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ajsterkel's reviews
812 reviews
The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Historical fiction about Jo, a Chinese American teenager who lives in a tunnel under the house of a wealthy family. During the day, she works as a maid for a cruel woman. At night, she writes an advice column for a newspaper. Her column is the talk of Atlanta, but she worries she'll lose her job if anyone discovers she's Chinese. Her bosses don't even know her real identity.
I love how full Jo's life is. Most real humans have complicated lives, and Jo does too. We get to see her work multiple jobs and form relationships with many different people. She's interested in horses and the suffragist movement. She's trying to improve her English. She has a crush on a fellow journalist, but she can't let him know her identity. There's also family drama. It's a lot! (In a good way.) Jo's a fascinating character to read about because she has so much going on. I wanted her to succeed and have an awesome life.
I listened to the audiobook version of this novel, and it got on my nerves. It sounded like the narrator was shouting the dialogue and whispering the exposition. I usually listen to audiobooks while walking to stores. I had to turn it up really loud to hear over traffic. Then the shouty parts exploded my ears. It was annoying.
If you love historical fiction, then this is a good one. It has a compelling character and a ton of entertaining plotlines. Just don't listen to the audiobook near traffic.
Daisy Miller by Henry James
challenging
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I've been reading a lot of Henry James recently, and I'm just not smart enough for his work. His books leave me bored and confused.
This one is about a young American man named Winterbourne who is traveling around Europe. On his travels, he meets Daisy Miller, another young American. They hang out a few times, but Daisy's behavior causes nonstop scandals. She loves to flirt and has several close male friends. A few of those friends may be trying to get her family's money, but she doesn't care. She just wants to have fun in Europe. She ignores all the warnings about her reputation. Winterbourne stops hanging out with her because it's social suicide. Then tragedy strikes.
I'm not smart enough to know what I was supposed to get out of this story. I wasn't entertained by it. Is it a warning to Americans who are traveling abroad for the first time? The book was published in the late 1800s, when it was fashionable for wealthy Americans to take extended European vacations. Daisy Miller is too American. She ignores local customs and doesn't think about her safety. She pays the price for it.
Or, maybe this book isn't about Daisy at all. Maybe it's about Winterbourne. At the end, it seems like he regrets ending his friendship with Daisy because she got herself into trouble after he left. Is it a story about regret? I have no idea.
I don't understand this book.
This one is about a young American man named Winterbourne who is traveling around Europe. On his travels, he meets Daisy Miller, another young American. They hang out a few times, but Daisy's behavior causes nonstop scandals. She loves to flirt and has several close male friends. A few of those friends may be trying to get her family's money, but she doesn't care. She just wants to have fun in Europe. She ignores all the warnings about her reputation. Winterbourne stops hanging out with her because it's social suicide. Then tragedy strikes.
I'm not smart enough to know what I was supposed to get out of this story. I wasn't entertained by it. Is it a warning to Americans who are traveling abroad for the first time? The book was published in the late 1800s, when it was fashionable for wealthy Americans to take extended European vacations. Daisy Miller is too American. She ignores local customs and doesn't think about her safety. She pays the price for it.
Or, maybe this book isn't about Daisy at all. Maybe it's about Winterbourne. At the end, it seems like he regrets ending his friendship with Daisy because she got herself into trouble after he left. Is it a story about regret? I have no idea.
I don't understand this book.
Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
2.0
My book club read Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind And Defy The Odds by David Goggins. The author is a very intense human. He grew up in poverty with abusive parents and transformed himself from an overweight, unmotivated young person to a tough military dude and one of the world's top ultramarathon athletes.
This book would have been a fabulous memoir. The author is fascinating. He has an amazing ability to stay so focused on his goals that he's able to push through physical pain and mental exhaustion. He's proof that you can achieve anything if you are willing to make huge sacrifices and work yourself to death. I appreciated learning about his childhood and his military experience and how he stayed mentally strong during stressful situations. He's an impressive guy. I agree with him that humans are stronger than we realize.
