cpbindel's reviews
330 reviews

Better the Blood by Michael Bennett

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.75

Penance by Eliza Clark

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

So many twists in this true crime fandom, cancel culture-landmined investigation into an otherwise sleepy seaside British town. Who is socially in/out is seemingly more terrifying than the many ghost and witch stories that haunt the beaches. And who has the authority to tell what exactly went down? 

The story lagged for me about 4/5ths in, but the many forms (blogs and message threads, podcasts, interviews, narratives and newspaper clippings) kept me interested. A sad story with little respite.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, and Classism

WALK: Slow Down, Wake Up, and Connect at 1-3 Miles Per Hour by Jonathon Stalls

challenging hopeful tense slow-paced

2.75

Frequently strident but also full of heart

Whiskey Tender by Deborah Jackson Taffa

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

Vagabonds! by Eloghosa Osunde

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

3.75

I loved these detailed and poignant portraits of people, many queer, in contemporary Lagos. It felt more like a short story collection with a few roving characters than a novel. And at times it was hard to identify what was happening/who was holding the focus. But the intimacies these characters share and the negotiations they make with the world were nonetheless intensely compelling. I loved the many ghosts, the bluebeard tale, the defiant minor deity. 

This book might pair well with The Pink Line by Mark Gevisser, as both books are highly attuned to the dueling pressures of politics and social acceptance/disgust, and the temporary/conditional arrangements that many queer people exist under right now

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro

informative medium-paced

5.0

Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed by James C. Scott

informative reflective slow-paced

4.75

Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson
Did not finish book. Stopped at 70%.

Tedious dialogue and weird plot structure

Gray Areas: How the Way We Work Perpetuates Racism and What We Can Do to Fix It by Adia Harvey Wingfield

informative sad slow-paced

3.5