Stephanie

This is one of those books you'll want to highlight and mark up. Although I felt myself getting a little annoyed at the repetitiveness of the points, Ferrazzi keeps it interesting with his stories between great tidbits of information. I thought I was pretty good at connections and building a network but some of these ideas would take these “connections” and turn them into true relationships. Although some of the points may seem obvious, I found that whenever I thought “duh” I also found myself thinking back on times that I did not follow the obvious advice. This is one of those books that remind you of all the things you forget in the moment and help drive them deep enough in your mind to make an actual difference when you find yourself at a networking event.

Another book we had to read in high school that turned out to be amazing. Gruesome and fascinating usually don't go hand-in-hand but they did in this story. Following the murder's perspective of their crime turned out to be truly strange. You begin to feel sorry for the murderers even knowing full well what they had done. Truman Capote did an amazing job interviewing these men and sharing their story. It was a tragic crime but the author makes it into an incredible story. I would definitely add this book to your “Before I die” reading list.

I really enjoyed this book. My husband and I finished it in a single afternoon and already grabbed the second one. I'm a bit disappointed in the ending (hence the four stars) because there was no real conclusion. I know this is a trilogy but every book should at least have some sort of wrap up of a story and I feel like this one left nothing answered. That being said, it was great writing and the mystery of it will keep me reading into the next book.

My sister recommended this book to me after she read it in one day. I think I finished this in around 5 hours. It's the first vampire story that actually captured my attention. The lead characters are interesting and quickly draw you into their world. It's a unique dystopian story with twists and action. I will definitely read some of the author's other books because if it's anything like this one she's a genius.

I know basically nothing about Greek mythology and I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Circe. The author makes a massive world smaller and approachable and now I want even more.

I was actually disappointed with this book. There were a few funny parts but it felt preachy and very political.

A very interesting and thought-provoking book. The author analyzes how we make snap decisions. A very interesting look into our brain.

Okay, I started off very disappointed in the book. It opens up with heartbreaking but moving stories and then has a quick switch to Christine's adoption story. The story, although I'm sure it was confusing and overwhelming for her at the time, seems drawn out and in stark contrast to how the book opens up.

I almost stopped reading at this point, but after seeing the glowing reviews on Goodreads, I decided to keep going.

It got so much better. I realized Christine's stories of abuse, loss, and fear were all so tightly woven into who she because and how A21 got started. Her stories are so intriguing and the way she uses scripture through the book is great. I do think she needed to reorder her story. It starts out like she's comparing her adoption to the pain of sex slaves and it's a little infuriating to read. In hindsight, I can see how all of her trials built up her empathy and passion for these women, but while you read Part 1 - it's just confusing.

Overall I think this was an incredible book and a great look into the brokenness that is spread across the globe. Her story makes me want to quit my job and join her organization. I think this is a must read for any woman.

I might read this book if I were considering starting a side hustle and needed some inspiration but for everyone else it's repetitive and lacks actionable ideas. This is a big idea book, not one that will teach you how to actually start your own business.

Absolutely hilarious. I cried from laughing at a few parts. Mindy makes you feel inspired, embarrassed and completely jealous in one sentence. A must read.

I heard so many glowing reviews about this book that I picked it up without knowing much about the story and ... yikes. I honestly could not get through this book. Cheryl's story from page one just oozed self-destruction. Yes, she experienced some serious difficulties and it sounds like she didn't have a great support system around her. However, she blames all of her problems on others and misplaces the blame on the people she drove away with her behavior. It truly breaks my heart that she has such a self-hate for her body and her life. For a self-proclaimed feminist, she uses her body as if it's a tool rather than her own flesh. I skipped to the end of the book to see how it ends and sadly although she learned lessons about perseverance, it sounds like she still has a lot of work to do on her heart before she can ever be happy on her own. She writes the story years later and glorifies all the horribly depressing bits as if they were fond memories. It sounds like someone who has not accepted their past and really refused to learn from her destructive ways. If this were a close friend I would have interrupted her story, pray for her and hope that she finds a good therapist to work through the amount of emotional baggage she clearly shoved into her backpack and never took off.

Not only are these common knowledge and some downright rude but the author's reading on the audiobook is awful. I literally listened to it on 2x speed just to tone down her condescending tone.

Painfully bad. The actual financial advice is incredibly basic and the rest blames men for keeping women from being empowered by their money 🤪 because men don't ever struggle with money, obviously. 

If you're looking for a finance book, this isn't it. If you're looking for someone to blame for all your money problems, you're going to love this. 

I also cannot get on board with taking money advice from someone who never actually struggled with money. 

Great plot idea, terribly executed. It was service level and felt like a complaint of politics rather than a sci-fi type story. Super disappointing since this was on so many best seller lists. I'm not sure what I'm missing.

It's a slow burn, don't get me wrong, but I really enjoyed it. I liked the lack of cliche romances, I liked the vibe and I liked the community. I wish there had been more world-building, I feel like the way the magic works is a bit incomplete but it doesn't ruin the read for me.

My biggest complaint is that the reason for the missing girls feels disappointing. It doesn't feel very realistic (and yes, I know this is a fantasy book). The motivations just feels lacking.

I will definitely read the next book and I'm excited to be pulled back into the world and these characters.

This could have been a great read if there was no magic and if the characters weren't stereotypes and if it was 100 pages shorter. The world building was lacking, the magic system made zero impact and it feels pretentious. Coming off the back of “A Secret History”, this book was equally boring and drawn out.

