boxcar's reviews
230 reviews

Metamorphoses: The New, Annotated Edition by Ovid

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adventurous challenging reflective slow-paced

5.0

wonderful. all the mythology i could ever ask for. crazy that it’s ancient, feels very modern. the translation seemed good to me, and the notes of this edition were amazing, giving much needed context and commentary. far more entertaining and engaging than i expected from a 2000 ish year old poem(s).
Elektra by Jennifer Saint

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

4.5

Very good. Love the angle taken here, giving all sides of the story. clytemnestra endures such pain, her husband killing her daughter for a fair wind, but then inflicts further pain on her remaining children in revenge. Multiple points of view that are each flawed, as humans tend to be. A human, woman centered telling of an ancient story told about the men. Cassandra was also an interesting character, and i loved that her perspective was included. such a tragic character. Well written! Easy to zip through! 
A Tiny Upward Shove by Melissa Chadburn

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Fuck. This book broke me. Raw, painful, just a never ending train of despair. So very authentic though. Brings attention to the foster home system, the (before unknown to me) disappearances and murders of indigenous women in Vancouver area, Filipino mythos and beliefs, abuse, suffering, suffering, suffering. There is a nice moment at the end, but its a small comfort in a sea of despair. I will never read this again, but I'm glad to have read it. 
Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang

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adventurous dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Started and finished in a day, wonderfully written. Heartbreaking stuff. Hope snuffed out, more hope, more violence, more pain, hope... But it is wonderfully human throughout it all. The main character, Daiyu, is such a profound narrator. Just believable, human, fallible, but noble and strong. Also that this covers a time in our history as a country that is often glossed over, the Chinese exclusion act and rampant race-driven violence against Chinese Americans. Valuable read. 
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Fantastic. Wonderful storyline that ties itself together at the end. The setting being in the past, present and future (and super-future) somehow didn't feel disjointed--a feat. Cool to see characters from Glass Hotel come back. Just a masterful exercise in plot and the power of an individuals choices. Hell, they even found a way to make the time travel not be a mess of paradoxes and impossibilities! Dealing with a pandemic, dwindling earth, corrupt government/mega-corporation, all with a matrix simulation idea hovering over it. Cool cool cool cool cool
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

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dark reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Good plot. The writing was fantastic, the kind of writing that just pulls you along without realizing you're reading. Effortless. 
Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths by Natalie Haynes

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Very good! Well researched, written and argued. Gives historical accounts of the portrayal of women in Greek myths that go far beyond what I knew with a cursory knowledge. Very charismatic voice, well sectioned and paced chapters. 
An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks

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challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

Love Oliver Sacks. He writes with so much empathy for the afflicted, or in better terms, neurodivergent. Yes, some terms are outdated, but the book is outdated. For its time I think it stands up very well, and it's always valuable to have insight on various conditions from someone who spent a good deal of quality time with them, not simply observing them and questioning them, but getting to know them and having fun with them. 
The Bird: A Natural History of Who Birds Are, Where They Came From & How They Live by Colin Tudge

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

Extremely comprehensive book, as far as you can be with such a varied topic as "the bird". The writing was sometimes a little bit snobbish, but you know what, I can rock with it. The section where he went through every bird type and species was longwinded, but useful! Cool to see how the bird world is divided. Good read, longwinded at times, but informative and fun. 
Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi

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dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Wonderfully dark book. funny in an insane, sad way. Story itself isn’t funny! frankenstein as a concept, a man made from death, works perfectly in war torn iraq. the bodies of victims seeking revenge, the inability to quantify evil and innocence, because the country and city has become enmeshed with violence, despair, hatred. a perfect metaphor, as far as it goes. terrorism is prompted by something, and those evil acts do not exist in a vacuum. those who do evil do not usually wake up and decide to be evil, there is injustice done to them, their family, their loved ones. it’s a cycle of violence creating violence, revenge creating reason to seek revenge. The “normal” people live in the book within the context of the violence, exploit it, suffer from it, ignore it. Complex and beautifully written novel, gripping and easy to read. hard to digest.