The memoir parts of this book are great. The self-help parts . . . not so much. The author enters 100+ mile endurance races without doing much research or training. He runs until his legs break, his kidneys fail, and his heartrate goes wonky. He nearly dies at the end of the book because he hasn't been taking care of his body properly! He keeps making the same mistakes over and over and doesn't seem to learn from them. I don't see his behavior as inspirational or aspirational.
This book is proof that stubbornness and arrogance can push you through challenging short-term goals. It left me wondering how you're supposed to achieve long-term goals if your body stops functioning.
This book would have been a fabulous memoir. The author is fascinating. He has an amazing ability to stay so focused on his goals that he's able to push through physical pain and mental exhaustion. He's proof that you can achieve anything if you are willing to make huge sacrifices and work yourself to death. I appreciated learning about his childhood and his military experience and how he stayed mentally strong during stressful situations. He's an impressive guy. I agree with him that humans are stronger than we realize.
The memoir parts of this book are great. The self-help parts . . . not so much. The author enters 100+ mile endurance races without doing much research or training. He runs until his legs break, his kidneys fail, and his heartrate goes wonky. He nearly dies at the end of the book because he hasn't been taking care of his body properly! He keeps making the same mistakes over and over and doesn't seem to learn from them. I don't see his behavior as inspirational or aspirational.
This book is proof that stubbornness and arrogance can push you through challenging short-term goals. It left me wondering how you're supposed to achieve long-term goals if your body stops functioning.
Washington Square by Henry James
challenging
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I now understand why romance readers want a happily ever after. I know this is a melodrama and not a romance, but I wanted somebody to be happy at the end! Instead, it ends with every character being dead or depressed forever and ever. Nice.
Washington Square revolves around Catherine, a plain and unambitious heir to a fortune. When a young man—Morris—comes courting, her father is immediately suspicious. Why would anyone want to marry his stupid, ugly daughter? Morris is obviously after the family's money.
Catherine's aunt comes to a different conclusion. She thinks Morris is sincere and wants the couple to marry. Catherine's father and aunt spend the entire book meddling in Catherine's relationship while Catherine does nothing. She lets herself be bullied.
The author is great at developing characters. Everybody in this book is realistically awful. I wish the author had done more with the characters, though. The book is like a low-budget play. Every scene has two or three actors sitting in a room, talking. The story is mostly dialogue with no description or action. I wish there had been more scenes of Morris and Catherine doing something (anything!) together. All their scenes of polite conversation just make them seem ambivalent toward each other.
Catherine finally stands up for herself at the end of the book, but she doesn't seem happy about her choices. So . . . she stands up for her right to be miserable?
Since this book is mostly dialogue, it's quicker to read than other classics, but I'm not sure what the author wanted me to get out of reading it. I guess it's a cautionary tale about letting your family control your life. Or it's a depressing story about how upper-class women are trapped between family money and their own wishes? I don't know. It's just depressing.
Washington Square revolves around Catherine, a plain and unambitious heir to a fortune. When a young man—Morris—comes courting, her father is immediately suspicious. Why would anyone want to marry his stupid, ugly daughter? Morris is obviously after the family's money.
Catherine's aunt comes to a different conclusion. She thinks Morris is sincere and wants the couple to marry. Catherine's father and aunt spend the entire book meddling in Catherine's relationship while Catherine does nothing. She lets herself be bullied.
The author is great at developing characters. Everybody in this book is realistically awful. I wish the author had done more with the characters, though. The book is like a low-budget play. Every scene has two or three actors sitting in a room, talking. The story is mostly dialogue with no description or action. I wish there had been more scenes of Morris and Catherine doing something (anything!) together. All their scenes of polite conversation just make them seem ambivalent toward each other.
Catherine finally stands up for herself at the end of the book, but she doesn't seem happy about her choices. So . . . she stands up for her right to be miserable?
Since this book is mostly dialogue, it's quicker to read than other classics, but I'm not sure what the author wanted me to get out of reading it. I guess it's a cautionary tale about letting your family control your life. Or it's a depressing story about how upper-class women are trapped between family money and their own wishes? I don't know. It's just depressing.
