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nadia's reviews
520 reviews
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
2.5
I was so excited for this book. I thought it might end up being my favourite out of the Women's Prize Nonfiction shortlist. The concept intrigued me!
Alas, I'm so incredibly sad to report that I found this book incredibly hard to get through. I really struggled. The book read like an academic paper, with a lot of repetition and conjecture. This speculative style of history just didn't work for me. I felt so detached from the central characters of the book because of it.
I'm especially sad that I didn't like All That She Carried given the important subject matter. I wanted to rate this book higher just because of the topic, but given my reading experience I just couldn't.
Final Women's Prize 2024 Non-Fiction Shortlist rankings:
1. How to Say Babylon
2. Code Dependent
3. A Flat Place
4. Thunderclap
5. Doppelganger
6. All That She Carried
Alas, I'm so incredibly sad to report that I found this book incredibly hard to get through. I really struggled. The book read like an academic paper, with a lot of repetition and conjecture. This speculative style of history just didn't work for me. I felt so detached from the central characters of the book because of it.
I'm especially sad that I didn't like All That She Carried given the important subject matter. I wanted to rate this book higher just because of the topic, but given my reading experience I just couldn't.
Final Women's Prize 2024 Non-Fiction Shortlist rankings:
1. How to Say Babylon
2. Code Dependent
3. A Flat Place
4. Thunderclap
5. Doppelganger
6. All That She Carried
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Slavery
How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
A really good memoir with great writing! I didn't really know much about the origins of the Rastafari religion, so it was interesting to learn more about it in this book, interspersed with Sinclair's journey from a difficult childhood to the poet/writer she is today.
Current Women's Prize 2024 Non-Fiction Shortlist rankings:
1. How to Say Babylon
2. Code Dependent
3. A Flat Place
4. Thunderclap
5. Doppelganger
Current Women's Prize 2024 Non-Fiction Shortlist rankings:
1. How to Say Babylon
2. Code Dependent
3. A Flat Place
4. Thunderclap
5. Doppelganger
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Out of the Women's Prize Nonfiction Shortlist books I've read so far, this book had the strongest start for me and I thought it'd end up shooting straight to the top of the rankings. I loved how the thesis, concept, and context was laid out, but then...
...the book, to me, started to lose its way and go all over the place. I couldn't keep the thread of Klein's argument straight. There were so many interesting ideas and areas of history, politics, and philosophy to explore, but it felt like a lot of the topics could have been books in their own right.
Also, I don't if it's just me but I thought that Klein relied way too much on the plot points of other novels and movies to support her argument, spoiling that content for people who haven't consumed it yet. I skipped several pages so that Roth's Operation Shylock wasn't spoiled for me.
Some of the other works spoiled to varying degrees: The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Double (Dostoyevsky), the "Eight Bites" short story from Her Body and Other Parties, and the film Everything Everywhere All At Once. (And there are one or two others I didn't bother to note down).
Current Women's Prize 2024 Non-Fiction Shortlist rankings:
1. Code Dependent
2. A Flat Place
3. Thunderclap
4. Doppelganger
...the book, to me, started to lose its way and go all over the place. I couldn't keep the thread of Klein's argument straight. There were so many interesting ideas and areas of history, politics, and philosophy to explore, but it felt like a lot of the topics could have been books in their own right.
Also, I don't if it's just me but I thought that Klein relied way too much on the plot points of other novels and movies to support her argument, spoiling that content for people who haven't consumed it yet. I skipped several pages so that Roth's Operation Shylock wasn't spoiled for me.
Some of the other works spoiled to varying degrees: The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Double (Dostoyevsky), the "Eight Bites" short story from Her Body and Other Parties, and the film Everything Everywhere All At Once. (And there are one or two others I didn't bother to note down).
Current Women's Prize 2024 Non-Fiction Shortlist rankings:
1. Code Dependent
2. A Flat Place
3. Thunderclap
4. Doppelganger
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide and War
Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI by Madhumita Murgia
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I really liked this book, namely because the stories gripped me. I didn't feel like I learnt anything especially new and I was hoping for more of a thesis/conclusion from the author than just your typical "this is hard and we all have to think about it and work on it together" but I found the writing good and easy to read, I enjoyed the that there was some nuance in some of the chapters — it wasn't wholly one-sided against AI — and it did get me thinking a lot about how we can prioritise the effective and helpful uses of AI and minimise any harmful outcomes.
