Review of The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein

So a couple months ago, I received my very first ARC from Netgalley. I was incredibly excited to read The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein but because of my slump, it took me awhile to get to it. I read it this past week and these are my unbiased thoughts.

The Trauma Cleaner starts the first chapter with the author meeting Sandra, a woman who specializes in cleaning up after deaths, hoarders, meth labs, and other types of squalor. We then move to a scene where Sandra and her team are cleaning up at a mentally ill woman's house. The descriptions are nearly palpable and quite disgusting. The chapters alternate between Sandra's life story (being born a boy, growing up in an abusive environment, transitioning, etc.) and a different type of job that Sandra and her cleaners take on. This book is part biography and part case studies. I found both to be very intriguing. However, towards the last two chapters, the author starts to psychoanalyze Sandra's decisions and motives given what she knows about her upbringing. Additionally, she includes conversations that do not seem important to the story. These were written very poorly and I found myself skimming over those parts. Overall, I gave the book a rating of a 3 out of 5. I enjoyed most of it but felt that it could've been written and edited better.

I'd definitely recommend but if you're at all squeamish, it may not be for you.

Mid Year Goals Check-In

I know I should do this at the end of June so it will really be at the half-way point, but I have a vacation planned and I'm also in the process of buying a house so it's likely I won't have time.

Goals:

1. Popsugar  Reading Challenge- There are 40 "regular" tasks and 10 "advanced" tasks. I had a goal to complete 40 with whatever combination of those I wanted. I have completed 32 regular tasks and 7 advanced tasks. I've almost met my goal. However I've decided to try to complete all 50 of these so I have 11 more to go.

2. Total book goal of 90- I've read 79 books thus far. I'm ahead of schedule and will probably blow this one out of the water.

3. I made a goal to re-read favorites. Thus far I've only re-read Harry Potter 5,6, and 7 and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I should definitely try to pick out a few more faves to re-read.

4. I want to read at least 2 books off my shelf to reduce my physical TBR. This goal is going terribly. I tried a TBR jar and it just didn't work for me. I have read a few off my shelves but nowhere near 10.

5. (I added a goal in February.) Complete the Read Harder Challenge. There are 24 tasks. I have completed 18. These goals have definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone. One of the goals led to me read Evicted by Matthew Desmond which I absolutely adored and rated 5 stars. (A book on social science.)

First Week Wrap Up

This week I read The Girl Who Smiled Beads by Clementine Wamariya. This was a memoir of Clementine's experiences during the Rwandan genocide and her eventual emigration to the United States. I went into this book knowing very little about the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and after finishing the book, I felt I hadn't learned much. She gives no background as to how the war started, what is was about, or anything like that. She alternated chapters between her moving from refugee camp to refugee camp and her life in the U.S. I found this jarring and was much more interested in her story in Africa. The chapters in the U.S. contain a lot of bad moods and lashing out at the people helping her. (obviously PTSD) In addition, these chapters seem unorganized and without purpose. I gave her book 3 stars because I enjoyed her style of writing and because she held my interest for some of the chapters.


I am reading two books now but I am only about 40% of the through so I'll include them next week.

June TBR

Taking into account how little I've been reading lately, I've decided to really pare down my TBR to the books I really think I'll get to this month.


1. The Girl who Smiled Beads by Clementine Wamariya
2. A Death in the Family by James Agee
3. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
4. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
5. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
6. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Third Week Wrap Up

This week I read two books.

As an effort to get out of my slump, I read my all-time favorite book: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. This is a historical fiction coming of age tale. Its incredibly character-driven and just wonderfully descriptive. I decided to listen to this on audiobook and found it very enjoyable. (excepting the random jazz notes in between the narration.) It took me a while to read this but I loved listening to it. I gave it 5 stars.

Then I picked up The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman. This was a new book from the library and had several holds on it which spurred me to pick it up. Also a historical fiction, based on the fact that Canada turned orphanages into mental institutions to get more federal money. What happened to the children in those orphanages is a horrifying tale. The book focuses on a teen mother who is forced to give up her child and contains alternating points of view from both the mother and her child. I found it a very compelling read and rated it 4 stars.


It's likely that will be all I read for May. I haven't picked anything else up and haven't been in the mood. If I do pick something up, I will update you.

Second Week Wrap Up

The slump continues.

I picked up The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey because I was sort of trying to follow to Buzzword Readathon hosted by Kayla from BooksandLala and Dylan from DylantheReader on Youtube. I timed it wrong and actually only read one book last week that qualified but I still picked this one up after the readathon had ended.

I ended up really liking this story. Zombie books are not generally my type but this was very different. It was very character-driven and philosophical, which I really appreciated. In addition, I loved the main character Melanie. I listened to this on audiobook and even though its a longer book, I finished it quickly. I gave it 4 stars.

That still didn't really break my slump. I then started a few other audiobooks but quickly stopped them because I just couldn't be bothered. So I decided to turn to a light and fluffy book written by an author I liked.

I read One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This was incredibly predictable, and somewhat irritating because of an indecisive protagonist. But I enjoyed the story in the process and liked the simplicity. I gave it 3 stars. It's nowhere near as good as The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo but it'll do if you just want a light fluffy contemporary romance.

Some may think that two books in a week isn't really a slump but for me, it is. Not only is my quantity of reading reduced, but my enjoyment is too. I'm hoping to turn it around soon because I had a lot of holds from the library become available and I've already had to return some because I didn't read them quickly enough.

First Week Wrap Up

Okay...I'm in a slump. I saw it coming and tried a few things to head it off, but it's time to admit it. So, I think it was the 2 DNF'd books in a row. (The first was Space Opera by Catherynn M. Valente.)

I read about 50% of The Oracle Year by Charles Soule and have completely lost interest. It's not a character-driven book as you find out very little about each character. But it's not really a plot-driven book because nothing was happening. The concept was fascinating but there's nothing really driving the book. After that, I've been reluctant to really pick anything up. In a 3 day period, I tried picking up and starting at least 4 different books with little to no success.

Then I picked up Girls Burn Brighter by Shoba Rao and was able to finish a book. I really loved the first 95% of the book. Don't get me wrong, it's not enjoyable. It's incredibly traumatic, heartbreaking, and devastating. But I loved the writing, the character development, the plot, everything. I thought this would be a new favorite. But then came the ending...the terrible, doesn't wrap anything up, leaves you hanging at the climax ending. I knocked it down a whole star because I felt she stopped writing about 40 pages too soon. Trigger warnings for human trafficking and sexual assault. I gave the book 4 stars.

I then went and picked up Paper Girls Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughn. (the same author as Saga) This was a fun sci-fi graphic novel and I definitely could seem some similarities to Stranger Things (the t.v. show) It was fun and interesting but definitely not as gripping as the Saga series. I gave it 3 stars and will definitely pick up the next volume.

I'm definitely reading less and I'm trying to just be okay with that. I'm using my free time to focus on other hobbies and interests and I'm hoping my reading desires will flame up again soon.