Covy's

*Originally posted on  Goodreads . **Some spoilers (sorry)      I had to read Anzia Yezierska's Bread Givers for class in late September this years, and I simply loved it. In class, we are talking about immigration in America, this book helping us on the focus of Jewish immigrants. I'd expected to be bored by the read, but Yezierska's writing style was so immersive, I'd end up reading ahead of what had been assigned for class.      The story focuses on Sara Smolinsky, living with her father, mother, and sisters, Bessie, Fania, and Mashah. It shows the issue between the ways of the "Old World", meaning the traditional ways of life, and the "New World", veering off said path into a more independent route.      The father is strongly set in his traditional ideology, with the importance of religion, the need to marry off daughters, and the general control he holds in the household. The mother accepts this, and though we see moments of ...

*Originally posted on  Goodreads .      Having the Reader as a character seemed an interesting take to me as soon as I started Italo Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveler . Then you end the first chapter and enter the story said Reader (you, in a way) is reading. You finish that section, and up come Chapter 2, revealing that you've been cut off, that you are missing the rest. Now, have this repeat, over and over again, the Reader going on a search for the completed story, evolving into stories, because again and again, you receive only that portion, and nothing else, of the story.      For me, this was extremely frustrating, as it is meant to. It's a lack of completion, anticipation being cut off. And while I knew precisely why this annoyed me, at least the Reader's story continued (though I was skeptical, expecting Calvino to pull the rug from there as well, revealing that, surprise, you will get no ending). Once more or less adjusted to this...

*Originally posted on  Goodreads .      I had to read Exercises in Style  by Raymond Queneau back in mid-September this year, within a few hours of the thirteenth, for the creative writing class I'm taking this semester. It's not my typical read, not something I would have picked up had it not been assigned. It was an... interesting read.      I don't mean this in a bad way. If you were just to flip through this book, you'd notice how it differs. The same story is told, over and over again. A man with a hat boards a bus, wearing a hat with a cord on it. Another passengers interferes in his personal space, much to the annoyance of this man. A seat is emptied, this man rushing over to seat himself. Later, the man is seen again, talking with what is presumed to be a friend. A comment is made about the top button of his coat.      A pretty basic story, correct? But Queneau retells the story over and over again, each time differently...

*Originally posted on  Goodreads . **Some spoilers (sorry)     I read What If It's Us the day it came out, October 9, rushing after class to pick up me pre-ordered copy before heading to my room and reading the whole thing, from start to finish. I barely finished before midnight. The days, weeks leading up, besides listening to the Dear Evan Hansen soundtrack on repeat, I'd done my homework in preparation, because, knowing Adam Silvera's and Becky Albertalli's writing styles, I'd get upset with myself for not reading it all in one sitting.      The wait was definitely worth it. Obviously, the book was excellent, two wonderful authors standing behind it, their writing styles fitting perfectly together, making me wonder how Albertalli's books would have been like if Silvera had worked on them as well, or, vice versa, had Albertalli written any of Silvera's books with him.      The story had me hooked from the start, because while ...