Babes with Brains Book Club

1 Loved It
5 Liked It
1 Neutral
0 Disliked It
0 Hated It

Comments:
• Most of the book dragged but there were parts that were really good. It was a very Lisa See book, the writing style was the same as all her other books. -Sarah
• It was slow for me to start, but I did enjoy it in time. – Chelsea
• It was interesting to read about a hill tribe in China after reading so many other books set in China. – Kerry
• I enjoyed this because because of the setting and the family saga woven throughout. The adoption thread felt very powerful. – Hillary
• I have always enjoyed Lisa See. The relationships and stories weaved together well. I enjoyed reading and learning about the hill tribes. – Carrie
• I enjoyed the arc of this story. In the beginning, I thought the story took place much earlier than it had. It was fun to follow along with the modernization of the hill tribe for the good and the bad. – Danica
• I enjoyed this book – a glimpse into a new world to me. I also liked the magical elements. – Steph

0 Loved It
6 Liked It
0 Neutral
0 Disliked It
0 Hated It

Comments:
• It was fun and engaging; The science is questionable but reasonable enough. Also, I am always rooting for the dinosaurs. – Chelsea
• It was an interesting and fun read. – Sarah
• I hadn’t read this since high school. It was really fun to read. – Carrie
• I read JP when it first came out, and remember really liking it. I didn’t have the same experience this time. I had a hard tie keeping the characters straight, except for Ian Malcolm – who was of course Jeff Goldblum! I wonder id the movie spoiled it for me? – Kerry
• Something very different for me! I was entertained and I enjoyed the dinosaurs. I’m curious about science fiction after reading this. – Hillary
• I am so happy that I didn’t read this years ago. I found the speculative science on dinosaurs and cloning fascinating given that we know a lot more today with both animals being actively cloned and that there’s more evidence that dinosaurs were most likely were avian as opposed to reptilian. – Danica

5 Loved It
3 Liked It
0 Neutral
0 Disliked It
0 Hated It

Comments:
• This was my favorite book I’ve read all year. Amazing and inspiring characters, and beautifully written. To be read again… and recommended to friends with gusto! – Hillary
• One of the best books I’ve read this year. A story wonderfully woven, hitting on all kinds of issues. – Kerry
• I enjoyed the book more than I thought I would.There were great lines and insights in the immigrant and people of color experience. – Sarah
• Loved the characters and their journeys through life. Also really liked the commentary on race and the perspective it gives. – Beka
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing was very good and the characters were well developed. The point of view was interesting and informative. Glad I read this book. – Steph
• I enjoyed this read and at times couldn’t put it down. However, toward the end, I started getting annoyed at the characters. Now, looking back, I’m not sure how much I liked the story. I liked the themes, but not the characters. – Carrie
• This book was slow for me to fully commit to at first. Not that I didn’t enjoy it but I wasn’t sure I would emotionally commit, but I ended up committed and loved it.  – Chelsea
• I listened to this one and I became engrossed right away. The reader, Adjoa Andoh brought so much to it by changing her voice and cadence for each of the different characters. The perspectives and story still have me thinking about the African American experience contrasted with Africans visiting or immigrating to America and how different their paths and social outlook are. – Danica

0 Loved It
0 Liked It
2 Neutral
2 Disliked It
0 Hated It

Comments:
• I thought the book had a lot of stereotypes. I also really hated the first half because the characters were so despicable. – Sarah
• This was a difficult book to read for several reasons, especially the first part. The relationships between the rest of the characters was interesting. – Kerry
• While I appreciated the opportunity to read James Baldwin for the first time, I was disappointed and struggled to get through given the characters and their relationships. – Hillary
• Grateful for reading this historical perspective, but didn’t find it enjoyable, necessarily. – Chelsea
• I tried so hard, both reading and listening but I just couldn’t do it. I made it through the first part, slogged through the terribly abusive relationships and finally moved on to Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, which I got so much more out of. – Danica

2 Loved It
2 Liked It
1 Neutral
0 Disliked It
0 Hated It

Comments:
• I enjoyed the story, although the language could be a bit difficult to read through. Overall, a yes for me! – Kerry
• Loved the story and humanity. Liked the characters and adventures of life Janie went through. Impressed by the writing style and descriptions. More meaning in it than just a good plot line. – Beka
• I very rarely “love” a book, but I did love this book. As soon as I finished I wanted to start it again. Her writing was beautiful. – Steph
• I did not totally enjoy the prose. However, the storyline was great. – Sarah
• The most interesting part to me was thinking about the what Hurston’s life intersected and influenced her writing. The prose was beautiful and ,ade me think. – Chelsea
• I had some difficulty with the dialect in parts but was completely engaged in the story and adventures of the book’s heroine. – Danica

