Tamara’s Comments (group member since Mar 26, 2019)

Tamara’s comments from the 2025 Reading Challenge group.

69/60. The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates. It included some magical realism. It was strong in some areas but I felt it was weak in others.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

68/60. Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi.
It is epic in scope, charting several generations of a clan in Uganda. It got to be a bit confusing because there are so many members in the clan that it was a challenge to figure out who was related to whom. I think it would have been helpful to have included a family tree.

My 3-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... 3-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

67/60. Thames: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd.

My 3 star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

66/60.[ book:The Greenhouse|11208846] by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir. Quite good but a little disappointing because it was not nearly as good as her novel, Hotel Silence.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Blagica wrote: "Every time I stop by here I add more books to my reading list you are doing awesome!"

Thank you, Blagica! You're welcome to stop by any time :)
I'm having a blast reading some great books this year.

65/60. Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem. It's a murder mystery with a compelling portrayal of a first-person narrator with Tourette's Syndrome.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

64/60. An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro.

It was quite good, but not nearly as good as The Remains of the Day or The Buried Giant--my two favorites.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

63/60. Flights by Olga Tokarczuk. Winner of the 2018 Man Booker International Prize. I thought it was very original and thought-provoking.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

62/60. Rachel Cusk's Transit. Loved it!

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

61/60. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. A World War I classic.

My 5-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I went back and checked my numbering and I had messed up by missing a book. I corrected it --which means I have now met my challenge of reading 60 books this year!

I'm pleased with all the great reading I've done this year. But there's still a few more months to go before the year is out and I intend to keep chugging along.

60/60. Laila Lalami's The Other Americans. I thought it was quite good but not up to the level of The Moor's Account.

My 3-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

59/60. Lizzie Siddal: Face of the Pre-Raphaelites by Lucinda Hawksley. A biography of the stunning red-head who was the muse and model of many of the Pre-Raphaelite paintings.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Blagica wrote: "“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.” I hope the last month has found you some best books."

I'm just chugging along with the reading--picking whatever book is on my TBR that takes my fancy as my next read. I'm having a blast. I've only got a few more books to read until I reach my goal of 60 books this year. And there's still quite a few months left in the year!

58/60. Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga, translated from the French by Melanie Mauthner.

It uses the backdrop of a girls' school in Rwanda as a microcosm of Rwandan society leading up to the Rwandan genocide. Mukasonga packs a lot in a fairly short novel.

My 4-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

57/60. Spring by Ali Smith. This is the third book in her seasonal quartet. I loved her Autumn and Winter This one was even better--one of my favorite books of the year so far.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

56/60. Chaucer's People: Everyday Lives in Medieval England by Liza Picard. It was a wonderful romp through the life and times of medieval England.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

55/60. The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani. It focuses on the fate of a young girl passionate about making rugs. The setting is 17th century Persia. The details bring the sights and sounds and smells of the city to life. The description of rug-making was fascinating. And in true Middle Eastern fashion, there are folk tales within the tale.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

AUGUST READINGS

54/60. Minutes of Glory by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. A compelling collection of short stories addressing the topics of colonialism, classism, and corruption in Kenya. Woven throughout are threads of magic, superstition, and folklore.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

53/60. Winter by Ali Smith, the second book in her seasonal quartet.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...