Note-taking: Library Books Batch #1
03.26.2025 - Day three of notes! I love going to the library-my library has a CDs section actually and I've been checking out old/new music from that section too. As always, please consider checking out the source material - Libby is a good way to borrow e-books and audiobooks if you have a library card but need more accessible options.
Fiction
The Unmothers by Leslie J. Anderson; 3.5 Stars
- Solid C tier novel that sets the bar for everything else I will rate
- Enjoyable and worth the time! Quick read
- I liked the humble and sturdy horse-rearing folks of Raeford and the sternness of Marshall, our protagonist
- Lots of enjoyable Americana motifs, coming from the small horse town setting and the focus on how women and girls navigate complex social situations where they're at the disadvantage
- Lost immersion at times in the story and wish there had been certain plot points better explored
Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil by Ananda Lima; 4.5 Stars
- I love, love, looooove short story anthologies and I especially love it when they have a surreal melancholy to their narratives
- Intentional in its blurring of the lines, hard to tell where 'truth' is and all the stories flow into each other
- Following the writer's inner world (the character 'the writer') is an enjoyable process and reading how her Brazilian-American background informs her way of moving through the world is relatable in some ways as a Chinese-American
- Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory was such a lovely short story
- Hope to analyze this more someday, but not sure that there's anything that hasn't already been said by Goodreads reviewers
None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell; 2-3.75 Stars (depends on how you feel about victim blaming)
- Another solidly good book about a woman's POV
- Batty plot that really warms up and packs a punch with how the novel makes you reconsider your initial sentiments for either of the characters, Alix Summers and Josie Fair
- Points docked for the unfortunate Britishisms (victim blaming and other strange details the discerning reader may pick up from the narrative)
- Points added back for sure memorability and because it made me think a lot
Nonfiction
Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood by Lisa Damour, Ph.D.; 4 Stars
- Very interesting deep dive into the developmental needs of young girls and young women going through puberty and growing up
- Helpful layman explanations of complex developmental theory
- Interesting anecdotes from Damour's actual practice
- Still working through this one, so rating may change
A Better Man: A (Mostly Serious) Letter to My Son by Michael Ian Black; 3.5 Stars
- Another solidly good book
- Very sweet and heartfelt letter to Black's 18-year-old son that tries to share wisdoms about moving through the world as a better man than those that came before
- I may never 'understand' cismanhood, but this made it easier to see what we're working with
- Just kind of nice honestly and I think the world of masculinity needs more of that