Indira
The story just gets stranger and stranger. I think I'm done reading the Dune series now lol
It was alright. The storytelling was interesting — there are a lot of gaps here and there so oftentimes you have to fill in the details for yourself. I enjoyed the setting (a small town in South Korea called Sokcho). The ending felt anticlimactic, but I guess that's the point? Not sure, maybe I'm too dumb to enjoy this book lmao
Love the book cover though!
“It isn't fair to be the kind of creature who is able to love but unable to stay.”
Migrations follows Franny Stone's journey to follow the last migration of the Arctic terns. It's a story set in the near future, on an earth that's been ravaged by the warming climate and where most species of animals have gone extinct. It's a heart wrenching story centered on a character who is so damaged and has lost so much.
I found the story to be predictable to a certain extent, but Charlotte McConaghy's story-telling is so beautiful that I found myself hooked anyways.
As someone who isn't well-versed in climate change, I felt that this book gave me a solid understanding of the topic. It gave a comprehensive overview of the different ways we currently add carbon to the atmosphere, the different ways we can tackle the problem (through innovation), and a little bit on climate policy as well. I like his emphasis on the fact that it's developing countries that will be hurt the most by a climate disaster, as I think it's a fact that people in most “rich” countries often forget or disregard altogether.
This book also presents a very optimistic view on us actually being able to tackle climate change, which I guess is not that surprising considering his success with Microsoft and his belief in the power of innovation. I definitely finished this book feeling more optimistic about this issue.
The book did feel a little repetitive towards the end, and it was annoying in some parts to keep hearing about how he invests in all these green companies, etc., so I would say it's more of a 4.5/5 for me. I'm also aware of all the “controversy” around this book—definitely agree with what Jenna discussed in her review!
4.5/5
It's an inspiring and optimistic take on climate change, but to be honest I don't feel that I learned anything new from this book. There were some interesting scientific tidbits in this book, but it was definitely more of a motivational “yes we can tackle climate change!” kind of book. Nothing bad about that, but I think I would've liked more substance. It was a nice and easy read though (unlike some other climate books that are very dense and difficult to read).
The writing itself is great, but honestly the story is creepy AF. Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza met as teenagers and Florentino quickly falls in love with Fermina. After a few years of “dating”, Fermina realizes that Florentino is not the man for her, and rejects him. Up to this part of the story, everything seems fine. But then it all goes downhill from here...
Fermina eventually marries Dr Juvenal Urbino, a wealthy doctor. Florentino on the other hand wants to remain “faithful” to Fermina and decides not to marry anyone. He does, however, end up sleepy with a myriad of different women, including América Vicuña, a 14-year-old girl who is sent to live with him. For a 70-something year old man to be intimate with a 14-year old girl is one thing, and add to that the fact that she eventually kills himself after he rejects her in the end!
Finally, after 50 years of marriage, Dr Urbino dies after falling from a ladder while trying to rescue his parrot. Florentino learns of this news and decides to re-confess his love to Fermina all these years. She initially outright rejects him, but after his consistent advanves, he wears her down and they become intimate.
So is the moral of the story here that you can be a creep and still get what you want?
This book dispells a lot of common misconceptions about the “male and female brains” and has a lot of general information on how the brain develops. Love the content, but I do feel that some parts of it could be explained in a more concise way (and a bit too much scientific explanation that I don't think the average layperson would care much for).
Interesting climate change fiction following the two storylines of Signe and David. It was generally good and I feel like it helped me empathise with the lives of climate refugees but I also felt that the story wasn't particularly exciting and the ending was kinda meh.
I went into this knowing nothing about Bob Iger aside from the fact that he was the CEO of the Walt Disney Company and I was pleasantly surprised! It was really interesting to get a behind-the-scenes look of the aquisitions that Disney made during his time. It also felt pretty candid and authentic, and included some good nuggets of advice throughout the book. It was engaging (and short) enough that I ended up finishing it over the course of a weekend.
Honestly, such a wholesome book! The premise is so interesting and unique yet it touches on aspects of life that almost everyone can relate to. Made me tear up at the end too
I've heard raving reviews about this book, and especially the audiobook (since it has a full cast) and it did not disappoint! I listened to it all in one day. Not sure if I would have enjoyed it as much if I had read the book instead of listened to the audiobook, but the audiobook is definitely a 5/5 for me!
The fact that the story was told through an interview was really unique and I enjoyed hearing about everyone's perspectives too. I also loved certain elements of feminism, e.g. talking about how Daisy Jones handled being a woman in a male-dominated field, and how Karen confronted Graham about the responsibilities of motherhood.
I think another reason why I loved this book was how much it reminded me of Fleetwood Mac, one of my favorite bands of all time. It obviously isn't the same story, but it definitely sounded Fleetwood Mac-esque and I loved that!
This is a must read book on climate change.
Reading this book honestly made me feel considerably more anxious about the state of our earth. However, he's right—the reality is that the situation is absolutely dire, and if we don't do anything about it soon then we're all f*cked.
I do have a couple of criticisms about the book: 1) I wish it was written in more straightforward language (yes the writing was beautiful but he could've said the same thing in less words), 2) some parts felt a little repetitive.
Overall, great book though. Honestly at this point everyone should be aware of the state we are in, and thus I'd highly recommend this to anyone and everyone.
I love historical fiction, so this book was right up my alley. It wasn't bad, but I just felt that it started off too slow, and didn't find it very interesting until about halfway through. In generala I didn't feel that this was as gripping as Beneath a Scarlet Sky (which I love) hence the 3/5.
This is one of a kind and I get why people may think the plot is really smart, but I'm not sure it really did it for me. I didn't hate it but didn't love it either
Dune is a great book, and the cultural impact it has had is immense. I loved the world building and I thought the underlying themes touched on issues that are still relevant to this day (e.g. oppression of indigenous peoples such as the Fremen).
I really wanted to love it enough to give it a 5 star rating but although this book was engaging, it wasn't necessarily a can't-put-down book for me. The ending also felt a little anticlimactic for me and though I love the Middle Eastern and Islamic undertones, is it just me or does it also feel like appropriation?
It's a very quick read with a lot of valuable insights! 10/10 would highly recommend.
As a developer, I'm not the intended audience for this book but I thought it was still good to understand more about the PM role. I also enjoyed the examples of successful PMs at different organizations. Some parts felt a bit repetitive and/or obvious for me (but I suppose a lot of things make more sense in hindsight), but overall I thought this book was interesting and helpful!
Wow. Just WOW! Once this book got going, I could not put this book down. Incredibly riveting, deeply emotional, and it made me want to read more Japanese and Korean literature.
I really like the concept of this book! I'd definitely recommend it to anyone interested in YA Fantasy.
Oh man this was disappointing. I wanted to love this book because it's about badass women of color (!!!) but damn it was so dry and boring. The message of this book is very important but I didn't feel that the author narrated it very well. There were some interesting bits but overall I felt very underwhelmed.
This book didn't bring me joy, so I didn't finish it. I'll just watch the movie