11/10
The Love Song of W.E.B Dubois is written by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers.
In school, we learn about W.E.B DuBois, his life, writing, and ideas.
Yet, there is no better way to understand his writing and beliefs than reading The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois.
The storyline revolves around a black family in America in the late 1900's to early 2000's while their ancestors stories are told in parallel.
The daughters of the family learn what race is through their light-skinned grandma constantly praising her light-skinned granddaughters over her darker-skinned granddaughters,
through the pressure to excel in school and build a bright future, and through the theme of "passing". Jeffers takes readers on a journey through the past and present to weave togehter
how race and racism was created and consequently sustained throughout society. Rather than writing a book explicitly about race, Jeffers presents race from
the point of view of a black American family who subconciously struggle with their own identity. The family, whether they realize or not, constantly
ensure they portray themselves as sophisticated and educated people. Family members with lighter skin rejoice because they believe it is one step close to being white.
Their actions and behavior demonstrates Dubois' idea of the "veil", where white people lack the capacity to see African Americans as Americans, and African Americans
are unable to see themselves outside of the white labels America has given them. Jeffers' writing examines how "white superioirity" is embedded into society
and continues to perpetuate racism. Not only did I enjoy the context of the book, but Jeffers' extraordinary talent to tell such a complex storyline amazes me.
Even though the books is 800 pages long, when I got to the end, I wanted another 800 pages to read. I aspire to be an author like Jeffers who has the ability to captivate
their readers and make them never want to stop reading.
8/10
Inspired by my security class in college, I read the The Rose Code, written by Kate Quinn, to indulge in
how cryptography was used in the past. The book is set during World War II and describes the "behind the scenes" heroes
of the war: crytographers. During the war, Germany would send encrypted letters that would then be intercepted by the Allied troops
to be decoded. Kate Quinn had done a lot of research on cryptopgraphy and I had learned so much about it by reading the book.
I enjoyed being able to read how encryption and decryption was done in the past and compare it to what I have recently studied. It is
marvelous how security has evolved. While I enjoyed the concept of the book, the plot and characters was average. The ending was
too rushed and Quinn made the traitor too obvious (at least in my opinion). However, I always admire historical fiction authors because
it is incredible how much research they do to write a storyline based on past events and put a personal twist on it. It was overall a good book
and I recommend it to others who want to dip their toes into historical fiction.
8.5/10
The Sun Also Rises was the first book I ever read by Ernest Hemingway and it did not disappoint. The book revolves around a group of friends
who are a part of the "Lost Generation". This generation had just survived the first World War and through their conversations and desire to
travel and experience new things demonstrates their need to find meaning in life. Their conversations are not of substance and they drink, travel, and spend money
like there is no tomorrow. In the beginning of the book, I found it entertaining to read about the characters, however, as the book went on, it was sad to keep on reading
how these characters are doing their best to distract themselves and escape from their traumatic memories from war. Hemingway also wrote in a way that made me feel as though
I was sipping coffee with the characters in a cafe in Paris or watching the bullfighting in Spain. My experience reading the book will be a memorable one.
7/10
The Mapping of Love and Death, written by Jacqueline Winspear, is set about ten years after World War I. The main character Maisie
was a former nurse during the war and has now found a job as a private investigator. As she tries to solve the mystery of a cartographers death
during the war, she struggles with the trauma she has due to her experience in the war. Since reading Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises"
I was disappointed with the way Winspear wrote about Maisie and her friends' war trauma. Maisie and her friends are a part of the "Lost Generation"
where they struggle to find the meaning of life after having to live through and participate in war. Winspears tells us about Maisie's struggles rather than
show us through her actions. Although the central theme of the book was not about the "Lost Generation", I do believe that it would have given
the book more depth and give readers a more analytical reading experience.
8/10
When I first sat down to read The Color Purple, written by Alice Walker, I was hesitant if I would like reading an episolary, a novel composed soley of letters.
