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mizukireads's reviews
427 reviews
Love by Toni Morrison
5.0
This book was spectacular, with so many elements of other Toni Morrison books I've loved: the emphasis on female friendship like Sula, the supernatural elements of Beloved, cunning women who escape and build new lives like Paradise, an emphasis on dialogue and the relationships between characters like Tar Baby. The final 30 pages of this was perfection.
The Tree Doctor by Marie Mutsuki Mockett
4.5
I don't think any summary of this book does justice to how beautiful the story is. Separated across an ocean from her family at the beginning of COVID, the unnamed, middle-aged narrator of this book is stuck in her childhood home in California to be close to her mother, who has been ill for a long time but is now declining rapidly. The pandemic prevents the narrator from visiting her mother at the care home or her family back in Hong Kong, so she spends a long, empty, aimless stretch of months alone, tending to her mother's garden, teaching a remote university course on the Tale of Genji, and observing all the unsuspecting ways both the natural world and this 11th century Japanese classic weave their way into her life.
On a trip to the garden store early in the novel, the narrator meets Dean: a gruff arborist known as the tree doctor who helps her revive a cherry tree in the garden. The two begin a sensual and intense affair that awakens her sense of her body, pleasure, selfhood, and sexuality. This entire book feels intimate, not only in its descriptions of sex but in the deep ways we get to know and understand the narrator. Even though it's written in third person, we go into her head and have access to the observations she has about herself, her relationships, and the world at a time when everything's standing still, holding its breath for the worst yet to come that seems like it's always just around the corner.
There were parts of this book that surprised me, especially the intense section where she's stuck at the center of the California wildfires. I felt like I was right back to last summer in the Okanagan, choking on thick wildfire smoke, refreshing the wildfire map every minute, watching a line of cars stuck in traffic trying to evacuate. So many aspects of this reminded me of Unearthing by Kyo Maclear: the connection to a mother through gardening, the relationship to self and identity as a half-Japanese woman, meditations on grief and loss, the slow, gentle, mono no aware descriptions of the natural world. All in all there was lots in this book that hit close to home for me which is a big reason why I was so moved by it, but I also think it's a book anyone could sink into and love.
On a trip to the garden store early in the novel, the narrator meets Dean: a gruff arborist known as the tree doctor who helps her revive a cherry tree in the garden. The two begin a sensual and intense affair that awakens her sense of her body, pleasure, selfhood, and sexuality. This entire book feels intimate, not only in its descriptions of sex but in the deep ways we get to know and understand the narrator. Even though it's written in third person, we go into her head and have access to the observations she has about herself, her relationships, and the world at a time when everything's standing still, holding its breath for the worst yet to come that seems like it's always just around the corner.
There were parts of this book that surprised me, especially the intense section where she's stuck at the center of the California wildfires. I felt like I was right back to last summer in the Okanagan, choking on thick wildfire smoke, refreshing the wildfire map every minute, watching a line of cars stuck in traffic trying to evacuate. So many aspects of this reminded me of Unearthing by Kyo Maclear: the connection to a mother through gardening, the relationship to self and identity as a half-Japanese woman, meditations on grief and loss, the slow, gentle, mono no aware descriptions of the natural world. All in all there was lots in this book that hit close to home for me which is a big reason why I was so moved by it, but I also think it's a book anyone could sink into and love.
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
4.0
A beautiful examination of preteen girlhood following Linu and Lila from their childhood until the age of 16. We watch how factors these girls have no control over, such as their families, economic status, appearance, and more, shape their upbringing, but also watch the ways these girls refuse to be passive to anything: they calculate risk, work hard, take chances, and make decisions to get what they want. The issue is, they each want what the other has, and underlying their deep friendship is resentment, envy, longing, and admiration all at the same time which results in a really interesting dynamic to read about, especially since these feelings are continually evolving and changing as the girls get older.
This book was a lot grittier than I thought it would be! I do think I went into this book with my expectations too high with all the NYT buzz, but overall I thought it was a fantastic book, especially the second half once we're familiarized with all the big cast of characters we're introduced to at the beginning. I am very happy I can finally say I've read this!
This book was a lot grittier than I thought it would be! I do think I went into this book with my expectations too high with all the NYT buzz, but overall I thought it was a fantastic book, especially the second half once we're familiarized with all the big cast of characters we're introduced to at the beginning. I am very happy I can finally say I've read this!
Paradise by Toni Morrison
4.5
I think I'd need to read this about ten more times to get all the details and properly appreciate each character. Stunning.
Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
5.0
Sometimes I'm craving a light, easy, fast-paced, heart-racing book that doesn't take too much brain power to get into but isn't necessarily a romance. Carrie Soto Is Back was EXACTLY what I needed! I picked this book up and 30 pages later I was hooked.... I read this until I fell asleep then woke up and finished it early the next morning. I'll be the first to admit that I was a little snooty and didn't want to read TJR cause of the hype but wow, this is so worth all the love it gets.
I did not care about tennis even a little bit before reading this but here I am now watching Challengers and officially making tennis my entire personality
I did not care about tennis even a little bit before reading this but here I am now watching Challengers and officially making tennis my entire personality