Posts Categorized: Uncategorized

Another Memoir Review: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

April 22, 2019 Uncategorized 2

Another Memoir Review: Maybe You Should Talk to SomeoneTitle: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
Author: Lori Gottlieb
Links: Indiebound |Goodreads
Rating: five-stars

Summary: This memoir was a fascinating look at being a therapist and included many engaging, emotional stories.

Author Lori Gottlieb is an experienced therapist, but that doesn’t mean she never needs a therapist herself! After a surprising break-up leaves her sneaking in a good cry between patients, she realizes it’s time to talk to someone. This is the story of how she builds a helpful rapport with her therapist and of the patients she’s helping at the same time. From her perspective, we get to learn about both sides of the therapist-patient relationships, as well as some of the experiences and training that led her to become a therapist in the first place. Read more »

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Memoir Review: Notes From a Young Black Chef

April 15, 2019 Uncategorized 3

Memoir Review: Notes From a Young Black ChefTitle: Notes from a Young Black Chef
Author: Kwame Onwuachi, Joshua David Stein
Source: from publisher for review
Links: Indiebound |Goodreads
Rating: three-stars

Summary: This was a thoughtful memoir that tackled issues of racism head-on, but I wanted a little more depth.

“By the time he was twenty-seven, Kwame Onwuachi had competed on Top Chef, cooked at the White House, and opened and closed one of the most talked about restaurants in America.” (source) These incredible accomplishments were in part possible due to the influence of his family. His mother inspired his love of cooking from a young age, passing on family recipes with origins from the bar his grandparents ran as a safe gathering space for black people in 1960’s Texas to recipes reflecting his father’s Nigerian origins. Throughout his life, his family shared food with love and his realization that he could provide this experience for other people started him down the path towards becoming a professional chef. Along the way, he had to overcome barriers shaped by racism and classism from his school years through his time in some of the most renowned American kitchens. Read more »

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Futuristic Friday

April 12, 2019 Uncategorized 4

It’s Futuristic Friday again and I’m hoping Tamara of Travelling with T and I will be owing you an apology for blowing up your to-read pile! Between the two of us, the books we’re looking forward to in the next three months include nonfiction, literary fiction, thrillers, romance, and more. I think there will be something for everyone. Read more »

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Read-a-thon Reads in Mini-Reviews

April 10, 2019 Uncategorized 2

Read-a-thon Reads in Mini-ReviewsTitle: The Animal's Companion: People & Their Pets, a 26,000-Year Love Story
Author: Jacky Colliss Harvey
Source: from publisher for review
Links: Indiebound |Goodreads
Rating: two-stars

Parts of this history of pets were fun and charming. When I enjoyed multiple anecdotes in a row, it became quite engaging. At other times though, there were litanies of sentence-long anecdotes that were simply boring. On top of that, while the chapters were organized by theme, none had a clear thesis. I also learned very little reading this. There were interesting stories about people with pets in the past. However, most of the author’s speculation about the cultural aspects of pet ownership felt obvious to me as a pet owner and came with little supporting data. To top it all off, the author included stories about truly horrific things happening to animals on three occasions. I’m knocking a star off my rating for them. Read more »

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Review: Midnight – Historical Fiction or Nonfiction?

April 8, 2019 Uncategorized 6

Review: Midnight – Historical Fiction or Nonfiction?Title: Midnight: Three Women at the Hour of Reckoning
Author: Victoria Shorr
Source: from publisher for review
Links: Indiebound |Goodreads

Summary: Lovely, engaging, personal look at some pretty cool women – but if nonfiction, needs better citations!

This is a story of three women at their hour of reckoning, facing difficult decisions which will shape their lives. The stakes escalate throughout the book, starting with Jane Austen responding to a marriage proposal; continuing with Mary Shelley waiting for her husband to return; and wrapping up with Joan of Arc facing her own execution as a witch. Read more »

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My Magical Readathon TBR

April 6, 2019 Uncategorized 8

I’m so excited for this Harry Potter themed read-a-thon! It’s hosted by Book Roast and based around the idea of completing your O.W.L.s (Ordinary Wizarding Level exams), with each exam corresponding to a bookish prompt. You can pick OWLs to take based on what career you’re excited for. I’m going to be prepping for a career as a Hogwarts Professor of Care of Magical Creatures, so I’ll be doing Defense Against the Dark Arts, Care of Magical, Creatures, and 5 OWLs of my choice. Images in this post are from the fantastic guide to careers that the host put together. Here are the books and prompts I’m planning on completing: Read more »

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Nature Writing in Review: The Sun is a Compass

April 3, 2019 Uncategorized 8

Nature Writing in Review: The Sun is a CompassTitle: The Sun Is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds
Author: Caroline Van Hemert
Source: from publisher for review
Links: Indiebound |Goodreads
Rating: four-stars

Summary: Lovely – full of beautiful nature writing, incredible adventures, fun facts, and moving personal stories.

When Caroline Van Hemert finished her PhD, studying beak deformities in chickadees, she felt more uncertain than accomplished. Her years in the lab had left her feeling burnt out. She felt out of touch with the love of nature that led her to study biology in the first place. To try to reconnect with nature, she and her husband decided to pursue a wild dream of theirs – travelling more than 4000 miles through the Pacific northwest to the Alaskan Arctic entirely under their own power. They would spend many months hiking, skiing, rafting, traveling by rowboat, and by canoe. They hoped to finish with some clarity about what came next.

Read more »

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