Elizabeth Tai
This small, simple book is best people to benefit from these are total beginners. For those who have been practicing minimalism or simple living for some time, most of what McAlary highlights here are not new. Still, this book is a great reminder/refresher for minimalists.
It wasn't as terrible as some say it was. The premise was dynamite, but the execution was lacking; there should've been more buildup between our couple. At the end of the book, I'm not really sure why our Hero is so besotted with the heroine. What changed the cold-hearted libertine who agreed to ruin a young girl's reputation to a man only devoted to one woman? We don't know.
There was no plot really. The prose was, at times, awful, and the story went nowhere... Granted, you can't really squeeze much into 30 pages, but that's why it takes considerably more skill to write short fiction than long-form. The author needed to flesh this story out to at least 60 pages for it to be a viable story. If this is what science fiction romance is all about, I'm really disappointed.
3.5 stars. I received this ARC from Netgalley. The more I read about this topic, the more, really, I despair at how destructive humankind is. Walters demonstrates how, due to our careless actions (oftentimes motivated by greed and money-hungry motivations) not only are we destroying our environment but ourselves.
Among the diseases highlighted are Mad Cow, HIV/AIDS, Salmonella, Lyme, Hantavirus, West Nile, and pandemic flu. A lot of these diseases would have been avoidable, or would not have reached pandemic proportions if humankind hand only restrained themselves or respected the environment.
Waters doesn't bog the text down with incomprehensible medical jargon; it was very easy to understand the links between disease, lifestyle and the environment.
Highly recommended.
3.5 stars. I think the story was very unique. A stone spirit (Sansheng) from the underworld asks the God of War if she could seduce him when he undergoes his trial in the mortal realm. The god, Moxi, agrees - telling her that she follow him for three human lifetimes, and then it's back to the Underworld for her. Initially, it began almost like a comedy. Sansheng, having never “lived” - she was born in the Underworld - didn't have any social graces and would say whatever was on her mind. So, she didn't really care about propriety and would often offend people. And she doesn't care! That's refreshing to me. She even flirted a few times with Moxi when he was a boy in a few of his incarnations. Cough, I have to say this aspect of the novella makes me uncomfortable as it creeps me out quite a bit!
Still, an interesting tale eventhough I felt it could've been fleshed out for more emotional impact. As it is, it was a light, breezy read. The story had such potential, however, that it made me wish it had more depth so that I could really feel the climatic and moving ending more.
PS: I read a fan-translated copy.
3.5 stars. It's not just happening in Australia, sadly, but all over the world too.
Ah. The things we do to get peace and serenity. In many ways Brigid's account was hilarious, but I ultimately found it sad. Because in the end, all that fasting, yoga, meditating and screaming in the bush at a campfire doesn't bring the results we hope: Peace with yourself.
And it's almost tragic to see those in the affluent West flailing about, flocking from one guru to the next, paying wads of cash to achieve “wellness” through a series of navel-gazing activities while half the world is just struggling to feed themselves and stay alive. What an unbalanced world we live in! But that's the price of modernity. While we've managed to achieve many things to ensure life is smoother, we've somehow lost a vital part of us.
And the sad thing is we're trying to buy it back.
As the author said: “Pay $2000 to go on retreat, and meaning, spirituality and community will be sold to you. You'll feel great for a week ... (but) there's little possibility or means of integrating what you've learnt into your daily life.”
“At home there may be no community waiting, no place to visit to get that sense of higher meaning, no one willing to dive below the surface with you, and so you go back to that empty feeling until you go online and book another retreat - and the cycle starts anew.”
In the end Brigid said that while the wellness industry had noble intentions, it had caused people to turn “lethally” inward. It's time to ditch indvidualism for collectivism.
“We've had years of looking after ourselves. Now it's time to look after each other.”
You know what I love about Anne R Allen's books? They're so reassuring and filled with such common sense. Like Anne, I'm exhausted by advice about how to build one's platform because it's written from a business person's point of view. A business person with wads of time and cash, apparently. In fact, I once tweeted in despair at one well-known blogging guru that I feel that his advice just exhausts me and that to succeed in anything we have to strive like a dog. Anne's tips for author blogging puts the writer's welfare ahead of her goals. It's designed to enable you to have a life, maintain your health while being a productive writer who can use web tech for your benefit. Lots of useful tips here, and my favourite chapter remains “What to blog about” as her unique is different from a business blog's.
