Paul DeSantis
Added to listOwnedwith 12 books.
Added to listBoneyard Bookwormswith 12 books.
Updated a reading goal:
Read 24 books by December 31, 2024
Progress so far: 25 / 24 104%
The God of the Woods was a very enjoyable read. I got my copy from Book of the Month Club after seeing it was highly rated there, and I think it's worth the praise it's been getting.
It's a mystery novel at its core and it does a great job of presenting facts from a few different perspectives and encouraging you to solve the crime with the characters. There are definitely clues that end up being red herrings, but never in a way that feels disingenuous to the reader. I felt strongly about my own (incorrect) theory, but I was still very pleased with the conclusion.
It was a bit longer than what I am used to reading (at nearly 500 pages), but I was very engrossed and finished it over just a few days. Definitely would recommend!
The God of the Woods was a very enjoyable read. I got my copy from Book of the Month Club after seeing it was highly rated there, and I think it's worth the praise it's been getting.
It's a mystery novel at its core and it does a great job of presenting facts from a few different perspectives and encouraging you to solve the crime with the characters. There are definitely clues that end up being red herrings, but never in a way that feels disingenuous to the reader. I felt strongly about my own (incorrect) theory, but I was still very pleased with the conclusion.
It was a bit longer than what I am used to reading (at nearly 500 pages), but I was very engrossed and finished it over just a few days. Definitely would recommend!
The Handmaid's Tale is an increasingly relevant novel that discusses the experience of women in a post-USA Christian fascist country called Gilead. Much of the way society is run in Gilead could be implemented in a short time if people are not careful-- relegating women & people of color to the absolute bottom of society, rejecting technology & literature, frivolous use of capital punishment-- the list goes on. In some ways you wonder how Gilead could have become that way, but in reality America inches closer all the time.
I praise Margaret Atwood's world building with Gilead and I think she does a lot with a very reasonable length book. I believe some of the characters are a bit underdeveloped, and I think it's an improvement made in the Hulu series based on the novel and in the sequel, the Testaments. So much time is taken to discuss the different classes in society, the government, and the history of the world that there wasn't enough room to explore how the characters relate to each other. For example, Moira's actions before and after becoming a Handmaid are touched upon in the novel, but her character's personality and motivations are really fleshed out in the series. It more than evident that Moira and Offred are best friends, where the book isn't able to explore their relationship as much.
I would definitely recommend this book and it's sequel. I hope it can open some people's eyes to how women deserve to be respected and to feel safe in our world.
The Handmaid's Tale is an increasingly relevant novel that discusses the experience of women in a post-USA Christian fascist country called Gilead. Much of the way society is run in Gilead could be implemented in a short time if people are not careful-- relegating women & people of color to the absolute bottom of society, rejecting technology & literature, frivolous use of capital punishment-- the list goes on. In some ways you wonder how Gilead could have become that way, but in reality America inches closer all the time.
I praise Margaret Atwood's world building with Gilead and I think she does a lot with a very reasonable length book. I believe some of the characters are a bit underdeveloped, and I think it's an improvement made in the Hulu series based on the novel and in the sequel, the Testaments. So much time is taken to discuss the different classes in society, the government, and the history of the world that there wasn't enough room to explore how the characters relate to each other. For example, Moira's actions before and after becoming a Handmaid are touched upon in the novel, but her character's personality and motivations are really fleshed out in the series. It more than evident that Moira and Offred are best friends, where the book isn't able to explore their relationship as much.
I would definitely recommend this book and it's sequel. I hope it can open some people's eyes to how women deserve to be respected and to feel safe in our world.
Invisible Cities is an interesting experiment in world building and imagination. Calvino envisions many wonderous cities through the words of Marco Polo and it's interesting to picture yourself in these spaces-- to gleam the best of each city to include in your own life while rejecting what makes a city grim and glum.
The novel is overall brief, but written beautifully-- somewhere between poetry and prose. It's short length makes me believe it's a must read for everyone. Everyone will find something within its passages that resonates with them and makes them ponder.
I'm looking forward to reading more of his work, likely The Complete Cosmicomics next.
Invisible Cities is an interesting experiment in world building and imagination. Calvino envisions many wonderous cities through the words of Marco Polo and it's interesting to picture yourself in these spaces-- to gleam the best of each city to include in your own life while rejecting what makes a city grim and glum.
The novel is overall brief, but written beautifully-- somewhere between poetry and prose. It's short length makes me believe it's a must read for everyone. Everyone will find something within its passages that resonates with them and makes them ponder.
I'm looking forward to reading more of his work, likely The Complete Cosmicomics next.