2 Loved It
3 Liked It
0 Neutral
0 Disliked It
0 Hated It

Comments:
• A little slow to get into, but by the end I was hooked on the story. So interesting on the history side and beautiful story! – Kerry
• I throughly enjoyed this book. The writing, the style, the characters, the pace, the setting… It didn’t make a profound impression on me. And I don’t know how long it will stay with me – but it was a very nice ride. – Steph
• I really enjoyed the writing style. However, I felt the book went a little long. The story was interesting and well told. – Sarah
• It was slow going for me. But I enjoyed it, especially the end and the way it all comes together – a little slow in the beginning. – Chelsea
• I found the setting and history fascinating and when my attention waned momentarily, I was sucked back in. – Danica

1 Loved It
1 Liked It
3 Neutral
1 Disliked It
0 Hated It

Comments:
• Honestly, I was more interested in Helen Hunt Jackson’s real life and the historical aspect of California. Some the prose was poetic. – Chelsea
• I didn’t get far enough to review, however, it hadn’t grabbed me… – Steph
• There were things I likes and things I didn’t. However, the writing style made it feel like a slog to get through. – Sarah
• I surprised myself and was totally immersed in the experience, time period and character development. The setting intrigued me, especially not being from Southern California and not learning this history in school. – Hillary
• The story moved way too slowly for me. I enjoyed reading about the places in California, but I didn’t think there was enough of the point of view of Native Americans. – Kerry
• I am happy that I finally read this one. I enjoyed the historical parts set in Southern California and reading up on the response and aftermath of the book, it’s inspirations, and tourist attractions. However, the story was not as informative about the daily lives of the Native Americans during this period as I had expected considering that Hunt Jackson wrote this to be the Uncle Tom’s Cabin for exposing the tribes’ plight. – Danica

A smaller group of us got together to watch A Tree Grows in Brooklyn from 1945. June was a little hard to schedule around and this was the only day that most of us could get together, only problem, it was too short of a time to tackle the next book. So in the spirit of summer, we gave ourselves an extra month to read while still getting together to watch a film adaptation of a book we’ve recently read. Hillary, Carrie, Sarah, & Danica gathered for a fun, relaxing night.

2 Loved It
2 Liked It
1 Neutral
1 Disliked It
0 Hated It

Comments:
• I found this book highly entertaining. I personally enjoyed the writing style and the amount of detail provided. I enjoyed Lois as a protagonist. I read the book while I was traveling to San Francisco, and yes!, this book reflects something of modern San Francisco entrepreneurial, elite and yet earthy “grassroots” culture. – Hillary
• I zipped through this one. I found the writing very inviting and humorous but also with many levels of depth. I found the “magical realism” to be more surrealism with a funny edge and was fascinated by some of the weirder details. I’m really happy we read it. – Danica
• I enjoyed reading the book, and dealt with the magical realism until the end when the magic tipped over the realism. – Kerry
• I couldn’t get into this book. The main characters were too unbelievable and shallow to me. – Steph
• It was good it was short. The magical realism felt very much like reading Tom Robbins which made the book more enjoyable. – Sarah
• I love the food element & the joy in it. Made me wnat to make bread! Loved the fairy tale element and the music. I want more from these characters. – Chelsea

0 Loved It
0 Liked It
0 Neutral
4 Disliked It
1 Hated It

Comments:
• This was my second time through this book. While I feel like I gained a greater appreciation for Holden’s positions & understanding of Salinger’s background – it is not a book for me. – Chelsea
• Along with another book that I read immediately before this one, I felt I was inundated by petulant boy energy running through both stories. I was not a happy person during those weeks. – Danica
• I have read this before – two times – as a teenager, myself. At the time, I found it revolutionary. This time, I was not a fan. I was frustrated with many aspects of the book: writing style, the narrator’s unapologetic privilege and sexism, and pace of the book. The one redeemable quality was the back story of Holden losing his brother, Allie, and the impact of this loss on the Caufield family. – Hillary
• I did not enjoy reading this book. I disliked it in high school, but I wanted to re-read it with adult eyes. I felt like I had to hang out with a negative person I would never want to be around. There was a glimmer of humanity toward the end, but other than that – nope. – Kerry
• I found the prose annoying and repetitive. I see how it would appeal to a teenage boy but I just did not connect. – Sarah