Current Women's Prize 2024 Non-Fiction Shortlist rankings:
1. Code Dependent
2. A Flat Place
3. Thunderclap
Current Women's Prize 2024 Non-Fiction Shortlist rankings:
1. Code Dependent
2. A Flat Place
3. Thunderclap
A Flat Place by Noreen Masud
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
I never thought I'd enjoy a book with so much description of natural landscapes, but I did. Didn't know what to expect going in, so some of the content, especially the memoir aspect, took me by surprise (not at all in a bad way, though this isn't happy subject matter)! I enjoyed the writing and Masud did a great job of transporting me into her memories. The book got me itching to go on a hike now, especially across flat land!
Current Women's Prize 2024 Non-Fiction Shortlist rankings:
1. A Flat Place
2. Thunderclap
Current Women's Prize 2024 Non-Fiction Shortlist rankings:
1. A Flat Place
2. Thunderclap
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
The Followers by Bradeigh Godfrey
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A solid, entertaining listen. Nothing special/standout but intriguing enough nonetheless! A little cheesy, far-fetched, and simplistic at times, but that comes with the territory, and there was a little more nuance in this one than expected!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, and Stalking
Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life & Sudden Death by Laura Cumming
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
My first read off of the Women's Prize Nonfiction shortlist and I'm surprised at how much I got sucked into this world of Dutch art! I would have never picked up this book, let alone a book about art (unless it was something about art prices or the stolen art world...), but this book has got me a lot more intrigued and inspired me to try and get out to more galleries and really look at the paintings.
I did appreciate the mix of personal memoir and art history — including the discussions around (sudden) death, limited time and how you spend it, what art says about the artist, etc., — but the balance between the two felt a little off/random at times . It's like the author wanted to write a book on Fabritius and Dutch art and a book about a her dad. There were definitely ties between the two that enhanced the message in cases, but not sure if fully hit! Perhaps the narrative structure wasn't quite there given the author's intentions? But overall, I enjoyed the book and thought the writing was great. I especially enjoyed learning more about the history of The Goldfinch, especially being a Donna Tartt fan!
Current Women's Prize 2024 Non-Fiction Shortlist rankings:
1. Thunderclap
:-D
I did appreciate the mix of personal memoir and art history — including the discussions around (sudden) death, limited time and how you spend it, what art says about the artist, etc., — but the balance between the two felt a little off/random at times . It's like the author wanted to write a book on Fabritius and Dutch art and a book about a her dad. There were definitely ties between the two that enhanced the message in cases, but not sure if fully hit! Perhaps the narrative structure wasn't quite there given the author's intentions? But overall, I enjoyed the book and thought the writing was great. I especially enjoyed learning more about the history of The Goldfinch, especially being a Donna Tartt fan!
Current Women's Prize 2024 Non-Fiction Shortlist rankings:
1. Thunderclap
:-D
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Strong Female Character by Fern Brady
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
This was a brilliant memoir, and I particularly enjoyed listening to Fern narrate her own raw, honest story.
Fascinating insight into life with autism, especially as a woman, and one that gets you thinking about social norms and how you partake, or don’t, in them.
Fascinating insight into life with autism, especially as a woman, and one that gets you thinking about social norms and how you partake, or don’t, in them.
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A super solid book, with a fresh take on death, grief, identity, living a life worth living, martyrdom, love, and art. I really appreciated all of the facets of it, including the different storytelling devices (normal prose, a book within a book, poetry, etc.), the different perspectives, and the surrealist aspects, even if I didn't always fully grasp their meaning, and there were some real beautiful ideas and writing in the book too. Went into this thinking it'd be a 4.5-5-star read though, and something about it didn't pop in the way I wanted it to. But still a great book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Private Equity: A Memoir by Carrie Sun
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Was expecting something a lot juicier and drama-filled and something with new, unique insights into the billionaire lifestyle or behind-the-scenes at a hedge fund, whereas I don't think I learnt anything new here or that there was anything out of the ordinary to really mull on.
I think it's a compelling read/listen if you know nothing about the world of finance or hedge funds!
I think it's a compelling read/listen if you know nothing about the world of finance or hedge funds!