Mari
Okay this one was a roller coaster! And it only took me half the time to read compared to previous books. The healthy pacing helped me enjoy spending more time with some secondary characters that are organically coming to the forefront. There were a lot of harrowing twists and turns with the Revolution on everyone's doorstep. I teared up a few times and was a little breathless too. Great installment to the Outlander series.
Tom's journey is tinged with Miniver Cheevy's regret; he lives in the past and believes he's hardly ever at the right time or place. He longs to go back to the long lost loves and places he cherishes the most, but discovers living in the moment is more possible than he thought. Tension crests and wanes in the past while the current relationships play along the edges. Then, everything comes together in a satisfying way. The Albatross Society feels incomplete and could fill a book itself. Omai is also in incredible character with a philosophy all his own, and I was left wanting more time with him and his own journey. This entire book could be the foundation for a more in-depth Outlander or Highlander-esque book or television series.
Ikigai (a reason for being) is a concept that reaches into so many more cultures and philosophies than I expected beyond Ōgimi, Okinawa. This book does a great job of connecting supercentenarians' sage advice into easy to understand frameworks like meditation, anti-fragility, flow, micro-flow, yoga, and Stoicism (to name a few!) and how those frameworks can be applied into our daily lives in small ways so we can be fulfilled, not catastrophize about things we have no control over, and live fully in the present moment. Finding beauty in natural imperfection, slowing down, and funneling energy into activities we enjoy with our entire beings are just a few of the ideas in this book that reached into my core being. This book is such a solid jumping off point to further learning and personal growth! Or it can be a reference guide to life for years to come. Highly recommended!
Mostly memoir with a little financial advice thrown in, the end goal is raising the the quality bar on our daily lives is essential so we're not living life in the valleys (i.e. cubicles, 9-to-5ers, etc.) waiting for peaks of decadence. The author acknowledges her privilege but also offers a helpful foundation around paying down debt, saving, and investing. Even the smallest changing around spending habits are important so we're not led by the next dopamine hit of the next hot, spendy trend. Excellent read.
This book had a strong start, but Aiden was so unsympathetic that I couldn't bring myself to root for him by the end. Aiden was so dry and couldn't seem to connect with anyone on an emotional level, which made his fumbling confusion more annoying than endearing or interesting.
The repetitive framing lost my interest by the halfway point. The main reveal about why Aiden was at Blackheath was interesting enough--this is actually one of my favorite fiction genres--but I wish the book would've gotten there sooner. Too many new twists and turns were introduced in the last third of the book that I almost quit entirely.
The ending felt unfulfilling and empty.
Lynn Kurland is a gifted author of a series that is comprised of both time-travel and historical novels. Her heroes and heroines are believable, unique, and have their own personal hurdles. Lianna and Jason, both peripheral characters in other novels, are adorable in Kiss in the Shadows. Poor Lianna is shunned at court through no fault of her own, and Jason's reputation as the apprentice of a rumored warlock precedes him. Both characters have to deal with their own troubles before they deal with their feelings for each other. Lianna may come across as a startled rabbit at first, but she shows her spine by the end of this novella. One of Kurland's most colorful heroes, Kendrick de Piaget, fills out this novel with his constant brotherly jabs and charm. I'm only sorry this novella isn't longer!
Nostalgia made me read this book again after years and I really wish I hadn't. I was too busy cringing at Tristan's constant fraud-obsessed betrayals and infantilization of Arian to remember why I ever enjoyed this book in the first place.
Arian also loses her independence, fire, and agency over a man who verbally abuses her at every turn and feels like he needs to “have any hope of shaming her into compliance”. Yet, she keeps going back. I don't remember Tristan ever apologizing for anything either. For a man who is obsessed with magic and the impossible, he spends little to no time meaningfully engaging with Arian about her story or doing any research.
Also, just because Copperfield is indigenous doesn't necessarily mean he needs to crack stereotypical racist jokes. This book is an uncomfortable read at best.
This is my second read-through of A Dance Through Time—it's a total guilty pleasure and fun summer read. This book's still a floofy medieval romp from beginning to end with two of the most hilariously stubborn characters I've ever read, despite a few cringey, outdated 1990s gender dynamics.
The character don't ring true because their lines have no natural cadence. Plus, the author went out of her way to include pop culture references that are painfully outdated. The time-travel convention was interesting, but not unique enough to carry the book. Adam was convincing enoug, but his relationship with the heroine felt stunted at best. Oh and the best friend, Jean, came across like a parole officer and not a friend. I have no idea why the heroine felt so attached to Jean. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone unless they're willing to overlook all of the above.
Pretty Good Number One is Better
This is definitely a fun and interesting read with many travel tidbits to file away for a future trip to Hong Kong, although this book didn't feel as complete or as organized as Pretty Good Number One. More food photos and descriptions accompanied names of restaurants this time around, but stories conveying the cultural pulse of Hong Kong seemed lacking.
The anecdotes were spare, especially when I was looking forward to more accounts of day-to-day life from an American perspective. The trip was shorter, so definitely was less time for Mr. Amster-Burton to explore Hong Kong than his longer odyssey in Japan.
