Elda Mengisto > Recent Status Updates

This part really feels like being part of a treasure hunt! We see Goo get into evidence to try to help her family keep her land, though disputes between family members made it quite sad, for some reason. You would think these people would be on the same page. That said, hearing about the Hawaiian Renaissance, through an interview with her great grandmother, is my favorite part so far.

Curiously, the second part of Kuleana focuses more on Sara's life than the actual history of Hawai'i, even though that's a major part of her quest. That said, i could relate to the ambition of wanting to become a journalist, and her journey to get there. And now she's on another trip of her own!

The first part of the book really mixes the historical with Sara's family story. Hearing about her trip to Hawai'i with her grandmother, just before 9/11, was fun to hear, especially with trying to note her childhood. In contrast, the pains of the adult world, along with how Hawai'i was losing its culture, really gets to light what's going on.

Curiously, this part on how foreign countries harness the internet is actually quite thoughtful. Clegg's fear of "rival internets“ as different countries to find ways to stream out the data they don't want makes me wonder what that would look like, especially with so many possibilities now. Yet I wonder why he advocates for the developing world to use AI; he argues it's because of a lack of resources.

Curiously, the second part seemed to move a bit faster than the first. We have a section of the book featuring Milton, who ends up being complacent to the crime; we could see a total loss of innocence in his demeanor here. That's one of the strongest moments from a book which feels like it's dragging me down.

In the AI section, Clegg really goes into tech-optimism here. He goes about the possible benefits of AI, particularly with managing more administrative tasks. While he does give some hope, the part about delegating the creative aspects to generative AI put me off a bit. Because AI can only spit out probabilities, it's best they don't approach there.

Clegg definitely leans onto the positive aspects of social media, and defends an open internet. That said, some of his arguments fall apart, particularly where he argues that social media helps teenagers. Not wrong, but considering Meta had to pay a settlement recently for how its services impact children...yeah. He really values progress in communications, which makes me wonder what we'll see in the Ai chapter.

The first part of Merkel's chancellery deals with the ins and outs of running Germany, but soon enough, she had to face several European wide crises at once. We get a bit of intermission with the "Where, o where have you gone"? part, and then hit the action. One thing which stood out in particular was her negotiating relationship with Putin; if she had to do it all over again, would she have changed things?

Seeing Merkel rise through the political ladder was a journey all into itself. The parts where she finds her interest in foreign policy through climate negotiations was definitely a woozy, partially because of all the high-stake summits, partially because these same issues are still relevant today. Plus there's the political vacuum where Kohl resigns and Merkel finds her way to the top.

The period in which Germany united felt like a flurry, even though Merkel's prose is quite matter of fact and elongated at times. That said, seeing her go from a research scientist to a political spokesperson was quite the hoot! Plus, all the negotiations which ended up in a United Germany was interesting to know.

Angela Merkel's early life is pretty much touched on, though I'm kind of surprised with the lack of scientific content. At the same time, she touches about how the first thirty-five years are covered by growing up in East Berlin. She definitely emphasizes how she wasn't a natural-born Chancellor, just somebody who learns politics over time.

So far, so good, if a bit strange. I'm glad to return to the world of Torpa, but the part of Sasha initially "blanking" her final exam makes me a bit confused. What's this arc supposed to be, then?

Here we really focus on Europe in the Middle Ages. We see a full-on shift in the Catholic Church towards celibate clergy, along with the shift in how we see Mary. One thing which stood out in this part was the Reformation being quite contradictory; the family stood out as the main unit after centuries of ambiguity, though it also shrunk places where women could stand, save for a few places.

One thing which really surprised me in this section was the emphasis on chastity and monasteries over marriage; it took them centuries to determine a church marriage, whereas ceremonies for celibacy was more established. I'm glad MacCulloch does touch on differences between east and west, particularly with how the east embraced iconography earlier on. A bit off topic, but still curious.

We have a little less footnotes in the third part, which makes it easier to get into Raymundo Mata's perspective. That said, I find myself getting lost at times within the diary entries, as he tends to go on these different tangents. though his enthusiasm for meeting Jose Rizal was infectious; him wondering if it's okay to bring a copy of his book to autograph stood out here. And him escaping with a manuscript?

It seems like Raymundo's time in Manila is filled with interesting antics. One thing which stood out was his sexual deviation, along with how he encounters Jose Rizal's work for the first time. The journal entries near the end of this part show his excitement towards meeting him, only to hear he got arrested. Yet the footnotes still remain paramount here.

