Jenn

Entertaining, but meh.

This book is amazing for anyone struggling with food. I'm only a month into practicing the principles in this book but I'm already feeling better and more hopeful. I am so thankful I stumbled upon intuitive eating and then finding this book.

The story is pretty incredible, but I had a lot of trouble staying focused. It was a slow start and it felt a bit like work to finish. I listened to it as an audiobook and the narrator was a little on the monotone side which didn't help matters. I might have enjoyed it more as a paper or ebook.

A good book, and one I'd recommend to anyone feeling frustrated with diets, weight, and hating what you see in the mirror. It's funny, refreshingly honest, and hopeful.

One of the rare “work” books that I've actually read from start to finish. It's a super quick read, I read it in a morning, and it's actionable. I like that it tells a story first, then breaks down OKRs practically.

I love the Frugalwoods blog and it was so nice to learn more of their story and in longer form.

While some might raise eyebrows, I think the heart of the story and the lessons she learned is very valuable and refreshing to anyone who's found themselves in a place of unidentifiable unhappiness by doing what society tells us we should do.

It was ok, but not about minimalism, really. The five keys to living a meaningful life (health, relationships, passion, growth, and contribution) is an interesting way to examine your own.

I like the 4 agreements and I enjoyed thinking about them over the last few days and probably will for a good long time. There's a lot of freeing wisdom in them.

But.

The front bookflap was enough for me. It was the TLDR and I wish I stuck to that. So succinct and somehow more practical and relatable. While I greatly enjoyed the lessons and got a lot of value out of it, I hated reading the book. All the talk about smoke and mirrors and stars and poison and curses and dreams made me feel like I showed up at the wrong party. Super uncomfortable, not relatable, and didn't feel true. I'm reminded why I never read this when gifted to me 7 years ago. This says more about me than the book, I know (see? I read it!)

But the flap? That's good stuff.

A good book, and I'm looking forward to reading more of her work. For me, this was an ambitious novel and tried to take on too many things. It was really long, and my favorite parts and characters were glossed over despite the length (like Dike and Obinze.) I also struggled with not really knowing Ifemelu. For as long as the book is, I don't feel close to her, but maybe that's because she's most often observing and commenting.

It could have been half as long with half the themes and it would be stellar.

This book is horrifying, incredible, beautiful, and important. It's not easy to read by any means, but you must.

A fresh take on the zombie apocalypse with a surprising perspective and unexpected feels. Couldn't put it down.

I didn't love it. Ok, not good, definitely not great. I didn't read this as a kid, so maybe the nostalgia is missing. I liked the beginning it was charming and paced well, but as I read on it read like a skipping stone to me. The author barely touched on the big themes and interesting and unique ideas that she tried to introduce. It came out very flat and two dimensional when it tried to talk to fourth and fifth dimensions. Also, definitely didn't dig the obvious and out of place religious references.

It was so good and I'm really excited to read more of this author's work. She hits on so many deep and heavy topics that, on paper, feels like too much for any one book to tackle, but the author made it work in a very engaging way. It's an incredible story with every character being likable and detestable at various points. I loved it and couldn't put it down.

It took me a bit to get into this one, but I'm glad I pushed through. It explores the tension between legality and morality and will leave you questioning what being a “good man” means. A great read.

I loved these characters. It's a lovely, thought provoking, and heartbreaking story. A good reminder that we can impact others, but not change them.

The writing is lovely and vivid and creepy, but I did not enjoy the story. I don't understand the hype.

The main character is annoying, childish, and daydreams all the time. She doesn't have a name. She doesn't really show much growth outside of really leaning in to her puppy love idolization of Maxim. The book is written from her perspective, so I think that's why I couldn't love it like so many others do.

I loved this book. I should know by now what to expect from a John Green book, but I was surprised at how smart and deep and thought provoking it was. He's a master at bringing a motif or symbol all the way through the book, and as a reader it's so fun and rewarding to follow them.

I wish I read this when I was younger, it would have made me rethink some of my relationships and expectations of others and myself. So good. Will reread. Now I'll have to check out some Whitman and Woody Guthrie.

It took me 3 attempts to read this, I just couldn't get past the first few dozen pages. Once I did though, I couldn't stop. It's beautiful, heartbreaking, and has some important life lessons threaded throughout. Definitely one to reread and savor.

Simple, beautiful, informative, and sweet. It definitely opened my mind and heart and I won't think about animals, plants, or food in the same way again.

A good, quick read and a great intro to coaching. It's super cheesy and groan worthy, but it more than makes up for it by being immediately actionable. Definitely worth a couple reads.

I loved the illustrations. It's a quick read (even at nearly 600 pages) but the illustrations will slow you way down, definitely to be savored. There was some beautiful writing and it made me feel quiet, dreamy, and a little melancholy. But for all the closeness and detail we got about the two week trip, my problem with the book is what the author chose to glaze over. Being abused by his babysitter, how his relationship with his brother disintegrates, how he loses his faith, and why he burns Raina out of his life so suddenly and completely. It was frustrating to get to the end and realize that all those threads would just be left unfinished.

A tiny, beautiful, and crushing story. It's super short and potent and I can feel it haunting me already.

The only downside was a stylistic choice of the author. I agree with other readers that the lack of capitalization was annoying. I got used to it, but towards the end she explicitly writes about learning capital letters I felt duped. Still well worth a read and a reread, though.

Inspiring and full of stories of people who I now need to go read about. It's great to spark people to dream and those that have a dream, to act.

It's an interesting and inspiring concept, but could have been an article or blog post. It's so repetitive it's unreadable (and kind of reductive: everything “bad” is because of a fixed mindset, everything “good” is because of a growth mindset). I read some other reviews to see if it ever got deeper than anecdotes and praise for her own work and it doesn't look like it does. Giving up.

So lovely, simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming.