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Emily hiding in a stack of books :3

chwiggy@books.theunseen.city

Joined 11 months ago

This is @emilychwiggy@mastodon.art but with more books

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reviewed Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, #1)

Benjamin Alire Sáenz: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2014, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)

Dante can swim. Ari can't. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time …

Review of 'Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe' on 'Storygraph'

This is quite the view into the life of adolescence, queerness, trauma, mexican-american life, and much more, narrated with a lot of joy, anger, grief, and sorrow in a beautiful book

reviewed Gewitter über Pluto by Heinrich Steinfest

Heinrich Steinfest: Gewitter über Pluto (Paperback, Piper Verlag Gmbh)

Review of 'Gewitter über Pluto' on 'Storygraph'

this book, while presenting a mildly interesting crime plot just had too many slips of homophobic, transphobic, racist and misogynistic language for my enjoyment. And while the narrator of this book is a dick, this is at leat in the first half of the book never framed as something bad. I kinda enjoyed some flourishes of language but this was just too much

reviewed Penguin English Library Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens: Penguin English Library Great Expectations (Paperback, Penguin Classic, imusti)

An unknown benefactor supplies an orphaned blacksmith's apprentice with the means to be educated in …

Review of 'Penguin English Library Great Expectations' on 'Storygraph'

No rating

The book has just been a drag to read... and never hooked me enough on its premise

reviewed Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Yaa Gyasi: Homegoing (Paperback, 2017, Vintage Books)

Ghana, eighteenth century: two half sisters are born into different villages, each unaware of the …

Review of 'Homegoing' on 'Storygraph'

For me, this debut novel is without a doubt worth a recommendation. While its sprawling nature and largely unremarkable writing might make it fall flat for some readers, it presented an interesting, captivating story for me. Of course, this book isn’t worthy of a Nobel prize in literature, but that is an overly pretentious expectation for a writer. This book has its special pull for me, even if that didn’t come from the plot itself, but from my expectations and a collection of great characters.

As a whole, I enjoyed the depth, the unique structure of this book gave its characters, especially the strand of the family that remained in Ghana. And I enjoyed the look into Ghanaian history, that gave me the appetite to look into it more. The same unfortunately can’t be said for the view into US history. Though it certainly offers a unique perspective of slavery …

reviewed The Long War by Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter: The Long War (2013)

The Long War is a science fiction novel by British writers Terry Pratchett and Stephen …

Review of 'The Long War' on 'Storygraph'

Now, would I recommend this book? Hell no! I know a few people who really were engrossed by the world-building and who really enjoy the whole series of books, but to me, with hindsight, even the first book had some of the issues of this book.

If you really like world-building this book might be a pretty enjoyable and rompy read, but don’t expect a good story. I think you can read it for the vignettes of worlds, but the book is absolutely bereft of growth. For the most part, it’s characters in vague search of a plot and the titular long war that never comes.

Full Review on
https://chwiggys-world.de/2020/05/14/pratchettterry-thelongwar/

reviewed A field guide to getting lost by Rebecca Solnit

Rebecca Solnit: A field guide to getting lost (2006)

Written as a series of autobiographical essays, A Field Guide to Getting Lost draws on …

Review of 'A field guide to getting lost' on 'Storygraph'

I can only recommend you to get lost in this book, full well knowing that getting lost in this book might not be possible for every reader.

There’s a real chance you might get too lost at reading this book, and I won’t fault you for putting it down and never returning. This book isn’t for everyone. You need a tolerance for frustration for dense prose, for feelings of being lost and alone. But if you’re ready to accept these feelings, if you tolerate being frustrated, this book is a treasure. A wealth of nature to behold opens up before you if you manage to get lost in these experiences of home and of far away.

Full review on chwiggys-world.de/2020/04/05/solnitrebecca-afieldguidetogettinglost/

reviewed Gratitude by Oliver Sacks

No cover

Oliver Sacks: Gratitude (2015, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group)

"In July 2013, Oliver Sacks turned eighty and wrote [a] ... piece in The New …

Review of 'Gratitude' on 'Storygraph'

These essays have a special place in my heart. I’ve read the three essays within this book many times over, but they never fail to warm my heart. They are filled with the titular gratitude for a well-lived life and full of wisdom, fun, and a gripping curiosity that fills so much of Oliver Sacks’ writing.

If you can I would honestly recommend you to pick this little book up or at least search out the essays within.

Full review on chwiggys-world.de/2020/03/19/sacksoliver-gratitude/