It's curious to see how Paul of Tarsus was very sex negative, which provided Christianity an alternative way through celibacy, which translated through the monastic tradition later on. There were a lot of debates as Christianity started taking form, from debates over widowhood to what things represented. Could there be a sex-positive form of the religion of the future; if so, how would it reflect themselves?

At the beginning, the writing is quite dry, considering that it's an academic text. Once we get out of "Setting Out", it gets much better, particularly with the new information we have. It was interesting to read about the differences between the Greeks and Jews, particularly in terms of families. MacCulloch also delves into Jesus' life in this context.

For some reason, the intro is a bit clearer than the actual contents of Raymundo Mata's diary. Maybe it's because of the excess of footnotes which accompany each entry, but there's definitely an intellectual conflict in terms of how to interpret his legacy. Especially considering the multitude of languages spoken in the Philippines! Though I'd appreciate a bit more to focus on Raymundo's story...

After WWII, it seemed like women's rights didn't become much of a priority within the Soviet government. By the time the USSR collapsed, women were encouraged to become mothers along with their status as full-time workers. The part about women being relegated to primary- care doctors was surprising. Then again, there were the interactions between Raisa and Nancy Reagan, which showed their different backgrounds.

Wow, that was a doozy of a first part! What really intrigued me with the new Soviet Union was how they tried to advance women's rights from education to no-fault divorce, The fact 70% of Soviet doctors in the mid-1970s were women shows that. though as seen with Alexandra Kollontai's conflicts with Lenin, there were still conflicts at the top. Stalin's regime reversed some of these, strangely enough.

Everything surrounding the 10th Hunger Games was quite...surreal. Lucy Gray seemed quite passive in terms of survival until the home stretch, where she seemed to tame the snake mutants and fight her way out. All the while, we see Coriolanus trying to play out the Games on her behalf for as a long as possible, with some feelings in the mix. Dr. Gaul's lesson, on the other hand, exposes something darker in mind...

It was really nice to re-enter the world of Panem for this prequel, though there is quite a bit of telling in the first part, seeing its a YA novel. Getting into the mind of Coriaolanus Snow really intrigued me; he wants status, as well as to care for his family and his new tribute. The pre-game catastrophes are quite surprising; I didn't know that many tributes died in advance of the games!

The first part surprised me in more ways than one. Darnell has a challenge with helping Harriet Tubman and friends record an album, but what makes it more interesting is the things he deals with from the inside. Religion takes quite a big part of the early part, particularly in the contrast with Harriet's unwavering faith and Darnell's hesitation. It really makes the end of this part even more suspenseful!

Omelogor has a curious storyline; along with Chiamaka, she's the other one who tells it in the first person. Is there a reason why Adichie does this? The questions about having children despite Omelogor having the good life was one thing, but what really surprised me was the money laundering she apparently does in Nigeria. Seeing her note how provincial American universities are was quite funny, however.

Kadiatou's story was quite surprising, as she really embodies the immigrant experience. While I thought she was from Senegal at first, her life in Guinea was really well-written, along with the travails across both continents. I liked hearing Binta's story, and was sad to hear she died suddenly. Kadiatou has pretty back luck with sexual assault; the last one just made me wince on traumatic it was.

The switch in POV from Chiamaka to Zikora is quite strange, though they have similar themes of love, loss, and motherhood. For the latter, it really focuses on her relationship with Kwame and the son she bears without him, which makes me quite sad because they initially had a nice bond with them. "So this was happiness, to live in the first person plural." It's also funny how she had a low opinion on Pope Benedict.

The first part of the book is really well-written; Adichie weaves the past and present really deftly. Chiamaka seems to be an interesting character in terms of her struggles, though sometimes I question her choices her partner. She shouldn't have gotten into that affair with that English professor!

The second part of the novel feels a bit strange, with Grenouille going across France and then hiding in dirt for several years. Sometimes, I got lost with the plot here, though some moments brought me back. Seeing him transform in Montpellier gave some life, as well as the lecture on fludium lethale. Strange we only have one murder...

The first part initially turned me off by the writing style. Sometimes, it felt like it was going to be a bland story of Grenouille's life, almost like a folk tale. However, it eventually got better, particularly with how Suskind describes the different scents and the like. The first murder, on the other hand, was...wild.