Review: Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions

Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It’s a book with a good measure of heart. It’s the author putting parts of herself down on paper with a fifteen-point agenda on feminism. A short read, decently written and fairly engaging.

The message has power and nuance. In this regard, the length is a double-edged sword: It prevents the author from exploring certain ideas in depth while allowing for a book that I felt was arguably more readable and interesting because of how there was little padding to the actual points. It was direct, which I can appreciate.

Adichie’s personality is a constant presence through the pages, her background colours the examples and it made me feel like she was talking to me.

There is remarkable restraint. It is a very polished read.

All of that said, there wasn’t anything about the book that was particularly extraordinary. Overall, it’s just a very solid book.

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Review: Illuminae

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Illuminae has a pretty solid concept going in. The overarching plot is decent for the most part, tightly scripted and with a few cool scenes (especially the after-action reports).

I don’t want to rate it below 3 stars because the book doesn’t do anything ‘wrong’ per se. The writing is easy and inoffensive. The pacing is okay. The twists are well-intentioned if a little flat. The problem is that it’s a sublimely disappointing read at times.

A lot of epistolary fiction falls into the same trap this book falls into. Epistolary books use letters and diary entries and e-mails and transcripts, but it’s hard to tell a story through those. So, sometimes, they will invent their own forms of real-world communication which can be used as a stand-in for narration. Sometimes, the letters and transcripts feel a far cry from the real thing because they are chock full of information the writer wants to give the readers. It’s unnatural. It breaks the illusion.

The first part of Illuminae maintains the illusion. Then, it rapidly degrades as we get more and more sections that are just...narrated, with a thin veneer of the epistolary. I did not like that.

The twists at the end do disservice to the book. They are unnecessary and make the large world of the book feel significantly smaller and less interesting. Turns out, the universe of the book only is way smaller than we thought. That isn’t a good thing.

The writing is very YA, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The problem is, it doesn’t quite work with the format. That said, it did lend to some interesting bits.

Also, there’s this weird thing the book does where it sets up rules for its AI and then breaks those rules without really explaining why those rules could be broken? I mean, it set those rules without any necessity only to break them a few chapters in. That was strange.

All in all, the format is strong. The plot and characters are okay. If you want to read it, you can have a perfectly serviceable few hours doing so. Just don’t expect too much satisfaction or joy. It’s not that kind of book.

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Review: I hope this reaches her in time

I hope this reaches her in time by R.H. Sin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There’s some sections that are good. Bits and pieces, excerpts, that are poignant and observant. Even beautiful, perhaps.

I want to like this. But I don’t think I like it. It’s just not touching or human in the way poetry needs to be. It does not elicit a strong emotional reaction. I don’t see anyone within it. It’s just...words. It doesn’t succeed at delivering the message it aims to deliver, not really. It’s too meandering, too scattered.

It’s short, so I don’t have much more to say. Only that I wish those poignant sections were what made up the entire book.

There are good bits. They’re just not enough to save the collection as a whole.

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Review: Dear Committee Members

Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dear Committee Members is a relatively short read. It is simple, honest, effortless and, at times, touching. It achieves all of this within all facets of its storytelling. The plot, the prose, the characters, they are all suitably strong.

The format, a book written entirely through letters of recommendations, adds to the draw of the book. The letters are short and sardonic, they keep the pace moving. The plot is thin, but it is human. It is interesting enough to make you want to read on. The emotional beats are soft and subtle, but they are enough to make this enjoyable. It ends well. The strength of the book isn't its surprises and twists (though there are some unexpected moments), its strength is in the crystalline poignancy of the main character. He is honest, rambly, sometimes dislike-able but still very human. Like the plot, interesting and makes you want to read on.

Amidst all of these perfectly adequate pieces, I think what makes the book shine is its prose. The prose shines. It is not complex or particularly beautiful. Rather, it shines because of its simplicity and style. The simplicity makes it lucid and powerful, while still being interesting and avoiding blandness. The author uses language that is easy to understand because of the context while still imitating the complexity of rambly letters penned by an English professor. That's where the style hits. The letters are full of personality. The writing is full of personality. I do not recall another book that had so much personality in such simple language. In that vein, I do not recall another book that was so readable and engaging, while still presenting interesting characters characterized entirely through their words.

I would love to read it again for the first time.

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Review: Multiple Choice

Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I cannot claim this book is universal. It is probably not. There are pieces of information that are personal.

It worked for me. It worked in a way that I did not expect it to. It made me think of life, of who I am. Since I answered the questions, I was the protagonist. I chose based on who I was.

Sometimes, in the most magical of moments, the book was a step ahead of me. I would read something, think a very specific thought, and the book would ask me about that thought in the next question. In those moments, I felt close to everyone who had ever thought the same way.

It’s one of those books I will take time to process. It’s one of those books I might open again to re-read, but with my markings on it. That way, it’s a record of who I am, I guess. Maybe I’ll fill it out again and compare the results.

It’s a good book.

