Puck’s Comments (group member since Oct 05, 2017)

Puck’s comments from the Diversity in All Forms! group.

Mariah wrote: "Puck wrote: "- It's Kind of a Funny Story
- Under Rose-Tainted Skies

Both are very good."

We read It's Kind of a Funny Story :) Good book!"

Oh, well then I'll stick with "Rose Tainted Skies": a wonderful and honest book about agoraphobia and OCD.

- It's Kind of a Funny Story
- Under Rose-Tainted Skies

Both are very good.

Megan wrote: "I'm not totally happy with the ending though, it makes me want a sequel"

What did you dislike about the ending? What happened with the boys or how things ended with the rapist?

This is a beautiful short story collection that's indeed about so much more than 'Nigeria' or African countries: you find themes of oppression, racism, the patriarchy and sexuality in her stories. I had many favorites, but I really liked “The Thing Around Your Neck” and “The Headstrong Historian” because they felt so personal.

A great collection to get introduced to Adichie's fictional writing, although her nonfiction stories (like We Should All Be Feminists) are very strong as well.

Lisa wrote: "I read this book a couple of years ago. I found their take on restorative justice fascinating. I've read many books of Louise Erdrich and this one was not one of my favorites. I found it contained ..."

I had similar problems with the pacing: especially around the middle the story dragged on and on. Around the ending it thankfully picked up a bit.
What is your favorite Erdrich book Lisa? My father recently read Future Home of the Living God and he really liked it.

I read "The Round House" in April and it's indeed a very good book! The mixture of hard-hitting reality and the more mystical Chippewa legends is well done. I had some issues with Joe himself - some actions of his rubbed me the wrong way - but he too is a realistic teenage boy.

What did you think of the ending Mariah?

I recommend Salt to the Sea, a book about the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff ship at the end of World War II. When the ship sank almost 9000 civilian refugees, mostly children, drowned.

I want to suggest: Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands

Oops, my mistake! Than I would like to suggest Their Eyes Were Watching God, which is a book that I'm planning to read in february. It would be great if we could read it all together :)

The Color Purple is always a great book to recommend. I read it last year for Black History Month and although it didn't blow me away, the story itself is very moving.

I'll read this! I've been thinking of reading something by Sedgwick, and since I saw that my library has a copy of this book, I think next year will be the perfect time to check this out :)

I want to suggest Blindness by José Saramago: a book about a city in which all its citizens suddenly become blind, and panic breaks out. Saramago's writing style does take some getting used to, but the novel is incredible.

Sounds interesting! I've heard good things about this book, so I think I'll join you all in reading this novel.

This is wonderful! I'm normally not a fan of horror and creepy books, but since I like to challenge myself I made myself a promise to read only those books during the month of October. Last year I started and I had a great time, and this year I'm doing the same.

Last year I read the following ones:
1. White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi.
2. A Fever of the Blood by Oscar de Muriel.
3. The Metamorphosis by Kafka. I read this book in Dutch.
4. Horns by Joe Hill.
5. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

I had a blast last year: I especially liked Helen Oyeyemi's and Oscar de Muriel's novels, and Frankenstein became one of my new favorite classics :)

And this year is going very well too!
1. Bird Box by Josh Malerman.
2. See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt.
3. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill.
4. Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin.
5. The Taxidermist's Daughter by Kate Mosse.
6. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.
7. Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt.

So far "Hex" has scared me the most, but all these books are great to read this Halloween. Some are more creepy or paranormal, others are more thriller-mystery, but I enjoyed them all.

If you want to know more: I wrote reviews for all these books, expect for "Hex" and "The Taxidermist's Daughter"; I'm still working on those.

Hello everyone, nice to meet you! My name is Puck, I'm 24 years old and I live in a small town in the Netherlands. I just got my bachelors in art-history, and now I'm taking a break to work and figure out my masters.

I joined because this year I decided to read more diverse books and this group seemed like the perfect place to find more excellent picks :)

I look forward to discussing books with you all!