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Hot and Bothered (Hardcover, 2023, Penguin Random House)
When Jancee Dunn hit her mid-forties, she was bombarded by seemingly random symptoms: rampant insomnia, spring-loaded nerves, weirdly dry mouth, …
Couldn’t finish. The plot was too hard to follow, and the writing wasn’t interesting enough to inspire me to try and figure it out.
4.6 stars. I loved it, one of the best novels I’ve read in a while. Unlike some of my other recent favorites (such as “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous”), this book is also very accessible for all audiences, I’d recommend it to everyone from my BFF — an English teacher — to my mother. It’s just a delightful story that works on many levels, with wonderful characters (even a child character I found likable, which never happens!). Strongly recommended.
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Spanish: Cien años de soledad, American Spanish: [sjen ˈaɲoz ðe …
Still one of my favorite books, although in this read-through, I was more aware of some of the creepier parts, notably Aureliano, an adult, falling “in love with” Remedios while she was still a child. But this classic of magical realism, an allegory for the history of Latin America, is still a joy to re-read.
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Spanish: Cien años de soledad, American Spanish: [sjen ˈaɲoz ðe …
Re-reading my favorite book ❤️
Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy …
4 stars. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. I never read the original “David Copperfield,” but you can look up a plot summary online and get everything you need to know. I was concerned that the old-fashioned Horatio Alger myth of a disadvantaged kid pulling himself up by his bootstraps would translate poorly in a modern setting, but I don’t think that’s the story Kingsolver ends up telling at all, and there are plenty of characters whose bad luck and grinding poverty is not something they’re simply able to pull themselves out of by being smart and plucky. The story gives nods to the institutional systems wearing poor Appalachians down, while also highlighting the beauty and kindness of close-knit, rural communities. Despite the length, this book kept me engaged throughout, with three-dimensional characters and a plot that stays on track over the long haul while taking a …
4 stars. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. I never read the original “David Copperfield,” but you can look up a plot summary online and get everything you need to know. I was concerned that the old-fashioned Horatio Alger myth of a disadvantaged kid pulling himself up by his bootstraps would translate poorly in a modern setting, but I don’t think that’s the story Kingsolver ends up telling at all, and there are plenty of characters whose bad luck and grinding poverty is not something they’re simply able to pull themselves out of by being smart and plucky. The story gives nods to the institutional systems wearing poor Appalachians down, while also highlighting the beauty and kindness of close-knit, rural communities. Despite the length, this book kept me engaged throughout, with three-dimensional characters and a plot that stays on track over the long haul while taking a number of detours as Demon makes his way through the world. Kingsolver’s prose is, as always, a joy to read. Highly recommended.
Read for my book club
Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single …
4.2 stars. This should be required reading for all Americans. If you loved Desmond’s last book, “Evicted,” as much as I did, you’ll enjoy this larger-scale look at the systems that perpetuate poverty in America, while benefitting those of us who are not impoverished, and have made the wealth gap increasingly worse over the past 50 years. It’s also a quick, compelling read.
4.0 stars. I’m glad Will Sommer wrote this book, so that future historians will have a full, journalistic account of this absolutely insane period in American history. The author does a good job of pulling the threads of the different conspiracies together and showing how they have developed over time. He also demonstrates how they tie back to conspiracies of the past, like “blood libel.” It’s a quick and compelling read.
