As a reminder, here is how I rate my books:
- (★★★★★): Loved it, won’t shut up about it for the foreseeable future
- (★★★★): Really liked it, enjoyable experience
- (★★★): Liked it enough, no strong opinions
- (★★): Didn’t care for it, would actively discourage people reading it
Another few notes: I will warn if there are any spoilers with (start spoiler) and (end spoiler) so you know when to stop reading and pick up again if you don’t want to ruin the book for yourself. I no longer go out of my way to watch adaptions, but will continue to mention them and their general critiques (from Rotten Tomatoes) in my reviews. Finally, you can always check out my book review index page if you’re looking for my extremely important opinion on any book in particular.
The Rise and Reign of Mammals by Stephen Brusatte
Rating: ★★★★
Genre: Non-fiction, paleontology
GoodReads rating: 4.43 / 5 (700 ratings)
Medium used: E-book (borrowed from library)
Thoughts: I read one of his other books The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs and loved it. This is the blueprint of what popular science books should look like. While it’s packed wall-to-wall with great information, the author takes you on a narrative journey by describing what one might have seen, smelled, and saw in these pre-historic times. I highly recommend both of these books.
Don’t Be Evil: How Big Tech Betrayed Its Founding Principles and All of Us by Rana Foroohar
Rating: ★★★
Genre: Non-fiction, business, tech
GoodReads rating: 3.87 / 5 (900 ratings)
Medium used: Audiobook (borrowed from library)
Thoughts: This book has some great information but unfortunately didn’t grip me. I think the narrative was a bit confusing and jumped around quite a bit, maybe if they went company by company I would have followed it better.
Sober Curious by Ruby Warrington
Rating: ★★★★
Genre: Non-fiction, self-help
GoodReads rating: 3.64 / 5 (2,500 ratings)
Medium used: Audiobook (borrowed from library)
Warning: This book contains mention of sexual assault, domestic violence and eating disorders.
Thoughts: I think the GoodReads summary above can give some insight into my few problems about this book… but first, what I liked: I do like the general principle of mindful drinking. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out where drinking to feel good ends and drinking to stop feeling bad starts… but my question is what do “good” and “bad” feelings entail? To feel our feelings entirely and clarity it’s best to remain alcohol-free on this slippery slope, at least for me personally. This book started a good conversation with myself as to why I drink and how it really makes me feel. This book took a more “relaxed” approach rather than an all-or-nothing sobriety point of view which is good for people contemplating abstinence to make it more approachable. I have tried to cut back and set rules/situations where I would allow myself to drink but that didn’t work out for me as I could easily justify most any occasion as “special” so I’ve gone completely alcohol-free at least until the end of the year. I also liked the bit about relapse and how not to be too hard on yourself because typically after a relapse, it will be even longer until your next one, if ever.
Now, into what I didn’t like: the author refused to share how much she drinks now and in what circumstances. I understand her not wanting the readers to use her as a model to copy, but I loathe self-help pieces of media that don’t share the actual writer’s experience. You’re already being so vulnerable and if you do your job right, the reader will take their own message away from your book.
This was a great companion book to Quit Like a Woman, but I can’t help but feel these are written for a very specific type of woman (well-off, white, straight, cis). While I am most of these things, it still felt alienating to know that the risky drinking is done by minorities and so little of this book was dedicated to those people. Instead, we are told to just “increase our vibe” and get “regular deep tissue massages.” At one point she referenced Dr. David R. Hawkins “scale of consciousness” with the feeling of courage having a frequency of 200, but never specified the units and I couldn’t help but think of one of my favorite episodes of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia where Dee is trying to pedal her pyramid scheme superberries by having Charlie take a stress test with the result of 157… units. I could go into this guy forever, he has a lot of whacky stuff out there, but I don’t trust someone with a website in Comic Sans, I don’t care how long they’ve been dead. Some of the spiritual things are extremely woo-woo for me as a jaded atheist, if she put them in the beginning I might have DNF’d it.
Don’t Worry: 48 Lessons on Relieving Anxiety from a Zen Buddhist Monk by Shunmyō Masuno
Rating: ★★★
Genre: Non-fiction, self-help
GoodReads rating: 3.67 / 5 (330 ratings)
Medium used: E-book (borrowed from library)
Thoughts: I can’t say this book changed my entire outlook on life, but I went in with quite low expectations. The cover caught my eye, it’s short and even if I don’t think these self-help books necessarily will put me on a new path, I can usually take something away. I really liked the attachment parts (learning to detach from the less important things like a job) and how to take your focus day by day. However, I think this book might be better suited for literal Buddhists as we’re not really provided examples of any other lifestyles other than those of monks and salespeople for some reason. For example, most people cannot rise any earlier in the morning to “make time for themselves” or have a typical 9-5 at all. Not bad, but I wouldn’t actively recommend this.
Have you read any of these?
Photo by Radu Marcusu.