en-US Thu, 10 Apr 2025 03:46:54 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review7477364701 Thu, 10 Apr 2025 03:46:54 -0700 /review/show/7477364701 Sula gave 5 stars to The Man Who Planted Trees (Paperback) by Jean Giono
bookshelves: classics, fiction, favourites
I read this after watching Frédéric Back's 1987 animated short film. I suspect this may have swayed my rating, boosting it higher than if I had just read it alone. Read aloud in the soundscape of the film and its hand drawn animations, this becomes poetic. A thoughtful and inspiring story of how gentle persistence and humility can achieve wonderful things, effecting the wide world. Taking the message of planting trees literally makes me depressed about the spreading world of concrete and sprawling development around me, but I hope at least to be able to use the message at a more metaphorical level to greater effect, even if at a literal level of the natural world I have less power. ]]> Review5961236422 Sat, 15 Feb 2025 12:22:48 -0800 /review/show/5961236422 Sula gave 4 stars to Anita and Me (Paperback) by Meera Syal
bookshelves: era-50s-60s-70s, fiction, theme-new-motorways, india
An interesting book, looking at the various dynamics and social nuances between the protagonist's Indian family, and the village of 70s Britain, picking up on the evolution of both the protagonist, but also the village itself. This is very rich, and appears to be semi-autobiographical. I had actually watched the film of this first, not knowing it was a book, and later picked it up to try. The film is surprisingly follows the book quite closely. I found the start to be a little weak in terms of a plot picking up as it keeps getting sidetracked into anecdotes, but perhaps that is partly just my taste, and once underway that got stronger. ]]> Review7177590516 Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:13:41 -0800 /review/show/7177590516 Sula gave 5 stars to The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London (Paperback) by Judith Flanders
bookshelves: history, era-victorian-and-edwardian, favourites
Having really enjoyed The Victorian House, I had to pick up this when I saw it. Part of me wondered whether it would be too similar or not as interesting, as both are thick books on the same era, but I need not have worried! While a long book, it never becomes dry and academic, and is always fascinating. The streets of Victorian London are really brought to life, with a strong sense of atmosphere. I love a long but engaging book that you can really sink into, and this is one of them! ]]> Review5821338401 Wed, 01 Jan 2025 15:30:26 -0800 /review/show/5821338401 Sula gave 4 stars to Studio Ghibli: Architecture in Animation (Hardcover) by Studio Ghibli
bookshelves: art, behind-the-books-and-films, architecture
5.09.23 | I deeply want a translation of this: Studio Ghibli + Architecture are some of my favourite things!

1.01.25 | I never thought this would get translated but here we are! I enjoyed this, but I must admit it wasn't quite as good as I hoped. For me this is a book of three parts. The part I most enjoyed, and is what I hoped it would be, is the comments and annotations that talk about some of the inspirations behind the buildings. I would have liked more of this!

The second part are the images. These are beautiful, but focus more on the backgrounds than I would have liked. I was hoping for more conceptual and behind-the-scenes illustrations and references. Perhaps if the internet didn't exist and I hadn't seen a lot of the backgrounds before I would appreciate them printed in a book more, but it seems to similar to the 'Art of' books, and not as architectural as it might be. The other issue with these images are that many are printed very small, which especially for the annotated sketches, with the translations are off to the side, it is hard to really see much of what is going on.

