Review | The Best We Could Do

[@canaryb8892]

Hello Shannon! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and deep emotions about this book. I love your knowledge , your understanding and your compassion in all of your reviews. It’s on my reading list now. I’d like to suggest the book “ the mountain sing” of the author “ Nguyễn Phan Quê Mai”.

[@ThatsSoPoe]

This one really did move me! I still think about it pretty frequently, actually. I hope you get the chance to read it! And I've heard of The Mountains Sing before - it really does sound like a good book, and if it is anything like The Best We Could Do, I bet I'll like it. I'll add it to my list!

[@canaryb8892]

@@ThatsSoPoe i highly recommend it ! I think you’d love it and I’d love to hear your review about it !

[@bookbubbler]

Such a fantastic book. Shannon, you're my favorite reviewer. You're so thoughtful, descriptive, don't give away spoilers, include background about the book and the author, and you speak so well. You do a wonderful job!

[@ThatsSoPoe]

So sweet, Laura! I often am completely unsure of the way I review things since I'm not actually technically *reviewing* - analyzing in terms of plot, voice, etc. I'm more just gushing about all the things that made me love the book! Often I'll just title these videos "Discussion" instead of "Review" because of that, actually. But as long as people are getting something out of it, I'll count it as good!

[@Oleah89]

This book was fantastic I'm glad I saw your recommendation for it! I really loved the format, being a memoir but also getting into history, all as a graphic novel, it was so easy to read and yet so impactful and I learned a lot. I want more like this!

[@ThatsSoPoe]

So great that you got to read it too! I was just so blown away by how much it moved me. I agree that I want more of these! I've heard of a few other graphic memoirs, although not necessarily exactly the same, that I want to pick up: They Called Us Enemy by George Takei and Good Talk by Mira Grant. Also, have you read Maus by Art Spiegelman? That's sort of a classic graphic memoir from the 1980s about the author's father and his experiences going through the Holocaust. This book reminded me a lot of that, and I'd highly recommend it if you haven't read it already. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is another good one with some similar themes. Oh, and I've heard good things about Guy Delisle's memoirs of his living abroad in some unique places (Pyongyang, Burma, etc.).

[@mss7570]

This book is on my list! Thanks for sharing your perspective; I look forward to getting to it when libraries open again. I recently read Call Me American by Abdi Nor Iftin, which doesn't get into generational trauma exactly but he tells his story of being from Somalia and dreaming of a better life, which isn't exactly the life his parents have in mind for him or one that is allowed by the people who have power over him. The whole thing is really great, but I especially appreciated his reflections on culture and how different perspectives on it have affected him in the epilogue. There's also a This American Life episode if you'd like a one-hour taster to decide if you're interested in the whole story

[@ThatsSoPoe]

Oh, I haven't heard of Call Me American before, but it sounds excellent! I'm adding that to my TBR. Thanks so much for the recommendation!

[@mariavargas3476]

Thank you for completing a review Shannon. About to start reading 📖 the book.

[@ThatsSoPoe]

Hope you love it as much as I did!