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I read History Of The Rain by Niall Williams and figured I would enjoy This Is Happiness as well. I did. The book wonderfully explores the relationships between people in a rainy part of western Ireland as the area was getting electric energy. It points to a simpler time where relationships were just as complicated and beauty and happiness could be found unexpectedly. It is very much a feel good story that is a much needed enjoyable read.

This book explores the lives of people in Chicago as their lives were turned upside down by AIDS in the 1980s. It draws important parallels to Paris around the time of the World War I and the Influenza pandemic. While the disruptions of World War I, the Influenza pandemic, and the early days of AIDS are different from the experiences we are having during the COVID pandemic, there are important insights we can learn.

I highly recommend this book for anyone thinking about how we respond war, pandemics, and other disruptions.

I took a break from reading novels from cultural settings different from my own, and chose this novel, or more accurately, collection of stories because it sounded like it was closer to my own family history. It was uncanny. Many of my ancestors came from Maine and New Hampshire. I could easily imagine Olive and Henry being not too distant relatives, the stories, the ways of speech, and all that went on sounded so familiar. They were the stories I imagine my mother and her sisters may have told about some of their relatives.

I strongly recommend reading books from cultural settings different from your own. If your ancestors did not paddle up the bay ages ago, then you should probably read this book to learn more about where I come from. If they did, then you should probably read this book to learn more about our shared ancestors.

This is a wonderful exploration of relationships between individuals, groups, trees, forests, technology, and the world. It is broad and sweeping and challenges the reader to think in new ways.

It goes on and on and doesn't wrap things up in a tight ending, sort of like trees and forests. That is its strength and also it's weakness.

This is wonderful book exploring a family from the Dominican Republic, including life under the Trujillo dictatorship and the diaspora to Patterson, NJ. It is told in the context of Dungeons and Dragons, anime, and the desire to be loved by a kid aspiring to be the next JRR Tolkein.

There were places where the violence of the Trujillo regime were graphically described. The descriptions seemed gratuitous and excessive, which is my biggest objection to this book.

All in all, it is well worth the read.

This book has sections of literary brilliance and the main character is wonderfully developed. Yet at times, I found the book tedious. Perhaps it is just because I read it from my position as a cis-het Euro-American boomer male, but the sex scenes seemed excessive as if the author was stuck writing gay smut fic. This seemed to support a detrimental narrative that "all gay people ever talk about is sex". In spite of this flaw, the book is well worth the read

I have been trying to read books representing people with different experiences than I'm accustomed to. This book explores the experiences of a wide-ranging loosely knit collection made up mostly of black women in Britain. It is a wonderful polyphonic novel.

I'm also interested in genealogy and loved the way characters connected at the end. I won't say more about that for fear of potentially spoiling it for others.

If you are at all interested in explorations in race, gender, or sexuality, you really should read this book.

The Night Watchman is an enjoyable read. It moves quickly. The characters, setting, and storyline are all compelling. It provides a wonderful view into Native American life in the 1950s.

I've long been interested in genealogy and recently started thinking about writing a book pulling together stories of my ancestors. I've also been interested in the history of African-Americans.

Gyasi combines both of these in a powerful historical novel, tracing the descendants of a woman in Ghana. The story explores the interaction between tribes in Ghana, the white man, the slave trade, slavery in America, and experiences of African Americans after slavery.

The story flows together very nicely, and is a book I recommend to my friends. I am also interested in how it fits together with other books I've read recently, those by James Baldwin, Colson Whitehead, and Resmaa Menakem

I've been reading a lot of multicultural fiction recently, written from multiple points of view across on non-linear timeline and this is a wonderful example of that style. I've been particularly looking for books that can help people from the dominant culture understand perspectives different from their own culture, and again, this book is a wonderful example.

I was struck by how all the interwoven stories were from the perspective of women. It is very powerful. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are interested in Cuba, Mexico, El Salvador, and how colonialism and U.S. policy has affected people from these countries.

I was looking for a book by Colson Whitehead in the library. A friend had recommended The Nickel Boys, but that wasn't available. John Henry Days was available, and it caught my attention. I listened to it as an audiobook. It was very long, trying to bring in many different stories. It might have been better if some of the various stories were shortened or left out.

Yet, it pulled together themes of journalism, culture, and black history in a powerful overarching story. At times, it led me to rabbit holes, as I put down the story and read about the history of steam hammers, or racial conflict in New York City.

Find time to read this.

Perhaps I am biased. This book was recommended by a disability rights activist that I'm sure knows people like those in this book. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that my friend knows Ms. Nussbaum. As a "temporarily able bodied" person, my interaction with differently abled people has been fairly limited. This book brought me into a world so different from my own. Or rather, it has expanded the view of the world I live in, to better include people that have too often been invisible to me.

Some of the violence and hardship in this book make it a rough read. It is an important read nonetheless. The story is complicated and compelling and the story telling is masterful. I highly recommended it.

Imagine a dystopian novel about fleeing the collapse of society and trying to build a new community written from the viewpoint of a brilliant womanist. Talk about a book that is highly relevant for today1

This book provides a moving portrayal of being Korean in Japan in the twentieth century as it traces through the hopes and experiences of several generations. It starts in Korea prior to World War II and continues to after the Korean conflict. It includes experiences of Korean Americans and Koreans born in Japan who studied in the United States. It is a very useful lens for looking at how people from dominant cultures treat people from marginalized cultures. Highly recommended.

This is a wonderfully woven together story exploring many aspects of growing up in Afghanistan and coming to the United States. It explores some of the underlying dynamics of the current tension in the region.