Ginseng Roots: A Memoir
by Craig Thompson
Honoring Complexity with Compassion (4/25/2025)
I chose to read Ginseng Roots because I am fascinated by graphic memoirs. I have only read a few, so I continue to be curious about how they work differently than traditional memoir. Ginseng Roots was a masterful weaving of childhood experiences, different cultural lenses, coping with disease and disability, and relationships with parents and siblings- all this and the history, botany, and industry of ginseng. I was amazed how well Thompson accomplished this. And the entire story is told with deep compassion, a whisper of self-deprecation and genuine curiosity. It was an easy enjoyable read with laughs and tears.
A Council of Dolls: A Novel
by Mona Susan Power
Clever, sad, hopeful (8/5/2023)
Mona Susan Power does an excellent job of depicting intergenerational trauma and a certain level of healing- through time, doll "consciousness" and three related Native American women's stories. The use of the dolls as support and wisdom-keepers was clever and well-done; for me, it was easily believable. I did have a little trouble at points keeping the characters and their relationships straight but it didn't stop me from ultimately being glad I read this book. I especially appreciated the very end offered by the dolls (no spoiler here!).
Zig-Zag Boy: A Memoir of Madness and Motherhood
by Tanya Frank
Hopeful In the Face of Broken Systems and Competing Needs (2/18/2023)
I am glad I read this book. I think it would be especially useful to people who are in relationship with people experiencing severe mental health issues. The author does a beautiful job conveying the competing needs to respect autonomy and to insure care for an adult child with mental health challenges while trying to care for themselves. It is not new news that the U.S. and UK mental health systems are inadequate, and in many ways broken. Yet, experiencing them through this specific mother's and son's common and divergent needs was heart-breaking and eye-opening. There are no easy answers, and this book doesn't pretend there are. Yet it left this reader hopeful.
Still Life
by Sarah Winman
Love of life through characters (10/17/2022)
To me, these characters were as evocative as any Steinbeck could craft. While the setting was primarily Florence, Italy and the themes art history, art, love and more - the quirky, lovable characters became like friends as I read. Sarah Winman adeptly weaves in whispers of synchronicity & perhaps magic that you yearn for on behalf of the characters. An exceptionally well written book.
Dinosaurs: A Novel
by Lydia Millet
Why Five Stars? Or Very Good (9/12/2022)
I gave this book five stars. One for its starkness, perhaps like the glass wall of the neighbors' home- clear, economical, and open to the wider world. Two for the protagonist who is kind, naïve and grows kinder as he becomes wiser. Three, for creating complex characters that burp, fart, swear and are mostly lovable anyhow, without losing sight that there are humans who are not kind (yet). Four, for an easy and unusual read whose structure was interesting and accessible. Five, for its invitation to see, forgive, be better, and keep love at the center as best as we can. Although the connection to Dinosaurs becomes clear early in the book, I see this as a brilliant allegory.
Daughters of the Flower Fragrant Garden: Two Sisters Separated by China's Civil War
by Zhuqing Li
Compelling, Kind, and Nuanced (6/15/2022)
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The juxtaposition of the two sisters' lives, separated as young women, provided a way of seeing the split Chinese experience (Taiwan and Mainland China; Nationalist and Communist) with appreciation for the gifts and limits of the political situations, the characters' development, and the ways in which family binds and disappoints. Zhuqing Li did an exceptional job conveying the nuances of full characters and historical facts. Her reflections were clear and kind. And best of all, perhaps because Zhuqing Li acknowledged her initial lack of skill in crafting creative nonfiction, she did the years of work necessary to create a narrative that makes you want to keep reading and an ending that satisfies.
On a Night of a Thousand Stars
by Andrea Yaryura Clark
A satisfying read with twists (2/23/2022)
A lovely debut novel. An easy read despite its context. I had heard of The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a human rights organization that works to find the children stolen and illegally adopted during the 1976–1983 Argentine military dictatorship, and I wanted to learn more. The story, grounded in the author's experience and research, brought that sad period to life through two romantic relationships one past and one current. The pacing was good, the alternating timeframes handled well, and all in all it was a satisfying read with several twists and turns.
