Jenny

Definitely one for the audio

Revisado: 12-14-20

Nicola Coughlan (Derry Girls) is the narrator, which is a great reason to listen to the audio. It is such a strong voice and character study that hearing it really made a difference. By the way, I've seen this compared to Milkman and Ottessa Moshfegh but I liked this more than both of those things.

Majella lives in the town of Aghybogey in Northern Ireland after the Troubles, and leads a quiet life taking care of her mother sometimes and working at a chip shop, the Catholic one; she's never had a Protestant chip! You become acquainted with the town and recent history through her eyes and experiences. The publisher site even has a glossary of terms but I felt most could be deciphered through context.

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Definitely one for the audio

Revisado: 12-14-20

Nicola Coughlan (Derry Girls) is the narrator, which is a great reason to listen to the audio. It is such a strong voice and character study that hearing it really made a difference. By the way, I've seen this compared to Milkman and Ottessa Moshfegh but I liked this more than both of those things.

Majella lives in the town of Aghybogey in Northern Ireland after the Troubles, and leads a quiet life taking care of her mother sometimes and working at a chip shop, the Catholic one; she's never had a Protestant chip! You become acquainted with the town and recent history through her eyes and experiences. The publisher site even has a glossary of terms but I felt most could be deciphered through context.

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A lovely escape

Revisado: 09-21-20

I don't have much time for audio these days but couldn't resist January LaVoy reading a book about a character named January. This is about a girl who discovers a door, and the stories move backwards and forwards from there. It has imaginary worlds, secret societies, special abilities, danger, and romance, so it's pretty much the escape we all need.

The author in Goodreads makes it clear that this is not an #ownvoices read and that this is intended for adults, not as YA. I do think a YA reader would love this too.

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Interesting worldbuilding but so what?

Revisado: 06-10-20

I like N.K. Jemisin but I don't always read past the first book of her series, and I think a closer examination of my feelings of this book help explain why.

In the book, people are transformed into different boroughs of New York City (one person per borough,) because the city is under attack. Some stereotypes are at play in those sections but it's fun as each person is "discovered." They each seem to have other characteristics in addition to their city presences that make them an asset to the team. Originally, while enjoying this part of the book, I was also partially annoyed because here I am with one more book that is completely focused on New York as if its the only place in the world. A very diverse view of the city, of course, but still it's just the city. I will agree to suspend my judgment on this feeling that so many New Yorkers seem to have because I've never been. But as a non New-Yorker, I must admit to a bit of prejudice against another NY novel.

Anyway, along with this transformation comes the ability to see a layer of the city that is hidden to others - warping and relocating of borders, wormlike invasions that reminded me of all the demon-possession novels I read in my fundamentalist childhood (ha!), and a woman in white who seems able to fill the tiniest or endless space. There are hints of multiple dimensions and she also seems to be a master of spaceTIME as well, knowing what will happen, and what would happen in alternate dimensions. (I was interested in her world but we only see tiny glimpses.) Some of the boroughs join up and fight evil until they find the last borough, and hijinks ensue.

But ... I mean, that's kind of it. I enjoyed the worldbuilding to a certain extent, but then felt like - so what? Why did I sit through all those hours of audio? I thought I missed something so I've listened to the end three times and I'm like okay... that's it? I don't even know what is going to matter enough to consume books 2 and 3.

I get that there is an underlying metaphor going on of the danger to New York being racism. Good, timely. But what's the story moving forward?

That's all I'm left feeling really. I'm not sure I'm left with anything to fight for or care about.

I listened to the audio and Robin Miles is excellent as always; I felt the times the production people decided to use effects were ... the wrong choice. Characters who are thinking to themselves suddenly having reverb, some sentences stalling like on a bad internet connection, some unnecessary screeching - it wasn't all the time, thank goodness, but the times it happened felt too often.

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better as a National Geographic article

Revisado: 04-13-18

This just doesn't need to be book-length. I had more enjoyment reading the controversies the book (and preceding article) generated than I did reading this book.

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Best book I've read all year

Revisado: 04-03-16

This should be a clear front runner for the Audie Awards of 2016, no question.

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You'll make up reasons to keep listening

Revisado: 02-28-16

"The problem with books is that they end. They seduce you. They spread their legs to you and pull you inside, and you go deep, and leave your possessions and your ties to the world at the door. And you like it inside. And you don't want for your possessions or your ties. And then - the book evaporates."

If the language in this quote makes you uncomfortable, this is not the book for you, because this is just how the narrator Joe talks about reading. Consider that most of the novel is from his point of view, addressed to "you," Guinevere Beck, a woman he becomes obsessed with when she comes to his bookstore. He infiltrates her life, socially engineers their relationship, and is just generally creepy and delusional... In the best way.

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Surprised to find more romance than thriller

Revisado: 02-18-16

From the marketing of this title I could not tell if it was more of a love story or a thriller, and knowing Patricia Highsmith I held my breath through the entire book waiting for someone to turn into a sociopath.

This novel is set in the early 1950s, a time where not many women were openly involved in relationships with one another, leaving Therese without a framework and Carol with a choice - Therese or her daughter. Originally Highsmith published it under a pen name and did not own up to being the author of the book for at least twenty years. In the 1950s there were several lesbian pulp romance novels, but the accepted mode was that because of their "unacceptable" choices, someone had to end up with something tragic happening as "punishment." The original cover includes the tagline "the novel of a love society forbids," which would make you think the focus of the story is the two women against the world. It really isn't, it's far more subtle, two women figuring out their relationship within the typical conflicts of previous relationships and ongoing commitments. As romance goes, this was pretty realistic.

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The performance makes this so much better in audio

Revisado: 02-26-14

I don't tend to read a lot of series, definitely not a lot of mysteries, but I've always held that it is more about the characters and the setting that make a mystery series enjoyable. I adore Phryne Fisher, I can't help it. She is a worldly woman for the 1920s, unapologetically single and sexual with bobbed hair and wealth to spare. I had enjoyed the first book, Cocaine Blues, and was looking forward to reading more.

I will not read any more of these in print, because the audio version made it so much more enjoyable! Stephanie Daniel does an amazing job with the voices and the accents, and I was absorbed into the story. I actually didn't care about the mystery, not sure if that's good or bad, but just enjoyed the ride.

Stephanie Daniel does a brief interview with Kerry Greenwood at the end of the audiobook, and it highlighted some of the research that went into the story.

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Why meditate?

Revisado: 02-26-14

This book tells of the benefits of meditation, and then repeats it. Then it refers back to other chapters and sections after they have already passed. I don't think most people who pick up a book on meditation are looking to be convinced as to why they should try it, but maybe I'm wrong. Quick run down - it is good for your health. There you go. And again, meditation has been PROVEN to be good for your health.

There are brief instructions on how to start meditating, with nods to various religious traditions without trying to embody any of them. It would be easy to listen to this book at 1.5x speed and never do anything with the information, which is all I've done so far. But I know for sure I can refer back to chapter 10 when I'm ready to try.

There was some information on types of meditation, on finding a mantra, and on not giving up just because it's hard. I would have like the book to be much more about the practical information such as this.

It would probably have been better in print, when I could skim the cycle of repetition. The information itself isn't bad, but it was the depth of a pamphlet, not a book. They should never have forced the issue to try to turn it into a book. Meditation is a bit like fitness or weight loss - a discipline. It's not complicated, but you have to do it. So go do it. Maybe I will.

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