melanie_page's reviews
1469 reviews

I thought this would be a shoot 'em up book. It's a man dying painfully of cancer in a rented room and putting his affairs in order. It's sad and depressing and reminds me of a collection of stories I read about a caregiver whose patients were victims of AIDS. The only thing western about it is the setting, in my opinion. 

But the challenge is in seeing what a “good life” looks like. Winter knows that drug dealers take risks to get so much money. She argues that drug dealers help the economy by purchasing luxury goods and employing “half the men in the ghetto. Nobody else gave them jobs. So why be a player hater?” Why be that person who “worked all week for change to get to work plus a beer to forget about how hard he worked”? What Winter fails to see by not thinking about a community is what can happen after work, those meaningful connections at rec centers, schools, community gardens, and hospitals. Souljah convinces Winter to go with her when she speaks to a ward of AIDs patients, and while we see the epidemic for what it was, and the people who suffered as a result, Winter does not. Sister Souljah does not write an easy book in which her main character “gets it,” but lets the reader travel in the plot with our hands over our eyes, peeking through our fingers. Because we’re “getting it” and see what a disaster Winter is headed for.

I would argue that Sister Souljah does not glorify the drug life or the people who live it. Each moment in which Winter engages with street life feels laced with danger, even as we reside in her head and she celebrates and rationalizes moments during which she doesn’t even realize she’s being degraded. A recommended read.

Check out the full review at https://grabthelapels.com/2021/04/13/the-coldest-winter-ever/

 All in all, the various facets of Lab Girl will appeal to different types of readers, so if one section seems boring, you can power through and get back to the people. If you’re looking for a science text, you may not enjoy Jahren’s descriptions of human issues, and in fact, you may enjoy Limber by Angela Pelster better. Biscuit called Lab Girl dry many times, even sending me a GIF of someone coughing up dust, but then grew to like the book, which I thought might be the case. The examples she gave of why the book is dry were so hilarious in the telling, but that perhaps says more about Biscuit than Jahren.

Check out the full review at https://grabthelapels.com/2021/04/15/lab-girl/

The characters remain consistent, which isn’t to say they don’t grow, but they’re never out of character. Noor and Maryam are both good women but are very different. Noor stays logical yet artsy, emotional but strong. Maryam reads younger than Noor, always sleeping until noon and disappearing with her new boyfriend, but her more passionate personality stays within some bounds that demonstrate what her parents were like and her values. No man is “tamed,” no woman is “caught” when it comes to the romantic plot lines, making them enjoyable to read because each character develops naturally in each scene.

While reading Nothing but Patience, I felt a sense of security. Even though there are people doing bad deeds, the novel avoids sexism, ableism, homophobia, and most xenophobia (Noor notes that her bags are always searched when she flies or rides a train). You may argue that it’s unrealistic to populate a book with a decent narrator whose very essence is equity, and plenty of characters who manage to avoid off-color jokes, lascivious stares, and patronizing women, but I read as if I were hanging out with the kind of person I want to be around and experienced an ease in my heart.

Check out the full review at https://grabthelapels.com/2021/04/22/nothing-but-patience/

 Given that María Sirena’s story starts with imprisonment followed by guerrilla fighting and then a reconcentration camp, there are lots of sad moments in The Distant Marvels, including the deaths of several characters, sexual assault, and starvation. However, Acevedo writes in such a way that you understand what’s happening without including unbearable graphic details. I got it, but I was never overly-uncomfortable, allowing me to stay in the story and hear these minority voices. The author’s choice may stem from her decision to have María Sirena narrate; remember, she’s telling her life to a group of women sheltering in a hurricane who are afraid.

Check out the full review at https://grabthelapels.com/2021/04/20/the-distant-marvels-by-chantel-acevedo/

Delightful!

Mr. Poe's stories are always delightful good fun, and I especially love when he's in human form because he is definitely a cat that turns human, not a human that turns into a cat. Louisa May is a fun addition, and I enjoyed how the vampires were such mundane goofballs.

 Have you ever read one of those novels that’s more like interconnected short stories? One chapter focuses on Ken, who “farms in a slap-happy sort of way, working furiously for a few months, and then disappearing for a week or two. He doesn’t keep a cow, or fowls, because he says he likes to be able to walk out at any time. . .” This is not unusual behavior for Ken, “. . . for his sister tells us he once got down from a bus he was driving, left it standing there bulging with passengers, and was seen no more for six months.” So, we get to know Ken, and then in another chapter featuring a different resident of Lantana Lane he will be a secondary character. I love books that do this! Every character has a great backstory filled with personality, and the more you read, the more your interest and care in the novel builds.

Check out the full review at https://grabthelapels.com/2021/05/11/lantana-lane/

I have the audio book through Hoopla and the volume is poorly regulated. The narrator mutters or practically whispers, so I have to turn the volume up, and then the next moment her husband's big, boisterous voice fills my car and causes my hearing aids to make crackling sounds. DNF.

I'll start by admitting I never read mysteries of any kind. My brain always thinks I've missed something because I'm dumb when I don't get what's happening, so I quit. I almost did that with this book, quit, that is, but I would only be confused for about 30 seconds before someone explained a bit of detail that triggered something in my brain, or a name would crop up that I remembered -- just something to give readers a bit of context and continue on.

I also thought it was wicked clever of the author to have Joyce keep a diary. Instead of dragging through a scene in which someone is interviewed, for instance, she sums up what happened and adds little quips about having a crumble in the oven.

This is one of the most respectful, smart, and well-written books about elderly people (70+) that I've ever read that does NOT make them super youthful (zero health problems, for example). People die due to age, they wear out, they'll forget something once in a while, but in general, you can't beat how amazing Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron (Red Ron!) and Ibrahim are. The secondary characters are great, too, including a police duo, a weird priest, and an aging boxer and his friends.

My audiobook copy also had an interview at the end with the author where he says the book has no swearing. He just didn't want to, which was hard given Ron's bulldozing nature at times.