Lastly at the end there is an article and an interview. I'm not sure if it is the translation, or just the inherent nature of the pieces, but they didn't flow particularly well and this section felt unfinished. For instance, they talk of a nursery that Hayao Miyazaki designed, but show no images of it. ]]> Review5779311024 Wed, 25 Dec 2024 09:36:21 -0800 /review/show/5779311024 Sula gave 5 stars to Houses with a Story: A Dragon’s Den, a Ghostly Mansion, a Library of Lost Books, and 30 More Amazing Places to Explore (Hardcover) by Seiji Yoshida
bookshelves: art, picture-books, favourites
I've always loved books that invite you to explore and imagine the world of the inhabitants, from the whimsical homes in the Brambly Hedge series by Jill Barklem or the more factual A Street Through Time. This book just focuses on that concept, and is filled with illustrations and diagrams of various homes, with hints of the world they come from. It is also really nice that at the end we are taken through his process of drawing one of these houses. While this could be enjoyed as a picture book for children, many adults will also love exploring the details, with the style of illustration appealing to Studio Ghibli fans. ]]> Review6418354865 Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:36:18 -0800 /review/show/6418354865 Sula gave 5 stars to One Pair of Hands (Paperback) by Monica Dickens
bookshelves: biography-and-autobiography, era-wartime-and-interwar, history, possibly-tb
4.5 stars. There's several memoirs of domestic life out there, but this one stands out due to its skilful and humorous writing. I think what also adds to its telling is that the author is in fact a debutante, and therefore has a slightly different perspective to all the proceedings. The only reason it is not fully 5 stars is that towards the end it starts to feel a bit samey. ]]> Review7079538352 Fri, 13 Dec 2024 10:46:22 -0800 /review/show/7079538352 Sula gave 4 stars to Drawn From Memory (Paperback) by Ernest H. Shepard
bookshelves: biography-and-autobiography, era-victorian-and-edwardian, history
A lovely illustrated memoir of childhood in Victorian England, that would be easily digestible by children as it is short and illustrated. Despite living such a different lifestyle, the nostalgia for childhood still resonates. While it jumps around a little, this gentle book focuses on the little details of everyday life, painting a picture of how things used to be. ]]> Review6991648384 Thu, 14 Nov 2024 06:07:53 -0800 /review/show/6991648384 Sula gave 2 stars to Weyward (Paperback) by Emilia Hart
bookshelves: fantasy
This novel focuses on the themes of abuse, pregnancy and female empowerment. The story follows three women from different eras: 2018, 1942, and 1619. Two are in past tense, and one in first. Two are third-person perspective, and one in first-person perspective. It is an interesting choice, on the one hand it means there's less confusion switching eras and it is clear who is talking, but it also meant it didn't feel so cohesive. It feels inspired by the character of Agnes Nutter from Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, with Violet's perspective inspired by A Spell of Winter.

Plot-wise, it moves slowly, and the three viewpoints disguise how little actually happens. The unfurling of the connection between the three women is perhaps the biggest plot, but it is quite easily figured out before the story gets there. Individually, I found the conclusion for each woman's plot unsatisfying. Supposedly they are now empowered, but the empowerment is due to possessing barely-explained magic. It feels childish for such a gritty situation these women are in. This innate magic and connection with nature was screaming out to be the main plot in the book (what drives it, what can you do with in beyond attack men, etc. etc.), but instead this pivotal skill is not fleshed out at all.

It wasn't just the conclusion for the plot, but the whole female-empowerment aspect felt rather childishly done. The whole 'men suck, women have this innate magical connection, women can be strong with this magical made-up power, women have no need of men' felt a simplistic, romanticised (the magical powers and power of sisterhood) and insecure take on female empowerment. Worse, there seems to be no development over the three eras. The women of this family seem doomed to be involved with abusers, more personally the further down the family line. Perhaps that's because they end up cutting themselves of from men each time. ]]> Review6137348742 Sat, 02 Nov 2024 14:03:26 -0700 /review/show/6137348742 Sula gave 4 stars to Spindle (Paperback) by W.R. Gingell
bookshelves: fantasy
This is the first time that I've seen a book with comparisons to Diana Wynne Jones that actually lived up to the hype!

Diana Wynne Jones-esque characters that are strong-minded and imperfect without being a 2D copy of Howl and Sophie (even if they are reminiscent of them when they are parents). Tick!

A plot that riffs on an older story, but it still original. Tick!

A plot with complexities that I think would only grow on a re-read. Tick!

Unfortunately it is rather slow and confusing at the start, however as the story progresses and it becomes less hazy, it gains in strength. It looks like this is one of the author's earlier books, so I'm hoping that if I keep reading the series this will improve. In comparison to Diana Wynne Jones, the world-building isn't as vivid, but it is still decent. On the minor scale, it could have done with a better proof-read, but it has been pleasant to come across something self-published that is of such high quality! If you are a Diana Wynne Jones fan, I recommend giving it a go! ]]> Review6951110908 Mon, 28 Oct 2024 12:01:06 -0700 /review/show/6951110908 Sula gave 1 star to The Unofficial Ghibli Cookbook (Hardcover) by Thibaud Vilanova
bookshelves: cooking
Beautiful, but rather a gimmick. The photographs of the food are lovely. The recipes themselves have errors, and the audience this is aimed at is muddled. On one hand there's recipes for things like bacon and eggs and on the other hand he expects the reader to have a large range of equipment and ingredients that the average reader would not have readily to hand: grey salt, bouquet garni, azuki bean paste, a truckle of Mont-D'or Cheese, kombu seaweed,a steamer basket and the one that made me laugh most: 4 quails emptied and prepared by your butcher! It's not that I'm against having some more uncommon ingredients but there seemed little in between a recipe for sandwiches and recipes involving more complex ingredients, and he doesn't deign to suggest swaps. The structure is a bit peculiar with the basic recipes, tips and information on ingredients at the back. ]]>