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Review: The Strange Library

The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Strange Library is more art than it is literature. Any attempt to describe what reading it feels like would be...inadequate. It is not so much the emotiveness of the book either, just the mere surrealness of holding it and flipping through it. Surreal and subtle. It looks and feels incredibly textured, with the pages being colored and images scattered through. It all comes together to make something very unique.

There's not much more to say. It's short, yes, but you need to take your time with it. It calls out for that. You read this once and then flip through it again and again to absorb the pictures and the simplicity of the plot. It's something special. An experience. Art.

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Review: All of This Is True

All of This Is True by Lygia Day Peñaflor
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It's frustrating because of the potential that bleeds through every page, every line and every word that you read when you find your way through this book. There is so much of it, such beautiful potential, especially with the format of interviews and emails and texts. The fact that the book squanders this potential makes for a really strange experience. It's one of those books that deserved to be more than it is.

Let me start by discussing three things the book does well.

First, it's a different take on the epistolary format that was easy to read. Not nearly as engaging as a lot of other epistolary fiction, but really easy to read. The different characters and parts of the book were well-separated by the format. I read the entire book in a couple hours, in one sitting, and I think the reason is how quick and effortless reading it is.

Second, the open questions. The book doesn't answer some of the questions it raises. I liked that, it kept with the larger themes and added some value to thinking about it. I won't tell you which ones it does answer, that's for you to find out (if you read it).

Third, the ending. It was a well-formed ending that would have been cathartic had the rest of the book been a journey. It was...I could feel how powerful it could have been if it had followed a better book.

And with that, I will get to my complaints about the book.

It's not well-written. The only thing the prose has going for it is the fact that it is easy to read and follow. Now, usually, that isn't such a big problem. There are plenty of books with plain prose that make for really good reading because of plot and character. The problem is that the prose here is mixed with the plot and character.

So, the book is epistolary. This means that it is made up of things like letters and excerpts from emails and interviews. Within the book, there is a fictional author whose works are excerpted as well. This fictional author is supposed to be powerful, poetic, emotional, you know? Just, a really good writer. Her writing is hyped up from the get-go, and then we get to it and its...ok. The anti-climax of that is what ruins everything. It's mediocre. This amazing, New York Times bestselling author with a massive controversy around here, who is known and appreciated by students and teachers alike has middling prose. (This is why House of Leaves would make for a difficult movie, the main character is a stellar filmmaker, whose every shot is poetry. You would need to replicate genius.) So, the central figure in that way never feels special. Her 'genius' and 'passion' feel fake. The book tells you that her writing feels painful, but then you read her writing and feel nothing.

Then, the plot. It's a little underwhelming. The "big twist" is so obvious that you can see it coming the moment it's set-up. It's just annoying that no one in the book seems to. The larger plot is not really that engaging? There are some good bits, but overall it's just middling. Average. Missing a lot of the flair that would make it good. The epistolary form is perfect for injecting that flair (Carrie is a really good example of that). It isn't "bad", but it's plain and not noteworthy.

The characters are disappointing. They were very 2-dimensional. I didn't really care about any of them, and the book didn't try to make me. I didn't hate them, they were bearable and even human sometimes. They were never 'bad' characters. They just...did not have the depth they needed to have for the book to be powerful.

And I think that's the heart of it. It could be a powerful book. The premise and the idea that exists here, the overarching themes, are pretty cool. There's just not enough there in terms of depth. There were parts that were so ridiculously out-of-place that I laughed out loud.

Maybe this entire thing is some really sophisticated satire of the epistolary form, human beings and the profession of writing. Something so nuanced that I did not get it at all. If that is the case, someone tell me so I can re-read it a couple times and try to see if it is.

Or maybe it's just an average book that squandered the great ideas that inspired it.

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Review: The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well

The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well by Meik Wiking
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't usually like books like these, so I entered this with a little bit of skepticism. That's probably a good thing, because there are some things the book does and some things the book doesn't do. If you go in with the wrong expectations, you will be disappointed.

It isn't revolutionary. It isn't groundbreaking. It isn't lots of science or a lot of history or a lot of information. It isn't heartwarming stories. It isn't any of those things you would expect from a book.

But, it'll make you feel nice. The book's weight is perfect, the pages are the perfect colour, the font is perfect and it's relaxing to read it. It feels nice to hold it. It's just...cosy. The book feels cosy. Which is something I've never said about another book or felt about another book.

The content is okay. It is slightly funny, mostly happy and feels like a mix of life tips, information about Denmark and recipes. It's all focused around hygge (no surprise there), but it weaves in and out of the topic, very peacefully and calmly. It's nice. A lot of the tips are very limited in application, some you probably won't be able to do unless you're Danish.

Here's the problem with reviewing this now. I can't say if this made me happier because I've just read it. If it does, it deserves 5 stars. If it doesn't, 4 is probably a bit generous. Still, while reading the book, I took up a few bits of advice and I felt happier immediately. So, maybe there's something to this hygge thing after all.

Give it a shot. It's a quick read, and if it changes your life...well, that's a shot worth taking, right?

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