KJ's Book Reviews

  Cultish The language of Fanaticism Written by Amanda Montell Originally published in 2021 ~300 pages Rate 3/5 What are we willing to do in order to find a place in this world? In Cultish , Amanda writes about her personal experiences with cults. From her run in with Scientology to her interviews with ex-cult members (from different cults), she covers an array of cult-related material. She claims that we, as a society, have normalized the word cult to the point where it doesn't have a distinct meaning anymore. Hence her new world cultish,  when something has cult-like characteristics, but it might not be recognized as a cult.  Towards the beginning of Cultish , Amanda explains how it's easier to label certain cultish behavior rather than what is a cult and what is not. Later she goes on to say that most people might be able to notice a religious cult when they see one, but there are other groups that display cultish characteristic that go unnoticed, the groups she mentio...

  Circe Written by Madeline Miller Originally published in 2018 ~390 pages Rate 5/5 This is the second book I have read that was written by Madeline Miller. I think I like Circe a little bit more than  The Song of Achilles , however, there is no need to compare; I only mention The Song of Achilles for acknowledgment sake. I had never heard of Circe or really any characters within this story apart from what I had read in The Song of Achilles . So I started reading this book with little to no context or bias and I ended up really enjoying the story and Circe herself.  Circe's narrative was astonishing; in my opinion, she lived a long and rich life. She persevered through many difficult events throughout her life and met an array of people along the way which made for an excellent story. Although some parts of the story felt like they dragged on for a little too long, she was on an island by herself for most of the story so having somethings drawn out made the story feel re...

The Song of Achilles Written by Madeline Miller Originally published in 2011 ~370 pages Rate: 4.5/5 A spin on the myth of Achilles and the Trojan war. Told from Patroclus' point of view, in this story Achilles and he live majority of their lives together and fall in love. I am aware this is a spin on the Trojan War and it's probably not accurate. I only knew some information about parts of this story before I read it. I knew about how Helen was the reason for the Trojan War and that Achilles was a demigod, but that was really it. So given my vague understanding of the existing stories, I thought this story was good. Madeline Miller did a great job depicting all of the characters. Having Patroclus as the main character made the story so much more captivating. By his peers, Patroclus was looked down upon and thought of as stupid, however, throughout the story we can see how much he grows and learns throughout his life. The way he treats the people around him despite his circumsta...

  The Anthropocene Reviewed Essays on a Human-Centered Planet Written by John Green (Paperback) originally published in 2023 About 300 pages Rate 4.5/5 Back when I was attending Snow College I took a creative writing course. It was the first English elective credit I had taken during college.  During my time at Snow College I was adjusting to living on my own. I was learning to take care of my needs and I was overall incredibly vulnerable.  I wouldn't say that the creative writing class changed my life by any means, but that class was the one that got me out of bed in the mornings most of the time. The professor teaching the course would find some of the most earth shattering works of literature I'd ever heard. I didn't really feel like I fit in with the people in the room, but the content within the course made me feel seen. One day in class the professor shared an essay written by John Green called The Sycamore Tree. I was enthralled by his words. I didn't know how...

Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place Published in 1991 close to 290 pages Written by Terry Tempest Williams Rate: 5/10 My summary of Refuge : Terry journals about her family and their trials, specifically her mother's cancer story. During this time, The Great Salt Lake is rising which seemed to be a very important event to Terry. The majority of the story was either about birds (and or the Bear River Migratory Refuge), Terry's family, "Mormon" culture, the Utah government, or the Great Salt Lake rising. My opinion on Refuge : The journalistic element Terry brought into the writing of Refuge found me well (the way she treated the book like her own personal journal.) However, some elements of the story did not sit well with me (maybe I could have misinterpreted her entries.)  The ending of Refuge seemed random, though it was very interesting.  Who is Terry Tempest Williams? To read more about William's work and who she is visit:  Terry Tempest William...