The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir
by Sara Seager
Finding the light in loss (7/19/2020)
I enjoyed this memoir immensely. Although the story is about loss, grief, and how one woman went about building a new life for herself and her children, Sara Seager's love and steadfast curiosity about herself, life, and relationships are what stand out most for me. And, as an astrophysicist, her enthusiasm and devotion in attempting to discover life in other universes was captivating. Lastly, the structure of the book was artful and adept: I was consistently curious about what would happen next.
The Mountains Sing
by Nguyen Phan Que Mai
Epic Perseverance (1/28/2020)
This book grew on me as I read. What I appreciated most about it was its success at reflecting the complexities (and horrors without gratuitous violence) of war and the effects that had on a specific family. I like that this was told from a Vietnamese viewpoint and over many decades, and I appreciated learning more about the history and the culture. There were times when I felt that the story was a little forced to ensure multiple dimensions of the situation were depicted, still it was a good and interesting read. I can easily imagine the grandmother as a real person; she did what she needed to do to keep her family alive.
American Dirt: A Novel
by Jeanine Cummins
Rich, heartbreaking and rewarding (11/26/2019)
A page-turner! Cummins has created a story full of tension and love, full of the natural human desires for safety, food, shelter, and community as well as the ways power, greed, fear, violence and judgments of the "other" can pervert humane behavior. She accomplishes this through robust characters and heartbreaking challenges. Never pedantic nor does she suggest "the" answers, this is a story of what it might be like to confront the best and worst of humanity on the ground. If you have ever wondered what it might be like to be a migrant worker or an immigrant at the Mexican-U.S. border in today's world- it's a must read. Lastly, Cummins does not talk about this, but it made me wonder- how things could collapse anywhere when money and guns buy silence. I highly recommend this book.
Motherhood So White: A Memoir of Race, Gender, and Parenting in America
by Nefertiti Austin
Motherhood & Adoption: Learning the Ropes with a Savvy Single Black Mom (8/26/2019)
I chose this book because I enjoy memoirs. I'm also a white woman who is interested in reading about the differences and similarities of a Black woman's experience of parenting, adoption and raising a Black boy. I'm glad I read it because it made me think about race, gender and parenting in new ways- just what I was hoping for! It celebrates the privilege of being a parent, the particular challenges that some resourceful single Black women face, and the joys and challenges of adoption. While Ms. Austin never sought to be seen as anything other than a dedicated parent, her fortitude and commitment to using her experience to benefit others comes shining through. I particularly loved that she included other women's experiences as a resource in the back of the book.
Ellie and the Harpmaker
by Hazel Prior
The Heart of Character (4/7/2019)
This was a tender and easy read. The author, Hazel Prior does a lovely job with tension, so even though you imagine you "know" the ending, there are still enough questions and twists and turns to keep you reading. Also, because the setting and characters are from the UK (and I am from the US), there are fun interesting turns of phrase that keep the writing lively. I gave a "very good" and said an "easy" read because the characters were refreshingly sweet but not without flaws, and there were enough rough-edged characters and situations to keep it from being a total fairytale. I did at times wonder about the harpmaker character - if a real person could be quite this innocent and perceptive without being simple-minded and therefore not a good intellectual match for Ellie.
When We Left Cuba
by Chanel Cleeton
Light Historical Romance (1/20/2019)
If you enjoy historical romances, you may enjoy this book. For me, it was too superficial, which was unfortunate, because the political complexity the story was set against and attempted to convey offered a chance for deeper reflection. The love story read like most light romances, and although there was an attempt to portray a strong female character within the era, her femme fatal personification did not appeal to me. She never seemed to grow beyond seduction. Lastly, although there were some interesting twists and turns in the plot, the CIA intrigue, the double-agents and so on did not feel authentic, that's not to say that the author's research wasn't accurate, rather that the scenes and characters did not feel real.
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