This is partly my fault for not reading the description close enough, partially the writer's fault for such a narrow theme. There are some great ideas in this book but it's specifically written for someone who WANTS to start a business, has an idea, and needs some ideas for how to get started. For anyone who has already started businesses, this book sounds like common sense with a little too much storytelling. If you're a fan of Sheryl, you'll enjoy reading about her journey, if you don't know who she is, you might feel a bit lost by the endless names of companies she was apart of.

One of the most unbelievable parts of the story is the fact that anyone would read the boring blog posts written by Stephanie, let alone enough people for them to actually comment on the posts. The story should have been interesting and thrilling considering everything involved (love, murder, crime, adultery, incest) but instead, the characters were flat and lacked any kind of personality that would make you like, care or feel sorry for any of them.

The main character - Stephanie, could have been left out of the story completely and an almost identical plot could've happened. To be honest, it might have been better without her character. Actually - scratch that, it would've been the plot of Gone Girl with worse writing.

I would describe this book as philosophical speculation at its best, and biased pessimistic summaries at its worst. It's format and topics make you think “textbook”, but in reality the bulk of his chapters are his own summary of what those facts mean in the scope of human history, regardless of how many scientific findings he includes. This doesn't mean the book is poorly written or not interesting. If I'm rating this book solely on enjoyment and how interesting it was, I would give it a solid 4.5 stars. However, there are some hot takes in here that I can't get on board with. From the glorification of foraging society to stating that religion is no more than collective imagination, there are too many of the author's biases bleeding into his insanely depressing view of humanity. I also say this knowing full well that my own biases (a Christian worldview being my primary), will impact my opinion on any book.

I rate my books on the following scale:
1 star - would not recommend, would not re-read
2 star - might recommend to the right person, would not re-read
3star - would recommend to the right person, probably would not re-read
4 star - would recommend to most people, but might not re-read
5 star - would recommend to almost anyone and would re-read

With that in mind, I'm rating this 3-stars because, while I wish more people would read books like this and be able to discern the biases, many people will read this book and take it as fact. I also would not re-read this book specifically, but will continue to read books in the topic of human history to continue to round out my understanding of homo sapiens and how we have adapted to our every-changing world.

The hype for this book seemed pretty big and with the movie coming out soon I thought I'd start the series. This book was really similar to the Uglies Series, so if you liked those books you'd probably like these as well. I think the story line was interesting and the author did a good job having a lot of characters without making you feel overwhelmed or forgetting who was who. There were some good deaths that were shocking, but the plot twists were fairly predictable. This could also be because I'm 20 and technically this is a young-adult book. Either way I think it was worth the read and I'll definitely finish the series. If you like distopian societies and books similar to Uglies, Hunger Games, or The Giver than this should be on your to-read list.

Wow, this is a must-read, not just for Christians but for everyone. The story is told in one-sided letters from a demon named “Screwtape” to his nephew “Wormwood”. Through the story, you see the world through a lens of lies and subtle misdirection, and the resulting devastation it has on our lives. For such a deep lesson, this book is surprisingly easy to read. I got it first as an Audible book but ended up purchasing a paper copy to make notes in.

C.S. Lewis shows us a side to all of us that we try to avoid, and through that, we can correct ourselves. Lewis came into Christian faith as an adult, and through that, I think he has a deeper understanding of the evil we face each day. It can be tough to read if you do believe in demons and angels, to know that there are forces working so hard to ruin your life. However, there's also a comfort knowing that these demons are not as powerful as our will and nowhere near as powerful as the angels that watch over us.

This book is something to read in tough times and keep on your mind during good ones. It's a great reminder that this life is a battle we can win if we continue to fight.

I've been reading parenting and marriage books while pregnant to prep for our first baby. This one was recommended on my library app and after listening to it, I'm a little disappointed in the content. I feel like these ideas could have been summed up in a blog post rather than an entire book. Most of the chapters were focused on having sex after kids, which I get is important, but the same ideas were repeated over and over and it became really redundant by the end of the book.

A sweet and magic story

At times the dialog was a little awkward and there are some goofy moments, but overall it was a sweet story that was interesting and fun.

Wow, this one kept me interested THE WHOLE TIME. I got it on Audiobook from Libby and I listened to about 1/4 of it on the first day at work, and all night I was thinking about it. I finished it the next day because I literally could not stop listening. You feel like you live there with Kya. It's such a good character book and the development of Kya into the final character is so wild. The last chapter makes you love the whole trial aspect, even more, when you understand the characters so well and you get to see a whole extra side of them. This is apparently the author's first novel, and wow. I loved this book.

This also reminded me a lot of the book The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. Not the same plot really, but just the same kind of feelings while reading it. Overall, I recommend.

As per usual, I love C.S. Lewis' writing. This raw look at grief its impact it has on Lewis's faith is a beautiful example of how we all handle loss a bit differently and how grief itself evolves. I love his analogy of trying to understand loss and asking God questions with no response, to asking questions like “how many hours in a mile?”. We often get angry when we don't hear from God, and we forget to wonder if we could even comprehend the answer or if we are asking a question that has an answer to give.

This is obviously a short book, but one I think anyone could benefit from. If you've lost someone close to you, this may serve as a way to put your emotions into words. If you've been lucky enough to not experience this yet, the ideas may help to give you greater empathy for those who have and give them the space and love they need to work through their own grief.