The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine F. Weiss
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
3.0
This is a dense nonfiction book about how women got the right to vote in the US. It's not the most readable book because there are a ton of names and dates, and I can't keep that stuff straight, but it gave me a lot to think about.
I was surprised at how long it took for women to get the right to vote in every state. It took 72 years! This is the embodiment of the quote "If you're not at the table, then you're on the menu." Since female politicians were rare, women had to convince men to give them rights. Men in some states were more receptive to the idea than men in other states. Most male politicians were perfectly happy to make laws about women without any input from women.
It's interesting (but not surprising) that conservative women fought very hard not to vote. They said, "God doesn't want women to vote." And "We have to uphold traditional gender roles." And "Treating men and women equally is socialism." It makes me wonder how people will think about our time in 100 years. Will the stuff we're arguing about become rights that people take for granted? Will future people look at our politicians and go, "What the heck were you so afraid of?"
When we talk about women's suffrage, we also have to talk about racism. Some of the states only gave white women the right to vote. Many of the suffragists were fine with this and didn't keep fighting to get voting rights for all people. That's disappointing. Hopefully society learned something from it. (I'm guessing not. I don't have a lot of faith in humans.)
If you want to learn about women's suffrage in the US, then this book is worth reading. It's dense, but the knowledge I gained made slogging through the pages worth the effort.
I was surprised at how long it took for women to get the right to vote in every state. It took 72 years! This is the embodiment of the quote "If you're not at the table, then you're on the menu." Since female politicians were rare, women had to convince men to give them rights. Men in some states were more receptive to the idea than men in other states. Most male politicians were perfectly happy to make laws about women without any input from women.
It's interesting (but not surprising) that conservative women fought very hard not to vote. They said, "God doesn't want women to vote." And "We have to uphold traditional gender roles." And "Treating men and women equally is socialism." It makes me wonder how people will think about our time in 100 years. Will the stuff we're arguing about become rights that people take for granted? Will future people look at our politicians and go, "What the heck were you so afraid of?"
When we talk about women's suffrage, we also have to talk about racism. Some of the states only gave white women the right to vote. Many of the suffragists were fine with this and didn't keep fighting to get voting rights for all people. That's disappointing. Hopefully society learned something from it. (I'm guessing not. I don't have a lot of faith in humans.)
If you want to learn about women's suffrage in the US, then this book is worth reading. It's dense, but the knowledge I gained made slogging through the pages worth the effort.
Cairo by M.K. Perker, G. Willow Wilson, Travis Lanham
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This is an urban fantasy graphic novel set in Cairo (which you could probably guess from the title). There are a lot of characters, and they're all after one thing: A magical hookah that's home to a jinn. The book is basically a long game of keep-away. The character who has the hookah is trying to keep the others from taking it.
This is the graphic novel version of an action movie. There are plot twists, badass heroes, and one-dimensional villains. Lots of guns. Lots of running. Some magic. It's an entertaining story that probably won't stick with me because there's not much depth. The authors attempt to include discussions of Islam and politics, but there's no time for that when the characters are running for their lives.
I did like the art! It's black and white, but it's very detailed. I like the dark, crowded, grittiness of the Cairo streets. I could always tell the characters apart, which isn't always the case in graphic novels. Sometimes the characters look too similar to me.
I guess I'd recommend this book to people who like action movies. It's not my thing, but I can understand the appeal.
This is the graphic novel version of an action movie. There are plot twists, badass heroes, and one-dimensional villains. Lots of guns. Lots of running. Some magic. It's an entertaining story that probably won't stick with me because there's not much depth. The authors attempt to include discussions of Islam and politics, but there's no time for that when the characters are running for their lives.
I did like the art! It's black and white, but it's very detailed. I like the dark, crowded, grittiness of the Cairo streets. I could always tell the characters apart, which isn't always the case in graphic novels. Sometimes the characters look too similar to me.
I guess I'd recommend this book to people who like action movies. It's not my thing, but I can understand the appeal.
