From the Bookshelf of Overdue Podcast…

The Sparrow (The Sparrow, #1)

Mary Doria Russell

Start date: March 24, 2015

Finish date: March 24, 2015

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Jul 21, 2021 Leann added it

Shelves: family, characters, philosophy, religion, sci-fi, space, parenthood

I did it! I finished this book, mostly to prove to myself that I can do hard things. It took 4 months, usually in 50-100 page spurts in between other books. It was too heavy and philosophical for me to read in any bigger chunks than that.
I'm not rating it because I don't really know how I felt about it. It was really good. The writing, character development, and worldbuilding: A+. I enjoyed revisiting the characters that started to feel more like friends each time. It's also so heavy on the reli ...more

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May 23, 2016 EShay Fagan rated it really liked it

Shelves: scifi

I'm still digesting this one. If you liked The Martian (space/frontiers) but want more character development and internal struggle, then this book is for you. Plus first contact with aliens. It has a heavy dose of philosophy and struggling with belief, here specifically wrestling with God in the face of horrible personal experiences. I think world views of all types will enjoy this novel as it does a nice job balancing the religious bits (Catholicism and Judaism) and the science bits. I really w ...more

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Mar 19, 2023 Mandy (Zen) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi, not-perfect-but-i-got-thoughts

Thank you for everyone who recommended this to me because this is literally the most traumatizing book I have EVER read

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Aug 25, 2015 Julie rated it liked it

Duly impressed that someone could invent such a world, but duly disappointed by several irritating aspects of this novel that overshadow its potential. The characters are cutesy in a way that straddled the line between amusing and grating (what's with the constant eyebrow lifting?). There were a few enchanted moments in which I thought "this is unlike anything I've ever read!" and other moments in which the idea of having to pick this book back up was so insupportable that I opted to read two ot ...more

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