I would love to read another travel book from Amster-Burton if he spends at least another month with his family in another Asian city. There's a certain storytelling synergy that seems to only come from Amster-Burton after a longer stay in another country.
Fun read! There are so many bits of history, chemistry, and food stories that I need to read this one again as a physical book instead of an audio book so I can write in the margins and tab pages. Sounds like heavy material, but don't be fooled! The pace and tone are light and funny.
Good, solid guide to WDW. Perfect for the newcomer ans still fun for a seasoned passholder.
The subject-matter is interesting enough, and the amount of research done to gather fascinating society anecdotes and business holdings must have been impressive, but the tone of this book is bone dry. The Astors' mountaineering made for a good read; all the subterfuge and nuance of a man become a titan of business. Then, the later society gossip is fun. Although, when the story swings forward to the 20th century pacing slows and everything just starts to sound like a litany of facts instead of a well-edited, woven-together retelling of Astor history. This book was not bad, but it was not great either.
Incredible, enagaging breakdown of human history in the tradition of Bill Bryson's “A Brief History of Nearly Everything”. Tribal law, Hammurabis' code–they all buck against modern ideals of right and wrong. The second half of the book really gains momentum with a stark explanation of religion throughout the ages and its part in war, famine, and soarinng empires. Wish there was a little more on the studies of happiness, but was portrayed was a nice take on chemic or biological happiness versus individual happiness. I am putting this one of the list of physical books to own just so I can write all over it!
This little bundle of pages is packed with facts, influences, and photos of many famous buildings on Museum Mile. This book is also a perfect quick read for an architecture or history enthusiast.
This book is not a complete story and has too many POV shifts. Plus, there's a smattering of unnecessary photos. The storyline gets diluted and messy, which is not much of an incentive to continue to the sequel. Overall, I would have traded the photos for more story.
If you like your memoirs snappy, snarky, and real, then you're in the right place. Eddie Huang presents a no-holds-barred account of his quirky American family and the immigrant struggle. His voice reverberated in my Puerto Rican-American heart. I love his realist take on what it means to be American, self-made, and knowing when you have to “get in where you fit in.” Huang pulls from his street cred, law school training, literary theory, cultural food history—you name it—as he explains how a sweet punk kid became one of the foremost voices in the culinary world and originator of one of the only shows on American television with an Asian American cast, Fresh Off the Boat.
“I'm not a monster,” Evelyn said.
Then am I the monster? Because I admit I laughed a few times in shock and dismay while devouring this book—it's a beautifully written, twisted delight. I don't like to watch Black Mirror, yet this book would fit snuggly in within the Black Mirror-verse. Since the story is from Evelyn's point of view, I had the best time trying understand her decision-making process and mapping out her morality while keeping a suspicious eye on Nathan and Martine. This book was a great read from beginning to end. The characters felt well-developed and broke my heart at times. I'm favoriting this one, for sure.
Gripping book! I couldn't stop listening. My empathy punched me in the guy as the author's anxiety seeped through my ear buds. This scam story is just too insane for words. The New York Times pieces on Anna Delvey (“How Anna Delvey Conned New York” and “A Fake Heiress Called Anna Delvey Conned the City's Wealthy”) are also recommended side reading if you're fascination extends beyond the book.
Raw and real at times but overall hilarious and amazing. Haddish is an incredible person and I'll forever be cheering her on–The Last Black Unicorn and powerful AF. ❤️
Eye-opening and mind-blowing. I couldn't put this one down. There are so many concepts in this book that seem obvious, but when you're stuck in one mindset for your entire life the obvious becomes hard to see. I now feel like I have more self-awareness and a larger capacity for self-forgiveness so I can continue to build my emotional future in the healthiest way possible. I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for a primer on how to pick a part their childhood to be a better human, find some form of inner peace, and understand how to identify and handle their parents.
What a nice break from political and historical non-fictoon! Just like a K-drama or telenovela! All the intrique, angst, and love. The shifting POVs in the beginning are hard to sort out, but this book definitely delivers on all fronts.Now I have to marathon the next two books!
What a twisted comedy of errors, like the worst political domino effect. If you'd like to read bear mishap after bear mishap because everyone stays in their lane instead of actually managing a town, then this book is for you.
The cultist phenomenon of Mormonism is not new or unique, and not the only religion with a minority number of terrifying fundamentalists who seek to control people's thoughts and bank accounts through fear and adapted retellings of history long ago debunked by scientists and archeologists. What an incredible book that shook me to the core.
This book scratches that insider's-tell-all itch. So many of these tech bro tropes sadly still hold water even years later and Wiener spares no one, even if it's through a veil of vague shorthand. Both conscious and unconscious bias still runs rampant in the wake of the Bon Appétit debacle and so may others like it, since a number of tech managers have tech backgrounds but no management laurels. Wiener describes the tip of the ice berg while the rest is still bobbing along under the surface waiting to be scrutinized and changed for the better before it sinks us all.