gigizerlotti's reviews
76 reviews

Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff

challenging dark emotional sad tense

4.5

i’m a wreck. this book has been a long process, i read the first third about two years ago and put it down when i had to catch up with life. finished the rest now, with different eyes and experiences under my belt. comparing it to beautiful boy, nic’s father’s perspective, this gets down to the dirtiest and most awful depictions of addiction and how it affects a person’s life. the reader is sick to their stomach watching this young person cycle through moments of peace and then enveloped in the rabbit hole of drugs and bad decisions over and over again. but it is real. the shame and guilt that perpetuate the cycle is real. the desire to escape that to never face it is real. regardless this book is incredibly insightful and there are many lessons to take from it (i especially loved the final treatment center’s methods). still, i prefer beautiful boy only because there’s something hauntingly tragic about seeing that pain through another’s eyes.

Dream Work by Mary Oliver

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective

5.0

absolutely in love with this poetry collection and its themes of humanity and nature and life. absolutely exquisite. calling mary oliver’s writing beautiful is a huge understatement, i could recognize it from miles away. an incredible voice. i’d love to reread this and keep these lessons in mind. observing is the best method to learn and live.

What Matters Most is How Well You Walk Through the Fire by Charles Bukowski

emotional reflective

4.75

i love old introspective buk. this featured a lot more poems on life/aging/art and wisdom that can only be gained by being on earth longer than most. the last poem was a perfect ending. other highlights are 

• young men
• the crunch (2)
• odd 
• they arrived in time
• combat primer 

and many many many many many others.

The Aliens by Annie Baker

emotional funny medium-paced

4.5

first play! still getting used to the shorter and more matter-of-fact writing but this was wonderful. the growing friendship of three misfits with constant mentioning of bukowski, which makes me happy. dialogue was great, it established dynamics and characters very well. i also thought the musical aspect was interesting. i wish this was a longer book because i’d read it. regardless, very very good. 

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

challenging reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

so many thoughts with this one. i read the first half months ago and put it down once humbert had lolita all to himself. i found it stale and hard to read after that. but i finished the other half in a day. so i don’t know. nabokov’s writing is beautiful, an absolute masterclass on exquisite vocabulary and themes. that being said it got a bit repetitive. it could’ve done better if it were 100 pages shorter but it is what it is and still manages to captivate and shock. i’m leaving this a changed person, and at the end of the day that’s all a book should do. i want to watch the movie, read about this, it’s incredibly interesting. i really enjoyed it and will probably revisit.

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.25

first virginia woolf. i fell in love with her brain (and obviously her colorful yet blunt writing). the “train of thought” idea took me a second to get used to. this reads much better in big chunks at a time rather than a few pages. i loved everything she had to say about gender, fiction, and got a glimpse of what life was like for her in england in the 1800’s. truly a master at her craft. can’t wait to read more. 

Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease by Sharon Moalem

informative

3.75

Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective

5.0

incredibly profound experience. eternal wisdom that i’ll revisit many times in my life. it’s been a while since i’ve finished a book in one sitting but i couldn’t put this down. this specific edition that includes kappus’s letters and the history of both authors really immerses you in their correspondence. love love love it.

Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

5.0

a beautiful experience. both mythology and literature reimagined to carson’s desire, making for a hauntingly unique story. the figurative language ties everything together colorfully and though i had to re-read many sections in order to fully absorb them, i enjoyed it from beginning to end.

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

adventurous challenging slow-paced

2.5

poorly developed characters, and overall concept that could’ve been elevated. not only was everyone incredibly unlikeable, i found this so dull and had a hard time getting through it. a drag to read and really weird at times. i’m not sure how including that the boy she saves tries to rape her 20 years later furthers the plot in any way. overall this book left me confused as to why it was written or what it offers society apart from obvious messages about racism. other books do this much better. personally, slavery and sci-fi are not a good mix. i wouldn’t have finished this if i didn’t have to read it for school.