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sifuCJC

sifuCJC@bookwyrm.social

Joined 3 years, 11 months ago

I read only nonfiction for years. Now, I'm getting back into fiction. (he/him)

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sifuCJC's books

2025 Reading Goal

63% complete! sifuCJC has read 33 of 52 books.

Alex Michaelides: The Silent Patient (2019)

A compelling investigation

This was definitely an interesting book; I flew through it. The unfolding story was very compelling. The psychological investigations were pretty intense, much more than I had expected.

But, although I don't know much about the profession, the characters didn't seem to act like therapists to me. And the ending didn't work for me, though it was well thought out, so I can see where it might land for others.

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Ann Napolitano: Dear Edward (2021, Dial Press Trade Paperback)

One summer morning, twelve-year-old Edward Adler, his beloved older brother, his parents, and 183 other …

So many feels!

For as intensely emotional this book is, it wasn't 'heavy'. It definitely isn't 'light' either, but I attribute the lighter feel to the clarity of the writing. You are never in doubt about where the characters are and what they're thinking (even if it's confusion). This way you as a reader are free to process the emotions, which includes grief, trauma, and PTSD anxieties. I highly recommend.

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Emily J. Smith: Nothing Serious (2025, HarperCollins Publishers)

Edie Walker’s life is not going as planned. At thirty-five, she feels stuck: in her …

What happens when you peek inside

Pretty good portrayal of a woman that falls apart quickly when she is forced to investigate herself.

The middle is a bit muddy but the book starts and ends strong.

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Ada Palmer (duplicate): Inventing the Renaissance (Hardcover, 2025, Head of Zeus)

The Renaissance is one of the most studied and celebrated eras of history. Spanning the …

Witty and somehow relatable

It feels kind of weird to suggest that a book about how history has kind of invented this period in time called the Renaissance is relatable, but this book ended up being extremely relatable. I ended up listening to the audiobook (a whopping 30-hour beast) and regularly found myself smiling and chuckling along as I did my daily commute even though I knew and still mostly nothing about the time period or really anything about Italy. I genuinely had never heard of most of the people who were talked about in this book, which I think is a pretty clear indication about how interestingly the information is laid out--though it would certainly be a nightmare for anyone who requires events in time to be explained in chronological order.

More than that though, I think what was really great about this book and something I wasn't expecting was about how hopeful …

Kim Stanley Robinson: The Ministry for the Future (Paperback, 2021, Orbit)

Established in 2025, the purpose of the new organization was simple: To advocate for the …

Not Solarpunk

I'd thought this one might be solarpunk. It most definitely is not that style, much more old-school, hard-SF. And it is full-on dystopian in the beginning. (The first chapter is traumatically good.)

But the rest of the book was like an economics lecture to me. Never hit emotionally. Plus, some of the solutions didn't seem plausible, so it was hard to see the characters as experts.

Jane Smiley: Duplicate keys (1993, Fawcett Columbine)

They were six friends from the Midwest who moved to New York City with the …

Couldn't get into it fully, but finished

I'm not sure what to say about this one.

I had heard about it from a list of mysteries. This isn't written like a mystery though.

I couldn't understand what the author was going for in the beginning, but the writing was clear. About half-way through, it dives into the psyche of all the characters; which was interesting. Then it ends like a mystery with a sum-up.

Maybe I was just in the wrong frame of mind to see the themes. I'd be interested to see what others think of the writing and characters.