Danielle

I did not enjoy this poetry. It was incredibly dark, and though a small book, and with “light” in the title - incredibly heavy. Death, cold, winter, the insignificance of human life in the expanses of nature on every page. I wrote a bunch of frowny faces in the margins to mark where extreme discomfort was elicited, or audible “BLEH” sounds. It just made me feel sad and cold. At least it was a short book, over quickly?

While I learned a few interesting points of consideration (the effect of estrogen and fiber on the bodies use of fructose) and the different ways your body metabolizes (or does not metabolize) glucose vs. fructose vs. artificial sweeteners, etc - there wasn't a whole lot to learn for someone who is already quite nutritionally informed. Most people know sugar is bad for us. Reading some of the history (dating back to when we discovered different kinds of sugar and their rapidly increasing market interest and availability) was interesting, but much of the information on obesity and chronic disease statistics is old news to me. Furthermore, I'm very skeptical of any book that espouses a “one stop shop” solution to the obesity epidemic. Nutrition and health are complex, holistic systems mediated by bodies and environments we may never fully understand. Fructose is for sure a problem, but not the only problem - so if you are to read this book, I would definitely take it with a grain of salt (because sugar is bad for you... Get it? Eh?).

Though creatively barren (as ghostwritten books tend to be), the story of Suzy Favor Hamilton's struggle through decades of undiagnosed bipolar disorder is both fascinating and deeply sad. For any runners out there interested in one of the biggest non-drug-related scandals in the past few years (and a quick read!), I'd definitely recommend diving into the world of Suzy Favor Hamilton's second life.

I found this in a random used book/antique gift shop, just sitting out away from the other books, and I liked the title so I flipped to a random page in the middle. I kind of liked the one poem I read so I bought it since it was $1.50 and thought it might be a magic hidden gem. It wasn't. There were some well-crafted, beautiful lines - but on the whole, something you would see from a talented sophomore in college. Quick read, fell apart a bit at the seams (literally), smelled of age and moth balls.

Definitely hippy-dippy, but a good read (listen? Went the audio-book route for this one, which I would recommend only if you listen to it in a setting that allows you to actually do the meditations, jot down notes, write out the exercises, etc.... not driving!). I took away some insightful notes to help live a more aligned spiritual life. Anyone of any religious affiliation can fit this book into your practice as a means to guide one towards a life lived more through love than fear.

I would give this no stars if I could. I thought this was going to be a delightful dirty pleasure read (HUGE Bachelor fan, and references to this book were cropping up left and right on the show, so I felt like I had to read it to be in the loop.....CLEVER MARKETING ABC), but it is just straight trashy. Before reading this book, Andi was one of my favorite Bachelorettes. Now, I realize she's not a really great person (or writer for that matter), at all. While some of the insights into how the show works were interesting, the rest was essentially unreadable. So, yeah. Not proud I read this. But it happened, and will likely be the last time I pick up any book written by a reality TV contestant.

I learned some interesting sleep tips that I have already begun incorporating into my life, but many of the suggestions seemed either impractical (“earthing sheets”? Seriously?) or minute. Considering most of my sleep issues are anxiety-driven this also isn't a huge help to me, but interesting and quick to read no less.

This is a beautiful, if not tragic, collection of poems that together are so evocative of the simultaneously numbing and sharply penetrating feeling of grief. It took me a while to finish this collection because each poem made my heart sink a little deeper, so perfectly does Cohen evoke the perpetual longing which comes with human loss.

This was a super quick read that I would recommend to anyone looking to compete at the highest level of sport (the author tries to apply advice to things like business meetings, which I've seen before in books of this ilk and find it unsuccessful as I don't think that's the audience here). There is great advice and inspiration to be sought from these incredible CrossFit athletes. I did not learn anything new, per se, but still found useful pointers especially for the mental side of sport, which is almost everything in distance running and what I struggle with most in competition. Also I read this entirely on the bike while injured and it definitely motivated me to keep my heart rate up!

Though it is cheesy and a bit of an embarassing read (had this on my kindle... no way I'd let anyone catch me with that kind of cover on the T – then again, perhaps if I knew and liked myself more, and claimed my personal power, it would not matter... one day....) this book offers great, practical advice. I wish I had read this when I was 17: partially because that's the reading level, and partially because there's so much in here about learning about yourself, your values, what you want, and how to bring that into a relationship in a healthy way; all this, and a wealth of dialogue to exemplify healthy conversations and self-talk. Perhaps had I established this framework for myself (which is clearly explained and backed by psychological research), I could have made much healthier decisions for myself and for past partners. But, alas. I went the sloppy route.

Then again - I think we all have to go the sloppy route before we can truly understand and appreciate the framework this book provides. And even then, we may find it super cheesy and skim a ton of it (as I did). I also didn't love the workbook style, which is pretty ineffectual on a kindle. I wanted a book that relied more heavily on summarizing actual research studies and their implications versus the silly character dialogues and activities.

But again, with that said– there's great advice here, which I have highlighted and tucked away for myself to use to assess future relationships (and breakups...), and to give the best advice possible to friends.

I didn't connect with this collection. I liked some of her earlier works; I'm a sucker for the rhetoric of repetition and tactful rhyme. But I think I'm not in the right mental state, or stage in my life, to really enjoy or fully understand these poems. Pretty much feel the same about this as I did The Bell Jar... I wanted to like it, and I tried to make myself like it, but in the end it felt like a chore.