I love Linden but there was serious lack of dramatic tension here. Most probably due to the “fall in lust” bit, so I didn't feel like their relationship was challenging enough to weather any storm. Also, aside from a series of disapproving relatives, the couple didn't have much obstacles in the way of their romance - so, hardly any suspense or tension in the story.
I am SO pleased that my first three reads of 2018 have been stellar so far - this, by far, is one of the best romances I've read. So good, in fact, that after I returned it to the library, I immediately plotted on how to get my hands on it again. I'd love a physical copy of the book but alas - the bookstores don't have it where I live. (To the Kindle I go!)
Why do I love this so much? For one, the characters are wonderful - Francesca is a strong woman who is confident in her sexuality. Edward is serious, controlled and restrained. He may be the “spare”, but he has the weight of his family on his shoulders. When the two meet, sparks fly - and do they! The unresolved sexual tension in this book is quite something. It's definitely a steamy book, but it's not ‘hot' for the sake of titillation; Edward is a wonderfully considerate and romantic lover - Francesca is really lucky to have him. Also, no long-drawn misunderstandings. The two DO communicate like adults, and we don't have forced dramas caused by miscommunications here. And no crazy, jilted lovers either!
3.5 stars. It's well written, and one can only admire what Deborah has done with her life. Her memoir shows you that there's another way to do life besides climbing the corporate ladder, accumulating properties or earning a bigger paycheck. A life of service can be a fulfilling, if frightening one. Deborah is a Christian, so she writes from a faith perspective.
However, I feel that the book could be better if there were more details to her journey. As a result, the book is like a sketch rather than a full painting of her journey. Also, it would've been a richer read if she had also gone deeper into her vulnerability - because a lot of times I felt I couldn't relate to her because she seemed like such a saint.
At one point, I was stunned to discover that our paths actually crossed in our youth. I was from the same church and had attended the funeral of a teenager when I was there. He had died in a tragic car accident - her family was tied to that accident. Till this day, I remembered the look in her family's eyes at the funeral. Things like this change you.
A good attempt at a memoir and I'm glad I bought her book.
There's a mamak restaurant near my office where, rumour has it, the workers - after working 14 hours, will shutter the place up, rearrange the tables and turn them into beds. They sleep where they work. I always wondered how their lives were like behind the polite smiles. They make me realise how blessed and fortunate I am.
Sharif is a very eloquent writer - his voice is really needed, at a time when migrant workers are nearly invisible. In this book he shares his diary entries and poetry where he details life as a migrant worker in Singapore. At times he seems maudlin, almost melodramatic, but how can he not be when faced with a life where his employers feed his rotten food, or where he couldn't see his parents before they passed away or watch his son grow up?
But it would appear that even down south migrant workers are treated horribly. I had mistakenly thought that they had better lives.
“The owners of the companies are like wolves in sheep's clothing. As long as you have the ability to work, they will care. If you stop for any reason, they will throw you out.”
This is a book that needs to be read. I wish it was available in ebook form because physical copies of it are hard to come by.
First,the good: Gimenez can really write a page turner. Also, his prose is great - he really makes the scenes come alive. So much so that Dallas, the city, becomes a character in the book.
The not so great - his characters have the depth and complexity of a blank sheet of paper. He basically paints them in broad strokes of black and white; there's no grey subtlety to them. So you have the selfish trophy wife who cares only for money, greedy lawyer without a conscience, crack addicted prostitute with a heart of gold. Stereotypes all of them, but what's galling are the racial stereotypes. Almost every rich white person in this book is racist. Heck every rich person in this book is white and the Hispanics are servants and the African Americans talk in gangsta and live in the projects.
It gets grating after a while, but I at least enjoyed Scott's journey from being a one dimensional greedy lawyer to a one dimensional reformed do gooder lawyer.
It's too convoluted for my taste! Hero has such a flimsy reason for ditching his new bride that it makes him totally unlikeable. And their eventual reunion lacks believability too because seriously, a breakup based on miscommunication or lack of communication is bad enough. But when the couple does not repair or improve on their communication skills ... this doesn't bode well for their future!
Alas, I really wanted to like this book but to echo an another reviewer here - it offers no practical advice about dealing with day to day office politics. It's a philosophy book about politics and reads more like a dissertation. If that's your jam, awesome. But if you are looking for practical tips, you won't find it here.
I just couldn't get past the fact that she seduced him in his sleep and had sex with him against his will. All this so that he could make her his mistress. And then protesting when he suspected that the child isn't his? When you are manipulative from the start, saw the man as a provider of $$ can you blame him? Granted there were WTF moments too from the hero who thought she was a whore (his words not mine) just because of her perfume - before the whole sleep seduction thing btw.
So this is a messed up couple that wouldn't work in real life. Just couldn't buy their romance 😂
Personally, I find the advice here far too general and perhaps only meant for folks that are “fed up” with their jobs. Burnout can be so debilitating that some sufferers can't do half the things he suggests - such as exercise more and take up a self-improvement programme for yourself. I would have liked it if he had also included more tips on how to heal physically - such as nutrition advice and mental health care.
An above average novella with a terribly rushed and improbable ending (hence the 3 stars instead of the 3.5 I would've been inclined to give). Call me cynical, but I can't help but think that back in those times, Felicity would have been viewed as a gold digger for the circumstances surrounding their love affair. I would think that the book would have been greatly improved if a few more chapters were added towards the end, fleshing out their romance. Still, Linden writes really well and it was a breeze to read through the book.
“Talent is not a gift. Talent is a responsibility.” As a writer and fellow creator, this struck a chord with me.
In this book he recounts the various persecutions he suffered just because he drew the truth. Many would have given up long before, but not him. And Malaysia is better for it.
The only criticism I have is that I really wanted to know his thoughts & experiences of the pivotal GE14. What did he think of the developments ? How did he feel seeing a new government being installed? As a result I felt the book seemed truncated.
Still, I enjoyed the book immensely & cant wait to read his cartoons!
Read this book when I really needed its message. My church had an 8-week study on the book and I literally implemented what I learned during those weeks, and it changed my outlook and situation quite a bit. For some, it's a message they've heard already - admittedly, there's really nothing new as this has been spouted by self-help gurus for a long time. However, Geri's personal experiences, which are highlighted in this book, shows how insidious wrong thinking and behaviours can permeate your life without you being aware of it. A book that needs to be read more than once!
A Lincoln Child book fills the hollow left by the X-Files - this book about Egyptian curses, NDAs and a remote scientific expedition in a deadly swamp is just what I needed
It's heartbreaking that men who proclaim they love God rob from the poor to spend money on stuff that don't last forever. Costi's account of life with Benny Hinn isn't surprising to me, but it's still painful to read about the excesses and the broken dreams that the prosperity gospel pundits left behind.
I love how I got to know more about why make-up is so important to a woman's freedom and sense of pride in this book. To imagine that cosmetics were considered sinful once upon a time!
After reading oodles of historical romances set in the Regency or Victoria periods, it's refreshing to read about the Gilded Age.
Our hero and heroines' love affair is believable and lovely. I particularly enjoyed the hero's development, how he gained his confidence as he got out f his father's shadow.
❤️
I have to confess to having a certain fascination for hoarders. When I decided to move to Australia in 2012, I had to clear my apartment for renters. I was quite alarmed by the amount of things I had collected over the years - hundreds of books & DVDs, many of them I had not had the time to read or watch.
While I konmari-ed my stuff I would watch episodes of “Hoarders” in absolute horror/fascination/compassion.
What I saw in that series scared me into becoming a minimalist, methinks. Although I am far from the “33 pieces of items in my wardrobe” person, I have far, far less things now.
But why do people hoard? Could you end up as one?
These questions haunted Susannah Walker, who was left with the unpleasant task of clearing up her mother's home after her death.
Her mum, Pat, spent her last years in a house so broken and filled with filth it should have been condemned. Yet, to the outside world, she appeared as a well-dressed woman who seemed in control of her life.
Thanks to reality shows like Hoarders, people who have this affliction are almost always viewed as freaks. Susannah, however, gives us an a compassionate and emotional insight into her mother's life as she tries to understand what led her to slowly destroy a home she once so adored.
“These people become hoarders because they have suffered so much loss already that disposing of even a single object would be too hard to bear.”
In the end, theorised Susannah, her mother manifested the pain of her tragic life outwardly - in her stuff.
A must read.