The Thing with Feathers by McCall Hoyle
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
It was like the author had a checklist of events that commonly happen in YA books, and she tried really hard to check everything off that list.
The story is about Emilie, a teen girl who has been homeschooled for most of her life because she has epilepsy and a dead father. Then, her mother and therapist decide she should try public school. She takes about 5 steps into the school before running into a mean girl and developing a crush on a star athlete. Of course Emilie is a genius, and her crush needs tutoring, so they're forced to hang out. She spends 200 pages dithering about how to tell her classmates about her epilepsy. Then she tells them, and they clap for her. The end.
I realize I'm not the target audience for teen books, but I've read this story so many times that it had no suspense for me. I kept waiting for it to deviate from the script, but it didn't.
I did like the complicated relationship between Emilie and her mother. Emilie is too scared to break out of her comfort zone. Her mother is the opposite. This causes problems in their relationship, but they attempt to work through them, and Emilie learns to see things from her mother's perspective. Life is boring if you never try anything new.
This book wasn't for me, but maybe I would have liked it when I was younger. I've just read too many YA books.
The story is about Emilie, a teen girl who has been homeschooled for most of her life because she has epilepsy and a dead father. Then, her mother and therapist decide she should try public school. She takes about 5 steps into the school before running into a mean girl and developing a crush on a star athlete. Of course Emilie is a genius, and her crush needs tutoring, so they're forced to hang out. She spends 200 pages dithering about how to tell her classmates about her epilepsy. Then she tells them, and they clap for her. The end.
I realize I'm not the target audience for teen books, but I've read this story so many times that it had no suspense for me. I kept waiting for it to deviate from the script, but it didn't.
I did like the complicated relationship between Emilie and her mother. Emilie is too scared to break out of her comfort zone. Her mother is the opposite. This causes problems in their relationship, but they attempt to work through them, and Emilie learns to see things from her mother's perspective. Life is boring if you never try anything new.
This book wasn't for me, but maybe I would have liked it when I was younger. I've just read too many YA books.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Everybody should read this book. It's fascinating, and it brings up topics that society really needs to discuss.
This is a nonfiction book about a Black woman named Henrietta Lacks who lived in Baltimore in the early 1900s. She died from cancer in 1951, but that's not where her story ends because Henrietta is somewhat still alive. She had a rare combination of genes and diseases that made her cells hard to kill. Scientists were able to grow them in labs and ship them all over the world. The cells were nicknamed HeLa, and they're still being grown for research purposes today.
Experiments on Henrietta's cells taught scientists about cancer and viruses, helped create vaccines, and showed the effects of atom bombs. They were vital in creating cloning, in vitro fertilization, and gene mapping. The cells have even been to space. Research labs buy and sell HeLa every day.
The cells are interesting, but who was Henrietta Lacks? That's what the book is about. Henrietta's cells were taken after her death and used without her permission. Her children and grandchildren are living in poverty and have not gotten any money from the use of her body. Henrietta's grave doesn't even have a headstone. This all feels very wrong.
For me, the most interesting part of the book is the ethical questions it brings up. Who should profit from biological specimens? If you give a doctor permission to cut out your tumor, do you forfeit your rights to that tumor?
I couldn't put this book down. I loved learning about Henrietta and the people whose biological samples have made life better for all of us.
This is a nonfiction book about a Black woman named Henrietta Lacks who lived in Baltimore in the early 1900s. She died from cancer in 1951, but that's not where her story ends because Henrietta is somewhat still alive. She had a rare combination of genes and diseases that made her cells hard to kill. Scientists were able to grow them in labs and ship them all over the world. The cells were nicknamed HeLa, and they're still being grown for research purposes today.
Experiments on Henrietta's cells taught scientists about cancer and viruses, helped create vaccines, and showed the effects of atom bombs. They were vital in creating cloning, in vitro fertilization, and gene mapping. The cells have even been to space. Research labs buy and sell HeLa every day.
