Leigh

I enjoyed reading the story of Sia and Xai, and the adventures Sia had. The very straightforward writing style seemed like a mix between spoken word and a novel, and because of that I think I would have enjoyed it more as an audiobook. I could easily see this one book being a trilogy instead, if greater detail was added and the scenes were built out more.

This book was a timely read for our online book club during a pandemic. The focus on rituals gave us renewed motivation to grow or change some of our rituals that have been postponed or cancelled. I found Sasha Sagan very relatable and several parts had me nodding along in a “yes, that's exactly how I feel” way. However, partway through the book I became concerned about the thoroughness of the research that went into her non-personal examples. The example of the (non-Native) Oneida community and their polyamorous relationships in the chapter on sex struck me as strange to include, especially without more context. From the other sources I've read, their history resembles something closer to what we commonly refer to as a cult today, complete with concerning sexual power dynamics and a leader who thought he could do no wrong (who eventually had to run from criminal charges; the community broke up). The segment on Día de Muertos also came across as either misunderstood or poorly worded. These were the examples that I knew something about. Since there were quite a few other cultural and historical references, it made me wonder what else I was missing and I had trouble trusting what I was reading for the rest of the book.

Many useful techniques, though more examples of those techniques at work would have been helpful to me.

I couldn't stop reading this book out loud to my husband. I shared parts of it on video calls with family. It's hilarious and heartbreaking and I have a hard time with the fact that it's now over.

I listened to the audiobook and it was a pleasure to hear Stanley Tucci narrate. While I have very few aspirations in the kitchen, this book held my attention from beginning to end (even listening to the recipes scattered throughout). It will be on my list to revisit again someday.

I technically didn't finish this one about sixty pages from the end, so I don't feel comfortable giving it a star rating. It didn't hold my interest. I was expecting more stories about the impact these women had on NPR, but it seemed like the majority of the book was explaining how they got there.

This book was a little slow to start for me and I found it difficult sometimes to keep track of where we were on the timeline and which woman's story we were following at different points, but overall it was a fascinating look into the lives of stewardesses and American history.

Loved both the writing and the illustrations

This book is a new favorite - it had me hooked from start to finish. I was so impressed with how vivid the characters, culture, and world were. I listened as an audiobook and enjoyed it so much that I bought the hardcover so I could go back and savor the writing. I look forward to additional work by the author (as well as the narrator).

I loved the writing style and interesting information about each plant - I often stopped to read a few sentences to my husband, or made sure to share some of it with him later. Colorful illustrations really brought the book to life.

I didn't know anything about Candace Owens before starting this book, other than perhaps hearing of her in passing. My grandmother told me about a “really good book” she was reading and I agreed to read it too, to see if we could find some way of not talking past each other in our political conversations. I read this book in its entirety, which I wouldn't have bothered to do if I hadn't promised my grandma I'd read it.

After reading the book, my understanding is that Candace Owens's primary motivation was to convince the reader that:
1. Democrats are holding black Americans back, and doing so on purpose.
2. Welfare is bad and has destroyed the black family dynamic.
3. Trump is heralding a new era and has done a lot for black people, so vote for him in 2020.

She cherry picks examples to find the worst of history or the most ridiculous of present day, without considering broader context. She frequently primes the reader on what to think by declaring something good or bad, then describing it. Most frustrating of all, she doesn't thoroughly examine anything. If welfare is bad - tell me more. How is welfare structured? How many people are on welfare and how stay on welfare? Of those, how many have medical concerns? How many have children? What kinds of jobs are people on welfare able to get in their geographical area and with their qualifications? Are they good jobs that will pull them out of poverty? Are there elements of welfare right now that are making the choice between welfare and a job harder? Is there something that could be done to help them forward - counseling, education, technical learning? Just what would happen if you suddenly took welfare away? How would people suddenly be better off? None of this is considered.

Education is also one of her subtopics, but she points to poor schools and lack of choice as the problem. She doesn't delve into any solutions like better funding for these schools through a re-evaluation of how our taxes are put to work for education, or the emphasis that's been put on early childhood education, or helping parents at home. Instead she points to an example like Ben Carson, who went from having bad grades to becoming a surgeon, like anyone has the capacity to become a surgeon if they just try hard enough.

She doesn't propose any real solutions or evaluate solutions proposed by others, just points at problems and then points at the Democrats as the primary reason for those problems. I found her welfare-bashing especially interesting because she describes starting out in a terrible apartment with her family, then being helped by her conservative grandparents who lived in a nicer area. Is everyone just meant to have grandparents that can help them in their time of need?

