Jenn

This book was fascinating. I'm a huge fan of Ryan Holiday's books and this is one of my favorites. I love how he weaves conspiracies of history through the central story. You'll find yourself rooting for someone then their opponent. Disgusted by Gawker, and then horrified at the consequences. It's a good read, and you'll be thinking about it after you put it down.

I think this is a book you need to be in the mood for to enjoy. I seem to be in that particular mood (curious looking for curiosity?), so I kind of loved it.

I'm pretty sure the main character is on the spectrum and whether or not this is an accurate portrayal of an autistic person's internal monologue, it made me feel so much empathy for her and how difficult society can be when you don't understand the “rules.” And to be fair, a lot of society's rules make absolutely no sense literally anyway.

I see this as is a character study (with some societal critique) and I really enjoy the growth the main character experiences, even in such a confined space of a sub 200 page book taking place primarily in a convenience store.

I probably would have liked this better if I followed her blog - I'll definitely be checking it out. This was much more personal than I expected it to be, but the end gives you a plan to enact your own year of less and a bunch of helpful resources. Would recommend to folks who are interested in minimalism, decluttering, and mindful spending and are down for a memoir.

Oh this was a good one. I was in the mood for a mystery/thriller and this delivered. The premise was “fun” being a true crime documentary and it made for a quick pace and urgent storytelling. There were lots of twists and a few of them I didn't see coming and was actually shocked by them. It was a very fun ride!

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.

I think this is my second book by Tana and I liked it much better than the first. Solid, interesting plot, lovely writing and descriptions, she's a great writer and I enjoyed it.

HOWEVER. It loses a couple stars for the awful Antoinette. The MC was so extremely unlikeable, paranoid, annoying, and... kind of bad at her job? All while bragging about how bad ass she is. Pass on her, her partner saved this book for me. I get wanting to have an edgy flawed MC, but for me she was just mean and whiny.

Not a book I would normally pick up, but so glad I did. It follows 4 generations of a Korean family that move to Japan. The writing is vivid ( I feel like I've been to the street markets and sat at their table) yet somehow unemotional. The straightforwardness can shock you, leaving you to reel in your feelings without anything to hold onto. Watch out for that.

I got attached and I'm sorry it ended.

There's something brewing throughout this book and it explodes at the end. It's not what you think when you read it. It starts out puppy dog and ends.... Weird.

Overall I SO enjoyed the story. I would have not done what the author did in the second half -it's not bad, just kind of funky- but it's not my story so he can obviously do whatever he wants.

A word to the wise: if you read this you WILL want to bake again like it's spring 2020 and you WILL eat a lot of bread- make sure it's good. Enjoy!

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 cute and quick to read. Meh. I know people love this book but I don't quite get it. It seemed to follow all the “I'm not a nice guy” “I'm an insecure girl” “s/he's mean to me but actually likes me” tropes. And most of the romance and chemistry they have is all around her being tiny and him being huge and ripped. Which is fine, I guess, but seemed to unnecessarily rag on men who are shorter or lean. Lame.

Didn't finish this book. I got this as an audiobook and didn't enjoy listening to it. There are some good nuggets in here, but it felt “fluffy” to me. There was also a lot of “keep reading! By reading this book you'll be awesome!” Maybe so, but just get on with it please. Reading notes from other reviewers was good enough for me.

I enjoyed this book and would/will read it again when I need some motivation to declutter. While reading it I cleaned out my backpack, office, and clothes, which is much more than I got done after reading The Magic of Tidying Up. While he doesn't suggest you to be just like him and encourages you to find your own minimalism, his brand is somewhat off putting and cold, and not for the faint of heart - he only has one towel. Total. For dishes to bath time. He also talks about not really having friends and not accomplishing anything which, whether true or not, is just kind of a bummer to read.