story. I was really excited to read something about an old circus, but it kinda just fell flat for me.

Idk.... I did really love the end when Jacob rejoined the circus. It really put into perspective the amount of time people are alive. 93 years is SO Long. I guess I just think it was too detailed at times and I didn't really like the story arch. That being said, it was better than most books

3.3

I feel complicated about this book and the ties it has to the portrayal of our federal Justice system. I don't think Kerman‘s account of prison is like anybody else's but I kind of expect that of every person's experience. It's interesting hearing her learn about her privilege in not a theoretical way, but directly in the context of life in a federal prison. I do acknowledge that this book, one of the few revered books about women's correctional facilities, was written by an upper class white woman. That being said, it doesn't make any of the injustices addressed in this book less true. I really did enjoy this book, and I felt that I got to learn a lot. Even if it is one specific “more palatable for audiences” perspective. I think I'm going to try to read more books on this topic specifically women's prisons in the United States, let me know if anyone has any recommendations.

How to say Babylon is a perfect mix of direct prose and poetic writing all mixed up into a beautifully told memoir.

This book was recommended to me by a friend whose book recommendations I always take a serious as gold. When I check this book out from the library, I expected it to be a similar telling of “Educated” where the writer is very direct and detailed with what they have survived and how it affects them into their adulthood. “How to Say Babylon” is much more detailed into what is expected as a Rasta woman and the history of Rastafarians.

I learned so much about Rastafari culture and the ingrained misogyny into an almost organized religion created in the confines of Jamaica. Some of it being very beautiful, the importance connected to nature, the liberation of Black people in Jamaica & the world, and creating a society of peaceful likeminded individuals. I also had no idea about the poor reputation of Rasta bredren in Jamaica and the amount of disrespect and cruelty thrown at this community of people. Like almost all sectors of religion, although well-meaning, may end up being perpetrators of their own oppression, especially towards women and their roles within these societies.

How to say, Babylon is extremely eye-opening to how seclusion and purity culture within certain “sects” of Rastafari can be extremely isolating and eventually abusive . Though the tenants taught and believed is so beautifully represented in this story, so much of what it means to be Rastafari went directly against what Sinclair wanted for her life, which was to be a poet. This story is written in a way that feels like the waves coming in and out from the shore. You wait for her to stand up, but then she has to retreat again because the waves call her back. So much of what she was ingrained to do was represent her father, and to be a part of this culture that defined her, but didn't represent her.

At the end of the book, the climax of abuse happened so quickly in terms of page count that the eventual reconciliation felt somewhat rushed to me. For Safiya, it was years of time spent away from her father learning how she felt and coming to terms with her childhood, but to the reader, it happened so quickly, I didn't feel that the emotional payoff really reflected how she felt in her life. I don't feel privy to her emotional development, but I wish that had played out a little bit differently at the end of the book.


I think this book is a great way to understand another culture and the history and beauty behind it. Sinclair's writing of Jamaica is astounding and transport you directly to the island. One of my best reads so far in 2024.

4.5!!!

I did like this book. It was very entertaining to listen to, especially with the production value and the different voices and background sounds. I do think that the conclusion is not as shocking as it was intended to be at least for me I kind of saw the twist coming, which ruins the unreliable narrator trope. I wouldn't read it again, but if you're looking for a twisty, not so gruesome, psychological thriller, pick us up.

Also- I didn't like the idea that just because she was evil the grooming didn't matter? Like Walter was attracted to a 13-year-old girl, and when he had 10-year-old sons??? like I don't really feel like that has a redemption arc for me it doesn't mean he deserve to get killed, but I don't know it was really strange for him to be like a good guy in the end? Even if Alex said that line about him being a “ bad man”. Weird .....

3.0

I LOVE a good new age popular book. It feels like watching the best movie that everyone else has been talking about.

I loved this book, and I have never read a sports book before. I love that it made me fall into Carries world when before this I literally new nothing about tennis

It was so fun, but also real.

4.3

I did really like the premise of this book but the writing was really subpar. I didn't think that it was gonna be revolutionary or anything. I just wanted something fun and I genuinely did enjoy the story. The idea of meeting your mom in the past after she's passed away and getting to know her not as your mother but as a human, I think that that's really endearing. That being said, so much of it felt like amateur writing.

2.3

I thought that the storylines in this novel were so interesting and dynamic for a thriller. I felt like I was learning so much as it went, with new things being revealed so often. Often times thriller falls in the same category to me as romance that I enjoy them but they're never incredible. but this hit it out of the park!! I listen to the audiobook, and there were different voice actors doing different accents and it was just like so fun and suspenseful. I think I might read more of these loll


3.9

I only started reading this book because of how popular it was on kindle unlimited. When I started reading I already knew this wasn't necessarily the kind of book I traditionally read. That being said the book was enjoyable, I liked the ups and downs and drama. But honestly I thought the writing was sub par, and I constantly found myself cringing at the dialogue. I have personal connection with the thematic storyline, and I still didn't connect to the story. I don't know, I didn't really believe in the “love” that blossomed so quickly that they didn't really explain. It just all felt very superficial.

Entertaining but so dumb. It didn't really make anymore sense by the end. The idea was interesting but the execution only left things to be desired. Why was it worse for Bailey to move and start over vs never see her father again? Because of the “leak”? I just don't really understand why that pay off would be worth it? I was half expecting Bailey to be like no I want to give up what I have to see my father again, but she was just like... okay :(. Dafuq????? Idk I felt like the writing didn't bother me as much as some readers because I was listening to the book rather than reading, and the characters had pretty distinctive voices. But I can imagine if I had read the physical book it would have annoyed me.

The way, Taylor Jenkins read writes, feels like I'm watching the “top” movie of the summer.

Genuinely when I read her books, it feels like I'm watching a good ass movie for 19 hours in my brain . Malibu rising is the third book I've read of Taylor Jenkins read and I liked it! Definitely not more than Carrie Soto is back or the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but way more than one true loves.

I like the characters it was kind of dumb and they were all kind of annoying with the surfing and stuff, but I still found them relatively endearing in the story. Interesting enough.

I did really like the contrast between the past storylines I enjoyed that immensely, and just like the coastal vibes .

3.5

What the fuck? Like how did I read this entire book... nothing happened but... everything happened. I don't know how I feel yet.

I knew it was accumulating to the twin towers and I knew when she said that Trevor and Reva worked there that 911 had to be an important component of the story. when she starts sleeping consistently blacking out I knew it would be a few months before 911 but the buildup was insane...

Few days later. I feel the same, but more sad for her. I feel like there may have been no absolution for the whole time. Even with the ending.

3.4