Speaking of which, Owens does nothing to address the issue of lost generational wealth through slavery and then racist official policies that held black Americans back when it came to housing and entrepreneurship. She dismisses racism as basically an issue of the past because it's not as serious now without slavery. In her section on feminism, she also dismisses the issue of sexual harassment/assault by pinpointing a few cases where women lied, without giving any time to the many legitimate cases (which I found especially interesting after watching Bombshell) and the way those cases are frequently ignored or silenced.

Trump is mentioned in small doses throughout the book, but the book ends with a push that because Trump tells it like it is and because black unemployment rates fell during his presidency, he has done a lot for black people and should be re-elected. Also Democrats are awful. That's it, that's why Trump should be supported. This book was released in September 2020, so this is another example of blatantly ignoring the broader context - the Trump administration handled the pandemic terribly and communities of color have been disproportionately affected. Other than during the times of Lincoln, she also doesn't provide any examples of the Republican party helping black people.

I seriously doubt she would succeed in convincing anyone who hasn't already decided these things were true. Not anyone who has paid more attention to the world at large anyway. In the first conversation I had with my grandma about this book, I described the number of issues that I found with the way Owens presents her arguments. My grandma's response was “Well I read to read, not analytically like you do.”

I'm a left-leaning independent. I hate the fact that our country is locked into a two-party system. I want to find some common ground on these issues for the sake of progress and to have less fraught conversations with certain family members. But this book couldn't provide that - it was impossible to take it seriously.

While this book is very much the unique journey of the author, a journey I couldn't relate to much, I liked that it made me think about shame, anger, the power of secrets, and the ability to talk things through with others.

I impulse-bought this at the comic book store and have no regrets. The book is gorgeous. The approach to the story was different and compelling. I will definitely be looking for more from the artist, Colleen Doran.

We chose this book for our book club, and I made it further in the book than anyone else. The book is composed of short segments by various authors. Everyone in my book club was primed to enjoy this book and get something from it. However, it was rare that any of the segments had anything compelling to offer in terms of results, data, or inspiration for personal practice. Several studies in the first fifty pages seemed particularly questionable to me and to others in my book club. Perhaps the studies were well done, but the way the studies were written about didn't provide enough evidence to clarify that. In fact, a little over fifty pages in, there is a section that notes other studies have not found the same benefits/impacts.

This book would have benefited greatly from a designer and one editor to tie everything together, make study results easier to understand and remember, and make the book more pleasant to read.

Cute illustrations, but overall a predictable story that didn't offer much to make it unique or memorable.

Beautifully written and so compelling. It really was “unputdownable.” This is on my list to read again one day. I loved the addition of the WPA photographs in the back.

There are so many aspects of this story to love and I was really looking forward to it, but it felt skeletal to me – missing in the details and tension that would allow me to really sink into the story. I had to push myself to keep reading. After putting it down for a few weeks, I still can't get into it so I am stopping halfway through.

(3.5 stars rounded up) I listened to this as an audiobook and the narrator did a wonderful job making the book come alive.

Did not finish at a little over halfway through. Just wasn't enough to hold my attention, though I tried going back to it a couple of times.

Overall I enjoyed this book, though I struggled with listening to it as an audiobook. While there are quite a few serious moments, I think the narrator overdid it on the emotion she regularly injected into her delivery. Sometimes it made the main character feel more immature and overwrought than I think was intended. Solid, believable story that made me flash back to my feelings in my early college days (in an embarrassing way), that at the same time was also very far away from any personal experience I could relate to - it made me think about a few things and do some self-examination.

The art was gorgeous, but I was hoping for more text about how the story and art were developed.

I was surprised to find that I liked the sequel even better than the first one. Despite dealing with some very real and relatable issues and being sadder than the first, the second book warmed my heart by facing those issues. There were a couple of bits I found a little too silly, but overall this book was just what I needed, if not what I was looking for.

I really enjoyed this book, especially the interesting premise and characters. It was a fast read, and I think that was my only real disappointment with it - I would have liked to learn more about the world and the characters. I will definitely be looking for other books by the author.

I struggled with the first third of this book. In the first third, the text is dense and the graphics aren't particularly engaging which made me question the graphic-style for this narrative. Everything picked up in the last two-thirds or so. I became more interested in most of the content and there was more engaging imagery. I think I would have learned more or felt more engaged if the graphics better supported what was being communicated in the dialogue, instead of having panels that were mostly people talking. I regularly listen to almost all of the radio shows featured in the book, so it was nice to learn more about them. Overall, I enjoyed the content but I'm not sold on the format.

I really enjoyed The Winter King, but this book wasn't for me. I found some of the world-building details a little too cheesy and I couldn't get into the relationship/romance. I listened to the audiobook and put it down at 50% (10 hours in, 10 hours to go).