Kallia

Another one of those stories that makes me wonder why LOTR has such a stranglehold on the fantasy genre. I read the second in this series in about 5th grade after picking it up randomly in a bookstore, and I've remembered the characters and the writing style since. Decided it was time to give the series a proper go and not just read the middle book, and couldn't be happier that I did. If you like writing that details setting, style, dress, and environment - this one is for you. If not, skip it. But the love and thought poured into these characters and this world stuck with me for close to 20 years, and picking it up again as an adult I can absolutely see why.

A wonderful cap to the first two books. Explains enough about what's going on to feel satisfying, without laying out a blueprint of the whole idea. Leaves plenty of mystery at the edges, plenty of things to still wonder about and turn over. But not so much that you feel left hanging by the story. A better delve into a lot of the characters and a beautiful look at the world Vandermeer has created.

I had hoped for more information about how indigenous peoples were using silk throughout history. I mostly got information about the different ways Europeans showed up to places already ady using silk, and took it back to various parts of Europe. Which is still interesting and relevant history I suppose, but not what I was looking for. There is some very good information on the silk moths themselves that I wish could be spliced out of this book and into its own shorter, more interesting book.

I intend to finish it at some point, but I'm not in any rush.

God, the subject matter is so interesting, and the writing style is so gratingly dry that I couldn't even force myself through it. Maybe I'll pick it up again if I run out of available Libby books but, I'm not looking forward to it.

Far preferred this to her first book. There's a lot of good actionable advice, especially for people new to taking a serious look at the clothing that makes up their lives. Easy and engaging to read, makes the shift towards a better mindset feel simple and approachable.

One of my favorite books and series' of all time. Reread this recently and was just as captivated and charmed by the character and the world as I had been on my first readthrough as a teenager. Don't know why Lord of the Rings is the schema for fantasy when we have this.

Honestly just a fun, easy, interesting read. Keeps you engaged and is a good way to pass an afternoon. I don't think this book really did anything groundbreaking, but I also don't think it needs to. It's pleasant to go through and I have no complaints about it. Nothing incredible, just a good book.

I didn't get as much out of this book as I was hoping. But I think that's due to already being quite steeped in the textile and fashion sustainability culture. This book didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know, maybe just painted it in a bit finer of detail. I think when it came out it was probably quite groundbreaking but I had been hoping for a bit more. Can't really fault the author for the passage of time. Overall though it's a good read and foes a concise and detailed job of explaining some of the myriad issues in the fashion and textile industries. Still worth the read 12 years later.

An interesting piece of world building following the events of Annihilation. I didn't find it as interesting in setting or characterization as the first book, but it left enough breadcrumbs of the interesting world to get me through it easily enough.

Captivating, easy to get through, interesting to the last word. Thought provoking on the concepts of nature, biology, humanity, life, and death. Leaves you excited to pick up the next one.