booktrovert – Page 25 – Cannonball Read 17

“Don’t turn away, I’m still awake”

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

March 24, 2022 by booktrovert Leave a Comment

This was a beautiful tribute to a mother, written by a grieving daughter. You might be a fan of Japanese Breakfast – but even if you haven’t enjoyed the indie-pop band, you could still get a great deal of pleasure from reading this memoir. I say pleasure with an asterisk – as suggested in the title, this book will most likely inspire tears. Michelle Zauner’s mother died in 2014, when she was 25. This book shares stories about her childhood with a Korean mother and […]

Pay attention to what you pay attention to

The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green

March 24, 2022 by booktrovert 10 Comments

Joining Cannonball Read has meant that I’m now part of the group of people reviewing books. Here’s a very obvious statement – reviewing something is quite different from simply enjoying that thing, even if you naturally have thoughts about it, maybe even sometimes discuss it with other people. To commit yourself to a few hundred (or more) words about a topic, and then to rate it – and share that with other people – it’s both a work that is very internal (we really must […]

“There was so much to think about if you just gave yourself time … “

Universal Harvester by John Darnielle

March 24, 2022 by booktrovert Leave a Comment

Do you think much about life in Iowa? I actually think I DO think about life in Iowa more than might be assumed – I don’t live that far from Iowa, and I used to do some pretty regular work traveling from St. Louis to Lincoln and Omaha and other small towns scattered around Nebraska. Sometimes, driving to Nebraska we’d get close to or even pass through Iowa for a brief period of time. Although these trips had very little to do with my day […]

“Come with me, quickly. There isn’t much time left and I want to show you something beautiful.”

Radiant Fugitives by Nawaaz Ahmed

March 22, 2022 by booktrovert Leave a Comment

This is a beautiful novel about adjusting our expectations. Sometimes, things are more or less as we think they will be – but there is beauty and tragedy in the MORE and LESS of that. Imagine that sentiment said far more lyrically. Radiant Fugitives is the story of a family from Chennai. The family consists of a mother and father and their two daughters – we zoom into their lives in 2010, when both daughters are living in the United States. The story is narrated […]

Startup Wife

The Startup Wife by Tahmima Anam

March 18, 2022 by booktrovert 2 Comments

Every book probably has a philosophical core, if you look hard enough. The act of writing itself, even a review, even one done without the benefit of the gift for crafting a plot (as mine are), is probably rooted in some sort of understanding of the way the world works. It’s all an expression of philosophy, a point of view, one means of making sense of some of the chaos. In some cases, that’s the draw of the novel itself – the desire to sink […]

“What beautiful rebellion … to feel anything at all.”

What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad

March 13, 2022 by booktrovert Leave a Comment

I am a book reader because I love to escape and imagine the lives of others. Books are a way to touch lives that I would never be able to reach in my limited, brief time here on Earth. I have spent my 40 something years here mostly in the United States, post colonialism and legal slavery, with access to the Internet at my fingertips for the half of my life that seems most relevant to me now. With all the luck that brought me […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

About booktrovert