However, when I finished, I thought it was a brilliant piece of work. It takes talent to be able to write a compelling story using the format of letters and Walker accomplished
just that. The letters written are between two sisters, Celie and Nettie, and between Celie and God. The sisters are separated when they are children, but continue to write to
each other during the 20 years they are a part. In these letters, they write about their experiences and reveal the abuse they endure, the relationships they form,
and how they persevere through lonliness.
9.5/10
The Marriage Portrait
, written by Maggie O'Farrell is a suspenseful and phenomenally written historical fiction novel. What I love most about historical fiction novels is
the research that is conducted prior to putting pen to paper in order to to convey the setting and time period of the novel as accurately as possible. Maggie O'Farrell had done her due diligence
in reading about the lives of women during the Italian renaissance specifically their role, style, and daily customs. The research O'Farrell conducted reminds me of my English class, Literature
of the Middle Ages in undergrad. During this class, we read supplementary material to give us context and a better understanding of the background in which works of literature were written. As I
read, The Marriage Portrait
, I did get distracted thinking of how I might be able to write a historical fiction novel based on what I had read about the Middle Ages. There are many ways people
rate or judge an author, but in my opinion, I think the best authors are the ones whose writing inspires readers and compels them to ask questions. For me, O'Farrell's writing creativity, and research
not only inspired me, but made me want to know how did she choose this topic
, what was her favorite part about writing this novel
, or did she face challenges in her preliminary research
and if so, how did she overcome it?
. Her writing is so captivating to me that I want to know more about her writing process. Aside from O'Farrell's research, I was also impressed with her writing style. She has a very poetic and descriptive way of writing that made me feel as if I was in the background of the storyline, following the duchess around the winding halls of the grand palazzo. She has an artistic way of portraying characters, their movements, and their thoughts. I truly loved reading this novel and highly recommend it to those seeking a historical fiction read.
9/10
"Things Fall Apart", written by Chinua Achebe, is a historical fiction novel capturing the interaction between European colonists and African villages. This novel is one of three in Achebe's trilogy. As the first novel of the series, "Things Fall Apart" establishes the village's people, setting, traditions, and culture.
The lives of these African villages are disrupted when European colonists and missionaries intrude upon their land and customs. While the customs depicted in "Things Fall Apart" are extremely misogynistic, this is what makes the novel and Achebe's writing brilliant. Rather than creating idyllic traditions within the fictional villages,
Achebe instead depicts a culture in which discrimination and violence is embedded. One would think "Why would Achebe do this?"" Well, I believe that Achebe intentionally wrote the novel this way because his message is not about whether or not a custom should be preserved or not, but rather focuses on colonialism and how it erased the
African way of life and forced upon the "white man" customs. I enjoyed "Things Fall Apart" and am eager to read the rest of Achebe's trilogy.
10/10
"Trust" by Hernan Diaz's four part narrative is an engaging novel that challenges readers to piece together a puzzle in order to seek the truth. As I started reading "Trust", I first thought it was a very simple and easy book to read. However, as I continued into the second and third narrative of the book, I realized that Hernan Diaz is a literary genius.
Each subsequent narrative after the first, introduces new information and contradictions in different writing styles, forcing the reader to be conflicted on which narrator to trust. The novel is less focused on the storyline that is being dissected, but more focused on how each narrator creates their own version of the truth. Each narrative is written in four
different writing styles: a novel, a work in progress auto-biography, a memoir, and a diary. How does the reader determine the truth between the four? Does the narrative a reader trusts say something about the reader and how they distinguish truth? Who do you trust? Reading "Trust" made me realize I don't ask myself enough questions about who the narrator/author
is in a book or article and what their motive is. There are more dimensions to reading than just the words on a page and forcing yourself to contextualize allows readers a greater reading experience. "Trust" was an unexpected, yet thrilling surprise to read that taught me a lot about myself as a reader and I highly recommend it to others.