tracithomas's reviews
1010 reviews

This was a solid celeb memoir. I loved the early parts but found the back half to mostly be a resume. I found her so likable and loved listening to bishop tell her own story. I barely knew anything about her and still found it overall good but not outstanding. 

A poetry collection about life in Gaza from a Palestinian poet forced to flee his home following the relentless bombings from Israel that began after October 7. 2023. These poems are emotional as hell. I didn’t cry, but I certainly welled up. More than once. There is a lot of range in this collection while still remaining extremely accessible, even fore a poetry newb like me. 

This book was darker and more intense and deep than I thought it would be. I really liked the author and related to many of her cultural references if not her actual experiences. I was hoping for more essays that took on tackiness and not so much memoir. But what she did she did well, it’s just not what the book was billed as. 

I think I liked this book but I really do not understand finance and so I feel like goof chunks went over my head. The audio was cool because you got to hear actual conversations between the author and Madoff. The book does pull everything together and speculates on what really happened, but at parts tries to do too much tying Madoff to Trump. I would gladly read that book, but this is not that book and it doesn't need those sections. Also, not sure Behar is the guy to write that book.

I appreciate so much how McInerny writes about grief. She is unique in her tone and approach. She is so relatable as a sarcastic person who feels deeply but that also includes joy even in the darkest moments. This book is her first and it isn't as strong as her other books from a writing standpoint but this one is still really good and entertaining and hits home.

This is a speech and a short essay on the ongoing genocide in Palestine and the narrative arch of the story of Palestinians since the Nakba. This book is so slim that once it got cooking, in the essay, it was over. I liked it but wanted so much more. Hammad writes beautifully and I loved her thinking through Palestine and Palestinians as part of a narrative lineage. 

I really liked the content of this book, wild stories, very juicy and so fucked up. The Kennedy family is a white wealthy dude privilege cesspool. The author does a great job laying out the story of these women. However the tone/style of this book is pretty annoying. It reads like a gossip magazine and not like history. I think the tone is a bit too light for the subject matter and cheapens the book a bit. Overall I liked it, but I couldn't love it because it just felt too cutesy.

This is a good book, from a reporting and writing standpoint it is very good. From a storytelling/editorial standpoint it needed a sharper POV and analysis. It goes on too long and the author allows the subjects to speak for themselves in a way that feels too hands off. 

I love a messy novel with fucked up characters and this is that. The book started really strong and morphed a lot by the end, but I was with it. The tension as great. The writing was great. The way the author told us what she wanted us to know on her terms added so much to this. It is part satire part domestic thriller and I loved that. I feel like the book didn't fully stick the last 30-40 pages, but i still really enjoyed my time with the book and all it brought up around race, power, and shifting relationships.

I liked this collection broadly and like McInerny's voice. She has a good balance between funny and vulnerable. I think some parts were really strong and some essays felt less urgent to me as a reader, but also maybe to her as the writer.