4 likes
Real life is just a bit too much right now. So it strikes me apropos that all 3 of my main media reads (kindle, audio, print) are serious period pieces with dramatic settings including beauty and terror more (but significantly different from) my own circumstances. “Art can save your life.” -comedian Josh Johnson.
#CoverStories
A #Reptile on the cover of this semi-true tale of a road trip with an alligator that I read for review about 10 years ago. (Yikes!)
The cover on the left is the original & the right, a newer version.🐊
pickI‘m giving this a low pick because I liked the history & characters. My library‘s book challenge has this book as a prompt—they‘re going to do a book discussion & podcast ep about it, so I read it. It started out good, there‘s a lot of action, but it just seemed so slow to me. Based on the history of the Battle of Blair Mountain, the coal miners‘ fight to have unions & safer working conditions. Maybe I would have rather read a NF account. 👇
bailedI really wanted to like this, as the premise sounded awesome. But for me, it didn‘t live up to the premise. I struggled to become engaged in the story and to connect with any of the characters. Maybe my expectations were too high because of all the hype, but this one wasn‘t for me.
so-soI believe my hopes were too high for this and consequently I ended up feeling meh about it. An American Civil War novel (and its aftermath) that takes place in West Virginia in what was then called a lunatic asylum?? Plus it won the Pulitzer? Sign me up! I was hooked at the beginning and the end but the middle section lost me. A look at how war has wide reaching impacts, through the experiences of a young girl and her mother.
pickI have mixed feelings on this one. The writing was beautiful, and so much about the story was compelling, but a few cringy sections nearly ruined it for me. It's a pick, but I felt at times like rating it 2 stars and at other times 5 stars. This was my November #Doublespin @TheAromaofBooks