The cells are interesting, but who was Henrietta Lacks? That's what the book is about. Henrietta's cells were taken after her death and used without her permission. Her children and grandchildren are living in poverty and have not gotten any money from the use of her body. Henrietta's grave doesn't even have a headstone. This all feels very wrong.
For me, the most interesting part of the book is the ethical questions it brings up. Who should profit from biological specimens? If you give a doctor permission to cut out your tumor, do you forfeit your rights to that tumor?
I couldn't put this book down. I loved learning about Henrietta and the people whose biological samples have made life better for all of us.
Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It's a historical horror novel about an awful dude and his slightly less awful daughter. One day, the awful dude is walking in a churchyard when he stumbles across a painting of a froglike demon. The painting is called a doom, and it was made during the Middle Ages. After seeing the painting, disturbing things start happening in the dude's mansion. Is he being stalked by the frog demon, or is his tween daughter trying to punish him for killing her pet magpie? His paranoia eventually leads to murder.
The atmosphere is where this story shines. It's set in a remote mansion in the English fens. The house is surrounded by odd creatures and even odder humans. The heat and humidity are inescapable. It's easy to believe that the characters would descend into anger and paranoia in this environment.
The characters are pretty awesome too. They're all kind of awful. They're arrogant and scheming. They also spend a lot of time stuck in the house, so they're sick of each other. The author sets up a situation where a lot can go wrong. The reader is just waiting to find out who cracks first.
The waiting is my complaint about the book. It's gothic horror, so the pacing is really slow. I was occasionally tempted to skim ahead to the action. There's not much action until the end.
I got a bit bored with this book, but I like the characters and writing style enough to see what else the author has written.
The atmosphere is where this story shines. It's set in a remote mansion in the English fens. The house is surrounded by odd creatures and even odder humans. The heat and humidity are inescapable. It's easy to believe that the characters would descend into anger and paranoia in this environment.
The characters are pretty awesome too. They're all kind of awful. They're arrogant and scheming. They also spend a lot of time stuck in the house, so they're sick of each other. The author sets up a situation where a lot can go wrong. The reader is just waiting to find out who cracks first.
The waiting is my complaint about the book. It's gothic horror, so the pacing is really slow. I was occasionally tempted to skim ahead to the action. There's not much action until the end.
I got a bit bored with this book, but I like the characters and writing style enough to see what else the author has written.
The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It's a literary murder mystery set in Nigeria. Two parents hear a noise outside their house. When they open the door, they discover the dead body of their adult son. He has a head wound, and his clothes and jewelry are missing. The parents suspect that their son's friends may be keeping secrets about his murder.
Since this is literary fiction, it's slower paced than most murder mysteries, but that didn't bother me. I love a character-driven story. It's about parenthood and how it's impossible to completely know somebody, even if that somebody is your own son. Vivek had a whole life that his parents didn't know about until after his death. This is a book about grief and accepting your child's choices.
The Death Of Vivek Oji isn't very long, but it has a lot of characters. On one hand, that's awesome because the reader gets a sense of the community and their culture and values. On the other hand, I couldn't remember how the characters are connected. I think that's my only complaint.
No, wait, I have another one. There's a scene where a ghost watches people having sex. That's nasty.
Okay, aside from the ghost inviting itself to sexy times, I liked the book. I think it has a good message about how love and acceptance can prevent tragedy.
Since this is literary fiction, it's slower paced than most murder mysteries, but that didn't bother me. I love a character-driven story. It's about parenthood and how it's impossible to completely know somebody, even if that somebody is your own son. Vivek had a whole life that his parents didn't know about until after his death. This is a book about grief and accepting your child's choices.
The Death Of Vivek Oji isn't very long, but it has a lot of characters. On one hand, that's awesome because the reader gets a sense of the community and their culture and values. On the other hand, I couldn't remember how the characters are connected. I think that's my only complaint.
No, wait, I have another one. There's a scene where a ghost watches people having sex. That's nasty.
Okay, aside from the ghost inviting itself to sexy times, I liked the book. I think it has a good message about how love and acceptance can prevent tragedy.