Hello! My name is Sabrina. My pronouns are she/her/hers. I recently graduated with my Master's in Library and Information Science. I have been discussing books on this channel since 2013.
Literary fiction owns my heart, but over time I have fallen in love with science fiction and fantasy, and am always working on incorporating more titles of those genres into my reading life. I also love novels that bend or supersede the confines of genre definition. I am very passionate about reading widely, and want to add more translated fiction to my bookshelf as well. I am a queer creator!
Let's be friends!
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I really enjoyed this book! The detail about making a Japanese language dictionary was fascinating. But the characters really had me hooked, especially Majime in his awkward neediness & and &single-minded commitment to his task. His love letter to Kaguya had me rolling. The insights to Nishioka's personality, and Kishibe's struggles to fit in with her new colleagues made those characters very real to me. I cried when I characters this lovely story. I'm now enjoying another read from Shion Miura, The Easy Life in Kamusari.
My vote is still out on this book because I just started section 3 so I feel like a light will be finally be turned on for me with this book. One thing Ido want to say is that I am listening to an audio version and even though I do not often say this, I think reading the actual book would be more beneficial to anyone. I think I really needed to see the section breaks with their titles to have a better comprehension about what is going on here. I am going to also purchase the book now. I think seeing the way the words are laid out on the pages will be beneficial. At first I did not get the Rask/Bevel thing and that confused me. I now know what was going on there and it puts things in focus for me. I appreciate your review.
This review was clear, engaged, and informative. Many thanks for posting it. And thank you for serving your community as a librarian. I too chose to work at a non-profit for perhaps the same reasons you did.
Hi Sabrina. I rely on audiobooks a lot. Especially because I’m permanently tired. They help ease anxiety. Some books you might like The Mars House by Natasha Pulley A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock Brotherless Night Night Bloom Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad Service by Sarah Gilmartin 🇮🇪
Yes thank you, I really did not like Birnam Wood at all, had to DNF it after the first part, really hated the reading experience so much thar I got rid my copy of The Luminaries as I could not see myself ever picking it up 😂
The Luminaries is much different from Birnam Wood, but I didn't love either one. I liked Luminaries more or else I wouldn't have been able to finish it. I would suggest you start it and if you like the writing keep going. If it doesn't grab you fairly early, don't.
a fellow librarian here. I just finished North Woods a few moments ago and don't think I'll ever forget it. It's a literary miracle. A few months ago, I had my book group read Gender Queer. All thumbs up for the experience. Consider that, if you haven't already. Keep up the great work!
I read Gender Queer a couple of years ago and it is excellent. Thank you for the recommendation! I think it would be a great one for a book club discussion. North Woods truly reads like a classic.
The book read as a collection of sermons regarding social issues near and dear to the author’s heart. Maybe it’s my inborn mistrust of authors presenting personal opinion as settled fact. This is not a novel, but an exercise in confirmation bias; a meandering sermon preaching to the already converted.
100% agree with your thoughts on Strong Female Character. i thought the strongest part of the book was actually the last chapter describing her meltdown. shame we had to wait so long for that
So happy to see you uploading regularly 💛💛💛 Your recommendations are always spot on. So very sorry to hear about your kitty though. Hoping for health and happiness your way 💛
The fat phobia and body shaming has been the reason why I dnf'd Strong Female Character. I totally agree that you don't have to include every detail in a memoir and in this case, it didn't add anything to the picture with regard to her personal story of late diagnosis. I'm actually quite surprised that I don't hear more people talking about this, because I heard nothing but uncritical praise about this book. Maybe I'll pick it up again at some point, only because I'm very much interested in the topic, but I'm not sure yet.
It is very frustrating that people seem to not notice fatphobia, or don't think it is an issue/worth mentioning. It pulls me out of a narrative every time. We don't need to be cruelly assessing people's bodies and making judgements about their character based on the way their body looks. It's so gross.
I will definitely be picking up North Woods after this video - I think the concept of following one house/plot of land is absolutely fascinating! Ghosts and beetles? I'm in.
I've just finished A Place Called Winter and i want to note that i think this review was heavily focused on the mental health explored in the novel. The book primarily deals with a young man who is shunned from his native Edwardian England, building a new life for himself in the newly colonised Canadian Prairies. The book explores themes around sexual identity, homesteading in a new wilderness, indigenous culture, WWI and Spanish Flu pandemic. It is a great read :) I just wanted to provide more balance here.
I think this book is excellent. I finished it yesterday and slowed down my reading in the last few pages to savor the author’s last few words. Hiking through my local forest will never be the same! I will certainly reread it! I loved hearing the author’s interviews (RU-vid). Great review Sabrina, thanks.
Great review! I feel like I haven't heard a lot of people talking about this one so I was intrigued to hear your thoughts. Don't think it's for me but really appreciated the review
So very true I have waited years for her novel the plot was barely there massively confusing. I didn’t like any of the characters, the book didn’t build worlds at all. I finished to see if there would be a resolve but there was none, and it is entirely too long and ends up being an investment of time where one is left more confused than satisfied. I am sure she will do better on her next offering🙏🏾
loving the single book reviews! i'm 511th in line for this at the library so i'm just going to have to buy it i'm sure i'll like it going off of those passages you read haha
Terrific review, thanks. I loved North Woods also, but I didn’t make that excellent connection with David Mitchell. Now I am thinking about it again along with The Bone Clocks and Black Swan Green. Cheers!
It's not for everyone. I think this is a good fit for someone bridging the gap between YA and adult fiction, but I do think it would be disappointed for someone who doesn't typically read YA.
I had this checked out from the library but brought it back today after seeing your review. I was already skeptical about the page count and this confirmed it for me. Thanks for saving my time!!
Sabrina, I don't know Kelly Link's previous material. Would you say that The Book of Love is a bit of a sellout on her part, that she was tempted by the YA market but did not have her heart in that kind of writing?
I don't think it is a sellout move. Artists should make whatever art they want to, and if she wanted to write a novel like this, I'm glad she did. This project was pretty ambitious and isn't the type of thing that is going to sell super well given that it is a long, fantasy debut novel. It isn't marketed as YA either, so it isn't going to get that same audience or publicity. If she was seeking a YA audience, I think she would have tried to publish in that market. This felt like a YA novel to me in a lot of respects, but it is categorized as adult fiction.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this book, your video came right on time for me! I started 'The book of love' on audiobook and only got like 15% in (that's already 3,5hrs!) and was unsure if I should push myself to keep going or should I just move on.. Found myself just forgetting I was listening to it, not drawn to return to it at all - felt really repetitive so far and the voices seemed indistinct to me as well. So, I think you helped me make a decision here and saved hours of my time 😉
I feel like I saw so many people posting about this one leading up to the release date and ive not seen a single review since. Thanks for this review - I was curious but I'm not sure this is one I need to prioritize over my 200+ other unread books 🥲
Yeah I think it is a fine read, but not one I would prioritize. However, it was CJ Read's favorite read from last year, and it is getting excellent reviews on socials. I might just be in the minority on this one!
