“oh god it's wonderful to get out of bed and drink too much coffee and smoke too many cigarettes and love you so much.” “oh god it's wonderful to get out of bed and drink too much coffee and smoke too many cigarettes and love you so much.” ...more
with beautiful, intelligent writing, this sort-of memoir contains sloane crosley’s examination of grief, mainly through two events in her life: a burgwith beautiful, intelligent writing, this sort-of memoir contains sloane crosley’s examination of grief, mainly through two events in her life: a burglary of jewellery from her new york apartment, and the suicide of her best friend and mentor. crosley grapples with how to cope with loss, and where you put all the love you have for someone once they’re gone. there was a standout passage about how grief feels like you’re holding a vase but have no where to put it down, and many other such moving passages; i underlined a lot in here. ...more
“this is why we dance, because screaming isn’t free. please tell me: why is anger - even anger – a luxury to me?”
a moving poetry collection by a pales “this is why we dance, because screaming isn’t free. please tell me: why is anger - even anger – a luxury to me?”
a moving poetry collection by a palestinian author, largely focusing on the occupation and ethnic cleansing of palestine. the afterword was also very powerful, introducing the author’s late grandmother rifqa whom this book is dedicated to and named after....more
so so good! i didn’t know before reading this that eve baltasar was a poet, but you can really tell by her prose. definitely going to read the other bso so good! i didn’t know before reading this that eve baltasar was a poet, but you can really tell by her prose. definitely going to read the other books in this triptych....more
i saw this book described as the original ‘nice guys finish last’ manifesto and while i enjoyed this book and its stunning writinwho hurt you fyodor.
i saw this book described as the original ‘nice guys finish last’ manifesto and while i enjoyed this book and its stunning writing……you have to see the accuracy there.
anyways some of my favourite quotes:
“and all i dream of every day is that at long last i will finally meet someone. oh, if only you knew how many times i’ve fallen in love like that.”
“i love you because you didn’t fall in love with me.”
“my god! a whole minute of bliss! is that really so little for the whole of a man’s life?”
“and you ask yourself: where are your dreams? and you shake your head and say: how quickly do the years fly by! and again you ask yourself: what have you done with your years? where have you buried your best days? did you live or not? look, you say to yourself, look how cold the world is becoming. more years will pass, followed by gloomy solitude, and then doddering old age will come on a walking-stick, to be followed by anguish and despondency. your fantastic world will grow pale, your dreams will wither, die and scatter like yellow leaves from the trees”
“today was a sad, rainy day, without a ray of hope, just like my future old age. i am besieged by such strange thoughts, such dark sensations, such obscure questions, which still crowd my mind – and somehow I have neither the strength nor the desire to resolve them. it is not for me to resolve all this!”
“it was a wonderful night, the kind of night, dear reader, which is only possible when we are young. the sky was so starry, it was such a bright sky that looking at it you could not help but ask yourself: is it really possible for bad-tempered and capricious people to live under such a sky? ”...more
feels a little trite to say how good this was because……everyone has been saying how good claire keegan is for years. but the rumours are true, and thifeels a little trite to say how good this was because……everyone has been saying how good claire keegan is for years. but the rumours are true, and this was so good.
a short and powerful irish historical fiction book; melancholic with a touch of lightness shining through. so atmospheric too - a perfect book to read in the run up to christmas....more
inspired by kincaid's own experiences, lucy tells the story of a nineteen year old girl from the west ia truly nuanced and powerful female rage story!
inspired by kincaid's own experiences, lucy tells the story of a nineteen year old girl from the west indies, who travels to the united states to work as an au pair for a rich white family.
though essentially a novella, kincaid packs enough depth into this book that it could be a full novel (and then some). in some ways, lucy stands amongst other immigration tales, chronicling a character’s complex experience of their first time away from their homeland. it soon becomes clear that lucy is very angry, and understandably so - she’s a young woman from a colonised country who simultaneously loves and hates where she comes from, who never wants to return but yet battles with intense homesickness.
the most prominent, and also powerful, aspect of the novel is undoubtedly lucy’s complicated relationship with her mother. lucy is full of frustrations at her mother: for falling into the stereotypical role of a mother and wife; for raising lucy, her only daughter, to be a docile woman, just like the generations of women before her. she’s frustrated that her mother didn’t want more for herself and more for lucy, she’s frustrated at the world for not allowing women to be, and want, more.
lucy feels that she must break away from her mother to be a fully independent adult, yet she also believes she’ll never again know the kind of love she shared with her mother.
some of my favourite quotes:
“i had come to feel that my mother’s love for me was designed solely to make me into an echo of her; and i didn’t know why, but i felt that i would rather be dead than become just an echo of someone.”
“oh, it was a laugh, for i had spent so much time saying i did not want to be like my mother that i missed the whole story: i was not like my mother— i was my mother. And i could see now why, to the few feeble attempts i made to draw a line between us, her reply always was "you can run away, but you cannot escape the fact that i am your mother, my blood runs in you, i carried you for nine months inside me." how else was i to take such a statement but as a sentence for life in a prison whose bars were stronger than any iron imaginable?”
"you are a very angry person, aren't you?" and her voice was filled with alarm and pity. perhaps i should have said something reassuring; perhaps i should have denied it. but i did not. i said, “of course i am. what do you expect?"
a haunting and raw tale of friendship, community assimilation, small-town politics & the loss of innocence that propels you into adulthood. so many ina haunting and raw tale of friendship, community assimilation, small-town politics & the loss of innocence that propels you into adulthood. so many interesting characters in here, especially the titular character sula.
i have so much more i want to say about this, because the book is so much more. hopefully i’ll be able to write a proper review soon. ...more
not sure how to feel about this. i’m always here for a character-driven book with not much plot, some of my favourite books fall under that descriptionot sure how to feel about this. i’m always here for a character-driven book with not much plot, some of my favourite books fall under that description, but i just wanted a little more from this. the reading experience somehow felt cold and grimy - i guess very 90s?? can’t confirm though as i wasn’t born. enjoyed the writing style though. ...more
harrowing and tense, but an incredibly important read. there’s so much to be said between the lines here, and a lot t ‘man, not tank, shall prevail.’
harrowing and tense, but an incredibly important read. there’s so much to be said between the lines here, and a lot to sit with after digesting the symbolism and intricacies of the novel....more
julia fox is single-handedly making celebrity messy again and we love her for it! bring back celebrity memoirs that actually give the gossip and are hjulia fox is single-handedly making celebrity messy again and we love her for it! bring back celebrity memoirs that actually give the gossip and are honest.
but in all seriousness this was a great memoir detailing julia’s very interesting life, which was just as funny and entertaining as it was vulnerable. ...more
3.75 - this was cute & fun! i don’t usually enjoy friends to lovers romances, but i loved the banter/chemistry between this couple. the book could’ve 3.75 - this was cute & fun! i don’t usually enjoy friends to lovers romances, but i loved the banter/chemistry between this couple. the book could’ve been shorter though....more
just as good as everyone’s been saying it is. an incredibly vulnerable and moving memoir following page’s experience with his gender identity throughojust as good as everyone’s been saying it is. an incredibly vulnerable and moving memoir following page’s experience with his gender identity throughout his life and his journey to coming out as transgender. i’ve always been a fan of page’s films, so it was interesting to get a peek into his career as well. reading this made me so happy for elliot that he’s finally at the place he was always meant to be, and is who he was always meant to be....more
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