emily_britton's reviews
833 reviews

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch

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dark informative sad medium-paced

4.75

 Heartbreaking and infuriating. What a terrible period of history and horrifying to read about -- but important as well. Had Gourevitch's writing been anything less than what it was, this would have been unbearable. 
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The Color Purple by Alice Walker

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dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Quite the story, effectively written.
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Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney

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funny inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Very enjoyable writing, made more interesting by the knowledge that this is based (loosely) on the story of a real woman! 
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Half Magic by Edward Eager

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

Such a sweet and clever story -- all three of us enjoyed it immensely.
The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould

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informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

4.5

I enjoyed this greatly.  Gould's writing is so engaging, I chuckled fairly frequently and learned a ton!  There were a few things that are slightly out of date at this point, almost forty years later, but I suppose that's to be expected. Only very occasionally did it get a little dry and technical.
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

A fun bit of fluff.  Good plot twist, pretty decent ending, but a little far-fetched and with minimal substance.
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

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adventurous hopeful inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

A very sweet and imaginative story. The kids really enjoyed hearing it.

The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio

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funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would! It's amazing how little humanity has changed in the last 700 years.
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Love's Work by Gillian Rose

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

3.75

Very interesting. The memoir sections were much easier to digest; the philosophical parts were pithy but written at such a high level that sometimes I didn't quite get it all.
The First Actress by C.W. Gortner

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emotional informative tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No

2.5

I found Sarah very annoying, but a lot of my annoyance was at a male author assuming that this is how a woman thought and felt and therefore acted.  Maybe so, but to me it wasn't so much believable as exasperating. But she is a fascinating character.  I think Francoise Sagan's treatment of her life is much more nuanced.