This was a fascinating, well-researched deep-dive into the definition of “family,” looking at non-traditional families of many constitutions: those who have children through IVF, surrogacy, or adoption; those who have no children, by choice or otherwise; single-parenthood; poly-parenthood; queer parenthood; even “rainbow” families comprised of the disowned and disenfranchised who decide to choose their family. It was less of an audio-book than a continuous, high-production value, long-form podcast (a medium perfect for the content; interviews with these families in their rawest emotions really hits home).

While I think there are more structures that could have been explored, I think this was a phenomenal start and what is needed to usher in acceptance of families that deviate from tradition — and ultimately to give those families the rights and support they deserve.

I love DFW. This is the first collection of short stories of his I've read, it was as delightful as I'd hoped. As with his longer-form fiction, the stories are almost over-the-top satiric while remaining fiercely relatable. DFW demands your constant, unhurried attention through his prolix explorations of the inner lives of these characters (which are really just substitutions for the author himself, and in that way are quite like his essays); and if you aren't paying attention, be prepared to be confused by the delightful, absurd end-of-narrative turns & plot-twists: rewards for making it through the dense prose.

My favorite is easily Good Old Neon, because I think that's the truest insight we'll ever get into the exact nature of DFW's depression, and ultimately why he took his own life... knowing that adds an intensity that feels so painfully and captivatingly real.

Though the last story about the poop sculptures was pretty great, too.

First, have to say that I actually won this as part of a Goodreads Giveaway, the likes of which I have been entering for YEARS. It was for the Kindle edition, which is admittedly a bit less satisfying (especially for books of poems) but still, I won something and that feels preeetttyyy special.

Now, onto the book itself – I liked it. I didn't love it, but I think that's because these poems aren't really “for” me in that they don't dial into my experience of culture and language. That being said, this is a powerful collection that demands attention to language: which, sure, all poetry does – but this plays out differently... like a search for a mother-tongue that examines white supremacy, Black culture, the power of names, love and loss along the way. Marshall demands attention and respect for AAVE, which has typically been seen as non-academic, even uneducated. His poems are at once a lament for a lack of ancestral land and cultural ties and a paean for the language and culture that grew despite that lack.

The attention to sound is this collection is beyond superb. I highlighted some sections that I read over and over again because the word play is just too good. If you do nothing else, just read this line and take in the delight of it yourself:

“we deciphering the phrases through our slurs we slurring like we ain't sure until we murmur a sure vow. whole time we blur the whole thing we make shambles of their standards we stand on them & fashion an abolition in diction.”

I mean CMON right??? So good.

Enjoyable insomuch as it was so empowering to read about the trailblazing women who made it possible for me and so many others to pursue this sport. And it still ASTOUNDS me that there was still so much outcry and discrimination and women being physically pulled off race courses in my mother's lifetime. The fact that there wasn't even a female Olympic marathon until 19fucking84 is just absurd to me. The structure of this book is kinda weird – it's just bios of women, not truly chronological, stacked one after the other. I would have preferred a more compelling narrative; this read more like a textbook. Also it is written by a man....... Still, worth it to give the women who made this sport what it is the honor and respect they deserve!

Laugh-out-loud funny. The part about the Michael Jackson impersonator at his wedding? I nearly fell off the elliptical. Gondelman has a real talent for the comedic essay that lets his earnest, almost innocent enthusiasm shine through; but he doesn't shy away from tackling tough topics that loom over our time, like divisive politics and misogyny and racism. It's a fun read firmly cemented in reality that rings with levity and hope and some good solid laughs about miserably old pugs or dates gone awry.

Who would think that such beauty could come from a YouTube clip of an NBA game from the 1980s? That one freeze-frame of a dunk shot could generate a meditation on breath, family, trees, history, oceans, gratitude, hope? Ross, a “docent in the museum of black pain,” seamlessly brings together a whole slew of emotion and breathlessness, that feeling of falling when “witnessing/the unwitnessable, the way/ we do so often these days” — but the poem never gives up, and the falling is reimagined as flight, and we are encouraged to breathe even if we are breathless. Dang. Great read.

I'm really glad I read this in preparation of Carina's arrival (aside: COULD NOT BE MORE EXCITED): it's been so long since I've had a dog and I want to be sure I'm the best dog mom I can be, and that we don't run into any behavioral issues. This book is a great overview explaining why dogs act the way we do (vs the anthropomorphic way we'd expect), and simple training tricks to meet them where they are. Definitely recommend this for current/future dog owners!

These poems were just okay; I didn't find anything new, interesting, subversive, playful, or especially beautiful about any of them. None really knocked me out, but “The Almost Death” came close. I do love the sentence, powerful in truncation: “are you/not/alive?” It's a reminder worth repeating. Also the cover art is absolutely stunning!

An essential feminist work. I think I would feel more passionately about it if I shared some of Lorde's identity and struggle beyond being a woman. BUT is that not essential to much fo what she argues? That our power is in bonding over our differences rather than letting them divide us?

There are some really powerful essays in here; Lorde's establishment as a black, queer, feminist tour-de-force of her time and years to come is undeniable.