Terri
Much like the second in the series, Ripley's Game lacks the mystery and charm that [b:The Talented Mr. Ripley 2247142 The Talented Mr. Ripley (Ripley, #1) Patricia Highsmith https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1634841836l/2247142.SX50.jpg 1817520] had, and therefore the magic. Tom Ripley has been reduced to an almost cartoonish side character in this story, and gets dangerously close to becoming unlikable. The story took a while to build up steam, but if approached as an independent mystery/thriller and not a true Ripley story, it was enjoyable in its own right. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants an easy thriller read.
This was cute, I did enjoy it. Could've done without the detailed descriptions of Josh's dick though - unfortunately, the words “beautifully veined” are permanently seared into my brain.
I saw this book mentioned in The Lifechanging Magic of Tidying Up and decided to give it a go. It was decent, but after reading the aforementioned book, I didn't gain anything new from it.
I also found it difficult to relate to the author. Her approach was less flexible than Marie Kondo's, and rarely accounted for different lifestyles and needs. It felt like a set of hard-and-fast rules rather than a lifestyle guideline.
I enjoyed this at the beginning, but about 25% in I began noticing that each of the “essays” (which were more like listicles) were repeating the same content over and over again, verbatim. The general message of this book is that we're stuck in our own heads more often than we realize, and that we should make more of an effort to be grateful for what we have and live in the present.
That's it.
This is an excellent anthology of work from the Decadents and their predecessors. It's split into sections based on theme (Artifice, Intoxication, Spirituality, and Death) and contains a mix of poetry, short stories and excerpts from novels, and essay style writing from a wide range of authors. I'd recommend this to anyone interested in the Decadent movement, or literature in general. Definitely something worth re-reading and exploring in depth.
A dense read, this one took me a while to finish. There are bits of wisdom scattered throughout, some interesting points and surprisingly modern opinions here and there. But on the whole, this isn't something I would recommend to anyone who doesn't have a solid interest in French history, philosophy, or pedagogy.
Additionally, Rousseau's opinions on women are bizarrely contradictory. In some moments he sounds progressive for his time, at other points sexist. He frequently uses the term “savages”, and at one point equates women with crippled men.
The bottom line is, this is not a novel. It is a long-winded essay that frequently goes on tangents and is impossible not to skim in some sections.
I'm giving this four stars because I wouldn't re-read it, but I loved it. I read Daisy Jones first, so I was familiar with the author's writing style and the interview format. But this blew Daisy Jones out of the water.
A brilliant collection of short stories. Some heartwarming, some heartbreaking, but all of them stirred up some type of emotion. Would read again, and would definitely recommend.
I'm going to assume that something was lost in translation, because this was a disappointing read. There was too much build-up for nothing.
While I appreciated a few tips from the book, I felt that the format was unnecessary. The entirety of this book would have sufficed as a blog post or series without losing anything. I found myself skimming 80% of this, mainly because the book seems to have been written for an audience with a certain lack of familiarity with the internet and email in general.
Two valuable things I took away from this:
• Emoticons (not emojis) and exclamation marks are valuable and often necessary elements in email, as tone is often lost on the reader.
• Be mindful of setting false expectations for your contacts. If you have a habit of responding to every email as soon as its received, that will become what is expected of you. Email can be treated as digital snail mail in the sense that it doesn't often require an immediate response.
The rest of the book focused on unsubscribing and prioritizing. The final section was filled with “cheat sheets” for different types of emails a person might need to send. This can all be found online with a quick Google search.
This is a cute, lighthearted read. The book is comprised of brief biographies of famous men throughout history and their beloved cats, interspersed with equally cute illustrations.
Wasn't able to fully absorb the content due to the writing style. I'll be attempting her “Learning To Learn” course on Coursera to see if that makes a difference.
This is the type of book I wish I had come across in highschool - or even middle school. Difficult subject matter, but very necessary.
I question the quality of the translation, but I do understand that many of these needed to be written in the most approachable and modern voice possible. There are nuggets of wisdom, but not so much that I'd spend a full year pondering each one.
Disappointing after Jane Eyre, but then again anything would be. This is not romantic, it's more a series of observations from a young, inexperienced professor navigating a new social world. I may re-read it, but it's not something I would heartily recommend.
A very calm, aesthetically pleasing novel. There were a few characters who annoyed me at first, but it was intentional and very well done. Reminiscent of A Room With A View.
This is a brief, easy read. Much of it reads as court gossip; it's definitely not an insider look at how Lebrun honed her craft as the focus is more on the relationships she formed and the events she lived through. She recollects her youth (briefly), the beginnings of her career and marriage, and the interactions and relationships she formed with French, Russian, and English aristocracy and royalty during her celebrated career.
I felt that the translation was well done, I can't speak for how accurate it was but it never felt stuffy and it maintained my interest.
I would recommend this to anyone interested in Lebrun's work or French history in general.
I enjoyed this book enough to stay up until 4am reading it. The mystery and intrigue and definitely there, though the flamboyance and speech of the characters is a bit distracting at times. Not quite The Secret History that it was attempting to be, but a good book to read if you enjoy dark academia.
This is more of a coffee-table book than something I could sit down and read, which is why I gave up on it. I recommend just browsing their website instead.
A realistic and down-to-earth perspective on the value of minimalism and the importance of building happiness from within.
Update 4.05.2020 : I've reread the book and my five-star review remains the same. This is a book on minimalism that appreciates the different backgrounds and lifestyles of its readers. It's realistic, and the writing style is simple and approachable. Sasaki keeps his “before” story succinct, but with enough detail to provide contrast to his current lifestyle. Most importantly, he never claims to have all the answers or preach the “right” way to do minimalism.
Whenever I find myself feeling overwhelmed and wanting to go back to basics, I read this book. I would definitely recommend it to a friend, or anyone else who is interested in simplifying their life.
It's hard for me to review the Potter series because it was such a huge part of my childhood. These were the books that kindled my love of reading and interest in mythology, and I'll love them always for that.
That being said, I write this review in retrospect, knowing what I know now about Rowling's prejudices, and unfortunately they're clearly embedded in her world-building. With that in mind, I can no longer identify as a fan of this series.
I won't be altering my star rating, simply because this series was a huge part of my childhood, particularly the first book. I do think it was hugely important to children's literature as a whole. But I don't have the same enthusiasm for it that I used to, due to Rowling's bigotry.