Asterisk46 is interested in reading...

The One Hundred Nights of Hero
Isabel Greenberg
Asterisk46 finished reading and wrote a review...
C'est certain, Bouraoui sait écrire l'esprit d'une adolescente, son intransigeance surtout. Alors qu'il y a des paragraphes qui réfléchissent bien autour des sujets de la mort, la maltraitance emotionelle et l'amitié, je n'ai pas eu l'impression de connaître les personnages et pourquoi j'étais censé.e m'interesser dans leurs vies et leurs sentiments. Peut-être que j'aurais mieux aimé ce bouquin si j'étais un.e adolescent.e toujours "closeted"...étant donné que je ne l'en suis plus, je trouvais le récit plutôt ennuyeux.
(Sure, Bouraoui knows how to write the mind of a teenager, especially its intransigence. But while there are some paragraphs that reflect well on death, emotional abuse, and friendship, I never felt like I got to know the characters or why I should care about their lives and emotions. Perhaps I would have liked this book better if I were still a closeted teen...since I'm not I thought it was rather annoying/boring).
Asterisk46 finished reading and wrote a review...
woah.
After slowly rereading the final 5 chapters, it feels incorrect to try to "review" this book. What I can say is that Steinbeck captures the deep meaning of what it is to have free will, to have choice. In so doing, he calls into question nature vs. nurture saying that neither can totally dictate the individual. One could dedicate the majority of their life to unpacking this book, and I'd be so curious to hear what a non-United Statesan would have to say as it is keenly American.
Asterisk46 started reading...

The Concept of Equity in Calvin's Ethics
Guenther H. Haas
Post from the La Vie Heureuse forum
Asterisk46 started reading...

La Vie Heureuse
Nina Bouraoui
Asterisk46 finished reading and wrote a review...
It's a nice little bouquin, my primary disappointment is that it read the same way as most little books about gender in the US (the author studied at Columbia). I'm always looking for different ideas/interpretations of gender in all its facets and this one only reiterated what I knew. Par contre, je crois que ce bouquin pourrait aider pas mal de jeunes qui sont en train de s'orienter dans leur identité. En tant que "première leçon sur le genre" c'est pas mal et les dessins sont "fun".
Asterisk46 finished reading and wrote a review...
J'aurais bien aimé qu'il pousse plus dans les détails, mais c'était une bonne introduction à une des plus grandes manifestations des années 80. Les élèves me demandent souvent de la violence des policiers aux États-Unis mais il me semble qu'ils se rendent pas compte de cette histoire de violence en France...
Asterisk46 started reading...

Malik Oussekine: Contrecoups
Jeanne Puchol
Asterisk46 commented on a post
slightly daunted by the quantity of pages in this one, but within the first two pages I was already sold on the writing style and the sense of mystery, very intrigued also by the changing of writer perspectives so far!
Asterisk46 commented on a post
I grew up feeling weirded out by gay people. Yes, some of you may hate on me for saying this but c'mon, growing up in a conservative country surrounded by conservative people, it's hard to outgrow this weird discriminatory feeling inside of me. Of course my mindset is shifting to not judge. Would also like to note I never bullied anyone because of their sexuality, I only judged silently.
So with this book, I'm weirded out by the sexual angle between those two characters (won't say who because of spoilers). Or maybe I'm just weirded out by the intimacy and smut and not actually the gay-ness...
I'm surprisingly liking this book a lot. I decided to "follow the masses" by reading the very very popular books around my generation once in awhile. I appreciate the action and background story telling more than the relationships and friendships that are growing.
Post from the East of Eden forum
Asterisk46 started reading...

East of Eden
John Steinbeck
Asterisk46 finished reading and wrote a review...
A fascinating compilation of pre-Columbian American research. I really appreciated the last few chapters digging into the idea of ecology and wildnerness and debunking the idea that nothing in nature was touched before the Europeans arrived (I really wasn't expecting such a good ecological analysis in a history book!). There is So Much Information in here, and really my only gripe was the organization. I understand why Mann split chapters the way he did, but for me personally it felt confusing at times, and I couldn't always follow him as he jumped from north to south, east to west. Still, a worthwhile read!
Asterisk46 finished reading and wrote a review...
woah. OW. OW, it Hurts, but woah. Um that basically sums it up. Love the concept of time being an exhaustible resource in time travel. I do plan on incorporating "Rhubarb!" into my insult vocabulary.
Asterisk46 started reading...

The Ministry of Time
Kaliane Bradley
Asterisk46 finished reading and wrote a review...
Un bon bouquin, j'ai beaucoup aimé. Élodie Font écrit honnêtement que même après la grande épreuve du "coming out", on a toujours le défi du "coming in"--accepter soi-même. C'est vrai qu'elle raconte son expérience avec une famille et des ami.e.s qui l'acceptent (ce qui n'est pas le cas pour tout le monde) mais ça fait du bien de lire un récit lesbien avec une fin heureuse.
Post from the Coming In forum
Son coming-out me rappelle tellement de ma propre expérience!! Et les dessins de "plonger" sont tops