sophronisba's reviews
2223 reviews

A New World Begins: The History of the French Revolution by Jeremy Popkin

challenging informative slow-paced

4.5

Massive but I learned so much about the French Revolution. Recommended, but it will take some stamina.

The Guest by Emma Cline

adventurous reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

Reminded me a bit of Rachel Kushner's The Flamethrowers (although I think that is a better book, truth be told). Stronger ending would have improved it.

Old Babes in the Wood by Margaret Atwood

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I've been off on short stories a bit but I really enjoyed these.

An Assassin in Utopia: The True Story of a Nineteenth-Century Sex Cult and a President's Murder by Susan Wels

informative medium-paced

3.0

Read on its own, this is fine, but it's impossible not to compare it to Candice Millard's Destiny of the Republic, which is much better. Spoiler: Garfield's assassination doesn't have that much to do with Oneida, but I guess the publishers couldn't resist getting "sex cult" into the title. 

The Cradle King: The Life of James VI and I, The First Monarch of a United Great Britain by Alan Stewart

informative medium-paced

4.25

 I found this bio pretty fascinating -- by which I mean I could barely put it down even while trying to meet an aggressive work deadline. James VI and I never knew what it was like to not be a king -- he ascended to the throne as an infant. Perhaps not coincidentally, his personal relationships were a mess: he was a terrible husband, an indifferent father, and a fickle, feckless romantic companion to several men (although he did enrich and elevate his favorites). His reign wasn't a disaster, but he wasn't a great king and it's easy to see how it opened cracks that led to the English Revolution only a few years later. 

The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689 by Jonathan Healey

informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I wasn't expecting this, but this book was easily one of the best books I've read this year -- lucid, witty, well-written. I learned a ton about revolutionary England and my interest was held the whole time. Would make a great follow-up to Lucy Wooding's Tudor England: A History.

Blue Skies by T.C. Boyle

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

 Extremely bleak domestic drama that explores climate change in near-future Florida. This is not one of the Boyle's great works but it is very much of its time. It's easy to imagine a 22nd-century American Studies prof assigning this in a Trump/Biden era cultural history class.

Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years by John Guy

informative medium-paced

4.25

This is well-researched and well-written, but the ground is (contra the title of the book) somewhat well-trod and Guy struggles to hide his fondness for Mary Queen of Scots. 

The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War by Jeff Sharlet

informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

 Objectively, this is thoroughly reported and sensitively written, but I experienced it as spending an uncomfortable amount of time with the most toxic and unreasonable people I went to high school with. 

With the Heart of a King: Elizabeth I of England, Philip II of Spain, and the Fight for a Nation's Soul and Crown by Benton Rain Patterson

informative medium-paced

3.5

 Probably more suitable for someone who hasn't been obsessively reading about the Tudors for the last six months.