Lauren Bunke
Oh EVERYONE should listen to/read this book. Can't wait to read the next. It's beyond a reality check and I don't think I've experienced something so incredibly funny and yet so terrible and horrifyingly sad at the same time.
I knew enough about this harrowing tragedy and it was still not enough to prepare me when the Donner Party eventually becomes stranded. This heartbreaking, riveting and complicated story (due to the idea of Manifest Destiny and it's effect on the indigenous people at the time) was hard to put down. You follow Sarah Fosdick, a new bride, through a journey along 87 other families who try to make their way to California, and the foils of traversing new lands bring to many. The book is supported by letters and accounts of those who also made the journey and the physiological and psychological evidence to support the choices made by so many desperate to survive.
I'm a sucker for some historical fiction and this did not disappoint.
That was the first biography I've ever “read”. She's an incredible writer and the audiobook is phenomenal. I would suggest this over reading the book if you like audiobooks.
If you love true crime at all, this book will speak to you! I got to reflect on my obsession with Law and Order, read about the development of true crime in it's different mediums, even got to dive into a few big name cases, all with a bit of biography of the author and humor spread throughout. I saw myself reflected in this, and I didn't hate it hahaha.
One of the most mentally engaging books I've read in a while. Absolutely loved the crazy concepts, twists, and off the wall battles. It was eerie in all the right places and I can't wait to forget most of it so I can read it again!
Beautifully, drawn, no substitute for getting the full story, though. Still packs a gut punch.
After Frankenstein the book focuses on one boy's strange encounters in his old home. The stores end up circling back to answer bizarre questions from his first story and whew, I love how strange these stores get
8 years. It took 8 years to finish this book. (Wow almost 8 years to the day, too...)
I started it. I put it down. I started again. I put it down again. Then finally I picked it up and finished it. I tried to read it all at once, but I couldn't give Johnny's narrative the attention it deserved when all I wanted to know about was the haunted house. So this time I read the Navidson Record first then went back and read Johnny's notes. The Navidson Record was great, it wasn't the horror I'd expected from other's reviews but it was unsettling in the best ways and made me fall in love with the Ergodic genre all over again. The text illustrating how Navidson navigated the dark space of the house were my favorite parts of the book.
Tackling Johnny's narrative was another story. Some of his exposition in the beginning felt superfluous. Like why do I need to know out all these seemingly random sexual conquests?? But when he truly begins to break down you see the ties between Zampano, Johnny, Johnny's mother and a host of other narrators, may they be reliable or not.
It was a ride to say the least, and mostly enjoyable. The rating is a 4.5 because I'm sure I'll read it again, but without bouncing around, but there are parts that's just a slog to get through.
