dckathleen's reviews
268 reviews

The Lost Stetl is about a little Stetl in the forest in Poland which has been cut off from the rest of the world for a century. Someone leaves, someone is sent to find them, and suddenly the town is rediscovered. Without giving anything away, this rediscovery runs through some cycles. There was a part about a third of the way through where I took a break, but I am so glad that I went back to it. 

This is short and mostly sweet. It's an exploration of loss and found family and friendship. 

In addition to a story about a very wealthy and weird COVID bubble, this book also explored questions about what makes for a successful artist, how much is talent and how much is hype? What about keeping it real versus commercial success? 

Another Hari Kunzru book that I loved was White Tears. 

Sweet story. 

TW: lots of talk about suicide 

This book has everything- it's the story of caracaras (fascinating birds of prey), but it's also a history of animals in the Americas, a little paleontology, a travelogue, and a bit about Darwin, William Henry Hudson and others.

A star from Hollywood's golden era tells her story, and it isn't what anyone expected ...she was part of the Warsaw uprising in world war 2, worked for the underground, and did what needed to be done to get revenge and help her community. If you liked Alice Network and Evelyn Hugo, then you'll like this one. 

This was good, and the story wasn't what I thought it would be...but I mean that in a good way. This book explodes what happens when your "perfect" world falls apart. 

This was great! Two snakes become (mostly) human women. Over the centuries their lives diverge, but they always consider each other to be sisters. One has become a free spirit in NYC while the other is a political wife in Singapore. They reunite after many years apart.