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#1988
review
AnneCecilie
Sweet Desserts | Lucy Ellmann
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Mehso-so

About two sisters and their relation to each other and their parents. I had some issues with this book. There‘s a lot of sex, nothing graphic, but at times it felt like one of the sisters would have sex with one guy on one page and a different guy on the next. But what really bothered me was that the older sister would send her cast off in her sister‘s direction. And what kind of sisters have this kind of relationship? It‘s just weird.

AnneCecilie There‘s also some fat shaming. The whole family goes on a diet to help the youngest loose weight when she‘s young. And there‘s some casual mention throughout. There‘s also some random questionnaire and such that I never understood the point of. Despite all this I‘m still glad I read Lucy Ellmann‘s debut. (edited) 6mo
Librarybelle That relationship does sound a bit off 6mo
59 likes3 comments
review
Librarybelle
A Small Place | Jamaica Kincaid
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Pickpick

My #IslandVibe #TitlesAndTunes selection is so good and eye opening. Kincaid writes a critique of #Antigua and those who colonized the small island and how that colonization has shaped it. This is a memoir, so it‘s a very personal examination. One can feel her emotions. It‘s a must read. #ReadTheAmericas2023 #192025 #1988

BarbaraBB Wow, fabulous review and definitely stacking! 1y
Daisey This is currently available on Hoopla. I think I‘ll give it a listen today. Thanks! 1y
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Librarybelle Hope you enjoy, @BarbaraBB @Daisey ! It is less than 100 pages, so very quick read, but also very contemplative. 1y
Cinfhen I read a Kincaid too….SOOO GOOD 1y
Librarybelle I definitely plan to read more by her, @Cinfhen ! 1y
Cinfhen I have a feeling Annie John is the fictional sister to the book you read ☺️ 1y
Librarybelle @Cinfhen Sounds good! 1y
78 likes8 comments
review
BarbaraBB
Notes From the Blockade | Lydia Ginzburg
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Mehso-so

An intellectual in Leningrad struggles to survive during the German siege of his city from 1941 to 1944. He tries to keep sane by taking notes. Gradually, however, hunger takes over everything else. The fear of bombs, the cold, human dignity, it‘s nothing compared to the hunger, which dominates everything.

#19822022 #1988

LeahBergen Autumn on the canals! 🥰🥰 2y
TrishB Gorgeous pic ❤️ 2y
Librarybelle ❤️❤️❤️ 2y
59 likes3 comments
review
CoffeeNBooks
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Pickpick

I picked this up at Goodwill, not really knowing what it was about, but I enjoyed it. It's an interesting book about following your dreams.
#LitsyAtoZ #A @BookishMarginalia
#ReadingThroughTheYears192021 #1988

ElizaMarie This is one of my favorite books! I love when other people stumble onto it and enjoy it as well :) 5y
108 likes4 stack adds1 comment
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VioletMoonBooks
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blurb
SconsinBookyBadger
Frida's Bed: A Novel | Slavenka Drakulic
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Sunday buffet of a March botm, random library grab, and three TBRs.

The Alchemist #192019challenge #1988
Like Water for Chocolate, and Frida‘s Bed #mounttbrchallenge

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Sweettartlaura
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... and with this pick from #1988, my #birthdaychallenge (plus) is complete!

I may hit a few more before the year is out. I have less than half to get through for #192019challenge over the next 50 months. I‘m ready 🙌🏻 📖 📚

review
Kristy_K
The Alchemist | Paulo Coelho
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Panpan

I can't say I was a fan of this. I was underwhelmed. I thought there were many quotable lines, but the story as a whole was lacking. Maybe it just wasn't for me. ⭐️⭐️

#birthdaychallenge #1988

sprainedbrain Nor for me! 7y
Rachbb3 I didn't like it either. 7y
Kristy_K @sprainedbrain @Rachbb3 I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't like it! 7y
68 likes1 stack add3 comments
review
Riveted_Reader_Melissa
Imago | Octavia E. Butler
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Pickpick

Yet another surprising and unexpected twist in this continually insightful, but creepy, alien story. Definitely another angle in the results of this 'trade' that I wasn't expecting to see appear, I was again expecting a continuation from book two and more about those constructs, but instead I got something different and unexpected....something that, even in this world, was completely new and unique, and even scared our too smart aliens a bit.

Gezemice Looks like a great series! 8y
tricours Everyone seems to love these books! Is there any chance of liking books 2&3 if you hated book 1? 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @tricours Probably depends on why you hated book one. If it was the writing, then probably not. If it was the overwhelming creepy vibe you got, it's still there, but less as the series goes one. Book two jumps forward in time, so you get to see how all the groups have made out, and you get to see them through new eyes...the eyes of one of their mixed children. So it's seen from the POV of a character who can relate and is part of both groups.. 8y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa ... Even with the creepy vibe, I've enjoyed the series. The same way I 'enjoyed' The Handmaid's Tale or Kindred or The Fifth Season...they all make you uncomfortable, but that's because they all explore parts of humanity we are very uncomfortable with and don't like to think about too much. If it helps, I read book one and then took a long break before trying book 2, and was pleasantly surprised by the new POV in it, everyone is on earth by.. 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa ...then, so it feels a bit more normal to us. And the humans who left the group early on are revisited, we find out more about how they are doing after they left and an acceptable (to both sides) compromise is finally reached with them. That made me feel a bit better about the story overall too, if that helps. 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Gezemice It really is, but in the creepy but excellent writing way The Handmaid's Tale is for instance. I think it'd group most of what I've read of Octavia Butler in the same realm as Margaret Atwood. Creepy, but thought provoking, and really good at making you look at the parts of humanity we really dislike looking at. If you haven't read anything by her yet, I'd start with Kindred. 8y
tricours I didn't find it creepy at all, I just found all the humans extremely infuriating and annoying with their sense of entitlement. But if the perspective changes, that could help a lot! 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @tricours Maybe give it a try then. It joins Lilith and family years (probably decades) later. And switches to the POV of her new baby, who looks "mostly" human, but senses and understands the world much more than an average human baby would. "He" spends time with both the alien family grouping and with the human resisters group and finds things to appreciate in both groups over time. So yes, it is a very interesting new perspective. 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @tricours But yes, the purely human groups are still feeling entitled, they were here first, and still what everyone else gone. So if that really bothered you maybe skip this series and try something else of hers...maybe a standalone book like Kindred, which is really good. 8y
Gezemice @Riveted_Reader_Melissa You had me at "Handmaid's Tale" ? 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Gezemice 👍 Definitely try Kindred then! On its surface it's sci-fi time travel, but it's an African American woman who falls back into pre-Civil War America. It's got that great creepy but poignant vibe going for it too! 8y
Gezemice @Riveted_Reader_Melissa I read Kindred last year and liked it, although it did not remind me of Atwood. The story could be, I guess, but the writing is in a different realm, which is why I did not give Kindred 5 stars. Atwood spoiled it for me, lol. (edited) 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Gezemice True, they have different writing styles. I just meant the social commentary mixed in with a riveting story, that way the same. 8y
diovival This was the first of her books I ever read. Found it on my parents bookshelf. Didn't realize it was part of a series at the time. 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @diovival I love those stories, those books found on our parents shelf, that you borrow and read...and loved even if they were probably more adult than you were ready for. And then to find out it's just a doorway into a larger world that, that you find out about later, and can read knowing your parents read them too. 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa I should have also tagged this book #192019 #1989. I'll try to make a better effort going forward to tag books as I go. This is the last book in this trilogy, and I also used the first two in this challenge Dawn as #1987 and Adulthood Rites as #1988 8y
62 likes3 stack adds16 comments